mcdm
patreon
Draw Steel: Packet 4 (Pretty Much the Whole Game)
🕑 Added 2024-12-20 22:34:23 +0000 UTCUPDATE: The surveys for this playtest packet is now closed, but you can still get the packet attached to this post.
Alright folks, here you go.
Attached to this post are the files for Draw Steel. You’re the patrons, so this is the entire game. Heroes and Monsters. You now have all the classes, ancestries, all the careers, six inciting incidents for each career, 100 optional complications, all the titles, treasures, rules for negotiation, montage tests, research, respites, something like 400+ monster statblocks, animals, rivals, the whole shebang so to speak. Whatever a shebang is.
These are the core rules, from here on out we just polish and balance things. Fix ambiguities, fix balance issues, more editing. But apart from whatever products might come after the core rules…this is it. Any other content we might all yearn for will have to wait for some future Draw Steel product.
Actually…I tell a lie, there are some missing bits. Stuff like…example names for all the ancestries. I’m sure there are other little bits and bobs we haven’t gotten to, but it’s basically the whole game. Very little is left to do.
All of this stuff has been through some testing, some of it has been through a LOT of testing, but this packet also represents a phase of testing. At some point next week we’ll send out the survey to get your feedback. You are absolutely encouraged to run whatever adventures or campaigns you feel like, it’s your game after all, but we also encourage you to run encounters at levels 4+ if you can.
The surveys for this packet are now closed. We’ll revise the text based on that feedback, do some spot testing of things with our contract testers, and that will be the end of testing the core rules.
I mean, in a sense, we’ll be testing Draw Steel for years, we plan on actively revising the game as we learn how people use it but for the first printing of the core rules, this marks the beginning of the last phase of testing. Whatever you folks discover about the game at higher levels in the next weeks and months will be the last opportunity for us to fix things before the book goes to print.
For context, this is already an incredibly well-tested game. We could always do MORE testing but it’s also sort of miraculous that we’ve manage to get to the end of 2024 and we’re still…basically…on schedule?? I’m sure there’ll be new challenges in the new year: layout, printing, shipping. There’s still a ton of art being assigned. So we’re far from “done.” But as far as the first edition of the core rules is concerned, this represents the beginning of the last phase of testing.
I think you’re going to get a blank sample character sheet with this packet? But apart from that, that’s it. There’s no adventure, no pregens, no maps, no art. It was an ENORMOUS amount of work just getting this stuff done in time.
Everyone at MCDM worked hard for many weeks and months to get the rules into this state but I want to personally add: as I was reviewing the text and seeing everything in the manuscript for the first time…I was amazed. I think this is an extraordinary game. I am enormously proud of the work everyone’s done, including our testers, our mods, and all of you, everyone who’s played Draw Steel and given feedback.
None of us know the future, lots of games come out to great fanfare but little lasting impact. But if people come to Draw Steel for the first time impressed with the level of polish they find, it will be in large part a result of the work you put into testing this game.
At the same time you folks are getting ALL the rules, the backers are getting almost all the rules. Everything except levels 4-10 of the classes. They’re also getting an updated license, so everything in the backer packet is fair game to use in your own original works. But the level 4-10 stuff appears only in the patreon packet which is not covered by the license.
There are a couple of reasons for that but the main one is obviously…this is the first chance the patrons have had to try out levels 4-10, and we want to revise the rules based on your future feedback before we deploy it to the backers.
So you are ALSO free to make and share, even sell, your own Draw Steel content, as long as it conforms the to Creator License and doesn’t reference or include any of the class features from levels 4-10.
Final note: I specifically and personally want to thank our Lead Designer, James. Everyone at MCDM worked really hard to hit this deadline, there are many moving parts including the obvious work of a lead, but also working with the art team, working with the testers, managing the freelancers, reviewing their work. There are many tedious tasks in this process for which there is no solution except: James has to read and edit the whole thing.
I think we have produced something special and your testing and feedback will make it even better, but the fact that we’ve hit all our deadlines thusfar (as far as I know??) is principally the result of James’ hard work. And I should also call out Gertz! Our executive producer! It’s sort of impossible to overstate how much he’s helped us stay organized so we can hit these deadlines. So on behalf of everyone, thanks James and Gertz!
That’s it folks! We can’t wait to see what you think of this. It’s a whole GAME everybody! It’s DRAW STEEL!!
Thanks for coming on this journey folks. Thanks for being the best community in gaming.
—Matt
Comments
Ernge
Saving Throws are explained in the section on Abilities, on page 59. In the contents tree, it's found under Classes > Abilities > Ending Effects > Save Ends
Orion ar
i dont think this packet explains saving throws at all. also ive noticed everything is going to take forever to die.At level 10 cost 11 single target high damaging abilities do about 30 damage at tier 3. Ajax for example as a level 10 solo moster has 625 hp. if we assume player and ajax abilties cancel out in terms of surges, wards, boons and banes, 5 turns of 4 players cost 11 single target nukes at tier 3 and would still not be at 0.
Martin Griffin
Ratcrobat. A+
Ernge
Ha, figures
Angela Craig
Thank you both. Turns out the short answer is reprint most of it or find a longer cable to keep my phone charged, lol.
C.W. Elliotte
Microsoft Word has a feature built into Track Changes that can do this for you. You'll just need to convert the PDFs to Word Docs first. You select the original version then the new version, and it marks it up in red to show you what's different.
