Intro: Using this as a bit of a public forum and to get the design for the game out there for any die hard Dark Souls fans. Basically i have structured an entire campaign around the original Dark Souls video game. Although i am using this as a "Guideline" It wont be a 1 to 1 ratio in the game. This is still a tabletop RPG and the 3 pillars of Combat, Exploration and RP must be respected for a good DND Game. This is also a bit of a guide of how i ran each encounter in the hopes to give DMs ideas for their games.
Differences: Death: in this game Death isnt the end at least not right away. players will and should die. but with our Hollow system it doesnt mean game over right away. Each death brings you closer to Hollowing and the final game over screen for that character. 4 deaths = Game over. where as Deaths 2-3 add a temp Madness and a Permanent flaw to the character. The Death cycle can be reset by using a rare item called Humanity.
Leveling up: In this game Souls are treated as Experience and the currency in the game. All NPCS covet souls because as long as you have them you cant go Hollow. They can also be used to strengthen a persons abilities at Bonfires
Resting: Normal rest rules still apply but the game has Bonfires as a "Checkpoint" In which a player can expend their souls and level up in addition to gain a long rest. Bonfires need to be Kindled after a rest which costs a humanityin order for them to be used again
Campaign With the rules out of the way here's how our campaign started...
The players are all cursed with the brand of undeath the Darksign this causes those to die to come back over and over but each time they die they lost a bit more of themselves until they turn Hollow... an empty husk of themselves. Each player has died once at this point in the story and have been Corralled to the Undead Asylum in the north. Jailed they await the end of the world... The players are awaken by a skylight above them. A mysterious knight looks down from the skylight. "You still have your wits? Looking for any that do" The players of course respond and he tossed down the body of a jailor with a key on him. "Free yourselves and meet me topside be careful" The players start to hear massive footprints coming from above and witness the Knight begin to run away before a massive body steps over the skylight blocking out the light for a moment.
The Pcs get their first real look eachother. its been dark in their cells for some time and they all get to describe their characters. They are in a cellblock with others and can hear other prisoners moaning and screaming down the hall. They have all gone Hollow since their imprisonment which means they are unpredictable. Some reach through their own cells to grab the pcs another just shuffles walking aimlessly until provoked. The Pcs get to the end of the hallway and a Hollow attempts to swing at one of the PCs who walks by. Its a half hearted attack with a broken sword and our Rogue Graysoneasily sidesteps and starts to "Dance" with the creature sidestepping its slow attacks and watching it shuffle around the room trying to study its movements. he leads the creature away, as the party is unarmed. The Wizard Naemaris searches the room to find a logbook of prisoners. getting to know a few things about some of his companions previous occupations (He discovered a few characters background that he could share or hide from the party)
In the next room over Graysoncontinues to lead a hollow now towards a pool of water where he witnesses another hollow playing in a pool of water, the hollow following him stumbles to the water and sits down and starts splashing around with the other. The party rolls insight to see if they cna tell why they are drawn to the water and come up with the theory that it has something to do with their primal needs and humans are drawn to water. Grayson still leading hte party looks up and sees some sunlight and uses a ladder to climb up. but as he climbs up the ladder another hollow prisoner tries to grab him surprising Grayson. they both fall down to the ground level about 10ft up and take damage the hollow dying instnatly from the fall. This disrupts playtime with the hollows in the water and they get aggressive and attack, One hollow wielding a broken sword (Dagger stats) the other unarmed.
Combat ensues and one PC gets wounded but unarmed they are able to disable the hollows and experience something new upon their death. white wisps float out of their bodies before the bodies disappear and attach themselves to those around (Souls) the Pcs are rewarded 75 souls (XP) for the encounter. They climb up the ladder again and see their first bonfire out in a large open courtyard. They touch the bonfire and instantly become rejuvenated. (Given a Long rest) Standing in front of them is a large metal door.
