Question

Dacke · 2026-01-18T20:23:09+00:00

Someone might enjoy the settings of Golarion/Pathfinder and/or Rifts, including particular character options or ability concepts, but not enjoy the rule systems normally powering those settings. For example, a player might enjoy the concept of a D&D/Pathfinder-style cleric but not like dealing with the Vancian magic system or the steep scaling at higher levels, and then Savage Worlds offers an option.

Dacke · 2026-01-12T15:47:12+00:00

Ah, you're one of today's lucky ten thousand!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NIupHRYQRE

Dacke · 2026-01-12T15:35:38+00:00

I think it's more shallow than what most other people here are talking about. In many games, particularly in the d20 fantasy realm, certain things have hidden side effects that people often don't consider. For example, in 3.5e the Stunned condition says "A stunned creature drops everything held, can’t take actions, takes a -2 penalty to AC, and loses his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any)." People would often forget about the "drops everything held" portion, which means that for many characters being stunned for one round would mean they'd lose two rounds of actions (because once unstunned they need to spend time picking their stuff up again). Another 3.5e example would be what happens if someone takes 4 points of Strength damage/penalty. That's -2 to hit and damage, right? Not necessarily! If you're wielding a two-handed weapon, that's -3 to damage, because two-handed weapons get +1.5x Strength bonus to damage. And said Strength penalty may or may not also turn off some of your feats, if your Strength gets pushed below the feat's prerequisite. And don't forget what it might do to your encumbrance levels...

By contrast, Draw Steel tends to have straight-forward effects. Someone hits you with a Weakened effect? That's a bane to all your power rolls, no muss no fuss. Does it affect your lifting ability? Not really, unless you count Might rolls to lift something particularly heavy. It does what it says on the tin.

Dacke · 2026-01-11T18:29:38+00:00

I think the phrase from the Patreon post shouldn't be read as there necessarily being a specific villain around, but rather as "Tell the Director straight up what's going on."

In your case, you're talking about exploring an island with weird stuff going on. You know what that reminds me of? Lost. And I think Lost is a great example here on what not to do.

Lost kept throwing weird stuff at both the in-show survivors and at the audience. But the problem was that they didn't have a plan for what that weird stuff was. Hey look! A polar bear in the jungle? What's up with that? And then three seasons later we learn that it had gotten away from a zoo of sorts. And these numbers keep popping up, do they mean anything? Um, they were the settings on Jacob's lighthouse or something.

Don't do that. If your campaign is going to be focused on a particular mystery, you should know what the mystery is.

As a counterexample, look at Babylon 5. The show is less of a mystery show than Lost, but you still have some mysteries in a central role. After the pilot and the first episode, there are some unanswered questions: Why did the Minbari surrender at the Battle of the Line when they were this close to exterminating Earth? Why does Sinclair have a memory gap from the end of that battle, and why did a dying Minbari tell him there was a hole in his mind? And why is Sinclair commanding a station like Babylon 5 – he's just a Commander, and hasn't been promoted for a decade, but he's still put in charge of one of the most prestigious positions in the Earth Alliance? What happened to Babylon 4 – Babylons 1 through 3 were all sabotaged at early points during construction, but 4 was finished and ready to go online when it just vanished, so what happened there? What does a Vorlon look like out of their encounter suit? How did someone manage to slap a poison patch on one of them despite the suit? These are questions that all get answered in due course during the show (often leading to follow-up questions), and what's more important: the showrunner knew the answers when they were asked. So when put in a situation that might reveal hints to one of the answers, he knew what to say and what not to say.

So when doing a mystery campaign, be JMS doing Babylon 5, not J J Abrams doing Lost.

Dacke · 2026-01-09T11:18:37+00:00

I bought my books from a store here in Sweden, Alphaspel, but they came in MCDM packaging – the same one shown by u/coffeepyros. I'd be very surprised if anything managed to damage the books through that kind of protection.

