I've been wanting to run a Dark Souls/Demons Souls campaing, using either the game's settings (Lordran/Boletaria) Or a custom one, fitting the lore.
My problem is... What system do I even use for Dark Souls?
RuneQuest 6 or some other lethal as fuck system.
My honest opinion? ORE/REIGN
I suggest because ORE essentially has a timing mechanic where two warriors can simultaneously hit one another due to how "initiative" works in the game. Plus it has the souls series down home grittiness.
All I'd suggest maybe is removing the penalties to injured limbs/torso.
>>44153419
Actually, D&D 4e may not be bad, but you'd probably need to supplement it with something for non-combat stuff.
Well there is the RPG which was made to do Souls games...
If you don't like the look of it though I kind of think D&D4e might work. You'd need to bump up the usual encounter difficulty but I think it has the right emphasis on tactics and positioning to get a bit closer to souls style gaming than other games.
>>44153578
OP here, will look at the system tomorrow, once I have proper internet.
Is 4e very different from Pathfinder?
I'm planning one with D&D 3.5. It's a little more like Damon's Souls, and is meant to be an origin story for the humans of my setting. Everyone's human and no one knows of the other races. It takes place in a fallen kingdom on a small island over which a second, unsetting sun shines. The players must return to the town square where some mcguffin which I haven't thought of yet allows them to rest, replenishing their health and allowing them to prepare spells. The second sun prevents resting anywhere else, even indoors. There are strange and eccentric NPCs to collect and bring to the square who provide amenities. There are big and nasty bosses, all of them once humans.
>>44153689
Yes, sort of.
There are still lots of sacred cows in it, but the system is way more usable and easier to run.
The main issue you might run into is that you tend to be locked into a class more than you would in the Souls/Borne games. Hybriding is possible, just a bit harder.
Tl;Dr it's Tactics Ogre the Tabletop. If you loved Super Robot Wars and Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea, you'll love 4e.
>>44154150
Disgaea style on a Souls Campaing?
Sounds fucking amazing.
>>44153529
I heard that the Riddle of Steel or it's successor Blade of the Iron Throne had a similar mechanic and that it was close to the Dark Souls theme in some way
>>44154439
If you played Vagrant Hearts on the PS1, you can steal the aesthetic. It's really grimy and desperate.
Plus, you can emphasize better how hard the monsters are. 4e REQUIRES teamwork, and you can still do the Suuls despair thing by having them meets groups of people who have been defeated and run away.
>>44154532
Sounds great. I would look that game up, but no internet at home atm.
Another thing im really struggling to get down is... How do I make the obligatory Blightown ? A Faith caster-type could probably Cure Poison unless I really limit magic, but then it wouldnt be very viable. And having heals a la DnD might make encounters need to overcompensate, since, if I put Estus in, its gotta have some penalties in battle
>>44154507
Riddle of Steel, Blade of the Iron Throne, and Song of Swords all have the possibility for simultaneous hits. I wouldn't recommend them for Dark Souls, though. They're very much focused on man vs man combat, and big monsters and the like aren't really supported. Song of Swords is supposed to have something for that but it's perpetually around the corner and definitely not the priority for the dev team at the moment.
Maybe RuneQuest could work? A similar in depth combat system, with actual support for giant monsters. A good level of lethality too, and I bet you could get the Souls magic systems working fairly easily.
>>44154652
Have absolutely no experience with RuneQuest.
On a scale from "goblin" to "Shadow of the Colossus", how big of a monster can you concievably use on any system?
Because fuckhueg monsters a la Storm King would make very good bosses
None of that "huge dude in amor" from Dark Souls 2.
also, how would you implement Curses into the game? Petrification? Some sort of buildup?
I wanted to do something like that some time ago, I need to take some notes:
-Combat needs to be fast and the death of PC a common thing
-They gather the souls of fallen ennemies, they might lose it if the party fail to retrieve them the second time (maybe buff a monster nearby that they have to kill)
-If someone in the party die, he can't just respawn at the fire and run back in the boss arena at full life while the other are still fighting the boss. The remaining PCs need to go back to the fire and reset the world
-I'll give them an upgrade sheet where they can see the cost in souls of an augmentation in characteristic (hopefully they could get themselves a small upgrade once or twice in a session). Balancing that with the cost of equipment, weapons and upgrade paths, magics, miracles, keys, etc I think this could work, it would make backtracking way more easy and still give the sensation of challenge because the enemy in the next zone would be tougher than before
-The enemy placement would change and their number too. The further they go in the level, the better the reward in souls is.
-For the story, we'll have the usual dying world thing but I'd like to see more liberty. NPC tell them legends and hints, their goals is to grow stronger to "insert plot here" and they can go anywhere from there
-If someone has an idea to introduce covenants and invasions, I'm listening
>>44154967
Covenants could work to enhance player interaction. If a player joined the Blades of the Darkmoon equivalent and another the Darkwraiths, for example, but they still had to work together for the good of the group, that could be interesting roleplay.
Also, GLORIOUS SUNBRO PARTY out to BECOME GROSSLY INCANDESCENT
>>44154649
The one in Demon Souls is inhabited by a Demon. She's a'ight, but she's still a demon and messes with the place just being there
>>44155179
Astraea is only second to Maiden in Black or Priscylla as monster waifu, Im told.
Now If only I could get through Valley of Defilement...
>>44154649
Make them go trough Blightown like we did... Suffering from the lag, the lack of light, and every single enemy. Still don't know how to make them feel the lag and freezing
And for the estus and healing, it take an action to drink it. Make the enemy agressive and it'll be ok
>>44155454
>Boss casts Quickened Time Freeze every few seconds
>Gm stops mid-explanation to sip a Martini dramatically
> Stuttering while narrating
>>44155072
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N7J802QzP4
>If only I could be so grossly incandescent
>>44154967
Strike! has a pretty cool system for going from point A to B without statting out every single trash mob/small encounter etc.
And the GM side.
>>44155288
>Astraea is only second to Maiden in Black or Priscylla as monster waifu, Im told.
>forgetting Fair Lady Quelaan
>>44157250
Thanks a lot, this seems interesting. I'll give it a look when I wake up
>>44153419
I was starting one in GURPS cause the system is super lethal using some custom rules I made, but it never got off the ground cuz before we could start most of the group went to study abroad. I had plans for a system of being able to get a soul from almost any enemy they faced and then making special equipment based on aspects of that soul. A soul of a black knight might have aspects of darkness and order while a giant rat might have something like beast and plague.
