All Character Classes in Daggerheart’s Open Beta

Critical Role has officially launched its fantasy TTRPG ruleset Daggerheart into open beta playtesting, meaning prospective players and game masters can finally take the system for a spin. Here’s a peek into the character classes and subclasses currently available in Daggerheart.

All Character Classes (and Subclasses) Currently Available in Daggerheart

Though Critical Role has an established foothold in both Pathfinder and Dungeons & Dragons, a plethora of additional TTRPG systems have shaped the channel’s voice over the years through one-shots and continued ambassadorship of tabletop storytelling. So, while Daggerheart’s initial classes have plenty of overlap with the popular classes of Dungeons & Dragons, Critical Role‘s new system is born from a panoply of TTRPG and narrative fantasy influences.

Each Daggerheart class represents the meeting of two thematic Domains, with Domains granting player characters certain spells and abilities depending on their level. In addition to Domain-related moves, Daggerheart character sheets boast a specialized class feature (or features) and currently offer two subclass options that start at the foundation level for level one characters. Here’s a brief snapshot of the character classes currently available in the open beta form of Daggerheart:

Bard

Domains: Grace and Codex
Subclasses: Wordsmith and Troubadour
Spellcast Trait: Presence
Class Feature(s): Rally

As in Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy stories, Daggerheart‘s Bards fulfill a “face” role within an adventuring party’s dynamic. The Wordsmith and Troubadour subclasses offer the opportunity to specialize in speechcraft or music, respectively. Bards remain a spellcasting class in Daggerheart, and their class feature Rally is one of several mechanics that allows them to support their fellow adventurers through their charisma and artistry.

Druid

Domains: Sage and Arcana
Subclasses: Warden of the Elements and Warden of Renewal
Spellcast Trait: Instinct
Class Feature(s): Beastform and Wildtouch

Another spellcasting class reminiscent of its Dungeons & Dragons counterpart, Druids possess an affinity for the natural world. Transforming into different creatures remains central to the class in Daggerheart through Beastform. In Daggerheart, a Druid’s transformation options are divided into subcategories, with level one’s groupings including Agile Scouts, Aquatic Scouts, and Pack Predators. Each Beastform subgroup has specific traits and feats associated with it. For example, a hyena has the potential to deal extra damage to a creature an ally has just hit, thanks to the Pack Predator’s Pack Hunting ability. The Druid’s other feature, Wildtouch, is similar to Dungeons & Dragons’s Druidcraft and allows for the creation of a subtle natural effect.

Guardian

Domains: Valor and Blade
Subclasses: Stalwart & Vengeance
Class Feature(s): Unstoppable

Bolstered by their Unstoppable feature and various other Domain abilities, Guardians act as tank-like characters who throw themselves into the heart of danger. Sam Riegel played a Stalwart Guardian named Pango in Critical Role’s Daggerheart one-shot, flexing the class’s ability to take a decent walloping throughout the game’s initiative-less combat.

Ranger

Domains: Bone and Sage
Subclasses: Beastbound and Wayfinder
Spellcast Trait: Agility
Class Feature(s): Ranger’s Focus

The entire animal kingdom is the oyster of the Beastbound Ranger, who can work with their Daggerheart GM to select a fitting companion for their character. While the Wayfinder Ranger does not get a companion, their path offers other boons for tracking and combat scenarios. Both subclasses of Ranger have the feature Ranger’s Focus, which is Daggerheart‘s variation on Hunter’s Mark.  

Rogue

Domains: Midnight and Grace
Subclasses: Syndicate and Nightwalker
Spellcast Trait: Finesse
Class Feature(s): Hide and Sneak Attack

Sneaky and slippery, Rogues know their way around the shadows. One of the main perks to playing a Rogue in Dungeons & Dragons comes from dealing Sneak Attack damage, an ability Daggerheart has maintained and adjusted to fit into its distinct mechanics. In addition to Sneak Attack, Daggerheart Rogues have the Hide feature, which can make them particularly slippery and evasive in combat scenarios.

Seraph

Domains: Splendor and Valor
Subclasses: Divine Wielder and Winged Sentinel
Spellcast Trait: Strength
Class Feature(s): Prayer Dice

Much like their Dungeons & Dragons counterparts, Clerics, Seraphs wield healing abilities and divine magic. Daggerheart’s mechanic of Hope and Fear presents another outlet in which Seraphs can support their party, as gifting a stored d4 amount of Hope is one of the capabilities of their versatile Prayer Dice feat.

Sorcerer

Domains: Arcana & Midnight
Subclasses: Elemental Origin and Primal Origin
Spellcast Trait: Instinct
Class Feature(s): Arcane Sense, Minor Illusion, and Channel Raw Power

Critical Role has already done its spin on an Avatar: The Last Airbender-inspired narrative with Vox Machina’s Keyleth. However, for players perpetually attracted to wielding elemental power, Daggerheart’s Elemental Origin Sorcerer might be the perfect fit. The alternative subclass, Primal Origin, allows inherently magical Sorcerers to “modify the essence of magic itself”.

Warrior

Domains: Blade and Bone
Subclasses: Call of the Brave and Call of the Slayer
Class Feature(s): Battle Strategist and Combat Training

Much like Guardian, Warrior is a non-spellcasting, combat-focused Daggerheart class. Those who followed Critical Role’s Daggerheart programming were given a glimpse at two versions of the Warrior class — with Taliesin Jaffe portraying a Call of the Brave Warrior during Mercer’s one-shot adventure and Travis Willingham porting his Bells Hells namesake, Bertrand Bell, into the new system as a Call of the Slayer Warrior in a character creation video.

Wizard

Domains: Codex and Valor
Subclasses: School of Knowledge and School of War
Spellcast Trait: Knowledge
Class Feature(s): Prestidigitation and Strange Patterns

The final Daggerheart class is another that’s familiar to Dungeons & Dragons fans, that of the studiously magical Wizard. While the feat Prestidigitation is likewise familiar to Dungeons & Dragons players, Strange Patterns is a unique feat that relies on Daggerheart’s Duality Dice mechanic and has a gambling-like quality. With Strange Patterns, a Wizard can choose a number between 1 and 12, and if that number is rolled on their d12, they can clear a stress or gain a Hope (the number can only be reset after a long rest).

Multiclassing and Homebrewing in Daggerheart

For those attracted to more than one of the character classes in Daggerheart, multiclassing becomes an option after level five, allowing players to acquire modified versions of another class’s feat/feats and access new Domain cards. Of course, much like multiclassing in Dungeons & Dragons, there are stipulations to keep multiclassed characters balanced that can be accessed in further detail through the Daggerheart Nexus on Demiplane.

Now that the game is in open beta, Critical Role has encouraged players to “break” Daggerheart to help shape the game into the best version possible before its official 2025 release. This means that the classes and subclasses outlined above aren’t their final forms, which will, in part, be shaped by players at home. While Critical Role wants critique and feedback about what’s working and not working with Daggerheart in its current form, it’s likely that fans will also modify elements of the system to suit their own creative needs, as Critical Role has always attracted a crowd of homebrewers.