Draw Steel Main Rules¶

Characteristics¶

Each creature in the game has five characteristics that represent their capacity to interact with other creatures and the environment.

Might¶

Might (MGT) represents strength and brawn. A creature’s ability to break down doors, swing an axe, stand up during an earthquake, or hurl an ally across a chasm is determined by Might.

Agility¶

Agility (AGL) represents coordination and nimbleness. A creature’s ability to backflip out of danger, shoot a crossbow, dodge an explosion, or pluck keys from a guard’s belt is determined by Agility.

Reason¶

Reason (REA) represents a logical mind and education. A creature’s ability to solve a puzzle that unlocks a door, recall lore about necromancy, decipher a coded message, or blast a foe with psionic power is determined by Reason.

Intuiton¶

Intuition (INU) represents instincts and experience. A creature’s ability to hear the approach of a distant rider, figure out the tell of a bluffing gambler, calm a rearing horse, or track a monster across the tundra is determined by Intuition.

Presence¶

Presence (PRS) represents force of personality. A creature’s ability to lie to a judge, convince a crowd to join a revolution, impress a queen at a royal banquet, or cast a magic spell by singing a song is determined by Presence.

Characteristic Scores¶

Each characteristic has a score that runs from −5 to +5. The higher a score, the more impact the creature has with that characteristic. A baby bunny rabbit would have a Might score of −5, while an ancient dragon would have a Might score of 5. The average human has a score of 0 in all their characteristics. Characteristic scores are added to power rolls—the dice rolls you make whenever your character attempts a task with an uncertain outcome (see Power Rolls).

Resisting Potencies¶

Dice¶

This game uses ten-sided dice (also called d10s). Each player and the Director should have two of these. The game also makes occasional use of a six-sided die (called a d6), so it’s helpful if each player has one or two of those as well.

D3s¶

On rare occasions, the rules ask a player to roll one or more three-sided dice (also called d3s). If you don’t have a d3, you can roll a six-sided die instead, treating a roll of 1– 2 as a 1, a roll of 3–4 as a 2, and a roll of 5–6 as a 3.

Power Rolls¶

Whenever a hero or other creature in the game attempts a task with an uncertain outcome, such as attacking a foe, sneaking by a guard patrol without being seen, or persuading a queen to provide military aid, the creature makes a power roll to determine the outcome of their actions.

The game uses three types of power rolls. An ability roll is used when you activate certain abilities to determine their impact. For instance, if a fury uses their Brutal Slam ability to attack an enemy, their ability power roll determines how much damage the enemy takes and how far back the enemy is pushed. (See Abilities for more information.)

A resistance roll is a power roll you make to avoid harmful effects, whether generated by another creature’s abilities, the environment, or some other source. When you make a resistance roll against an ability used by another creature, you subtract one of that creature’s characteristics from your resistance roll.

A test is a power roll you make outside of using your abilities to affect or interact with the world around you. A tactician might not have an ability that lets them climb up the face of a cliff, so climbing is an activity they can attempt with a test. An elementalist doesn’t have an ability that lets them automatically intimidate a cultist into backing down from a fight, but they can make a test if they want to try. See Tests for more information.

Making a Power Roll¶

When you make a power roll, you roll two ten-sided dice (sometimes noted as 2d10 in the rules) and add one of your characteristics. The characteristic you add depends on the kind of roll you’re making, as outlined in Abilities and Tests.

Power Roll Outcomes¶

The result of a power roll determines your outcome tier— three levels that determine how successful your power roll is.

Tier 1: If your power roll result is 11 or lower, it is a tier 1 result. This is the worst result a power roll can have. If you’re using an ability, a tier 1 result means you still do something, but the impact of what you do is minimal. With this result, an attack ability might deal a little bit of damage and not do much else. For a test, a tier 1 result means you fail at what you set out to do, and you might also suffer a negative consequence.

Tier 2: If your power roll result is 12 to 16, it is a tier 2 result. This is the average result of many power rolls, especially for heroes who are 1st level. When using an ability, a tier 2 result means that what you do has a moderate impact. With this result, an attack ability deals a decent amount of damage and has an effect that briefly helps allies or hinders enemies. For a test, a tier 2 result means you might succeed at what you set out to do— though depending on the difficulty, success might have a cost.

Tier 3: If your power roll result is 17 or higher, it is a tier 3 result. This is the best result a power roll can have. When using an ability, a tier 3 result means you deliver the maximum impact possible. With this result, an attack ability deals a lot of damage and has a powerful or lasting effect on enemies or allies. For a test, a tier 3 result means you succeed at what you set out to do. If the test has an easy difficulty, you also get a little something extra in addition to your success.

The specific outcome of any power roll is determined by the ability that requires the roll (see Abilities) or the rules for tests (see Tests).

Downgrade a Power Roll¶

Whenever you make a power roll, you can downgrade it to select the result of a lower tier. For instance, if an ability has a tier 3 result that lets you impose the restrained condition on a creature, but the tier 2 result for that ability lets you impose the slowed condition, you can use the tier 2 result if you would rather have the creature slowed than restrained. If you downgrade a critical hit, you still get the extra action benefit of the critical hit (see Critical Hit in Abilities).

