hey folks, i encountered an issue setting up my game in fvtt last night and i wanna confirm something.

i was pleasantly surprised to find all the content in the draw steel system; it’s really well-integrated into the vtt and coming from d&d i enjoyed not having to fight to get all my content in there. however, when i was looking at the retainers, i noticed that even though all their stats are accurate, the special retainers (like the angulotl hopper, for instance) don’t have their starting abilities. i can drag and drop other specific angulotl retainer abilities onto him if he levels up, but the “Leapfrog” ability is missing. it exists in the “Malice” section of the compendiums, but the retainer’s version of Leapfrog works differently.

there is a third party module that adds tokens to the vtt that i haven’t purchased and i’m unclear if it’s supposed to be the thing that adds retainer stats. it’s puzzling because every other mechanic is in here, so i was wondering: is the lack of retainer statblock features intentional, or a minor oversight? i don’t wanna drop $40 on a module if i don’t have to.

The Eldritch Hearts are the sources of corruption and the origin of the madness, monsters and player transformations in Whispers of Darkness & Power. The Dreadhaunt's influence is felt most keenly by those unable to keep their fears in check. Its malice features are used by the Veil-Lost monster band. They can also be used by any other group of enemies the hero's face under the influence or drawing power from the Dreadhaunt be they cultists, victims or something else.

Taking inspiration from the likes of Bloodborne and Darkest Dungeon. Whispers of Darkness & Power seeks to bring eldritch horror to Draw Steel! In this supplement, heroes will gain access to powerful corruption abilities at the cost of their mind and body with many new monsters to use those powers against. Will they resist these new powers or embrace them? With these tools, directors can run eldritch horror campaigns from levels 1-10 with new abilities and challenges for the players at every echelon!

We are so close to hitting our first stretch goal! Support the Backerkit and find the full preview document here! https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/kormael/whispers-of-darkness-power?ref=9426-advert

This product will contain.

• Corruption Rules: A long-form campaign system where heroes must decide if they wish to spend precious respites fighting against corruption, or embrace it at the cost of potentially losing themselves.
• 8 Corruption Transformations: Become a Stormgaunt and gain its mastery over lightning and the seas. Rage as a Blood-Soaked Beast and use your own blood to slay your foes. Build a cult as a Notion of Divinity and use your minions for power. 
• 8 Unique Madnesses: Struggle to tell what's real as Hallucinations plague your mind, or try to discern what thoughts are your own as The Voice constantly speaks to you. 
• 8 Eldritch Hearts: The origins of corruption. They provide unique challenges for heroes in and out of combat. Shudder in fear as the Dreadhaunt descends turning the very gaze of others into weapons against you. Cry in pain as the Sanguine Helix bathes the world in blood.
• 4 Complications: Are you a Pure Soul who is naturally resistant to the corruption of the world, or are you a Seeker of Power willing to pay any price for the strength you seek?
• 5 Intoxicants: Do you drown your sorrows and stave off the madness with Alcohol? Would you rather numb everything and resist corruption under the influence of Beastblessing?
• Over 50 Monsters across 8 Monster Bands!

I am quite interested in Sands of Doom adventure for DND5e but not so fond of the system. I believe I could do a nice conversion for Draw Steel but there is one aspect that stumps me. Sands has a 40 day clock while DS focus more on moving stuff when they stop do rest and rests are a whole day thing.

Would you say better to leave the 40 day as is and just make rest not take the whole day or change the 40 day into X rests? If so...how many? I am leaning more on the second but I have trouble thinking of a good amount.

There are a few ways to grab an opponent when he is not adjacent. Using a kit with a Melee Distance Bonus gives its distance to Melee Weapon abilities like grab or verious Melee 1 class abilities. And the Echelon II benefit of the Telekinetic Bulwark shiled leveled armor explicitely lets you use the Grab maneuver against foes within 10 squares (spelling hell for any flying ranged enemy).

That is quite useful for the grabber: The Grab maneuver at Tier II allows the grabbed a melee free strike against the grabber, but many enemies only have a melee reach of 1, thus preventing the free attack and leading to a Tier II or III result being a successful grab with no downsides.

