Playing in a Dark Fantasy Campaign

Classic tabletop roleplaying games often see the adventurers striding boldly across the countryside, tracking evil to its lair and vanquishing it in the name of wealth and glory, protecting the world and its people for another day.
Dark fantasy tells a different story, and Iuernia invites players to imagine narratives tinged with shadow, fear, and the drama of despair.
In Iuernia, the roles are reversed from a typical high-fantasy campaign. It is the good who cower in their fragile bastions of civilization while evil stalks freely across the land. Adventurers skulk furtively through the shadows, always aware of the danger that follows closely behind them - or the danger lurking within their bodies or souls. Welcome to Iuernia!

The World is Lost

Iuernia is a world at war. The gods are forsaken, calamity threatens to overtake the world, disease is rampant, and the Realms Below threaten to overtake the world with unearthly dangers... any one of a hundred catastrophes could be the spark that burns the world entire.
In such a world, how can heroes exist? What does victory even look like? Players in such a setting should take these factors into consideration when tackling character creation and during gameplay itself.
Character backstories in fantasy rarely revolve around happy and mundane events. In dark fantasy, those backstories are generally even more dark and dramatic.
What motivates and shapes dark fantasy protagonists? The loss of a loved one. Betrayal by those closest to them. Disastrous events that the character felt powerless to stop. Inscrutable and irrepressible powers reaching out and molding the lives and personalities of the characters with a cold and malevolent disregard.
Iuernia is defined by these horrible events, and it stands to reason that the characters would follow suit. How would these circumstances and events lead to a life as an adventurer, braving the dangers that most flee from in terror? Did your character become bitter and cynical, only looking out for their own interests? Did they rally and push back against despair, resolving to fight for the last glimmers of light that remain? What is your character fighting for?
These themes also work their way into the game itself. With the world in ruins, various elements of normal roleplaying get turned on their heads. Safety becomes a relative term, so spells such as alarm or arcane lock may become more useful than in traditional high fantasy settings. The monsters that stalk the wilds have successfully taken down entire civilizations, making it important to carefully pick your battles. maybe not every battle or encounter is worth the cost of risking the entire war against darkness.

Darkness is a Choice

Demons walk the land of Iuernia, twisting mortal fates to their whim. Misshapen abominations skulk in the shadows, drawn to the bloodshed of a world-altering war. Darkness seeps around every corner and every crack in the world's façade, whispering promises of great power to those willing to answer... and to sacrifice. One enduring truth defines the tenebrous forces at play in Iuernia: there is always a price for the aid of dark powers.
Part of making a character in this setting is acknowledging the power of the forces of darkness. This setting offers a number of options for incorporating those powers into your character. Rather than merely picking up a Transformation Boon or the use of sangromancy like you would with an additional skill proficiency, these options work best when tied to specific character events. Perhaps you gladly accept these powers as a means to exact the revenge that your character seeks, or maybe it was an unwilling accident on the night of a full moon. Does your character regret these events or choices? Or do they fully embrace the power they have gained?
Once taken, these abilities are notoriously difficult to handle. When dealing with other humanoids, revealing your true nature can cause serious problems. As your power grows, its nature becomes harder and harder to conceal and control, and therefore harder to avoid the ramifications of your choice. It might be worth investing in disguise kit proficiency or abilities such as disguise self in order to better blend in among normal people.
Alas, even that might not be sufficient if circumstances force you to use your powers around others. Be warned: When you become as feared as the dark forces you oppose, natural agencies, like the business end of a farmer's pitchfork, can be just as dangerous as supernatural ones.

Faith is Broken

The divine pantheons of the world were once a focus of worship and culture, but that has changed over the past few generations. The incursions into the Realms Beyond shook the foundations of organized religion around Iuernia. The belief that one could talk directly to divine beings through prayer and faith has been challenged. With their faith broken, people have turned to other forms of power, darker forms of power, to have their prayers met. The divine magic that always offered healing and protection to those in need has all but vanished, and now few remain that remember that golden age.
As a player, the extreme scarcity of divine magic offers certain challenges that are not prevalent in high fantasy. Why has your character chosen to continue to venerate the gods after everyone else has moved on? Also, how are you healing from the wounds you've sustained on the open road? Religious organizations in general are often the main source of healing and curative magic in a roleplaying game, so their scarcity offers a major challenge. Diseases, curses, and other conditions are far more serious when you can't just stroll into the nearest temple and donate a hefty gold fee to cure them.
Similarly, resurrection is a near impossibility. Players should be aware that lives are all the more precious in Iuernia. Even the more mundane services offered by clergy, such as giving blessings and selling holy water, are rare. The helpful items for fighting the legions of darkness are valued greatly, and their value becomes even greater, meaning they should be seen and used sparingly.