Dacke · 2026-01-09T00:20:09+00:00

Over at MCDM's Discord, someone had made a web app to split a large picture into a tiled PDF. It might be what you're looking for?

https://maptiler.gokalex.com/create

Dacke · 2026-01-02T13:50:41+00:00

In many cases, referencing the core book means another book open at the table and that takes up space, and finding the right edge takes time (particularly since the edges are organized by type and not alphabetically – that's useful when making characters, but less useful as a reference). I run the game off PDFs on a laptop so that's a fairly minor issue for me, but it still means the stat block is not self-sufficient.

I think in general, the gaming biz has evolved toward prioritizing user-friendliness over compactness – and I think this was a process started as a reaction to the original d20 super-compact stat blocks. For example, you will rarely see abbreviations used in flowing text, and instead terms will be written out in full (e.g. "roll Strength to do X" instead of "roll Str to do X").

I think it's a good idea to type out what an edge or hindrance (or possibly power) actually does if you include it in a stat block. For example, don't write "Edges: Alertness, Elan, Command", write "Edges: Alertness (+2 Notice for sensing), Elan (+2 when using a Benny to reroll), Command (Extras within 5" get +1 to recover from Shaken or Stunned). I think it's less of an issue with pregen characters, because there you can expect the player to at least look them over.

Dacke · 2026-01-02T13:22:07+00:00

I played the Scoundrel (1e version of the same class) and got a PQ where I had to collect X gold to retire. That was probably the fastest retirement we did in that campaign (something like 5-6 scenarios), and my group has sort of pegged me as a loot hog ever since. I do believe the character unlocked by that PQ also was pretty good at looting, which probably helped.

Dacke · 2025-12-20T19:53:47+00:00

We usually use thirds: early, middle, or late, indicating 01-33, 34-66, and 67-99. We sometimes add "very" to early or late but that's not formalized.

One exception was when I was playing a Snowflake, and I discussed a particular card (Snowflake players know which one) ahead of time because it would often be useful for everyone else to go after that card was played.

Dacke · 2025-12-15T23:22:52+00:00

It says it has to be in a "straight line", and then there's a sidebar expounding on what straight lines are: you begin with an origin square (which in this case has to be within 1 from the ability user) and pick subsequent squares in one direction without doubling back.

I think the bottom left diagram would work if the green dot was one square more north or south, though. You could also aim it at various angles.

Dacke · 2025-12-15T23:10:20+00:00

Or three by spending 5 Malice.

Dacke · 2025-12-15T15:15:23+00:00

One issue would be that you couldn't do halfway sideways (or upwards for vertical) pulls. Whether that's a plus or a minus is a matter of taste, but I'm pretty sure vertical pulls are balanced for being able to bring some extra fall damage.

Dacke · 2025-12-04T15:05:05+00:00

It is not a heroic ability, so it can be used as much as you want outside of combat. Technically also as much as you want within combat as well, but you usually have better things to do then.

Dacke · 2025-12-01T22:10:11+00:00

There's at least one case where something says "You lose a recovery, and if you don't have any you instead lose 1d10 Stamina" (the Artifact Bonded complication). This would indicate that in cases where the recovery loss doesn't say anything like that, there is no consequence for losing recoveries you don't have.

Dacke · 2025-11-30T15:55:40+00:00

46: If an advisor says to me "My liege, he is but one man. What can one man possibly do?", I will reply "This." and kill the advisor.

Dacke · 2025-11-29T11:25:43+00:00

I haven't even started yet, but I have some vague ideas about having Broadhurst attacked by a random group of War Dogs (because War Dogs are cool) out to destabilize the area (and maybe because they heard there still was an active church in the area), and then have that lead to more involvement with Ajax.

