Draw Steel vs Legend of the Elements
Compare Draw Steel and Legend of the Elements side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Draw Steel | Legend of the Elements | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Tactical, Heroic, Cinematic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Attacks Always Hit, Lore-Heavy | Narrative, Playbook-Driven, Beginner-Friendly, Cinematic |
| 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 + stat. On 10+ you succeed fully, on 7–9 you succeed with a cost or complication, on 6- the MC makes a move. Five stats (Natural, Hot, Solid, Keen, Fluid) map to elemental temperaments. Chi and Chakras fuel supernatural abilities; Oaths and Respect drive character relationships. |
| Dice | 2d10 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | High | Low |
| Accessibility | High | Medium |
| Runnability | High | Medium |
| License | Draw Steel Creator License | All Rights Reserved |
| Cost | $$$ | $ |
| Publisher | MCDM Productions | The Logbook Project |
| Year | 2025 | 2016 |
| 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 to play Avatar: The Last Airbender-style supernatural martial arts stories with elemental bending, oaths, and chi. |
| 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. | Designed for Avatar-style elemental fantasy, wide playbook selection (15+ including sub-playbooks), Chi/Chakra economy adds depth beyond standard PbtA, accessible to new players |
| 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. | Very niche: requires buy-in to the wuxia/elemental genre, tightly coupled to its specific tone, MC section is dense for first-time PbtA GMs |