DGRPG Design Diary #1: Concept, Mood and Themes

Concept

The elevator pitch:

The characters are minions of a fantasy villain. They must guard the dungeon, fend off bands of adventurers, and curry favour with their superiors.

Synopsis:

The more detailed overview:

The Doom Mountains are home to all kinds of evil Overlords, each of whom maintains a Fortress with a Dungeon beneath. The Overlords spend their time competing for status and power by vying to lure Adventurers into their trap-filled Dungeons. Characters are minions in the employ of these Overlords, tasked with guarding Treasure, snaring Adventurers, and vying for the Favour of their Superiors.

Mood

Generally comedic, being a cynical and satirical take on oppressive working environments, particularly ones rife with drudgery, petty politics, clueless management and resentful staff. If the PCs succeed it is in spite of their situation; if they fail they will need to find someone to take the blame. Smush together Dungeons & Dragons, Office Space, Paranoia, Brazil and Dilbert, and add a sprinkling of Nineteen Eighty-Four and a dash of Blackadder.

It is also clear that the PCs are on the "wrong" side of the narrative conventions that guide most fantasy milieus, in which good prevails, heroes triumph, iniquity is punished and villains are overthrown. Popular fantasy tropes are in full effect, but it is entirely possible (and indeed encouraged) for them to be subverted by the PCs.

Themes

• Servitude. Overlords care little for their minions, seeing them as entirely expendable and replaceable. However, those who exhibit exceptional loyalty may be deemed worthy of promotion. Is that possibility enough for you to pledge yourself to a system that doesn't care if you live or die?
• Defiance. Minions are expected to be unfailingly diligent and obedient, and troublemakers are ruthlessly eliminated. Even in the most oppressive circumstances, though, there are means of quiet rebellion - from surly insolence to shirking responsibility, from malicious compliance to outright sabotage. But what do such acts ultimately achieve?
• Hierarchy. The dungeon is organised along strict hierarchical lines, with the Overlord at the top and Minions at the bottom. Kiss up to those above to gain their favour; kick down at those below to keep them from overtaking you.
• Survival. It's not uncommon for the PCs to be thrown into life-or-death situations - perhaps it's a party of Adventurers slaughtering their way through the dungeon, perhaps it's a Wandering Monster that's made its way up from the depths. Either way it's a struggle to stay alive, and there's always a cost.