Draw Steel GM checklist cheat sheet
Before-session and during-session reminders. At-the-table reference for Draw Steel.
Draw Steel Director checklist: prep encounters with tier-appropriate enemies, track conditions, and keep the heroic resource economy flowing.
Before the session
- Prep 1-3 encounters using the encounter-building guidelines (budget by enemy tier and number).
- Know each enemy's signature ability and conditions they inflict.
- Prep a negotiation or montage test for non-combat scenes.
- Have a list of environmental hazards or terrain features to make fights dynamic.
During play
- Track conditions on both heroes and enemies: they change tactics significantly.
- Use villain power (the enemy-side resource) to activate boss abilities and lair actions.
- Forced movement is tactical: push heroes into hazards, pull them off high ground.
- Remind players of their heroic resource: unspent resources are wasted potential.
Common mistakes
- Tier 1 is not a miss: narrate the weak success, do not skip the effect.
- Conditions matter: a dazed hero cannot use reactions (free strikes). Exploit this tactically.
- Bleeding kills over time: it triggers on a main action, a triggered action, or a Might/Agility roll, not at the start of the turn, and it doesn't stack.