The fusion of Dark Souls with a tabletop game is a rich source of experiences, from the official tabletop game and the troubled RPG adaptation to its inspiration in a plethora of indie creations. Well, chalk up another intriguing experiment on the tabletop, because Ashes approaches the acclaimed video game series as both a solo RPG and a dungeon crawler.
Ashes is the work of Crossed Paths Press, the designer of Brambletrek and Covens of Midnight, and is going up for funding on Backerkit in June. It’s billed as a “Souls-style, GM-less RPG” that wears its inspirations on full display but also draws on the designer’s strength to empower players to tell their own stories.
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Players will take on the role of He Who Returns and journey through the lonely and dangerous depths of Mayfalls in their attempt to defeat the Archons that prevent the land from regaining its lost glory. Sounds a lot like Dark Souls, so far. The ruins of the old world are contained within walls forged by the corpses of “The 4 Phoenixes” to hide Mayfalls… Shame? Weakness? Some flaw from the rest of the world.
Like a phoenix, the player will die and revive in a never-ending cycle as they explore 13 different dungeons that change with each return. Four different classes of Scion – Emboldened, Pioneers, Ordained, and Hallowed – offer different playstyles and combat abilities, and you’ll use a standard deck of cards to build out each dungeon’s rooms, hallways, caverns, and other features as you explore – including the beasts and monstrosities that lurk within them and the treasures they hold.
Combat isn't fully explained in the brief teaser Crossed Paths Press released ahead of the campaign, but both skirmishes against haunted remnants and extended fights with literal gods will utilize a dice system that's described as easy to handle alongside everything else Ashes has going on.
Standard playing cards are a common and popular oracle tool used in solo RPGs to add a random element to single-person gameplay, and that seems to be true in the case of Ashes. The designer touts 15 billion possible dungeon layouts, though how interesting and challenging they are will depend on random tables and other man-made elements in the engine. Combat scenarios will also vary beyond simply running up to enemies and punching them in the face; hopefully the game will incorporate FromSoftware’s knack for dropping skeletons down ladders, surprising players between massive weapons and sudden cliffs, and generally using environment and location to the game’s advantage.
Ashen is launching a Backerkit campaign on June 3, which you can follow now for future updates. The artwork depicts the grand scale and romantic, tragic fantasy aesthetic of Demons' Souls and the original Dark Souls trilogy: massive, ornate suits of armor, overgrown ruins teeming with monstrous creatures, and a fallen civilization huddled among the grim remains of its former glory. It doesn't get more Souls-like than that.