Ernge
In case no one gets back to you, you might find a solution by looking at websites or sofware that compares text to find edits
Angela Craig
I printed out packet 3 for easy markup while testing, now I have my nephews and kids excited to play on Jan 1st but I really don't want to print everything again, is there any sort of way to use the change log to determine what pages I need to print and replace? Or do you by any chance have a list? I can wait for the final version, but in the meantime I would love to have a paper copy of the latest rules while killing the least trees. Thanks!
Roman Penna
I am so ready to start my campaigns!
AChiefFromTheSea
Incredible work! I can't wait to start using some more terminology and abilities from the full game in my Orden/Timescape-based novels. Thanks for everything you do!
Jim
Just dropped into the comments to give the team a hearty thank you. You guys busted your asses to get this out before the holidays and we appreciate you. Thank you!
Justin Fujimura
Just wanted to say thank you so much for working to get this out to us for the holidays! I wish you all a well-deserved break until the new year!
MCDM Productions
Email hello@mcdmproductions.com. They can get you your answer. -James
Isaac Surbey
I have a slight problem. My address has changed and I’m struggling to change the shipping address on backerkit. When you guys do ship will we be able to send specific billing and shipping details or will it automatically try to send it to my old billing address?
Brian Diehl
“No I’ll come up with one” so perfectly captures the spirit of playing with your friends who all have cooler character names than you can come up with. 👨🍳🤌🏻
Andrew Straight
‘Teamwork makes the potencies dynamic.’ Gain 2 surges if you can casually slip that into a conversation! Love it!
Ernge
Does this mean it's time for Patrons to give feedback on the wording of things? Like "but wait when does a 1-round duration end?" or "How many piety does it cost to heal two allies and make them BOTH stand"
Ben Milne
MCDM comin in clutch with the Xmas gifts! Spent last night making up my party’s current characters in Draw Steel from 5e and everyone’s so excited. Reading through options they kept struggle for choice over how cool everything was. We’re playing a Spelljammer game where the bbeg is a reality warping eldritch being (standard stuff lol) and narratively we’ll hit a point where we switch systems. Ahhhhhhh I’m so keen!
Ryan
An excellent holiday gift
Jake VanderHeide
Loving the read-through I'm doing right now. Great work team!
Light
Thanks :)
MCDM Productions
Yes. The book will have full credits. -James
MCDM Productions
New version is attached to the post! -James
MCDM Productions
Yes. -James
Brennen Hilgendorf
We'll be playing tonight! I can't wait to try out the updated rules! It's been so great being along for the ride with everyone as the game has come together.
Maximilian Tagher
This is really great, my friends are planning another draw steel game now!
Light
Just to clarify: is this patreon packet the same as backer packet 2 except for the extra levels? (Want to make sure I'm using the same rules as my group.)
Steve Ross
So if a shadow critically hits Ajax with demon door, do they just save the while realm in one turn? 😉
Sky-Blue
Ran into a glitch with the fillable sheet, the ancestry and ancestry traits text boxes are linked or something- Added in my traits and it filled in the ancestry box too, and when i tried fixing it the traits I put in was erased (this is using adobe acrobat) Just putting this here in case I forget to put this in the upcoming survey!
David L
Y'all are legends
Christian Keegan
Huge thanks to James and Gertz and the whole MCDM team. I too think you have created something really special and I feel very privileged to have played a very teeny tiny part in the giant production.
Roosevelt Cooper
Wow can’t believe we are almost done!
Eugene Cheney
I want to BE Jackson Bootblack
That black guy
THANK YOU for changing the mask college for the shadow also hells yeah capybara
Cormac Connolly
Excited to dig into this! BTW: Love the Devil's name.
Dylan Trahan
What a wonderful day indeed. Thank yall for the great work, cant wait to pour over it all
AmbyNavy
and also - massive shoutout to the whole team, you’re elite. So proud of you all for pulling off what i think may be the best game of next year.
AmbyNavy
Are tester names still going to be printed within the book?
Ormus Erebus
When they were being given their Cipher, they insisted.. "No I'll Come Up With One"
Prammster
Amazing! Thank you Matt and MCDM team! :)
Daniel Friedman
What a wonderful gift.
Philip Richardson
James and Gertz are a RIVER to their PEOPLE!
Ben Clarke
Listen, this is very important, I desperately need the iconic Talent hero to actually be named "No I'll Come Up With One."
Wilzard
Thank you to the whole MCDM team. I was making characters the other day using the last packet and thought: this is the game I want to be playing for the next ten years. We appreciate you, and the amount of heart going into this game shows. No oatmeal!
Danny N Thach-Song
Xmas came early!!!
Witchboy
Yoooooo!! I'm so hype
Evermore
thanks for the early christmas present! And happy Holidays!
Christian A.
Christmas has come early! I hope the MCDM team has a wonderful holiday break while we get to gorge on all this content!!
Moshtradamus
God, I can't wait to play as "No I'll come up with one", she looks awesome! In all seriousness, CONGRATS MCDM! This is all gas and no brakes! <3
Jens Stein
Yay! No matter what else is coming my way, this the best Christmas present! Thank you all so much for all your hard work for this community this year. Have a wonderful break!
Josh David
I'm so excited to dive into this!
JBR
Thank you so much for all your hard work. Happy Holidays MCDM
G
Thanks for busting your butts to get us this! Happy holiday break!
Ricardo
guys, its time to draw steel!
Callindrill
Thanks for all of your hard work on this! Can't wait to dig in this weekend.
liz
it's here!! thank you for all of your hard work; be sure to take a much deserved break
Andrew Straight
Let’s go!!!!
Kelby B
Wow, what a Xmas present, thanks team, you are the bestest
