Episode 2026.31 Published on 5 November 2026

News: Crows Playtest, Encounter of the Week, Zine Galore | October Roundup

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Intro

Crows public playtests are done, Codex is brimming with new features, multiple products from Triglav, more complications for you heroes and three new magazine issues.

I'm Jon de Nor and this is Goblin Points.

Crows

Playtest three dropped for Crows. James dropped right before heading off to Gamehole Con.

This new version made a change to how expertises work. Instead of having a set number of uses of an expertise, crows now have a stat called effort. They can spend one effort to use any expertise they have that is applicable to the roll they've made. The expertise still bumps the result of the roll by one tier.

This new effort system seems to work and James is keeping it. He said they'll bump the number of efforts crows start off with by one. The rate at which you gain new expertises will also slow down a bit, so you don't end up with a ton of expertises quickly.

There was also a new initiative system. Instead of side initiative with rerolling who goes first in every round, there's also fast and slow turns. You make a roll to determine who goes first, the side to go first can then opt to forgo their maneuver to take a fast turn before the other side get the same offer, to forgo their maneuver to take a fast turn. Then the winning side take slow turns, where anyone who didn't take a fast turn, takes a turn. Last, anyone who didn't take fast turns on the losing side takes slow turns.

According to the survey results for this playtest, people were basically split 50/50 on the new initiative system. James' decided to go back to the initial side initiative system, but leave the fast/slow turn system in as an alternate rule instead.

James also shared that crows no longer buy traits with XP. Instead they get to choose a new trait every time they level up. The traits are still connected though, so most traits still require you to buy a different trait first, before you can buy it.

Crafting has also changed alongside the trait change. Instead of being tied to expertises, it's now tied to traits and the number of traits a crow has in a relevant tree. To be able to craft the more powerful items, you'll need to invest into a trait tree quite heavily.

While Crows didn't refer to levels before, it still kinda had them, and it now just calls them that. Whenever a crow gets enough XP, it gains a level. That's when you might get more effort, might gain a new expertise, and be able to pick an extra trait. James also said it'll take more time to level up after the playtest.

The rules for Crows are actually nearing completion. The first book is done has already been sent to the editor. The other books are close to being done, and James says the game is still on schedule. The estimate he mentioned most recently is Summer next year. I assume that's going to be late Summer.

Codex

The Draw Steel Codex on Steam has received a bunch of updates in October. The first thing they rolled out was a new and improved experience for undoing actions during combat. Instead of having to press Ctrl-Z an uncertain number of times to get back to where you were, you now get a timeline of actions instead.

In the list you see the actions that have happened, with a button to jump back to that place in the timeline. That way you can easily undo what you did and have your main action and heroic resources, or movement restored.

As a nice touch, whenever you use this, the Codex plays a rewind effect for everyone to indicate what is happening.

They also showed off The Condemned adventure in the Codex and the special features they're implementing for it. Including custom controls for the director to control the war dog collars the heroes, errm... condemned wear in the adventure. They say they want some of those tools to become available to everyone making stuff in the Codex.

And they've integrated with 2-minute tabletop. So you're now able to get their maps directly in the Codex like you already can for Tehox and MCDM's maps.

Next they announced Encounter of the Week. Every week they intend to launch a new challenge. People can create a party of heroes to jump in and try to beat the encounter. Then you can have a go at a challenge alone, with your party of heroes, or together with a friend (or stranger) and their heroes. The encounter can have a combination of combats, negotiations and montage challenges.

These montage challenges are not entirely different from montage tests, but they present what are called opportunities and threats. You have to deal with the threats to avoid setbacks, and make use of the oppertunities to gain extra bonuses and rewards. It's designed by Ashley, the pixie queen, whom I actually had on as one of the first interviewees here on Goblin Points. Montage challenges takes montage tests and give them a bit of a bite.

As part of the Encounter of the Week, players get a screen showing a map of Blackbottom, with a few points of interest. There's an inn where the hereoes can spend time between challenges, a proving pit to test their mettle in test scenarios, the guild house where heroes can be created or recruited, the town hall where heroes can vote on future features and the cemetary where fallen heroes are immortalized.

