Summary
- Daggerheart offers character customization, catering to both new and veteran players.
- Classes like Warrior, Rogue, and Guardian provide different play styles for beginners.
- Each class has unique features and subclass options to enhance gameplay and roleplaying.
Daggerheart is a new tabletop role-playing game made by Darrington Press, a game imprint company formed by Critical Role. Both its standard and deluxe versions include numerous materials for new and veteran players alike.
Its fantasy setting brings a plethora of character customization options, allowing you to truly create a truly unique character. Whether you want to make a hulking giant that can cause lots of damage or even a frog that can cast world-ending spells, Daggerheart allows your imagination to be as simple or as wild as your heart desires. From the technical standpoint of making a character that you may play for hundreds of hours, there are certain classes that can be easier for players to simply pick up and play. Here are five classes in Daggerheart that are best suited for beginners.
Daggerheart TTRPG: Future Sourcebook Wish List
Critical Role's competing against Dungeons and Dragons with Daggerheart, but the group's plans could go beyond its upcoming release.
5 Warrior
Expert combatants who focus on melee damage from the Blade and Bone Domains
Warriors in Daggerheart are simple in that they focus on doing as much damage as possible with only the weapon they choose to take with them into battle, but also have skills in later levels that can still add depth. Their stats sit at a relatively average starting baseline, with their starting evasion score sitting at eleven and their starting hit points set at six. Warriors also have the hope feature that allows them to spend three hope to gain a plus one bonus to their attack rolls until the next time they rest, making their ability to hit targets easier. Their main class features are:
- Attack of Opportunity: If an adversary within Melee range attempts to leave that range, make a reaction roll using a trait of your choice against their difficulty. Choose one effect on success, or two if you critically succeed: they can't move from where they are, you deal damage equal to your primary weapon's damage, you move with them.
- Combat Training: You ignore burden when equipping weapons. When you deal physical damage, you gain a bonus to your damage roll equal to your level.
When stacking things like Combat Training and the Warrior's hope feature along with taking advantage of Attack of Opportunity, you can stay on the offensive with ease and deal massive damage while doing so. The two subclass options available to them expand this efficiency as they increase their level. Call of the Brave enhances a Warrior's abilities as they fight tougher opponents and lets them maintain their hope even when they roll with Fear and Call of the Slayer can let you add even more damage dice to a successful attack.
4 Rogue
Nimble damage dealers that specialize in stealth by drawing from the Midnight and Grace Domains
Rogues are the masters of striking fast and vanishing from sight even faster. Their emphasis on stealth makes them a great choice if you are looking for a class with good backup options in their abilities in case things get dicey, or you're looking to always have the tactical edge before combat even begins. Their starting evasion and hit points sit at a respectable twelve and six respectively, and their hope feature allows them to spend three hope to gain a plus two to their evasion until the next time an attack succeeds against them or the next time they rest. Their class features are:
- Cloaked: Any time you are hidden, you are instead cloaked. In addition to being hidden, while cloaked you remain unseen if you are stationary when an adversary moves to where they would normally see you. When you move into or within an adversary's line of sight or make an attack, you are no longer cloaked.
- Sneak Attack: When you succeed on an attack while cloaked or while an ally is within melee range of your target, add a number of d6s equal to your tier to your damage roll (Level One: Tier One, Level Two-Four: Tier Two, Level Five-Seven: Tier Three, and Level Eight-Ten: Tier Four.)
The Rogue's subclass options can either allow you to enhance your stealth capabilities or dive deeper into the roleplaying element of the game. The Nightwalker subclass allows you to control the shadows around you and even teleport between different shadows, making you more illusive in battle. Meanwhile, the Syndicate subclass can add to your character's connections to the world your GM is running, as it gives you the ability to have uniquely established connections in numerous types of locations.
3 Bard
Charming spellcasters who perform by drawing from the Grace and Codex domains
No stranger to fantasy environments, Bards can leave a special mark on their campaigns. Their charismatic personalities bleed into their ability to cast spells using their naturally given gifts as performers. Their starting evasion and hit points are slightly lower than average, sitting at ten and five respectively, which is typical for most spellcasters in TTRPG's. The Bard's hope feature allows them to spend three hope to temporarily distract a target within close range, giving them a minus two penalty to their difficulty. Keeping things simple when compared to other classes, they only have one class feature being:
- Rally: Once per session, describe how you rally the party and give and give yourself and each of your allies a Rally Die. At level one, your rally die is a d6. A PC can use their Rally Die to roll it, adding the result to their action roll, reaction roll, damage roll, or clear an amount of stress equal to the result. At the end of each session, clear all unspent Rally Die. At level five, your Rally Die increases to a d8.