The party rested proceeds through the gate scouting high and low for threats they roll for perception (unsuccessful) I warn the party as the DM "Hey guys, don't freak out..." As i plot the Token of an Asylum Demon in front of them. The demon lands on 2 of the party members with its Booty Slam up front instantly killing them and they bodies turn to puff of souls just like the hollows did outside. They begin to move but the demon makes a WIDE SWING hitting 1 other in a cone missing our Paladin (He only with us for 1 session). Grayson and the paladin see glimmers of torch light in the back corner and make their move trying to escape the creature. The paladin stands firm urging Grayson to move on and he runs through the gate while the paladin holds off the attacker. The demon takes one swing and smashes the paladin with his maul killing him.
The Gate Grayson ran through he sees his ally die and the demon crouches down to look at him through the gate and begins laughing and taunting him in Infernal. Grayson is alone and walks down a path to find a bonfire. Upon touching the bonfire he notices the wisps fly out from him and his allies that have died in the previous room now rise from the ashes. But some of them have some effects (The players roll on short term madness table as 2nd death) After some time to discuss what happened they turn a corner to be greeted with an arrow shot down a hall. a lone archer stands at the far end of the hall and a door to the right. They discover the armory and find their gear that they had before they were imprisoned. Geared up and ready to go they seek revenge on the archer but... the hollow leads them further down the hall and into an ambush
The first real combat encounter occurs and the players are funneled and flanked by Normal hollows and 2 Hollowed Guards decked in ragged metal wielding shields and spears (for normal hollows i just use bandit stats with 1 hp and 11 ac giving them different weapons) The party takes some hits but the overall fight goes really well although the wizard charges the front line (Blade dancer) and is nearly killed outright twice before shadow stepping away and taking the fight from afar. The players scout the area to find a Crystal Lizard inside some barrels and manage to kill it claiming a rare item Twinkling Titanite (Will be used for custom Boss Weapons later) they also see the Knight trapped in a room crushed by some debris. The players manage to climb over and get themselves into the room with the Knight and he tells them he was on a pilgramage in the hopes to find allies to help him fulfill a prophecy "A Chosen undead who rings the two bell of awakenings will relight the first flame" His wounds are to severe and his arm is ripped off from its socket debris has crushed it, the Pcs try to cauterize the wound to keep him a live but none have the training for anything that major and he eventually dies. He gifts them each an Estus Flasksomething to help in their journey (Potion of Healing that resets at each bonfire) The party agrees to try and find these bells and escape the Asylum.
The party unlocks a shortcut back down to the first bonfire they encountered but dont rest due to the flame not being lit anymore. So take a short rest instead to tend their wounds. The PCs decide that exploring the upper floors more thoroughly is better than attempting to fight the demon through the door again. The players continue exploring and find themselves in a long narrow hallway where a boulder trap springs on them. The first few pcs are hit by the bolder but the rest manage to escape it. The pCs charge and find themselves up against a few more guards and hollows. a few rounds of combat and they clear them earning more exp and are at 300 souls total (Enough for a lvl up) The party looks out from the asylum and see a massive raven outside the gates down below and realize they are above the main gate and almost free.
The Paladin steps into the next room only to find the one armed knight oscar standing their with sword in hand staring them down as a new hollow knight.
And that's how we ended Session 1
Ending Thoughts Any questions or feedback would be great to hear. We had some good RP moments in the Cell and with Oscar, having a player explain their madness roll was really fun too. Combat was tough but fair. and I'm sure some ppl are going to hate that i killed off most of the party in their first encounter with the Demon. My reason was to show players instantly that death is possible and sudden in the game but them re spawning immediately after was to show hey its not the end. I think the game overall got to show a lot of mechanics that are unique and was a great tutorial level for the players ot play through vs just telling them hey this is how the rules work. I also was very detailed about the boss and how his attacks killed them so that the pcs had knowledge on what its attacks were. They knew not to surround it and not to be in front of him as he does an aoe attack and a front cone attack.
Will the pcs be able to take out the Asylum Demon?? Check out the next post!
