Draw Steel: Fake variety helps no one

[Neonchameleon]

I've recently had a long flight and read the release candidate offered on Matt Colville's Patreon. And something jumped out at me about the "each class has a special resource.

Class: Censor
Resource: Wrath
Starting value: Victories
Gain each turn: 2
Additional gain: 1/combat you damage your judged target or they damage you (max 2)
Lose all when combat wnds

Class: Conduit
Resource: Piety
Starting value: Victories
Gain each turn: 1d3
Additional gain: Praying (each turn)
Lose all when combat wnds

Class: Elementalist
Resource: Essence
Starting value: Victories
Gain each turn: 2
Additional gain: damaging a foe 1/combat (1 max)
Lose all when combat wnds

Class: Fury
Resource: Ferocity
Starting value: Victories
Gain each turn: 1d3
Additional gain: 1/encounter gain 1d3 for hitting half or 0 hp
Lose all when combat wnds

Class: Null
Resource: Discipline
Starting value: Victories
Gain each turn: 2
Additional gain: 1/combat someone acts too near you or GM spends resource (max 2)
Lose all when combat wnds

Class: Shadow
Resource: Insight
Starting value: Victories
Gain each turn: d3
Additional gain: 1/combat gain one for doing enough damage
Lose all when combat wnds

Class: Tactician
Resource: Focus
Starting value: Victories
Gain each turn: 2
Additional gain: 1/round someone hurts your marked target, 1/round an ally uses an ability
Lose all when combat wnds

Class: Talent
Resource: Clarity
Starting value: Victories
Gain each turn: d3
Additional gain: 1/round when someone is force moved
Lose all when combat wnds

Class: Troubador
Resource: Wrath
Starting value: Drama
Gain each turn: 2
Additional gain: four separate triggers
Lose all when combat wnds

These aren't different resources (you spend them in the same way too). And the difference between 2/round and 1d3/round is the sort of irritating difference that means that learning how to play to the point of being fluid will take far longer.

Just call your metacurrency something like hero points, focus, or even Fate Points or Hope

Does this mean there's nothing good? No. For all most of the "gain metacurrency 1/scene" is just another annoying thing to track some of them (notably the prayer one and the troubador) are genuinely good.

On paper Draw Steel should be my jam. Tactical, 4e inspired, Colville-backed, and with classes that are different enough to have different resources. But that has put me off considering running this

 

[mamba]

Yeah, have everyone gain 2 rather than a mix of 1d3 and 2, I see no benefit to the latter. I also would not mind the resource being the same for all classes, the real difference is / should be what it can be spent on anyway, not what it is called.

 

[gnarlygninja]

In my experience with the playtest info, the fact that some classes get 1d3 and some get 2 had 0 impact on how long it took players to learn, and half of my group is so bad at learning rules that despite having played 5th edition for about 7 years they still don't know what their hit dice are.