The Bard's Troubadour subclass lets them use their musical prowess to provide specific forms of support to their party, while the Wordsmith subclass taps into how they can use their charismatic personality to boost the party's morale. Bards can provide amazing support to any party and can be entertaining to roleplay, giving new players a taste of what that aspect can look like in a TTRPG.
How Critical Role's Daggerheart TTRPG Compares to Dungeons & Dragons
The upcoming Daggerheart TTRPG from the Critical Role team has a DnD foundation, but it diverges in several key ways that cement its unique identity.
2 Guardian
An iron wall of a character that uses the Valor and Blade domain
If you are looking to be able to take a lot of damage and be unfazed by whatever your GM decides to throw at you, the Guardian class can be an amazing choice that simply tasks you with having as many defensive abilities as possible. While Rogues can be hard to hit even once, Guardians can take dozens of hits and still stay in the heat of battle. Their starting evasion is set low at nine, but their starting hit points are among the highest of the classes, being set at seven. Their hope feature simply allows them to spend three hope to clear two armor slots, making sure they can stay as protected as possible at a given moment. Their two starting class features are:
- Unstoppable: Once per long rest, you can become unstoppable. You gain an Unstoppable Die. At level one, your unstoppable die is a d4. Place it on your character sheet in the space provided, starting with the one value facing up. After you make a damage roll that deals one or more hit points to a target, increase the unstoppable die value by one when the die's value exceeds its maximum value or when the scene ends, remove the die and drop out of unstoppable. At level five, your unstoppable die increases to a d6. While unstoppable, you gain the following benefits: you reduce the severity of physical damage by one threshold, you add the current value of the unstoppable die to your damage roll, and you cannot be restrained or vulnerable.
- Tip: If your unstoppable die is a d4 and the four is currently facing up, you remove the die the next time you increase it. However, if your unstoppable die has increased to a d6 and the four is currently facing up, you'll turn it to a five the next time you increase it. In this case, you'll remove the die after you will need to increase it to higher than six.
Staying in that unstoppable state is a Guardian's key to victory and can happen naturally by being at the tip of the spear. If you want to double down on these defensive mechanics, the Stalwart subclass can continuously increase your damage thresholds and maintain your armor slots. However, if you want to punish the enemies who may make it past your defenses and harm your allies, the Vengeance subclass can make you more efficient when allies are damaged and can force enemies to take additional damage when they do.
1 Wizard
Studious spellcasters who use their knowledge to manipulate magic drawn from the Codex and Splendor domains
When it comes to those who choose the methods of magic, Wizards are arguably the most versatile due to how their magic can vary for multiple different purposes. Like most spellcasters, their stats are low with a starting evasion of eleven and a starting hit point total of five. Their hope feature allows them to spend three hope to force an adversary within far range to reroll an attack or damage roll. Their class features are:
- Prestidigitation: You can perform harmless, subtle magical effects at will. For example, you can change an object's color, create a smell, light a candle, cause a tiny object to float, illuminate a room, or repair a small object.
- Strange Patterns: Choose a number between one and twelve. When you roll that number on a Duality Die, gain a hope or clear a stress. You can change this number when you take a long rest.
Being a Wizard means having numerous spells that can be used in numerous ways. Having access to as many as you can is key. If you want to take full advantage of that sentiment, the School of Knowledge subclass is perfect at enhancing and getting you more spells than normal. However, if you want to harness your magical abilities for a more offensive playstyle, the School of War subclass can be an excellent glass cannon build.
Daggerheart
- Type of Game
- Tabletop Fantasy RPG
- Game Duration
- Long-term Campaigns
- What's Included
- Daggerheart Core Set: Rulebook, 279 cards Daggerheart Limited Edition Core: Rulebook, 279 cards, keepsake box, GM screen, rip pad, set of 9 dice, and 102 acrylic crystal tokens.
- Number of Players
- 3-6