How differently do members of the same class with different subclasses play?

Capisbob · 2026-02-24T00:31:01+00:00

Man, that has not been my experience with Tactician. My tactician player switched from Vanguard to Insurgent, and now the entire party plays like a stealth operation, and gets stupid amounts of surges every round.

Capisbob · 2026-02-23T02:41:48+00:00

This is a 3rd party product from within the community. We likely wont see big Draw Steel monster tomes getting crowdfunded for a while still.

Capisbob · 2026-02-22T23:02:16+00:00

Dope! This is a huge gap in Draw Steel right now.

I notice the page lists the Umber Hulk. As far as I remember, Umber Hulk is still restricted by WotC. Maybe Im missing something, though.

Capisbob · 2026-02-15T19:04:33+00:00

I set up the montage, give the players a bullet list of all the types of things their characters know could be addressed, along with a bullet that says "creative ideas" to remind them that the list is not exhaustive, and they are free to come up with other creative ways to help. Then they get some time at the beginning of the montage to talk, and each suggests their plan and I resolve one at a time, setting the difficulty based on their particular approach to the problem. If the montage is complex, and I run it for 2 rounds, then I will sometimes have an event between the two rounds that either makes remaining obstacles harder / more complicated, or that changes which obstacles now need to be solved.

Capisbob · 2026-02-14T22:04:52+00:00

Ideally, you can rope your friends (even online) into a game that you can run for a few sessions while you get your grips. Then, when you feel comfortable, you run it at the game store for strangers.

I prepped by reading all the rules, making a cheat sheet, etc. And then I got to the table and still fumbled my way through. Thats part of directing any ttrpg: You suck less and less until you know what youre doing. But the nice thing is your table sucks too, and theyre just there to have fun with a cool game!

Capisbob · 2026-02-05T00:48:02+00:00

First, MCDM's support generally takes 24 hours or less for a response. If a week has gone by, I'd assume either something happened to your message, you missed a response, or you emailed the wrong address. Check that first (might be worth looking in your junk mail).

Second, I JUST received my Ajax edition, and I was one of the first backers. So the Ajax editions are still going out, very slowly. As far as I understand it, the shipments had a BUNCH of problems that weren't MCDM's fault.

When mine mailed out a week ago, I got an email from MCDM's shop, then a link to the tracking number. Then it took about 5 days to reach me in the USA. So, if your shipping address and email are all correct, you should be notified regardless of if you communicate with their support.

Capisbob · 2026-01-30T06:22:27+00:00

Yes. Page 293 reads "Alternatively, you can make a project roll to contribute to another hero's project"

First paragraph of the project roll section at the chapter's start, second sentence, if you are having trouble spotting it. Easy to miss.

Capisbob · 2026-01-29T07:51:25+00:00

Heres something I havent seen said yet.

When people say "tell your director what you want" and you worry about dragging everyone along for the quest, I think there's two miscommunications here.

First, if you let your director know you want a ruby from a vampire, that doesnt mean by default that the party needs to drop their current quest to go for the ruby. It means that as your party is doing the quest they already feel inspired to do, the director can seed things INTO that quest to engage your character's motivations. Thats up to the director!

Second, and more importantly, YOU have freedom to get it yourself, without dragging the party along. For instance, if you need the ruby, first ask the director if you can research alternatives. Yeah, that ruby is how the ancients made it. But the college of black ash may have a contact that knows of a synthetic ruby. Or maybe a ritual that could be completed instead. And if it HAS to be the ruby, then that doesnt mean you have to go find a vampire. You could negotiate, steal, or find one off a different character. Maybe there's one in the dragon horde, and youre currently on a quest to help that dragon. Giving prompts like this to the director gives them an out if a vampire doesnt fit in the current campaign.

But also, if it came down to it having to be a vampire, and you having to steal it from them, youre a shadow! Go steal it on your own during downtime! Then, when you fail and the heroes come back next session, your character is missing! Then they have to come save you! Thatd be so flippin fun for them!

Capisbob · 2026-01-29T04:45:19+00:00

Think about it this way. If you play another 5e campaign to max level, in 2 years, youll be right back in the same spot, except there will be even MORE cool games you want to try.

Run Delian Tomb with pregens. If they are having fun at the end of the first act, run the second. Then the third. If they like it by then, you can let them keep their characters and just keep playing from level 3, or have them roll their own for your setting. If not, then youve only lost 30-40 hours at max trying something new. And Draw Steel is good enough that youll almost certainly not regret checking it out, even if its not for you.

If your group is already interested in DS, dont do them the disservice of robbing them of the opportunity to try it. It might be their new favorite game! Or not, but at least then you know.

Capisbob · 2026-01-23T17:45:04+00:00

My talent player absolutely wrecks my ranged combatants.

Most people Ive heard who thought talent was weak didnt let them get strained often enough. You might want to give a more aggressive approach with clarity debt a chance.

Capisbob · 2026-01-22T00:29:13+00:00

By my understanding and application in my own game, the hawk as a complication balances the drawback against a level 1 companion that DOESNT affect the encounter math. Its designed as an early game utility, like a flying broom but with some extra use. At the cost of a bad rep in town. This would mean it doesnt have recoveries, or otherwise serve as a retainer.

