Seek refuge beneath a molten sky in Nomas, a psionic city where ideals clash with politics and thoughts have power. A modular Draw Steel supplement with factions, districts, and NPCs for running adventures in Nomas, or dropping directly into any setting.
A Refugee’s Guide to Nomas is an approximately 96-page third-party setting and rules supplement for Draw Steel, the flagship TTRPG from MCDM Productions. This supplement contains factions, districts and NPCs to help Directors run their own games in the Psionic City, as well as player options to create new heroes that will help shape the future of the city. These elements are designed in a modular fashion so that Directors running in other settings can simply lift their favourite elements and drop them straight into their home game.
In Nomas, you can explore classic urban intrigue: negotiating with powerful factions, uncovering mysteries, and struggling for influence; but only in Nomas can you do so beneath a molten sky, surrounded by psionic power and planar politics. The city is stands at a crossroads, with six extraplanar gates leading to various worlds across the Timescape, opening up tantalising opportunities and attracting terrible dangers. Meanwhile, the citizens of Nomas wield innate psionic abilities, each manifesting their power in their own way. In Nomas, thoughts are stronger than steel.
Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and heroes of any ancestry may be found in the Psionic City. While ancestries common elsewhere in the Timescape may be rarer here, other, more unusual ancestries can be found in abundance. The city doesn’t care where you came from, only what you’ll do next.
Nomas - the Psionic City of the World Below
Among the midnight caves and darkling seas of the World Below, there is a cavern filled with light. There stands Nomas, the City Aflame, the City of Refuge.
The cavern’s obsidian walls blaze with light reflected from an impossible sky, a sky filled with fire and magma. Whether it is the city or the sky that defies the rules of reality is a matter for scholars; most citizens pay no mind to their extraordinary situation, so long as it remains unaltered.
We estimate the product will contain 96 - 128 pages. It will contain the following elements –
Introduction to Nomas. Discover the origins of the Psionic City, including its founding, history, and people. This chapter also explores the themes of Nomas and why you may want to adventure there.
Life in Nomas. Learn about life in the City of Refuge, including its government, calendar, weather and religion.
Districts of Nomas. Take a tour through each of the city’s seven districts, each with its own culture, history and conflicts. Within each, planar gates stand open to other worlds in the Timescape, offering an evergreen source of adventure - and danger.
Factions of Nomas. Meet the organisations that bring the Psionic City to life. This chapter presents the city’s most prominent factions, including their goals, headquarters and notable figures. By joining one of these factions, heroes can unlock unique Titles that reflect their growing influence within the city.
Heroes of Nomas. Create heroes with an innate connection to the City of Refuge with brand new ancestries and new psionic traits for several of Draw Steel’s core ancestries.
Enemies Within: No city is without its dangers. Here you’ll find new enemies and malice options tailored to each district of the Psionic City.
We are only making PDFs and Print on Demand at this point. We have three simple pledge levels:
For £25 you will get the finished PDF of A Refugee's Guide to Nomas, illustrated and in full colour.
We will also provide you with a discount link to drivethrurpg. Using that link you can get the Print on Demand copy at the cost of printing the book. Premium Color estimated Cost-to-Print: £10.
Back at this level if you just want the product.
1 x Digital Book in PDF Format 1 x Premium Color At-Cost Print-on-Demand Code from drivethrurpg
For £35 you will get access to all the benefits of the Citizen pledge level. Plus, you will also be invited to participate in our alpha playtest and view previews of the manuscript during its development.
We will also provide you with a discount link to drivethrurpg. Using that link you can get the Print on Demand copy at the cost of printing the book. Premium Color estimated Cost-to-Print: £10.
You will also get credit in the book as a high-level backer.
Back at this level if you love the product and want to see how it comes together.
1 x Digital Book in PDF Format 1 x Access to Playtest Materials 1 x Premium Color At-Cost Print-on-Demand Code from drivethrurpg 1 x Councillor of Nomas Credit
For £70 you will get access to all the benefits of the Citizen and Councillor pledge levels. Plus, you will unlock two free PDF copies of the book for the Draw Steel community along with 2 standard and 2 premium print on demand codes.