Encounter of the Week is in early testing and is currently only available by opting in to the devbeta version of Draw Steel on Steam. There's a link to a YouTube video with instruction on how to opt in in the link section. When Encounter of the Week launches, which is supposed to be soon, all current progress will be reset.

The options available in Encounter of the Week are trimmed down a bit from what's available in the core books. Only abilities, perks, complications, etc with enough automation are available. Encounter of the Week also runs in strict mode, which means you can't break any of the rules. In normal mode, Draw Steel will inform you of the rules, but not enforce them. In strict mode it will also enforce the rules.

But while some core options are missing, third party supplements are supported. There are more and more third parties adding Codex support for their supplements, and some of them are automated enough to use in Encounter of the Week. That means you'll be able to try out new complications and classes, without having to create a new character in a campaign.

And if you want a nice roundup of those third party supplements, Faan of the DMHub team published a video showing off some of the things being implemented and where to find the stuff that's available for free.

The Blacksmith's Guild Issue #9

Tabletop Nonsenseverse published the ninth issue of The Blacksmith's Guild in October. It's a bi-monthly zine featuring articles written by community members.

This issue features:

  • Sulak by Brent Duncan, which features two new aquatic ancestries.
  • The Gloomhollow Caverns by Gabe 'washburnking' Lopez, a first echelon five room dungeon with 6 new monster statblocks.
  • Gloom Elementalist Subclass by Ben 'Zetesofos' Cornforth, a master of pereception and misdirection.
  • In Desperate Times (The Glass Spark Chapter 3) by Robyn Hemlocke, the third of six installments of the adventure path currently being published in each issue.

You can pick up The Blacksmith's Guild for $10 on Tabletop Nonsenseverse's shop, or become a Patreon member to get it as a subscription.

Oh, The Humanity! Vol 2

lebiro has published Oh, The Humanity! Vol 2. This is, as you may have sussed out, the second release in a series of monster booklets featuring human monsters.

This second issue focuses on second echelon, featuring 21 new statblocks of humans. These include minions, platoons, elites, leaders, two new mounts, a siege engine and a new solo. It also adds new malice features for second echelon humans.

You can pick up Oh, The Humanicy! Vol 2 for $9.99 on Itch.

The Mythical Press Issue #3

The Mythical Press has released Issue #3 of their mostly monthly magazine. This issue features the Witch of the Woods.

The zine features the witch herself, a solo, along with some of her lackeys, like an animated finger or an eye. There's also a read to go encounter, with a custom map, a negotiation template for the witch. There's also a curse requiring an NPC to complete and a new downtime project to break curses.

You can pick up The Mythical Press - Witch of the Woods as a member of The Mythical Press' Patreon. Memberships start at $7.50.

Xeric Badlands

Royal Highness Games published Xeric Badlands. They successfully crowdfunded Xeric Badlands back in May of this year.

The release features setting details about the aforementioned badlands, three new ancestries, new monsters, including solos, dynamic terrains and arenas, new retainers and custom battlemaps.

You can pick up Xeric Badlands for $20 on Itch.

Monster Manifest Volume 1

Jenny [REDACTED] has published Monster Manifest Volume 1. The first volume of a series intended to bring classic monsters from other TTRPGs to Draw Steel.

This first volume contains two nightmares, two owlbears (a solo, and a companion) and four different rust monsters. All of these monters are also implemented in the Codex, and a code is provided with purchase of the PDF.

You can pick up Monster Manifest Volume 1 on Itch for $10.

Ratcatcher Magazine Issue #3

Tidalwave Games released their third issue of Ratcatchers Magazine. Ratcatchers are funded through regular crowdfunders, but you're also able to pick up each issue after it releases.

Issue three of Ratcatcher Magazine include

  • Class Perks by Brian Schaab, class-specific perks to extend a class' abilities outside of combat.
  • The Aviators of Kal-Aedrov by Miguel Corona Mas, an ancestry of sky dwarves.
  • Rogues' Gallery by Sam Mannell, a cast of colorful antagonists.
  • Carousing with the High Elves by Leo Hojnowski, new respite events and downtime projects tailored for a visit to a high elf court.
  • But Who Lived to Tell the Tale? by Adam Hunt, a guide on how to share authorship between the director and the players.

You can pick up Ratcatcher Magazine for $10 on Itch. And when you buy the issue, you get the full back catalog for free.

