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.

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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
 

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I think Dark Souls could work very well for Dark Sun campaign as well potentially. That gritty slightly desperate feel could fit. All we need is a psionic reason why characters are coming back to life at the bonfire/artifact. I’m sure the grey/elemental planes/some defiler or sorcerer kings spell could explain it.
 

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So I wasn’t expecting it but my copy arrived in the post. I haven’t read it yet but I’ve identified three things.

  • It’s freaking beautiful!
  • It is exactly what you would expect from Dark Souls.
  • It may be 5e compatible but a lot of stuff from a regular 5e game wouldn’t fit and vice versa
Time to make a cuppa and have a good read.
 

So I wasn’t expecting it but my copy arrived in the post. I haven’t read it yet but I’ve identified three things.

  • It’s freaking beautiful!
  • It is exactly what you would expect from Dark Souls.
  • It may be 5e compatible but a lot of stuff from a regular 5e game wouldn’t fit and vice versa
Time to make a cuppa and have a good read.
I didn’t realize it was coming out so soon! Is it available as a pdf?
 


So I wasn’t expecting it but my copy arrived in the post. I haven’t read it yet but I’ve identified three things.

  • It’s freaking beautiful!
  • It is exactly what you would expect from Dark Souls.
  • It may be 5e compatible but a lot of stuff from a regular 5e game wouldn’t fit and vice versa
Time to make a cuppa and have a good read.
Looks like you got it about six weeks early. Would you consider doing a public service and posting a read through Q&A thread?
 




Initiative was simple - each monster has an initiative DC - if you make the check, you go before them; if not, after.

With position, you start out at a base level, then roll your specific position die at the start of each fight. If you go below your base level, you stay there at the end. If you're still over, it resets to where you were at the beginning.
Those are both very cool ideas!
 

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