We will also provide you with a discount link to drivethrurpg. Using that link you can get the Print on Demand copy at the cost of printing the book. Premium Color estimated Cost-to-Print: £10.
You will also get credit in the book as a high-level backer.
Back at this level if you love the product and want to give back to the community.
1 x Digital Book in PDF Format 1 x Access to Playtest Materials 1 x Premium Color At-Cost Print-on-Demand Code from drivethrurpg 2 x Copies of the Digital Book in PDF Format will be donated to the Draw Steel community 2 x Premium Color At-Cost Print-on-Demand Code from drivethrurpg will be donated to the Draw Steel community 1 x Saint of Nomas Credit
We believe in transparency and paying fair compensation for creators. This is how the funding for A Refugee’s Guide to Nomas will be spent.
Concept art Fomor ancestry by Inge
Presentation is part of design. Inge’s incredible art has already brought the blazing sky of Nomas to life, just like Dojikaan has done with the Naia(below)! Art is also the most expensive part of production. So that is where most of the funding will be spent.
The role of the editor is a vital one, and we want to make sure we compensate them properly. We also know just how important a sensitivity reader can be, especially when you’re tackling complex topics - so we already have one! Shout out to Penny Blake, who we hope to have back for the final product.
Platform fees and taxes are unavoidable costs, so we are being smart and setting aside money early on to cover that.
The future is uncertain, so it doesn’t hurt to have some extra funding set aside.
Writing and layout are where our core talents lie, so while we would love fair recompense, it’s not our priority.
As we said above, we already plan to give you new monsters and malice options, but this stretch goal gives us the budget to properly art and professionally playtest them. It also unlocks stat blocks for five unique villains, perfect to take centre stage in your Nomas adventure. The first of them is Qynn, who you can find out more about in our Faction preview!
This stretch goal, and every penny thereafter, pays Sam and Subharup(after taxes and platform fees) and helps support future products from us. We appreciate your support!
We are excited to present our current team of collaborators.
Sam has worked as a freelance TTRPG designer and editor since 2021, working on products such as The Tasty Lands of Silverplate(Dream Realm Storytellers), Dragonlance Companion(Splinterverse Media), and Draw Steel Encounters(MCDM Productions). Sam is also a playtest coordinator for MCDM Productions and Triglav Games.
Subharup is the producer and one of the writers for The Blacksmith’s Guild. He has 4+ years of experience writing and producing projects for TTRPGs. He has worked on products such as The Lost Art of Hexcrawling (5e), Monster Menagerie, Necronomicon (Shadowdark). Recently, he has written for Draw Steel Encounters (MCDM Productions).
Inge is a concept artist and freelance illustrator based in Poland. She is obsessed with prehistoric animals, taxonomy and different cultures around the world. She is also a long standing member of MCDM community and lover of everything ORC!
Ricardo "Dojikaan" Rivera is an illustrator with 10+ years' worth of experience working on creative projects. He works for a small tabletop game publisher at day, and doodles endless fantasy nonsense at night. What a life!
Penny Blake is a Romani, Disabled, Genderfluid TTRPG designer, editor, and sensitivity reader. They have over 20 years experience working in both indie and mainstream publishing.
You can find them on Bluesky and their games on Itch.
We’re delighted to be cross-collaborating with Arkive Gaming and their project Sabotage! - A Schemer's Supplement for Draw Steel. Back both projects to receive The Ashes PDF, containing five sabotage-themed monsters, and special saboteur-inspired Malice features.
The Ashes are a rebellious band of anarchists, more than happy to take a torch to anyone they consider oppressive.
There are minimal risks associated with this project. As a digital-only product, we avoid the challenges of shipping and manufacturing. Our team is experienced in meeting deadlines and delivering finished products in a timely manner, and we have consulted and partnered with professionals with an excellent track record of delivery.
The future is uncertain; however, should disaster strike, we are committed to transparent and open communication to ensure backers receive their products as soon as possible.
