Draw Steel - Learning to Run Games - January 11, 2026
January 11 at 1PM at Meanwhile Coffee
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Overview
Draw Steel is a tactical, cinematic heroic-fantasy RPG where extraordinary heroes fight monsters using exceptional abilities and teamwork to create short, impactful combats scenarios.
The game centers on fast, tactical combat and cinematic heroism. Draw Steel tackles combat directly by changing the way the game is played and removing the slog of combat we typically see in D&D 5E. Players focus and attention during every turn pays off because every ability deals progress toward victory. Fights are about teamwork and positioning in a constantly changing battlefield. Characters are defined by unique and creative classes, ancestries, and kits that help every player feel powerful.
This game favors action over bookkeeping: no encumbrance, no tracking rations, and fewer attrition mechanics than many d20 systems. Abilities read like scenes with names and effects that spark imagination. Players feel like Heroes in a story rather than number‑counters on tracking stats and inventory.
All of this encourages teamwork, discovery of synergies, and narrative that keeps the game centered on dramatic choices and tactical problem solving.
Combat AND Negotiation
So far we have talked about Draw Steel in terms of combat and action, but Draw Steel also includes a different way to handle Non-Combat resolutions.
In Draw Steel every combat becomes a cinematic event that encourages players to be daring and leverage their characters abilities to the utmost. Resources come back every turn, and cover, reach, and forced movement matter, Ther's no “I miss, who’s next?”—so every turn feels impactful. Edges and Banes change outcomes meaningfully to help players gain the upper hand in a variety of ways to help keep things punchy, reward teamwork and synergies, and cut the busywork. The goal is to spend time being heroes.
Negotiation in Draw Steel is treated like a dramatic scene with mechanical teeth: social tests, arguments, and group tests make talkative moments tense and tactical rather than a string of isolated skill checks. This helps make roleplay flexible where failures create meaningful narrative consequences, and the Director has built‑in tools—timers, objectives, escalating stakes—to keep negotiations moving and engaging. The net result: faster sessions, more heroic moments, and deeper tactical and narrative payoff from both fights and conversations.
Learning to Run Games - The Delian Tomb
Learning to run a game is pretty easy using Draw Steel - but the Delian Tomb is designed to teach ANYONE how to run Draw Steel. The whole adventure is designed to be run with no experience. It walks the person taking on the role of the Director through the whole adventure and teaches the Director and the players the game at the same time.
There is a small amount of prep for the Director to make sure you and the other players are ready to start The Delian Tomb with Premade Characters, but then the entire adventure is written and organized to teach as you play. The entire adventure is broken into multiple sections that will take up to 4-6 hours to complete, and up to 6 sessions to complete all the parts. The Director will have a little bit of a head-start by reading the adventure ahead of time, but the players need zero knowledge to begin.
Many other games do have an introductory adventure, or starter set, but The Delian Tomb is one of the best for brand-new players to learn how to play TTRPGs with zero previous experience.