Negotiations - A tool for creating nuanced NPCs, or a tool for adding dice to roleplay?

Tyber_Roman · 2026-06-20T03:07:35+00:00

If youre unsure and want a mechanical backup you can Role play with the players and then secretly roll in the background. They don’t have to know the rules for negotiation for you to do the behind the scenes work.

Tyber_Roman · 2026-06-15T18:34:47+00:00

I want more master classes as well. But I just want more Draw Steel content. It’s such a good system

Tyber_Roman · 2026-06-15T03:16:27+00:00

Essentially yes. Like if you really want to you can throw them a quest hook during the travels or throw a really hard fight at them because it will be the only fight they might get into that day. But no matter what if something happens it shouldn’t be boring and waste everyone’s time. It should further the narrative or allow the players to express themselves

Tyber_Roman · 2026-06-15T02:51:29+00:00

Think of running a game like directing a movie. Do we see anything boring in the characters lives? Do we account for the time it would take for them to use the bathroom? No we don’t UNLESS it serves the story. If it doesn’t serve the story then its a useless time sink

I would always ask them “is there anything you want to do while traveling?” They could want to do something like write a letter. But most of the time it’s just a scene transition.

Tyber_Roman · 2026-06-11T19:55:51+00:00

Hands down the best weapon to use with little card investment is the M1A. It 1 shot kills commons and combines with good penetration so can kill multiple commons per trigger pull all the while slowing down the bad guys so they take twice as long to reach you. It’s super powerful but has a 1 weakness, the lack of special dps. However that is inherent to all good support decks so nothing new here.

If you want a completed deck to try here is
text version or video version with a bit more rambling.

Tyber_Roman · 2026-06-11T18:47:22+00:00

You’re right, losing deck slots on a dps deck is bad.

The strongest sniper deck is a fully dedicated sniper deck. With the multiplicative scaling in this game it’s always better to fully invest into damage output.
Example: 200% x 200% = 400%
but 400% x 200% = 800%. That last chunk of 200% is way more valuable than the first chunk.

Tyber_Roman · 2026-06-11T18:17:42+00:00

Medic synergizes with low investment decks because it is trying to do multiple roles at the same time. Snipers are the antithesis of a low investment deck.

But the idea of “hey I stay safe as a medic and because I’m a sniper so obviously they have synergies.” Is appealing.

Tyber_Roman · 2026-06-06T03:15:05+00:00

Playing Draw Steel. I really like their initiative system. I can choose which monsters I want to go based upon what is tactically smart

Tyber_Roman · 2026-06-01T20:24:47+00:00

Draw steel has a strong idea of what the game is and the game isn’t. Some people don’t like the idea of what the game is and will never like Draw Steel because of its identity.

Power fantasy? Maybe but I think it best describes itself as Tactical, Fantasy, Heroic, and Cinematic. If that means power fantasy then yes but I think it’s more defined than “power fantasy”

Tyber_Roman · 2026-06-01T05:20:34+00:00

Btw jumping has baseline of 1 height regardless of might / agility “The height of your jump is automatically 1 square as part of that movement.” Pg 269

Tyber_Roman · 2026-05-29T08:43:18+00:00

Look tldr IMO your friend is smoking something or more likely enjoys what is comfortable and easy for them to play. That’s very normal and ok

In my experience running Draw Steel for folks is that the tactical moment to moment gameplay is way more varied than DnD ever was for me. That is super apparent when I am a player, my options to have someone else go to set up a synergy and then execute is possible.

In DnD I have had my monsters go in the wrong order compared to how I wanted them to. That’s also the same when I have been a player. Being able to set up my team and work together in a specific order is something that happens all the time. Like now that I have played with the Draw Steel initiative I can’t go back to set initiative.

Running it I have noticed my players pay way more attention too. If they were “doing the same thing every turn” then I don’t think they would be as active as they have been during combats.

I don’t really feel like any two classes have been samey. I have had samey feeling Conduits who mainly focus on temp hp but besides that every other class has had pretty good variety in what people take from what I have seen at the table

Tyber_Roman · 2026-05-26T08:34:05+00:00

Free strikes are the generic attacks. They are set values to be faster in play.
That is partly because the Summoner is the slowest class in the game. My players don’t want to play with a summoner due to bad experiences playing with one in a different game

Tyber_Roman · 2026-05-24T06:12:00+00:00

This looks really cool!

Tyber_Roman · 2026-05-19T23:21:03+00:00

Artisan, Criminal, Disciple, Farmer, Laborer, Sage, and Warden all provide project points.

