'Dark N' Gritty' as realism?

[Ishmayl-Retired]

I was going to finally jump in and speak on the subject since I never had a chance to over the last few weeks, and now Slapzilla has said my thoughts better than I could have :(  I'm a loser....

All I would add is that I think it's worth mentioning that everyone has different interpretations of even well-defined words - such as "dark" and "gritty" and "real."  What is considered dark and gritty and real to one campaign creator may seem "light" and "fluffy" and "fantastical" to another, and the most important thing is to just create what feels best to you for the overall theme of the world, and not worry about trying to fit your campaign within the context of a few words.

[Slapzilla]

Thanks, Ishmayl.

You bring up a good point, too.  Context.  I've always figured a dwarf who learned how to fight (secretly worshiping Klangendin, the dwarven god of war) and spontaneously becoming a monk deep within a drow prison was pretty much hardcore for bad-a$$ery.  Well, if the campaign starts out in the drow prison and everyone has a similar story then it becomes (relatively) normal to be a bada$$.  Dark and Gritty are no more real than the Care Bears or the Smurfs.  It's what you make of it that makes it fun.  Screw 'real'.  As Ishmayl implies, as long as it's fun, who cares about anything else?