Dark fantasy is as much a genre of fantasy as it is a genre of horror. Generally, any tale featuring both supernatural elements and horror themes might be considered dark fantasy, whether it's a fantasy story steeped in horror elements or an otherwise realistic world that features a supernatural terror. Dark fantasy refers to fantasy worlds where grim themes, nihilistic plots, or horrifying elements inform a fantasy tale. Evil dominates a dark fantasy setting, with depravity being commonplace and life holding little value.
How dark the DM wants to make the fantasy is up to them, but keep in mind the role of heroes and ensure places for light in the dark fantasy domain. If a domain holds no place for hope, there's also little call for resistance and meaningful plots.
In addition, consider the following genre tropes when creating, or within, a dark fantasy domain:
Good does not always win. Evil individuals with great power and unopposed schemes might be the norm.
The lines between good and evil are blurred. Choices involve deciding which outcome is least bad.
Corruption and suspicion flourish among organizations and individuals.
Magic and magic items might be rarer or require a bargain or sacrifice to use.
Antiheroes are common—characters tainted by the world's evil or those who refuse to be considered heroes.
Any monster can find a place in a dark fantasy plot. D&D's most iconic threats—such as dragons and @Beholders—are well suited to horror-tinged tales, as are any other supernatural foes. The Monsters of Ravenloft lore article details how to make even the most familiar monsters into fear-worthy threats. The following table provides examples, but the DM should come up with original ideas as well.
Dark Fantasy Monsters
Challenge - Creature
1/8 - @Gremishka
1/4 - @Goblin
1/4 - @Sprite
3 - @Displacer Beast
4 - @Shadow Demon
5 - @Umber Hulk
6 - @Drider
7 - @Necrichor
8 - @Fomorian
8 - @Inquisitor of the Mind Fire
10 - @Yochlol
13 - @Beholder
15 - @Purple Worm
17 - @Death Knight
17 - @Blue Dracolich
21 - @Lich
Villains occupy places of prominence or control in dark fantasy domains. This manifests as political control, military authority, or physical or magical might that allows them to directly dominate others. The following table only applies to custom villains, rather than pre-existing ones, and provides examples, but the DM should come up with original ideas as well.
Dark Fantasy Villains
d10 - Villain
1 - A machine that believes it's a resurrected tyrant and seeks to rebuild its empire in iron
2 - The leader of a subterranean people who plots to manipulate the moon to blot out the sun's searing light
3 - A high priest intent on shifting an entire nation into their god's otherworldly realm
4 - A desperate general who unleashes otherworldly armies or war machines that they can't control
5 - A massive @Treant who has allied with exploitative raiders and seeks to fell every forest
6 - A sage who, heedless of the consequences, solves an endless war by preventing anyone from dying
7 - A member of a cabal of eternal royals who support a war against Mount Celestia, as their immortality relies on the blood of angels
8 - The commander of a legion of soul-addicted templars who punish crimes by burning criminals into psychoactive spirit dust
9 - An ancient dragon whose godlike magic drains the domain of life
10 - A god who killed all their peers and now rules the mortal realm
For Darklords in dark fantasy settings, power is at the root of their suffering. Perhaps their rise to dominance led them to sacrifice what mattered to them most, or they secretly seek to be rid of their might but fear being without it. The following table only applies to custom Darklords, rather than pre-existing ones, and provides examples, but the DM should come up with original ideas as well.
Dark Fantasy Torments
d8 - Torment
1 - The Darklord's regime is fraught with spies and saboteurs, increasing the Darklord's paranoia.
2 - Worthless sycophants surround the Darklord, their incessant praise making every success hollow.
3 - The Darklord's incredible power uncontrollably damages everything the Darklord cares for.
4 - Others excessively revere or fear the Darklord, leaving the Darklord isolated.
5 - Imagined or remembered rivals endlessly critique the Darklord, causing them doubt.
6 - Society preemptively celebrates an achievement the Darklord will never be able to provide.
7 - The Darklord seeks the pleasure of lost glories, engaging in hollow contests against unworthy foes.
8 - The Darklord manufactures catastrophes to distract from their inability to fulfill their role.
Sinister individuals leave their marks upon dark fantasy domains, whether as oppressive architecture, unavoidable propaganda, or scars upon an exploited environment. Alternatively, the setting might exhibit the effects of a disaster—perhaps an event that gave rise to brutal powers. Such scars appear both upon the setting and upon its inhabitants. The following table only applies to custom Domains of Dread, rather than pre-existing ones, and provides examples, but the DM should come up with original ideas as well.
Dark Fantasy Settings
d8 - Setting
1 - A land where towering stents pierce magical leylines, allowing their power to be drained
2 - A country devastated by magical pollution or the fallout of weapons used in an age-old war
3 - An empire covered in the watchful symbols of an all-seeing religion
4 - A city adrift on a sea full of primeval predators
5 - A land dotted with the floating and fallen ruins of magical megastructures
6 - A world where an unstoppable @Ooze, infection, or hive encroaches on civilization
7 - A demiplane created by unknowable beings and populated with their test subjects
8 - A place of punishment or endless boredom that a Darklord believes is part of the afterlife
Evil is entrenched and effective in dark fantasy domains, truths reflected by grandiose adventure locations. Their size and grandeur seem out of proportion with the common structures of the domain and the magic that helped create them is clearly beyond the reach of mere mortals to create or destroy. The following table only applies to custom Domains of Dread, rather than pre-existing ones, and provides examples, but the DM should come up with original ideas as well.
Dark Fantasy Adventure Sites
d8 - Adventure Site
1 - An expanding labyrinth that grows to protect the evil imprisoned at its heart
2 - A forest where every tree grows from the body of a mummified hero
3 - A magical factory that distills living beings into the reagents of a wish-granting elixir
4 - A criminal consortium's lavish sewer-academy, where recruits are transformed to be perfectly suited to enacting one near-impossible heist
5 - The fractured mind-scape of a powerful but dormant sentient weapon
6 - A massive @Construct-cathedral built to exact the ultimate expression of faith and sacrifice
7 - A palace where the nonhumanoid inhabitants purposefully petrified themselves
8 - A fortress with seven locked gates that seal off the underworld
Adventures in dark fantasy domains involve unlikely or reluctant heroes (or rival villains) striking back against the evil at work in the land. This might involve taking on a world-ruining conspiracy or the street-level depravity affecting a single slum. The following table only applies to custom plots, rather than pre-existing ones, and provides examples, but the DM should come up with original ideas as well.
Dark Fantasy Plots
d8 - Plot
1 - Track down a @Beholder-shaped @Flesh Golem and learn why it's targeting specific individuals.
2 - Seal a portal to a demonic realm that opens within the mouth of an innocent acolyte.
3 - Cure a virus turning people into @Shadows.
4 - Mount a defense against the swarm of @Giant Spiders that's declared war on bipeds.
5 - Prevent a mighty spell that a coven of witches is casting using a volcanic caldera as a cauldron.
6 - Keep a nation from tearing itself apart when it's revealed the beloved ruler is a @Lich.
7 - Banish a spirit haunting the moon.
8 - Uncover the identity of an otherworldly coward who's hiding among mortals, avoiding the destructive search of the immortals they fled.