WE, THE

DUNGEON
CW: Imperialism

A hack of We, The City by Teo Kai Xiang (knicknacks.substack.com)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Leo Doulton
Images via Illustrated Shakespeare Archive and Wikipedia Commons (Title, Empire, Delve, Hearth,
Renaissance, Corruption, End)
 ALL OF YOU ARE
THE DUNGEON
You are a castle, a lair, a place built by a mighty civilisation. The Dungeon is growing, warping, and
each of you represent a different aspect of the Dungeon; a yearning to be something else.

Through the ages and aeons, what will we become?

Before We Begin: SETUP

Pick your Domain (Empire, Delve, Hearth, Renaissance, Guardian, Corruption).
Everyone starts with 3 tokens.
Determine the length of your game; how many cycles do you wish to experience together?

Select 3-5 of the following traits for the Dungeon in this age: perpetually rainy, troubled by flocks,
unusually humid, isolated, putrid, trade route, cold and snow-covered, centre of scholarship, guild
hub, polluted, decaying, post-war, close to nature, bastion, underground, wretched hive, crime-
ridden, overly populous, ruled by tyrants, home to marvels

Draw a map of the Dungeon, divided into as many Areas as there are players, plus one. Take
turns inscribing upon scraps or post-its their Names, adjectives to describe their Physicality and
the Entities who inhabit them - until each Area has two scraps attached to it.

The Ages Pass: GAMEPLAY

At the start of each age, one of you is in power; you are in ASCENT. More than anyone else, you
are the Dungeon and have the power to CHANGE US in accordance with your DOMAIN by
spending tokens.

Everyone else is in DESCENT: they can RESIST your changes by imposing the costs of their
descent or COOPERATE by lending the power of their sphere. Choosing either earns you tokens.

The Age ends when whoever is in ascent runs out of tokens. They lose power and must surrender
it to someone else. The Dungeon needs a new energy; whoever has the most tokens is now in
ascent. Another age begins.

Aftermath: THE END

Play things out until you have finished the desired number of ages, Corruption has consumed the
Dungeon, or everyone’s tokens have run out.

Admire and reflect on your handiwork:

What have we achieved together?

What would live here, in the Dungeon that we are?
What changes do you regret making?
What changes do you wish you had made?
Do we renounce what we are, or embrace it?
 THE PASSING OF
AN AGE IN OUR LIFE
CHANGE US
You are in ascent. More than anyone else, you are the dungeon. You can…
PAY 2 TOKENS: Describe how an Area within us should change, following the guidance of your
DOMAIN.

As Empire, I think our lives would be improved with new defences between us and The Deep. I
write this on a scrap of paper and attach it to the Area.

RECOVER A TOKEN: You can recover a Token if you pay the price of your ASCENT.
As Empire, I pay the price by noting that this increases the tyranny of a local warlord. Only
licensed adventurers may enter The Deep.

Everyone else (in descent) can choose to resist or cooperate.

RESIST COOPERATE
EARN A TOKEN: Impose your DESCENT EARN A TOKEN: Lend your DOMAIN to the
upon the change sought. change sought.

As Delve, I believe the fortifications make it As Renaissance, I believe the guilds would
impossible for ordinary people to flee their seek to test their new traps and devices by
tyrants. I write this on a scrap of paper and making them part of the defences. I write this
attach it to the Area. on a scrap of paper and attach it to the Area.

A DAY IN OUR LIFE

Anyone in descent can describe how someone in the dungeon reacts to the changes, by telling us
a story of a day in their life. The one in ascent awards a token to whoever they wish, by whatever
metric they desire. Any tokens past the first come from their own pocket.

Hearth describes a humorous scene where the heroes can’t get past the wall, and so return to
their welcoming mothers.
Guardian describes the approval of many religious figures who wanted to contain the shadows.
Corruption describes a monster looming near the walls, scheming about how to enter.

ENDING THE AGE

Rinse and repeat the process of changing us until whoever is in ascent runs out of tokens.
Their time as the dominant energy within us is over, and it’s someone else’s time to shape and
define us.

Whoever has the most tokens is now in ascent.

In the event of a tie, whoever was less recently in ascent gets to be.
 YOU ARE

EMPIRE

You are every conquerer, every leader, and every zealot who wishes to purge this dungeon of its
foulness. To harness sword and sculpture to make this place your bastion. You are the dungeon
that yearns for power, order, cleansing fire, and a golden age without end.

DOMAIN

Order. Your power is mighty, arrogant, and aspirant.

How can we secure this place? What threat should we destroy today? What legacy shall we leave?

ASCENT

You impose stability and entrenchment, at the cost of tyranny.

Pay the price by: deciding who is protected, and who is cast out.

DESCENT

In your absence, we experience chaos and disorder.

Point out how the change leaves us open to the darkness and unruliness.

INFLUENCES. Space Marines, Paladins, The Chronicles of Narnia, Dictatorship

 YOU ARE

DELVE

You are every outcast, every despised adventurer, and every rebel who hopes this place can free
them from the old world’s filth. We are struggle and need. You are the dungeon that yearns for
danger, battles underground and scarred heroes, untold riches and knowledge.

DOMAIN

Struggle. Your power is outsider, desperate, and radical.

What hindrance shall we overcome today? Who is the real threat? What legends shall we create?

ASCENT

You inspire and protect us, at the cost of increasing darkness.

Pay the price by: bringing corruption into this district, making it less safe.

DESCENT

In your absence, we experience fear and oppression.

Point out how the change restricts ordinary people or leaves them less safe.

