Play Draw Steel supplement
Hobgoblin Ancestry for Draw Steel's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Usability | #8 | 4.001 | 4.111 |
| Enjoyment | #23 | 3.407 | 3.500 |
| Overall | #29 | 3.299 | 3.389 |
| Theme | #37 | 2.650 | 2.722 |
| Creativity | #45 | 3.136 | 3.222 |
Ranked from 18 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
This looks really fun and the flavor is really good. I like the idea of Honorbound as a negative signature trait and it would make playing and RPing a hobgoblin immediately more unique, though it forces players into a characterization they may prefer to avoid. It's a great trait that I don't think many would take.
That was exactly what we had in mind, that choosing it means you are forced into a very particular characterisation, but that you don't have to choose it. You can also play it as your hero going along with or fighting against their honest-to-a-fault nature.
I didn't clock the connection to the theme without the blurb in the corner, but what a funny and lateral way to go about it. Excellent idea. Mechanically they could use some more juice, but Infernal Ichor is quite fun and Honorbound is a great RP trait, if a little lopsided into the negative. Super fun!
Everything I’d want out of a Draw Steel hobgoblin ancestry. Fiction’s solid, does a great job showing that they’re a varied people and a culture centered around war and conflict can be plenty complex. But certainly rife with tyrants to be pitted against. ‘Cause it’s like, quit slaughtering the weak, you know?
Really well made stuff here.
Thanks so much for your kind words! It was a blast to write.
Love the tie to the theme, very clever and outside of the box. The ancestry itself is really awesome. Well polished and full of really interesting options for customisation that all make the Hobgoblin feel like they'd fit right in with the pre-existing ancestries. It's the way so much care and attention has been put into it all the way down to the comparatively little things - like including name suggestions! - that especially really struck me about this submission.
Not to reveal my hand too much, but this is definitely one of my favourites. Fantastic job!
Interesting ancestry features with a great fiction at the start, awesome job!
A very cool ancestry which overall seems to me to be in a very useable place. I agree that hobgoblins are sufficiently iconic to speak to the theme. I thought the fiction was very well used as a way to explain what a hobgoblin hero might be about. The only thing I'd really criticise is don't really get Passionate Artisan as a hobgoblin trait.
Really happy you enjoyed the fiction, it's something we want to include smatterings of all over our work. As for the artisan, we based that off of an excerpt from the Monsters book on Hobgoblins:
Fun take on a Hobgoblin ancestry! The story at the start does a lot to help someone ponder up a hero from their culture. Wasn't sure how this tied into the One Year theme at first, but I see its an homage to popular adventures and a poke at community trends—clever.
I have a few thoughts on the Infernal Ichor trait. As is, it's very strong. Draw Steel is a little inconsistent in how it hands out damage immunity traits, but the trend seems to be "damage immunity equal to level... plus a lil extra" (Polder get a +2 to their immunity, Dragon Knight get to swap their immunity around and buy a permanent one from their selection... poor Time Raider just gets their immunity with nothing extra). This feature is currently damage immunity plus full extra feature. I'd suggest replacing the bleeding condition burst with one that happens at 0 stamina and deals damage equal to highest characteristic to everything in the burst (both allies and enemies). Monsters of heroic ancestries have signature traits very similar as to what the heroes do, so I think keeping to that might be safe. Fulfills "immunity plus ribbon" nicely.
Though I've reservations about the big bleed splash—I do greatly enjoy the idea of a feature for purchase involving a fiery buff while bleeding. That's really fun. As Gatlink suggested, maybe rework it into a purchasable trait that hurts one creature. Maybe the hobgoblin's strikes do extra fire damage while they bleed? Up to you, of course, but the idea's got good narrative merits.
While I do think it being burst damage is very strong, making the most of it requires you to be 1) bleeding or dying and 2) surrounded by enemies, at which point you're in a lot of danger. I would question to what degree that situationally makes up for the strength of the trait.
It is situational, which is a fair point, though you could also point out a number of ancestral traits that might not come up often and are equally situational.
To clarify since my previous wording may have been a bit severe: when I say 'very strong' I don't think it's busted or anything, but it is two features in one so it's going to be notably better than other options. Will it break the game? Nah, not at all. As you say, it's situational, and in a game about being cool heroes people will have fun with it—but the impression is still worth noting for consideration.
A very good entry, that really look ready for the table! I've noted some feedback:
Thanks for the feedback. Definitely looking forward to doing a Mk 2!