Line #10 DarkerAndEdgier/TabletopGames


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9	* ''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]]?
10	*** The new edition compared to the old one. The original sourcebooks offered a pulpy [[ConspiracyKitchenSink "all conspiracies are true"]] angle, 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 the 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).
11	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 4th Edition has gone both this route and the [[LighterAndSofter opposite]] simultaneously.
12	** The first player's handbook removed the gnomes and replaced them with tieflings, who are no longer fiend-blooded mortals but the blood-cursed descendants of a fallen empire that turned to worship of Asmodeus in an effort to conquer the world and lost everything.
13	*** When gnomes returned in the second player's handbook, the previously wacky (if somewhat generic) gnomes had been given a new backstory as a race bullied and enslaved by the demented and depraved Fomorians, a race of deformed fey giants, which has left those free enclaves scarred and paranoid.
14	** Half-orcs, meanwhile, were removed from the first player's handbook due to their ChildByRape backstory and were instead replaced with the Dragonborn, a ProudWarriorRaceGuy species of {{Draconic Humanoid}}s who used to rule an empire, but have been left as homeless wanderers ever since their empire was shattered in a war against the tieflings. When they returned in the second, half-orcs had essentially lost their rape-associations, being a true-breeding race in their own right whose pasts are mysterious, but mostly involve divine or arcane creation, or consensual InterspeciesRomance.
15	** Elves went from being super-perfect beings who were naturally gifted in both nature and magic to two races; the "masters of magic" became the Eladrin race, who are now a fallen empire that struggle ceaselessly against their Drow kindred and the above-mentioned Fomorians, whilst the Elves who retain the "ones who walk with nature" aspect are now those who were stranded in (or fled to) the mortal world, where they have lost the bulk of their magical nature from living outside of the Feywild.
16	** The Aasimars, mortals bearing the blood of angels and celestial beings and the good counterparts to tieflings, were replaced with Devas; angels who either chose to forsake their immortal power and glory, or who were exiled to a semi-mortal existence.
17	** ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' definitely went darker, with glorious cathedrals crumbling and different gods and 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.
18	** On the third hand, the system is much LighterAndSofter, in that every adverse condition that happens to the players can be removed almost instantly. Several of the nastier conditions from earlier editions (e.g. attribute drain) simply don't exist anymore, and all of the others either automatically wear off in five minutes, or can be removed by a low-level spell. Hungry? Oh, here are some infinite rations. Room is dark? Plenty of infinite light sources around. The world may be dark and edgy, but harsh, long-lasting hardship for the player characters is non-existent.
19	*** But they do introduce quite a few nasty semi-permanent conditions in the 4e version of the Book of Vile Darkness. Which itself is actually a lot less darker and edgier than its 3e version and actually ends up a lot better for it.
20	* ''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. [[TooBleakStoppedCaring Unfortunately it's badly done, and it's one of the more ignored official materials.]]
21	* The 6th edition of ''TabletopGame/GammaWorld'' used the ''TabletopGame/D20Modern'' ruleset and was the grimmest, darkest edition of the game, period. While the first edition of TabletopGame/GammaWorld had 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... For better or for worse, the 7th edition swung towards [[LighterAndSofter playing up the comedic aspect for all its worth]].
22	* The ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'' was initially marketed along these lines, as an "adult role-playing game" for "mature gamers." Both it and the SpiritualSuccessor ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' can be described as modern day Earth... only, you guessed it, darker and edgier. And within the overall series, ''Changeling'' is an example. 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 be humans who fought their way back to Earth after being abducted and hideously abused by mad alien gods.
23	** The TabletopGame/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 [[BlackAndGrayMorality 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]].]]
24	* The ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' Adventure Paths and campaign setting began as a darker version of D&D 3.5th edition. The half-orcs' origins as the product of rape were emphasized, ogres were reimagined as inbred monsters right out of ''Deliverance'', and most monsters explicitly liked to eat people. Slavery was common and unremarkable to most societies, and many sentient races were AlwaysChaoticEvil, with the concept of a TokenHeroicOrc being laughable in-universe. These edgier aspects were deemphasized or gradually phased out as the setting aged, however. As of the game's 2nd edition, they're somewhat of an OldShame to Paizo, who admit that they didn't handle those subjects particularly well.
25	* ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'':
26	** 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 an emo poet girl who can control birds.
27	** In the game's metafictional plot, the ''Tactics'' timeline was created because some of the Sentinel Comics writers felt the "main" timeline (what is the RPG timeline in real life) had gotten too lighthearted, and so they wanted to do stories where things went in a more grimdark and bleak direction.
28	** Mercilessly mocked in (where else?) Guise's card Gritty Reboot. It has all the typical DarkerAndEdgier tropes (dead family, hardboiled detective and in the online version, Guise saying "Everyone I know is dead!") but it's ''Guise''.