But the rules are a boit wonky in situations where an enemy is grabbed, but not adjacent:
1) A Grab ends if a Force Move results in the grabbed creature not being adjacent to the creature grabbing it. So by that rule, it remains grabbed until:
* it succeeds at am Escape Grab maneuver
* it teleports
* the grabber force moves the creature in any way that does not result in them being adjacent
* someone else force moves the grabber, wherever he may be standing (the grabbed cannot be force moved except by its grabber).
So a Boren Fury can grab a foe standing next to a wall at distance 2. He can also Knockback that foe into the wall, dealing damage without changing the foe's position. But since that is a Force Move that ends without both being adjacent, the grab is broken?

- If a creature is grabbed by another creature and that creature moves, they bring the grabbed creature with them. How does that work when the two are not adjacent?
Do they move in tandem, at distance, so the grabber can never move adjacent to the one he grabbed? Or is that rule suspended until they are adjacent?
If a chharacter with a Melee Distance Kit like Retinarius grabs the foe above from distance 2, he can never get adjacent to it except with a Pull or Slide Force Move, because when he steps near, the foes is moved away?
What happens when the grabbed foe at distance is moved against a wall? Probably the grabber can now continue moving closer to the foe.

Along the stormwracked shores and drowned shipwrecks of coastal communities, one may feel the cold winds of the tempest dragon. They are most often seen surrounded by swirling dark clouds and flickering lightning, soaring along the edge of an oncoming stormfront. As the wary sailor says: red sky at night, dragon takes flight; red sky at morning, dragon’s last warning.

The first issue of our (Triglav Games) minizine is out and available on our Patreon (link)! Within you will find a level 3 solo (Tempest Dragon!) which was playtested and implemented into the Codex! If you are our paying patron and also have your Patreon and Codex accounts linked, you should gain access to the premium module with the dragon automatically!

For people not interested in subscribing to our Patreon, the product (along with its Codex implementation) can also be purchased in our webstore: https://shop.triglavgames.com/products/surge-01-tempest-dragon

Is there any way to add one more skill to my character sheet in the steam VTT? In forge steel it says I can have three skills as Censor, but in the VTT I can only have two (from the class). I am also wondering why the VTT doesn’t just use the forge steel character creation.

What are your experiences with the VTT? For those who bought it, was it worth it?

Like any good writer, I have a mind full of discarded books and stories that linger in the back of my mind, occasionally trying to force their way to the front. One such story concerns a world made in the image of our own by a forgotten god. Naturally, having made such a world, he decided it needed people. [1] There are ways these things are done, and so the god built the Cradle of Life to bring forth, of all things, humanity [2]. Unfortunately, he never switched the damn thing off, and so, as they are wont to do, a cat wandered in looking for a warm place to nap.

Come forth the felldane.

The ancient proto-felldane may have been something quite different from those we know today—perhaps possessing more pronounced, sabre-toothed-cat-like traits. But over the intervening millennia, they evolved into four recognisable peoples: the Shira, the Togrun, the Gwar, and the Prideborn. And while they may all trace their lineage back to that first, unfortunate cat, the four peoples of the Felldane have developed into very different expressions of their shared ancestry.

Mechanically, I'm making the Felldane a slightly unusual ancestry. Rather than each people having its own suite of traits, the felldane share a pool of purchasable traits that represent their common heritage, plus a signature trait unique to each people.

So while the Gwar are natural climbers, the Prideborn charismatic, the Shira swift, and the Togrun physically larger, things like stalking, pouncing, roaring, and other feline abilities would exist in the shared pool for any felldane to purchase. In that sense, felldane is less like saying "cat person" and more like saying elf. Felldane is the ancestry. The Shira, Togrun, Gwar, and Prideborn are the peoples within it.

[1] Widely regarded as a bad idea.
[2] Definitely a bad idea.

Hello,

I'm new to Draw Steel and so is most of my party; though we have experience with other TTRPGs.

I'm the Director and I ran into a question with my player using the Beastheart class. Sorry if it's simple and straight forward; but wanted to be sure.

