Game Master's Journey

Game Master's Journey - Your Multidimensional RPG Podcast

Author: Lex Starwalker

Game Masters Journey is a discussion podcast for GMs and players of Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop RPGs hosted by Lex Starwalker. The show explores strategies players and GMs can use to enhance the gaming experience for everyone at the table. Lex also discusses the creation of his homebrew D&D setting, Primordia, providing a valuable worldbuilding resource for DMs creating their own setting.
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Language: en

Genres: Games, Leisure

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Daggerheart: The Fear Full GM | GMJ 335
Episode 335
Tuesday, 10 February, 2026

Today I talk about Fear in Daggerheart, a metacurrency used by the GM. Some GMs consider metacurrency to be a bad word. So how do the metacurrencies of Hope and Fear work in DH? Are they boons or flaws? Pros or cons? Buffs or debuffs? I’ll unpack it in this episode. I show how in my experience Fear hasn’t limited my creativity or prevented me from doing things I want to do. I discuss how fear is an excellent pacing tool, especially in combat, and how it really helps the GM dial in the difficulty of combat to exactly where they want it to be. Though at first blush Fear may appear to limit your options as GM, I haven’t felt like it does in practice. But it does make me feel like I can be more strategic and tactical, all while experiencing significantly less cognitive load than I’d experience running a similar combat in D&D. Fear also helps the players see that what you’re doing is totally fair and earned by their choices and actions. I also don’t have to feel bad when those consequences are unpleasant to the PCs.Play Daggerheart with Me on Start Playing Games.Sign up for my newsletter.Subscribe via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.Check out my sci-fi novel, Critical Balance.Have you read Critical Balance? Please leave a review on Amazon.Follow me on Bluesky.Join my Discord server.Email me.Check out my YouTube channel.Join my Book Club, now on Discord.Check Out my OTHER PODCAST - Lex Out LoudCall the Game Master's Journey voice mail: 951-GMJ-LEX1 (951-465-5391).