heroes together, they can tie backstories together and

MAKING A HERO strategize to build a tactically dominant party both in

and out of combat.
If you’re not the Director, then you create and play one of The Director runs an encounter to kick off the campaign.
the main characters in the game’s story—a hero. Your If all the players have the time, it’s totally worth it to get
hero is a person motivated to fight forces of evil to protect some play in during the first session, even if it’s just a
the innocent, but each hero has their own personal reason quick brawl in a tavern with some cultists! Giving the
for doing so. You don’t have to be a pure beacon of good. players a little action lets them see what the game is all
Heroes have flaws and are complex, just like people in the about—and leaves them excited for the next session.
real world. But your hero should be someone who isn’t

STEP-BY-STEP HERO MAKING

afraid to battle monsters for altruistic reasons. If you’re
only interested in playing a money-grubbing sellsword,
you can achieve that with these rules, but you’ll likely be
Use the following step-by-step guide to create a hero.
happier playing another game.
These steps are presented in what we believe is the best
The hero you create will be roleplayed by you. Often when way to approach making your first hero for Draw Steel.
referring to your hero, the rules use second-person That said, the order of the steps is still a suggestion, not a
pronouns (you/your) for shorthand, only making a hard and fast rule.
distinction between you and your hero when that
Many players like to build a hero from the backstory up,
distinction is important.
making ancestry and culture ideal first choices. However,
some players like to start more in the present, choosing an
YOUR FIRST SESSION inciting incident and a class—the choices with the most
potential impact on what your character can do in the
Getting together with your friends to make characters can game—and then going back and figuring out where their
be a lot of fun. Many groups spend most of their first hero came from. There’s no wrong way to do it!
session talking about the campaign’s story, making heroes,
and going over expectations for the game. It’s a great way You’ll want a character sheet to fill out while you make
to kick off a long-term campaign. your hero.
The Director should make an agenda for a campaign’s first Each option you can select for your hero at 1st level
session—often called “session zero”—which can include includes a parenthetical option labeled “Quick Build.” This
any of the following items: is for players who want to build a hero faster without
reading over all the options. These selections represent
The Director and players talk about the safety tools they the most straightforward and archetypical options you can
want to employ at the game table (whether physical or pick while building a hero. Most quick build options don’t
virtual), so that everyone has a good time and select languages for you, because your Director knows
understands which topics should be avoided in the better than us which languages will be most useful in your
game’s narrative and which should be embraced. For campaign.
more information, check out the MCDM Tabletop Safety
Toolkit at mcdm.gg/SafetyToolkit, which includes
advice for running a successful session zero.
1. THINK
The Director discusses the campaign’s world and the The first thing you should do is think about the kind of
major story themes they want to introduce into the hero you want to make. Ask yourself the following
game. questions:
The Director should tell the players if there are any
options that are limited or rare in their campaign. For Do you fight with weapons, magic, psionics, or some
example, some Director’s don’t want psionics to make combination of these abilities?
an appearance in their game worlds, so they might Outside of combat, what do you want your hero to do
decide that heroes can’t be nulls or talents. Another well?
campaign might be grounded in more typical medieval What did you do before becoming a hero?
fantasy and not have any memonek or time raiders, or Why did you choose to become a hero?
those ancestries might be exceedingly rare, leading What is your personality like?
heroes with those ancestries to get a lot of questions What people, places, and objects are important to you?
from curious NPCs. How will your hero complement the strengths and
The players get a chance to tell the Director what they weaknesses of the other heroes?
would like to see in the campaign. This can include
anything from “I’d love to play out some chase scenes!”
to “I want to explore themes of loss and grief.” These
wishes should be starting points for a conversation. If
not all players are comfortable with certain themes or
content requested by other players, then session zero is
a great time to discuss that and come to a consensus
about what everyone wants out of the game.
Make heroes! Once everyone understands what the
campaign is about, it’s the perfect time to get into
character creation. When a group of players make
13
Draw Steel © 2024 MCDM Productions, LLC
AMBITION IS GOOD!
Heroes are not just along for the ride in the Director’s story.
6. KIT
They’re active participants, who make decisions that change If your class gives your hero a kit, choose your hero’s kit.
their communities and eventually worlds or even the entirety of Your kit provides you with equipment and a fighting style
the timescape! It is good for your hero to have desires, to want that grants a signature ability and bonuses to one or more
to found an organization, seek justice for someone who was of your game statistics.
wronged, or want to craft a magic sword that will help you
defeat your foes. It’s only when that personal ambition becomes
more important than the group’s story that it becomes a
7. ADD FREE STRIKES
problem. But if you share your character’s ambitions with your
The simplest and most basic attack you can make, typically
Director, they can weave those desires in with the narrative.
worse than every other option, free strike abilities are
Character creation is a great time to do this.
those strikes you can make when it’s not your turn. An
As the story evolves, your hero’s ambitions could change. That’s enemy is foolish enough to walk away from you in melee?
not a bad thing—dynamic characters are awesome. If they do, Free strike! Every hero has both a melee and ranged
make sure you have a conversation with your Director about it, weapon free strike, they’re all the same (until modified by
so they can plan accordingly. your kit or class) and it’s up to you to decide what exactly
these strikes are. A thrown dagger? A punch? The design is
2. ANCESTRY intended to let you use your imagination.

