Preparing for Adventure

In this chapter, you’ll learn the information you need to know as a player to prepare for your first game of Daggerheart. This will walk you through creating a character and provide details around each of the game’s classes, ancestries, communities, and domains.

Character Creation

Unless you’re taking on the role of the GM, the first thing you’ll need to do to start playing Daggerheart is create your character. When making this character, you’ll be responsible for crafting their physical appearance, personality, and prior experience, as well as their relationships with the other characters. Some of these decisions are purely narrative, meaning they only appear in the game through your roleplaying—but others are mechanical choices that affect the actions you’re more (or less) likely to succeed at when rolling your dice.

This section guides you through the steps to build your character. You don’t need to complete character creation in the order laid out here, but it’s advised you choose the class you’re playing first. You can accomplish the rest of character creation in any order you’d prefer.

Getting Started

When you’re ready to start creating your character, you’ll need a character sheet and character guide. You might also want to brainstorm some basic ideas for your game and character, both alone and with the other players.

Have a Session Zero

If you’re preparing to start a new campaign with your group, it is highly recommended that you use your first session together to build characters and talk about the world you’ll all be playing in, often called a Session Zero (see “Session Zero and Safety Tools” in chapter 3). This is the best way to ensure that all players are on the same page about the kind of campaign you’re going to play, the tone and feel everyone is excited about, everyone is excited about, and creating characters that work well together in a party.

Think About Character Concepts

Before you make any definitive choices, you might want to briefly look at all of the materials available to you and formulate an idea for what kind of character you want to make. This doesn’t need to be specific and isn’t required to begin, but having a basic concept to start from like “a circus performer who uses magic” or “a captain who lost their ship at sea” might help you make choices as you move through each step.

Get a Character Sheet and Guide

As you begin creating your character, you’ll use a character sheet and character guide to record your decisions and abilities, so make sure you have paper or digital copies of the sheets available to you before you begin. You can see a completed character sheet in the “Example Character” section.

Note that there is not a single, generic character sheet or guide for you to use; they are all customized for the class you are playing (see “Step 1: Choose Your Class”). You can find these available for download online, or you can copy them from the “[Section Pending]” in this book.

Record Your Level

All characters in Daggerheart start at level 1. Record your level in the appropriate section at the top of your character sheet, and make sure to change it every time you level up. It’s not recommended to start your campaign at a higher level, unless under specific circumstances set out by the GM.

Record Character Details

At any point in the character creation process, feel free to fill out your character’s names and pronouns on the top line, as well as the Character Description details on the Character Guide sheet. For some people, naming and deciding on the look of their character comes first, and for others, it takes time to discover what’s right. As long as you have a name and description by the time character creation is completed, it doesn’t matter what order you do these in.

Step 1: Choose Your Class

The first step of character creation is to choose the class you want to play, then take the character sheet and character guide that corresponds to that class (see “Get a Character Sheet and Guide”). You will utilize both throughout the process.

Each class is an archetype of a character that determines what abilities you have access to throughout the campaign. For example, you might choose to play the Guardian if you want to be the tank of your group who runs into fights head first and protects others with their own life. You might choose to be a Wizard if you want to use unique spells to solve problems, heal party members, and fight off threats.

Once you’ve chosen a class and taken the appropriate character sheet and guide, you’ll also choose a subclass. Take that subclass’s Foundation card into your hand. The subclasses are subsets of each class that help further define the kind of character you’re playing.

Class Feature

Every class begins with a unique class feature (or several). You don’t have to write this down—it’s already provided in the bottom left of that class’s character sheet. These are unique features available only to your class, so be sure to consider them when building your character.

If your class feature asks you to make a selection during character creation, make sure you select one of the options before you transition into your first session. This book details each class feature in its respective class section (see the upcoming “Class” section).

Class Options

The available classes and subclasses in the base set include the following. You can learn more about each of these Classes and their Foundations in the upcoming “Class” section.

Bard

Class Foundations: Wordsmith or Troubadour

Play the Wordsmith if you want to use clever wordplay and captivate crowds.

Play the Troubadour if you want to play music to bolster your allies.

