Dark Souls tabletop RPG is full of problems, according to early players

Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game, a new tabletop RPG designed and published by Steamforged Games, isn’t even out in the U.S. yet and it’s already steeped in criticism. The collector’s edition rulebook was released late last month in Europe and the United Kingdom, and players are already finding a lot of errors — everything from basic spelling mistakes to much larger, more game-breaking issues. These issues were first reported on by Dicebreaker.

Players on Reddit are pointing out all kinds of major inconsistencies with the ruleset, which is based on an open source version of 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons. Some classes, such as the Knight, don’t have sufficient strength to be able to use their starting armor ,. However, the Caster’s starting stats will not allow them to choose one of the recommended weapons. Meanwhile, no one is even totally sure how death is supposed to work.

In an interview with Polygon, Steamforged stated that while it does not believe these issues will impact the game’s playability, it takes feedback seriously:

At Steamforged, our primary goal is always to create compelling tabletop experiences that capture the hearts and imaginations of our fans, immersing them in vivid worlds they can get lost in time and time again. While we feel we’ve achieved that with Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game in light of the overwhelming positive reviews, we acknowledge the concerns some have raised and take all feedback seriously. Although these concerns shouldn’t affect the playability of the game, we’re always striving to strengthen our processes to ensure our loyal fans continue to enjoy the games we release.

While these few copies have gone out to those who have pre-ordered the collector’s edition in Europe, the rulebook won’t be released in the United States until May 16, which left players with some questions about what might be changed before then.

This isn’t Steamforged games’ first attempt at bringing a popular video game title to tabletop audiences. The developer has also created successful board games based on Monster Hunter: World, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Resident Evil 2. Steamforged is also currently working on a Runescape game, which is due out sometime later this year.