History DarkerAndEdgier / TableTopGames

** 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, pushed the [[CrapsackWorld Crapsack Galaxy]] aspect UpToEleven, and amplified the gothic elements that had featured in some of the 2nd edition artwork. Subsequent editions have more-or-less maintained its approach to the setting.

** The 3rd edition of ''Warhammer 40000'' is often seen by fans as being this trope to those that came before it, as it abandoned a lot of the game's lightheartedness, pushed the [[CrapsackWorld Crapsack Galaxy]] aspect UpToEleven, and amplified the gothic elements that had featured in some of the 2nd edition artwork. Subsequent editions have more-or-less maintained this approach to the setting.

** 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, pushed the [[CrapsackWorld Crapsack Galaxy]] aspect UpToEleven, and amplified the gothic elements that had featured in some of the 2nd edition artwork. Subsequent editions have more-or-less maintained 3rd edition's approach to the setting.

** 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, pushed the [[CrapsackWorld Crapsack Galaxy]] aspect UpToEleven, and amplified the gothic elements that had featured in some of the 2nd edition artwork. Subsequent editions have followed this trend.

** 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, pushed the CrapsackWorld aspect UpToEleven, and amplified the gothic elements that had featured in some of the 2nd edition artwork. Subsequent editions have followed this trend.

** The 3rd edition of ''Warhammer 40000'' (and the editions that came after) 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, pushed the CrapsackWorld aspect UpToEleven, and amplified the gothic elements that had featured in some of the 2nd edition artwork.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 4th Edition has gone both this route and the opposite (LighterAndSofter) simultaneously. The wacky gnomes and lust-for-life half-orcs are replaced as player races with dragon-men and demon-children. For the most part, dragonborn and half-orcs fill the same niches; they aren't any more given to brooding than half-orcs, the race most likely to be spawned by rape, already would be. The gnome and tiefling switch is better apples and oranges. Replace the angst-free fun loving inherently magical race with... demon children, who all but gain dark powers by slashing their wrists. They did include a new kind of elves that are [[OurElvesAreBetter shinier, happier, and more mystical]], like a race made of Galadriel.
** This is somewhat rendered moot by the fact that the Half Orcs and Gnomes were put back in Players Handbook 2. And they actually made the Half Orcs LighterAndSofter via removing the implications of rape from their backstory, implying that they more appeared due to orcs and humans teaming up and eventually intertbreeding after the fall of [[PointsOfLight the empire of Nerath]].
** ''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 ''ForgottenRealms'' wasn't the only campaign setting, just the most popular; other settings, particularly ''Ravenloft'' and ''DarkSun'', were noticeably darker than FR was anyway -- this more brought FR "down" to ''Greyhawk'''s level. Players still have ''{{Eberron}}'', with its pulp-adventure-y feel, for less depressing fare.

* The ''{{Pathfinder}}'' Adventure Paths and campaign setting have also gotten noticeably DarkerAndEdgier. The half-orcs' origins as the product 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.

** The novels of {{Warhammer 4000}} often play around with this trope. Notably our favorite HERO OF THE IMPERIUM, Ciaphas Cain's novels are significantly LighterAndSofter than the rest of the universe.
* ''[[DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]'' 4th Edition has gone both this route and the opposite (LighterAndSofter) simultaneously. The wacky gnomes and lust-for-life half-orcs are replaced as player races with dragon-men and demon-children. For the most part, dragonborn and half-orcs fill the same niches; they aren't any more given to brooding than half-orcs, the race most likely to be spawned by rape, already would be. The gnome and tiefling switch is better apples and oranges. Replace the angst-free fun loving inherently magical race with... demon children, who all but gain dark powers by slashing their wrists. They did include a new kind of elves that are [[OurElvesAreBetter shinier, happier, and more mystical]], like a race made of Galadriel.

* WitchGirls was initially a lighthearted RPG parodying girls' shows like WITCH or Winx Club, but after the weird transformation fetishism inherent in the design was gradually revealed, it came out with a "Wicked Edition", supplements included primarily NightmareFuel monsters, a "Zombiegeddon" was scheduled focusing on necromancy-type witches, and the second edition is set to be titled "Book of Shadows".
* ''{{Shadowrun}}'', while already dark just simply doesn't let up with the 4th edition. One example is the Horizon Corporation, the only corporation without atrocities to their name has shown their true colors as they commit some rather heinous actions that features them. As of the 5th edition, they were shamed when they tried to control technomancers (one group they had been known to champion for the rights of) which ended in a brutal massacre.