Druid

Class Foundations: Warden of the Elements or Warden of Renewal

Play the Warden of the Elements if you want to embody the aspects of nature.

Play the Warden of Renewal if you want to use powerful magic to heal your party members.

Guardian

Class Foundations: Stalwart or Vengeance

Play the Stalwart if you want to take heavy blows and keep fighting.

Play the Vengeance if you want to strike down enemies that harm you or your allies.

Ranger

Class Foundations: Wayfinder or Beastbound

Play the Wayfinder** if you want to hunt your prey using deadly force.

Play the Beastbound if you want to form a deep bond with an animal ally.

Seraph

Class Foundations: Winged Sentinel or Divine Wielder

Play the Winged Sentinel if you want to take flight and strike crushing blows from the sky.

Play the Divine Wielder if you want to dominate the battlefield with a legendary weapon.

Rogue

Class Foundations: Nightwalker or Syndicate

Play the Nightwalker if you want to use the manipulation of shadows to maneuver through your environment.

Play the Syndicate if you want to have useful contacts everywhere you go.

Sorcerer

Class Foundations: Primal Origin or Elemental Origin

**Play the Primal Origin if you want to extend the versatility of your spells in powerful ways.

Play the Elemental Origin if you want to channel raw magic to take the shape of a particular element.

Warrior

Class Foundations: Call of the Slayer or Call of the Brave

Play the Call of the Slayer if you want to strike down adversaries with incredible power.

Play the Call of the Brave if you want to use the might of your enemies to fuel you.

Wizard

Class Foundations: School of Knowledge or School of War

Play the School of Knowledge if you want to have a keen understanding of the world around you.

Play the School of War if you want to utilize trained magic to enact violence.

Step 2: Choose Your Heritage

Next, you’ll choose your character’s heritage. This aspect of your character includes two elements—their ancestry and their community.

Choose Your Ancestry

A character’s ancestry reflects their lineage and impacts the way they physically look, as well as granting them a unique ability from their ancestry. Take the card for one of the following ancestries, then write its name in the Heritage field of your character sheet:

Clank

Drakona

Dwarf

Elf

Faerie

Faun

Firbolg

Fungril

Galapa

Giant

Goblin

Halfling

Human

Inferis

Katari

Orc

Ribbet

Simiah

You can learn more about these ancestries in the upcoming “Ancestries” section.

Choose Your Community

Next, you’ll choose a community from the available Community cards. Your character’s community informs the culture they grew up in and might also play a part in the way they look, act, or approach situations. Communities can be influenced by details such as their physical location, values, and goal. Each community also comes with a mechanical benefit that you’ll be able to utilize during the game. Take the card for one of the following communities, then write its name in the Heritage field of your character sheet.

Highborne

Loreborne

Orderborne

Ridgeborne

Seaborne

Slyborne

Underborne

Wanderborne

Wildborne

You can learn more about these communities in the upcoming “Community” section.

Languages

In Daggerheart, you’re not asked to pick specific languages for your character. This game assumes that everyone speaks a common language (it’s up to you whether that’s through mundane or magic means), and that sign language is widely understood across cultures and communities. If you’d like to have specific regional languages in your campaign, talk about it with your table.

Step 3: Assign Character Traits

Next, you’ll assign values to the character traits on your character sheet. These values reflect your natural or trained ability in each of the core six stats—Agility, Strength, Finesse, Knowledge, Instinct, and Presence. The verbs after each trait (such as Sprint, Leap, and Maneuver) are examples of actions you might take that would involve that trait; these words are just inspiration, and they don’t limit what that trait might be used for.

Agility: Sprint, Leap, Maneuver

A high Agility score means you’re faster on your feet, nimbler on difficult terrain, and quicker to react to danger. You’ll roll with Agility to scurry up a rope quickly, sprint to cover, or bound from rooftop to rooftop.

Strength: Lift, Smash, Grapple

A high Strength score means you’re better at feats that test your physical prowess and bodily fortitude. You’ll roll with Strength to break through a door, lift heavy objects, or hold your ground against a charging foe.

