Steamforged Games has now released the new Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game in the UK and EU. You can "Prepare To Die" at the tabletop with your friends using this modded version of the 5th Edition D&D rules.

Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game // Steamforged Games

The Dark Souls roleplaying game plays around with the mechanics of traditional D&D in a few days. The core of the system will be familiar to roleplayers but there are many unique systems that have been introduced into the game to make it feel like the monolithic video game franchise.

For example, there is a Death and Rebirth mechanic that affects not just your character but the group as a whole. Fall in battle and you're sent back to the nearest bonfire. The focus is on teamwork and solving the "puzzle" of combat, just like in the video game.

Knight Character // Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game

Additionally, your "Health" is more of a resource than it has ever been before. It now governs your life force but also, in essence, your stamina. This means that you can spend that pool of resources to do impressive feats. But, this obviously comes at a cost. It puts you closer to death!

The game features ten character classes from Dark Souls that all have their specialities and abilities that can be drawn on in order to defeat fearsome foes. It should be noted that the monsters in Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game are just as deadly as they are in the video game! No easy wins here!

Assassin Character // Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game

In addition to that, the folks at Steamforged Games have put together a number of options to help you through the struggle! You have a whole new magic system that makes it easier to cast spells more often and a whole host of allies that can help you in your quest. Everyone loves a good summon!

The Deprived Character // Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game

So, if you're looking to get your hands on a challenging roleplaying game, this might be for you. From what I've seen of the game mechanics, it seems like it offers up something quite different from normal D&D and plays with the systems in an interesting way.

Here are a couple of sessions you can watch to get an idea of the game...

Dark Souls - One Shot // High Rollers

Dark Souls Session // Good Time Society

I am pretty eager to give this a go. I think it could be fun to see how it changes up the approach to both environmental and combat puzzle solving.

Are you tempted to check this out yourself?