Tabletop RPG fans have a habit of turning every single property they love into a pen and paper experience, even if it seems like it wouldn’t work at first glance. With just a quick google search, players can find fan made adaptations of Pokemon, Monster Hunter, Harry Potter, and just about anything players could think of as a tabletop RPG. The same holds true for Dark Souls, but one dedicated fan took things a step further. Known as RoosterEma on Reddit, this creator didn’t just adapt the world of Dark Souls to 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons or make a Dark Souls board game, they created an entirely unique ruleset of their own.
A hefty portion of the fan made rulebook is dedicated to character creation, combat, items, rules, and the like, but the most interesting part is arguably the bit at the very beginning. Rather than assuming players will be venturing through Dark Souls‘ Lordran or Dark Souls 3‘s Lothric, the Dark Souls Role Playing Game (abbreviated as DSRPG) provides several pages to help players create their own fallen kingdom. Just like in Dark Souls games, this kingdom will be on its last leg, slowly succumbing as the fire starts to fade, and players will be responsible for defeating its lords and rekindling the fire or choosing to walk away.
- Check out RoosterEma’s unofficial, fan-made Dark Souls RPG here.
The first step to creating an age in DSRGP is to name the land. As with most of the randomly selected things in this system, players will roll two six-sided dice to determine the outcome. Naturally, players are welcome to come up with their own names for things, but these randomized options are helpful as a jumping off point. For a sample world, the dice landed on three and four. To find the result, find three on the left-hand column and then pick the name next to the 3-4 option. In this case, the land will be called the Kingdom of Colvand. Players will notice that existing Dark Souls lands like Lordran and Drangleic aren’t on the list.
Next, players need to determine how many Lords exist in this age. In Dark Souls, there were four Lords by the name of Gwyn, Izalith, Nito, and Seath, but that isn’t always the case in every age. For example, in Dark Souls 3, there were actually five Lords present. Rolling another six-sided die determines that in the Kingdom of Colvand, there are five Lords the players will ultimately need to find and defeat. The next step will help game masters name those lords and give more details on them.
Now that players know the name of their land and the number of Lords, they are going to need a few more details on them. In the rules, DSRPG actually recommends that game masters do this together with their players. As a group, the game master and players should work together to create a compelling world filled with enemies that will get everyone excited. The rules say to pick one name, one or more details, and two themes for each lord. In this case, all five lords will be completely randomized.
The first Lord players will need to tackle is Asger, the name being determined by rolling 3,3 on the dice. Next, Asger’s details are Executioner (4,4) and Pygmy (6,5). Players are free to arrange these in any order they please, so this could either be Asger the Pygmy Executioner or Asger the Executioner Pygmy, in this case the former seems to fit better. Asger’s themes are Pride (3,1) and Cruelty (4,1). The five Lords players will need to defeat including Asger the Pygmy Executioner are:
- Asger the Pygmy Executioner – Pride and Cruelty
- Dragonslayer (3,4) Emyr (2,4) – Purity (1,1) and Loyalty (5,1);
- Cradoc (4,2) the Ravenous (4,5) – Fear (1,6) and Masochism (5,2);
- (Name Unknown 1,1) The Forgotten (6,3) Old One (2,5) – Chaos (6,5) and Order (2,4)
- Urial (5,5) the Corrupted (5,2) Giant (3,6) – Regret (6,6) and Darkness (2,6)
Covenants are another important part of a Dark Souls world, as they allow the character, or in this case the PCs, to feel as though they are part of a bigger world. In DSRPG, the GM and players should create one covenant for each player in the group. For the sake of demonstration, this is how players could use the book to generate the names of four unique covenants. Players will need to roll 2d6 to determine the prefix and suffix of each covenant.
The first covenant is the Wardens (1,3) of Want (5,4). The book is intentionally vague on what this covenant is about, as it’s intended to be up to the players and the GM to fully flesh out each group. The Wardens of Want may be a group dedicated to protecting the throne from would be intruders, or they could be a covenant of thieves travelling through worlds with Soapstones and stealing from their inhabitants. Including the Wardens of Want, players will also have a chance to ally themselves with the following covenants:
- Wardens of Want
- Reapers (4,2) of the Asylum (4,2)
- Eyes (6,1) of the Witch (3,2)
- Singers (4,6) of the Depths (3,6)
Finally, players and the game master will need to create a shrine, the hub for the players as they explore this cursed land. The table above can be used to create any area in the world, but when used to create a shrine, the area’s name will always be “Shrine” (5,6). Just like the lords, areas should have at least one descriptor contained within their name and two themes to help the GM determine what type of region it is. This is akin to Firelink Shrine from Dark Souls 1 and 3.
In Colvand, the shrine will be called the Shrine of Iron (3,6), and its themes are Eternity (2,5) and Blood (6,1). Again, what this means exactly is up to the players and the GM to decide, but it’s an amazing tool to use as a jumping off point. This is just a small portion of what’s available in RoosterEma’s full DSRPG ruleset, so interested players should be sure to check it out. Everything contained is free to use, but players that enjoy its contents should be sure to give their compliments to RoosterEma, as an incredible amount of work went into making this a reality. After this short dice rolling session, here’s the Dark Souls world that was generated and a short fluff piece written based off of those results.
Cradoc the Ravenous ruled over the land of Colvand with an iron fist, invoking fear in his subjects. During the Age of Fire, Cradoc used his power to create massive kingdoms he thought would stand for eternity, but all things must fall. Eventually, the fire began to fade, and the undead curse took hold of his kingdom and the lands beyond. Seeking to quell the rising undead, Cradoc turned to Asger the Pygmy Executioner, tasking him with finding and killing any undead that walked the cobbled streets of Colvand. This job would eventually be passed on to the Reapers of the Asylum when Asger vanished. As the undead began making bids for his throne, Cradoc recruited Dragonslayer Emyr and his faithful Wardens of Want to defend it, but they could not stop the Darkness flowing forth from the abyss. To combat this, Urial the Giant was sent into its depths, but the Eyes of the Witch are many, and he fell to her corruption despite the aid of the Singers of the Depth. In a last-ditch effort to save his kingdom, Cradoc turned to The Forgotten Old One, leaving his throne and never returning. The players find themselves in the Shrine of Iron, unsure of how they arrived, and the Firekeeper there gives them a mission: “Seek the souls of the five Lords of this land, link the fire, and banish the undead curse.”
RoosterEma’s DSRPG is available for free online here.
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