The party is outmatched. The enemy is a zealot of light who wants to "purify" the world (a great foil for dark heroes).
But what happens when the hero doesn’t wear white? What happens when the party consists of outcasts, anti-heroes, reformed necromancers, and pragmatic rogues? This is the rising subgenre of the . dark hero party save
Imagine this scenario: The party saves the capital city from a dragon by channeling the life force of the corrupt king into a forbidden rune. The dragon dies. The king dies. The city is saved. The party is outmatched
This makes the save more dramatic than any golden-haired knight charging a dragon. The knight doesn't understand what he risks. The dark hero does. And he does it anyway. The next time your party faces a world-ending threat, ignore the call to be virtuous. Be effective. Be clever. Be dark. What happens when the party consists of outcasts,