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GRIMDARK SNEAK PEEK

1
 GRIMDARK

A “grim and gritty” system for games of D&D

Introduction: GRIMDARK is a system that allows for playing “Grim & Gritty” games of Dungeons
and Dragons 5th edition. It changes the standard rules in aspects of Armor Class, Hit Points, Damage,
and Recovery. The system is intended to make combat more dangerous for characters of any level and
hopefully enhances excitement for players during combat scenes.

A sneak peek at the GRIMDARK system

Version 3.0 March 2019

by Richard L. Guth Jr.

Special thanks to the playtesters who helped in breaking and mending the system: Megan Guth, Peg
Fox, Val Cee, Dwight Caine, David Phillips, Stephen Boland, Ian Boland, Erin Stoddard, and William C.
Kerr III. Mad Love to Julia Lieb Geist for assistance with formatting, awesome logos, and fabulous
graphics.

All artwork in this document is Unlimited Commercial Use with No Attribution Required from one of
the following sources: DM’s Guild, Kisscc0, Openclipart, or Pik Wizard.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand, Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide, D&D Adventurers League, all other
Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. All characters and their distinctive likenesses are property of Wizards
of the Coast. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the
express written permission of Wizards of the Coast.

©2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC, PO Box 707, Renton, WA 98057-0707, USA. Manufactured by Hasbro SA, Rue Emile-Boéchat 31, 2800 Delémont, CH. Represented by Hasbro Europe, 4 The Square,
Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB11 1ET, UK.

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“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is
a necessary ingredient in living; it's a way of looking
at life through the wrong end of a telescope.”
— Theodor Seuss Grisel
PREFACE
Welcome to my nonsense.
I created this document with the intention of sharing
my homebrew rules system for “grim and gritty” games
of Dungeons & Dragons. I am not a game designer or a
prestigious author. I am, however, a long time old
school gamer.
My first encounter with Dungeons & Dragons
occurred in 1982 when I started to see the D&D
Adventure Ads drawn by Bill Willingham in my comic
books. My interest continued when I started watching
the cartoon on CBS a year later. However, I never
bought a role-playing book until around 1985 when I
purchased the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
hardcover edition of Oriental Adventures at my local
Waldenbooks store. Since then, I've been rolling dice
and telling stories with my friends for a total of 34
years.
In sharing this system with you, I don't assume that it
is without flaws. I don't even claim that you will end up
liking it after you read it. However, it is a system that I
developed for use with my homebrew games of
Dungeons & Dragons.
I suggest using it during a Halloween one-shot to
shake things up and make the game a little different for
a session. The intention is in no way to replace the 5th
edition rules. These rules are merely a way to do
something a bit different at the table to make combat a
little more frightening to your players. So please gather
your friends and roll some dice and afterward email me
at storyteller4hire@gmail.com to let me know what you
think of GRIMDARK.
WHAT IS GRIMDARK?
“Words have no power to impress the mind without
the exquisite horror of their reality.”
— Edgar Allan Poe
GRIMDARK is “Dark Fantasy” where bad things
happen during combat.
It's a homebrew tweak of the 5th edition rules to
emulate the sub-genre of speculative fiction called
“Grimdark” with a tone, style, or setting that is
particularly dystopian, amoral, or violent such as
seen in GAME OF THRONES, WARHAMMER 40k, Z
NATION, or WALKING DEAD. As not to reinvent the
wheel I called the rules system "GRIMDARK" when I
started jotting notes down in my journal. I'm seeking
a better name for the system, but nothing has
revealed itself as of yet.
However, I am planning on creating a document
detailing “DankPunk” my version of a bleak future
ruled by a mysterious organization known as
ABRAXAS. But more on that later.
Advice about “gritty” role-playing is provided
within the 5th edition Dungeon Masters Guide on
page 267. Here it is called “Gritty Realism” and
suggests that it is “a good option” to promote role-
playing rather than just simple “Hack and Slash”
gaming.
Let's stop right here and say that there's nothing
wrong with "Hack and Slash" gaming in Dungeons &
Dragons. As mentioned in Chapter One of the
Dungeons Master's Guide "Hack and Slash" is fun
and exciting. It's straightforward. Kick in the door,
wack the monster, and steal its treasure. So if that's
your thing don't fix what ain't broken. GRIMDARK
can make "Hack and Slash" more interesting too by
pumping the breaks a little and making kicking in
that door to mash the monster a little more
challenging because almost any wound could lead to
death.
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 Regardless of the play style that you might use,
GRIMDARK tweaks the rules presented in the
Player’s Handbook. Changes include how Hit Points
and Armor Class are calculated, as well as, how to
adjudicate Critical Hits, Resting, and Natural Healing.
These changes will be addressed later in this
document.
GRIMDARK STORYTELLING
“Storytelling isn't an Escher staircase.”
— Dave Morris
people who will soon become your friends. Everyone
involved wants to have a few laughs, be entertained,
and escape reality for a little while. So although
you're playing a "grim and gritty" system and telling
a Gothic horror story, make sure that everyone is
having fun and enjoying the session. If not, you're
doing it wrong! Anyway, back to GRIMDARK.
Honestly, it can be challenging for a DM to balance
a GRIMDARK game. The aim should be to keep the
story's pendulum swinging between Righteousness
and Evil, hope and fear, love and hate, doom and joy.
And to keep your players coming back to your table,
they’ll need to have opportunities to make a positive
impact on the world, even if they can’t save all of it.
For example, the characters may be fighting
against a bunch of cultists who have kidnapped
children to work in a mine. In a "feel good" version
of D&D the heroes would defeat the cult and return
the children safely to their homes. However, in a
GRIMDARK version of this same story, the heroes
hunt down the cultists only to discover that they are
too late to save most of the children from a terrible
fate. Or maybe they are able to rescue the children,
but the cult manages to complete their diabolical
plot of uncovering some ancient artifact or
summoning their vile demonic god. Either way, they
don't get a win-win in Grimdark. GRIMDARK
characters experience small moments of victory
overshadowed by a theme of loss, cost, and sacrifice.

