#drawsteel — Public Fediverse posts

How Often Should We Roll Skill Checks, If At All?

New on the blog! Let’s look at the impact on play and consider if and how often we should have players roll them!

https://alphastream.org/index.php/2026/05/07/how-often-should-we-roll-skill-checks-if-at-all/

#DnD #DrawSteel #Daggerheart #TTRPG

How Many PCs Can Try a Skill Check?

New blog post! https://alphastream.org/index.php/2026/05/02/how-many-pcs-can-try-a-skill-check/

A character tries to roll a skill check in D&D or another RPG. The rest of the players want to roll at the same time. Should we allow that?

#DnD #TTRPG #DrawSteel #Daggerheart #Gumshoe

My devil talent, Alkinoe, for the Draw Steel TTRPG!

#devil #drawSteel #MCDM #MCDMRPG #ttrpg #xochiart #mage #fediart #art #mastoArt

What kind of GM are you? - Factor analysis results

Greetings, programs!

2 weeks ago, I asked what kind of GM you are with a 43 question survey. 101 of you answered! Then I analysed the data to find 9 underlying factors to GM style and named them. Then I got bored and didn’t publish the results outside of Discord.

Well, now it’s time to publish the results! I’ve named all 9 underlying dimensions of GM style, and created an acronym!

S.T.O.P.J.A.D.E.N.

1. Strategism
2. Tacticism
3. Orderism
4. Preparism
5. Jesterism
6. Authentism
7. Directorism
8. Egalitarianism
9. Narrativism

I also wrote some detailed descriptions of some of the components. Here they are:

Preparism

If you’re high on Preparism, you spend a lot of time planning your sessions ahead of time and building great encounters. You have lots of maps, and use them even outside of encounters. You’d rather follow the game you laid out for your players than be surprised, and when there’s a question of what’s happening outside of the players’ view, you’ve probably already been tracking it.
If you’re low on Preparism, you’d rather improvise than plan. No matter what crazy idea your players come up with, you can figure out how to roll with it. You don’t have many maps, and the ones you do prepare are more likely to be used in combat than in roleplaying. You can get ready for a session very quickly, as long as you understand the world’s lore.

Directorism

If you’re high on Directorism, you’re interested in making your players shine. Your players work with you to build the world and set the scene at the table. You give plenty of information about your setting to the players, and they feel like the center of the game world.
If you’re low on Directorism, you’re in charge of this story. This is your world, and you’re the one who immerses everyone in it. There’s plenty going on in your world that the players have no idea about. And you’d rather your players avoid making joke characters.

Egalitarianism

If you’re high on Egalitarianism, everyone at your table is an equal. You take turns GMing, and tell lots of different stories together. You like challenging the characters rather than the players, and are happy to kill off a character if the table thinks it makes a great moment. You trust your players to look after their own dice and character sheets.
If you’re low on Egalitarianism, your players aren’t ready to do what you do just yet. You’re probably the only one who GMs, and you’re more likely to roll the dice and manage the character sheets. You only run the one adventure in your world, and you’d rather avoid killing off a character and making things harder for everyone.

I wish My ADHD had given Me enough attention span to do detailed descriptions of the other 6, but alas. The good news is: You can look at the data and decide for yourself what you think they mean.

And here’s the .odt download

Closing thoughts: In My search for an easy to remember acronym, I realised that the dimensions seem to mostly be clustered into pairs.

Strategism and Tacticism are about how challenge is presented to the party
Orderism and Preparism are about approaches to planning and the unexpected
Jesterism and Authentism are about sources of fun
Directorism and Egalitarianism are about attitudes to player-GM collaboration
And Narrativism is on its own

So you could visualise all of this data as four cartesian grids: Challenge, Planning, Fun, and Collaboration, and a slider for Narrativism. If I’m right about the pairs.

The following users expressed interest in being notified when results are released: @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected]

What kind of GM are you? - Factor analysis results

https://multiverse.soulism.net/c/rpg/p/113535/what-kind-of-gm-are-you-factor-analysis-results

What kind of GM are you? - Factor analysis results

https://multiverse.soulism.net/c/rpg/p/113535/what-kind-of-gm-are-you-factor-analysis-results

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZs-Dj0tg_U

It is happening :D ⚔️ ⚔️ ⚔️

#TTRPG #VTT #DrawSteel #Codex #MCDM #RPG #Steam #Game

Engagement With and Without Skill Checks - How Often Should You Roll?