Choose your hero’s humanoid ancestry from among the Free strikes also let you make strikes on your turn even if
range of ancestries available in the game—devil, dragon your hero isn’t otherwise themed to do so. A bow-using
knight, dwarf, hakaan, high elf, human, memonek, orc, wode elf can still stab an enemy with a dagger as a free
polder, revenant, time raider, or wode elf. Future strike, and a greataxe wielding orc fury can still pull out a
supplements will introduce additional ancestries you can hand axe and hurl it at a flying enemy staying annoyingly
choose from. See Ancestries for more information. out of melee range as a free strike.
MELEE WEAPON FREE STRIKE
3. CULTURE Keywords: Charge, Melee, Strike, Weapon Type: Action
Create your hero’s culture. Although ancestry gives your Distance: Melee 1 Target: 1 creature or object
hero a number of physiological benefits, your culture Power Roll + Might or Agility:
describes the community that raised you and gives you 11 or lower: 2 + M or A damage
languages and skills. See Culture for more information. 12–16: 5 + M or A damage
17+: 7 + M or A damage
4. CAREER RANGED WEAPON FREE STRIKE
Choose your hero’s career, which describes what you did Keywords: Ranged, Strike, Weapon Type: Action
for a living before you became a hero. Your career gives Distance: Target: 1 creature or object
you skills and a title, and might also give you languages, Power Roll + Might or Agility:
Renown, or knowledge for crafting and research. See 11 or lower: 2 + M or A damage
Careers for more information.
12–16: 4 + M or A damage
17+: 6 + M or A damage
I SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE
Choosing languages at the start of a campaign can be hard, See Free Strikes for more information on using free strikes,
because you might not know which are going to be the most and see Abilities for information on the ability format.
impactful for a game. You can choose to keep some of the
languages you know blank until you discover what might be a
good choice for the campaign you’re playing in. Once you decide
8. COMPLICATION
to take a language, you can reveal your choice in a dramatic Complications represent those dramatic moments in a
moment, perhaps during a negotiation where your language character’s backstory that give them pathos, a dramatic
would help or just after you find a tome that no other hero in reason to be an outsider, to doubt the meaning of their life,
your crew can read. to avoid intimacy, or rage against an enemy from their
past. Complications grant a benefit and a drawback. They
. CLASS can make a character more three dimensional, but they are
not necessary for making a great hero. Check with your
Choose your hero’s class. This choice has the biggest Director to make sure your game is using them. See
impact on how your hero interacts with the rules of the Complications for more information.
game, especially the rules for combat. Your class provides
your characteristic scores and Stamina, in addition to
skills, several abilities, and other benefits. You can be a
9. DETERMINE DETAILS
censor, conduit, elementalist, fury, null, shadow, tactician, Once you’ve created your hero, it’s time to determine the
talent, or troubadour. See Classes for more information. additional details of their backstory, appearance, and
personality. How do the events of their culture, career,
inciting incident, and class tie together into a cohesive
narrative? What’s their name? What do they look like? Do
they have any cool scars? Any dope tattoos? Do they still
14
Draw Steel © 2024 MCDM Productions, LLC
 CHANGING CHARACTER
sleep with their teddy bear? These sorts of details can help
define a well-rounded hero.