* ''{{Shadowrun}}'', while already dark just simply doesn't let up with the 4th edition. One example is the Horizon Corporation, the only corporation without atrocities to their name has shown their true colors as they commit some rather heinous actions that features them.

* WitchGirls was initially a lighthearted RPG parodying girls' shows like WITCH or Winx Club, but after the weird transformation fetishism inherent in the design was gradually revealed, it came out with a "Wicked Edition", supplements included primarily NightmareFuel monsters, a "Zombiegeddon" was scheduled focusing on necromancy-type witches, and the second edition is set to be titled "Book of Shadows".

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** The Third Edition, the Grimdarkest of all of ''40k'' editions is proof there is a limit. It was so grimdark it became pure {{narm}}.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' is this trope to ''{{Warhammer}} Fantasy'', though not by the margins of some other works on this page, as the source material was already parodying "Darker and Edgier" works by playing this trope to the extreme.

** The tagline - "In the grim, dark future of the 41st millennium, there is only war" - led to the {{meme}} of "[[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Grimdark grimdark]]", the extreme edge of Darker And Edgier where everything is so bleak and nasty [[{{Narm}} it tips over into being ridiculous]] (although that [[NarmCharm can still be highly entertaining]], if [[SoBadItsGood not in the way it was intended]] or even ''[[NarmCharm awesome]]''). Alternatively, it means embracing the BlackComedy potential of the relentlessly hopeless nature of such an absurdly bleak setting, as exemplified by ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}''.

* ''[[DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]'' 4th Edition has gone both this route and the opposite (LighterAndSofter) simultaneously. The wacky gnomes and lust-for-life half-orcs are replaced as player races with dragon-men and demon-children. For the most part, dragonborn and half-orcs fill the same niches; they aren't any more given to brooding than half-orcs, the race most likely to be spawned by rape, already would be. The gnome and tiefling switch is better apples and oranges. Replace the angst-free fun loving inherently magical race with... demon children, who all but gain dark powers by slashing their wrists. Not to mention that they did include a new kind of elves that are [[OurElvesAreBetter shinier, happier, and more mystical]], like an entire race made of Galadriel.
** Of course, this is somewhat rendered moot by the fact that the Half Orcs and Gnomes were put back in Players Handbook 2. And they actually made the Half Orcs LighterAndSofter via removing the implications of rape from their backstory, implying that they more appeared due to orcs and humans teaming up and eventually intertbreeding after the fall of [[PointsOfLight the empire of Nerath]].

* The sixth edition of ''TabletopGame/GammaWorld'' used the ''D20Modern'' ruleset and was the grimmest, darkest edition of the game, period. While the first edition of TabletopGame/GammaWorld had basically been a parody of post-nuclear apocalypse, a BlackComedy rich game of wackiness, where one could see things like a laser rifle-toting yeti/cockroach hybrid, Gamma World D20 took everything seriously, making the backstory realistic (genetic engineering and nanotech vs. nuclear war) and portraying all of the horror inherent in such a ruined, freakish world. Gamma World 1e would point out the hilarious side of fighting a garbage grinding robot whose programming had gone mad: Gamma World 6e would emphatically point out what it would like to be on the wrong end of those grinding, snapping, mashing jaws and relentless, implacable hunger...
** Of course, for better or for worse, the 7th and most recent edition has swung towards [[LighterAndSofter playing up the comedic aspect for all its worth]].

* ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' is this trope to ''{{Warhammer}} Fantasy'', though not by the margins of some other works on this page, as the source material was already parodying "Darker and Edgier" works by playing this trope to the extreme.

** The tagline - "In the grim, dark future of the 41st millennium, there is only war" - led to the {{meme}} of "[[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Grimdark grimdark]]", the extreme edge of Darker And Edgier where everything is so bleak and nasty [[{{Narm}} it tips over into being ridiculous]] (although that [[NarmCharm can still be highly entertaining]], if [[SoBadItsGood not in the way it was intended]] or even ''[[NarmCharm awesome]]''). Alternatively, it means embracing the BlackComedy potential of the relentlessly hopeless nature of such an absurdly bleak setting, as exemplified by ''{{Paranoia}}''.