Natural Result¶

The result of your power roll before your characteristic or any other modifiers are applied is called the natural result. The rules often refer to this as “rolling a natural X,” where X is the result of the roll. For example, if you get a 20 on the power roll before adding your characteristic, this is called rolling a natural 20. Whenever you roll a natural 19 or 20 on a power roll, you always achieve the tier 3 result, no matter what characteristic is added to the roll. This rule exists because some creatures have negative characteristics that reduce the result of a roll.

Edges and Banes¶

An archer standing on a castle wall fires down into a throng of enemies, hitting the mark each time thanks to their high ground. A drunken bandit struggles to land blows on sober opponents as alcohol clouds their senses. Under certain circumstances, you need more than just a characteristic to represent the advantages and disadvantages that heroes, their enemies, and their allies might have.

Edges¶

An edge represents a situational advantage a hero or an enemy has when making a power roll. For example, a standing hero who makes a melee attack against a prone creature gains an edge on the power roll for their attack. A pair of magic gloves that makes your hands sticky might grant you an edge when making a power roll to climb walls! When you make a power roll with a single edge, you add 2 to the roll. If you make a power roll with two or more edges, you have a double edge. This means you don’t add anything to the power roll, but the result of the roll automatically improves one tier (to a maximum of tier 3).

Bane¶

A bane represents a situational disadvantage a hero or an enemy has when making a power roll. For example, if you make an attack while prone, the power roll for the attack takes a bane. A rainstorm might give you a bane on a power roll made to climb an outdoor wall because the weather makes the stone surface extra slick. When you make a power roll with a single bane, you subtract 2 from the roll. If you make a power roll with two or more banes, you have a double bane. This means you don’t subtract anything from the power roll, but the result of the roll automatically decreases one tier (to a minimum of tier 1).

Rolling with Edges and Banes¶

Under certain circumstances, you might have one or more edges and banes on the same roll. For instance, you might take a bane when weakened by poison, even as you gain an edge for attacking a prone creature. In general, edges and banes cancel each other out, resolving as follows:

If you have an edge and a bane, or if you have a double edge and a double bane, the roll is made as usual without any edges or banes.
If you have a double edge and just one bane, the roll is made with one edge, regardless of how many single edge instances contribute to the double edge.
If you have a double bane and just one edge, the roll is made with one bane, regardless of how many single bane instances contribute to the double bane.

Bonuses and Penalties¶

While edges and banes cover most circumstantial effects that can have an impact on a power roll, a few rules add numeric bonuses or penalties to power rolls. Bonus and penalty values are specified in the rules that impose them, and are calculated independently of edges and banes, and before edges and banes are factored into a power roll. There is no limit to the number of bonuses or penalties that can apply to a power roll, and bonuses and penalties always add together. Though it might sound as if the math with bonuses and penalties can get confusing, fear not! Bonuses and penalties are rare except in the case of skills, which appear on your character sheet (see Skills for more information).

Hero Tokens¶

When players roleplay their heroes well or take big risks, the Director can reward them with the potential to restore vitality when it’s needed, in the form of hero tokens. Hero tokens are given out by the Director one at a time, either to an individual player or to the group as a whole. They can be tracked using poker chips, stones, or other markers, and are then shared by all players. Whenever hero tokens are available, you can spend a hero token on your turn or whenever you take damage (no action required). When you do, you regain Stamina equal to your recovery value without spending a Recovery. A hero token benefits only one creature at a time, and you can’t spend more than one hero token per turn. Players can also be awarded hero tokens as part of a test’s outcome when they succeed in a task with a reward (see Tests). Unless the Director decides otherwise, unused hero tokens disappear at the end of a session.

Game of Exceptions¶

This game has a fair number of rules. But it also has plenty of character options, specialized equipment, and other game elements that let you break those rules. This is on purpose! Breaking the rules allows heroes to feel special and makes their foes seem extra dangerous. If you’re not sure what to do when two rules come into conflict with each other, remember that a specific exception always beats a more general rule. The Director has the final say in how rules are adjudicated.

Always Round Down¶

There are times when the rules tell you to divide a number in half. Whenever you divide an odd number in half and it results in a decimal, round the result down to the nearest whole number. For instance, if you have a speed of 7 and become slowed (a condition that halves your speed), then your speed becomes 3.

Creatures and Objects¶

This game uses the terms “creature” and “object.” Creatures are living or unliving beings such as animals, elves, humans, dragons, giants, zombies, and valok. Objects are inanimate matter such as walls, carriages, cups, swords, ropes, coins, paintings, columns, and buildings. Creatures always have stat blocks that relay their statistics, but objects do not.

When a creature dies, their body becomes an object, and can be affected by abilities and other effects that target objects. For example, a talent can’t use their Telekinesis power to slide an unwilling enemy cult leader into an evil temple’s pit of hellfire. But if that boss dies, the talent can slide their body into the pit to prevent the boss from being raised as a powerful undead by the temple’s magic.

The game sometimes refers to “unattended objects,” which are objects that aren’t held, worn, or controlled by a creature. Whenever an ability affects objects, it affects only unattended objects unless the Director determines otherwise. Among other things, this prevents abilities from being used to damage a foe’s armor, weapons, clothing, magic items, and so forth while those objects or worn or held.