Finesse: Control, Hide, Tinker

A high Finesse score means you’re dexterous and accurate. You’ll roll with Finesse for tasks that require fine motor control - being precise, careful, and quiet—like using fine tools, escaping notice, or striking with an exacting aim.

Instinct: Perceive, Sense, Navigate

A high Instinct score means you have a keen sense of your surroundings and a natural intuition. You’ll roll with Instinct to sense danger, notice details in the world around you, or track an elusive foe.

Presence: Charm, Perform, Deceive

A high Presence score means you have a strong force of personality and a facility with social situations. You’ll roll with Presence to plead your case, intimidate a foe, or get all eyes on you.

Knowledge: Recall, Analyze, Comprehend

A high Knowledge score means you know information others don’t and understand how to apply your mind through deduction and inference. You’ll roll with Knowledge to interpret facts, see the patterns clearly, or remember important information.

Distribute Trait Modifiers

Trait modifiers are the values associated with each trait. When you make an action roll using one of these traits, that trait’s modifier adjusts the roll’s final result by that number.

Distribute the following starting modifiers across your character traits in any order you wish: +2, +1, +1, 0, 0, -1.

When distributing these modifiers, consider what actions you want to be good at, what weapon you want to use during your attacks, and what kind of spellcasting you’ll be doing, if any. We’ll cover weapons and spells in future sections, but if you don’t know how to distribute your stats, you may always refer to the Character Guide for suggested stats. You can also change these stats around as needed during character creation, as well as after your first few sessions of play if you feel like you made a wrong decision.

Step 4: Record Additional Character Information

It’s time to take a quick break from making choices, and instead fill out a few sections of your character sheet.

Evasion

Your Evasion score reflects how hard it is for enemies to hit you (see “Evasion Score” in chapter 2). Your class’s starting Evasion score appears right beneath the Evasion field on your character sheet; record this in the Evasion field. When an enemy makes an attack against your character, the GM rolls against your Evasion score to see if they are successful. Each character’s Evasion may look different within the narrative—a Wizard may avoid blows with shimmering arcane shields or by batting away an adversary’s spells, while a Ranger nimbly dodges out of the way of blows, and a Warrior employs a mix of parries, blocks, and dodges.

Hit Points and Stress Points

Your character’s health and well-being are represented by Hit Points and Stress Points. Hit Points (sometimes called HP) are an abstract reflection of your physical fortitude and ability to take hits, both from blade and from magic (see “Damage Thresholds and Hit Points” in chapter 2). Stress Points reflect your ability to withstand the pressures of dangerous situations and mental strain (see “Stress” in chapter 2).

You can describe your Hit Points and Stress Points any way you wish, but they generally represent your character’s ability to get knocked down and keep coming back. You’ll mark your Hit Points and Stress when these situations arise—the fewer marks you have against them, the better.

Your class has a certain Damage Threshold, indicating how much damage you can endure before marking each Hit Point. Find your class’s starting Damage Threshold at the top of the “Hit Points & Stress” section of your character sheet; record these three numbers in the corresponding fields. In the “Hit Points and Damage Thresholds” section of chapter 2, you’ll learn how many Hit Points to mark on your character sheet each time the GM tells you to take damage.

Hope and Fear

Hope is a currency that represents the way fate can turn in your character’s favor during the game. You’ll start with two Hope at character creation: mark these in the Hope section of your character sheet.

Any time you “roll with Hope” on your Duality Dice—meaning your Hope die rolled higher than your Fear die—you will gain an additional Hope (to a maximum of six). During the game, you can spend your Hope to help allies, apply your life experiences to challenges, and empower your spells and abilities.

If you instead “roll with Fear” on your Duality Dice—meaning your Fear die rolled higher than your Hope die—the GM records this in their notes, and they can later spend that Fear on certain effects. Sometimes a Fear roll also introduces other complications into a scene (even if you succeed on your roll).

For more information on Hope and Fear, see “Rolling Hope and Fear ” in chapter 2.

Step 5: Choose Your Starting Equipment

Next you’ll choose starting weapons, armor, and other items for your character.

