We talked to the main designer of Steamforged Games Role Games, Richard August, on the decision to combine Almas Dark and Rules 5e. Last month, SteamForged Games revealed that his next dark Souls: the Rol game would use a version of Calaboons and dragons Rules of the fifth edition. The announcement attracted a lot of attention and debate about whether it was the «suitable» system for dark, _ even after SteamForged noticed that you were replacing certain 5e rules with game mechanics that were more in themed with the original games. To have a better idea of what is the new Almas TTRPG will be like, we talk to the main designer of SteamForged role playing, Richard August, by email:
comicbook.com: Your ad raised a lot of debate in some corners of the Internet, particularly around the game system used for _Dark Souls: the role play. So, why use 5e instead of another game system or Create a game system from scratch?
RICARDO AUGUST: Almas Dark, like Video Game, two things ago magisterially: it involves the player in a technically demanding combat and tells an enigmatic story. 5e is really a very solid combat system and, at this point, it has become intuitive for so many people and so many players, that we feel that building our game around that engine made sense. There is also a commercial angle: 5e is the largest game on the market for an order of magnitude, and we wanted to make a game that people could and would like to play.
Steamforged ever considered publishing the original Table Rol game of Dark Souls, which was published by Kadokawa in 2017 and never received an official translation into English?
AUGUST: We always had the intention of making our own game, but we also believe that we could not have been able to publish a translation due to rights problems.
The Bonfires and Humanity play a central role in Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game?
August: In fact they do it. The bonfires are, as expected, the place where you go to a long and short rest, as well as the only place where you can spend souls to level up. The DJs can decide how many bonfires they place within a location, as a way to modulate the difficulty. Humanity is one of the mechanics that surround the death of the player in the game; When you reappear, there is a possibility that you have lost a part of yourself, gradually converting you into an empty shell. The mechanic owes a lot to the _ Cthulhu_ spiral of death, which Ken Hite calls the perfect game mechanics, and I do not think it is wrong. I do not say that ours is perfect, only that we were influenced by the best!
Unless you use optional rules, death is very indulgent in Rules 5e. Obviously, dying is a central part of Dark Souls. So, will we see adjustments to that system or other mechanics?
August: Yes, Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game is much more lethal than people might be accustomed. Health, or rather position, as we call it, scale more slowly, and certainly no death salvation. If you reach zero, you are out. You can also spend your position, as it is an amalgam of health and resistance. This means that using your best movements against powerful creatures leaves you extremely vulnerable to the next meeting: it is a careful balance.
How does Dark Souls scan addresses: The Roleplaying Game? Will you be building new mechanics related to exploration?
AUGUST: We have an extensive GM chapter that talks about that, to evoke the correct atmosphere, the correct sense of apprehension and surprise for players when they enter new locations. There are no new mechanics in the main book, but that does not mean that we do not have some planned…
How well do the monsters of Dark Souls are translated at 5E? Is there a particular monster that you have enjoyed designing for this project?
August: I think they adapt quite well; Obviously, we have some important changes in mechanics, but they should not be too difficult to change if you want to launch a voracious crystal lizard to your group while wandering through Baldur’s Gate. My favorite monster of the book is YHorm the giant; I loved him the aesthetics of him in the original videogame, I love the peculiar nobility of him, and it is an absolute beast to fight. Alex Delaney, who did most of the design of the monster, did an excellent job with him.
While Dark Souls has some cooperative aspects of several players, videogames are not a true cooperative experience in the same way that most TTRPG are. How do you reconcile the themes of Dark Souls with the most cooperative aspects of a table role game?
AUGUST: There has always been the possibility of cooperation in Almas of work together, then it was more to bring that element to the front than to build it ex nihilo, so to speak. _Almas Dark Treats on entropy, loss, corruption and, in many ways, these issues are even more powerful as part of a group. I think that is one of the reasons why the Lovecraftian cosmic terror remains a fertile ground for TTRPG. The decrease of oneself, the gradual excoriation of the world that surrounds you… All these elements of Dark Souls become even more touching when they are experienced in a group, in my mind.
Will Dark Souls be limited: The Roleplaying Game to the regions and characters that are seen in the first game? Or will we also see material from other Dark Souls games?
AUGUST: Most of the game actually extracted from the third almas game. In part, that was because we, as a team, were more familiar with Almas dark III. We have plans to bring new and additional material and, if everything is fine, that includes monsters, locations and previous game characters.
What do you think fans will enjoy more of Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game?
AUGUST: I hope it is the opportunity to explore your version of Almas Dark. The game was built with true fidelity to the central vision of dark, but with the freedom to let the players bring their own ideas and impressions distinctive to the world. I really hope we have achieved something that allows new and experienced _almas, players to experience Lothric in a new way.
Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game is available for pre-order from February 8.
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