I was thinking about making an adaptation of dark souls for my DnD sessions and started searching for info about it, mainly for reports from people that already tried it.
The first reply on the page got my attention, as it analyzed some of the mechanics in dark souls and in DnD (the respawn at bonfire for dark souls and the role of the dice for DnD).
As DMs and players, there are a ton of stories and characters that inspire us to create something in our RPG and they can be drawn from a great variety of platforms, so I was curious to hear and share some ideas on how to deal with this.
For example, I love Dark Souls lore and universe, but I don't like the premise of being an undead with a forgotten past that crawl his way to the Kiln where he has only one choice. I think I would enjoy it a lot more if my game was set before the curse was a critical matter, before all the world stopped working normally, being able to play an adventure in the dragon school of Vinhelm or a low ranking knight in New Londo.
I think when a lot of people think of a setting or game, they need to have the familiarity of the mechanics to really sell the setting to them. There are many game-defining mechanics that not only make the game, but also make the setting. Bonfires are such an integral part to the game both from a mechanical and thematic point that I'd say its not quite Dark Souls unless you have bonfires that act in a similar way to the game. Obviously many things can't be translated 1:1, but how different is Anor Londo from LotR's Weathertop? They both have bonfires that are pretty important, but the way Anor Londo's bonfire is important is very different than Weathertop's. So the big things to consider are both what those game defining mechanics are, and how well can they be implemented with the game ruleset you're using. That implementation will affect the game's feel, and I expect that how the game feels compared to the source's feel will ultimately determine how successful the adaptation is.
My favorite game to run with new players is just the story of Ace Combat 5 (an alternate-reality, Air Force action/flight sim) set in medieval times. There are no planes, no dogfighting, and no modern technology, but the story works just the same. I can keep all the names in the setting, and I can really play up the military aspect, but there's no sufficient way to recreate the feeling of being a pilot. So as a story, a DnD adaptation of Ace Combat works perfectly, but it would be difficult for fans of Ace Combat to relate to because there are none of the defining mechanics that help create the feel that Ace Combat is known for.
Now, there are plenty of ways you can deviate from the strict canon of another source, but exactly how you deviate will also affect how much it still feels like you're within the source material. I can recall an Elder Scrolls group that wanted to play in the 6th era, and a tabletop adaptation of the Legend of Zelda games. The Elder Scrolls group I felt was generally more successful in capturing the feel of their game because of how well they adhered to the canon that people were familiar with. The Zelda group, on the other hand, failed at capturing the allure of Zelda even though they strictly adhered to Zelda canon. The Zelda group ignored important mechanics and jumbled up expectations that you could've stripped all traces of Zelda from the game and you'd get the same experience. The Zelda game didn't build off or adhere to anyone's known expectations, and so it fell flat.
I'm pretty sure I've been talking in circles, but I've spent way too much time and its far too late to re-edit anything. I'll just end it here and come back when I can think more good.
I've converted many systems and many games to many other systems. GURPS to DND, DND to Rolemaster (and back), AMBER to DND, etc. My experience echoes that first reply in reddit and Ghotistyx here: You need to decide what it is that you are looking to replicate and then figure out how the strengths of the system you are using can best handle it. Trying to be too literal can be a trap.
For example, thinking of the boss fights, you might be too caught up on what a level means in DND in terms of combat statistics, compared to the way Dark Souls works. Ignore levels altogether and ask yourself how you can use story to make a boss fight make as much sense in DND as it does in Dark Souls? Pretend there is no such thing as levels and write the story and mechanics that allow the encounter to play out the way you want. One way might be to use a skill challenge to overcome the boss perhaps, so that low-level attack rolls and damage never become relevant.
The same with respawning. One of my past games was Runescape by Jagex, in that game everyone is aware they respawn and that quests repeat over and over. The reason is that most of the world has been frozen in a semi-time loop by the deity of order. The god of chaos seeks to undo the loop and if he were to succeed it would mean that respawning stops and people could actually die again. Something like this would be easy to add to DND. Many DMs homerule in a no resurrection or raise dead spell rule. Others make them even easier. Why do respawns happen, and what story purpose do they represent? How can you translate that story element, even if the mechanic is different?
