⚔️ Draw Steel Quickly
Draw Steel is MCDM’s tactical fantasy RPG. The GM is called the Director. This covers playing online in the Codex with a pregen, which needs no prep beyond reading this page. Full rules, free and searchable: the Steel Compendium.
1. Join the game
Section titled “1. Join the game”Launch the Codex, click Play, and enter the invite code from the Director — some games also take a password.
Expect a black screen after joining. That is not a bug: the map appears once the Director assigns you a token.
2. Pick a pregen
Section titled “2. Pick a pregen”The Codex ships the Delian Tomb fully implemented, its nine pregens included. They are tutorialized — class features unlock encounter by encounter, and the hero upgrades as each encounter is cleared. Take one as-is; building in Forge Steel and importing throws that progression away.
Tell the Director which one you want. Linked PDFs are the same heroes, handy for reading ahead.
| Pregen (PDF) | Heroic resource | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Dwarf Fury | Ferocity | Berserker; brutal melee |
| High Elf Tactician | Focus | Leader; marks targets, empowers allies |
| Human Censor | Wrath | Divine warrior; judges and hounds one foe |
| Human Null | Discipline | Psionic martial artist; auras that suppress supernatural foes |
| Human Talent | Clarity | Psion; mental damage, battlefield control |
| Orc Conduit | Piety | Divine caster; smites foes, aids allies |
| Polder Elementalist | Essence | Blaster; elemental damage |
| Polder Shadow | Insight | Rogue; mobility and evasion |
| Wode Elf Troubadour | Drama | Bard; thwarts foes, aids allies |
The pregens come with class, subclass and ancestry, but no name. Bring one.
3. The Power Roll
Section titled “3. The Power Roll”Roll 2d10, add the relevant bonus. Every Power Roll produces an effect — there is no miss.
| Total | Tier | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| ≤ 11 | 1 | Weakest |
| 12–16 | 2 | Expected |
| 17+ | 3 | Best |
4. Turn order
Section titled “4. Turn order”No initiative rolls. The side going first picks one creature to act; when that turn ends, the other side picks one, and play alternates back and forth. Any hero may be the one chosen, so the team decides the order as the fight develops.
5. Resources
Section titled “5. Resources”The Codex tracks these, but know what they are: stamina, recoveries, surges, and the heroic resource named in the table above. The heroic resource is the one piece specific to the chosen hero — read that section before playing.
6. Controls
Section titled “6. Controls”| Action | Key |
|---|---|
| Character sheet | C |
| Inventory | I |
| Move token | Arrow keys |
| Move diagonally | Home End Page Up Page Down |
| Pan camera | W A S D |
| Zoom | = - |
| Next character | Tab |
| Ping the map | Long click |
| Ping and pull everyone’s camera | Shift + long click |
| Measure distance | Ctrl + M |
Forced movement is manual: drag the token past the obstacle by the number of squares left in the movement, and the Codex applies the collision damage.