D&D 5E DARK SOULS' New 5E Mechanics

Steamforged Games released their first look at the 5E mechanics which will be powering their upcoming Dark Souls tabletop RPG, based on the video game. The game will be available for preorder next week with a release date in March.

Steamforge say they "cut 5E to ribbons before reanimating it", which implies some fairly extensive changes to the system. Here's what they highlighted:

• Position. Position combines 'health' and 'stamina' (two things in the video game). It measure health, but it's also a resource you can spend to boost die rolls or use special abilities. Presumably, this means that hit points have gone by the wayside.
• Bloodied. A mechanic from D&D 4E, a creature is bloodied when it hits half Position. This can trigger bonuses and new abilities.
• Magic. Vancian magic is gone entirely. Instead is a flexible system drawn from the video game. You have attunement slots, and spells take up a number of slots. Some require Position to cast or boost.
• Death. At 0 Position you die. No saves. However you then respawn. But each time you die you lose part of yourself; it's not specified what that means exactly.

https://steamforged.com/blogs/brands/first-look-at-new-mechanics-in-dark-souls™-the-roleplaying-game

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I’m excited

I want this and the L5R 5e make real bad

The mix of them both would be f***ing awesome too.

 

[Dungeonosophy]

I added Dark Souls to...

The world's most complete directory of tabletop RPG depictions of fictive worlds which originated in other media​

 

[toucanbuzz]

I remember getting one-shotted a lot by bosses.

 

[ruemere]

Position is pretty awkward name. Advantage or Dominance would be more suitable.

Also, there were games that tried to use HP as a currency for powering up abilities, and they all failed to gain wider acclaim - Cypher system, Engel and a few more. That is not to say that no one played (or plays) such games - it is just that a self-inflicted damage is not really as enjoyable.

While I realize that a resource management and limited and renewable resources are staples of Soulslike game, I would keep HP and ability pools separate. Or create abilities that allow to replenish or potentially cost HP:

Reposition - Forfeit attack, move by up to four squares, gain 10 HP.
All-out attack - +2 crit range, all hits dealt to you inflict +5 HP.

 

[TheSword]

Position is pretty awkward name. Advantage or Dominance would be more suitable.

Also, there were games that tried to use HP as a currency for powering up abilities, and they all failed to gain wider acclaim - Cypher system, Engel and a few more. That is not to say that no one played (or plays) such games - it is just that a self-inflicted damage is not really as enjoyable.

While I realize that a resource management and limited and renewable resources are staples of Soulslike game, I would keep HP and ability pools separate. Or create abilities that allow to replenish or potentially cost HP:

Reposition - Forfeit attack, move by up to four squares, gain 10 HP.
All-out attack - +2 crit range, all hits dealt to you inflict +5 HP.

We haven’t seen the rules yet.

I’m fine with it if it creates the atmosphere of game I want to play. I can see meaning there are some tough choices at the game table. I like that.

 

[MaskedGuy]

Unless they radically modify game, I'm still skeptical that game set in 5e could be tactical though.

I imagine they do death and respawning something like how Rotgrind(one livestream group's pathfinder 2e campaign) does it

 

[Nebulous]

We kept using Bloodied. Easily the most innovative mechanic from 4e that should be a core D&D attribute.

I agree. That was something that should have ported to 5e. I hope they bring it back somehow. If not, it needs to be a 6e inclusion.

 

[GMMichael]

Steamforge say they "cut 5E to ribbons before reanimating it"

Music to my ears.

First Look at New Mechanics in DARK SOULS™: The Roleplaying Game

Working link. They didn't cut 5e up too badly though. They seem to have "mechanics" instead of "rules."

We've been talking about Souls-stamina here, if anyone's interested.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I just noticed one thing I fear with this product: I hope there's no tracking stamina vs hp for monsters. Two pools of resources for a single player is okay, if I must track 2 pools + magic + action economy for all creatures in a fight, it will slow the game to a crawl!

 

[Weiley31]

I just noticed one thing I fear with this product: I hope there's no tracking stamina vs hp for monsters. Two pools of resources for a single player is okay, if I must track 2 pools + magic + action economy for all creatures in a fight, it will slow the game to a crawl!

From what it sounds like, HP/Stamina is all "accounted for" via Position. So it's not really separate at all, but more of an abstraction of HP even more.