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Leveling Up

When your party reaches a milestone in a campaign, the GM will tell you that it's time to level up. How often this happens is up to your GM and your group's narrative preferences, but most groups play at least three sessions between levels.

Overview

All party members level up at the same time. When you level up your character, you can upgrade their character traits and features. The following sections provide step-by-step instructions for levelling up a character.

Generally, characters begin their journey at level 1 and end their journey at level 10, but if a party loses a character in the middle of a campaign, the GM should have the character's player make a new character at the appropriate level of the party.

Tiers of Play

Levels in Daggerheart are divided into tiers.

  • Tier 1 encompasses level 1 only.
  • Tier 2 encompasses levels 2–4.
  • Tier 3 encompasses levels 5–7.
  • Tier 4 encompasses levels 8–10.

Your tier affects your damage thresholds, level achievements, and more.

Level Achievements

When your character levels up, first take any level achievements they have earned. These achievements are given in at the top of the tier block, found on the lower half of your class guide.

  • At level 2, you gain an additional Experience and add it to your character sheet with a modifier of +2. You also gain a permanent +1 bonus to your Proficiency.
  • At level 5, you gain an additional Experience and add it to your character sheet with a modifier of +2. You also gain a permanent +1 bonus to your Proficiency. You clear any marks on each character trait you've previously increased and marked, allowing you to increase those traits again later.
  • At level 8, you gain an additional Experience and add it to your character sheet with a modifier of +2. You also gain a permanent +1 bonus to your Proficiency. You clear any marks on each character trait you've previously increased and marked.

Tip: For help with Experiences, see the "Step 7: Create Your Experiences" section on page 20.

Choosing Advancements

Next, you have a set list of options for upgrading your character. You can choose any two options with unmarked slots. Some options have multiple slots, meaning they can be chosen more than once. When you choose your advancement, mark the appropriate slot. Once all of an option's slots have been marked, you can't take that option again.

Tier 2: Levels 2-4

At level 2, gain an additional Experience at +2, and gain a +1 bonus to your Proficiency.

Choose two options from the list below and from the multiclass list (if applicable):

  • Gain a +1 bonus to two unmarked character traits.
  • Permanently gain one Hit Point slot.
  • Permanently gain one Stress slot.
  • Choose an additional domain card of your level or lower from a domain you have access to (up to three times).
  • Permanently gain a +1 bonus to your Evasion.
  • Update your level and adjust your damage thresholds accordingly. Take an additional domain card of your level or lower from a domain you have access to.

Tier 3: Levels 5-7

At level 5, gain an additional Experience at +2. Clear all marks on character traits. Then gain a +1 bonus to your Proficiency.

Choose two options from the list below or from the multiclass list (if applicable):

  • Gain a +1 bonus to two unmarked character traits.
  • Permanently gain one Hit Point slot.
  • Permanently gain a +1 bonus to two character traits.
  • Choose an additional domain card of your level or lower from a domain you have access to (up to three times).
  • Permanently gain a +1 bonus to your Evasion.
  • Clear the multiclass option for this tier.

Update your level and adjust your damage thresholds accordingly. Take an additional domain card of your level or lower from a domain you have access to. Increase your Proficiency to +4.

Tier 4: Levels 8-10

At level 8, gain an additional Experience at +2. Clear all marks on character traits. Then gain a +1 bonus to your Proficiency.

Choose two options from the list below or any from the multiclass list (if applicable):

  • Gain a +1 bonus to two unmarked character traits.
  • Permanently gain one Hit Point slot.
  • Permanently gain a +1 bonus to two character traits.
  • Choose an additional domain card of your level or lower from a domain you have access to (up to three times).
  • Permanently gain a +1 bonus to your Evasion.
  • Clear the multiclass option for this tier.

Update your level and adjust your damage thresholds accordingly. Take an additional domain card of your level or lower from a domain you have access to.

Advancement Options

  • When you choose to increase two unmarked character traits and mark them: Choose two unmarked character traits and gain a permanent +1 bonus to them. You can't increase these again until the next tier (when your level achievement allows you to clear these marks).

  • When you choose to permanently add 1 or more Hit Point slots: Darken the outline of the next rectangle in the Hit Point section of your character sheet in pen or permanent marker.

  • When you choose to permanently add 1 or more Stress slots: Darken the outline of the next rectangle in the Stress section of your character sheet in pen or permanent marker.

  • When you choose to increase your Experiences: Choose two Experiences on your character sheet and gain a permanent +1 bonus to both.

  • Take an additional domain card of your level or lower from a domain you have access to: You can choose an additional domain card from your class's domains at your level or lower. If you have multiclassed, select a card from your chosen domain at no higher than half your level.

  • When you choose to increase your Evasion: Gain a permanent +1 bonus to your Evasion.

  • When you choose to take an upgraded subclass card: Take the next card for your subclass. If you have only the foundation card, take a specialisation. If you have a specialisation already, take a mastery. You'll also cross out the option to multiclass when you subsequently level up in that tier.

