Combat · D12
Strike Resolves
Head · Critical
Tabletop Roleplaying Game
Masters of&Magic
A high fantasy steampunk tabletop RPG. Three lineages, seven paths of magic, six human cultures, and an arms race between sorcery and steam-powered industry.
What Is M3
Your Adventure Begins
Masters of Metal & Magic is a tabletop role-playing game set in the Ruined Sea, a vast swamp where steam and sorcery collide. You and your friends play heroes who survive its horrors, unravel its mysteries, and fight its monsters. Three ideas hold the whole game together.
Build Without Limits
No classes, no random rolls. Spend Character Points to buy the hero you imagine, from three lineages, six cultures, and seven schools of magic.
Fight Where It Counts
Every blow finds a body part. A single twelve-sided die decides where steel lands, from head to limb, and a called shot lets you aim for the kill. Combat is tactical and lethal.
Magic Meets Machine
Mages bend the six elements while smiths and artificers raise steam-powered war machines. Sorcery and engineering share the same battlefield.
The Setting
The Ruined Sea
A vast swamp stretches beyond reckoning. Across its drowned waters, six human cultures have raised city-states, kingdoms, and rival governments, each grasping for the next horizon.
A new age is dawning, the Age of Metal and Steam. Trains, dirigibles, and warships contest the canals while the science of invention presses against the magic of old.
In the deep places, true Elemental Creatures stir, and their Scions walk among the living.
Cyndral · Shandral · Jenar · and the cultures between
The Age of Metal & Steam
Steam against sorcery. The science of steam power, compressed air, and clockwork wars with the magic of old. Every new invention is met by an older tradition that refuses to yield.
A war of whispers. The city-states no longer meet in open battle. Power changes hands through intrigue and assassination, a quiet war fought in shadow and coin.
The swamp between. Beyond the protected towns wait carnivorous plants, ferocious beasts, and stranger magical things. Adventurers chase fortune across it, and mercenaries are paid to guard the roads.
The Six Human Cultures
Swipe to explore →
Andoly
WarriorsRaised to the blade and the battlefield, the martial backbone of the city-states.
Red war-stripes painted across the face
Shandral
ScholarsKeepers of knowledge, magic, and the lost history of the drowned world.
Faces kept hidden behind ever-present masks
Cyndral
ManufacturersEngineers and inventors who drive the age of steam forward.
Non-magical sigils inked across the whole body
Jenar
MerchantsTraders who move goods and coin across the canals and open swamp.
Flamboyant dress and sea-faring ways
Nord
OutsidersWanderers shaped by a life lived beyond the walls of the city-states.
Bound by none of the others' customs
Compari
HealersCaretakers who mend body and spirit where the swamp takes its toll.
A white or black streak through the hair
Playable Characters
Three Lineages, Infinite Builds
Play the monstrous Elderkin, the near-human Feykin, or a Human of the six cultures. Point-based creation, no random rolls. Choose your race, rank your aspects, and buy your abilities. Every character is unique.
Ursidae Pyromancer
A towering Ursidae, the bear-like lineage of the Elderkin, wielding the Sun discipline of Battle Magic. Fire-based Direct Elemental Attacks deal extra damage to Water, undead, and shadow creatures. Steam Tech upgrades on the plate armor recharge every Sunrise.
The Clash of Steel
Every Blow Finds Its Mark
Combat is fast and lethal. When your strike connects, you roll a single twelve-sided die to see exactly where it lands, and armor only guards the part it covers.
Tap to roll a D12
Where the Wound Lands
Forget abstract hit points. Each successful attack falls on a real body location, tracked against the armor and shields covering it. A Called Shot lets you aim true: spend two actions, then strike the zone you choose.
The Flow of Battle
How a Turn Unfolds
One Turn
A single turn covers six rounds, about a minute of frantic, close-quarters fighting.
Each Round
Every round you spend three actions: move, equip a weapon, or attack. Choose wisely.
Take Aim
Spend two actions to aim, then strike any location you choose at a bonus to hit.
Catch a foe unready and you strike with the upper hand. The surprised get a single action while you press the attack at advantage.
When a Blow Lands
The Order of Protection
A strike does not simply hit. It descends through each layer of your defense in turn, and any one of them may stop it before the wound is ever felt.
Shroud
Magical concealment turns a strike aside before it ever begins.
Ward
A raised barrier meets the attack head-on.
Hand Shield
Small, medium, or large, it guards the part it covers.
Armor / Hide
Worn plate or natural hide soaks the blow where it lands.
Aura
A lingering field of protection wrapped close to the body.
Cloak
A last veil of defense before the wound is felt.
Endurance
What you simply withstand when every layer has failed.
Resists may be called on at any point once a Ward is raised, so long as you stay conscious.
The Arcane Arts
Seven Paths of Power
Magic in the Ruined Sea is drawn from Life Force. Seven paths offer radically different roads to power, from innate gifts to forbidden pacts.
Adepts
Born with Power
Magical abilities gained at birth. Adepts are born with innate power and must choose their path at character creation. Each path offers a unique bonus ability and up to 8 purchasable powers.
How It Works
Each Adept type grants a unique bonus ability. Additional abilities can be purchased at any time during play. Some abilities can be augmented with Life Force for greater effect.
