Last Week: Adventure!

So what’s next? Now that we’ve wrapped up what is likely the final playtest packet for the Draw Steel core rules, you might be wondering just that—especially when it comes to the MCDM Patreon. Well, we were wondering that too! Then the design team spent a week together in the office and now we know a little more than we did … at least we think so! All this stuff is subject to change based on our budgets, timelines, and human resources, but you all are the patrons and already understand that everything we do, like all in-progress art, is subject to change. You want to see how the sausage gets made, so let’s show you what we’re mixing up with that Draw Steel pork and mixing into those sweet, sweet tactical heroic fantasy casings. (Hey, it’s James.)

In our week together, the design, operations, and production teams spent a lot of time planning what’s next for Draw Steel. There’s a lot we want to make, and it all basically falls into six broad categories.

• Adventures: We think adventures are key to helping Directors run the game. They not only provide content for you to use, they also give Directors a solid example of what we, the creators, think makes a great Draw Steel adventure. Plus you can pillage, plunder, edit, cut, and use them however you like. Adventures create the base of the stories you’ll tell with Draw Steel, so we gotta get you some!

• Setting: We want to share the timescape with all of you! Vasloria, Capital, and beyond have so much to offer in terms of potential adventure that we could never fill it all ourselves. But we know if we give you the worlds of our setting that you’ll be able to create your own adventures, villains, heroes, and more without us turning that information into an adventure. 

• Player Options: You all know this one! New classes, ancestries, careers, treasures, titles, downtime projects, kits, and the like!

• Director Options: More monsters! More dynamic terrain! Drop-in encounters, montage tests, and negotiations! More advice! These are the kinds of things you’re absolutely going to see from us that are made to expand Director options.

• New Subsystems: Much like titular rules featured in Strongholds & Followers and Kingdoms & Warfare, you will definitely see some new subsystems for Draw Steel from us. We’ll likely be updating and adapting the warfare rules from Kingdoms & Warfare sometime soon to support several different adventures that require them.

• Play Aids: We want to give you the stuff that’s going to help you play. Chief among them is the Codex, a digital tool that will help you build heroes and play online using a virtual tabletop equipped with lots of automation. We also want to make a Director’s screen, dice, miniatures, and similar play aids for those of you who like to play the game in meat space.

The list above is mostly just “categories of design” that get mixed and matched into different products. Each adventure includes some setting information and is packaged with any new player and Director options and rules required to run it. A book that’s heavy on the setting will likely include some new ancestries and class options to go with it. A new class might also include new rules for that class to tap into (like general companion rules being included with the beastheart class as we did with the fifth edition release). An adventure or setting book might come with a box of play aids like maps, letters, coins, and other handouts for the players and a Director screen or cheat sheet.

Dev Logs, Previews, Tests, and Q&As

Since we’re still making a lot of Draw Steel content, we plan to continue to update this Patreon for future products the same way we have for the core rules. In fact, you probably already saw the list of adventures we brainstormed last week. That’s the first Draw Steel Patreon post about something other than the game’s core rules. As we develop more Draw Steel products, you’ll get to see how those sausages are made. We’ll continue to deliver tasty previews of art and game design, playtests asking for your feedback, and livestream Q&As. You’ll also continue to have exclusive access to our Patreon channels on the MCDM Discord, which always seem to be hopping with Draw Steel chatter. Don’t forget to link your Patreon and Discord accounts to get access.

We also hope to deliver many completed products to Patrons, the same way we’re planning on doing for the core rules. We’re not exactly sure which products will get this treatment and how it’ll work, but it’s something we’re constantly talking about. We want to make sure you all are getting a lot of value out of your support! One of the first things we plan to deliver to all of you now that the core rules are wrapping up is a beta version of the Codex. More on that as details warrant.

What’s Next?

Let’s get into the delicious deets. What’s next for Draw Steel? Which products are you going to get a chance to preview here on Patreon? Right now we’re planning the next 18 months or so of products, but there are a few things we’re planning on starting work on in February that you’ll get a chance to check out before the final core rules PDF is delivered to you.

I already mentioned the Codex above. That’s going to be something we’re going to ask for your help testing rather soon. It’s likely that you’ll see some of the more polished, finalized rules in the Codex over the next few months as our partners make updates to the software after we give them our updated versions.

Then, everything old is new again. We plan on making several adventures over the next two years, and we’d like to have two adventures ready to go with the release of the core rules this summer. It was Matt’s idea that we should have two different 1st-level adventures ready to go when the core rules become available. The first is an adventure meant to introduce people totally new to Draw Steel to the game. It eases you into the Draw Steel experience, allowing you time to get to know the rules and heroes. This first adventure is going to be an expanded version of The Delian Tomb, a fifth edition dungeon featured in one of Matt’s videos. The original adventure has heroes heading into a goblin-infested crypt to save the local blacksmith’s daughter. The Draw Steel version will be expanded to include details of the forest around the tomb, the village where the adventure begins, and more than one adventure location beyond the titular tomb. You’ll also get pregens with the adventure!

The second adventure is an update and expansion of Fall of Blackbottom. This adventure is for folks who have already played Draw Steel during our year of testing or have played a lot of roleplaying games and want a bit of a more hardcore starting adventure. Fall of Blackbottom will be expanded with more of a prologue and new challenges and scenes to break up the combat encounters. It’ll also get some pregens to go along with it!

We have some character options that will be coming your way soon. There’s a few ancestries we want to make to support future adventures, including goblins, shadow elves, gnomes, and kobolds. We also want to make more classes. We’ve got a whole list to test, but expect the first two to be the summoner, a heroic class that can bring forth and lead minions in combat, and the beastheart, a wildheart warrior who fights alongside a pet.

That’s all we’re going to reveal for now. I may have already said too much!

Thank You

As we wrap up the core rules, I want to tell you all on behalf of the design team here at MCDM how grateful we are for your support and your feedback over the last year of creating the core rules for Draw Steel. This game wouldn’t be nearly as good without both those things, so we thank you for your dollars and your words. I can’t wait to hear all your heroic stories! Go forth and draw steel!

—James