  • When you choose to increase your Proficiency: Fill in one of the open circles in the "Proficiency" section of your character sheet, then increase your weapon's number of damage dice by 1 (for example, from 2d6 to 3d6). You'll see a black box around the level-up slots. That's because increasing your Proficiency requires you to mark both level-up slots in order to take it as an option.

  • When you choose to multiclass: You can take certain features and domain cards from another class. You'll see a black box around the level-up slots. That is because multiclassing requires you to mark both level-up slots in order to take it as an option. See the upcoming "Multiclassing" section for details.

Raising Damage Thresholds

After choosing advancements, raise your character's damage thresholds by +1 (since you always add their current level to your armour's thresholds).

Taking Domain Cards

Finally, take a new domain deck card at your level or lower, increasing the special abilities your character can use. You can choose one card from any domain deck available to your class. If you share a domain deck with another player, make sure you take each other's preferences into consideration when choosing a card, or that you have multiple copies of a card available.

Additionally, you can also choose to trade out one domain card you already have for a different domain card at an equal level or lower.

Since you can't have more than five domain cards active at a time, once you have six or more domain cards, you need to choose which to keep in your loadout and which to store in your vault.

Multiclassing

Starting at level 5, you can choose multiclassing as an option when leveling up. When you multiclass, you get to choose an additional class, select one domain from that class, and gain access to their class feature. Take the appropriate multiclass module and add it to the right side of your character sheet, then choose a foundation card from a subclass of your choice. If the foundation card has a Spellcast trait on it, you can choose to use that trait when making a Spellcast Roll or use the Spellcast trait from your original subclass. If you did not previously have a Spellcast trait and now require one for your multiclass, you must use the Spellcast trait noted on your new subclass.

Tip: When you multiclass, you must cross out one "take an upgraded subclass card" option on this tier of your level-up sheet, meaning you can't gain the mastery card for any subclass. You also cross out any other multiclass options, as characters can only multiclass once.

Choose a domain from your new class that you don't already have access to. Moving forward, whenever you get to choose domain cards, you can choose from cards that match your level 2, your can choose from cards at half your current level (rounded up). This means a level 5 wizard who decides to multiclass into druid and chooses the Sage domain could choose any Sage domain card of level 3 or lower.

Any attacks, spells, or other moves you use while multiclassing are always performed at your current level. For example, a level 7 wizard who multiclasses into a druid can use the tier 3 "Beastform" options. If any move you get by multiclassing asks you to use a number of dice equal to your level, use the level on your character sheet. The half-level restriction only applies to selecting domain cards, not the mechanics written on them.

Example of Leveling Up a Character

Aliyah's party has just advanced to level 2 and the group is levelling up together. Aliyah finds the warrior class guide to bring Tabby up to level 2.

  • First, Aliyah updates Tabby's level to "2" at the top of her character sheet.
  • Aliyah then takes her level achievements. She adds a new Experience for Tabby. Because Tabby has been doing a lot of acrobatics and daring jumps, she decides to give her the Always Land on My Feet Experience. This is a new Experience, so it starts with a +2 modifier. Afterward, she increases Tabby's Proficiency to 2 (because she gets a permanent +1 bonus at level 2) and fills in one of the circles in the Proficiency section of her character sheet to reflect the change.
  • Next, she looks at the advancement options for levels 2 to 4. She knows she wants to increase Tabby's Agility, since that's her primary trait for combat. She marks "Gain a +1 bonus to two unmarked character traits and mark them." Aliyah chooses Agility and Instinct, raising both by 1. Tabby now has an Agility of +3 and an Instinct of +2, then marks the circles attached to each trait as a reminder that they can't be raised again until Tabby hits level 5 and clears marks on all traits.
  • Following that, Aliyah marks "Permanently gain one Stress slot." She looks at the Stress section of Tabby's character sheet and fills in the outline of one of the dotted squares to represent Tabby's new permanent Stress slot. That means she'll be able to withstand more strain during play.
  • She then goes to Tabby's damage thresholds and gains a permanent +1 bonus to both her level, increasing her Major threshold from 7 to 8 and her Severe threshold from 14 to 15. Additionally, she updates the damage bonus from her "Combat Training" class feature to +2, as the bonus is equal to her level.
  • Lastly, Aliyah asks for the domain decks for Blade and Bone to pick a new domain card at level 2 or lower. Her options in the Blade deck are "Reckless" and "A Soldier's Bond." Her choices from the Bone are "Strategic Approach" and "Ferocity." Aliyah considers the option to gain and give Hope with "A Soldier's Bond." Since Tabby's Knowledge trait is only 0, she doesn't think "Strategic Approach" is a good choice. In the end, she settles on "Reckless" to give Tabby a better chance of hitting her opponents.

Now Tabby is ready to continue her journey as a level 2 warrior!