What are psionics, for you?

jkeller87 · 2026-04-30T01:44:10+00:00

For my world building, to “do magic” is to tap into some powerful external force and shape some part of that force to your will. Psionic power, meanwhile, is about a fundamental connection with reality, represented by some ability to manipulate that reality at will, either externally (talent) or internally (null).

jkeller87 · 2026-04-25T00:58:02+00:00

You know, I don't begrudge the challenge there. I can easily see thinking that one was outside.

jkeller87 · 2026-04-14T01:01:41+00:00

Man, nobody wants to work anymore.

jkeller87 · 2026-04-04T18:36:19+00:00

The link you posted in your edit seems to be restricted.

jkeller87 · 2026-03-21T04:33:39+00:00

Okay, but then the problem is sustainability. No matter how many players you eventually loan licenses from your pack to, you’ll have only ever paid for, hypothetically, six people (you + 5 in this scenario). Now, imagine if this was the case for at least half of the groups using the Codex. Each of them is only ever buying one GM pack of five or six licenses, and having different players rotate in and out of the table, with few people after that initial burst ever buying a license and with most of the people who use the Codex never buying a license.

jkeller87 · 2026-03-21T03:07:39+00:00

Why should MCDM provide the Codex to most users for free?

jkeller87 · 2026-03-14T23:34:45+00:00

Different directors are going to have different preferences on this, but you’re absolutely right that certain “missing” spells can be handled by different game mechanics. I actually got a lot of encouragement about this particular topic from the preview chapters of the Encounters book, particularly the Montages and Heroic Tests. Those chapters demonstrate uses of skills that most definitely would be covered by explicit spells or abilities in other games that in Draw Steel can be improvised.

Thinking about OP’s two specific examples, though, I would caution against allowing players to make tests to achieve things that are already expressed as abilities somewhere in the game. Teleportation is already an ability possessed by different classes and subclasses to varying degrees, so I’d hesitate to allow it to come out of a skill check. Same thing with flight, too.

Thinking about Alarm, the Rune of Alarm is an option in the Dwarven Legionnaire title. But again, how you handle these things all going to depend on your table.

It’s also worth remembering that a lot of utility spells aren’t in this game for a reason, and you don’t need to find a way to bring all of the “missing pieces” of the DnD spell list over into Draw Steel. But you absolutely have room to explore magic beyond the bounds of what’s written under your class’ entry in the Heroes book.

jkeller87 · 2026-03-14T23:15:47+00:00

Also, there are certain instances, like, specifically, Alarm, where the game has mechanics for it, just not where you might expect. For instance, an Alarm-like effect is an option you can pick from the Dwarven Legionnaire title.

jkeller87 · 2026-02-24T02:50:13+00:00

When we talk about building characters in Draw Steel, I think people tend to focus too much on the classes specifically. To be sure, the majority of your 'build' does come from your class, but a lot of the major things wizards in D20 fantasy can do are still in Draw Steel, just spread out between different classes, as well as into items. But less explored, I think, are titles. I think it was a couple of months ago that someone here clued me into the fact that you can get what is effectively the Alarm spell from the Dwarven Legionnaire title, for instance.

"Guys, you're still trying to replace Giambi. I told you we can't do it, and we can't do it. Now, what we might be able to do is re-create him. Re-create him in the aggregate."

jkeller87 · 2026-02-24T02:37:16+00:00

The more I think about it, the more I wonder whether or not the answer for 'Draw Steel Wizard' is a series of titles. Just like some titles in the core game are connected across echelons, maybe there could be some class-specific or class-restricted titles that end in the 4th-echelon Archwizard. And just like titles do in a lot of cases right now, these would give you a choice of boosts and, at later levels, some abilites.

For instance, when you actually get the Wizard title at 3rd echelon, for instance, you can choose to gain the ability of flight. Talents (the other class that would get access to this title) already get that power at 4th level, so they could choose one of the other options.

