Underlings is a game first and foremost about the relationship and power dynamic between your character and their Villain. This is not to say you can't escape from the dynamic you're in at the start of the game (and indeed, we expect this will be a large theme for many characters!) but even in doing, so the nature of the dynamic will colour your character throughout the game.

The exact nature of this dynamic is very flexible, however. As part of character creation you will be asked to tell the GMs about how the dynamic between Villain and Underling works, as well as some OOC guidance about how you, as a player, want to explore that dynamic. For some it will be a lighthearted thing, like an annoying boss that always seems to be giving you contradictory instructions. For others, this might be a deep exploration of unhealthy relationships - the controlling nature of a Villain could easily be an exploration for abuse dynamics. Or perhaps you're in it for the thrill of romantic or sexual tension between an Underling and a Villain. The choice is yours!

Because of the variation in these stories, the GMs will be keeping in mind the very personal nature of each of your stories throughout the game, and aiming to ensure you can explore this in the way that is most interesting to you. Of course, this all might means there are some themes you might prefer to steer clear of, which you should let us know. Take a look at Conduct and Themes for what topics might come up, and be sure to let us know which ones you'd like to either engage in or avoid.

The other major theme of the game is politics. This will primarily be explored through the Union, a chance for your character to take back some power, and shape the union however you want. While you will have a lot more power to directly influence the Union, this will largely require persuading other players to support your ideas. As such, how this plays out will largely be down to your interactions with other characters, and not something the GMs will dictate the outcome of.

As the name suggests, Villains are evil. This game will regularly involve you being required to do the evil bidding of your Villain, and there are likely to be consequences for failing to do so (though that's not to say you can't come up with creative solutions to these demands). However, what flavour of evil this will be will be determined by the nature of your villain, and you should let us know if there are any topics you want to avoid, such as things in the Conduct and Themes.

The game will mainly take place in and around the trope-tastic land of Nequam. The world plays host to Villains of all kinds - mysterious Vampires in the castles seemingly always surrounded by lightning, Cult Temples, and giant office blocks of faceless coporations happily coexist next to each other, with no-one batting an eye. Villains are caught up in their own little worlds enacting their schemes that they're unlikely to worry about what's going on with their neighbours.

The world is a blend of all differnet genres, and in designing it we've taken inspiration from a wide range of media. If there's anything that could plausibly be described as a villain with some kind of minion, you can probably play that concept in this game!

Underlings has a mix of PvE and PvP elements in this game. Turnsheets will often involve mostly PvE actions - your character (and possibly others) going out and doing things in the world, such as investigating plots and doing your Villain's bidding. There is a chance some of these things will bring you into conflict with other players (e.g. if your villains have conflicting goals) but there will be very few situations in which you'll end up unexpectedly coming into conflict with other players as part of your actions (obviously if you turnsheet to do so that's a different situation entirely!)

One area where PvP is more likely to be present is during voting - if someone disagrees with a motion then you'll have to persuade other characters to your side during sessions. Voting will be anonymous, but you'll know how many people voted each way for the motions, so we anticipate there being (social) conflict between chracters in that context.

While it is by no means a requirement, some people fine it useful to have an idea of goals for the character ahead of the game, or it might be goals that you have for your character (which might differ from what the character wants). This section is just to give you a rough sense of what sort of things you might be able to achieve during the course of the game:

• Significant power for the Union. We anticipate those so inclined will be able to make significant strides to fleshing out the Union through in session |motions, and using the weight of the union to make a difference in the world during turnsheets.
• Meaningful change in the dynamic between you and your villain. This can of course make different forms, but this is not something that will be set in stone, and can change, whether through deliberate roleplaying with your Villain, or through the consequences of your other actions. It might be possible to escape your villain entirely - if you end up in some other role related to Underlings, that is perfectly fine. Attempting to overthrow your villain or getting power to become your own villain outright is achieveable, but will take significant effort, and might result in your character needing to be retired if this happens too soon (though if we think this is likely to come up we will co-ordinate with you about what direction you want the story to go in before you lock yourself into a particular outcome).
• Notable changes to the world and signficant impact to things like the things happening in current events. Villains outsource a lot of the significant parts of a plan to their underling, and as such they often have the connections and resources to impact the world, even if your Villain is liable to take all the credit.

This game will be for you if you enjoy creating characters and defining relationships to an NPC. The GMs will develop personal plot for you based on your character creation decisions.

This game is exploring power dynamics, and doing the bidding of your Villain. You will be able to subvert these things over the course of the game, and maybe even eventually overthrow your Villain, but you're likely to face (IC) consequences for this. This is not a game about achieving unlimited power for yourself - while this is an entirely legitimate character goal for you to have, it will take a lot of work to achieve this, and eventually achieving this might lead to your character becoming unplayable (we will make this clear if this is likely to happen, and work with you to ensure this is resolved in the most fun way for you, should it arise).

If you enjoying politics, and persuading other players to your point of view, this is a game for you. Bear in mind this has the potential to bring you into more direct conflict with other characters, and to make sure to keep such conflicts between the characters in the game, not between players Out of Character.

We have drawn inspiration from a huge number of different media sources. Here are just a few of our top picks:

• Renfield (Film)
• What We Do In The Shadows (TV Series)
• Megamind (Film)
• Despicable Me (Film)
• Our Flag Means Death (TV Series)
• The Boys (TV Series)

We would also like to thank some other LARPs, which we have drawn inspiration from, for both themes and game design ideas:

• Origin Story
• CRISIS!
• Redemption
• Ultimate Monster Battle Arena
• Reginae Regis