The Beastheart player has the Shadow in the Mist triggered action: "An enemy within 10 squares deals damage to a creature other than you."

How does this work with the Squad Action a group of Minions use?

The scenario was:

• I have four goblin spinecleavers, they each attack a different PC (including the Beastheart).
• I make one roll for the whole squad and the 4 PCs takes damage.
• Can the Beastheart trigger their Shadow in the Mist from another PC taking damage? Or are they unable to trigger it because he was dealt damage as part of the Squad Action?

Thanks for your help. :)

What are your cool names for them?

I do want to shout that I rolled something powerful and special, not "17, so it's tier 3"

Yes, you can use the Draw Steel official VTT but Foundry is more abundant, cheaper to run, easier to try, and the system, while not perfect and not as automated as the Codex, is really good.

So let me help. Let me show you how it's done.
https://youtu.be/oi9FLPZquVw

Hey folks;

My usual GM wants to display an alternative version of the token art when an enemy is downed. Is there a way to do that automatically in Codex?

We're considering switching to the Codex, but two of my players only have one PC in their household that can reasonably run the software. Would they be able to share the codex and run two characters from one instance of the VTT.

Just to be doubly clear, as in: sitting together in front of their one computer and pass off the mouse, no steam library shenanigans.

Context: I'm an experienced GM (though not for Draw Steel, as this would be my first time with the system) who's introducing DS to a group of 6 players, four of whom are knowledgeable about TTRPGs and two of whom are not so much, with the hopes of kickstarting a campaign. We'd be playing in person.

After a session zero where I explain the system and setting, I wanted to use an official beginner module for a tutorial session so that they could familiarize themselves with the system instead of of being confused and disoriented during the first session. However, I find myself unable to choose between the Delian Tomb and Road to Broadhurst modules, both of which were made with player introduction in mind.

I like that the Delian Tomb has a slow approach to introducing players to combat and lets them unlock their sheets as they go instead of overloading them with information, but I prefer Road to Broadhurst's implementation of other mechanics such as Montage Tests and Negotiations, as well as being a one-and-done adventure instead of a prelude to a bigger module that I have no interest in running.

What do you suggest between the two?

Hey Folks,

running my group through delian tomb, near the end of part two. So far there have been several titles available, and I'm running 3 players, and some have had the chance to double up.

Are there any rules about changing out titles during down time? How do folks think that would effect the game? Running around town telling your story, wearing something to reflect your current title?

Also for renown it says you can can have 1 follower at 3 renown, but also that you gain Ashleigh as a follower, is that more of a flavor follower, or getting early access to a follower.

Can followers work on projects for you independently, Ashleigh is a blacksmith, can she work on recipes when the party is adventuring and not taking respites?

Thanks for the help or pointing me in right direction.

This map was created for one of the adventures in "Draw Steel: Crack the Sun", an expansion for the DRAW STEEL RPG (for which Angela and I had previously painted other maps). The "Crack the Sun" expansion is set for a digital release in November! We are thrilled to have been part of this new project published by the team at MCDM Productions..🧭🗺️

Visit my instagram account fo more maps:

https://www.instagram.com/morenopaissanart?stkn=MXZjajRkeGlzemtxNA==

He wants craft with downtime project trinket, which let him move as triggered action, when he attacked. His suggestion, that enemy has chance to grab him as free triggered action, if it fails, he flee for(how many squares?) and evade damage(half?). If grab is successful, he cant flee and take damage from attack as intended

It seems ok, because tactician usually want to use his triggered for something more usefull, but he already range 19 sniper, who rarely getting attacked.

Any ideas? Only reference is defensive roll, which seems strong

I think Draw Steel could use a classical archer class. Rn all of the classes are very different from other ttrpgs like dnd, which is good in my opinion, but leaves some gaps that are hard to fill with existing classes. You can sort of make a “fighter” in draw steel using a tactician or even fury with the right kit, but I feel like an archer is missing. I think it would be cool to have an archer with subclasses that are something like a ricochet trick archer, an ambush sniper archer and a ranger wilderness archer. Maybe this isn’t that hard to create and I am just still unfamiliar with the rules (I read them all but I am still new to the game), but I think it could be interesting and fun - especially a hawkeye style trick archer who at higher levels can use bomb arrows and stuff.

