Edit
Introduction
You made a pact with an otherworldly being in exchange for power. Thanks to this bargain, a mote of that being’s essence has taken root within you. You have been granted great power, at great price. Whether you revel in your work as a harbinger, or resent the terms of your pact, you use these powers to your own ends - and perhaps, unknowingly, something else’s.
As a Vessel, you debilitate your enemies and bolster yourself, sacrificing long-term power for short term gain (or vice versa). You call on otherworldly gifts to rend your foes’ souls, and glimpse into the realms beyond ours.
Edit
What is the Vessel?
The Vessel Class is a third party digital supplement for the Draw Steel TTRPG system by MCDM Productions. Coming from another TTRPG with a Warlock or Witch? This is the class for you!
What's more, you can already play it: the class is complete! That's right, all 10 levels of the class are already completed AND have been through early playtesting! You can see an example of this featuring the first level of the class here, formatted in pdf form:
Click here to look at the pdf preview!
And you can see the first five levels of the class in a less-formatted google doc here:
Click here to look at the 1-5 class preview!
I've been working on this class consistently since late October 2024, and am happy to finally bring it in front of people. The Vessel is filling a niche left unfilled by the base classes of Draw Steel, a hexer/controller gaining their patron's favor by debuffing and slaying enemies, and manifesting the power of your patron as you slowly transform into their likeness. In addition, every Vessel knows how to BARGAIN!, paying life for powerful benefits that last the entirety of a combat encounter!
The base class features three Otherworldly Patrons from whom you can claim your power: The Infernal, bartering with a devil from the hells; The Undying, having your body altered by a necromantic being like a lich; or The Aberrant, drawing power from a being beyond our comprehension and dimension. These patrons grant you a special signature action, as well as their unique aspect, passive abilities that grow in power as you gain favor, sprouting horns, wings, and tentacles!
What's more, you can already play it: the class is complete! That's right, all 10 levels of the class are already completed AND have been through early playtesting! You can see an example of this featuring the first level of the class here, formatted in pdf form:
Click here to look at the pdf preview!
And you can see the first five levels of the class in a less-formatted google doc here:
Click here to look at the 1-5 class preview!
I've been working on this class consistently since late October 2024, and am happy to finally bring it in front of people. The Vessel is filling a niche left unfilled by the base classes of Draw Steel, a hexer/controller gaining their patron's favor by debuffing and slaying enemies, and manifesting the power of your patron as you slowly transform into their likeness. In addition, every Vessel knows how to BARGAIN!, paying life for powerful benefits that last the entirety of a combat encounter!
The base class features three Otherworldly Patrons from whom you can claim your power: The Infernal, bartering with a devil from the hells; The Undying, having your body altered by a necromantic being like a lich; or The Aberrant, drawing power from a being beyond our comprehension and dimension. These patrons grant you a special signature action, as well as their unique aspect, passive abilities that grow in power as you gain favor, sprouting horns, wings, and tentacles!
Edit
At base funding, this will be art of the iconic infernal Vessel, Temori, in the style of other classes' iconic heroes, as well as the layout and testing. This art will ideally act as the cover for the class.
This art will not be AI in any capacity.
What's Being Funded?
By funding this project, you are paying towards the class being arted and laid out, as well as playtested even more thoroughly. With more money, the idea is to reinvest it into more art (as you will see via stretch goals!) for each subclass. In addition, it will pay for more design hours and playtest hours, since right now I'm working with volunteers, and I think they deserve compensation. As a primarily card game designer, I'm extremely dedicated to the rigor of playtesting your ideas properly, as the play experience is an important to me as the presentation of being fun to read.
At base funding, this will be art of the iconic infernal Vessel, Temori, in the style of other classes' iconic heroes, as well as the layout and testing. This art will ideally act as the cover for the class.
This art will not be AI in any capacity.
Edit
If somehow, hells forbid, it goes higher, that money will be reinvested into the project in the form of art and further contract testing.