In a story using GRIMDARK rules, the characters

experience dire consequences when entering into
life-threatening situations. Unlike most games of
D&D, the player can no longer merely reference
Armor Class and Hit Points to measure the
survivability of a combat situation. Now any brush
with melee could result in serious injury, maiming,
or death. The characters are in a game of chance
with the Grim Reaper and their luck might run out at
any moment.
The real trick as with any GRIMDARK session is to
make it fun while keeping the tone somewhat
serious, edgy, and tense. There can be moments of
joy, comedy, and gallows humor through the
sessions but the Dungeon Master should always
remember to return the overall tone to that of dark
fantasy, Gothic horror, or gritty realism.
Let's stop again long enough for me to say that the
whole point of playing Dungeons & Dragons is to
have fun. You're hanging out with your friends or

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GRIMDARK CHARACTERS
All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women
merely players;
— William Shakespeare
When you make a character using the GRIMDARK
system, you calculate some of the essential statistics
differently than described in Chapter One of the
Player's Handbook. These include Hit Points and
Armor Class. So all in all a DM can tell experienced
players to create their characters as usual except for
these two attributes.
Although there are a lot of cool gadgets out there
to help with making characters, you may want to
remind players that they won't be able to use the
nifty self-calculating sheets unless they pay
particular attention to edit Hit Points and Armor
manually. This includes D&D Beyond’s Character
Builder which is fantastic but will require manual
editing to make it work properly with GRIMDARK.
At this point, It’s worth mentioning that when a
player is determining their character’s Ability
Scores, they may want to keep in mind how they will
use the Ability Modifiers to calculate Hit Points and
Armor Class. Meaning as discussed hereafter that
Dexterity is the main facot of Armor Class and
Constitution determines Hit Points. As the DM you
may want to remind them about this during the
character creation process.
HIT POINTS
Chapter 9 of the Player's Handbook explains the
game concept of Hit Points. Essentially, Hit Points
are abstract numbers representing the physical and
mental durability of a character concerning injury
received in combat situations.
GRIMDARK emphasizes meager Hit Point totals to
reflect the dangerous and deadly nature of becoming
wounded in battle. Every character regardless of
Level, Class or Race begins with a single Hit Point
representing the average total of Hit Points for an
ordinary being. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry Non-
Playing Character (NPC) your character encounters
will have 1 Hit Point. Even "Level Zero" characters
have 1 Hit Point. This concept represents the fact
that even a well placed Unarmed Attack can knock
the average Joe unconscious.
"Level Zero" characters will be discussed later in
this document as an optional way to begin playing
GRIMDARK.
For now, players should ignore Hit Dice granted
by Class. In GRIMDARK, a Fighter, Barbarian, and
Wizard all get their Hit Point values from their
Ability Scores, but their Class.
To calculate a First level character's total Hit Point
value add the Ability Modifier from Constitution to
the original 1 Hit Point. It's that easy.
If and when the character’s Constitution score
changes due to Ability Score increases or the
addition of a Feat like "Tavern Brawler" or
"Resilient" then the character's Hit Point Total will
be adjusted regularly, adding to the total Hit Point
value for the character.
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 The player fills in the character’s final hit points: 1
+ his Constitution modifier of +3, for a total of 4 hit
points.
EXAMPLE 1.0
Megan is creating a character named Shirey Clance for a
new GRIMDARK campaign. Shirey is a First level Fighter
and has a Constitution of 16. The modifier is +3 so Megan
adds this to Shirey’s Hit Point Pool for a total of 4.
Shirey has 1 Hit Point like every other living being and 3
more for her Constitution score.
1+3=4
Megan's character Shirey has gained enough
Experience Points to become a Fourth Level Fighter.
She decides to use the Ability Score Adjustment
feature to increase Shirey's Constitution score from
16 to 18, changing the modifier from +3 to +4. This
change is not retroactive for Shirey, but going
forward she will have a few extra Hit Points than she
would have without the improvement.
EXAMPLE 1.1
Megan is advancing Shirey Clance from a 3rd to 4th level
Fighter. Shirey’s Hit Point total at 3rd level is 10 because
Shirey had 1 hit point then added 3 for each level of
Fighter gained due to the Ability Modifier of +3.
3 x 3 = 9 + 1 = 10
Megan decides to use the Ability Score Adjustment for 4 th
level to add 2 to the Constitution score of 16 for a new
total of 18, making the new modifier +4 instead of +3. So
now Shirey’s Hit Point total will be 14.
3 x 3 = 9 +1 = 10 + 4 = 14
From this point on, Megan will add +4 for each level
Shirey gains.
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7
Anything that would alter the Constitution score
will impact Hit Points prospectively rather than
retroactively. Meaning that if Shirey Clance gained
some magical device that would raise her
Constitution to a score of 20, then the benefits of the
new Constitution modifier will not be reflected until
she advances to 5th level. This is a change to the
standard rules as presented in Chapter 7 of the
Player’s Handbook under Constitution’s listing in
“Using Each Ability.”
EXAMPLE 1.2
Megan’s character Shirey Clance is a 4th level Fighter and
has an 18 for Constitution. Shirey’s total Hit Point pool is
14. However, Shirey recently discovered an artifact in a
Manticore’s treasure cache. While wearing the new
magical item, Shirey’s Constitution becomes a 20 with a
new modifier of +5. This will not alter Shirey’s Hit Point
values until she advances to a 5th level Fighter. At that
point, the calculation from EXAMPLE 1.1 becomes:
3 x 3= 9 +1 = 10 +4 = 14 +5 = 19
The same concept of "prospectiveness" applies to
any circumstance that might reduce a character’s
Constitution score. If a spell, monster, or Gyrojet
Pistol somehow diminishes Shirey Clance's
Constitution from 18 to 15, the change will only
impact her Hit Points when she advances to her next
level.
The Dark Forest near Seven Towns is haunted by strange
monsters called “Xarol” who can wither a man with a
single touch. Shirey Clance encounters a Xarol and is
affected by its Withering Touch. The DM adjudicates the
situation and declares that Shirey's Constitution score
falls from 18 to 15 permanently. This change will not
modify Shirey's total Hit Points and will only go into
effect when Shirey advances to her next level
GRIMDARK SNEAK PEEK