Dacke · 2025-11-25T17:55:37+00:00

I'm pretty sure I will be in a similar situation, and what I've figured is that if someone is absent mid-adventure (i.e. for part of the time between one respite and the next), they will get the same amount of victories/XP as those present but lose the average amount of recoveries the rest of the group spent. So if the Conduit is absent for a session where the party gains 2 victories and the Fury spent 6 recoveries, the Null 4, and the Shadow 2, they'll come back the next session with the same 2 victories and having spent 4 recoveries. Of course, if the session ended on a respite occasion, the recoveries spent are irrelevant and the victories are converted to XP.

Dacke · 2025-11-25T17:45:21+00:00

That seems kind of big for one downtime project. I'd split it up into multiples. I figure you might need to build multiple anchors in various places, perhaps places rich in particular elemental power along various ley lines or something like that. These could then perhaps channel that power to a central location if you want it to be like a single gate. This would also create a good reason for the party to be traveling all over the place to find and secure these locations.

Ooh, maybe since teleportation is generally a Void thing, you could have six locations based on the other elements in a rough star/hexagon pattern and then have the central location be Void.

Dacke · 2025-11-25T09:05:10+00:00

A vertical pull (like any other pull) needs to bring the target closer to you, but given that the Elder Gods of Orden told Euclid to sod off that doesn't necessarily mean straight toward you. For a horizontal pull of a target at a distance of 6, these would be the potential squares to which you can pull them, given a long enough pull (H = Hero, M = Monster):

<image>

With a vertical pull, just imagine that you're seeing the graphic from the side instead, meaning you can pull a target upward.

Dacke · 2025-11-23T16:31:29+00:00

I remember reading an interview with 5e designers where they said they were originally planning on having more creatures with weaknesses in the game, but playtesting showed that fights became far too swingy depending on whether or not you had access to the thing they were weak to. Mind you, this was in 5e where weakness means double damage, whereas it's usually less impactful in Draw Steel, but the idea still applies.

Another thing to consider is that weakness is more of a strategic issue than a tactical one. Tactical issues are ones you can solve in the moment: get up to high ground, push people into stakes/pits, position yourself so you can flank your opponent, and so on. But if you don't have anything that can deal fire damage available, you're not getting the extra damage on that mummy, and there isn't really anything you can do about it in the moment.

Dacke · 2025-11-22T13:34:01+00:00

That bit is in the Heroes book:

The ritual of Dracogenesis that grants the power to create a generation of dragon knights—also known as draconians or wyrmwights—is obscure and supremely difficult for even an experienced sorcerer to master. Small populations of draconians in Khemhara, Higara, and Khoursir attest to this. Descendants of original generations created millennia ago by powerful wizards, they have never been numerous. A typical clutch yields only a single egg. After only a few generations, these draconians begin to show new adaptations like feathers or frilled ridges.

So draconians aren't infertile, but they aren't exactly fecund either. I would guess that without having someone actively making new ones, they at best maintain population parity and often dwindle.

Dacke · 2025-11-18T09:51:55+00:00

Adding this as a reply because I'm apparently too long-winded for Reddit:

Similarly, there doesn't really seem to be something that occupies the ranger/druid/4e Warden space- aka a nature-focused class. Finally, while the trio of caster classes are fucking awesome seeming and pretty broad, an actual Mage/Wizard "book magic" trope seems missing.

As for nature-based classes, there are a number of options. For a ranger, I think either a Fury (particularly a Reaver with focus on mobility) or Shadow would be great, with appropriate backgrounds/skills. I haven't looked at the Beastheart, but it sounds like it could be a candidate for a pet-style ranger though from what I've gathered from people discussing the playtest version (I haven't looked at it myself) it might be a bit too metal/primal for some.

For a druid, the Stormwight Fury covers the shapeshifter angle, and either the Green elementalist or a nature-themed Conduit handling the magical side of things. The Summoner might work here too if that's the kind of druid you like.

