How do I assure my group that I’m fine with the campaign being grittier? /u/dawn_of_dae DnD: Roll for Initiative!

I recently joined a group for my first ever DnD campaign. I even posted about it on this subreddit and you guys gave me amazing advice that made me lose the jitters and nervousness. My group is extremely experienced (they’ve been playing DnD for over 20 years) and they’ve been great to me. They encourage me to play the game my own way and revert stuff for me if something goes wrong so that I learn every mechanic properly. My DM even makes notes for me!

The campaign has been going great. We all live relatively close to each other and we are doing 2 sessions a week.

I’ve spoken to all of them about their previous campaigns and it’s pretty apparent they are making this campaign softer(?) because of me. They don’t want to make it too gritty/dark but I honestly think I’d enjoy that more.

It’s either because I’m an extremely new player so they don’t want to overwhelm me or because I’m the only girl in the group.

I’m comfortable around them. We speak a lot, even outside the game. I know they are nice people and they’ve taken great care of me. I don’t want them to hold back on the campaign because they’re uncomfortable + I think I’d genuinely enjoy a darker, grittier campaign.

How can I assure them it’s okay to go harder (no pun intended) without sounding like I’m being a pick me or trying too hard to impress them? I think there’s better options for roleplaying if the campaign is darker and grittier.

I recently joined a group for my first ever DnD campaign. I even posted about it on this subreddit and you guys gave me amazing advice that made me lose the jitters and nervousness. My group is extremely experienced (they’ve been playing DnD for over 20 years) and they’ve been great to me. They encourage me to play the game my own way and revert stuff for me if something goes wrong so that I learn every mechanic properly. My DM even makes notes for me!

The campaign has been going great. We all live relatively close to each other and we are doing 2 sessions a week.

I’ve spoken to all of them about their previous campaigns and it’s pretty apparent they are making this campaign softer(?) because of me. They don’t want to make it too gritty/dark but I honestly think I’d enjoy that more.

It’s either because I’m an extremely new player so they don’t want to overwhelm me or because I’m the only girl in the group.

I’m comfortable around them. We speak a lot, even outside the game. I know they are nice people and they’ve taken great care of me. I don’t want them to hold back on the campaign because they’re uncomfortable + I think I’d genuinely enjoy a darker, grittier campaign.

How can I assure them it’s okay to go harder (no pun intended) without sounding like I’m being a pick me or trying too hard to impress them? I think there’s better options for roleplaying if the campaign is darker and grittier.