ARMOR CLASS
Chapter 1 of the Player's Handbook describes Armor
Class (AC) as how well your character avoids being
wounded in battle. In the standard 5th edition D&D
rules things that contribute to your AC include the
armor you wear, the shield you carry, and your
Dexterity modifier. This isn't the case in GRIMDARK,
however.
In GRIMDARK, your character’s AC equals 10 + his
or her Dexterity modifier. If your character wears
armor, carries a shield, or both, it will enhance your
character's ability to "Soak" rather than improving
AC.
The "Soak" concept is discussed later in this
document.
EXAMPLE 2.0
Alexander is playing a First level Paladin named
Shimmerstar who has a Strength score of 15 (+2), a
Dexterity score of 13 (+1) and wears Chain mail armor.
Shimmerstar’s AC is calculated using the base AC of 10
and then adding the modifier of +2 for a total AC of 12.
10 +2 = 12
As with the standard rules your character needs to
be proficient with armor and shields to wear and use
them effectively, and your class determines your
armor and shield proficiencies. If your character
lacks the required proficiency, he or she will have
Disadvantage on any ability check, saving throw, or
attack roll that involves Strength or Dexterity, and
you can't cast spells. For more information check out
the Equipment section in Chapter 5 of the Player's
Handbook.
EXAMPLE 2.1
Heidi is a Ranger with a Strength score of 13 (+1) and a
Dexterity score of 15 (+2) played by Suzy. Heidi's AC is 12
in the GRIMDARK system, and this makes Suzy a little
nervous. She decides to have Heidi wear Splint Armor, so
Suzy looks at Chapters 3 and 5 of the Player’s Handbook to
gather information. Suzy realizes that Heidi not only is
proficient with Light and Medium armor but also does not
have a high enough Strength rating to use Splint armor. In
the end, Suzy decides that Studded Leather armor is the
best option for Heidi right now.
The type of armor your character wears
determines the base Soak attribute rather than
improving base AC but still applies the Strength
Requirement, as well as, penalties to Dexterity and
Stealth.
In GRIMDARK, your character still needs to have at
least a Strength score of at least 13 to wear Chain
Mail and a 15 to wear a Plate suit of armor.
EXAMPLE 2.2
Alexander is playing a First level Paladin named
Shimmerstar who has a Strength score of 15 (+2) and
wears Chain mail armor. Shimmerstar is allowed to wear
Chain mail armor because as a paladin he is proficient
with all types of armor and has the minimum required
Strength noted in the chart in Chapter 5 of the Player’s
Handbook under “Armor and Shields.” However, while
wearing Chain mail armor, Shimmerstar will have
Disadvantage on Stealth checks.
Shields function as usual by increasing AC by 2. You
can benefit from only one shield at a time.
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PLAYTEST NOTE 1.0
In previous versions of GRIMDARK documents, a shield
was considered an addition type of "protective equipment"
that allowed for Soak just like armor. During playtesting it
became evident that this unbalanced the system and did
precisely the opposite of what GRIMDARK is supposed to
do by making it easier to avoid damage in melee.
Therefore, shields now function normally and add +2 to
AC.
Magical items or spells that affect AC function
normally in GRIMDARK. Apply any bonuses as usual
and celebrate loudly for as long as your DM will
permit it.
EXAMPLE 2.3
Dave is playing a Wizard named Tim with a Dexterity score
of 10 making Tim’s AC a total of 10. During an encounter,
Tim casts the spell Shield adding +5 to AC and resulting in
a new AC score of 15. Dave dances a jig, singing loudly
until he gets “The Look” from his DM.
Base AC 10 + Magical +5 = 15
However, if Tim casts the spell Mage Armor instead it
modifies how his base AC is determined. Mage Armor says
that the target’s base AC becomes 13 (instead of 10) so
now Tim’s AC is 13 rather than 10.
Base AC 13 + 0 Dex modifier = 13
If Dave decides to have Tim cast both spells then the total
AC becomes a whopping 18. Now that’s a really good
reason to shout and sing!
Base AC 13 + Magical 5 = 18
