Draw Steel vs Dungeon World
Compare Draw Steel and Dungeon World side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Draw Steel | Dungeon World | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Tactical, Heroic, Cinematic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Attacks Always Hit, Lore-Heavy | Fiction-First, Playbook-Driven, Classic Fantasy, Rules-Light, Heroic, Open Source, GM-Friendly |
| Core Mechanic | 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. | Roll 2d6 + ability modifier. On a 10+, you succeed. On a 7–9, you succeed but with a complication, cost, or hard choice. On a 6 or less, the GM makes a move (something bad happens) and you mark XP. Moves are triggered by fictional actions: describe what your character does, and the rules tell you when to roll. |
| Dice | 2d10 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | High | Very Low |
| Accessibility | High | Very High |
| Runnability | High | Very High |
| License | Draw Steel Creator License | Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 |
| Cost | $$$ | $ |
| Publisher | MCDM Productions | Sage Kobold Productions |
| Year | 2025 | 2012 |
| Best For | 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. | Groups who want D&D-style fantasy adventure (dungeons, monsters, treasure, classes) but with fiction-first PbtA mechanics that keep the pace fast and the spotlight on the narrative. |
| Highlights | Power Rolls resolve to one of three tiers, so every roll produces an effect and a turn is never wasted. Each of the nine classes builds a unique heroic resource during a fight, unlocking stronger abilities as momentum grows. A negotiation subsystem tracks an NPC's interest and patience, giving social scenes a structured back-and-forth like combat. | Full text available free under Creative Commons, playbooks let new players start playing within minutes, GM chapter provides structured principles and moves for running the game, bonds and end-of-session questions award XP for relationships and discoveries rather than only combat |
| Considerations | Heroes start with many abilities and options even at level 1, creating a steeper initial learning curve. Each combat turn juggles heroic resources, conditions, and edges and banes at once, so play carries real tracking overhead. The system targets heroic tactical fantasy specifically, so it provides no rules for dungeon crawling, hexcrawl exploration, or survival play. | Combat lacks tactical positioning or grid-based options, long campaigns can expose repetitive move structures, damage dice are class-based rather than weapon-based which limits gear choices, no longer actively developed by its creators |