Draw Steel vs Numenera

Compare Draw Steel and Numenera side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.

	Draw Steel	Numenera
Genre	Fantasy	Scifi, Fantasy
Play Style	Tactical, Heroic, Combat-Heavy, Cinematic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Grid-Based, Attacks Always Hit, Lore-Heavy	Exploration, Weird, Theater of the Mind, Player-Only Rolls, Low-Prep, Lore-Heavy, Cinematic, Atmospheric, Narrative
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 — there are 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.	GM sets task difficulty 1–10; the target number is difficulty × 3 on a d20. Players ease difficulty by being trained (one step) or specialized (two steps) in a skill, having a favorable asset, or applying Effort — spending points from Might, Speed, or Intellect Pools, with Edge in the relevant stat reducing the cost. Players make all rolls; defense rolls against creatures use the same d20 system as attacks. Natural 17–20 add bonus damage or trigger minor and major effects; natural 1 prompts a GM intrusion that awards the player XP.
Dice	2d10	d20
Complexity	High	Medium
Accessibility	Medium	High
Runnability	High	High
License	Draw Steel Creator License	Proprietary
Cost	$$$	$$
Publisher	MCDM Productions	Monte Cook Games
Year	2025	2018
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 exploration-driven science-fantasy where uncovering ancient technology and forgotten knowledge is the campaign's core reward. Particularly suited to GMs who prefer minimal preparation and players who enjoy spending stat-pool resources to ease tasks rather than tracking many subsystems.
Highlights	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	Cyphers are single-use, randomly determined gadgets that every character carries and that refresh each session, so combat and problem-solving options change constantly without permanent power creep. The GM never rolls — players make all attack and defense rolls against fixed creature target numbers. Three character types (Glaive, Nano, Jack) combine with dozens of descriptors and foci to produce sharply differentiated builds without a class-and-level structure. XP is awarded for discovery and for accepting GM intrusions rather than for combat, and players can spend XP on player intrusions to bend the narrative.
Considerations	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	Combat is theater of the mind by default with no grid or detailed positioning rules. GM intrusions are central to play and require player buy-in; players who prefer uninterrupted action control may find them disruptive. Cyphers must be rolled or selected fresh each session, adding GM workload that scales with party size. The Ninth World setting is intentionally vague in many places, leaving GMs to invent specific details.