GRIMDARK CRITICAL HITS
“One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.”
— Lewis Carroll
Critical Hits in GRIMDARK are called “Grimcrits.”
It’s a silly nonsense nonce word that’s fun to say. Go
ahead and say it out loud. I dare you.
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9
Critical hits are more frightening in a game using
the GRIMDARK system. Page 106 of the Player’s
Handbook discusses the standard rules for Critical
Hits. However, in GRIMDARK things transpire a little
differently.
First, let’s get this straight: ONLY PLAYING
CHARACTERS (PCS) SCORE GRIMCRITS!
Let me repeat:
Only PCs score GRIMCRITS!
Keep in mind that monsters can still score regular
Critical Hits doing double damage. Please refer to
Chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide under the
section “Monsters and Critical Hits” for more
information.
In a system where the world is bleak and cruel
with only glimmers of light in the crushing darkness,
the concept that only Playing Characters can score
Grimcrits is frabjous and beamish for the players.
A DM should celebrate a Grimcrit with the players.
Don’t be a turd! Cheer with them! Give them high
fives, shout with joy, or do whatever it is that you are
your friends do when that “20” shows up.
Note: The assumption is being made that a Grimcrit will
happen when a player rolls a “20” but I know that
sometimes special rules, skills, and abilities allow for
critical hits to happen on natural rolls of other numbers
like 18 or 19. That’s fine. If a special rule would normally
make the attack a critical hit then it makes it a Grimcrit
in GRIMDARK.
At my table, we usually cheer and throw our
hands up in the air. Do whatever it is that works best
for you and your players to make it fun.
GRIMDARK SNEAK PEEK
 So, when a player rolls a “20” on an Attack, the hit
is automatically a Grimcrit which always inflicts
“Critical Damage.” This concept of Critical Damage is
discussed later in this document.
CRITICAL DAMAGE?
Although we won’t get too far into it right now, it’s
essential to separate Critical Damage from regular
damage.
Why?
Because in GRIMDARK a character cannot use Recovery
Time to heal Critical Damage. This sort of damage has
specific rules for healing and recovery. More on that is
discussed in the Recovery section of the Grimdark
document.
When you score a Grimcrit, you roll extra dice for
the attack damage. Roll all of the attack’s damage
dice twice, add them together, and DOUBLE it. Then
add any relevant modifiers as usual.
EXAMPLE 3.0
Jon is playing a Gnome named David with a 10 Dexterity
score who wields a sling that inflicts 1d4 bludgeoning
damage on a successful hit.
David attacks a Goblin and Jon rolls a natural “20.” The
attack is now a Grimcrit and inflicts Critical Damage to
the Goblin.
Jon rolls 2d4 to double the damage dice. The result is 6
so Jon doubles that for a total of 12. Since David has a +0
for Dexterity the total remains 12.
1d4 x 2 = 6 x2 = 12 + 0 = 12
But HOLD ON, we’re not done yet. Getting a
Grimcrit is a BIG DEAL in the GRIMDARK system, so
it is given a spotlight. The fun continues with a
second roll after the total Critical Damage is
determined. This second roll is not an actual attack,
but instead referred to as a “check.”
Make another roll and if the Dice Gods smile on
you, you’ll roll “20” again. The roll of a second “20” is
referred to as a “GRIMCRIT CRITICAL.” Yeah, it’s
silly. But say it often enough, and it’s fun. Shout it,
and it’s even more fun. “Grimcrit Critical!” GO ahead,
try shouting it now. You know you want to.
TIME SAVER TIP: If you’re a DM like me, you want to
consolidate time as much as possible. You can
always do the check right away after the Grimcrit is
rolled. Simply have the player make the check right
away while the adrenaline is pumping and the
players at the table are celebrating the Grimcrit
already.
Anyway, when a “Grimcrit Critical” happens, it’s a
REALLY BIG DEAL. When a player pulls off rolling
two “20’s” in a row, that’s amazing. In such a
situation, the enemy suffers SYSTEM SHOCK. Refer
to page 273 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG)
