Bosses in DARK SOULS™: The Roleplaying Game

When someone mentions the DARK SOULS™ video games, ‘punishing boss enemies’ is probably the first thing that comes to mind. (Ornstein and Smough, anyone?)

Well, the DARK SOULS™ tabletop roleplaying game is no different.

And lucky for us, co-designer and lead writer, Richard August, was more than happy to explain all the different ways the tabletop DARK SOULS™ monsters will tear you limb from limb.

(In fact, [SPOILERS] that very thing happened to Becca Scott’s ill-fated character during the Good Time Society actual play, GM’d by Richard himself. Watch it here!)

Now, take it away, Richard…

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The enemies in DARK SOULS™: The Roleplaying Game are going to kill you. That’s what happens in DARK SOULS™. You meet a monster, you get hurt, you die, and you start again.

So, we might as well get that out of the way. The creatures we’ll talk about today aren’t friendly. They’re going to attempt to rip you apart — and they’ll often succeed.

If you’re used to 5e monsters, you’ll quickly realise how much more dangerous the lower tier monsters are in this game. They’ve got nasty attacks, and some of them can spend Position to inflict extra damage, and other unpleasant surprises.

But we’ve come here to talk about them, haven’t we?

You know who we mean.

The bosses.

The big, nasty things with all manner of savage attacks, perfectly designed to hurt you, and, when the time is right, kill you.

Bosses in DARK SOULS™: The Roleplaying Game are truly, authentically nasty.

Most monsters can spend Position to use certain abilities, but, unlike player characters, they can’t use it to tweak dice rolls. Bosses can. Think Iudex Gundyr missed you? Think again.

Along with this ability, and a series of horribly damaging attacks, bosses also have a ‘Bloodied’ state. Reduce them to half their starting Position, and they get even tougher. They gain new features, new Position spends, and new ways to hurt you.

Taking down a boss requires skill, cunning, and luck. Sometimes, one wrong Position spend — or one spell wasted on a crystal lizard — might be the difference between triumph, and waking up beside a flickering bonfire and ruminating on yet another failure…

Who told you linking the flame was going to be easy?

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Thanks Richard!

Which bosses are you excited to take on in your first campaign? Let us know on Twitter.

Pre-order DARK SOULS™: The Roleplaying Game now!