Choose Your Weapons

You can use physical weapons to attack your foes—and if you have a Spellcasting Trait (such as from your subclass), you can also wield magic weapons. At character creation, you can choose one primary weapon and one secondary weapon, then equip them (if you wish). Note that if you choose a primary weapon that requires both hands, you won’t be able to equip your secondary weapon at the same time.

You can find weapon suggestions at the top of your character guide, but if you’d like to choose your own, you can find all starting (Tier 1) weapons in “Primary Weapons Tables” and “Secondary Weapon Tables” in chapter 2. (These are also available as a separate sheet to print out for your table in [section pending].)

At Level 1, your Damage Proficiency is 1—this means you’ll generally roll one damage die for your weapon attacks. In the “Active Weapons” section of your character sheet, this is recorded in the “Proficiency” field. When you equip weapons on your character, record their details in that section as well. See “Using Weapons” in chapter 2 for more details on using weapons.

Tip: On your character sheet in the section labeled “Damage Dice & Type,” record your damage dice with the Damage Proficiency value already written in (like “1d6” instead of “d6”), reminding you how many weapon dice to roll. Whenever you increase your Damage Proficiency, also increase the number of dice in the Damage Dice section to reflect this change.

Choose Your Armor

You can use armor to reduce incoming damage from attacks. At character creation, you can choose one piece of armor and equip it (if you wish). You can find armor suggestions at the top of your character guide, but if you’d like to choose your own, you can find all starting (Tier 1) armor in “Armor Tables” in chapter 2. (These are also available as a separate sheet to print out for your table from the Daggerheart website or in [section pending].)

When you equip armor on your character, record its details in the Active Armor section of your character sheet, then in the Armor box at the top left of your character sheet, record your Armor Score. Your Armor Score includes your armor’s base value plus any permanent bonuses you have to your armor from other abilities.

When you take damage, you can fill a box next to your Armor Score, then reduce the damage by your Armor Score. (You can even check multiple boxes to negate more damage from a single attack). See “Armor” in chapter 2 for more details on using armor.

Choose Other Starting Items

Your inventory can include most anything else you’re carrying with you. The top of your character guide lists all your starting inventory items, including the following:

• Torch (useful for things like illuminating a dark room)
• 50 feet of rope (useful for things like rappelling down a cliff)
• Basic supplies (useful for things like camping in the wilderness)
• A handful of gold (record this in the Gold section on the left of your character sheet)
• Your choice of a minor health potion (heal 1d4 Hit Points) or a minor stamina potion (clear 1d4 Stress)
• Finally, the “And Either” option on your character guide is specific to your class (see the “Class” section). You might also be asked to choose what you carry your spells in.

Record these items in the “Inventory” section of your character sheet. You can be creative with how you use these items, though this is subject to GM discretion. In general, your equipment is available for you to use during your adventures in any way that fits your shared story.

You may also talk to your GM about any other items you’d like to have at the start of the game. In general, items that don’t provide a mechanical benefit and that make sense for the character you’re playing should be permitted, and there aren’t rules limiting your inventory to a certain size, but your GM always makes the final call.

Step 6: Create Your Background

Next, explore your character’s background by filling out the “Background” section of your character guide. Several prompts are provided to jumpstart inspiration, but you or the GM can modify or change these questions to fit the character you’re looking to play. Think of the prompts as a jumping-off point if you don’t know where to start, but they should never inhibit your creativity.

The decisions you make about your background are purely narrative, but they can deeply impact the kind of character you’re playing and the story the GM might prepare for your adventures. Over the course of character creation, feel free to adjust some mechanical choices you’ve made in earlier steps, allowing them to better reflect this background as the shape of your character comes into clearer focus.

If you are planning to play in a campaign, once you finish the background questions, you can continue developing your character in whatever way works best for you. There are many character backstory tools you may wish to use—just remember to give the GM your backstory as well so that they can work any people, places, or ideas from it into the campaign they’re running. You may also choose not to do any more background work, instead finding out more about your character as you play. Whatever you find fun and allows you to play your character in a way that feels appealing and exciting is what you should lean into.

Step 7: Choose Your Experiences

In Daggerheart, your Experience is one of the core ways you’ll express your character’s backstory and expertise through mechanics. An Experience is a word or phrase used to encapsulate a specific set of skills your character might have because of the exciting life they’ve lived.

