Draw Steel vs Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
Compare Draw Steel and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Draw Steel | Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Tactical, Heroic, Combat-Heavy, Cinematic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Grid-Based, Attacks Always Hit, Lore-Heavy | Gritty, Deadly, Career-Based, Dark Fantasy, Roleplay-Heavy, Atmospheric, Low-Fantasy, Investigation, Corruption, Lore-Heavy, Licensed Setting, Random Character Creation, Roll to Cast, Grimdark |
| 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. | Roll d100 under skill or characteristic. Success Levels measure degree of success by comparing the tens digits of the target and the roll. Advantage accumulates during combat, adding +10 per point to attack tests. |
| Dice | 2d10 | d100 |
| Complexity | High | Medium |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Community | High | Medium |
| License | Draw Steel Creator License | No open license |
| Cost | $$$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | MCDM Productions | Cubicle 7 |
| 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 dark, gritty fantasy where ordinary people face extraordinary dangers in a richly detailed setting. The career system creates unique character arcs from rat catcher to witch hunter. |
| 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 | Detailed grimdark setting, career system creates varied character arcs, combat carries real consequences |
| 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 | Tightly bound to the Old World setting, Success Level math can slow play, expensive supplement line |