Draw Steel vs No Thank You, Evil!
Compare Draw Steel and No Thank You, Evil! side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Draw Steel | No Thank You, Evil! | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Tactical, Heroic, Cinematic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Attacks Always Hit, Lore-Heavy | Beginner-Friendly, Family, Rules-Light, Narrative, Collaborative, Low-Prep |
| 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. | Simplified Cypher System: roll d6 vs. difficulty number (1–6). Spend points from pools (Tough, Fast, Smart, Awesome) to lower difficulty. Character sentences scale by age: 'I'm a Noun' (age 5+), 'I'm an Adjective Noun' (age 6+), 'I'm an Adjective Noun who Verbs' (age 8+). Every character has a Companion with a one-use Cypher power. Any player can shout 'No Thank You, Evil!' to instantly end a scary encounter. |
| Dice | 2d10 | d6 |
| Complexity | High | Very Low |
| Accessibility | High | Medium |
| Runnability | High | Low |
| License | Draw Steel Creator License | Proprietary |
| Cost | $$$ | $$ |
| Publisher | MCDM Productions | Monte Cook Games |
| Year | 2025 | 2015 |
| 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. | Families with kids aged 5 and up who want a structured, supportive introduction to tabletop RPGs in a whimsical setting. |
| 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. | Three complexity tiers scale character sentences by age (5+, 6+, 8+), built-in safety mechanic lets any player end a scary encounter, every character has a Companion with a one-use Cypher power, uses simplified Cypher System rules as a gateway to Numenera and The Strange |
| 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. | Designed for ages 5–12 with limited mechanical depth for older players, d6 vs. difficulty 1–6 resolution has narrow outcome range, setting is locked to the whimsical land of Storia, no advancement system beyond the three-tier sentence structure |