Random Tables for Dark Fantasy in Titles and PDFs

Here we are looking at pdf and book titles for Horror on Drive Thru RPG.

PDF Guides - all | horror | dark fantasy | fantasy

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Starting Points

Dark fantasy has elements of horror, a darker tone and themes of dread and gloom.

It is supported in rpgs such as Mörk Borg, The Black Company, Ironsworn, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (section in this guide), Shadow of the Demon Lord and Blades in the Dark. Even D&D has Ravenloft.

Fantasy Name Generators has all kind of simple name and description tools. Start with Necromancers, Curse Names and Ghosts. Then some descriptions with a unique Demon Description and Battlefield Descriptions.

And then curses befall people for all sorts of reason, so here are some Curse Names (Fantay Name Generators) and Curse Descriptions (DnD Speak)

For MORK BORG, SCVMBIRTHER has a Mork Borg Character Generator. and the Monster Approaches is a Mork Borg monster creator. Or try a Mork Borg Dungeon from DNGNGEN.

There is a companion guide for Tools, Titles & Tables for Horror.

Jan 2026: Added in tools, updated titles. Jan 2025: Added new titles and Other section.

Major Tools, Titles & Tables

Glumdark is a generator site with many Dark Fantasy options. Characters include A Life in Three Acts, NPC Generator with portrait and Normal People. A place to get lost in Cabin in the Woods. Items include Books of the Damned to Things found in a Rickity Shack and Abhorrent Artifacts.

DND Speak has lots of darker themes, including Dark Gifts, something Scary in the Forest, a Hag or Witch, Curse Descriptions or Eldritch Horrors.

The Dread Thingonomicon from Raging Swan Press is a collection of 400+ pages of fantasy dread-themed lists.
For system-neutral rpg goodness, Larcenous Designs has The GamesMaster's Apprentice: Horror Deck. A deck of 60 cards with prompts, dice rolls, npc traits, names and more for solo inspiration. Great for solo too.
The Book of Random Tables: Grimdark from dicegeeks has many d100 tables for items, npcs, names and other elements.
From Chaos Factory Books there is the Teratogenicon, a tome for generating dark fantasy monsters. they also have the Dark Fantasy Everything Bundle, full of dark fantasy goodies.

Solo Titles and Gamebooks

Horror is easier to get the atmosphere right if you're playing alone.....

By Cassi Mothwin is Tangled Blessings: 1-2 Player Magic Academy Horror, where you can play as either a solo journalling or 2-player rpg in a spooky magical acadamy. Powered by tarot cards.
English Eerie: Rural Horror Storytelling Game for One Player from Trollish Delver Games is a pay-what-you-want journalling game with five scenarios.
Ironsworn from Shawn Tomkin is one of the best known solo games (and free! in pdf form), where the narrative is pushed forward by powerful vows made by the protagonist(s).
Dracula: Curse of the Vampire from ACE Gamebooks Roleplay is a gamebook by Jonathan Green. It retells the story of Dracula in a choose-your-own-adventure style with multiple characters and a basic game system.
The Shadow Thief books by David Lowrie are published by Black Dog Gamebooks. A trilogy starting with Jailbreak sees you playing as a thief, breaking out of imprisonment and then bringing justice to your foes in a city setting in later books.

Free and Pay What You Want Options

Some lesser known generators include try some Bodies (Chartopia) or performing Dark Rituals (7th Sanctum).

For pay-what-you-want and free digital titles...

Dark Fantasy Places from Chaos Factory Books is a PWYW title has a collection of tables and short essays for dark villages, forests and other places.Pink Dice Bag Publishing gives us of 100 Dark and Spooky Names,
Never Engine has 100 Spooky Yet Mundane Dungeon Encounters
d100 Mundane Items (for Mörk Borg) from Petersender with 100 dark fantasy items. Plus lots of clues for other Mork Borg PWYW titles.
47 Villainous Cults, Orders and Guilds to Thwart Your Heroes from Blackstone Entertainment has organisations for your horror adventures.
Never Engine has the Pay What You Want Weird Shit Generator (Fantasy)

Smaller Titles

For filling places with odd things, Skirmisher Publishing has 100 Oddities for a Creepy House and 100 Oddities for a Graveyard.
1d100 Plus Haunting Events from Lore Wise Games is a list of 100 unique ghost activity events for your spooky game.
A staple of dark fantasy and horror is cults, so Terry Herc has d100 Cults with brief information for each.
100 Superstitions for a Fantasy Setting and 100 Creepy Things and Events to Find in a Spooky House from Azukail Games. Chaos Factory Books has Dark Fantasy Characters and 100 Magic Weapons (Dark Fantasy) along with many other dark fantasy titles. Including 100 Dark Fantasy Backgrounds.
Chaos Factory Books has Dark Fantasy Characters and 100 Magic Weapons (Dark Fantasy) along with many other dark fantasy titles. Including 100 Dark Fantasy Backgrounds.

Ravenloft and D&D

D&D has a different slant on horror, and Curse of Strahd and Ravenloft are popular settings.

For random tables in pdf format there is a (PWYW) DM's Guild collection of extra encounters for curse of Strahd
Next are a series of random tables for gothic horror - Ravenloft Tables
Finally I have a few spooky titles including Spooky Encounter Tables and Spooky One-Shot Adventures

Other Titles

A mix of titles that don't fit in other categories

For a deck of dark fantasy hooks try Sidequest Decks: Horror Fantasy from Inkwell Ideas.
For adventure ideas, Atelier Clandestin has 200 Dark Fantasy Odd Situations with a couple of lines to each for inspiration.
From Doppelgänger Publishing is 100 Dark Fantasy Locations, but each has lots of detail.