INFLUENCES. Dungeons and Dragons, Beowulf, Explorers, Colonialism

 YOU ARE

HEARTH

You are every homemaker, every sculptor, and every farmer who wants to make this a place of
safety. To be a sanctuary from the cruelties of the world. You are the dungeon that yearns for warm
firesides, beloved stories, growing old together and well-worn carpets.

DOMAIN

Home. Your power is comfortable, intimate, and safe.

What makes our dungeon our home? What bonds can we forge here? What makes us belong in
this place?

ASCENT

You create safe places, at the cost of erasing the past.

Pay the price by: stating which mysteries of the place will never be understood.

DESCENT

In your absence, we experience paranoia and isolation.

Point out how the change does not make the people any happier.

INFLUENCES. A Wizard of Earthsea, Howl’s Moving Castle, Nanny Ogg, Matriarchy

 YOU ARE

RENAISSANCE

You are every alchemist, every scholar, and every wizard who wants to bring an age of
enlightenment. To find and harness the mysteries of this world. You are the dungeon that yearns
for new magics, secrets revealed, great discoveries and grand devices.

DOMAIN

Progress. Your power is optimistic, eccentric, and energetic.

What new development can we pursue? How can new ideas solve our problems? What mystery
shall we unearth?

ASCENT

You impose new methods, at the cost of forgetting our limits.

Pay the price by: stating how the new innovation has unexpected negative consequences.

DESCENT

In your absence, we experience stagnation and ignorance.

Point out how the change makes real progress harder.

INFLUENCES. His Dark Materials, Leonardo da Vinci, Steampunk, Techno-utopianism

 YOU ARE

GUARDIAN

You are every watcher, every lore-keeper, and every storyteller warning of the need to remember
the poison. We are here to contain the world’s corruption. You are the dungeon that yearns for
strong walls, arcane wards, remembering the warnings of past ages, and the safety of everyday
life.

DOMAIN

Protection. Your power is cautious, defensive, and wise.

How can we hold the shadow back? What threats need containing? How is the corruption
entering our realm?

ASCENT

You hold the shadow back, at the cost of ignoring other needs.
Pay the price by: deciding which everyday need was ignored to deal with your concerns.

DESCENT

In your absence, we experience corruption and foolishness.

Point out how the change makes us vulnerable to the dark.

INFLUENCES. Lord of the Rings, Paradise Lost, Monasteries, Old Mentors

 YOU ARE

CORRUPTION

You are every so-called monster, shadow, and hungering malice who wishes to purge this place of
‘civilisation’ and make it your own. To be a place of festering liberty, free of the sun’s burning light.
You are the dungeon that yearns for monstrosity, strange cults and creatures, fear and revulsion.

DOMAIN
Poison. Your power is sinister, subtle, and eternal.
How can we undermine the intruders? What is their weakest point? How can we turn them to our
purposes?

ASCENT
You advance your tendrils, at the cost of exposing yourself.
Pay the price by: stating which enemy becomes aware of you as you reach outward.

DESCENT
In your absence, we experience hubris and over-extension.
Point out how the change is beyond our capacity to complete.

UNIQUE POWER
In the end, all attempts to make an eternal civilisation crumble.

When you gain tokens, you gain a number equal to half the Age number, rounding down. You gain
none in the First Age, one in the Second Age, two in the Fourth Age, three by the Sixth Age, and
so on.

Once you have been in Ascent, reset the Age count to zero.

Make sure your fellow players know about this power; if they’d rather play without Corruption,
choose a different Domain.

INFLUENCES. H.P. Lovecraft, Dungeons and Dragons, Godzilla, Apocalyptic Eschatology

A note on dungeons, exploration, settlement, and monstrosity

The history and values of tales of adventure, conquest, and settlement are closely tied to those of
real-life colonisation, subjugation, and imperialism. This game is built so that, by default, empires
fall. But it’s also built so that you might well end up colonising a place with alien creatures in it, so:

Empires caused and continue to cause millions to suffer, based on ideas of cultural and ethnic
supremacy that continue into the present day.

Be aware of that as you play. I wrote this for a group of friends I trust to explore such themes
safely, and acknowledge when fantasy tropes reflected real-life violence; the following is advice I’d
urge you to follow:

1. The Dungeon is in a place without any pre-existing cultures from peoples that are like humans
(orcs, goblins etc.)

If our community do force such cultures out of the dungeon, then they are definitely evil.

2. Our Dungeon-builders never kill sentients just because of what species they are. Yes, this is a
world where disputes can turn violent, but it is always over something - resources, religion,
politics - rather than ‘orcs are just innately violent’ or ‘goblins are happier as slaves’.

If they do kill sentients just because of their species, they are definitely evil.

3. Any creatures that are native to the Dungeon are truly uncanny beasts of legend - spirits of
pure violence, greed, hunger, and so on. These are monsters we all must face.

Yes, you may well still do things that are imperialistic (especially with Empire and Delve, but also
with any other Domain). That’s… almost the point. We can represent bad things without endorsing
them. The game ends with questions designed to help you reflect on what you made.

Just, please, don’t use this game to celebrate fantastical versions of real-life violence. And be
aware of your fellow-players’ boundaries. Because even if you think this is something that doesn’t
touch you at all, it’s very possible that your fellow players will have been on the receiving end of
imperialist violence and values themselves, or have family members who were.

Even if you don’t care about my thoughts, I’m sure you care about them. Be kind.

And if you feel uncomfortable about something a fellow-player is doing, you have my full
permission to stop them and say “I’d really rather that didn’t happen. Can you do something
else?” they have to do something else.

I wrote the rules, and that’s one of them.

Have fun, be kind, and be anti-imperialistic, even when your Domain isn’t.

- Eleonor Estragon

P.S. If you’re looking at the picture on the final page and asking ‘who are the real monsters?’, my
personal answer is ‘probably both sides, or neither’.