From the Ashes — 1st Level Adventure | MCDM | Page 1

shell bobcat Nov 27, 2025, 8:52 PM

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An alternative way for the Directors to start their new Draw Steel campaign. This short introductory adventure takes about 3 to 4 hours to complete and is optimized for three to six 1st-level heroes.

How is this one different from the rest? By the end of it, you rebuild a small town that then becomes your base of operations. Originally this was something I made for the Quick Start set for my Draw Steel translation, but that last bit seemed original enough that I deemed it worth it to translate the adventure into English. I even drew the bad guy and both encounter maps!

Check it out! It's free!

itch.io

From the Ashes — 1st Level Adventure for Draw Steel by Dima Serbin

A free 1st level adventure to start your Draw Steel campaign.

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From the Ashes — 1st Level Adventure

fading yew Nov 28, 2025, 10:06 AM

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Neat adventure. Short enough to get the players hooked and with a nice story to make it fun. I hope I will finally bring myself to do run a game of DS!

civic knot Dec 8, 2025, 4:49 PM

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This is a punchy little adventure! Perfect bite size entry into the game. Also, I loved that you explicitly state that the montage test has a chronological order. I've ran a few now and presenting all of the obstacles to the player as a pick your own menu can lead to timeline issues (especially when its something like a chase in the Delian Tomb).

shell bobcat Dec 8, 2025, 5:11 PM

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civic knot This is a punchy little adventure! Perfect bite size entry into the game. Also, ...

Yeah, it’s also a good way to keep up the tension. Montage tests are a simple tool that you can use in a lot of different ways.

fading yew Dec 27, 2025, 6:04 AM

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We played this live with my family (total 6 heroes, I think this combined with not knowing the system, was bit of a burden on playtime). I added an introduction encounter in an inn, we ran the ambush, then I-found out time was too short so I only narrated the road trip. The town negotiation worked great because the dragon knight player remembered and recited his oath, then the censor made an appeal to peace and we got an appeal to higher authority. I had the undead riding up during the negotiating for extra tension (and to make use of the kitbashed terrain I made that morning)!

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Overall it took us some 6 hours

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Some pictures of our session.

gilded rain Dec 27, 2025, 7:14 AM

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Very nice set pieces

shell bobcat Dec 27, 2025, 10:02 AM

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fading yew We played this live with my family (total 6 heroes, I think this combined with n...

Oh wow blobimfine Thank you for sharing this! It means a lot, seeing people actually playing an adventure you wrote mcdmheart

sleek sonnet Jan 17, 2026, 12:23 AM

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I just ran this as a oneshot for some friends
One of whom had never played before
They all had great time

fading yew Apr 16, 2026, 10:00 AM

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Cool to see it in the Codex now too - I think i might run this for some people in the next few weeks (months? depending on how much time I find) on there

#From the Ashes — 1st Level Adventure