Mythras: Dark Souls

[Lord Sephleon]

Well, it's been years since I was a bit more active on these forums. Life kinda got in the way, and while I've been keeping up with gaming news and books (especially d100), I have barely been doing much gaming at all, getting my fix from Critical Role and the rare D&D 5E Curse of Strahd session I get to run for my longtime group once every 2.5 to 3 months. That being said: I'm going crazy with a need for some creative output (if you're reading this, Rod, don't worry: I'll have those adventures I mentioned months ago finished up for you at some point... I hope), and although I've been trying on-and-off for over a year to figure out a good way to insert the Dark Souls setting into Mythras, I think I may have finally landed on that beachhead with something tangible, even if I'm far from being done.

I want to share what I have so far (well, the basics, anyway) with this wonderful community in the hopes that someone can maybe give it a quick lookover, possibly playtesting or even becoming inspired to add to it. Magic will take the longest to convert over, although admittedly the first progress I ever made was with Pyromancy many months ago (treating it as a sort of bastardized Sorcery/Mysticism hybrid Cult thing using skills and spells unique to it, though now that I am getting the basic setting rules down, that is most likely going to be modified). Please remember that it's still essentially an untested draft, and that I only just had the breakthrough for the setting rules a couple of days ago.

Anyway, glad to be back, even if life decides to snatch me away again soon. Be safe, everyone, and game on!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Mythras Order of Pyromancy v0.1.doc

MYTHRAS Dark Souls Setting Rulesv 0.2.doc

Mythras Dark Souls Level Progression (1-100).xls

Edited May 19, 2018 by Lord Sephleon
Removed outdated files

[Lord Sephleon]

I was able to do a little update to the main Setting Rules, fixing some minor stuff (including a sentence I left incomplete for no reason , adding in Souls-like Parrying, and going into more detail about Souls.

 

Anyway, hope this helps, for those of you who are interested in such a setting.

 

 

Edited May 19, 2018 by Lord Sephleon

[Raleel]

I see dark souls RPGs requested a lot on Reddit. You should post s link over there in r/rpg

[Lord Sephleon]

1 hour ago, Raleel said:

I see dark souls RPGs requested a lot on Reddit. You should post s link over there in r/rpg

Eh... not a Reddit user, and I'm already generally squeamish around social media and other such things (I lump Reddit in as "social media"). I'm sharing this here because the community here generally enjoys Mythras/BRP-style games (at the very least, and in most cases, I suspect), are more knowledgeable of the game, and are more likely to provide constructive feedback/support where needed, whereas on Reddit it is a much wider audience that, well, has a more "diverse spectrum" of people.

To be honest, I would rather have it filled out more (preferably completed, but that may take a long time) before sharing it out there in the void of Reddit-space, especially since Mythras (and the entire BRP line in general, sans Call of Cthulhu) isn't exactly the most well-known tabletop system out there. 

If you think it could help those Reddit users looking for a tabletop Souls fix (and you probably have a Reddit account), or if you think it might lead them towards trying/playing Mythras (which I'm sure Pete and Lawrence would love – as would the rest of us), you can share the link if you'd like. Since the IP is already owned by someone, my work is simply a fan project I'm doing when time permits, and I prefer sharing what I have with others, it's not like I need any credit. I mean, it's appreciated, but not necessary. I'm the sort that prefers to be deep in the shadows cast by the spotlight, not in it.  

EDIT: Thanks for looking out, though. 

Edited April 19, 2018 by Lord Sephleon
Forgot to add in something

[Runeblogger]

I think it's amazing that you are even trying to do this. So keep them coming please!!! 

I've  read the character creation rules, and I think everyone will want to have a sign bearer character due to its ability to resurrect. 
I also don't like that the system promotes killing things to gather souls and humanity, IMHO that's a very videogamey thing that I wouldn't like to promote in my games.

Have you had the chance to playtest this? I think it would be cool for games with only one or 2 PCs at the most. 

Also, in Mythras medium range monsters are usually easy to beat by accumulation of AP against them, so some new rules to avoid that would be necessary to recreate the really hard boss fights Dark Souls is famous for.

Finally, there's the Dark Souls Japanese TRPG, but I know next to nothing about it. I just found this video about it that you may like. Apparently, the basic roll is very reminiscent of Mythras, since it also involves rolling dice and only then deciding what maneuver you do based on the result (!).

