Me: You have successfully snuck into the cellar said to house a passage into a labyrinth; unfortunately you can clearly see where a part of the wall has recently been bricked up. Presumably by the grouchy fellow who seemed so adamant about keeping delvers out of his cellar.
Guardian: Can I break through with my sword? I don't want to try my Tonal Mace and wake the owner up again.
Me: I don't think so. Swords don't make very good demolition tools.
Druid: I'll shift into bull form and try to knock the wall down. (Rolls a failure, but with hope)
Me: On a failure you're not able to knock down the wall, but since its a roll with hope I'd say you hit it so slow that you didn't hit it hard enough for it to shake the people upstairs awake. I think maybe the cellar is just too cramped for a bull to get enough momentum.
Wizard: I want to cast a portal, with the entrance being at the brick wall, and the exit being the wall opposite. Can she try again, this time getting double the runway?
Me: Definitely, that's genius. I think advantage is in order given the change in situation.
Druid: (rolls a success with fear)
Me: Nice! Your horns poke two holes right through the wall and your head blasts it open betweeen them. With fear though, you immediately hear shouting from the room above. You get the sense you'll have to find a different exit out the dungeon unless you intend to treat with the city guard. He isn't going to forgive or forget this time.
I've been running a lot of Daggerheart, mostly a weekly Ptolus game which is about 25 sessions in and still at level 2. I've decided I love Daggerheart. I'd planned not to. I am not much of a Critical Roll fan and honestly haven't found the Daggerheart community particularly inviting.
But this game is good.
There are better places online where you can find reviews, but I want to share this scenario because I think it highlights how strong the hope vs fear dice mechanic is. It is really empowering. It gives the GM and players permission to interact with the narrative and add good or bad things without feeling like a schmuck who doesn't go hard enough or feeling like a jerk who just can't let the players get a win. Its perfect. Having every roll happen with Hope—something lucky—or Fear—something unlucky—bakes in a natural, fair system for the random stuff that can often feel a little too convenient or a little too obnoxious in other systems. If it had been just a success on the second attempt, not a success with fear, I would have still described the neighbor waking up. Its sort of obvious that was gonna happen. But a roll with fear means some additional unlucky thing happens. Its that extra part that writes "unexpected" outcomes into the social contract between a GM and their players.
Even beyond the "permission" this mechanic gives (yes I know I don't literally need permission blah blah blah), this system also prompts me to add to the story beyond what was already stated. The and part of "yes and" is in the mechanics. I would not have thought to describe the failure with hope as being quiet enough not to wake the homeowner if it had just been a plain failure.
Needless to say, I am really enjoying this game. Again, no need for me to cover everything, but I wanted to share this and now I have.