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Intro: Using this as a bit of a public forum and to get the design for the game out there for any die hard Dark Souls fans. Basically i have structured an entire campaign around the original Dark Souls video game. Although i am using this as a "Guideline" It wont be a 1 to 1 ratio in the game. This is still a tabletop RPG and the 3 pillars of Combat, Exploration and RP must be respected for a good DND Game. This is also a bit of a guide of how i ran each encounter in the hopes to give DMs ideas for their games.
Differences:
Death: in this game Death isnt the end at least not right away. players will and should die. but with our Hollow system it doesnt mean game over right away. Each death brings you closer to Hollowing and the final game over screen for that character. 4 deaths = Game over. where as Deaths 2-3 add a temp Madness and a Permanent flaw to the character. The Death cycle can be reset by using a rare item called Humanity.
Leveling up: In this game Souls are treated as Experience and the currency in the game. All NPCS covet souls because as long as you have them you cant go Hollow. They can also be used to strengthen a persons abilities at Bonfires
Resting: Normal rest rules still apply but the game has Bonfires as a "Checkpoint" In which a player can expend their souls and level up in addition to gain a long rest. Bonfires need to be Kindled after a rest which costs a humanity in order for them to be used again
Cast
Brooklyn - Warlock.
Grayson - Rogue,
Naemaris - Wizard,
Valthuun - Barbarian,
Vince - Cleric
Campaign
With the rules out of the way here's how our campaign started...
The players are all cursed with the brand of undeath the Darksign this causes those to die to come back over and over but each time they die they lost a bit more of themselves until they turn Hollow... an empty husk of themselves. Each player has died once at this point in the story and have been Corralled to the Undead Asylum in the north. Jailed they await the end of the world... The players are awaken by a skylight above them. A mysterious knight looks down from the skylight. "You still have your wits? Looking for any that do" The players of course respond and he tossed down the body of a jailor with a key on him. "Free yourselves and meet me topside be careful" The players start to hear massive footprints coming from above and witness the Knight begin to run away before a massive body steps over the skylight blocking out the light for a moment.
The Pcs get their first real look eachother. its been dark in their cells for some time and they all get to describe their characters. They are in a cellblock with others and can hear other prisoners moaning and screaming down the hall. They have all gone Hollow since their imprisonment which means they are unpredictable. Some reach through their own cells to grab the pcs another just shuffles walking aimlessly until provoked. The Pcs get to the end of the hallway and a Hollow attempts to swing at one of the PCs who walks by. Its a half hearted attack with a broken sword and our Rogue Grayson easily sidesteps and starts to "Dance" with the creature sidestepping its slow attacks and watching it shuffle around the room trying to study its movements. he leads the creature away, as the party is unarmed. The Wizard Naemaris searches the room to find a logbook of prisoners. getting to know a few things about some of his companions previous occupations (He discovered a few characters background that he could share or hide from the party)
In the next room over Grayson continues to lead a hollow now towards a pool of water where he witnesses another hollow playing in a pool of water, the hollow following him stumbles to the water and sits down and starts splashing around with the other. The party rolls insight to see if they cna tell why they are drawn to the water and come up with the theory that it has something to do with their primal needs and humans are drawn to water. Grayson still leading hte party looks up and sees some sunlight and uses a ladder to climb up. but as he climbs up the ladder another hollow prisoner tries to grab him surprising Grayson. they both fall down to the ground level about 10ft up and take damage the hollow dying instnatly from the fall. This disrupts playtime with the hollows in the water and they get aggressive and attack, One hollow wielding a broken sword (Dagger stats) the other unarmed.
Combat ensues and one PC gets wounded but unarmed they are able to disable the hollows and experience something new upon their death. white wisps float out of their bodies before the bodies disappear and attach themselves to those around (Souls) the Pcs are rewarded 75 souls (XP) for the encounter. They climb up the ladder again and see their first bonfire out in a large open courtyard. They touch the bonfire and instantly become rejuvenated. (Given a Long rest) Standing in front of them is a large metal door.