[Lord Sephleon]

It's part of the curse of the Dark Sign: you must surround yourself with death in order to improve yourself. It doesn't mean you have to do the killing either; you just have to be in relatively close proximity to death. Imagine playing a pacifist Soul Miracle user who goes around healing people, but if they are beyond his aid, then he can at least absorb their souls when they die. Slow-going in terms of personal improvement, sure, but still a viable concept, especially if the pacifist Bearer has friends who protect him while traveling (so he'd still be absorbing souls of those killed during the journey). Yes, I agree that the whole concept of souls feels "video gamey", but then again, I'm drawing from a video game to create this new setting and making it work as much as I can to be more of a roleplay-intensive game.  

Honestly, as much as I love the Soulsborne settings, I wanted to include the option to play a regular Uncursed character, but I had to come up with pros and cons for being one versus being a Bearer of the Dark Sign. Frankly, the fact that Uncursed can improve over time without the need for souls is their greatest advantage over the Bearers: they can learn and improve themselves over time (even if they isolate themselves) whereas Bearers can't. Depending on a GM's style, they can include "condensed" wayward souls that can be absorbed instead of just killing everything, which would then make exploration and investigation much more significant. As it is, just the interaction between characters in a mixed party of Uncursed and Bearers should be pretty ripe with roleplaying opportunities because more than anything, Bearers are no longer mortal, but they have to struggle to retain their hold on who they were; to lose hope is to lose what Humanity is left, and if a Bearer becomes Hollow, he or she can never be saved and will exist as a mindless zombie-like thing that never truly dies.

Hell, thinking about it: that's another strong advantage that the Uncursed have over Bearers: they are allowed to lose hope, ambition, etc. without serious consequence (well, aside from the usual effects of such things).  

In terms of the AP thing: Action Economy will always be an issue in any group-based tabletop RPG. just remember that Souls bosses tend to be bigger than Bearers and hit hard. Really hard. All they need is one good hit to end it. It makes it much deadlier for the still-mortal Uncursed to try to battle them, but I can see different GMs doing different things with the basic setting I've put forth. For example, the fog wall prevents the Uncursed from entering a battle (or, for a nice Souls-like twist, the fog wall only exists for Bearers; since time is convoluted for Bearers, they actually fight "bosses" outside of time, or in a different reality). This would, of course, make things difficult as it would effectively split the party. Or maybe some boss battles are just extremely difficult because of sheer numbers (i.e. Tower Knight, the One Reborn, Looking Glass Knight, Spears of the Church, etc.) or the sheer quality and skill of the boss (Ornstein and Smough or Sister Freide and Father Ariandel). Worst case scenario: adopt the combat system from Cakebread and Walton's Renaissance Deluxe game (which I used for a Lamentations of the Flame Princess/Bloodborne-inspired setting last year, but never finished because life)..

I haven't playtested it because I game so infrequently (due to life just being life) and my group is relatively opposed to trying new things unless I can really convince them (we play maybe four or five sessions a year because of scheduling conflicts, and I'm technically still running Curse of Strahd for them). I haven't even been able to run or play a regular game of Mythras or Classic Fantasy (the Mythras version) yet, so everything is based off of just reading the books over and over again. Unfortunately, it means that I'm constantly tweaking things as I obsessively analyze everything over time. Eventually it'll be "completed," but it's kind of a long process.

I knew about that Japanese Dark Souls TRPG, but seeing as how I can't read Japanese, as much of a collector as I am, I won't be looking at it unless they released a translated version (and at that point, I will just throw moneys at them for everything related to it  ).

Thanks for the input!

EDIT: Just for your reference, I actually dislike too much combat in TRPGs. I tend to play skill-heavy support characters who may or may not be very effective in combat. While I do love strategy and tactics, I play TRPGs for the chance to play a role, not to just have miniatures-style combat after combat. That said: the thing about the Souls games I love the most is the style of storytelling, the desolate places to explore, and the lore behind those places and the denizens – both current and past – within. A ruined keep can tell you so much about its history if you just pay attention to the details.   I figured that by trying to retain what I love about the series in the setting rules I'm writing, I can maintain that atmosphere, but still allow the option for groups that prefer combat to just go at it.

Edited April 26, 2018 by Lord Sephleon
Fixed minor errors and added an addendum

[Aonstream]

Wonderful initiative! I´ll read the hell out of it, thank you!!

