mcdm
patreon
Draw Steel: Heroes Release Candidate
🕑 Added 2025-06-24 21:31:45 +0000 UTCUpdate: The survey for feedback has now closed.
Get your hands on the Draw Steel: Heroes release candidate PDF now!
Hey folks! James here with a big Draw Steel update. It's time to show off the release candidate of Draw Steel: Heroes. You can think of the release candidate as the assembly cut version of a book. It's got everything you need to play the game in a laid out format, but there are still some rough edges.
It is attached to this post below!
This is your first chance to see the art and words in the core rulebook come together! We're so excited to show you all the incredible work done by our design, production, operations, and art teams and by Chris Hopper, the guy who has been spending a lot of late nights putting this book together for you all, and Rich Lescourflair, the guy who is helping him.
Because the book is still under construction, you'll notice that it has some print lines on the corners and sides of each page and some color gradients at the top of each page. Those won't be in the final version!
Reporting Issues
If you find a typo, formatting error, or some other issue with the book that you want to report, please use the survey here to do so:
https://forms.gle/hePPn3cgwqgS3Lhk9
You can fill out the survey multiple times if you want to send us multiple issues.
We're not relying on you folks to tell us every issue. We've got a team of proofreaders who are still going over this thing as we speak. You don't have to report errors if you don't want to! Some of you will want to, so we set up a way to report errors that best serves our workflow.
Known Issues
There are some generally known issues with this PDF that we're going to share with you now. These don't need to be reported!
Accessibility: This PDF still needs to undergo a thorough accessibility pass.
Diagram Bigger Names: Tokens in diagrams are going to be given bigger names.
Inconsistent Spacing: Right now the spacing between sections, within abilities, and above various headings is inconsistent.
Missing Art: There are a very few spots in the book where art needs to be placed.
No Bookmarks: The PDF currently has no bookmarks.
No Cover: The cover is still coming.
No Credits: The credits are still coming.
No Glossary or Index: The glossary and index are coming.
No Title Page: The title page is still coming.
No Table of Contents: The table of contents is coming.
No Working Links: The cross reference and outside links in the PDF currently don't work.
Monsters PDF
We figured it's been a minute since you all got a copy of Draw Steel: Monsters, so Willy said, "Hey! Include the latest of that too!" We haven't gone into final layout with this book yet! However, we did turn the latest manuscript into a PDF for you all. Note that this thing is still in edit and we are NOT looking for feedback on it yet. We'll let you know if and when we are! This is just so you can see the latest progress and play the most up to date version of the game.
Discord and Reddit
If you want to find a group to playtest or want to chat about the release candidate, head on over to the MCDM Discord. Be sure to link your Patreon and Discord accounts so you can also chat about the adventure with our other Patrons.
You can also head on over to the Draw Steel subreddit to discuss the game!
Thank you all so much for supporting MCDM and Draw Steel! We're almost there, folks!
—James
Comments
Joe Garvey
When is this survey open until?
Zrin
Near the bottom of the post, they acknowledge there is currently no table of contents, but it is coming.
The Wizard Gravy
So I gotta ask, why no table of contents? It was one thing when it was still in development and you needed to make big changes over time, but you said it yourself this is basically done. It's just a little confusing, and not having a table of contents makes it pretty difficult to get through the book, having to hunt through the manuscript rather than just knowing which page a thing is on.
Jonathon
Looks Incredible so far, can't wait for the full release!!! Does anyone know who the artist is for the map of the timescape? I would love a print if they make one available, its beautiful!
Stuart Walker
Love the layout, it makes the book easy to read. I have not engaged very much with DS since trying one of the early packets, which was fun but getting to grips with understanding the rules was challenging. Having read through the rules for combat as laid out in this RC I now get it. The clean presentation and diagrams are really helpful. The best thing is that the rules are clearly written in plain language and are followed by helpful examples of the rule in action. I have often found that the language used in other RPGs leaves me scratching my head after multiple readings as to how the rule is meant to work, so great job MCDM. A++
Josh Lynas
This is so incredibly exciting, inspiring, and reassuring. Having followed every step, backed as early as I could, etc. To see it coalesce into a game that makes me grin as I read it at all of the potential for stories and play. I’m delighted, and can’t wait for more!