10. MAKE CONNECTIONS OPTIONS

Ask the Director if all the heroes start the campaign If you pick a skill, ability, class, or any other option that
knowing each other. If they do, talk to the other players you end up not liking after using it in the game—even your
and build some connections between your heroes. If you character’s ancestry—you can always freely change that
like, you can use the following prompts to make those option between game sessions. If you want to change an
connections, or to come up with prompts of your own: option during a session, ask your Director. If they say it’s
fine to swap that option out for something else, go for it.
While fighting a monster, another hero saved your life. You shouldn’t be stuck with an option that makes the
What were you battling and who saved you? game less fun for you.
In your group, who looks after everyone’s health and
well-being and makes sure that all the characters get If you’re changing an option out for some reason other
along? If it’s not you, how do you view this other hero? than fun, such as changing a kit out because you think the
Who is the grumpiest member of your party? If it isn’t next adventure is going to require you to have better
you, how do you react to that hero’s sour nature? If it is distance with weapon attacks or changing a signature
you, how do you react to other characters teasing you or ability granted by your class because you think a different
trying to cheer you up? damage type would be more helpful against undead, you
What’s one thing your fellow heroes know about you must either follow the normal rules for changing that
that other people do not? option, or if no such rule exists, get permission from your
Director.
What’s your favorite way to bond with your fellow
heroes?
You’ve known one of the other heroes in your party OPTION: RESPITE ABILITY CHANGES
longer than the rest. Who is it, and how did you meet?
An optional rule the Director can include in your game is
Another hero creates food, music, clothing, trinkets, or
to allow heroes to change a number of their signature and
something else that you enjoy. Who is that hero and
heroic abilities granted by their class as a respite activity.
what do they make?
This allows heroes to prepare for upcoming encounters
Another hero is teaching you a new skill. Who is it, and and try new builds, but it does mean that Directors and
what are they teaching you? players are constantly juggling and learning new abilities.
Answer these questions with the other players present,
and be sure to get a player’s approval if your answer HEROIC ADVANCEMENT
makes use of their character.
Your character’s heroic advancement is marked by level.

ADVENTURING GEAR
Each time you gain a new level in your class, your Stamina
increases, and you gain new features or abilities according
to your class’s advancement, as detailed in Classes.
This isn’t a game about tracking gear, so you don’t need to
list every piece of equipment you own on your character In the standard setup for the game, heroes gain Experience
sheet. The game assumes that heroes generally have each time they finish a respite. When you gain sufficient
enough to eat and drink, so the rules don’t expect you to Experience, you gain a level during the same respite (see
track food and water either. Building a Heroic Narrative). The Heroic Advancement
table shows exactly how much Experience (XP) you need
If your character has a skill that implicitly requires gear,
to advance from one level to the next. The amount of
such as lockpicks for the Pick Lock skill or basic alchemy
Experience you gain is cumulative.
supplies for use with the Alchemy skill, then you have that
gear. Likewise, your character is assumed to have HEROIC ADVANCEMENT
standard useful adventuring gear, including a torch, a rope, XP Level
and a backpack at minimum. 0–15 1
At the Director’s discretion, you might lose certain gear 16–31 2
during an adventure, or your gear could break. If this 32–47 3
happens, you might not be able to perform certain tasks as 48–63 4
effectively without that gear. 64–79 5
80–95 6
CHOOSING SKILLS 96–111 7
This game has lots of skills, and lots of opportunities during 112–127 8
character creation to gain them. We recommend recording a list 128–143 9
of all the skills you might gain from the different steps of the 144+ 10
character creation process, then making your choices at the end
of that process rather than flipping back and forth through the
book. ALTERNATIVE ADVANCEMENT
If you gain the same specific skill from two different sources (for Though many games might advance using the standard
instance, from a career and a class), you can pick a different skill setup for heroic advancement, the Director can decide that
from the same skill group. See Skills for more information. their game uses different advancement. Check with your
15
Draw Steel © 2024 MCDM Productions, LLC
Director to see what method of advancement they plan to
use.

ADJUSTED XP ADVANCEMENT
Some Directors prefer that heroes level up faster or slower
to suit the pace of their story. The Adjusted XP
Advancement table is set up for campaigns where heroes
advance at double or half the usual pace. Directors can
also create their own customized pace for XP-based
advancement.

ADJUSTED XP ADVANCEMENT
Level XP for Double Speed XP for Half Speed
1 0–7 0–31
2 8–15 32–63
3 16–23 64–95
4 24–31 96–127
5 32–39 128–159
6 40–47 160–191
7 48–55 192–223
8 56–63 224–255
9 64–71 256–287
10 72+ 288+

MILESTONE
Rather than tracking XP, some games see the heroes
advance in level when they achieve a particular story
milestone. For example, when a party defeats the main
villain of an adventure and foils their dastardly plot, each
hero gains a level for achieving this objective, no matter
how many or few obstacles they faced along the way.
For many Directors using milestone advancement, the end
of each adventure within a campaign serves as a milestone
for leveling up. The Director can share these milestones
with the players to encourage them to work toward
particular goals, and to engage with the story and world
the Director has prepared. For example, in a campaign
where the heroes have to face nine evil mages, it makes
sense that each time the heroes defeat a mage, they gain a
level. The Director should keep milestone goals flexible,
though. Defeating a mage could mean stopping them with
violence, using negotiation to make them stand down, or
anything else that thwarts their evil plans.

DIRECTOR SAYS SO
Some games don’t track XP or goals at all. The heroes
simply gain a level whenever the Director decides it’s
appropriate for the story.

16
Draw Steel © 2024 MCDM Productions, LLC