The upcoming Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game will use a ruleset that's compatible with the 5e rules used by Dungeons & Dragons. The book will include mechanics based on Dark Souls video games and a new magic system, but it will share many of the core mechanics from the D20-based system used by D&D.

The rules of D&D are the core of the Open Gaming License, which was created by Wizards of the Coast back in the 3e era, to allow third-party developers to release content that was compatible with D&D, with Wizards of the Coast receiving a cut of the profits. This means that license owners of big franchises can release their own RPGs that use tailored versions of the 5e ruleset. One example of this is Adventures in Middle-earth, which is an RPG based on Lord of the Rings that uses the 5e D&D rules.

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It seems that the next game to use D&D rules will be Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game. Developer Steamforged Games has revealed that Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game will feature rules that are compatible with the 5e ruleset. The rules will feature bespoke character classes, mechanics from the Dark Souls video games, a new magic system, and a bestiary made up of creatures from the Dark Souls series. This means the book might also be useful for DMs who want to throw the infamous Dark Souls bosses into their homebrew games.

Dark Souls the Roleplaying Game Contents

Following on from the recent teaser trailer for Dark Souls: TRPG, the official Steamforged Games website has also revealed the cover art, as well as a page from the Character Generation chapter of the book. It's clear that the book has gorgeous artwork that is taken straight from official sources, which are fitting choices for a tabletop RPG rulebook. With Steamforged not holding back on its announcements and promotional materials, excitement for the upcoming release continues to mount.

It's unclear how Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game will adapt many of the elements from the games into the D&D ruleset. Dark Souls features a single playable race, though the game might get around this by using the Tasha's Cauldron of Everything's floating stat system, which is slowly becoming the standard in D&D books. The whole concept of dying and being reborn at bonfires will also be tricky to adapt into a tabletop RPG, as it removes the consequences of death from the game. Despite the issues of adapting the gameplay mechanics of Dark Souls to a tabletop RPG, there's no denying that the land of Lothric would be an epic campaign setting and that there are few video game worlds as fitting for a Dungeons & Dragons game than the one in Dark Souls.

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Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game will be available for pre-order on February 2022.

Source: Steamforged Games