Daggerheart: Hope & Fear is the first expansion for the Daggerheart tabletop RPG, bringing new classes, subclasses, character options, adversaries, environments, campaign ideas, and more ways to build your next adventure. Hope & Fear is designed for both players and Game Masters who want to expand beyond the original Core Set without changing what makes Daggerheart unique.

If you are already playing Daggerheart, there is a lot here to add to your campaign. And if you are just discovering the game, here is what you need to know before diving into Hope & Fear.

First Things First: What Is Daggerheart?

Daggerheart is a fantasy tabletop roleplaying game from Darrington Press built around collaborative storytelling, character-driven adventures, and a system where the choices made by the group help shape the world around them.

Like other tabletop RPGs, one person usually takes the role of the Game Master while the rest of the group creates and plays characters within the story. The Daggerheart Core Set includes the rules for creating characters and worlds, running adventures, building encounters, and managing campaigns, along with a large collection of cards for ancestries, communities, subclasses, and domains.

If you are completely new to the game, the Daggerheart Regular Edition Core Set is the place to start before moving into the new expansion.

What Is Daggerheart: Hope & Fear?

Hope & Fear is the first official expansion for Daggerheart, adding more options for both sides of the table.

For players, that means new ways to build and develop characters. For Game Masters, it means a much larger collection of adversaries, environments, campaign tools, and ideas that can be introduced into existing or completely new adventures.

The expansion introduces four new classes: Witch, Warlock, Brawler, and Assassin, with two subclasses available for each.

The Witch focuses on magical practices connected to nature and supernatural forces, while the Warlock draws power from a pact with an otherworldly patron. The Brawler specializes in unarmed combat, and the Assassin focuses on precise, dangerous attacks.

These classes also bring new ways to shape the tone and style of a campaign, whether your group wants something more mysterious and supernatural or something centered around combat and dangerous characters.

More Ways to Build Your Character

The four new classes are only part of the character options included in Hope & Fear.

The expansion introduces a new Dread Domain, which supports the darker magic associated with classes like the Witch and Warlock. There are also cards for all eight new subclasses, along with new ancestries and communities.

Players can choose from six new ancestries:

Skykin, Tidekin, Earthkin, Emberkin, Gnome, and Aetheris.

There are also six new communities:

Duneborne, Hearthborne, Frostborne, Warborne, Freeborne, and Reborne.

One of the most interesting additions is the new Transformation mechanic.

Characters can now undergo major changes during character creation or as part of a campaign and become a Vampire, Werewolf, Reanimated, Shapeshifter, Ghost, or Demigod.

For groups that enjoy letting their characters evolve in unexpected ways, transformations open up plenty of new storytelling possibilities.

There Is Plenty Here for Game Masters Too

Hope & Fear is not just a collection of new player options.

Game Masters get access to more than 130 new adversaries and 28 environments, giving them a much larger toolbox for building encounters and challenging their players. The expansion also includes blank adversary sheets, making it easier to create original threats for a campaign.

There are also more than 100 new weapons, armor pieces, items, and consumables, so both players and GMs have additional equipment to introduce throughout their adventures.

Another major addition is four new Campaign Frames.

Campaign Frames give groups a foundation for building an adventure around a specific setting, genre, theme, or style of play. Hope & Fear adds four completely new ones, giving groups another way to change the kind of stories they tell without having to build everything from scratch.

Standard or Deluxe: Which Hope & Fear Edition Is Right for You?

Hope & Fear is available in both Standard and Deluxe editions, and the main difference comes down to how many additional accessories you want at the table.

Hope & Fear Standard Edition

The Standard Edition includes an approximately 200-page book alongside the expansion cards and two rip pads of blank adversary sheets.

Inside are the new classes, subclasses, Dread Domain, transformations, ancestries, communities, adversaries, environments, equipment, and Campaign Frames.

For players who mainly want the new gameplay content, this is the straightforward way to add Hope & Fear to an existing Daggerheart collection.

You can find the Daggerheart: Hope & Fear Standard Edition at 401 Games.

Hope & Fear Deluxe Edition

The Deluxe Edition includes the same expansion content but adds a larger collection of accessories designed for both players and Game Masters.

Among the extras are alternate artwork, a gold-foil storage box, a GM screen with Fear tokens, additional rip pads, character sheets and guides, maps, and several sets of dice.

The included dice feature a seven-piece sharp-edged polyhedral set, an oversized d20 for the GM, and ten rhombic d12s designed to be used as Hope and Fear dice around the table.

If you enjoy having the physical tools and accessories that go along with your RPG sessions, the Deluxe Edition offers the more complete package.

Explore the Daggerheart: Hope & Fear Deluxe Edition at 401 Games.

Dice, Folios, and Other Daggerheart Accessories

Because Daggerheart uses its Hope and Fear dice system throughout play, dice are naturally a big part of the tabletop experience.

There are dedicated Daggerheart dice options available for players who want a set specifically for their sessions, including Daggerheart-branded Duality Dice.

For players or GMs who want to keep their cards and character materials organized, the Daggerheart Folio is another useful option. It is designed to hold Daggerheart cards alongside full-size character sheets and notes, and it includes a reusable character sheet for tracking information during play.

You can browse more Daggerheart products and accessories through 401 Games as you build out your setup.

Is Hope & Fear Worth Adding to Your Daggerheart Game?

If your group already enjoys Daggerheart and wants more ways to create characters, build encounters, or explore different types of stories, Hope & Fear gives you a substantial amount of new material to work with.

The new classes and transformations are likely to stand out immediately for players, while the adversaries, environments, equipment, and Campaign Frames give Game Masters plenty of new tools behind the screen.

New players do not need Hope & Fear to start playing. The Core Set still gives you everything you need to learn Daggerheart and begin a campaign. But once your group is ready for more options, Hope & Fear gives you a much bigger sandbox to play in.

Whether your next character is a Witch making contact with mysterious forces, a Brawler relying on nothing but their own fists, or someone whose story eventually turns them into a werewolf, ghost, or demigod, there are now even more directions your Daggerheart story can take.

Ready to start your next adventure? Browse Daggerheart products at 401 Games and see what you want to bring to your next game night.