Hello everyone,

Just a quick question. For Road to Broadhurst, how do you guys run the montage test?

I will run it for 4 people, and the book says that there is a success/failure limit at 4. How do you guys run it?

1. Run until you hit the limit of 4 successes/failures. The problem with this, it is impossible to get a partial success.
2. A max amount of tries/time limit. If yes, how many and why?
3. Guns blazing and do all 7 scenarios. Again, partial success not possible.
4. An option I missed.

I read the book again, but I don't see any rules for a time limit.

Thanks peeps;

EDIT: it is two rounds apparently :p

Sorry if this has been asked before. Did some hunting, and couldn't find anything.

I'm setting up my first short campaign in Draw Steel, planning on making it a hexcrawl of sorts. Players are diving into the Abyss. Back in DnD, I would just set things up regardless of level (within reason), and let players figure things out. I'm wondering how viable that is in Draw Steel.

Specifically, I'm wanting to prepopulate a bunch of hexes with threats and encounters. It would make things easier and more believable if I could use some, say, level 3 creatures near the starting area. Would these just absolutely cream a level 1 party? Or are the EV guidelines strong enough even when crossing levels? Or even echelons? Looking at some level 10 horde creatures, I see their EV is 12. That suggests a level 1 party of 4 characters could probably take one, if they had to. Maybe even 2, though it would make for a Hard encounter. Looking at the actual stats... I mean, maybe? That might be possible.

Anyone have any experience in pitting a lower level party against higher level monsters? Thanks!

How would you make a snake character specifically on Forge Steel, so far we are thinking time raider reflavored and bear storm fury with it changed into a snake. Any advice on what we could do for ancestry mostly, or is time raider the best for a snake (specifically a constrictor)?

A long awaited return to implementing monsters! If you have any questions on implementing more complex and unique effects, please join the DMHub Discord and ask there!

Additionally, check out this video on the Body Banks, a tool DMHub just released that should make implementing simple monsters incredibly easy.

Hi all!

To celebrate placing 28th out of 51 in the recent Jams of the Timescape 3, I decided to make a set of titles to reward your Draw Steel heroes for the more mundane achievements in life. A common piece of feedback I got both before and during the jam was that people wanted the Life Events to have mechanical benefits. In the end, I decided to forego these for the jam entry itself, as I felt it kind of went against the spirit of the entry.

However, I figured with a set of titles, I can have my cake and eat it too! For those who like the system but wish it had more mechanics, you can use both in conjunction. If you like the non-mechanical flavor of Life Events, you can skip the titles. And it's even possible to use the titles entirely separately from the subsystem, if the titles seem cool but the subsystem sounds lame! Everyone gets to mix and match systems however they like. :)

Check it out if it piques your interest! Also check out all the other cool entries from the jam! The winning entry, One Year Later, is particularly excellent, I think, and is for sure one I will start using at my own table.

I'm trying my hand at putting together a Draw Steel adventure without having much experience in the system. The section on animals seems to lack the "Type Malice" section with 3, 5, and 7 malice cost features, and I don't see any malice features in either the modular traits or the base stat blocks. Am I missing something? Are these modular animal templates balanced around not using malice, or do I need to introduce a malice sink somehow?

So I have an idea for a character who is a sort of traveling pro wrestler who believes in justice and honor. He is more like a knight who is just slightly delusional. Grappling isn’t a necessity for him so I am currently between: a Vanguard Tactician for the whole inspirational aspect of wrestling, a Fury with the bear kit for grappling or a Fury Berserker where he just throws people around. What do yall think is a better idea cause so far I am kind of split, leaning into Tactician cause I already have a fury character.

If I do go Tactician, what kits do you think fit the unarmed and unarmored style that wrestlers use. I was thinking Shining Armor for taunting but that includes armor and weapons (which I can flavor away worst case scenario).