Magic is Mistrusted

With the scarcity of divine magic, arcane spellcasters in Iuernia found themselves the target of hatred and mistrust. It had been centuries since the Justicars held power in the island nation of Bastion, but the arcane incursions that created havoc across the world brought their severe ideology back to the fore. Where once they delved into the mysteries of the universe, now wizards and their kin must seek to ensure their very survival.
As a player making an arcane spellcaster, whether a wizard, sorcerer, or warlock, you face a superstitious and hostile populace. Many of the nations of Iuernia have instituted licensing schemes in order to regulate magic, so a valid license is an important piece of equipment for those seeking to practice magic legitimately. Wizards are the primary licensed spellcasters, while warlocks are almost never part of a magical organization or academy. With their innate abilities, sorcerers fall between the two, with as many fugitives as licensed practitioners.
Decide which category your character falls in, and work with your DM to determine any restrictions that may apply to your spellcasting license. Even licensed spellcasters are not wholly exempt from the resentment of the common folk, so brandishing a wand and spellbook in the middle of a crowded tavern may not be the wisest decision.
If you're not playing a spellcaster, you should consider how you feel about magic as a character. Did you grow up in Bastion, under the watchful eyes of the Justicars? Or were you from the mountains of Myropa, where magic is just as much a part of life as the forests and the rivers? Regardless of how you feel at the start of your adventuring career, you should consider how these opinions change over time. Was your mistrust of arcane magic foolish as you now see it wielded by good and noble caters? Or do your personal interactions with arcane casters teach you that the fear of the arcane that you wrote off as superstitious was instead a wise and prudent choice?

Travel is Dangerous

Adventurers in roleplaying games are travelers. It's an integral part of the job and of the game as a whole. Normally travel occurs along a well-maintained and patrolled system of roads, with occasional forays into the natural wilderness in search of some vile creature upsetting the normal order of the world.
In a dark fantasy setting, messengers and patrols cannot be relied upon, and anyone who goes outside the safety of the town walls takes their life in their hands. Nighttime is especially dangerous, for any light serves as a beacon to the creatures waiting in the inky darkness. Travel in Iuernia is not for the faint of heart, and may provide challenges equal to any story's climax.
As a character braving the wilds, the first thing to learn is that there is no such thing as a safe campsite. When night falls, everything becomes fair game, so it's best to be prepared. Setting watches alone may not be sufficient, and you should always have a plan for waking your allies to deal with the inevitable complications. Spells can aid in this regard, where it's alarm, magic mouth, or any of the various sonic spells that can be heard hundreds of feet away. Darkvision can be especially useful for those standing watch, to avoid advertising your presence with a torch or campfire. But even then, darkvision is not perfect, and its limits can give certain threats an upper hand. Warding and protection spells, such as tiny hut or rope trick0, are valuable in surviving long treks across dangerous territory.
One additional consequence of the state of social isolation in Iuernia: information travels very slowly. With no reliable messengers and limited magic, adventurers are sometimes the main source of communication between settlements. This can lead to problems, but can also work to the character's advantage if they don't want news of their exploits spread.

Humanity is Cruel

When faced with difficult circumstances, there are those who rise to the occasion and act out of charitable intentions and seek to help those in need. In a dark fantasy setting, most people fall on the other side of the coin. Iuernia is populated mainly by those who look out for themselves, often to the detriment of others. Whether it's scheming nobles living in the lap of luxury on the hard work of others or superstitious townsfolk doing whatever is necessary to keep from drowning in the terrible ocean of poverty, the people are always looking at what they get out of any agreement. In this world, xenophobia, paranoia, and plain cruelty are the order of the day,
Dealing with NPCs is a cornerstone of roleplaying, but the aforementioned conditions make it an especially dicey proposition in Iuernia. Help is not something given freely by the strangers you meet in the world. Even an easy smile and a honeyed tongue have their limits, so be prepared to deal with people on less charitable terms.
Bribery, intimidation, coercion, and sometimes outright blackmail are more common than appeals for mercy or sympathy. Knowing what the other person wants is a valuable piece of information when trying to come to some sort of arrangement, so wisdom is just as important as charisma. Spells such as charm person may seem like an easy answer, but the fear and hatred of magic in Iuernia are amplified when used to usurp a person's will. And those spells do wear off.
This mistrust and paranoia make some abilities, afterthoughts in other types of campaigns or settings, extremely valuable. Boons provided by your background abilities, for example, may save your life as much as a quick weapon or a fireball. Being able to rely on friends for a meal and a safe shelter can be some of your most powerful tools when dealing with other people, especially in a low-charisma party. the ability to find at least one friendly face in a new town may be the difference between life and death.

