Starting Equipment

During character creation, you’ll choose starting weapons, armor, and other items for your character.

Choose Your Weapons

You use physical weapons to attack your foes—and if you have a Spellcast trait (such as from your subclass), you can also wield magic weapons. At character creation, you can choose either a two-handed primary weapon , or a one-handed primary weapon and a one-handed secondary weapon , then equip them.

You can find weapon suggestions at the top of your character guide, but if you’d like to choose your own, you can find all starting (Tier 1) weapons in the “Primary Weapon Tables” and “Secondary Weapon Tables” sections in chapter 2. (These are also available as a separate sheet to print out from the Daggerheart website or in the appendix.)

At Level 1, your Proficiency is 1. This means you’ll roll one damage die for your weapon attacks. In the Active Weapons area of your character sheet, this is recorded in the Proficiency field.

Tip: In the area of your character labeled Damage Dice & Type, record your damage dice with the Proficiency value already written in (like “1d6+3” instead of “d6+3”), to remind yourself how many weapon dice to roll. Whenever you increase your Proficiency, you also increase the number of dice in the damage dice field to reflect this change. For example, when your Proficiency becomes 2, you would change it to “2d6+3” instead.

Choose Your Armor

You use armor to reduce the severity of incoming attacks. At character creation, you can choose one set of armor and equip it. You can find armor suggestions at the top of your character guide, but if you’d like to choose your own, you can find all starting (Tier 1) armor in the “Armor Tables” section in chapter 2. (These are also available as a separate sheet to print out from the Daggerheart website or in the appendix.) When your character equips armor, record its details in the Active Armor fields of your character sheet.

An armor’s damage thresholds (shown in the “Base Thresholds” column) indicate how much damage a character can endure before marking Hit Points. Add your character’s level to both values and record the total for both numbers in the corresponding fields. In the “Hit Points and Damage Thresholds” section of chapter 2, you’ll learn how many Hit Points to mark on your character sheet each time your character takes damage.

Then, in the Armor field at the top left of your character sheet, record your Armor Score . This score includes the armor’s base value (shown in the “Base Score” column) plus any permanent bonuses your character has to their Armor Score from other abilities. When your character takes damage, you can mark one of the small shield symbols next to your Armor Score (called an Armor Slot ), then reduce the severity of the damage by one threshold: Severe to Major, Major to Minor, or Minor to None. You can only mark one Armor Slot per attack, and you have a number of slots equal to your Armor Score.

Choose Other Starting Items

Your inventory includes anything else your character is carrying. The top of your character guide lists all their starting inventory items, which include the following:

• Torch (useful for illuminating a dark room)
• 50 feet of rope (useful for climbing a wall or rappelling down a cliff)
• Basic supplies (tent, bedroll, tinderbox, rations, etc.)
• A handful of gold (record this in the Gold field in the left-hand column of your character sheet)
• Your choice of a Minor Health Potion (clear 1d4 Hit Points) or a Minor Stamina Potion (clear 1d4 Stress)
• The “and either” option on your character guide is specific to your class. You might also be asked to choose what you use to carry your spells.

Record these items in the Inventory fields of your character sheet. This equipment is available to use during the party’s adventures in any way that fits the shared story. We encourage you to use items creatively, as long as the GM agrees and it fits the rules of the world.

You can also talk to your GM about other items you’d like to have at the start of the game. There are no rules limiting the size of your inventory, so items that don’t provide a mechanical benefit but make sense for your character to have are normally okay—but your GM always makes the final call.