** The NewWorldOfDarkness actually plays with this. True, the world is, in general, more miserable and suspicious, but there aren't any looming apocalypses or sense that things are getting worse beyond the perspectives of individual people, and the [[BlackAndGreyMorality moral fabric]] has been lightened a bit (even the CardCarryingVillain groups have explicit EvilVirtues and actual reasons for what they do-however arcane those reasons are). Thus, it's only the prerogative of the [[GameMaster Storyteller]] that decides if it's a WorldHalfFull or not. And you know Lost? ''"World Half Full" is one of the basic premises of the game''. (You know what happens to the Lost if they avoid behavior they know is dangerous [[spoiler:like maxing out Wyrd and not decreasing it after you start being hit with Clarity rolls]]? [[spoiler:'''Absolutely nothing.''' This is in contrast to the old game, where it was either death or [[FaceHeelTurn going Dauntain]].]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{The World of Darkness}}'' initially marketed itself along these lines, as an "adult role-playing game" for "mature gamers". Apparently feeling that their attempts had failed, White Wolf demolished that line and rebooted it as ''[[FanNickname WoD 2.0]]'', a Darker and Edgier version of the first.
** The setting itself is described as being Modern Day Earth... only, you guessed it, darker and edgier.
* And within ''TabletopGame/{{TheWorld of Darkness}}'' system itself... ''Changeling''. The original game, ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming'' had [[CrapsaccharineWorld its darker]] [[{{Gotterdammerung}} moments]], but was widely considered "kiddy" as it was a game about the power of imagination and [[GrowingUpSucks resisting crushing banality]]. Then came ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'', which hewed ''much'' closer to the original myths of TheFairFolk by having the main characters being humans who fought their way back to Earth after being abducted and changed by mad alien gods.

** Of course, for better or for worse, the 7th and most recent edition has swung towards [[LighterAndSofter playing up the comedic aspect for all its worth]].

** The tagline - "In the grim, dark future of the 41st millennium, there is only war" - led to the {{meme}} of "[[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Grimdark grimdark]]", the extreme edge of Darker And Edgier where everything is so bleak and nasty [[{{Narm}} it tips over into being ridiculous]] (although that [[NarmCharm can still be awesome, or just highly entertaining]]). Also, it means embracing the BlackComedy potential of the relentlessly hopeless nature of a Darker And Edgier setting, as exemplified by ''{{Paranoia}}''.

** The tagline - "In the grim, dark future of the 41st millennium, there is only war" - led to the {{meme}} of "[[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Grimdark grimdark]]", the extreme edge of Darker And Edgier where everything is so bleak and nasty [[{{Narm}} it tips over into being ridiculous]] (although that [[NarmCharm can still be awesome, or just highly entertaining]]). Also, it means embracing the BlackComedy potential of the relentlessly hopeless nature of a Darker And Edgier setting, as exemplified by ''{{Paranoia}}''

** The tagline - "In the grim, dark future of the 41st millennium, there is only war" - led to the {{meme}} of "[[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Grimdark grimdark]]", the extreme edge of Darker And Edgier where everything is so bleak and nasty [[{{Narm}} it tips over into being ridiculous]] (although that [[NarmCharm can still be awesome, or just highly entertaining]]). Also, it means embracing the BlackComedy potential of the relentlessly hopless nature of a Darker And Edgier setting, as exemplified by ''{{Paranoia}}''

** The tagline - "In the grim, dark future of the 41st millennium, there is only war" - led to the {{meme}} of "[[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Grimdark grimdark]]", the extreme edge of Darker And Edgier where everything is so bleak and nasty [[{{Narm}} it tips over into being ridiculous]] (although that [[NarmCharm can still be awesome, or just highly entertaining]]). Also, it means embracing the BlackComedy potential of the relentless grim nature of a Darker And Edgier setting, as exemplified by ''{{Paranoia}}''

* ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' is this trope to War Hammer Fantasy, though not by the margins of some other works on this page as the source material was already parodying "Darker and Edgier" works by playing this trope to the extreme.
** Thrid Edition the GrimDarkest of all of 40k edition is proof there is a limit, it was so grim dark it became pure narm.