Stretch Goals
I'd love to make this product the best it can be, so I've got a bunch of stretch goals that will each improve the product overall.
- £2000
- Art of a high level vessel, depicting a vessel of The Undying.
- Two of the following additional subclasses, voted on by you!
- The Whimsy: You've bargained with one of the capricious archfey.
- The Hunger: You channel souls to a powerful demon of the abyssal wastes.
- The Terror: You have an elemental infusion granted by a dragon.
- The Radiant: You serve as the divine sword of a celestial.
- £2500
- Art of the third core subclass, depicting a vessel of The Aberrant.
- All four of the additional subclasses above, not just two!
- £3000
- Art of one of the stretch subclasses, again voted on by you!
- One of the following additional subclasses, voted on by you:
- The Authority: You've been granted command by an incarnation of law.
- The Primordial: The raw power of creation flows through you from an elemental.
- The Riddle: A sphinx, archmage or other arcane being has taught you how to harness their magic.
If somehow, hells forbid, it goes higher, that money will be reinvested into the project in the form of art and further contract testing.
Edit
Final Release: You will ideally receive the PDF by the end of 2025. This is contingent on the speed of the art commissions, but this progress will be entirely transparent. If it's able to be finished sooner, you will receive it sooner!
Timeline
- When the project finishes funding, backers of the Spectre pledge level and above will immediately be given access to the full mechanics of the class.
- Those of the Aberration pledge level and above will immediately be given access to the WIP materials of the additional vessel subclasses, and will be continually updated as they progress.
- Those of the Old One pledge level will receive access to a special discord where weekly playtests of the class will be hosted until the project's conclusion (and potentially further after).
Final Release: You will ideally receive the PDF by the end of 2025. This is contingent on the speed of the art commissions, but this progress will be entirely transparent. If it's able to be finished sooner, you will receive it sooner!
Edit
Risks
The risks with this project are low if you simply care about the mechanics, as they're already largely complete. This project is digital-only, so won't have issues with printing or shipping. There may be risks involved with commissioning freelance artists, but I'm committed to full transparency in the process, showing where and how much money is being spent.
If the project does not fund, not all hope is lost: I intend to set up a Patreon for which you can spend the £5 you would have spent here to simply gain full access to the class' text regardless.
This has been iterated over time with access to the Draw Steel system from supporting MCDM on Patreon, and therefore having early access with the system's rulesets. It has been playtested multiple times weekly for the better part of a year now, and I am extremely happy with its current state.
This is my first TTRPG crowdfunding project, but I've been in the space for years producing free content and I have experience as a game designer for custom Magic: the Gathering projects.
If the project does not fund, not all hope is lost: I intend to set up a Patreon for which you can spend the £5 you would have spent here to simply gain full access to the class' text regardless.
This has been iterated over time with access to the Draw Steel system from supporting MCDM on Patreon, and therefore having early access with the system's rulesets. It has been playtested multiple times weekly for the better part of a year now, and I am extremely happy with its current state.
This is my first TTRPG crowdfunding project, but I've been in the space for years producing free content and I have experience as a game designer for custom Magic: the Gathering projects.
Edit
License
The Vessel for Draw Steel is an independent product published under the DRAW STEEL Creator License and is not affiliated with MCDM Productions, LLC. DRAW STEEL © 2024 MCDM Productions, LLC.
Edit
Contacts
You can reach me in the following places:
- [email protected]
- Seek out Mattelonian/ChaoticGoodra on the MCDM official discord.
- My bluesky @chaoticgoodra.bsky.social where you're likely to catch me
- My old twitter/x @chaoticgoodra if you want to see my older projects, though I would avoid the website as a whole now.
- You can see my custom Magic: the Gathering work here.
If you believe that this project is not in compliance with BackerKit’s Community Guidelines or Terms of Service, you can file a report by sending a message via this link: Report this project