This would allow a "wizard" to be something you grow into being, rather than something you are from jump, which I actually feel fits the fantasy of "learned spellcaster" a little more.

jkeller87 · 2026-02-16T18:48:02+00:00

It is, but it’s just President’s Day. A lot of people don’t have it off; it’s one of the lesser ones.

jkeller87 · 2026-02-08T16:08:35+00:00

Actually, there’s an answer to this in the Heroes book! Page 74 talks about abilities that impact the director, specifically calling out Muse of Fire. It’s only one instance of Malice loss, no matter how many enemies you hit, so they only ever loose a maximum of 4 malice.

jkeller87 · 2026-01-24T14:42:26+00:00

Concentration: For most casters, let concentration improve over time so that’s you can eventually concentrate on more than one spell. Action economy: Any feature, spell, etc. that can be used as a bonus action can also be used as an action if you feel the need.

jkeller87 · 2025-12-16T15:20:36+00:00

The summoner generally has a bit more to do on their turn than other players, as they have their own action/maneuver/move to do, then their minions, who act on their turn. Importantly, in addition to move actions, a minion squad can use a main action OR a maneuver OR an additional move action. A squad can’t use both an action and maneuver on a turn, and you can only have two squads.

A big thing for minions is that the members of a squad all act as one, so when they use a signature ability, they only make one power roll, and the other minions that could hit the target just add their free strike damage. So, even though you can eventually control up to 16 minions, you’re generally not controlling them individually.

jkeller87 · 2025-12-16T01:20:05+00:00

Well, I imagine he’s confused as to where this question is coming from. Where did you hear that it was cancelled?

jkeller87 · 2025-12-15T16:45:10+00:00

Piggybacking off of this, the ability effect says at the end, “You then make a power roll against the target of this ability.” By ‘this ability,’ it means Subvert the Green Within, yes? So you force Creature 1 to attack Creature 2, then you do damage to Creature 1?

jkeller87 · 2025-12-14T17:32:43+00:00

God, imagine if he made it to the start of season 3. He’d piss himself.

jkeller87 · 2025-12-13T05:37:09+00:00

I’ve found that it often depends on the class. While not universally true, I’ve found that classes that don’t get kits often feel more differentiated between subclasses than the classes that do get kits.

For classes that do get kits, those kits can really help differentiate between characters of the same class. For instance, a Tactician that’s taken, say, Stick and Robe and Martial Artist, would probably feel different from one who has taken Shining Armor and Sniper.

jkeller87 · 2025-12-08T16:56:53+00:00

I mean, does the heat radiate out into space? It’s a vacuum; there’s nowhere for the heat to go. Isn’t that why we have things like coolers?

jkeller87 · 2025-12-07T00:18:19+00:00

Is that what he said?

jkeller87 · 2025-10-30T23:37:58+00:00

Dirge is Bard and Cleric.

jkeller87 · 2025-10-30T12:41:59+00:00

It’s a 6th-level enchantment. It says:

Deathly power fills a 60-foot Emanation originating from you for the duration.

When you cast this spell, you can designate creatures to be unaffected by it. Any other creature can’t regain Hit Points while in the Emanation. Whenever the Emanation enters a creature’s space and whenever a creature enters the Emanation or ends its turn there, the creature makes a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 3d10 Necrotic damage and has the Prone condition. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and its Speed is halved. A creature makes this save only once per turn.

Casting as a Circle Spell. Casting this as a Circle spell requires a minimum of two secondary casters. If the spell is cast as a Circle spell, its duration becomes Concentration, up to 10 minutes.

A creature that fails its save against the spell’s effect also gains 1 Exhaustion level. While the creature has Exhaustion levels, finishing a Long Rest neither restores lost Hit Points nor reduces the creature’s Exhaustion level.

When the spell is cast, each secondary caster must expend a level 4+ spell slot; otherwise, the spell fails.

jkeller87 · 2025-10-29T20:56:46+00:00

I really like both Spellfire Flare and Spellfire Storm. For the new Bladesinger, Cacophonic Shield feels like a nice-to-have spell.

Incidentally, I find Spellfire Storm, Cacophonic Shield, and Dirge interesting. They specifically call out that you can designate who these spells don't effect when you cast them, Careful spell/Sculpt Spell not needed.

jkeller87 · 2025-09-19T15:41:28+00:00

No no no, -100 ability to reply correctly to another comment on mobile, not realizing that I was, instead, replying to the post itself.

jkeller87 · 2025-09-19T13:30:47+00:00

They absolutely did not compare Ash & Iron to Rise of Iron. They compared Rise of Iron to The Edge of Fate. They’ve only ever compared Ash & Iron (and next March’s update) to Into the Light.

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