DS1 director has mentioned RQ as a source of inspiration (RQ was quite popular in Japan) and one can connect the dots between CoC and Bloodborne). 

Crazy idea: Namco/Bandai (rather than From, I guess) licensed DS in the west for the boardgame (and that kickstarter was extremely successful, with almost 4 million pounds). It would be amazing to see if TDM could get the license for Mythras... It would also bring new players to the hobby.

...and of course it would be exciting to read a translation of the Japanese TRPG book.

 

 

Edited June 5, 2018 by Aonstream

[Lord Sephleon]

Thanks for giving my little corner of this great forum a look, and I really appreciate the compliment!

I didn't know that Miyazaki played tabletop games, much less was inspired by RQ. I mean, it doesn't surprise me considering how truly well-crafted the world(s) are in the Soulsborne series, but that's interesting and good to know.

Man, if TDM (or any of the d100 systems here, really) could get that license.... man, I'd feel so happy, especially since they'd do a much better job than what my piddly notes can do. I already give most of the companies here my moneys; that'd just be more goods to pick up. :)

There's still plenty more I kinda want to add to what I've already written up (including the option to play a Firekeeper – female characters only, obviously, but with rather unique Passions and abilities – like effectively functioning as a mobile bonfire for Bearers; Firekeepers would be quite mortal, however, and generally are targeted first by everything). Unfortunately, because I'm not actively running Mythras nor have any circles of friends interested in Mythras AND Dark Souls enough to play a few adventures, it's kind of on the backburner, and I go back and add to it as time permits. If you come up with your own stuff and/or have some great suggestions for what I've already written, I'd be more than happy to check it out. :)

[Mugen]

On 4/19/2018 at 5:30 AM, Raleel said:

I see dark souls RPGs requested a lot on Reddit. You should post s link over there in r/rpg

Well, there is a Dark Souls TRPG, but...

https://fujimi-trpg-online.jp/dstrpg/

[Aonstream]

I can´t recall where I read it  (an interview, I think) but Miyazaki had White Bear / Red Moon displayed in his studio.

Here is a snippet of the Design Works book in which he mentions CragSpider as inspiration for Quelaag

https://imgur.com/a/ICQyd

Edited June 8, 2018 by Aonstream

[Lord Sephleon]

Mugen:
I think that's the same TRPG that was mentioned earlier in the thread (Runeblogger). Again, if they ever decided to make an English-translated version of it (or if I actually learned how to read their language), my moneys would instantaneous leap out of my wallet and into their hands. 😁

Aonstream:
Holy crapple! How did I miss this!? I didn't even make that comparison (CragSpider/Quelaag) on my own back when I first started reading older RQ stuff (less than a decade ago). Good stuff! Now I'm convinced the Souls universes belong in the d100 families. 😉

Perhaps I'll eventually get around to fully fleshing out the system and setting to be a full fan project. Might be a while, though, but it'd be nice to give something back to two IPs/communities I've come to cherish in one shot. That's really why I even share these things; I feel selfish enough having done what little work they've taken so far and then hoarding them without them ever seeing any true playtesting by others.

[Mugen]

9 hours ago, Lord Sephleon said:

Mugen:
I think that's the same TRPG that was mentioned earlier in the thread (Runeblogger). Again, if they ever decided to make an English-translated version of it (or if I actually learned how to read their language), my moneys would instantaneous leap out of my wallet and into their hands. 😁

 

Yes, it seems so.

Looking at character sheets, the game seems to be heavily oriented towards combat. All have a list of "skills", but those are only combat special powers. An interesting thing is that each have a room for 3 "memories" (omoide), though I don't have a clue what it means. Each attribute is linked to a "modifier", equal to 1/4th its value.

[Aonstream]

Count me in for a Roll20 session

[Lord Sephleon]

On 6/11/2018 at 1:33 PM, Aonstream said:

Count me in for a Roll20 session

I'd love to, but my free time is abysmally inconsistent, unfortunately. I haven't done any gaming aside from two (out of three) sessions of a high level, 3+ year-long campaign that's almost finishing up this year. However, I can tell you that my nights off from work are Sundays and Mondays (I'm in Eastern Time Zone), so I'll definitely post somewhere on here should I be able to sneak in a few sessions of some Mythras Dark Souls and require some souls to feed the flames with. Please bear with me, though, since I haven't even played or run Mythras or any of the Mythras line yet. :)