29	* ''TabletopGame/{{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.
30	* ''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. The end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar 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".
31	* The second and third editions of ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'', ''[=MegaTraveller=]'' and ''The New Era'', got progressively darker. MT ''opened'' with the assassination of TheEmperor and a drawn-out CivilWar shattering the Imperium. Things went FromBadToWorse in the so-called Hard Times and the Black War, where several factions targetted their enemies' civilian populations. Between then and TNE, [[AIIsACrapshoot Virus]], a superweapon created as part of [[TheCaligula Lucan]]'s FinalSolution, was released, wiping out or enslaving most life in Charted Space.
32	* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'' might be seen as the darker and more nihilistic version of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. Instead of playing as fairly capable heroes like wizards, clerics and druids, you play as an ActionSurvivor from a working-class background such as "charcoal burner", "grave robber", "fishwife" and "tax collector". PerpetualPoverty is a constant of the adventurer life[[note]]The most expensive item you can acquire in 2nd Edition is a Best Craftsmanship Galleon worth 120,000 Gold crowns, and this is a game where having 50 Crowns in your possession at any point is a major accomplishment - it's practically a TakeThatPlayer[[/note]], and depending on what kind of character you roll up you might not even ''start with any armour nor a proper weapon''. As a consequence of the game's wargaming background, combat is extremely lethal with in-depth rules for {{Critical Hit}}s and crippling injuries, described in gory detail - and no ready access to healing magic either, best you have is [[MeatgrinderSurgery medieval surgical techniques]]. Disease is also a fact of life and it's entirely possible for a storied adventuring life to end after [[UndignifiedDeath catching the]] [[BringMyBrownPants Bloody Flux]] [[UndignifiedDeath from eating a "cook 'em fast, sell 'em cheap" Rumster's Special pie]]. Firearms exist and they are powerful but dangerous to use, and magic is even moreso as a bad miscast can see you [[DraggedOffToHell pulled into a yawning portal to the Realm of Chaos by daemons]]. Life ain't fair in ''Warhammer'', in fact it's often downright sadistic.
33	* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' is this trope to ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} Fantasy'' (which itself was already DarkerAndEdgier by tabletop game standards), though not by the margins of some other works on this page, as the source material was [[UnbuiltTrope already parodying "Darker and Edgier" works by playing this trope to the extreme]]. Needless to say, it served as the TropeCodifier.
34	** 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}}''. Thanks to MemeticMutation the term escaped and has largely morphed into DarkerAndEdgier played ''totally straight'' in common usage, meaning many people do not consider the setting grimdark despite naming the term.
35	** 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, because it's a military [[BlackComedy gallows' humour]] comedy about a LovableCoward protagonist relying on his tongue and wit to avoid becoming a battlefield casualty ''a la'' ''Series/BlackadderGoesForth''.
36	** 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 up to eleven. 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.
37	*** Subsequent editions have maintained this aesthetic, although some of the more adult parts have been toned down to make the game a bit more family-friendly. One of the more notorious examples among the fandom is the Daemonettes of Slaanesh: just compare the models that they had during [[http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/images/5/58/Daemonettes_miniatures.jpg 3rd edition]] (warning: mildly [[NotSafeForWork NSFW]]) with the less sexualised ones that replaced them in [[http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/images/f/f4/Daemonettes_miniatures_%284th_Edition%29.jpg 4th]].
38	** The Tau, initially introduced as a highly idealistic alien species, received a number of complaints about being {{Purity Sue}}s. Cue 7th Edition, which shows the Tau have adopted a policy of extermination on a number of species including the Orks and the Eldar (as they are "lost causes") and stopped peacefully integrating human populations in favour of simply sending everyone off to forced labour camps. There's also the startling reveal that [[spoiler:the Ethereal caste are controlling the other Tau through pheromones, and also suppressing knowledge of Chaos in the Tau population at large -- which is [[DefectorFromDecadence why Commander Farsight left]].]]
39	* ''TabletopGame/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, and a "Zombiegeddon" was scheduled focusing on necromancy-type witches.
40	* In fall of 2018, Hasbro released a series of "parody" versions of classic board games to which they had the license, which added dares, stunts, and elements of adult-oriented humor. These included ''TabletopGame/GameOfLife: Quarter Life Crisis'', which casts the players as struggling twenty-something millennials racing to pay off their "crippling debt"; ''Sorry: Not Sorry'', which combined the classic Parcheesi variant with "Not Sorry!" cards that could force your opponents to answer "Have you ever...?" questions; and ''TabletopGame/{{Clue}}: Lost in Vegas'', where the mystery to be solved is not "Who killed Mr. Black?", but [[WhatDidIDoLastNight "What happened to our mutual friend Buddy after a wild night in Las Vegas?"]]
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Context DarkerAndEdgier / TabletopGames