It's Complicated

Cameron Baker of Rise Heroes Rise! released It's Complicated, a collection of 100 new complications for heroes. The supplement was crowdfunded back in May.

You get a wide variety of new complications with accompanying art for some of them. You can be a body banks escapee, stitched together from a selection of ancestries, or a creature who's had one of their arms swapped out for a trio of tentacles. It also comes with a Codex module.

You can pick up It's Complicated for $25 on Itch.

Timescape from Triglav

Triglav Games went to the timescape in October. They funded Until the Last Villain Dies back in June, and they've started releasing the products that were funded.

This month we got the timescape themed products:

  • Where the Dead Ships Dwell, a first level quest set in the upper worlds of the timescape.
  • Upper Worlds, Beware!, a starter kit to get started playing in the timescape, featuring new ancestries, careers, kits, treasures, titles, monsters, and a vehicle.

Paying members of their Patreon received the second issue of Surge, Triglav's monthly supplement. This month featured the Pump-kin a fall and halloween themed monster band. The Pump-kin also has a Codex module.

And speaking of Codex modules. They also released an partial implementation of the Vampire class in the Codex. You can buy it from their online shop, and they have a long post explaining why it's only first echelon that's been implemented.

You can pick up Where the Dead Ships Dwell for €15, Upper Worlds, Beware! for €17, and the Vampire Codex module for €11 in the Triglav Games shop.

Community Highlights

And now some rapid fire updates from the community:

  • A group of Draw Steel third party familiars have banded together as Malice House and announced Sinister Solos, a book of bosses, their sinister titles and tempting treasures.
  • Tabletop Nonsenseverse has announced A Fistful of Iridoss, an adventure spanning first to third level, with a wild west theme.
  • Tier 3 Press, a collection of other know entities in the Draw Steel third party scene, has announced Ex Machina, a construct-themed collection of monsters, settings, class and subclasses.

Blast From the Past

And now, a blast from the past as I dive back into old notes and scripts to see what was covered on Goblin Points in years past.

In October of 24, patron received a new playtest packet of Draw Steel, and so much that we know from the game got introduced in that version:

  • Up until now, only the devil had a system where you buy ancestry features, that became the default for all clases now.
  • The classes got their triggered heroic resource generation, in addition to the generation at the start of their turn.
  • Surges was also introduced in this version, alongside shields. Now, shields didn't make it, mostly because the weren't much fun in play, but surges are still present.
  • Potencies were also introduced as the way to negate effects using characteristics.
  • Perks was added as a way to add out-of-combat features to heroes.
  • And downtime activities.

So much of the game we now know came into place in that playtest version. Up until then, it was mostly testing around making combat work correctly, with classes, monsters, abilities and everything being tweaked.

When they came up with surges, they also imagined shields as their natural counterpart. You could spend shields to negate damage. But that re-introduced null results, where attacks would en up doing nothing, and they slowed down play. They were only part of the game for a few weeks, between the patreon playtest and the backer playtest that was released a few weeks afterwords.

Outro

Incredibly busy month. Especially the Codex is turning out to be something wholly unique among VTTs. Both with the new quality of life upgrades, but especially with Encounter of the Week.

October also marked the month that we surpassed 200! supplements listed on the Stawl Supplement Index. That's 200 hundred products of features you can put in your games. That includes over 50 adventures and quests.

You can contact me via e-mail at tips@goblinpoints.com. Go to GoblinPoints.com to find links and this episode in text.

Help me make this podcast by supporting me on Patreon. As a bonus you also get access to premium features on Stawl, the digital toolset to play and run Draw Steel. Check out Stawl.app, S-T-A-W-L-dot-app. You can find a link to my Patreon in the episode description.

Next episode is on the 15th. That's going to be an interview with Zetesofos, designer of the magewright class, and currently working on Ex Machina, the construct themed supplement being crowdfunded soon.

See you next time. Snakkes.

Links

From MCDM

Codex

The Blacksmith's Guild Issue #9

Oh, The Humanity! Vol 2

The Mythical Press Issue #3

Xeric Badlands

Monster Manifest Volume 1

Ratcatcher Magazine Issue #3

It's Complicated

Timescape from Triglav

Community Highlights

Draw Steel Homebrew

Draw Steel Media

Draw Steel Tools