Daggerheart: Noob Classes That Make You a Tabletop God!

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 freshly minted tabletop role-playing game, crafted by Darrington Press – a publishing house established by the team behind Critical Role. The standard and premium editions offer a wealth of resources to cater to both beginners and seasoned gamers.

In the imaginative world of Daggerheart, you have countless possibilities to shape your own unique character. Whether it’s a massive giant ready to wreak havoc or a tiny frog with the power to bring about doom, this game lets your creativity run free – as simple or as elaborate as your heart dictates. From a practical standpoint for players embarking on long adventures, some classes are more beginner-friendly. Here are five such classes in Daggerheart that are ideal for newcomers.

5. Warrior

Expert combatants who focus on melee damage from the Blade and Bone Domains

Characters in the game “Daggerheart” are straightforward as they prioritize inflicting maximum damage with their chosen weapon during combat. However, they develop more complex abilities at higher levels, providing a sense of depth. Initially, their stats place them around an average starting baseline; their evasion rating starts at eleven, while their hit points begin at six. Warriors also possess the “hope” trait, enabling them to spend three hope points and receive a +1 bonus to their attack rolls until they rest again, thus enhancing their accuracy. Key class features include:

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 combining features such as Combat Training, Warrior’s Hope, and utilizing Attack of Opportunity, you’ll find it effortless to remain offensive, inflicting significant damage concurrently. As they progress in level, the two subclass options (Call of the Brave and Call of the Slayer) enhance their effectiveness, boosting a Warrior’s abilities against formidable adversaries. Call of the Brave fortifies a Warrior’s skills when facing tougher opponents and allows them to retain hope even in the face of fear, while Call of the Slayer can increase the damage dice on a successful attack.

4. Rogue

Nimble damage dealers that specialize in stealth by drawing from the Midnight and Grace Domains

Thieves, known for their swift strikes and quick escapes, excel in stealth and make excellent choices if you’re seeking a class with backup options in their abilities, especially when situations become challenging. They are ideal for maintaining tactical advantages even before combat begins. Initially, they boast a decent starting evasion of twelve and six hit points. Their unique ‘Hope’ feature enables them to spend three hope points to increase their evasion by +2 until the next time an attack hits them or they take a rest. The key features of this class are:

1. Evasion: This ability allows thieves to dodge attacks more effectively than others.
2. Cunning Action: Thieves can use their speed to take advantageous actions on their turn, such as moving stealthily or taking an extra attack.
3. Expertise: They gain proficiency in two of their choice skills from a predetermined list.
4. Sneak Attack: When they score a critical hit with a weapon attack or deal damage to a creature that is within their reach, they can add additional damage based on their level.
5. Thieves’ Cant: They learn a secret language called Thieves’ Cant, which allows them to communicate covertly and understand hidden meanings in common speech.
6. Versatility: At higher levels, thieves gain additional abilities that allow them to adapt to different situations, such as being able to turn invisible or gaining the ability to find hidden doors and traps more easily.

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.)

As a Rogue, you can choose to upgrade your stealth skills or delve deeper into the role-playing aspects of the game. The Nightwalker subclass enables you to manipulate the shadows, even transporting yourself between different shadows for increased invisibility during combat. On the other hand, the Syndicate subclass strengthens your character’s ties to the world that your Game Master has created, granting you the power to establish unique connections in various locations across the game environment.

3. Bard

Charming spellcasters who perform by drawing from the Grace and Codex domains

Familiar with fantastical settings, Bards have the ability to uniquely impact their game experiences. With their charming demeanors, they are adept at weaving spells from their innate talents as entertainers. Their initial hit points and evasion are slightly less than usual, starting at 10 and 5 respectively, a common trait for casters in tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs). The Bard’s ‘distraction’ feature enables them to spend three hope points to momentarily confuse an enemy within close proximity, reducing their difficulty by two. In contrast to other classes, they possess only one class ability: the Distraction feature.

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.

As a film enthusiast putting it in my own words, I’d say: The Bard’s Troubadour persona allows me to harness the power of my melodious talents to offer targeted assistance to my team, while the Wordsmith subclass lets me leverage my charismatic flair to uplift my companions’ spirits. With a bard in the party, we’re not just a group, but a symphony ready to unfold an epic tale. For newcomers to tabletop role-playing games, the Bard offers a glimpse into the captivating role-play possibilities that await.

2. Guardian

An iron wall of a character that uses the Valor and Blade domain

As a movie buff enthusiast, if you’re seeking a character that can withstand an impressive amount of punishment and remain undeterred by the unexpected challenges your Game Master conjures, the Guardian class could be an exceptional choice for you. Unlike Rogues who can evade attacks with agility, Guardians are built to absorb numerous blows and continue fighting at the forefront. Their initial evasion might seem modest at nine, but their starting hit points rank among the highest classes, starting at seven. The hope feature allows them to invest three hope points to clear two armor slots, ensuring they’re always well-protected in critical moments. Two of their beginning 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.

In my experience, maintaining an indomitable spirit is crucial for a Guardian’s triumph. This state often arises naturally when one takes the lead, standing at the forefront of the battle. If you’re looking to bolster your defensive tactics even further, the Stalwart subclass can progressively boost your damage resistance and secure your armor slots. On the other hand, if you wish to retaliate against enemies who manage to breach your defenses and endanger your allies, the Vengeance subclass can enhance your efficiency when your allies are hurt and impose extra damage on opponents whenever they attack.

1. Wizard

Studious spellcasters who use their knowledge to manipulate magic drawn from the Codex and Splendor domains

In terms of magic users, Wizards stand out as the most adaptable characters because their magical abilities can serve multiple purposes. Similar to other casters, they have relatively low stats with an initial evasion of 11 and a starting hit point total of 5. What sets them apart is their “hope” feature, which lets them spend three hope points to compel an enemy at a distance to re-roll an attack or damage roll. Their unique class abilities 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.

Mastering the art of Wizardry involves possessing a multitude of spells that offer versatility in their application. Acquiring as many spells as possible is crucial if you wish to fully exploit this concept. If you’re aiming for a more scholarly approach, enhancing your spell repertoire beyond the norm can be achieved through the School of Knowledge subclass. Alternatively, if you prefer a more aggressive playstyle, the School of War subclass can serve as an effective glass cannon build.

2025-05-20 10:05