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Leveling up is an essential part of any tabletop roleplay game, andDaggerheartis no exception. Unlike some other TTRPGs like Dungeons & Dragons, which go from levels one to 20, Daggerheart goes from levels one to ten, and is broken down into a handful of different tiers for players to progress through.
So, if you’re diving into Daggerheart for the first time as either a player or a Game Master, you might be wondering how this system works and if it makes sense for your table. That’s why we’ve created this guide. Here’s everything you need to know to level up in Daggerheart.
When Do You Level Up?
Unlike other tabletop roleplaying games,Daggerheart level-ups are exclusively milestone-based.This means that youdo not gain XPfor defeating enemies or accomplishing tasks.
Instead, your GM will determine that you have reached an important milestone in the campaign. When this happens,the entire party levels up at once. Players cannot level up differently from one another.
While it’s preferable to trigger a level-up on an important campaign milestone,the Daggerheart sourcebook also recommends level-ups once every three sessionson average.
How Do Level-Ups Work?
When the party levels up in Daggerheart, you subsequently get toimprove various character traits based on your level and your tier.
Tier 4
Levels 8-10
The reason level tiers are important is thatyou gain different perks based on your level and your tier.When you cross into a new level tier, you’ll gain different improvements that are separate from your character level.
Overall, when you level up,you’ll gain improvements in one of four ways:
As you level up in Daggerheart, you might be curious about multiclassing.Keep in mind that you can only begin multiclassing at level five, and youcan only multiclass once.
What Are Level Achievements?
The first thing you should do when you level up ischeck what level achievements you receive. These achievements areonly given out at specific levels:
Details
Level 2
At level two, you’llgain an additional Experienceand also a+1 to your Proficiency.
Level 5
At level five, yougain another Experienceand another+1 to your Proficiency.
You also get toclear any marks on character traitsyou’ve previously marked or increased in any way. This meansyou can subsequently increase them again.
Level 8
Same as level five, yougain another Experience, a+1 bonus to your Proficiency, and canclear any marked character traits.
Each of the above levels is the first new level in a given tier.
This means that, whenever you improve a character trait,you won’t be able to do so again until you enter a new tier.
How To Choose Advancements
Additionally, each time you level up, you’llgain the opportunity to choose advancements. At each level,you can select two advancements.
On your character sheet,you’ll see that each advancement option has an unmarked squarenext to it in each tier.
This represents the number of times you can take that advancementin each tier.
+1 to two Experiences
Choose one additional domain card of your level or lower.
Evasion
+1 to Evasion
Additionally,at level fiveand above, you gain access to three additional advancement options.
When multiclassing or increasing your Proficiency, you must use both of your advancement points, meaning you won’t be able to take any other advancements at that level.
How To Raise Damage Thresholds
Armor, evasion, and damage thresholds work very differentlyin Daggerheart, as opposed to other TTRPGs like Dungeons & Dragons.
However, when it comes to level-ups, improving damage thresholds is very simple. Add +1 to all of your damage thresholds, as your damage threshold is calculated like so:
How To Take Domain Cards
While you can choose an additional Domain Card as part of your advancement,whenever you level up, you take one domain card from your deckat your level or lower.
So, for example, if you’ve leveledup to level three, you cantake one new domain cardfrom a deck you have access toat level three or lowerof your choosing.
Furthermore, each time you level up,you can also swap out domain cardsyou already have for a card of equal level.
Remember,you may only have five domain cards activeat a given time. Once you have more than five cards, you’ll need to carefully choose your loadout and vault the rest of your cards.
That’s what you need to know to level up in Daggerheart! When in doubt,refer to the level-up section at the bottom of your character guideto see a full list of your options.