Paths
Animal
Command and communicate with creatures
Charm
Manipulation of the mind
Crystal
Magic amplification and resonance
Life
Healing and restoration
Ocean
Poison, water, and tides
Plant
Nature and growth
Shadow
Subterfuge and stealth
Wind
Movement and missiles
Manufacturing
Three Trades of Industry
Where magic fails, industry prevails. Three trades produce gear that rivals enchanted artifacts.
Alchemy
Reagent-based
Brew elixirs, poisons, and compounds. Combine organic and chemical reagents to make healing potions, explosive mixtures, and transmutative substances.
Artificing
Steam-powered
Build steam-powered devices and gadgets fueled by pressurized canisters. From clockwork traps to thrown grenades and intricate locks, innovation meets engineering.
Smithing
39 Steam upgrades
Forge and upgrade weapons and armor with Steam Tech modifications. The best smiths create gear that rivals magical artifacts in raw power.
Elemental Forces
Six Elements at War
Six forces locked in eternal opposition. Elemental effects are not magic, so wards cannot stop them. Only a hand shield, swift evasion, or an Elemental Ward turns them aside.
Fire
opposes
Water
An attack tied to one element deals extra harm to creatures bound to its opposite.
The Scions
A birthright pact · separate from the seven paths of magic
Not a school you study but a bond you are born with. A Scion is pledged to the elements themselves, joined to as many as three of them, never opposing ones, and rises through three stages of mastery for twelve abilities in all. True Elemental Creatures, pure forces not native to the Ruined Sea, call upon their Scions to wage war on the opposing element.
Three Stages of Mastery
12 Abilities in All
Advocate
abilities · unlocks at 10 CP
Messenger
abilities · unlocks at 175 CP
Herald
ultimate · unlocks at 300 CP
The Age of Steam
Steam Tech
Magic is rare and dangerous. Steam is reliable and everywhere. Smiths and Artificers bolt steam-powered modifications onto weapons and armor, building war machines that rival enchanted artifacts, and you need no magic to wield them.
39 Upgrades
Steam-powered enhancements bolt onto weapons and armor. How many an item can carry depends on its size.
Steam Canisters
Every device draws on a canister. One action activates it, and they recharge on their own at sunrise and sunset.
Technicians
Only Smiths and Artificers can build or repair steam gear. They are the engineers of the Ruined Sea.
The Trade-off
Steam is loud, heavy, and prone to malfunction. Raw power bought at the price of stealth and certainty.
Vehicles & Machines
Steam Tech reaches far beyond personal gear. The civilizations of the Ruined Sea run steam-powered transports and war machines that carry whole crews across the swamp, from cargo runs to open warfare.
Boiler Pressure
One action to fire. Canisters refill on their own at sunrise and sunset.
Anyone Can Wield It
You do not need to be a Technician to use steam gear, only the skill to handle the weapon or armor it lives on. Building and repairing it, though, belongs to the Smith and the Artificer alone.
The Steam Fleet
Forge a Hero
Build Your Legend
No classes, no dice at creation. Choose a people, rank your three aspects, and spend Character Points on the powers you want. Take a flaw or two and earn some back. Watch your sheet fill in real time.
A sample budget. The real costs live in the Players Guide.
Choose Your People
The monstrous, animal-touched peoples.
Rank Your Aspects
Tap in order, strongest first. 3 to go.
Spend Your Points
Magic
Manufacturing
Power
Disadvantages — earn back, max 35
Your Sheet
People
Aspects
Abilities
Disadvantages
Your Legend Awaits
You've shaped your character. Now bring the Ruined Sea to your table.
Get the BooksThe Library
Claim Your Tomes
Five books to explore the Ruined Sea: two core rulebooks and three expansions. Every title comes as a digital PDF or printed paperback. The two core guides also come in cloth-bound hardcover.
The Complete Collection
Five rulebooks · Character templates · Quick reference sheets
From $9.99
Players Guide
Core2nd Edition · 227 pages
The core rulebook. Everything you need to create characters, learn the magic system, understand mechanical devices, and start playing. Includes the three lineages, six human cultures, and point-based character creation rules.
Choose Format
Instant download · read on any device
Secure checkout
Game Masters Guide
Core2nd Edition
The complete guide for running M3 campaigns. Monster creation, encounter design, campaign frameworks, world-building tools, and rules adjudication. Essential for every Game Master.
Choose Format
Instant download · read on any device
Secure checkout
Civilization Guide
Deep dive into all six civilizations of the Ruined Sea. Their cultures, organizations, guilds, political structures, and unique locations. Expand your world knowledge.
Choose Format
Instant download · read on any device
Secure checkout
Syndicates Handbook
Magic expanded. Mage archetypes, Scholar skills, Runic item creation, and the powerful organizations that regulate magic across the Ruined Sea.
Choose Format
Instant download · read on any device
Secure checkout
Manufacturing Compendium
60 pages
Economy and crafting expansion. Essential for Alchemists, Artificers, and Smiths. Detailed crafting rules, materials, recipes, and the steam-powered economy.
Choose Format
Instant download · read on any device
Secure checkout
Questions? Email ruinedsea@gmail.com