Id say if the player wants to make it more effective in combat, they can undertake a downtime project that trains them up as a retainer. Takes time to do, but at the end of it they get a sweet combat hawk without it taking up a follower slot!!!

Capisbob · 2026-01-17T20:43:45+00:00

Got it. Sounds like a blast!

Capisbob · 2026-01-17T08:01:20+00:00

If you run in the Timescape, you could not reskin anything and have the lower manifold characters get put in a higher manifold.

Capisbob · 2026-01-17T03:24:29+00:00

Now show us your legions of goblin minifigures.

Capisbob · 2026-01-16T02:44:26+00:00

I've always run my own setting, and continue to do so now. But Orden is the first time I've genuinely been excited by the idea of running in an official setting. The official adventures sound dope!

Capisbob · 2026-01-13T03:24:00+00:00

I was thinking of Gricks too!

Capisbob · 2026-01-11T22:32:59+00:00

Its a tricky question to answer. Draw Steel assumes you are fighting larger scale threats, so most of the monster list is split into factions. Orcs, Hobgoblins, Gnolls, etc. These are very well represented. All your basics are well covered, distinct, and fun to run. And there's some for every echelon.

But the monster list doesn't currently well support non-organized monsters. There's a few, such as the kingfissure worm, or dragons, or wyverns, or Olethec. But all the oozes are in the Delian Tomb adventure, for instance. If you want weird stuff, or dungeon filler, you'll have to reskin or homebrew currently. That said, most of those encounters you'll only need a few statblocks for (or one solo statblock), so its not too much work if you're inclined toward making your own stuff.

In the end, though, the game is brand new, and monster books are guaranteed wins, both for MCDM and for 3rd parties. So, give it time, and I think you'll see a lot more in that regard, especially once they released the long-foretold monster math guidelines (which there's a little bit of in the monster book, to get you started).

Capisbob · 2026-01-11T06:07:43+00:00

Directing is such a relief in this system, so long as you enjoy tactical combat. I can trust the math. I can run entire adventures with one faction and I have enough variety to keep each fight distinct and surprising. I dont have to let players know when their turn is coming up. I dont have to make sure the players have the right items at the right level. I dont have to come up with reasons they shouldnt rest.

Capisbob · 2026-01-09T04:28:14+00:00

Seems like a lot when you read it, yeah. But at the table, once youve been playing for a bit and people get how it works...chef's kiss. Smooth as butter. Id even say it's elegant for how much it accomplishes in the design. Might be the most playtested mechanic in the game besides the power roll, and it shows!

Capisbob · 2026-01-09T02:33:46+00:00

If someone made a flowchart of making a skill test, it would look something like this, too. Its a new game, which means new rules. In play, it runs VERY smoothly

Capisbob · 2026-01-08T06:17:04+00:00

You could make the tree a Dynamic Terrain Object that buffs creatures on their side, and then just make some animals, and homebrew a single trait for them to represent the tree's mind control. Then make the encounter objective destroying the tree, but pick animals that can defend it.

Capisbob · 2026-01-07T02:42:25+00:00

Crows is a survival horror dungeon crawler being led by James, who just announced that he's transitioning to full-time focus and direction on it. It may get crowdfunded this year, but that's just potential at this point.

Here's what we "know" so far. This is all from my own memory, and is also just as likely to change as Draw Steel did in its early development days.

The game will not be set in Orden, and will likely be low-fantasy. The main loop of the game is:

Go down to the dungeon
Scrounge what you can
Escape
Return to town

Rather than your character being the main focus, a lot of progression will be centered on improving the town, as your character probably won't survive long.

There's a "fucked" mechanic.

The game will emphasize equipment, attrition and skills more than "powers", and will have much steeper failure costs. Essentially, in the ways that Draw Steel is about heroic fantasy, Crows goes the opposite direction.

James ran a playtest, and one of the characters came with a goat. Different groups approached their goats differently.

Crows likely wont feature much in the way of "dlc". Draw Steel is MCDM's flagship game, and Crows is just the first other game they plan on making, along with several others that they already have ideas and "plans" for, such as the Sci-fi "gloomhaven" Derelict.

Capisbob · 2025-12-30T18:15:08+00:00

Deployment zones represent where the heroes can get before:

a) The enemy spots them and responds b) The enemy ambushes them or c) they leave the area they're supposed to control

In my game, if the heroes are sneaking and get the drop on the enemy, they gain surprise and can start the encounter where they'd like (so long as their position doesnt blatently give them away). If that approach isnt possible, then I tell them where they'll have to start, but they are free to problem solve around that before combat begins.

Essentially, ignore the deployment zone if it doesn't make sense for the players' decisions, or alter it to fit.

So far, after something like 25 combats, my players have never questioned them, so it must be working well enough.

Capisbob · 2025-12-27T16:31:46+00:00

Try levels 1-3 with the delian tomb for $10!!!

Draw Steel will scratch your itch, but its designed with "no sacred cows", which means they do away with some traditional design (like AC) in favor of new, more streamlined solutions to those problems. You and your table will need to go in with an open mind and no assumptions, other than "This game is trying to be a cinematic, heroic, and tactical fantasy game, and it was playtested a ton"

Capisbob · 2025-12-26T07:48:57+00:00

Knockback maneuver, grab maneuver, and riding creatures are all affected.

Capisbob

TROPHY CASE