The party rested proceeds through the gate scouting high and low for threats they roll for perception (unsuccessful) I warn the party as the DM "Hey guys, don't freak out..." As i plot the Token of an Asylum Demon in front of them. The demon lands on 2 of the party members with its Booty Slam up front instantly killing them and they bodies turn to puff of souls just like the hollows did outside. They begin to move but the demon makes a WIDE SWING hitting 1 other in a cone missing our Paladin (He only with us for 1 session). Grayson and the paladin see glimmers of torch light in the back corner and make their move trying to escape the creature. The paladin stands firm urging Grayson to move on and he runs through the gate while the paladin holds off the attacker. The demon takes one swing and smashes the paladin with his maul killing him.
The Gate Grayson ran through he sees his ally die and the demon crouches down to look at him through the gate and begins laughing and taunting him in Infernal. Grayson is alone and walks down a path to find a bonfire. Upon touching the bonfire he notices the wisps fly out from him and his allies that have died in the previous room now rise from the ashes. But some of them have some effects (The players roll on short term madness table as 2nd death) After some time to discuss what happened they turn a corner to be greeted with an arrow shot down a hall. a lone archer stands at the far end of the hall and a door to the right. They discover the armory and find their gear that they had before they were imprisoned. Geared up and ready to go they seek revenge on the archer but... the hollow leads them further down the hall and into an ambush
The first real combat encounter occurs and the players are funneled and flanked by Normal hollows and 2 Hollowed Guards decked in ragged metal wielding shields and spears (for normal hollows i just use bandit stats with 1 hp and 11 ac giving them different weapons) The party takes some hits but the overall fight goes really well although the wizard charges the front line (Blade dancer) and is nearly killed outright twice before shadow stepping away and taking the fight from afar. The players scout the area to find a Crystal Lizard inside some barrels and manage to kill it claiming a rare item Twinkling Titanite (Will be used for custom Boss Weapons later) they also see the Knight trapped in a room crushed by some debris.
The players manage to climb over and get themselves into the room with the Knight and he tells them he was on a pilgramage in the hopes to find allies to help him fulfill a prophecy "A Chosen undead who rings the two bell of awakenings will relight the first flame" His wounds are to severe and his arm is ripped off from its socket debris has crushed it, the Pcs try to cauterize the wound to keep him a live but none have the training for anything that major and he eventually dies. He gifts them each an Estus Flask something to help in their journey (Potion of Healing that resets at each bonfire) The party agrees to try and find these bells and escape the Asylum.
The party unlocks a shortcut back down to the first bonfire they encountered but dont rest due to the flame not being lit anymore. So take a short rest instead to tend their wounds. The PCs decide that exploring the upper floors more thoroughly is better than attempting to fight the demon through the door again. The players continue exploring and find themselves in a long narrow hallway where a boulder trap springs on them. The first few pcs are hit by the bolder but the rest manage to escape it. The pCs charge and find themselves up against a few more guards and hollows. a few rounds of combat and they clear them earning more exp and are at 300 souls total (Enough for a lvl up) The party looks out from the asylum and see a massive raven outside the gates down below and realize they are above the main gate and almost free.
The Paladin steps into the next room only to find the one armed knight oscar standing their with sword in hand staring them down as a new hollow knight.
And that's how we ended Session 1
Ending Thoughts
Any questions or feedback would be great to hear. We had some good RP moments in the Cell and with Oscar, having a player explain their madness roll was really fun too. Combat was tough but fair. and I'm sure some ppl are going to hate that i killed off most of the party in their first encounter with the Demon. My reason was to show players instantly that death is possible and sudden in the game but them re spawning immediately after was to show hey its not the end. I think the game overall got to show a lot of mechanics that are unique and was a great tutorial level for the players ot play through vs just telling them hey this is how the rules work. I also was very detailed about the boss and how his attacks killed them so that the pcs had knowledge on what its attacks were. They knew not to surround it and not to be in front of him as he does an aoe attack and a front cone attack.
Will the pcs be able to take out the Asylum Demon?? Check out the next post!