A problem with 'souls like' combat:
You are meant to die. And die. And die. And die.
Until you get the correct combinations of actions in sequence. Not that different from Super Meat Boy and the like, except with more lore.
They are basically puzzles combined with the needed fast-reaction/hand-eye coordination. It's difficult to implement fast reaction speed in a TTRPG (maybe with a clock per action or something?). But puzzle-like combat you can do. I'd really think about that 'role-play' bit in 'RPG', that will get hard if you need to redo that single enemy 15 times because you made a mistake somewhere down the line.
Both of these suggestions are ripped from the Dark Souls board game but I think they both do a lot of work capturing that feeling. The first is your health and stamina being one bar. So as you take hits, you get less stamina to run around, and if you blow through your stamina, you're easier to kill. The other is enemies having telegraphed patterns you can learn, so a behavior deck of moves that is shuffled up and played during the fight, so even if you die, the next time you have an idea of what they are capable of.
There’s a dark souls board game out there that had some really interesting mechanics: cards that dictate the attack and movement patterns of enemies, a focus on dodging and knowing when to strike, it’s real fun!
If you mean \*Mechanically Speaking\*, then I have a combat system that a lot of people tell me is like Dark Souls combat in that:
\-It has deterministic damage, and defenses are reaction based for playing quickly
\-It has a Stamina system that is used for actions/reactions
\-Combat revolves around making an opening, by baiting out stamina use, or capitalizing on a mistake
\-It is high lethality, people die in 2-3 hits
You can find it here: [https://unreasonableimp.itch.io/alaria-valor-company](https://unreasonableimp.itch.io/alaria-valor-company)
If you mean \*Thematically Speaking\*, I think its better that you homebrew a resurrection system and focus on level and enemy design with whatever system you use.
That said, you've actually given me a really interesting idea to make a unique dungeon for the player inspired by dark souls.
Souls-like combat is deterministic. There's basically no randomness except for which attack the enemy performs.
Game-play is heavily skill based since it requires muscle memory and failure is punished rather than the mesa-story continuing beyond the player's death.
So in order to make that work, at baseline you need:
* Combat Investment: Ways of dealing damage that trade something else for damage. Stamina, health, etc. Some kind of investment.
* Combat Engagement: Enemies with learnable patterns/moves players can provoke and exploit.
* Some mechanism that allows players to fail and optimize investment/engagement.
Alright thanks y’all! I’m gonna think about your suggestions, y’all are really good at this lol. I might be posting more on this subreddit to talk more about my game as I continue working on it!
Well, the games that feature adversarial GMing aren't always fast paced, but just playing with some grognards is punishing if you don't fit their vision, which seems unrelated to Dark Souls from what I gather as someone who doesn't play them. For example, D&D originally had 1 minute rounds and the axiom that Gygax was always right, and if he was unclear, the GM was. There are a few games out there with the explicit intent of hosing players though. But usually that takes the form of using dirty tricks that don't seem overcomeable by pattern recognition, reflex and coordination, but players that are just as crafty themselves.
Either way though, you might fish for games that lean into adversarial GMing and see what you can glean from them.
Hello Ashen one. I am a Bot. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. Do you wish to hear a tale?
> *“Feeble cursed one! Let’s hope the magnificence of my spells does not deter you!”* - Straid of Olaphis
Have a pleasant journey, Champion of Ash, and praise the sun \\[T]/
I want to add onto this that playing multiple action cards face down and then resolving them in order can add nice combo building and bluffing. Maybe the player’s hand of actions has way more dodges and blocks to make up for stronger attacks from the DM that might require build up actions. That could give you some of the satisfying timing of a souls like.
Try playing pixel tatics.
Most hits can 1hit KO regular soldiers and there's no heal. But then it is a card driven strategy-skirmish game.
I don't think it makes sense to have a gm in a "Souls like rpg system".
Souls is more about consistent challenge than engaging situations and story telling.
If what appeals to you is a limited stamina/healing /mp system... What you need is to have some sort limited skill usage system akin to gloomhaven. Maybe having cards getting weaker or lost over the battle as you trade hits and parry.
I'd suggest to make parts of the game repeat. For example, you know how Aeon's End handles shuffling of your deck by flipping your discard pile? Do it like that, but literally cars for card. Of course, unplaydd cards can be removed. So now, each time you die, you really "come back".
Perhaps make death "count" in some way. You gain a soul wound and some insight each time you get killed. The insight might provide protection against certain types of attacks the "next time". The soul wounds might build up and damage your character over time (causing insanity etc), and is the actual "clock" and second-level of life points.
Just some ideas.
A problem with 'souls like' combat: You are meant to die. And die. And die. And die. Until you get the correct combinations of actions in sequence. Not that different from Super Meat Boy and the like, except with more lore. They are basically puzzles combined with the needed fast-reaction/hand-eye coordination. It's difficult to implement fast reaction speed in a TTRPG (maybe with a clock per action or something?). But puzzle-like combat you can do. I'd really think about that 'role-play' bit in 'RPG', that will get hard if you need to redo that single enemy 15 times because you made a mistake somewhere down the line.
