Saturday, October 4, 2025

Draw Steel Class Deep Dive: The Troubadour

 I actually think we're near the end here - of the nine extant classes, we have just this and the Censor.

The Troubadour is one of the clearer analogues for a D&D class: it's the Bard equivalent. Naturally, these comparisons ignore the significantly different gameplay systems, so actually playing one will likely feel fairly different.

Troubadours wield performance and art as a mind-affecting and indeed a reality-affecting form of magic. A versatile class, they have several features to aid in social encounters, but they can do a lot of other things as well.

Troubadours' primary characteristics are Agility and Presence, both starting at 2 and going up with each echelon of play.

Subclasses:

Troubadours have three subclasses, focusing on different "vibes" often associated with this sort of class.

Auteurs are actually the most out-there one: Auteurs break the fourth wall, treating their current adventure as a story that they're telling later, complete with the ability to rewrite and revise that story (this is basically the Alan Wake subclass, so I'm here for it).

Duelists focus on martial abilities, weaving a dance-like art into their one-on-one combat style.

Virtuosos perform magic through music, with a lot of heavy metal-themed abilities.

Heroic Resource: Drama

Like all other classes, when combat starts, you gain Drama equal to your victories, and then 1d3 drama at the start of each of your turns. You also gain drama through various other ways once per combat: when three or more heroes use an ability on the same turn, you gain 2 drama. The first time a hero is winded during an encounter, you gain 2 drama. Whenever a creature within your line of effect rolls a natural 19 or 20, you gain 3 drama. And when you or another hero dies, you gain 10 drama.

Notably, Troubadours continue to gain drama during combat even if they're dead. If you have 30 drama during the encounter in which you died, you come back to life with 1 stamina and no drama (if the combat ends before you reach 30, you stay dead and don't gain drama during future encounters).

Troubadours, like Furies, Censors, Nulls, and Shadows, also get a kit of their choice. (So, yes, you could be a heavily-armored troubadour swinging a massive greataxe if you wanted).

Scene Partner is a feature that allows you to bond with an NPC if you are successful with a test to interact with them using an interpersonal skill. If you enter into a negotiation with that NPC, their patience increases by 1 (maximum of 5). Also, the first time you make an argument that would increase their interest in a negotiation by 1, you instead increase it by 2 (max 5, of course). You can maintain a number of bonds with NPCs equal to your level, and if you try to form a bond with a sixth, you choose whose bond you drop.

Routines are a feature you can activate at the beginning of each round of combat as long as you're not dazed, dead, or surprised, maintaining it or choosing a different one on each subsequent turn. You start off with a couple options, and gain more from your subclass. Each routine has some benefit, like giving your nearby allies more movement speed or letting allies spend a recovery at the end of each of your turns.

Each subclass gives you a routine, a special maneuver, and a triggered action.

You then pick a single signature ability (you get your other one from your kit) and a 3-drama and 5-drama heroic ability.

At level 2, you get Appeal to the Muses, which allows you to give a speech when you roll for drama at the start of your turns, with similar rewards and consequences as the Conduit's praying for extra Piety. If you roll a 1, you get 1 additional drama but the Director gains 1d3 Malice. If you roll a 2, you gain 1 Heroic Resource that you can keep or give to a nearby ally, but the Director also gains 1 Malice. If you roll a 3, you gain 2 Heroic resources to keep or distribute, but the Director doesn't gain anything.

You also get Invocation, giving you a choice of various features that can affect the way that battles start.

You also get an interpersonal, lore, or supernatural perk of your choice.

Finally, you get a 5-drama heroic ability from your subclass.

At level 3, you get a new subclass feature from your subclass and a 7-drama heroic ability of your choice.

At 4, your agility and presence go up to 3, and you get a perk and skill of your choice.

You also get Melodrama, which adds new ways to generate drama in combat. You choose two of the following triggers: Whenever a creature rolls a natural 2 on a power roll, you get 2 drama. The first time the director deals damage to a hero using a villain action or an ability that costs malice, you gain 2 drama. The first time in combat a hero unwillingly falls 5 or more squares, you gain 2 drama. The first time a hero deals damage with 3 surges, you gain two drama, and whenever a hero spends their last recovery, you gain 2 drama.

You can use both choices on the same event, or go back to one of the previous events as one of your choices. If you do, that event now generates 1 additional drama.

Also at 4, you get Zeitgeist, letting you gain one a few options that aid in gathering or spreading information when you finish a respite.

At level 5, you get a choice of new features from your subclass.

At 6, you get a new interpersonal/lore/supernatural perk.

You also get Spotlight, a new routine that gives you and allies an extra temporary heroic resource each turn.

You also get a 9-drama heroic ability from your subclass.

At 7, your characteristics all go up by 1, maximum of 4.

You also get Equal Billing, which allows you to use your Scene Partner feature with a fellow hero/PC, though only one hero at a time. Any creature you're bonded with gets a +1 bonus to saving throws, and when you or a bonded creature succeed on a save, you and each creature you're bonded with gains temp Stamina equal to your level.

A Muse's Muse increases the drama you gain at the start of your turn to 1d3+1.

And you get a skill of your choice.

At 8, you get a perk of your choice. You also get a subclass feature and your choice of a 11-drama heroic ability.

At 9, you get Roar of the Crowd, which prevents you from being frightened and you can stand up from prone as a free maneuver. Also, when you spend a recovery, you can forgo regaining stamina and instead give you and each ally within 3 squares temporary stamina equal to 10 + the number of bonds with yoru scene partners plus either your victories or the number of players in your game (whichever is higher).

You also get an 11-drama ability from your subclass.

At 10, you gain another interpersonal/lore/supernatural perk, your Agility and Presence go up to 5, you get a skill of your choice, and you gain a few other features.

Applause is your epic resource, which you gain equal to your XP when you finish a respite. You can spend Applause as if it were drama. When a creature within 3 squares would obtain a failure or a tier 1 outcome on a test, you can spend 1 applause to improve the outcome by 1 tier.

Dramaturgy gives you 1 additional drama or other heroic resource when you use Appeal to the Muses. Also, your performances no longer have a distance, and will apply to any space within the encounter within your line of effect.

Greatest of All Time lowers NPCs' impression scores by 1 each time you obtain a success on a test (to a minimum of 1) and each ally gains an edge on their next test, lasting until you start your next respite.

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