for the chart used with determining the effects of
SYSTEM SHOCK.
EXAMPLE 3.1
David the Gnome has scored a Grimcrit Critical against a
Goblin. David’s player, Jon, and the DM use the System
Shock chart in Chapter 9 of the DMG to see what terrible
thing happens to the Goblin.
The DM adjudicates that the Goblin has failed it’s CR 15
Constitution save so Jon rolls 1d10 resulting in “7”
meaning that the Goblin can’t take reactions and has
Disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks until the
end of its next turn.
I think that’s pretty awesome, but “Grimcrit
Criticals” don’t happen all the time. That’s why
there’s more to it than just that. So your player
scores a Grimcrit, applies the Critical Damage, and
checks for a Grimcrit Critical.
Now, the playing character gets to make a new
Attack Action as a result of rolling so well. Yes, this is
a whole new Action, not just an attack. So if the PC
gets three attacks during an Attack Action, it’s party
time as he or she gets three more swings at the bad
guy.
To read about the difference between an Attack
and an Attack Action refer to the “Actions In
Combat” section in Chapter 9 of the Player’s
Handbook.
EXAMPLE 3.2
David the Gnome scores a Grimcrit and his player, Jon,
completes steps 1-4 to determine the effects. Now
David is able to make another Attack Action. David only
has one attack because he doesn’t have the Extra Attack
feature. Jon rolls for David’s sling attack and the game
keeps on rolling.
10
 So that’s Critical Hits work in the GRIMDARK
system. The idea here is to make Critical Hits even
more exciting for the players and combat even more
dangerous against the monsters who already have a
bit of more of an edge on the PCs. Remember D&D is
all about having fun, so loosen up and let the dice fly.
How to Grimcrit in five complicated steps:
1. Roll a Grimcrit. This is usually a natural “20” on a d20.
2. Roll the twice as many damage dice and then double
the result. Add any modifiers after doubling the damage.
3. Roll the dice again. If you roll a second “20” then it’s a
Grimcrit Critical!
4. Use the chart on page 273 of the Dungeon M<aster’s
Guide to apply System Shock effects.
5. Player can make a new Attack Action with the
character scoring the Grimcrit.
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11
RESTING IN GRIMDARK
“It’s just a scratch! I’ve had worse.”
— Monty Python
Resting is discussed in Chapter 8 of the Player’s
Handbook. Everyone needs rest even big tough
adventurers. Even more so in GRIMDARK as Hit
Points are few and far between. Characters can take
short rests in the middle of a day and a long rest to
finish it. Healing and Resting function differently in
GRIMDARK. Refer to page 267 of the 5th edition
Dungeon Master’s Guide to use the “Slow Recovery”
variant rule, as well as, the “Gritty Realism” rules for
Resting. I suggest a slightly different approach to the
rules from Chapter 9 because GRIMDARK doesn’t
use Hit Dice for recovery.
Short Rest
A "short rest" is a brief amount of time taken to
relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength. In "game
time" it lasts at least 1 hour but no longer than 4
hours. During a "short rest" the characters take a
break to tend to personal needs, catnap and unwind.
Characters should do nothing strenuous than eating,
drinking, reading, and tending to wounds.
A character can regain 1 Hit Point for every hour
spent resting at the end of a “short rest,” up to the
character’s maximum Constitution modifier.
A Playing Character (PC) suffering from Critical
Damage can never recover by taking a “short rest.”
EXAMPLE 4.1
Heather is playing a 6th level Fighter with a Constitution
score of 16 (+3) named Ella. Heather and her fellow
players decide to have their characters take a 4 hour
"short rest." Heather's Fighter spends the time napping
and sharpening her sword after relieving herself and
munching on some dried meat. When the DM declares
that the "short rest" is over, Heather adds 3 hit points to
Ella's Hit Point Total. She cannot gain any more than 3
Hit Points because Ella’s Constitution modifier is +3.
GRIMDARK SNEAK PEEK

