A sampler of several great games to add a bit of darkness to your gaming sessions.

8 Dark Fantasy TTRPGs with Grim Settings and Gritty Combat

Join the cast of Mystery Quest as they attempt to survive the lethal world of Mörk Borg.

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The High Rollers explore the Age of Sigmar in the Warhammer universe's fantasy roleplaying game.

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The Glass Cannon Network travels to the dark world of Duskwall, where criminal scoundrels pull daring heists in a world without a sun.

Haunted City | Blades in the Dark

A guide to starting your journey in the world of Warhammer fantasy.

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A guide to creating a scoundrel, soon to be Doskvol's most wanted.

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If you wanted to go to the source, you could check out the Warhammer 40,000 and Fantasy novels, video games, and tabletop wargames! Some of the works of fantasy authors Joe Abercrombie, Glen Cook, and R.F. Kuang have also been classified as grimdark. The graphic novels of Alan Moore and Frank Miller often have dark themes in line with the genre. Bleak horror movies like Hellraiser and post-apocalyptic films like The Road fit in as well. In video games, the Dark Souls series stands out as a paragon of grimdark fantasy.

What are some examples of grimdark media?

Morally ambiguous heroes, and downright cruel villains in an oppressive, downtrodden society. An apocalypse which has either already happened or is about to frequently features. Harsh environmental conditions, scarce resources, and widespread violence threaten everyone at nearly all times. Forces of "good" are either useless and ineffectual or hopelessly corrupt, and the law of the land is "might makes right."

What are the tropes of the grimdark genre?

If you're unsatisfied with the black-and-white morality of bog standard fantasy and science fiction, the idea that the "good guys" always win and are morally justified, and the ease and reward of doing the right thing, grimdark does offer something a little different. It's a space to explore protagonists who aren't always good, their victory over a challenging world and status quo isn't guaranteed, and the difficulty of making a real moral choice or heroic sacrifice gives that choice meaning.

That said, grimdark isn't for everyone! Make sure you and the people at your table discuss the tone you want for your game before you begin.

Yes, violence is central to the grimdark genre. It's practically a foregone conclusion that oppressive forces in grimdark worlds, like armies, warlords, gangs, and governments, use violence to maintain their dominance. Similarly, it's assumed that the protagonists of the grimdark genre will use violence against those forces. Often one of the reasons grimdark settings are the way they are is that violence is the primary method its characters use to get what they want.

Grimdark

Grimdark describes a subgenre of sci-fi and fantasy fiction with an especially amoral and violent tone. Grimdark settings are often dystopian and feature morally ambiguous or outright evil protagonists and villains who are even worse. Heroes, if they exist at all, are flawed at best, governments are corrupt, people are oppressed, and the world often feels hopeless, with a constant fight just to prevent things from getting worse. While it may sound depressing or exhausting, fans of the grimdark genre enjoy its cynically, occasionally satirically realist approach to speculative fiction, eschewing chosen ones, heroic destinies, and simple moral choices in favor of a world where doing the right thing is complex, difficult, and carries serious weight.

Grimdark's origins actually lie in tabletop wargames, specifically the tagline of Warhammer 40,000: "In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war." It's a short hop to tabletop RPGs from there, where grimdark games continue to thrive. For some, the appeal of playing a morally gray antihero is a welcome break from the usual heroic fare. Others might enjoy the fact that true heroism shines even brighter in a world where doing good comes with real costs and sacrifice.

Browse Grimdark TTRPGs Explore one-shots, campaigns, and homebrew adventures run by expert GMs across Roll20, Foundry VTT, Discord & more. Find your perfect game on StartPlayingGames!