What Would You Do For a Dungeon Lord?

So, I've been thinking about making a Dungeon-Keeper-like RPG. But I have a couple questions I would like as many people to answer as possible. 1) You are a dungeon lord, owner of a dungeon. You have minions great and small under your command. What would interest you as a player to do? (Some examples: interacting with cities good, evil, and neutral; dealing with business around your dungeon like minion strikes and ; spending time building your dungeon with more rooms and traps) 2) You are a powerful individual in such a dungeon, working for a dungeon lord. You can command the minions said lord entrusts to you. What would interest you as a player to do?

construct elaborate Rube Goldberg style machines, that would eventually smash adventurers and give me their treasure <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=rube+goldberg+machine&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/search?q=rube+goldberg+machine&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X</a>

If I am understanding you correctly, the PC's would be the "bad-guys" and they would have a dungeon. Why not put them under a large city, like the capital, where they can have some fun? That way they could potentially take over a city once their dungeon got big and they attracted their evil minions. It would also open up lots of opportunities for them like kidnapping princesses, extorting businesses, taking over the thieves guild, and all kinds of things like that. The problem with "bad-guy" games is that a lot of times, they attract the immature players that think killing the other players is more fun than whatever mission the GM has set up for the party, so you need some kind of force or goal that ties them all together and punishes them if they hurt the group. Also screening out the misanthropes, when you invite players, is a good idea as well :) If I were in a game like that, I would want lots of politics, either between the players or between the players and NPCs so that we could build an alliance to take over the city or nation our dungeon was in. Mwhahaha, world domination by the dungeon keepers. :) This means we would need some means of trading with the surface (or maybe the underdark or both) to get supplies and new minions, etc. As a lieutenant for a dungeon lord, I personally would plot to overthrow the guy and then do what I mentioned above. I think it would be more fun if you had four players for example to give each of them a quarter of the dungeon and let them do what they want without a dungeon lord, but maybe some other force, like a deity or religion that they all share, that keeps them from attacking each other. Good luck with your game,

Thank you.

I think the individual working for the dungeon lord would be better in my opinion. Have the PCs start off as lackeys, henchmen, higher ranked minion, or whatever (assuming they start of at LVL.1). Have them work along side one another, in the beginning but have some incentive for PCs to "take initiative" above their fellow "comrades" later on. I agree in Daniel B.'s post, you don't want them all gunning for each other right off the bat. Find some reason for them not to, it's up to you. More than likely at least one of them will try to become top dog, creating a behind the curtains politic game of wavering alliances between players and back stabbing. While trying to remain in the graces and prove themselves to their respective superiors who will vouch for them, reward them, or take credit for their actions themselves and throw them under the bus if things go wrong. With the game being based on the bad guy's spectrum, you can do some really crazy and interesting things. Assassinations, illegal deals and trades, extortion, burglary and thieving, political corruption, backstabbing, black markets, kidnapping, starting wars, collecting and selling organs, torture, acts of terrorism, running supplies, arson, blackmail, bounty hunting, fight some of the forces of good, and so much more. I also like the working underneath a dungeon lord/master, because it also prevents the players from just doing whatever they want and saying "I am part of an evil organization and can do whatever I want." If they are part of an evil group, I really doubt their dungeon lord/master would want them doing evil things all over the place that are not in anyway shape or form is in the interests or benefits of their evil organization or dungeon lord/master. For example, randomly killing innocents and NPCs for no reason = this alerts local authorities of the PCs which in turn may threaten the rest of the evil organization or the dungeon lord/ master, which would be a big "no no". In fact, I would go so far as to have their first quest to be to kill a member of their own organization who is just going around killing people randomly and attracting too much attention, and must in turn be put down. And emphasize that if they become a liability to the organization, they can be easily expended or replaced. Which should hopefully squash any ideas of "I am bad guy = I can do whatever I want, with no concern of consequences." Another thing, is this all falls apart if the dungeon lord/master isn't someone who is feared, respected, honored, or whatever by his own men. If they are the dungeon lord/master there must be something that allows them to do so, and not be easily removed or replaced from their position. If there isn't, then what is stopping the PCs from just replacing him right off the bat? It's OK, to have the PCs eventually do so, but this has to be a really long term goal. But over all the key to all of this, is have a "good bad guy" as their boss/dungeon lord/master. A few others and I have actually posted a guide/tips/information in a previous thread about making a "good long lasting bad guy". Here: <a href="https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/399273/rookie-gm-needs-help-badly#post-409680" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/399273/rookie-gm-needs-help-badly#post-409680</a> You can use this to help create a villain/boss/dungeon lord/master for your PCs to follow. Or help your PCs create their own evil characters.

Killing off someone who went too far on the evil spectrum by causing more trouble than he's worth sets things up perfectly. Brilliant!