You start with two Experiences at character creation (each with a +2 modifier), and you’ll earn more throughout your adventures. Before choosing, you’ll want to have a solid idea of who your character is; the Backstory questions are especially helpful with this. When you’re ready, work with your GM to pick two Experiences that have shaped your character.

There’s no set list of Experiences to choose from (though some examples are offered below). Instead, choose a word or phrase that embodies something distinctive about your character. Each Experience should be specific. For example, “Talented” or “Focused” are too broad, as they can be applied to almost any situation; instead you might use “Swashbuckler” or “Magic Studies”. Additionally, your Experience can’t give you spells or specific game abilities. For example, “Take Flight” or “One-Hit Kill” are too mechanically-oriented; you might consider “Acrobatics” or “Assassin” instead.

You are also encouraged to add flavor to your Experience to give it more varied use in play. For example, instead of just “Assassin,” you could choose something like “Assassin of the Sapphire Syndicate.” This kind of detail gives your GM an exciting faction to weave into the campaign, and also makes it easier to use this Experience outside combat. For example, if you encounter an ally of the Syndicate, you might be particularly adept at negotiating with them based on your Experience.

Experience Examples

Backgrounds like: Assassin, Blacksmith, Bodyguard, Bounty Hunter, Circus Performer, Con Artist, Fallen King, Field Medic, High Priestess, Merchant, Noble, Pirate, Politician, Runaway, Scholar, Sellsword, Soldier, Storyteller, Thief, World Traveler

Characteristics like: Affable, Battle Hardened, Bookworm, Charming, Coward, Friend to All, Helper, Intimidating Presence, Leader, Lone Wolf, Loyal, Observant, Prankster, Silver Tongue, Sticky Fingers, Stubborn to a Fault, Survivor, Young and Naive

Specialties like: Acrobat, Gambler, Healer, Inventor, Magical Historian, Mapmaker, Master of Disguise, Navigator, Sharpshooter, Survivalist, Swashbuckler, Tactician

Skills like: Animal Whisperer, Barter, Deadly Aim, Fast Learner, Incredible Strength, Liar, Light Feet, Negotiator, Quick Hands, Repair, Scavenger, Tracking

Phrases like: Catch Me If You Can, Chef to the Royal Family, Fake It Till You Make It, First Time’s the Charm, Hold the Line, I Won’t Let You Down, I’ll Catch You, I’ve Got Your Back, Knowledge Is Power, Nature’s Friend, Never Again, No One Left Behind, Pick on Someone Your Own Size, Street Doctor, The Show Must Go On, This Is Not a Negotiation, Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Once you’ve worked with the GM to decide what your two starting Experiences are, record them in the Experience section of your character sheet; assign +2 to both.

Tip: If you’re not sure what Experiences to take, consider the style of the campaign you’re playing in and the actions you’ll want to perform. In a standard, battle-focused campaign, it’s never a bad idea to take your first Experience in something that will help you with combat and your second Experience in something outside of combat. As a Warrior, you might choose “Battle Commander” as your first Experience and “I’ve Got Your Back” as your second—both of these could be useful in combat situations, but aren’t necessarily restricted to them. As a Wizard, you might choose to take something like “Mage’s Apprentice” and “Inconspicuous”– the “Mage’s Apprentice” will definitely help in casting spells, but could also make you good at analyzing magical effects or ancient scrolls. “Inconspicuous” could keep you out of the limelight back in town so you may be able to perform more clandestine actions where others would normally draw attention to themselves.

Using Experiences

Any time you make an action roll (see “Action Rolls” in chapter 2), if you feel like an Experience could help you succeed, you can spend a Hope to add its modifier to your roll. Sometimes, you might feel like more than one of your Experiences is a good fit for the situation (for example, if you’re trying to sneak past a guard in the dark, and your Experiences include “I Live in the Shadows” and “Stealthy”). If it fits the story, you can apply more than one Experience modifier to a roll, spending a Hope for each.

