Written by: Jack Durkin

I don’t think anyone could have predicted the kind of year TTRPGs have had in 2023. Despite riding a wave of popularity unmatched throughout the game’s history, Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of The Coast would find themselves under fire after announcing their plans to revamp the game once again and controversially re-evaluate their commitment to an open gaming license for third-party creators. In the wake of this decision came a deluge of publishers looking to pitch their own alternatives to the gaming giant. One of the most prominent of these is MCDM Productions’s “MCDM RPG” (their working title). Overseen by renowned game designer Matt Colville, the system offers a “Heroic Fantasy that’s Tactical and Cinematic”. Let’s dig into what that means, what we know about the system, and what it might mean for the TTRPG community. Could we see a true competitor to decades-old TTRPG systems like Pathfinder, let alone the venerable D&D?

            Admittedly, we don’t know much about the MCDM RPG for now. There’s a short excerpt on combat and negotiations (the game’s term for swaying the opinion of important NPCs) for those who’ve backed the company on Patreon. The rest of us have about 9 sample pages on the Backerkit site (the campaign for which ended with over $4.5 million in funding). But what I like about even these limited pages is how they lay out the identity of this system in both conceptual and mechanical methods.

            For starters, there’s the “Heroic Fantasy” keywords of the system’s introduction page. The Fantasy part is straightforward enough to anyone who’s familiar with the genre: swords and sorcery, dragons and knights, castles and bustling medieval cities. Heroic is where things get interesting, describing the system as one that streamlines the process of being a hero in favor of acting like one at every possible opportunity. How it approaches this former keyword may seem familiar to any table that’s played it fast and loose with D&D’s rules on things like encumbrance or vision.

Gone is management of food or torches, gone is factoring in the weight of each item in your inventory, gone is the very act of rolling to hit upon choosing to attack (Yes, you automatically hit the moment you decide to attack). Instead, the focus is on giving the player a variety of actions to shape the battlefield as they see fit with flair. Even experience has been retooled, giving players Victory points and access to special abilities once they overcome a challenge whether it be through combat or negotiation. Through this new approach players are encouraged to keep the adventure going instead of asking themselves if they need to take a rest after each instance of combat. Plus they’re encouraged to seek out challenges to reap their rewards instead of cheesing out minior combat encounters to grind out XP.

            The other half of this system’s focus is outlined via its “Tactical and Cinematic” aspects. As mentioned earlier, combat has been simplified to the point where you no longer need to roll to determine if you hit an enemy, only how much damage that attack deals. In its stead are more options to stylishly reshape the battlefield itself. Between pushing, pulling, sliding or tossing there’s a heavy emphasis on maneuvering allies and enemies across the battlefield. These new actions come with rules that put those actions to use, determining just how much damage someone takes from being thrown through a wall, over a cliff, or into another combatant.. 

The Cinematic aspect is still there, though much of that aspect is set to be revealed on the release of future material. Abilities for both players and enemies are written more like one-liners delivered in the heat of battle than static actions with names like “Forward!,” “In All This Confusion…” or “Your Bones Are Mine!”. Those moments in combat are fuelled by appropriately-named Heroic Resources your characters gain over the course of a combat encounter instead of pooled together at the start of an adventure.

Plus, instead of each character rolling their own initiative it seems this system has players and enemies acting in separate blocks. This is in place so that players have more opportunity to plan out and discuss their own actions in conjunction with their allies. While the chaos that could emerge from D&D’s traditional initiative system could create strong moments in their own right, this system is built to take advantage of re-maneuvering allies and enemies mid-combat to set up powerful combinations and synergies between classes.

            Granted, we’re working off limited information here. This product isn’t set to see a full release for a long time and everything is subject to change. The process of releasing playtest material to backers on Patreon has recently started, but Backerkit donors are estimated to see the first playtest packet in Q2 of 2024. And the final digital release? Estimated June 2025. This is something set to be in development for a long time, and as with any ambitious crowdfunding campaign it’s understandable to be hesitant about committing to this project. The team behind this has been outstanding when creating third-party D&D content as their Strongholds and Followers and Kingdoms and Warfare supplements (which received their own successful crowdfunding campaigns) can attest so there’s precedent for them to create quality work. But even with that experience in mind they’ve acknowledged that there’s far more to work on here than anything they’ve been responsible for in the past. 

It’s not the only potential hurdle the system has to clear. The emphasis on Tactical, Cinematic combat heavily encourages if not outright demands players employ maps and miniatures to ensure the system’s being played to its strengths. With those two keywords in mind, every combat encounter can have its own unique flair with allies and enemies pinballing each other around a map that’s catered to the system’s emphasis on using the environment alongside the character’s abilities.That said, for players who prefer a “theater-of-the-mind” combat style this system may not be using the system to its full potential, ditto for those who don’t have access to digital or physical maps. MCDM has announced a virtual tabletop that’s entered the prototype stage and has the war chest accumulated via the internet to help fund further progress, so a solution might be on the way.

A less negotiable hurdle might be the price of the overall product. If the pages released so far are a hint at the 400 pages of the core Heroes’ Rulebook in terms of quality it’s undeniable, but MCDM’s pledge to properly compensate all employees and contractors for their work on this book/pdf means it’s also going to cost more than its competition upon release. So far 2 books have been announced: the Hero's Rulebook (which serves as a guide to both playing and running this system) and a Monster Manual. Both of these books will be available for slightly less via PDF, but a hardcover copy of both will cost at least an estimated $135 upon release in 2025.

Speaking of release, there is the caveat of this being a partially-developed system in its current state. At the time of writing, MCDM hasn’t technically promised to release this system, merely develop it until it's in a state worthy of release. And that’s before we get into the VTT system they’re looking to implement, something their closest competitors have been trying to crack for decades now. What they want is lofty and I believe the team behind this system has the experience to say they’re up to the task, but with game development being the complicated process that it is it can be difficult to predict how these things will turn out. 

Overall, it’s a system that in its mission statement commits itself to a clear vision of what it wants to be. “This is a game about fighting monsters”. It may not entirely replace the versatility of the Dungeons and Dragons system. It even states that while there’s room for elements like dungeon-crawling, wilderness exploration, or supernatural horror this is a Heroic Fantasy system at its core. But the potential the system has to offer is undeniable and MCDM has mentioned they hope to have a flourishing community of its own third-party content by the predicted 2025 release. Will it be the perfect game? It’s far too early to tell and even the developers recognize it. Does it show promise at providing an alternative to certain aspects of D&D? Absolutely. 

Will this be the last time this blog writes about the MCDM RPG or (or whatever title it ends up sticking with)? I doubt it, I sure like what I’ve seen so far. The emphasis on tactile and tactical combat is a potentially revolutionary concept that could help make even the smallest of encounters more engaging, even if it subtly raises the barrier to entry in terms of cost. And its emphasis on Heroic Fantasy offers a modernised and streamlined version of systems familiar to those who’ve played TTRPGs before. And I’m this excited after seeing a few introductory pages, without getting into what player advancement and customization looks like. Keep an eye on this space in the event new content gets released, there’s a good chance I may have more to write about this system.