History DarkerAndEdgier / TableTopGames

** The novels of ''Warhammer 40000'' often play around with this trope. Notably our favorite HERO OF THE IMPERIUM, Literature/CiaphasCain's novels are significantly LighterAndSofter than the rest of the universe.

*** The new edition compared to the old one. The original sourcebooks offered a slightly pulpy and fun [[ConspiracyKitchenSink "all conspiracies are true"]], albeit still dark and edgy on their own right, takes on pop culture conspiracies, such as Roswell aliens, the Men-in-Black, Nazi occultism, the Illuminati, and so on. The new edition however, has opponents be more real threats based on our modern worries and anxieties; the sourcebook ''The Labyrinth'' for example, has enemies based on right-wing radicalization caused by economic downfall (The Sowers), growing gap between the population and ultra-rich (New life Fertility), radicalization of socially isolated people through the internet (The Lonely) and cults recruting desperate people by offering miraculous healing (The Prana Sodality).

* ''TabletopGame/PerplexCity'': The back of Season 2 cards indicated cracks in the veneer of the city's exterior. One of the more thought-provoking ones included the implication that it was essentially a world of autistic people, and those that weren't autistic were ostracized similar to what many autistic people experience in RealLife.

** The Rook City expansion. Based on the more gritty, realistic side of comic books, it features an industrial complex and crime-riddled city as environments, a gun-toting [[OneManArmy one-woman-army]] and a TechnicalPacifist OldMaster [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Auto Mechanic]] for heroes, against such villains as a VampiricDraining, drug-dependent serial killer, a CorruptCorporateExecutive crime boss, his [[TheDragon Dragon]], a mutated, man-eating rat-man that lives in the sewers, and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers an emo poet girl who can control birds]].

* The ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' Adventure Paths and campaign setting have also gotten noticeably DarkerAndEdgier. The half-orcs' origins as the product of rape are made more explicit, ogres are reimagined as inbred monsters right out of ''Deliverance'', and most monsters explicitly like to eat people. Even the gnomes get in on the act. In ''Pathfinder'', they are fey creatures who have been separated from their original world. If they do not constantly seek out new and ever more sensational experiences, their features begin to 'bleach', the banality of existence aging them to death.

* ** ''TabletopGame/DeltaGreen'' to ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu''. ''Call of Cthulhu'' focuses on the the supernatural aspects of the Franchise/CthulhuMythos and its unnameable monsters, in fighting horrific [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]] and their derranged cultist followers. ''Delta Green'''s writing on the other hand tends to be more tragic, nihilistic and hopeless. It leans a lot on the human side of it, with the sanity system mixed with the bond system emphasizing the spiral of self-destruction leading to some PersonalHorror. Likewise with the frequent "human" antagonists, with the powers of the Mythos merely enabling the already corrupt humans to do atrocities, and the conflict between the Agents and their employing organization: [[ToBeLawfulOrGood following orders or following their consciences]]?

** The 3rd edition of ''Warhammer 40000'' is often seen by fans as being this trope to the editions that came before it, as it abandoned a lot of the game's lightheartedness and pushed the [[CrapsackWorld Crapsack Galaxy]] aspect UpToEleven. In addition, the gothic aspects that had featured in some of the 2nd edition artwork (especially pieces by John Blanche) were amplified, to the point where they became defining elements of the franchise.

** ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' definitely went darker, with glorious cathedrals crumbling and different gods and [[GodModeSue longtime power characters]] being slain or depowered left and right. Though one must remember that ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' wasn't the only campaign setting, just the most popular; other settings, particularly ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' and ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'', were noticeably darker than FR was anyway -- this more brought FR "down" to ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'''s level. Players still have ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'', with its pulp-adventure-y feel, for less depressing fare.

* ''TabletopGame/TalesFromTheLoop'': The expansion/sequel ''Things From The Flood'' is definitely this to the core game. The core game is set in TheEighties, the [=PCs=] are [[KidHero Kid Heroes]] whose pluck and courage will win the day, the big lab in their CompanyTown home is churning out horrible and amazing things at breakneck speed, and everything is an adventure á là ''Film/TheGoonies''. "Things" moves the timeframe to TheNineties. TheGreatPoliticsMessUp and the financial crisis of 1990 have left the lab under-funded or sold-off, and a lot of people have lost their jobs. Changes in the Earth's magnetic field have made magnetrine transports non-viable, and sent the economy into another death-spiral. The titular "flood" is forcing people from their homes and everyone is looking for a scapegoat. Everything seems bleak and hopeless. On top of this, the [=PCs=] have been aged up, meaning they don't just have to deal with bullies, school, and adults who just don't get it, but also puberty, sexuality, gang violence, drugs, possible conscription and enroaching adulthood. Oh, and "Things" also introduces PC death as a possibility, which was not the case in vanilla "Tales".

* ''TabletopGame/TalesFromTheLoop'': The expansion/sequel ''Things From The Flood'' is definitely this to the core game. The core game is set in TheEighties, the [=PCs=] are [[KidHero Kid Heroes]] whose pluck and courage will win the day, the big lab in their CompanyTown home is churning out horrible and amazing things at breakneck speed, and everything is an adventure á là ''Film/TheGoonies''. "Things" moves the timeframe to TheNineties. TheGreatPoliticsMessUp and the financial crisis of 1990 have left the lab under-funded or sold-off, and a lot of people have lost their jobs. The titular "flood" is forcing people from their homes and everyone is looking for a scapegoat. Everything seems bleak and hopeless. On top of this, the [=PCs=] have been aged up, meaning they don't just have to deal with bullies, school, and adults who just don't get it, but also puberty, sexuality, gang violence, drugs, possible conscription and enroaching adulthood. Oh, and "Things" also introduces PC death as a possibility, which was not the case in vanilla "Tales".

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' is for adults to begin with, but the splat for Abyssals takes it up to a whole new level of disturbing. You're a machine of murder, and all of the solutions you can come up with involve death and destruction whereas Solars, Lunars, and even the frikkin' Infernals can nurture and build. [[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy Unfortunately it's badly done, and it's one of the more ignored official materials.]]