Long Rest
A "long rest" is an extended period of reduced
activity or inactivity, at least 8 hours long, during
which a character sleeps for at least 6 hours and
performs no more than 2 hours of light activity, such
as reading, talking, eating, or standing watch. If the
rest is disrupted by a period of strenuous activity —
at least 1 hour of walking, fighting, casting spells, or
similar adventuring activity — the characters must
begin the rest again to gain any benefit from it.
At the end of a "long rest," the player makes a
Constitution Saving Throw DC 15 for his or her
character. If the check is successful, the character
regains all lost hit points. On a failed check, the
character regains some Hit Points equal to the
character's Constitution modifier.
EXAMPLE 4.2
Ella is a 6th level Fighter with a Constitution score of 16
(+3) being played by Heather. After Ella finishes a “long
rest” during the gaming session, Heather makes a DC 15
Constitution Saving Throw for Ella. If the Saving Throw is
successful, Ella regains all of her lost Hit Points. But if the
check is unsuccessful then Ella will only regain 3 Hit Points.
A character can't benefit from more than one “long
rest” in 24 hours, and a character must have at least
1 hit point at the start of the rest to gain its benefits.
A Playing Character (PC) suffering from Critical
Damage can never recover by taking a “long rest.”
RECOVERING CRITICAL
DAMAGE
“I’m not dead! I’m getting better! I feel happy! I feel
happy!.”
— Monty Python
Critical Damage is damage inflicted by a Grimcrit.
It is an effect that prevents a Playing Character (PC)
from regaining Hit Points by resting or First Aid. It is
a type of debilitating injury that can only be healed
through a long period of recuperation. The rules for
Recuperating appear in Chapter 8 of the Player's
Handbook under "Downtime Activities."
Usually, a PC will not suffer Critical Damage
because only PCs inflict Grimcrits. But we all know
that sometimes adventuring groups fight among
themselves and if it's all fun and games until
someone suffers a Grimcrit.
Critical Damage cannot be healed by normal
means because of the grievous nature of the wound.
Resting, short or long, will do nothing to help.
Healing Kits will not help. And oddly enough,
Healing potions of any kind only work about 50% of
the time. The only exception to the rule is Divine
healing magic which will remove the effect and
restore Hit Points according to the description of the
spell used.
If a character suffering from the impact of Critical
Damage drinks a potion that heals damage, then the
DM should make a Percentage Check (50%) to see if
the potion works appropriately.
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ZERO LEVEL CHARACTERS
“A child is not a salmon mousse.”
— Barbara Ehrenreich
When we started playing GRIMDARK in my
homebrew game, we made characters at level 0.
There’s no advantage or disadvantage to doing this
other than to emphasize to the players that this is a
different version of D&D.
To make Zero Level Characters, you make the
character in the same way presented in Chapter 1 of
the Player’s Handbook. However, the character does
not benefit from the Features granted at First level.
That means that spellcasters can only cast cantrips
and have no “spells per day” yet.
Zero Level characters have +0 for their
Proficiency Bonus.
When my home group created GRIMDARK
characters to play through the “Ragamuffin”
campaign, we met for a Session Zero. During this
session, players created their characters and worked
with the DM to integrate the characters into the
campaign.
During Session Zero, I encouraged the players to
pay close attention to the “Personality and
Background” section of Chapter 4 in the Player’s
Handbook. The result was that most of the players
acquired a really nifty backstory for their characters
that helped reveal details that defined and
developed their character's personality beyond just
short sentences for Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws.
During our Session Zero, I was introduced to the
Warlock Emmet Cooperson of Clarion; Uye
Gudderson, scout of Dagus Mines; Jessie the Fighter
from the Mountain Village of Rockton; Lev the Wood
Elf and Sir Sven Prefontaine both hailing from the
town of DuBoistown; Dale Buckman the Archer of
Buckland; and Lady Rhallesi of Shamokin.
We discussed backstories and motivations. I
Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.
13
enjoyed my players' ideas and collaborative
storytelling to bring their characters to life in all our
minds.
SESSION ZERO
Rich, The DM, is talking with one of the players, Ian,
about his new GRIMDARK character.
Ian: My character is a Fighter named Dale Buckman. I
gave him a longbow, some arrows, and all of his starting
equipment from his Background and Class.
Rich: Dale Buckman. Alright. So what’s special about
Dale?
Ian: Well, Dale is a farmer and he hasn’t really done any
fighting. He learned to use his bow to protect his crops
and livestock.
Rich: Great idea! I love the idea of a Fighter who hasn’t