Legends are not Born

Despite the many abilities, magical items, and other advantages an adventurer has over the common citizen, characters still face an uphill battle. The threats arrayed against them are legion, and many are strong enough to rip the very fabric of reality asunder. As a result, characters must be aware that they are not at the top of the food chain. The danger is very real, and death is a constant possibility. Those who rise to great heights do so only after a long and difficult struggle - and the fall from those heights is all the more dangerous.
What this means in game terms is that the player characters are relatively weaker than in traditional fantasy roleplaying campaigns. Progression to higher levels often requires greater effort and greater sacrifice than some players are used to. This is an element of dark fantasy and reflects the theme of constant danger. When building a character, it's wise not to take progression for granted and focus more on immediate viability. A character that will only come into its own after it gains four levels to pick up that one spell or feat you need is a character that will likely not survive through four levels.
Long-term planning is definitely an option, however. many of the options presented are designed with continual progression in mind. The key is not to rest all your hopes on the assumption of future levels. With danger all around, the future becomes a very uncertain prospect, and it's often more helpful to focus on surviving the present.

Victories are Earned

A knight stands, chest heaving, amid the remains of an undead legion. Around her are bodies not just of the creatures she fought, but also her fallen comrades. She stands perfectly still, though she feels the wound in her side beginning o fester. Behind her the villagers begin to peek from their hovels to see that disaster has been narrowly averted.
These are the types of victories to be found in Iuernia. Hard-fought battles, won at a steep price, but worth the cost nonetheless. Success is not guaranteed. Victories have very real costs, and in some cases those costs are the very morals and ideals of the "heroes" who pay them.
A dark fantasy setting is one in which good does not always vanquish evil, and the players are not always the heroes. There is no great final battle between the forces of light and darkness, the victories that occur are temporary and fleeting. They are battles rather than wars. But they are still victories.
Being a player in Iuernia is to be a character willing to sacrifice for their goals, and who realizes that each victory is still cause for celebration. Deciding your character's motivations and goals in this world often means narrowing your focus. here is little glory to be found, so personal stakes are more appropriate. Whether it be to heal your sick sibling or to finish the work of your departed mentor, Iuernia lends itself to these short-term, attainable goals. The grand adventures against impossible odds to save the world from the evils that surround it... those are stories for a later time.

There is Light Within the Darkness

Despite the dire circumstances facing the world, hope still remains. It may be scattered, dimmed, assaulted, on all sides, but it has not been extinguished. A farmer stands against the oncoming soldiers, giving his friends and family time to flee. A merchant, with a kindly smile, hands a loaf of bread to a poor beggar. A paladin, the last of his order, continues his quest to rid the world of a demon-prince. Across Iuernia, small acts of kindness, of bravery, of charity, all stand out amid the dark backdrop. Few and far between, their scarcity only serves to make them more special.
Characters in this setting should know that these events are not the norm. An act of selflessness should be properly recognized as the unusual event it is. How would your character react to such a display? Those of good heart may be galvanized and reinvigorated to continue doing what is right. A cynical character might view the event with pity or contempt. Regardless, these flickers of hope should not go without comment.
Players should also realize that the characters they meet do not expect any sort of charity or kindness by their characters. Such acts are usually met with suspicion, and the players must be prepared to act accordingly. one might challenge the NPC's expectations, seeking to sway them to your cause. Alternatively, a player's character might disguise their charity in order to avoid any conflict that might complicate the matter, such as slipping an extra coin into a delivery so that it seems accidental.

Actions Matter

These suggestions are intended to help guide players through the dark fantasy world of Iuernia, but they remain merely that: suggestions. Your actions are ultimately yours to decide. As you make these choices and face challenges throughout your journey, know that each path you take will have consequences, for good or ill. how you face the situations presented will define your character and the story surrounding them. People can change based on their experiences, and a player should take into consideration everything their character has done in deciding how they will react to things in the future. Some extreme events may shift alignment, change motivations and goals, or alter a character's bonds, ideals, and flaws in surprising ways. Accepting the direction your character takes, even if it isn't one that you had planned on, often results in a more rewarding experience.
Your decisions will also shape how you experience Iuernia. Characters you meet (or play) might show up later to influence important moments in the story. Word of your deeds spreads, albeit slowly, between settlements. The DM may set the overarching plot for the campaign, but your actions provide the building blocks used in the future. In this way, the characters and the world around them reinforce one another to form a complete, cohesive narrative. Iuernia is, above all else, a world of difficult choices and serious consequences. Choose wisely.

Cool Videos for Reference

Adding Horror to Your D&D Game - Episode 1: What is Dark Fantasy by Chandler Keeton - 20:42

The Greatest Dark Fantasy Story in Gaming by Ghostfire Gaming - 13:23

How to take Advantage of Genre by Dael Kingsmill (MonarchsFactory) - 20:45

How to make D&D ACTUALLY Scary by Pointy Hat - 20:56