According to a text dump and some unused dialogue from the Crestfallen Warrior in the Nexus, there was a planned "true death" mode. It is unclear if it is just an optional mode akin to "hardcore mode" in other games or if it was previously planned to be a part of the regular game.

The "true death" essentially meant if the player died while in soul form, they would lose more than just the souls they collected beforehand. Due to how it was worded, it was not clear if it meant everything (gear, items, levels, etc) were lost or if the player would keep their obtained gear but lose their levels. The player would also be bound to a "Stone Monolith" after true death, but nothing more referring to the Monolith could be found in the files. It also meant that the player collecting their bloodstains would have not only given them their souls but also their body.

The mode was likely cut due to being too unforgiving, if the intention of it was to be a part of the regular gameplay. In the final version of the game, the bloodstains simply returned the lost souls to the player and they could simply re-obtain their body in a number of different ways.