seen any real battle. And it fits well since he’s level 0.
(pause) So I told you that all the characters are from a
place called Seven Towns. Where is Dale from?
Ian: He’s from a small town called Buckland. His family
settled the town and its named after them. Dale doesn’t
have any political power in the town, but he is
considered a noble because of his heritage.
Rich: So he’s a farmer with a noble heritage.
Ian: Yeah, that’s why I chose the Noble background for
him.
Rich: That makes sense. So why is Dale coming along on
this adventure to find missing children? What’s his
motivation?
Ian: I don’t know yet. But maybe I’ll come up with
something while everyone else is talking about their
characters.
Rich: Cool. Well, thanks Ian. (Looks around the table.)
Okay, who’s next?
Starting off at level 0 might not seem like a lot of
fun but when you consider the fact that a GRIMDARK
character might only have 1 or 2 Hit Points,
surviving to advance to First level might be
considered exciting!
Try it out. The worst that can happen is all your
players will hate you and you’ll never be able to DM
a game again in your life.
Good times, right?
GRIMDARK SNEAK PEEK
GRIMDARK ARMOR
“No loss is acceptable. Take it from me.”
— Batman, Secret Origins of the JLA
In GRIMDARK
SOAKING OFF
Wearing Armor allows a Playing Character (PC)
to Soak Off damage. Don't worry. It's not as dirty as
it may sound.
Soaking Off is reminiscent of Damage Reduction
which has been used in previous editions of
Dungeons & Dragons and other D20 System
supplements.
In GRIMDARK only Playing Characters (PCs)
benefit from the Soaking Off rule. Monsters already
have all their fancy resistances and abilities that
made them hard to damage.
If a PC is wearing armor, then he or she can Soak
Off certain amounts of damage as long as the armor
remains intact and functional. The amount of
damage Soaked Off depends on the type of armor
(Light, Medium, or Heavy.) Shields do not Soak Off
damage. Each kind of armor has a Durability rating
that represents its ability to absorb damage
effectively. If the Durability of a piece of armor
reaches "0" then the armor is compromised and no
longer provides protection.
Soaking Off happens every time a character
wearing armor is hit so if a crazy Drow Ranger hits a
character four times with a pair of scimitars then
four Soak Off rolls would be made to reduce damage.
The concept of “soaking damage” was introduced
in the 1962 board game “Waterloo” produced by
Avalon Hill. In time it became a role-playing game
term most commonly recognized as a feature of the
White Wolf Publishing game called “Vampire the
Masquerade” published in 1991. No matter what the
origin might be in your mind, it’s terminology
featured in GRIMDARK referring to armor and its
ability to protect a character in battle.
I suggest using the following method for Soaking
Off: Light Armor reduces by 1d4, medium armor
reduces by 1d6, and heavy armor reduces by 1d8.
Therefore,, before any damage is applied to a PCs
Hit Points, reduce the total damage by the Soak Off
rating rolled, and then whatever damage remains
injures the PC accordingly.
EXAMPLE 5.1
Gary is playing a Cleric wearing Light Armor. Light Armor
provides a 1d4 Soak Off rating.
A Kobold attacks Gary’s Cleric and scores 6 points of
damage. Before subtracting 6 from the Cleric’s Hit Points
total, Gary roll 1d4 to Soak Off the damage getting a 2.
This reduces the 6 damage by 2 meaning the Cleric now
takes 4 damage.
6 damage – 2 Soak Off = 4 damage
In the previous edition of GRIMDARK, shields
provided the same Soak Off statistic as medium
armor. However, during playtesting it became quite
apparent that the combination of a shield and armor
reduced damage all too well. A character wearing
Heavy armor and wielding a shield was a terror to
behold. The result wasn't very GRIMDARK.
Also, variable Soaking Off ratings has now
replaced the previous static scores. In the prior
version of GRIMDARK, it looked like this: Light
Armor (5) Medium Armor (10) Heavy Armor (15).
Again, this was not very GRIMDARK. Using static
ratings allowed players the opportunity to
metagame and decide if their character could
withstand damage being dished out by the monster
being fought. Now the Soak Off rating is based on a
dice roll which could result in a high or low number.
There's nothing written in stone now.
DURABILITY
In the GRIMDARK system, agility makes you
harder to hit, and armor makes you harder to
damage. However, armor doesn’t last forever. As a
character benefits from Soaking Off during combat,
the armor begins to sop up the damage,
deteriorating and falling apart.
I suggest that armor have the following
Durability: Light Armor 15, Medium Armor 28, and
Heavy Armor 37.
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 Every time a hit is scored against armor, reduce
the Durability by 1. When this number drops to 0,
the protective equipment fails. It will no longer
protect the wearer until it is repaired.
Durability is the threshold of punishment that a
piece of armor can take without upkeep or repair.

