Lower and Darker fantasy systems?

I can't be the only one!

I have looked at other systems; Conan, Dungeon Crawl Classics, OSR's, Index Card RPG, etc... or using D20 or GURPS, or converting 5e with Hardcore Mode and custom Hacks to trim the overly complicated 5e tactics game, into just the framework to of d20+mod vs DC (more like X-DM, getting rid of Classes totally). I don't want character creation or game-play to be complicated by rules, rather I'd like to just ask what the player wants to be working towards and improving, to develop from a normal person into a seasoned adventurer.

I am not interested in the Settings Lores, more than ideas to steal, so it's only the Rule-base I am interested in using and other the most minimal parts of whatever rules I need, to give the players just enough crunch to feel secure in their abilities and how the world works. I'm more interested in Narrative-based games and out-of-the-box thinking, rather than Tactics-heavy games that define combat and make it the primary focus, but I still want it to be satisfying...

I'd love to open a dialog with others of similar interest, and discuss other systems or Custom D20(3.5e) and 5e Hacks

For Reference ATM the best I have found: 5e base (no feats, no classes) with 5e Hardcore Mode particularly making Magic volatile, with a Hexcrawl system with charts online and the 5e Kingdoms book, both stripped of the excess... taking tables from Dungeon Crawl Classic's, Warhammer Fantasy and any others I find as reference and influence for Fumble/Encounter and other custom random tables for a more procedurally generated world.

Back in D&D 3.5 there was a rules variant called E6 that made D&D much more low fantasy and kept the play style gritty.
The gist of the rules adaptations is that 6th level is as high as a character can go. XP gained after 6th level is used to earn a feat or a spell or add an effective Carter level (if your character is a spellcaster). Creatures stay dangerous, outlandish powers are hard to come by, magic is fickle, rare and dangerous, combat is usually a serious affair as healing is also limited.

E6 is one of my favorite ways to play D&D. You should be able to easily find the full ruleset adaptation online

There is a slimmed down rulesest called Five Torches Deep. Basically 5e but simplified. @Kalajel could explain more.

I've also played a 5e heavy metal themed hack called What Lies Below. Really streamlined.

Beyond the Wall is a rules light d20 system.

Knave goes even further. The whole rule book is less than 10 pages, including spells. Again, very familiar mechanics, just few of them. Rangers of Midden Vale takes that core from Knave and expands it in his ways.

The game you are looking for is Shadow of the Demon Lord!

Ahh yes, I see we have virtually the same gaming tastes! I would hereby like to recommend The Resistance Toolbox by Rowan, Rook and Decard.

The difficulty can be easily adjusted by how many abilities, skills and domains the characters receive and the possibilities are virtually endless. To give you an idea, I am currently in the process of tinkering with the system to create a narrative-based game that would be similar to DCC - without all the crunch but still with the sweet randomness and 0-level funnels.

It also hits just the sweet spot between being narrative based, but still placing a huge tension when you roll the dice.

You can see it in action in games such as Spire or Heart.

Aside from that, I agree with Nezz on Shadow of the Demon Lord!

I love all the suggestions thank you... gonna look through those... especially Resistance and 5 Torches deep, might be a better base to use then 5e, thanks!

Keep them coming if you got something you'd like to share with me!

I definitely second this as well. My partner is ramping up to run a game of it. She's edited the setting some to fit her own needs, but the base is solid.

There are literally so many systems in this space, including a ton in the neo-OSR, some of which have already been mentioned. (Knave, Best Left Buried, Beyond the Wall, but also The Black Hack and its many offspring such as By This Axe I Hack and Black Sword Hack, The White Hack, Macchiato Monsters, For Coin and Blood, Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells, Eyes Beyond the Torchlight, the list goes on.)

If you like 5e, Qralloq has already mentioned Five Torches Deep, but you should also look at Into the Unknown, which is a considerably grittier OSR blend, and then there's stuff like the new edition of Midnight. It's more of a setting than anything, but is all about dark forces and magic being rare and all that.

Personal favorites in the genre of dark fantasy for me are Free League's Forbidden Lands and Symbaroum, both of which have their own systems though the latter now has a (well-respected, but softer) 5e port, Mork Borg (leaning artpunk and absurdist), and most definitely Low Fantasy Gaming from Pick Pocket Press. I'd also agree with nezz and others that Shadow of the Demon Lord is pretty special game, though it can get pretty hairy, options-wise, at higher levels. Also bear in mind it's not a game that's difficult to tweak in terms of the level of metal and gore and edgelordishness you do or don't want in your game. Something like Mork Borg is a little harder to tune.

If you like PbtA games, definitely look at Freebooters on the Frontier and the forthcoming Stonetop, and if you want a LotR bent maybe check out Against the Dark Master. Ironsworn is always worth a look for dark fantasy too, for inspiration if nothing else.

If you dig minimalist games, be sure to look at Tiny Dungeon, Pocket Fantasy and EZD6, all of which can be tuned towards lower fantasy. And without knowing more about what you're after, the last game I'll recommend looking at is Warlock! by Fire Ruby Designs. It's basically a nice, light dark fantasy game intended to let people play Warhammer content without needing to mess with Warhammer itself.

If you're really looking for serious character progression to be a part of things, many of the level-based systems mentioned here excel at that, but I'd call out SotDL, Symbaroum, Forbidden Lands and LFG as maybe being of particular interest. Just be careful -- the first couple can get a little mired in optimization woes if you have those kinds of players.

Oops, a bit late here... Yes @Qralloq and @Harrigan are both right in there there are a few O5R options out there like Five Torches Deep and Into The Unknown, both available for rather cheap on DrivethruRPG.com. Another one such O5R which impressed me is RedHack, also available on DrivethruRPG. You could always also have a look at ba5ic which is, you guessed it, also available on DrivethruRPG.

oh, also there's 17th century minimalist.

ba5ic looks quite good!

Yeah yea ye! All these are really cool. 5TD is probably to easier to get into a further hack and all of these have had amazing features. Thanks so much everyone!

Huzzah! Run some of them! ;)

(There are many of us here with similar predilections...)

OKay... so damn

Knave is kinda my current favorite system concept to get rid of a lot of the problems I have with 5e and bring the power back into control to allow low-magic and grim-fantasy I think I am craving.

Shadow of the Demon Lord is the edge-lordiest thing I've ever read, and I kind of love it and kind of think it's so over-done I might cringe into a corner. It would make a great way to play out my Diabloesque campaign desires... but damn... just damn... and not what I think of when I look for low-fantasy. great ideas for insanity, corrupt and curse effects and more... maybe in the future.

I want to love narrative systems like Blades in the Dark (minus the setting, which kinda killed it for me), I forget the relation system name, etc.

So watcha gonna do with all this gaming goodness? 😏