10 Tips to Grimdark Your D&D Game!

11. Leave room for humor, kindness and heroism, without them there won't be any contrast, thus no grimdark. If the game becomes too daaaaaaaark the players just won't take it seriously.

I would extend the having-few-hit-points thing to characters that become slaves or get thrown out of their guild or church. Most players seem to retire characters who suffer such fates and roll up new ones. No! That's when a character really starts to get interesting! You used to be a powerful paladin, but now your church shuns you and you are the slave of a foreign prince? What a great start to a story!

I noticed people tend to be more creative when death exists. The pcs start to act like actual humans.

This reminds me of the setting in "The Witcher" novels. Monsters are rare and when you encounter them, they are pretty terrible. So rare, that a lot of people don't even believe in them

One thing I've found is that substituting magic equipment with unique equipment is a wonderful way to humanize a Grimdark setting. For example, in a session I ran some years ago, the PCs had encountered a self-stylized, "King of the Forest," who, in actuality, had stumbled upon the already-ravaged caravan of the kingdom's prince. He had found the sword regalia of the Kingdom abandoned at the scene, and upon taking it for himself, used it to conjure a story of his supposed might and rallied other bandits and brigands to lead them. Totally non-magic, but the PCs were stoked once they had claimed the weapon for themselves, and had become attached to it knowing that eventually they might have to return it. Totally non-magic, but just possessing it elevated their status and made it feel more powerful than any run-of-the-mill +#/+# magic weapon.

a fun experience with grimdark is when the players beat it. When they manage the happy ending, when they defeat the ancient evil, when they refuse to give in to the horrible world, it feels good

With regards to the torture: I recommend coming up with ominous sounding names for torture techniques or devices that don't exist in the real world. That way you fuel the players' imagination without it being too graphic.

I like this one. And it real shows how the prof is great at coming up with ideas. The 1 hp sob story was great.

Everything about “Lucky” had me laughing hysterically. Thank you, PDM!

One element of WFRP I really enjoy - you rarely start out as an OP 'hero' In fact, you generally start out as weak and vulnerable. Reward without risk tastes of ashes...

The long awaited grimdark episode!

This is exactly the type of game that my table uses as well. 'Grimdark', 'old school', 'realistic campaign', pretty much the best way to play (imho). Love the video!!

As a party we shall slay the algorithm dragon

Fair warning about grimdark campaigns: I call them depression quests for a reason. They're not for everyone. Additionally, some people like to ban laughter to maintain mood with these. Just don't. Laughter and jokes act as your party's tension releases. It's imperative to be able to still scare and worry even through their laughter.

To be fair, all it takes to make Candyland Grim Dark is, connect it to the Hansel and Gretel story, and let the kids come up with their own lore from there.

I kept running into this Lindybeige character in the comments and was like "why is everyone listening to this bird ?" I finally looked him up and watched 5 of his videos back to back. What a great channel - he is no bird, he is a draco-phoenix.

Now I want to help that dung farmer with 7 kids!

"A beaver killed all his pigs" lol I lost it.

Ah grimdark, where even the cutest of things is extremely dangerous and outright deadly. For example, a creature I recently brainstormed with couple of other DMs, the Prismatic Jellyfish. A basketball sized, air bound jellyfish glowing with a swirl rainbow hues, and just as deadly, if not more so given the cramped spaces of a dungeon. Give it light themed abilities/spells and a nasty toxin with paralyzing effect. Not exactly tough but something the players really don’t want to touch. Haven’t really worked out the stats yet. Up the grimdark by introducing it with a paralyzed goblin caught in its tendrils. The hapless creature twitching as it is slowly raised to the Prismatic Jellyfish’s opening to be devoured.

I always roll in the open. “Lucky” love it!