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Daggerheart makes a fantasy setting visible through the characters built to inhabit it: class and subclass shape what they can do, ancestry and community express where they come from, and traits and Experiences help define how they act. The combination matters more than any single option—and a campaign frame gives those choices a particular world to belong to.
What makes Daggerheart characters different?
Daggerheart is Darrington Press’s fantasy tabletop role-playing game, designed for long-term campaigns and character progression. Its character options are building blocks rather than a claim that every ancestry, class, or ability is unprecedented. Their distinctiveness comes from how players combine them and how the campaign frames their place in the setting.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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Daggerheart Core Set | $36.08 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Daggerheart: Hope & Fear | $32.51 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Daggerheart Bard Class Pack | $24.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Daggerheart Ranger Class Pack | $34.09 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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The Game Master's Book of More Random Encounters: A Collection of Reality-Shifting Taverns, Temples,... | $15.35 | Buy on Amazon |
Lead game designer Spenser Starke described Daggerheart before launch as “a game that is specifically designed for narrative-focused play.” He added that its tools and mechanics reinforce collaborative storytelling and worldbuilding at the table. That is an interview description of the game’s approach, not a formal rules definition.
How do you make a character in Daggerheart?
The September 9, 2025 System Reference Document (SRD) lays out a sequence that connects a character’s capabilities with their background. Players choose a class and subclass, select a heritage, assign six traits, record character details, and choose starting equipment.
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- Choose a class and subclass. The class establishes a role-based archetype, its features, and access to domain cards. A subclass refines that archetype with its own features.
- Choose heritage. Heritage consists of ancestry and community. Ancestry reflects lineage and physicality and grants ancestry features; community reflects culture or environment of origin and grants a community feature.
- Assign the six traits. The traits are Agility, Strength, Finesse, Instinct, Presence, and Knowledge. Together, they help determine how the character approaches challenges.
- Record the remaining details. The SRD character sheet includes level, defenses, resources, weapons, armor, and inventory, alongside the character’s other details.
- Choose starting equipment. The player records the starting weapons, armor, and other inventory specified by the rules and character choices.
The publisher’s Daggerheart overview also points to a character-creation video featuring Matthew Mercer and Travis Willingham.
What are Daggerheart ancestries and communities?
Ancestry and community answer different questions. Ancestry concerns lineage and physical description; community points to the culture or environment that shaped a character. The SRD puts it plainly: “Your character’s community represents their culture or environment of origin and grants them a community feature.”
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That distinction gives a player more than one way to locate a character in the world. Two characters can share an ancestry but come from different communities, or share a community while having different ancestries. Their resulting features and backgrounds need not imply the same history or outlook.
Which classes, ancestries, and communities are in the core SRD?
The September 9, 2025 SRD lists nine core classes, 18 ancestries, and nine communities. These are the SRD’s core lists, not a complete inventory of material announced later.
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- 76-card set with everything you need to play a Bard from Level 1–10
- 2 Subclasses to shape your playstyle
- Grace & Codex domain cards to unlock spells, abilities, and more
- Ancestry & community cards to build your character’s background and identity
- QR code access to a curated Core Rulebook excerpt as well as character sheets, guides, and quickstart resources to get you to the table faster
| Option | Core SRD list |
|---|---|
| Classes | Bard, Druid, Guardian, Ranger, Rogue, Seraph, Sorcerer, Warrior, Wizard |
| Ancestries | Clank, Drakona, Dwarf, Elf, Faerie, Faun, Firbolg, Fungril, Galapa, Giant, Goblin, Halfling, Human, Infernis, Katari, Orc, Ribbet, Simiah |
| Communities | Highborne, Loreborne, Orderborne, Ridgeborne, Seaborne, Slyborne, Underborne, Wanderborne, Wildborne |
How does a campaign frame make the same options feel different?
A campaign frame establishes the setting-specific situation and themes around the characters. The same class or heritage can take on a different meaning depending on the world: a community’s customs may matter differently in one setting than another, while a character’s role and features meet different kinds of challenges. The frame supplies context; the character choices give players ways to engage with it.
Critical Role’s announced Age of Umbra mini-series is an example of Daggerheart used with a campaign frame. It should not be confused with Critical Role Campaign 4: a recent GamesRadar+ report identifies that campaign as using Dungeons & Dragons and taking place in Aramán, not as a Daggerheart campaign.
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- 76-card set with everything you need to play a Ranger from Level 1–10
- 2 Subclasses to shape your playstyle
- Bone & Sage domain cards to unlock spells, abilities, and more
- Ancestry & community cards to build your character’s background and identity
- QR code access to a curated Core Rulebook excerpt as well as character sheets, guides, and quickstart resources to get you to the table faster
What does Hope & Fear add?
A later official announcement for the Hope & Fear expansion adds four classes—Witch, Warlock, Brawler, and Assassin—along with new ancestries, six new communities, and four campaign frames. The announcement names Aetheris, Elemental Kin, and Gnomes among the new ancestries, and lists these frames:
- Castle High
- Journey to Horizon
- Reign of the Weredragon
- Dark Heart of Andaluria
These are expansion additions, separate from the core options listed in the September 2025 SRD. The announcement does not provide a complete ancestry list in the information cited here, so the named examples should not be read as the expansion’s full roster.
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You can inspect the rules without buying physical materials: Darrington Press provides the official SRD and downloadable resources, including print-and-play materials. For a physical game, the Core Set is the broadest product reference in the launch materials; the dedicated dice set and class-specific packs are other options.
| Starting point | What it offers | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| SRD and downloads | Rules reference and downloadable, including print-and-play, materials; no physical product is required to inspect these resources. | Readers who want to explore the rules or prepare without first buying physical materials. |
| Class Packs | Class-related cards, a rulebook excerpt, sheets, and guides. | Players who want class-specific materials; the publisher describes the packs as a way to try a class before committing to the full Core Set. |
| Core Set | The clearest reference for a complete physical product option; current contents and availability should be checked with the publisher. | Groups who want a physical set of play materials. |
Critical Role’s 2025 launch announcement also described online sessions with GMs and in-person store events. Those were launch-period activities, not evidence that the events or offers remain available. The same announcement’s counts of more than 150 online GMs and more than 100 participating stores describe that launch, not current GM supply or the number of active venues. No adoption, sales, or market-size total is established by the sources cited here.
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