EXAMPLE 5.2
Using the same situation in EXAMPLE 5.1, Gary’s Cleric
has suffered a total of 4 damage from a nasty little
Kobold.
The Cleric is wearing Light armor which has a Durability
rating of 15 and was undamaged before the Kobold
attacked.
Gary reduces the Durability of the Cleric’s Light armor
from 15 to 14 because the Kobold hit him once.
If the Kobold would have hit him twice, Durability would
have been reduced by 2 to result in 13.
Every successful hit reduces Durability by 1.

In the same way that characters can recover Hit

Points during "short and long rests," they can also
focus on fixing their armor during the same resting
periods.
During a "short rest" a character may make simple
repairs to damaged armor even if it fell to "0"
assuming that the DM did not declare (for whatever
THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH!
reason) that the armor was destroyed. The only call
for such a ruling might be in the case of armor falling
to "0" due to falling into lava, getting fried by a “A common mistake that people make when
dragon's breath weapon, being blasted by a spell like trying to design something completely
Fireball or Lightning Bolt, or getting zapped by a
foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of
complete fools.”
Disintegrate spell. After the "short rest" the
character can add 1d4 Durability to the armor in – Douglas Adams
question. If the character has a skill, tool, or
profession that aids in making such repairs then the
1d4 roll is made with Advantage. After a "long rest"
the process is the same except that the roll is a 1d6. So that brings us to the end of the GRIMDARK sneak
During downtime between adventures, the player peek. Your version of a “Dark Fantasy” story may
can declare to the DM that their character is not be the same as mine. And that’s okay. The main
repairing the damaged armor. In this case, the armor thing is to present the material in such a way that it
returns to its original Durability. In some cases, the is true to the nature of the crucial elements of
character may decide to find someone like a GRIMDARK.
Blacksmith to do this for them, requiring the use of
some gold. Using GRIMDARK in a Dungeons & Dragons
campaign can add the sense of “fear and trepidation”
that normal games of Dungeons & Dragons often
lack. The possibility of character death is a real thing,
and it makes the role-playing sessions more
interesting and “edge of your seat” because of it.

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. GRIMDARK SNEAK PEEK
15
 Give the system a try and then come back to let
me know the results. You can email me at
storyteller4hire@gmail.com with any comments
good bad or indifferent.
Also, you can stay up to date with GRIMDARK
material by visiting my blog called "Keep Rollin'
Sixes" at the following URL:

https://deadmanstales.wordpress.com

Remember above all else, D&D is a fun social

experience. The associations you make around the
table will be unprecedented. The exploits you
endure, the characters you design, the memories you
make—these will be yours forever.

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