Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game will use D&D 5th Edition rules

The upcoming RPG based on the Dark Souls series of video games will use Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition rules.

Revealed in a press release from Steamforged Games, the publisher responsible for releasing the RPG, Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game will not be based on an original roleplaying system, but will instead utilise a version of D&D 5E. According to the press release, the Dark Souls RPG – which was unveiled via a teaser trailer released in December – will feature “unique Dark Souls mechanics”, with Steamforged yet to confirm what these gameplay mechanics will be and how they will be integrated alongside the Dungeons & Dragons 5E rules system.

The dark fantasy roleplaying game will be released via a hardback core book that will feature “everything players need for exciting and challenging campaigns”. Included in the core book for the Dark Souls RPG will be bespoke character classes for players, alongside a magic system and a bestiary filled with creatures from across the entire Dark Souls series. Using this core book, games masters will be able to create one-shot adventures – designed to last a single session – as well as overarching campaigns taking place in various locations in the world of Lothric, the setting of the video games the RPG is based on. Players can expect to “encounter familiar faces” during their journey, with Steamforged yet to confirm which characters from Dark Souls will be making an appearance.

Steamforged has already developed and published several tabletop titles based on the Dark Souls franchise including Dark Souls: The Board Game – a video game board game that sees players exploring various dungeons in order to fight enemies and gain new souls, or experience, to level-up with – and Dark Souls: The Card Game, a co-op game featuring various encounters for players to overcome as a team. Besides Dark Souls, Steamforged has released board game adaptations of other video game licences such as Monster Hunter World: The Board Game, Resident Evil 2: The Board Game and Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game.

Dark Souls is a video games series published by Bandai Namco that began with the release of the first entry in 2011. A trilogy of RPG video games, the Dark Souls series has players creating a character and exploring a fantasy world populated by enormous creatures that they must kill in order to progress. Whenever a player successfully defeats an opponent, they’ll gather souls that they can use to improve their character’s attributes and abilities. However, should a player be killed before they are able to reach a bonfire checkpoint, then all the souls they’ve collected are dropped and must be collected before being used.

The Dark Souls TRPG is yet to receive a release date or retail price, with players able to pre-order the game from February onwards.