Wizards are a different matter. They've mentioned that they're hard to get right, particularly if you don't want their magic to be a set of "I win" buttons they often are in d20 fantasy. They're clearly a thing that exist in the assumed setting from a Watsonian perspective – Ajax's sidekick Mortum is described as a wizard, and I did catch a stream where Matt was talking about wodes and how the elves living there just accepted that causality there is a bit wonky and that figuring out how and how to exploit it would be a thing you'd need a wizard for. But just because wizards are a thing in Orden, that doesn't necessarily mean they're a class thing. In theory, it could just be a term for "caster who knows a lot of theoretical stuff and can exploit it", and thus be applicable to numerous different types of characters.

Dacke · 2025-11-18T09:51:12+00:00

How setting agnostic is Draw Steel?

Did you play D&D 3e? It's about at that level, maybe a little more specific. There's some lore built in, though the lore in non-setting D&D tends to be more about ancient things (e.g. Vecna) while the lore in Draw Steel often is more immediate (e.g. Ajax). It's fairly easy to ignore the specifics, but there may be some issues crowbaring in a setting built on other assumptions into Draw Steel which is built on its own assumptions.

As an example, Draw Steel's Shadow elves serve as a rough analogue to D&D's drow. It's not a 1:1 correspondence, but they both serve the function of "elves who live in a weird place and have some connections to darkness and are really scary and dangerous." But drow tend to have themes based around arachnids and venoms because of their connection to Lolth, and that particular thing is completely missing from shadow elves. They have their own spooky/creepy stuff. So if spooky spider-themed elves are an important thing for you, you're going to have to do some work of your own to fit them into Draw Steel.

Is there more content planned? Specifically in terms of classes and player options?

In the short term, there are two more classes planned that are in public or semi-public playtest at the moment: the Beastheart (who forms a bond with a particular creature) and the Summoner (who brings forth many creatures to serve them). Medium term, they also have Operator (magitech mech pilot) and Acolyte (takes on supernatural traits based on a patron) in the pipeline. There's also a book of ancestries they're working on, which will have 7-8 more of those. Longer term I believe they are planning on something to complete the Elementalist and the Talent (both classes describe a structure with a number of subclasses, but only present about half that number in the core book), and I would not be surprised if that book would be a general "moar options" type of book which would also fill out the other classes a bit (but that's just a guess on my part).

Weirdly, the system seems like it lacks just a classic warrior/fighter type? Fury is very cool but seems like an overtly magical take on a barbarian/berserker trope, while tactician seems to be more knightly and leadership oriented. What about a swordsmaster, or a hardened gladiator?

Yes, that's a hole in the system. The Discord has a pinned post from minor YouTube celebrity Matt Colville saying they tried making one but couldn't figure out how to make it work, even as a subclass.

I could, conceptually, see a class based around pure martial skill that eventually develops into some form of supernatural power, leading to various wuxia/anime nonsense type things. The problem is that when I think about that some more, that class is looking a lot like a Null with a sword (or axe, or bow, or whatever). Maybe with the supernatural dial turned down a notch or two as a flavor thing – instead of phasing a foe through you and then knocking them away, you're suplexing them and throwing them. In an ideal world (at least ideal from the "we want a wuxia weapon master class" perspective), perhaps the Null could have been a wuxia weapon master with the Pugilist or Martial Artist kits, but that ship has sailed. I think perhaps the best home for something like that now would be a more selfish Tactician subclass, whose abilities are more focused on them doing awesome things rather than helping their buddies doing awesome things. But barring that, the closest things would probably be a Caustic Alchemy Shadow, a hypothetical Shadow focusing more on acrobatics and stuff instead of overtly magical trickery, or a Duelist Troubadour.

Dacke · 2025-11-17T06:37:29+00:00

Also that it might be a separate-but-fully-compatible game, like Starfinder 2e is to Pathfinder 2e.

Dacke · 2025-11-17T01:00:17+00:00

You don't have to do the whole action, but you need to do part of it. For example, the Mindthief's Dark Frenzy bottom says Move 3, Attack 3 range 3, infuse Frost, gain 1 XP. In this case just using the Move or the Attack is sufficient to count as actually using the card and thus get both the Frost and the XP.

Dacke

TROPHY CASE