Dark Fantasy is awesome. It combines the magic of high fantasy with the grit of action movies. But D&D classes, only a few of them fit the bill. I, as a DM and a player, have my own opinions on this. So I figured I might as share them. Anyway, here they are; the best dark fantasy classes:
5. Bards: Not a conventional choice, as they are super charismatic and bubbly, but if you are going for an outcast character, these guys are perfect. They're wanderers with no real home, making music to earn a cheap penny, and people don't give them the respect that they might give an accomplished wizard or cleric. Combine that with the (tragically) common half-elf build, and you have a nomadic musician living on the streets and in cheap hotels because nobody respects them. That's what I call dark. Of course, bards can be respectable too, but in a dark fantasy setting you're going to want them as low-lifes.
4. Gunslinger: This fighter variant is obvious. Guns, grit, and a tragic backstory all combine to make a perfect dark character. It also works the best mechanically, with high damage outputs and a ton of attacks.
3. Rogues: This one is another obvious option. Sneaky thieves, lowly pickpckets, assassins, all of these are great examples of dark fantasy. low-lifes like the bard, but on another level. Fits in perfectly in a thieves den or a grimy tavern, and sneaking up to stab a monologueing devil is a great ending to a campaign.
2. Warlocks: A warlock is another obvious one, warlocks are ideal dark fantasy characters. They are literally guys who made a deal with the devil. Think "Death Note," but with insanely powerful eldritch invocations. It might not work as well as a spellcaster as bards, but it works excellently for roleplay, and the ability to make yourself a partly martial character wit hteh hexblade patron gives them extra combat versatility that the abrd lacks.
1. Blood Hunters: I think we can all agree, blood hutners were made for dark fantasy. They aren't fully canon, but who cares? they have all the martial abilities of the fighter, combined with the dark magic abilities of the warlock. The fact that they use their own blood to debuff their enemies makes them particualrly gruesome. They also are versatile, you can pick between strength and dexterity as a primary stat. Super useful.
Now, any class can work for dark fantasy, a wizard could have learned their magic from people thye killed, a ranger could be obsessed with the elimination of an entire species to the point of madness, etc. However, the classes above just have an element of grit, and darkness to them, which makes them perfect for dark fantasy.
I apologize it took me 2 years to come across this. (happened with a google search for dark fantasy classes/subclasses.
I think you have some good ideas, but here are some more. Any subclasses that deal with the occult or things that seem strange or supernatural, as well as those that allow you to provide monstrous transformations or allow you to take on the form of other creatures, can also really work for Dark Fantasy.
This includes: Beast Barbarians Whispers Bards Death Domain Clerics Grave Domain Clerics Trickery Domain Clerics Rune Knight fighters Psi Warrior Fighters Shadow Monks Long Death Monks Veangence Paladin Oathbreaker Paladin Fey Wanderer Ranger Horizon Walker Ranger Aberrant Mind Sorcerer Shadow Sorcerer Wild Magic Sorcerer Necromancer Wizard
I think all of those could work for a dark fantasy setting.
If you've ever played Call of Cthulhu then you will be running, not walking, to play a Great Old One Warlock (if that's the flavour you are after). Other than that any Warlock will do. With that said, anyone can sell their soul to a devil, what the rules don't say is just what they get out of it....
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Dark Fantasy is awesome. It combines the magic of high fantasy with the grit of action movies. But D&D classes, only a few of them fit the bill. I, as a DM and a player, have my own opinions on this. So I figured I might as share them. Anyway, here they are; the best dark fantasy classes:
5. Bards: Not a conventional choice, as they are super charismatic and bubbly, but if you are going for an outcast character, these guys are perfect. They're wanderers with no real home, making music to earn a cheap penny, and people don't give them the respect that they might give an accomplished wizard or cleric. Combine that with the (tragically) common half-elf build, and you have a nomadic musician living on the streets and in cheap hotels because nobody respects them. That's what I call dark. Of course, bards can be respectable too, but in a dark fantasy setting you're going to want them as low-lifes.
4. Gunslinger: This fighter variant is obvious. Guns, grit, and a tragic backstory all combine to make a perfect dark character. It also works the best mechanically, with high damage outputs and a ton of attacks.
3. Rogues: This one is another obvious option. Sneaky thieves, lowly pickpckets, assassins, all of these are great examples of dark fantasy. low-lifes like the bard, but on another level. Fits in perfectly in a thieves den or a grimy tavern, and sneaking up to stab a monologueing devil is a great ending to a campaign.
2. Warlocks: A warlock is another obvious one, warlocks are ideal dark fantasy characters. They are literally guys who made a deal with the devil. Think "Death Note," but with insanely powerful eldritch invocations. It might not work as well as a spellcaster as bards, but it works excellently for roleplay, and the ability to make yourself a partly martial character wit hteh hexblade patron gives them extra combat versatility that the abrd lacks.
1. Blood Hunters: I think we can all agree, blood hutners were made for dark fantasy. They aren't fully canon, but who cares? they have all the martial abilities of the fighter, combined with the dark magic abilities of the warlock. The fact that they use their own blood to debuff their enemies makes them particualrly gruesome. They also are versatile, you can pick between strength and dexterity as a primary stat. Super useful.
Now, any class can work for dark fantasy, a wizard could have learned their magic from people thye killed, a ranger could be obsessed with the elimination of an entire species to the point of madness, etc. However, the classes above just have an element of grit, and darkness to them, which makes them perfect for dark fantasy.
It is done.
I apologize it took me 2 years to come across this. (happened with a google search for dark fantasy classes/subclasses.
I think you have some good ideas, but here are some more. Any subclasses that deal with the occult or things that seem strange or supernatural, as well as those that allow you to provide monstrous transformations or allow you to take on the form of other creatures, can also really work for Dark Fantasy.
This includes:
Beast Barbarians
Whispers Bards
Death Domain Clerics
Grave Domain Clerics
Trickery Domain Clerics
Rune Knight fighters
Psi Warrior Fighters
Shadow Monks
Long Death Monks
Veangence Paladin
Oathbreaker Paladin
Fey Wanderer Ranger
Horizon Walker Ranger
Aberrant Mind Sorcerer
Shadow Sorcerer
Wild Magic Sorcerer
Necromancer Wizard
I think all of those could work for a dark fantasy setting.
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If you've ever played Call of Cthulhu then you will be running, not walking, to play a Great Old One Warlock (if that's the flavour you are after). Other than that any Warlock will do. With that said, anyone can sell their soul to a devil, what the rules don't say is just what they get out of it....