Dark Souls The Board Game Tiles, Encounters & Enemies
Jul. 15, 2016Dark Souls The Board Game Tiles, Encounters & Enemies
Steamforged Games, developer of the upcomingDark Souls The Board Gamehas posted a development update on theirKickstarterpage. In the post they covered some of the design choices being made in deciding where enemies are placed during encounters, specifically the use of tiles and nodes.
The game’s basic setup is that players choose a role from the classes and then embark on a dungeon exploration of iconic locations in the Dark Souls world. There is no fixed game board, instead the game unfolds as players advance, laying down a new tile when progressing into a new area. Once the tile is laid down, players flip an Encounter card from the deck which determines the type and location of enemies and terrain. Dying makes you lose everything with a respawn at the nearest bonfire. At the end of every dungeon will be an expected epic boss fight. There are dozens of miniatures involved and players are equipped in a way similar to the games, with limited slots for items and spells earned through gameplay.
When players flip an Encounter card, the card will designate certain marked nodes on the tiles as spawn points for enemies. Each tile has different potential starting places for enemies so it should always feel like enemies are popping out from unexpected locations.
The Encounter cards will also specify terrain spawn points. Each tile has 2 spawn points for terrain, and the Encounter card will specify what type of terrain spawns from them. Each card has different enemies and terrain, so combined with the quantity of tiles and cards, encounters will be very different from session to session. Bosses and mini-bosses follow this same placement procedure meaning they can be in a couple of different places in a room. Traps can even spawn instead of terrain, with players having to roll a die at the end of a turn to see if they were nabbed.
With the placement mechanics now explained, it’s easy to get a sense of how a game will play out as players lay down a tile, flip a card, and proceed into the room to do combat with the enemies and bosses. It gives the game a procedural feel similar to theChalice DungeonsinBloodborne, and shows that the game does lend itself to rogue like mechanics with RPG progression. We’re looking forward to getting a chance to play the game ourselves and see how all of these elements shake out. The game is in ongoing development and we’ll continue to monitor for updates and bring them here.
How does Dark Souls on a table sound to you? Sound off in the comments!
Visit theDark Souls The Board Game Wiki
MoreGame Articles
Emergence
Editor at Fextralife. I look for the substantial in gaming and I try to connect video games to the emotions and stories they elicit. I love all things culture and history and have an odd fondness for the planet Jupiter. I think my dogs are pretty awesome too.
From what i’ve read the late backers do not get the stretch goals which makes me sad….
EDIT: NVM i just read you get all stretch goals as well. now to find friend IRL to play with.
EDIT 2: PRAISE THE WIKI FOR SHOWING ME THIS
I’m thinking about picking it up and using it with my DnD group as something to play during a session when 1 player can’t make it. It’s good to have backups. Right now we play 3 Dragon Ante sometimes, or will just do an improvised encounter against something like a Dragon for shiggles. I have the Pathfinder ACG as well as the Lord of the Rings game but they’re kind of complicated to set up. I’m hoping this is easy to get into right from the box.
I’m not sure I’m into this as a table top game.
But I do want the miniatures…
There is a ton of stuff to be had if you’re a backer. Just the miniatures alone seem worth it.
Why did i not know about this during the Kick starter
That’s what has stuck out to me. It’s not a water down or cash in, they’re putting some heavy thought into the feel of this game to make sure the Souls spirit carries over. I fully expect to enjoy the hell out of this, especially if they keep supporting it with expansions.
I remain impressed by their dedication to mechanics.
Really wondering if we will see a PC version of this game at some point. Lots of complicated board games turn into computer games so that all the rules can be done for you. Really hope this is the case.
Cas
Is this the same game that we saw a Dancer Fight trailer some months ago? Sounds pretty neat. The pieces are very well done too. I just think that there are too many rules to memorize and it becomes a bit more complicated than simple pick up and play. I’d love if we could get some forums members together to play it though