Karmagator
The post explicitly says it is coming
Jon Mayes
I love the look of it and everything feels so much more streamlined. That being said, under the Fury Section the side says Elementalist instead.
Ryan
Love the art, just checking that there will be a table of contents at the beginning of the book. I hate it when source books don’t have a table of contents.
Ismael Ali
I absolutely adore the art, it is very inspiring and my players love seeing examples of abilities and ancestries. My other most appreciated addition are the example names. Exceptionally helpful way to give a vibe, especially with the notice ahead of time about jokey character names - excellent disclaimer. I'm disappointed by the text formatting. I found the text more difficult to read than the Backer Packet 2 version. I don't think the font is different, so it may unfortunately be an unavoidable issue of making enough space for the text. Small nitpick that'll probably get corrected - the Dragon Knight fiction was sadly cut down for space, fair enough. Only it doesn't read as well now since a few sentences were written to flow with the ones that were cut. Before one bandit starts of saying "We didn't..." and second one ADDED QUICKLY to that statement, "We didn't know there was one of you here". The first bandit's line was removed, so the second one *adding quickly* seems odd.
minyoo
Sir Jon of Tor. Really need to know more about him!
minyoo
Really loving that Stained-glass themed artworks. Very medieval-European aesthetics, although the game itself is very setting-agnostic. Love them.
John Dover
Looks pretty good...except, I have a very difficult time reading the first page of each chapter with the white text on black background. I'm finding that I'm inclined to skip each chapter's first page due to eye strain (or some weird eye/brain dynamic). I don't know if this will change with the accessibility check, but I thought I'd mention that it might be an issue for some people.
Mike
Gnomes are coming in a future update, so probably
Wilzard
I agree! I also thought that captions explicitly connecting the art to the abilities/items/etc would be nice ☺️
Callahan Johnson
Wait.... what race is portrayed in the picture on pg 305??? Gnomes??? Surely these aren't polders. Those conical hats look DISTINCTLY gnome-like. 🤔🤔🤔
Karmagator
I just checked, it's working fine for me. Maybe try a different browser?
Corey Catuara
Is anyone else completely unable to download these? I'm getting a 404 error when I try to do so
FoxTrick
Finally a tome to go with my dice
Chris
This is rad! The maps look great, i imagine there will be a way to get hi res versions to print out for our tables? Super excited
Wilzard
The layout! The art! The icons on power rolls! The FREAKING new Dwarf ancestry fiction!! I'm barely over 30 pages in and gushing with joy :D
RoombaGladiator
Oh man... I've been having a great time as a director, but that art just made me want to take a turn as a player so much... Dang, that emotion really snuck up on me.
Ben Christianson
The book looks absolutely incredible. Fantastic work, folks. You killed it with this one. Here's to the full release!
Pedro Velho Lira
Damn, IT'S SO CLOSE!!! The only feedback I can give after quickly skimming it is about magic items. It would be nice to have small subtitles under each item's illustration so people know which item they're looking at. Of course you can read the item description. But looking at a piece of art and, on that same piece, knowing the name of the item is pretty fun as a player
David L
Looks awesome! The game has been great so far and it's cool to see the teams hard work paying off!
Mike Pond
Just took a look. Big shout out to the team. This looks great! Well done 👏👏👏
Boris
This is absolute gold
Joe Mayo
I'm going to be SO MAD if this doesn't have a big quote in it from Kermit T. Frog!!!!
Ben-Fisher
Oh my. Beautiful
Hunter Brown
Love to see that fantasy world map in the front like Matt always said!
Hive_Indicator
I know it should be a given industry wide that it's done, but lots of respect for making sure accessibility is implemented as much as possible. I don't need it (so far), but it shows how much y'all want everyone to be able to play
Joe Auerbach
Wewt!
The Dice Society
HELL YEAH!
Vocahag
❤️
Douglas Grion Filho
Lets goooooooo
MCDM Productions
Page number written on the page. -James
Jonas Tintenseher
Is there a preference in the survey for using the page number given on the page versus the actual page number of the PDF?
Daniel Quaresma
annnnnnd new phone wallpaper thnx!
Daniel Friedman
Draw Steel! (In the start an encounter sense)
Otto
👀
BRex
It’s happening! It’s finally happening!
Marc Hertogh
Awesome!!! Thanks folks!
trist
OMG! It's happening!! HYPE! <3