D&D and other RPGs didn't used to have skills and some modern games no longer use skills. Let's look at how often we roll impacts our play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UbmpkPrCFI&list=PLC2nUvBg384PfQtNvMudHu03WZG5FRwh8&index=1
#DnD #TTRPG #Daggerheart #DrawSteel #Shadowdark

What kind of GM are you?

https://multiverse.soulism.net/c/rpg/p/94821/what-kind-of-gm-are-you

Got my Draw Steel books in the mail today. #DrawSteel #TTRPG #MCDM

New details have recently emerged for MCDM's upcoming "Crows" RPG, an OSR-style dungeon crawler being created by lead designer James Introcaso. https://ttrpgfans.com/crows-rpg-mcdm/ #drawsteel #crowsrpg #mcdm #ttrpg #rpg #osr

Just finished up the writing on another #Shadowdark freelance gig.

Really on a roll here (pun thoroughly intended) w/ #TTRPG work.

If you need someone for your Shadowdark, #DnD, #Daggerheart, #PirateBorg or #DrawSteel projects, don't be shy!

You can always reach me at www.jerdproductions.com

Just finished up the writing on another #Shadowdark freelance gig.

Really on a roll here (pun thoroughly intended) w/ #TTRPG work.

If you need someone for your Shadowdark, #DnD, #Daggerheart, #PirateBorg or #DrawSteel projects, don't be shy!

You can always reach me at www.jerdproductions.com

Just finished up the writing on another #Shadowdark freelance gig.

Really on a roll here (pun thoroughly intended) w/ #TTRPG work.

If you need someone for your Shadowdark, #DnD, #Daggerheart, #PirateBorg or #DrawSteel projects, don't be shy!

You can always reach me at www.jerdproductions.com

Just finished up the writing on another #Shadowdark freelance gig.

Really on a roll here (pun thoroughly intended) w/ #TTRPG work.

If you need someone for your Shadowdark, #DnD, #Daggerheart, #PirateBorg or #DrawSteel projects, don't be shy!

You can always reach me at www.jerdproductions.com

Just finished up the writing on another #Shadowdark freelance gig.

Really on a roll here (pun thoroughly intended) w/ #TTRPG work.

If you need someone for your Shadowdark, #DnD, #Daggerheart, #PirateBorg or #DrawSteel projects, don't be shy!

You can always reach me at www.jerdproductions.com

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/mcdm-productions/draw-steel-crack-the-sun

☀️ ☀️ ☀️ Can't recommend this enough! Their Delian Tomb adventure has been an absolute joy to play in person.

#TTRPG #MCDM #CrackTheSun #RPG #Games #Fantasy #Orden #DrawSteel

MCDM has just launched "Draw Steel: Crack the Sun," a new BackerKit campaign featuring seven products with new rules, character options and adventures. https://ttrpgfans.com/draw-steel-crack-the-sun/ #mcdm #drawsteel #ttrpg #rpg #crackthesun

My #TTRPG cup runneth over & I feel really lucky about it. I am:

- Playing a #DrawSteel game
- Running a #PirateBorg campaign
- Starting a #Daggerheart campaign
- Lead designer on a Lvl 1-10 #Shadowdark campaign
- Writing for a Shadowdark setting book
- Launching a Shadowdark adventure Kickstarter

Also, evidently, I am now "the Shadowdark guy". How'd that happen?

My #TTRPG cup runneth over & I feel really lucky about it. I am:

- Playing a #DrawSteel game
- Running a #PirateBorg campaign
- Starting a #Daggerheart campaign
- Lead designer on a Lvl 1-10 #Shadowdark campaign
- Writing for a Shadowdark setting book
- Launching a Shadowdark adventure Kickstarter

Also, evidently, I am now "the Shadowdark guy". How'd that happen?

I love the virgin days of the months following the release of a massive new game or expansion in the #TTRPG space.

Particularly proud of the giants! https://timescape.wiki/view/Giant

#DrawSteel #MCDM

First everyone goes completely nuts over #Daggerheart, now #DrawSteel follows, which seems to shout #DnD #4e from every cube edge. Wow, you're always dealing damage? Is that like the real-time torch of #Shadowdark? How exciting. Generic fantasy always works with pieced-together rules. #ttrpg

Are there any fedi places to talk about the #DrawSteel #ttrpg? Lemmy or Masto or something similar, anything will do! I've seen a few for DnD but nothing else so far

#MCDM #fediverse