Changing Experiences

You’ll have the opportunity to gain new Experiences as you gain levels (see “Leveling Up” in chapter 2). But you’re also not stuck with the ones you’ve already chosen, if you later discover during play that an Experience you previously chose isn’t feeling right anymore. For example, the GM might notice that the way you’re using the Experience isn’t a good fit for your group’s collaborative story. Or you might feel one of the choices you made doesn’t match how you’ve come to understand your character. That’s totally okay! When you or your GM realize this, work together to find the Experiences that best reflect the kind of character you’re intending to play, and the kind of actions that character would be good at because of their history and perspective.

Step 8: Choose Your Domain Cards

Domains are the core building blocks of a class in Daggerheart. In the Core Rulebook, they consist of Arcana, Blade, Bone, Codex, Grace, Midnight, Sage, Splendor, and Valor. Each Domain has a Domain Deck—a deck of cards that contains a set of abilities and spells with a central theme or focus. For details on what each Domain represents and how to use your Domain Cards, see the upcoming “Domains” section.

Each class in Daggerheart is formed by combining two of these Domains—for example, the Warrior is Blade & Bone, the Druid is Sage & Arcana, and the Rogue is Midnight & Grace. This combination is noted on the top of your character sheet, and the colors and symbols are found on your Class Foundation card.

To create your new character, look at all of the Level One cards from your class’s two domains and choose two to begin the game, returning the rest to their respective decks. You might take one from each Domain, or choose two from a single domain, whatever you prefer. These cards grant you special spells and abilities; you’ll be able to choose another each time you gain a level.

Shared Domains

Every class shares its domains with at least one other class. For example, Blade is shared between Guardian and Warrior, Sage is shared between Druid and Ranger, and Grace is shared between Bard and Rogue. If a fellow player’s class has the same Domain as yours, you’re encouraged to coordinate with them and choose different cards from that Domain Deck (even if your group has multiple copies). This gives everyone a chance to shine with their own special abilities. However, if the GM and players agree, feel free to make an exception. Sharing cards is especially common when more than one player chooses the same class, or when three (or more) players share the same Domain. As always, it comes down to open communication between the players and the GM. If you and another player agree to use the same card, but your group doesn’t have multiple decks, you can download and print extra copies at home.

Step 9: Create Your Connections

You’ve almost finished creating your character! Now it’s time to forge your Connections. These represent the relationships and personal history between you and the rest of your party members.

Once all players feel comfortable with their finished (or almost-finished) characters, summarize your characters for each other. At minimum, share your Name, Pronouns, Character Description, Experiences, and the answers to your Background Questions, but feel free to include other details you’d like the players to know.

Once everyone has shared who they’ll be playing, work together to decide how your characters are connected and how you feel about each other. The Connections section of your character guide provides inspiration for these connections— it is recommended you pick at least one question to ask another PC—but you’re welcome to create new questions. You can always turn down a question or relationship from another player if it’s not a good fit or not a relationship you’re interested in exploring. While it’s great to create Connections with every player, it’s perfectly okay if you’re not sure about some of them yet— you can always discover your relationships through play. These Connections are just a starting block to build on during the game.

After Connections are complete, you’re ready to play! The remainder of chapter 1 contains resources to use when building your character, such as information on domains, classes, ancestries, and communities. Chapter 2 presents the rules you’ll use to play the game.

Building Higher-Level Characters

More guidance here coming soon!

Example Character

This section provides an example of how a finished character sheet might look. If you’d rather not go through all steps of character creation, feel free to use the details on this sheet as inspiration for your own character, changing any details you wish.

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Domains

Domains are the core themes that make up each class. The combination of two domains forms the basis for each class’s abilities and spells, which you’ll gain from your domain cards. As you begin character creation, consider which of the nine domains you’re interested in, as that might affect your choice of class. Near the end of character creation, you’ll pick your first domain cards from your chosen class’s domains.

Reading Domain Cards

During step 8 of character creation and as your character levels up, you’ll gain increasingly powerful domain cards, which provide abilities and spells you can utilize during your adventures.

Some domain cards provide moves you can make (see “On your Turn” in Chapter 2), like a unique attack or a spell you cast. Others offer passive benefits (which always apply while you hold that card), new abilities during downtime or social encounters, or even one-time benefits.