The realms contain a lot of dark and gritty stuff in their deeper background lore. It's rarely focused on, but, as much as this may be contrary to current social opinion, I like that the darker stuff *Does* exist and is there... I think it *should* be there. I tend to enjoy story-serious games, and the darker material gives players something they can really unify against without moral worry. People who don't want to deal with it, obviously don't have to put it in their game, of course, or ever even address it; every DM's world is a little different after all, and I'm sure there's a lot of players who would rather play in a world where those things don't exist at all. I think though, as a resource for DM's toolkits, it's good that it's there, tucked mostly out of sight, most of the time.
Yeah I can agree with all of this. I like to occasionally touch on darker elements of society when I DM. I would do it more, but most people find it disturbing. And you also need players who are going to handle the subject manner maturely.