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I was thinking about making an adaptation of dark souls for my DnD sessions and started searching for info about it, mainly for reports from people that already tried it.
Thats when I stumbled on this discussion on the subject https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/39xx5d/dark_souls_setting_for_a_campaign/
The first reply on the page got my attention, as it analyzed some of the mechanics in dark souls and in DnD (the respawn at bonfire for dark souls and the role of the dice for DnD).
As DMs and players, there are a ton of stories and characters that inspire us to create something in our RPG and they can be drawn from a great variety of platforms, so I was curious to hear and share some ideas on how to deal with this.
For example, I love Dark Souls lore and universe, but I don't like the premise of being an undead with a forgotten past that crawl his way to the Kiln where he has only one choice. I think I would enjoy it a lot more if my game was set before the curse was a critical matter, before all the world stopped working normally, being able to play an adventure in the dragon school of Vinhelm or a low ranking knight in New Londo.
I think when a lot of people think of a setting or game, they need to have the familiarity of the mechanics to really sell the setting to them. There are many game-defining mechanics that not only make the game, but also make the setting. Bonfires are such an integral part to the game both from a mechanical and thematic point that I'd say its not quite Dark Souls unless you have bonfires that act in a similar way to the game. Obviously many things can't be translated 1:1, but how different is Anor Londo from LotR's Weathertop? They both have bonfires that are pretty important, but the way Anor Londo's bonfire is important is very different than Weathertop's. So the big things to consider are both what those game defining mechanics are, and how well can they be implemented with the game ruleset you're using. That implementation will affect the game's feel, and I expect that how the game feels compared to the source's feel will ultimately determine how successful the adaptation is.
My favorite game to run with new players is just the story of Ace Combat 5 (an alternate-reality, Air Force action/flight sim) set in medieval times. There are no planes, no dogfighting, and no modern technology, but the story works just the same. I can keep all the names in the setting, and I can really play up the military aspect, but there's no sufficient way to recreate the feeling of being a pilot. So as a story, a DnD adaptation of Ace Combat works perfectly, but it would be difficult for fans of Ace Combat to relate to because there are none of the defining mechanics that help create the feel that Ace Combat is known for.
Now, there are plenty of ways you can deviate from the strict canon of another source, but exactly how you deviate will also affect how much it still feels like you're within the source material. I can recall an Elder Scrolls group that wanted to play in the 6th era, and a tabletop adaptation of the Legend of Zelda games. The Elder Scrolls group I felt was generally more successful in capturing the feel of their game because of how well they adhered to the canon that people were familiar with. The Zelda group, on the other hand, failed at capturing the allure of Zelda even though they strictly adhered to Zelda canon. The Zelda group ignored important mechanics and jumbled up expectations that you could've stripped all traces of Zelda from the game and you'd get the same experience. The Zelda game didn't build off or adhere to anyone's known expectations, and so it fell flat.
I'm pretty sure I've been talking in circles, but I've spent way too much time and its far too late to re-edit anything. I'll just end it here and come back when I can think more good.
I've converted many systems and many games to many other systems. GURPS to DND, DND to Rolemaster (and back), AMBER to DND, etc. My experience echoes that first reply in reddit and Ghotistyx here: You need to decide what it is that you are looking to replicate and then figure out how the strengths of the system you are using can best handle it. Trying to be too literal can be a trap.
For example, thinking of the boss fights, you might be too caught up on what a level means in DND in terms of combat statistics, compared to the way Dark Souls works. Ignore levels altogether and ask yourself how you can use story to make a boss fight make as much sense in DND as it does in Dark Souls? Pretend there is no such thing as levels and write the story and mechanics that allow the encounter to play out the way you want. One way might be to use a skill challenge to overcome the boss perhaps, so that low-level attack rolls and damage never become relevant.
The same with respawning. One of my past games was Runescape by Jagex, in that game everyone is aware they respawn and that quests repeat over and over. The reason is that most of the world has been frozen in a semi-time loop by the deity of order. The god of chaos seeks to undo the loop and if he were to succeed it would mean that respawning stops and people could actually die again. Something like this would be easy to add to DND. Many DMs homerule in a no resurrection or raise dead spell rule. Others make them even easier. Why do respawns happen, and what story purpose do they represent? How can you translate that story element, even if the mechanic is different?