MCDM's New Tactical TTRPG Hits $1M Crowdfunding On First Day!

Matt Colville's MCDM is no stranger to crowdfunding, with three million dollar Kickstarters already under its belt. With the launch of The MCDM RPG, that makes four!

This new game is not a D&D variant or a supplement for D&D, which is what MCDM has focussed on so far. This is an all-new game which concentrates on tactical play, with a fulfilment goal of July 2025. It comes in two books--a 400-page 'Heroes' book and a 'Monsters' book which is an adaption of the existing Flee, Mortals!

The MCDM RPG: Draw Steel

Whether you’re a group of local heroes sent to investigate mysterious goings-on in the nearby haunted wood, or famous mercenaries plotting and scheming in the big city, the MCDM RPG makes building adventures and fighting monsters fun.

www.backerkit.com

The game takes aim at traditional d20 fantasy gaming, referring to the burden of 'sacred cows from the 1970s', but point out that it's not a dungeon crawling or exploration game--its core activity is fighting monsters. The system is geared towards tactical combat--you roll 2d6, add an attribute, and do that damage; there's no separate attack roll.

At $40 for the base Heroes PDF and $70 for the hardcover (though there are discounts for both books if you buy them together), it's not a cheap buy-in, but with over 4,000 backers already that's not deterring anybody!

Even more ambitiously, one of the stretch goals is a Virtual Tabletop (VTT). There's already a working prototype of it.

 

[Zaukrie]

Exactly. Instead of it being a roll to see if you get to act, it's a roll to see how successful you are at the thing you do.

I admit this is one of the things I like best so far....not that I'm a patreon anymore, so I don't know the details at all...but I like the idea I always do something, but I don't know how well I do that until I roll....

 

[overgeeked]

I admit this is one of the things I like best so far....not that I'm a patreon anymore, so I don't know the details at all...but I like the idea I always do something, but I don't know how well I do that until I roll....

Yeah. The old way feels more like nameless schlubs who just picked up a sword and have to worry about cutting themselves or grabbing the wrong end of the sword. The new way feels like playing an actually competent character for a change. That said, I love me some DCC RPG. So I have zero problem playing nameless schlubs who die by the score.

 

[mamba]

After watching the video, seems to me that they should have decided to present this as a Superhero game, not a fantasy game. No dungeons, no exploration, no mystery, etc. I'm not backing this.

pretty sure it works for dungeons and exploration just as well as 5e does, with no specific rules for either

 

[R_J_K75]

I needed a new washer and drier, it takes them 3 to 4 months to get them here after I ordered them…

Oops I posted nothing. Anyhow I have a friend that does insulation on new build houses and developments. He told me about 2 years ago and he told me that he'd be in houses and the places where your refrigerator, stove, washer and dryer were supposed to be was replaced with a sign saying "Your appliance is in port and held up in customs and will arrive in 4-6 months.

I just had a refrigerator delivered about 2 weeks ago, ordered it online and it was delivered within 2 weeks. I had a new dryer I bought at Lowes also delivered within two weeks in Feb 2021. I guess it all depends on where in the world you live, where you shop and what tier of product you're looking to buy. Here in WNY you can find low end appliances pretty easily but once you start looking to spend $4K-$6K on something high end, good luck finding it in stock anywhere.

 

[Zaukrie]

"the crowdfunder pays for development"......."most of the money we are raising will go to the art"........

edit: Matt's words

 

[overgeeked]

pretty sure it works for dungeons and exploration just as well as 5e does, with no specific rules for either

Pretty much. You'll have to add rules from other games or older versions of D&D to do either.

 

[Zaukrie]

"the biggest risk is timing"

edit: Matt's words

 

[Zaukrie]

Matt spends the end of his video passionately talking about why they pay what they do and the people he works with. You can really feel it from him....

 

[R_J_K75]

At least you will have something. I had one KS completely fail and did not even get a PDF. The other arrived and it was so amateur I put it in the garbage immediately.

That sucks, I don't see how a failed KS and you get no refund, I'm pretty confident that I'll get my ShadowDark eventually, but its still frustrating that the delivery has been pushed back a few times and we want to try it out but prefer a hard copy book at the table.

 

[Velderan]

Exactly. Instead of it being a roll to see if you get to act, it's a roll to see how successful you are at the thing you do.

People were up in arms about save or suck mechanics in older editions so it's weird that roll to not suck is still a thing as the base mechanic of the game.

That's one of the reasons I'm interested in reading the rules in full once it's out. It sounds like they're trying some things that are new or at least different from what the market leaders are doing. It may end up being a much more enjoyable game for them trying that route. I did end up backing at the PDF level for both books, I figure I can always buy books later if the rules sound good.