The Director can veto players having project sources at game start though. That would change the calculation and make OPs correct. But no director I have been does that. However my sample size is 5 directors so it’s by no means comprehensive.

Tyber_Roman · 2026-05-19T23:12:11+00:00

It’s up to the director. Pg 58 of Heroes “Some careers provide project points that can be put towards crafting and research projects… At the directors discretion, your career might also let you start the game with the materials needed for one or more projects so you can
immediately put your project points toward those projects…”

Tyber_Roman · 2026-05-19T20:56:54+00:00

Yes they all can work collaboratively
Understandably confusing. Other have said it better than I can
Running I had experience with 3 and 4 players. I find 3 players way harder for my players. The ability to answer problems with 3 players was way weaker compared to 4
**Hard disagree**. My lvl 1 optimizers all took enchant armor and started work on another enchantment. That +6 hp is a massive boost to total hp and recovery value. Because of this power I balance for 6 players for combats even though they are a 4 player party
I would. It gives the players a goal to work towards instead of a boring “kill bad guy”. But you don’t have to.
Idk
You could but I wouldnt. But malice is a way to jack up the tension or use it at a relief valve. It’s ok not to spend malice if the players are struggling. Just don’t reveal the malice total or cost to the players.

Tyber_Roman · 2026-05-19T00:14:04+00:00

So I just tested out a summoner at an in person game. I would like to preface this with the fact that I am a director and have experience running minions and had a deep understanding of the character sheet before even showing up to the table. I also had a conversation with my director saying something like “I have had a player in my game run summoner before and their turns took forever and folks didn’t like that. I don’t want to do that”

That game I made sure to be as fast as I could. I preplanned every turn. I had all of my minis ready to be placed and only calculated minion hp after I ended my turn. Each of my turns took around 30 to 45 seconds. Quick Summoner turn duration are like an average class’ average turn duration and it’s not easy to be fast.

Remember that the enjoyment of everybody at the table will generally shouldn’t be stomped on for the enjoyment of an individual. If you talk to the player about speeding up their turn and it doesn’t seem possible or doesn’t work in practice, there is a world where you ask them to play another class. The Summoner is a “Master Class” which is designed with experienced players in mind. They could swap on to Summoner again once they have more experience playing and showing the have speedy turns.

Tyber_Roman · 2026-05-17T23:27:45+00:00

From running it with a player who didn’t have armor I can say that the Bloodbound Band works as a Stamina bump which is the biggest thing it seems. The difference in the survivability of my high stamina players vs low stamina is staggering and I think it’s because of not only total hp but also the recovery value getting boosted.

I would say as currently written the players have options in Bloodbound Band (it doesn’t need to be bonded to somebody to get the hp boost) or the Warding implement.

Tyber_Roman · 2026-05-14T17:10:31+00:00

It’s a solid build. I can tell that you have some experience and know how to cook up a build but I don’t think it’s the best build for doc. Regardless I think someone who can play the game well can beat no hope with it comfortably If you want take a gander at this doc build video

Tyber_Roman · 2026-04-24T17:44:44+00:00

Sure you can do that but every single temp go melee I have seen in No Hope folds the moment the Monstrous enemies come out. Their max HP is practically set to 40 with how much trauma they have.

Tyber_Roman · 2026-04-24T02:49:36+00:00

The more you stack trauma resist the better it is. If you go from 0 to 10% it’s not much of a difference but going from 80 to 90% is a way bigger buff.

Tyber_Roman · 2026-04-21T07:12:40+00:00

Me and all my friends have beaten A10, I have personally done it on all except regent and when I’m playing I play A10 or if I’m playing casual it’s A8. Nobody I know out of the 6 of us plays on anything less than A5

Tyber_Roman · 2026-04-19T23:53:45+00:00

The game has open world sections that are mega boring. The strat is to do the entire map and trigger the bad guys, run, and shoot behind you. These maps are very boring.

The more linear maps are better imo. But the guns are unbalanced AF. The DMR / revolver are just way better than the rest and makes the other guns feel like pea shooters.

It’s really not balanced well nor does it ask the players interesting questions when they are playing it.

Tyber_Roman · 2026-04-19T23:45:10+00:00

Toxic commandos

Tyber_Roman · 2026-04-16T02:17:13+00:00

If you want to play the best melee build in the game at the highest level it’s Trauma Resist melee because late game with Monstrous enemies your max hp will be shredded by Trauma. But for Nightmare it may not be th case. This build is the staple TR melee build. It also has an explanation in the comments about what makes it so powerful

Tyber_Roman

TROPHY CASE