Carbon Grey RPG vs Draw Steel
Compare Carbon Grey RPG and Draw Steel side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Carbon Grey RPG | Draw Steel | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Historical, Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Crunchy, Combat-Heavy, Tactical, Corruption, Roll to Cast, Licensed IP, Pulp Action | Tactical, Heroic, Combat-Heavy, Cinematic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Grid-Based, Attacks Always Hit, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a pool of d6s equal to attribute + skill, sum the dice, and beat a Difficulty Number from 5 (Very Easy) to 30 (Extremely Difficult). One die in every pool is the Wild Die: a 6 grants an Advantage (Hero Point gain, success upgrade, or aid to an ally) and a 1 hands the GM a Complication that can deepen a failure. Margins above and below the DN scale results from Partial Success up to Exceptional Success and from Ordinary Failure down to Catastrophic Failure. Hero Points (start at 6) fuel doubled die codes, rerolls, and injury-level reductions. | Power Roll: roll 2d10 + characteristic and check which tier the result falls into: Tier 1 (11 or less), Tier 2 (12–16), or Tier 3 (17+). Every ability describes three outcomes by tier, so rolls always produce an effect, with no whiffed turns. Edges and banes (+2/−2, or tier shift at double) modify rolls situationally. Each class builds a unique heroic resource during combat, unlocking increasingly powerful abilities as momentum builds. Victories earned from combat and noncombat challenges accumulate across encounters and convert to XP during respites. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | 2d10 |
| Complexity | Medium | High |
| Accessibility | High | High |
| Runnability | High | High |
| License | Proprietary | Draw Steel Creator License |
| Cost | $$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Magnetic Press Play | MCDM Productions |
| Year | 2022 | 2025 |
| Best For | Groups who want dieselpunk WWI-flavored heroics (trench fighting, airship dogfights, espionage, and court intrigue) with an opt-in reality-warping subsystem that physically and mentally scars characters who lean on it. | Groups who want deeply tactical, cinematic combat where every ability matters and no turn is wasted. Ideal for players who love build variety and dramatic, heroic battles. |
| Highlights | Wild Die mechanic builds tier-based outcomes into every roll: a 6 grants an Advantage the player can spend on extra Hero Points, an upgraded success, or aid to an ally; a 1 hands the GM a Complication that can turn an ordinary failure into a Catastrophic one. Continuity Flux skills (Manipulate, Divine, Transmogrify) let characters bend reality but each use raises a tracked Surge Count, and a roll-low check at session end against accumulated Corruption Points can permanently strip an attribute, transform the character into an enemy-controlled stone demon, or erase them from existence. Character Persona stack (Quirks rolled on a d66 table, Obligations to factions or ideals, and Remarkable Abilities) pays out Skill Points at the end of any session the player honored their Obligation, and a session in which the character switches allegiance grants no Skill Points at all. | Every turn offers multiple meaningful choices with no wasted turns thanks to tiered outcomes, nine classes each with a unique heroic resource and distinct tactical identity, forced movement and positioning are central to combat tactics, full negotiation subsystem with NPC interest and patience tracking for structured social encounters |
| Considerations | Combat layers multi-action penalties, scale rules between personal, vehicle, and grand-scale targets, weapon properties like Bypass ARM and Continuous, and dedicated subsystems for grenades, artillery bombardment, flak, hail of bullets, and minefields: each with its own DN, reaction options, and damage table. Continuity Flux powers are gated behind the Latent Flux Talent ability or GM-granted shard exposure, so a party without one is shut out of the reality-bending side of the setting unless the GM hands out access. Setting is tightly tied to the Carbon Grey graphic novel (eight named nations with specific factions, mythologies, and political alignments), so adapting the system to a homebrew dieselpunk world means cutting the lore that anchors most published episodes. | Heroes start with many abilities and options even at level 1, creating a steeper initial learning curve. Significant tracking overhead during combat with heroic resources, victories, conditions, edges, and banes. Explicitly designed for heroic tactical fantasy: the rules do not support dungeon crawling, hex exploration, or survival gameplay |