Into the Woods: a Draw Steel Adventure

Creating your character

If you have the Heroes book for Draw Steel, then all published character creation options are open. You’re welcome to make your level 1 character before or finalize your decisions during Session 0. Characters built to explore and survive a harsh wilderness will feel useful, but any character makes sense. Your starting location is a “town” at the furthest edge of civilization, so feel free to brainstorm why they’d be there—whether that’s home, a place they’ve stumbled upon, an escape from their past, etc. You can also use Forge Steel, a fan-made site that has all of the published character options and streamlines designing a character from scratch. Again, feel free to build as much of a level 1 character as you like and finalize or swap your decisions during Session 0 when you meet the rest of the party. https://andyaiken.github.io/forgesteel/#/hero If you do not have access to the rules or don’t want to build your own character, I can share a list of pregenerated characters from the Delian Tomb starter adventure; there’s a premade option for each class that has everything up to level 3 and all the math figured out for you, and all are fun, interesting and would work great for this adventure. You’ll pick your character by the end of Session 0, and we’ll be able to jump right in to the adventure hook. Once you join the game, you'll find a PDF with all 9 pregenerated character options in the Discord's Resource channel.

Preparing for the session

If you’d like, build a level 1 character. At minimum, set up a Discord account; you’ll receive an invite to join once you’ve signed up for the adventure. This platform will include everything we’ll need to play, including a dice roller. The Resource channel contains two PDFs that you can check out before we meet: a list of all 9 pregenerated characters, one for each class with enough material through level 3; a 4-page document that lists all the key terms and rules you'll need to know to get through almost any situation. Once you’re in our Discord, you’ll also find a link (in Reference Maps) to our game in Roll20–which you can use your Discord account for!

What DiscoSpartacus brings to the table

I’ll provide a 4-page document that’s a helpful reminder/summary of the system rules and key terms, useful to new and experienced players a like. I’m also prepared to share pregenerated characters from the Delian Tomb starter adventure as needed. Expect a mix of characters from silly to serious, with voices and personalities to match. Much like a good episode of “Avatar the Last Airbender,” any session will likely make you laugh, face tactical combat or a puzzling challenge, and engage in decisions that will develop your character and impact the world around you. Draw Steel’s rules are meant to empower the players and drive a fun narrative around thoughtful decisions and the luck of the dice, so expect to stick to the rules. But, since TTRPGs rely on our collective imaginations—creativity and an open mind will help us push the envelope of the game to tell a more interesting story.

Homebrew rules

In general, if your idea is cool or funny enough and it adds to the fun of the game for everyone, then we'll go for it--even if it isn't exactly how the rules would work normally.

How DiscoSpartacus creates a safe table

After we introduce ourselves in Session 0, we’ll establish our Red/Yellow/Green lights, which is similar to Lines and Veils but also includes our wishes and goals for the game. We’ll also go over best practices for calling an X card using text or voice chat. At the end of each session, we’ll discuss Highlights of the session and Hopes for the future.