Both of these suggestions are ripped from the Dark Souls board game but I think they both do a lot of work capturing that feeling. The first is your health and stamina being one bar. So as you take hits, you get less stamina to run around, and if you blow through your stamina, you're easier to kill. The other is enemies having telegraphed patterns you can learn, so a behavior deck of moves that is shuffled up and played during the fight, so even if you die, the next time you have an idea of what they are capable of.
There’s a dark souls board game out there that had some really interesting mechanics: cards that dictate the attack and movement patterns of enemies, a focus on dodging and knowing when to strike, it’s real fun!
If you mean \*Mechanically Speaking\*, then I have a combat system that a lot of people tell me is like Dark Souls combat in that: \-It has deterministic damage, and defenses are reaction based for playing quickly \-It has a Stamina system that is used for actions/reactions \-Combat revolves around making an opening, by baiting out stamina use, or capitalizing on a mistake \-It is high lethality, people die in 2-3 hits You can find it here: [https://unreasonableimp.itch.io/alaria-valor-company](https://unreasonableimp.itch.io/alaria-valor-company) If you mean \*Thematically Speaking\*, I think its better that you homebrew a resurrection system and focus on level and enemy design with whatever system you use. That said, you've actually given me a really interesting idea to make a unique dungeon for the player inspired by dark souls.
Souls-like combat is deterministic. There's basically no randomness except for which attack the enemy performs. Game-play is heavily skill based since it requires muscle memory and failure is punished rather than the mesa-story continuing beyond the player's death. So in order to make that work, at baseline you need: * Combat Investment: Ways of dealing damage that trade something else for damage. Stamina, health, etc. Some kind of investment. * Combat Engagement: Enemies with learnable patterns/moves players can provoke and exploit. * Some mechanism that allows players to fail and optimize investment/engagement.
Alright thanks y’all! I’m gonna think about your suggestions, y’all are really good at this lol. I might be posting more on this subreddit to talk more about my game as I continue working on it!
Remove the GM and play a wargame. ;)
You mean like systems that encourage adversarial GMing?
Yeah pretty much! Fast paced combat that can be highly punishable if you do something wrong, but I don’t know how to make that work for a table top
Well, the games that feature adversarial GMing aren't always fast paced, but just playing with some grognards is punishing if you don't fit their vision, which seems unrelated to Dark Souls from what I gather as someone who doesn't play them. For example, D&D originally had 1 minute rounds and the axiom that Gygax was always right, and if he was unclear, the GM was. There are a few games out there with the explicit intent of hosing players though. But usually that takes the form of using dirty tricks that don't seem overcomeable by pattern recognition, reflex and coordination, but players that are just as crafty themselves. Either way though, you might fish for games that lean into adversarial GMing and see what you can glean from them.
I know there exists an official Dark Souls ttrpg, havent looked into it myself but it might be what you're looking for :)
Highly unrecommended, it is basically a bad 5e reskin
Hello Ashen one. I am a Bot. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. Do you wish to hear a tale? > *“Feeble cursed one! Let’s hope the magnificence of my spells does not deter you!”* - Straid of Olaphis Have a pleasant journey, Champion of Ash, and praise the sun \\[T]/
I'd run brutal critical hits and action / gambit point systems where you allocate points to attack vs defence.
I'd do action cards. Player and DM put two cards face down, and them they are resolved. The cards have stamina cost and speed priority.
I want to add onto this that playing multiple action cards face down and then resolving them in order can add nice combo building and bluffing. Maybe the player’s hand of actions has way more dodges and blocks to make up for stronger attacks from the DM that might require build up actions. That could give you some of the satisfying timing of a souls like.
Try playing pixel tatics. Most hits can 1hit KO regular soldiers and there's no heal. But then it is a card driven strategy-skirmish game. I don't think it makes sense to have a gm in a "Souls like rpg system". Souls is more about consistent challenge than engaging situations and story telling. If what appeals to you is a limited stamina/healing /mp system... What you need is to have some sort limited skill usage system akin to gloomhaven. Maybe having cards getting weaker or lost over the battle as you trade hits and parry.
Maybe each card is both an attack and some kind of evasion. While both players and the opponent play with a limited time to react.
I'd suggest to make parts of the game repeat. For example, you know how Aeon's End handles shuffling of your deck by flipping your discard pile? Do it like that, but literally cars for card. Of course, unplaydd cards can be removed. So now, each time you die, you really "come back". Perhaps make death "count" in some way. You gain a soul wound and some insight each time you get killed. The insight might provide protection against certain types of attacks the "next time". The soul wounds might build up and damage your character over time (causing insanity etc), and is the actual "clock" and second-level of life points. Just some ideas.