Dungeons, Incorporated: Project Stardust

A Galactic Empire Middle Management Nightmare

As we were creating Dungeons, Incorporated as part of what become Three Games of Corporate Little Deaths, we figured it was only a matter of time before someone would ask the inevitable question: "What if the corporate dystopia were... in space?" Well, ask and you shall receive. Project Stardust takes our beloved middle management nightmare and transplants it to the Galactic Empire, where you'll play Imperial middle managers caught between the Emperor's impossible KPIs and the whining of unionized maintenance droids, accuracy-challenged stormtroopers, and that one thermal exhaust port that just won't stop filing safety complaints.

This expansion maintains all the soul-crushing mechanics of the original—the Grim Points, the Career Trauma, the Lumbergh Rule—while adding that special Star Wars flavor of bureaucratic incompetence that somehow built a moon-sized weapon with a fatal design flaw. You'll navigate everything from Vader's anger management requirements to occupational safety violations in the trash compactor, all while trying to survive four Construction Phases without some farm boy with daddy issues ruining your quarterly metrics. It's the perfect blend of corporate satire and space opera, guaranteed to make you question whether the exit interview for middle management is a meeting with Lord Vader.


Legal Disclaimer: This is a work of parody and satire protected under fair use. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Disney, Lucasfilm, or any other galactic corporate overlords. Any resemblance to actual space fascists, living or dead, or actual corporate management practices, evil or just mundane, is purely coincidental. Please don't send the Imperial Security Bureau (or Disney's legal team) after us—we're just humble game designers trying to find mirth in our "interesting times," and our rebel base is not at all posh.


User Story Format

"As a [STAKEHOLDER], I want [DEMAND], [JUSTIFICATION]"

Roll 3d6 three times (once for each table) to generate a complete Curse.

Sample Generated User Stories

Example 1:

  • Stakeholder: Stormtrooper accuracy improvement committee
  • Demand: All thermal exhaust ports to be Alderaanian Designation Act compliant
  • Justification: because we're implementing Sith Agility methodology Empire-wide

Result: "As the Stormtrooper accuracy improvement committee, I want all thermal exhaust ports to be ADA compliant, because we're implementing Sith Agility methodology Empire-wide."

Example 2:

  • Stakeholder: Vader's anger management coach
  • Demand: Death Star construction metrics to include employee satisfaction scores
  • Justification: because Vader is threatening to Force-choke the entire budget

Result: "As Vader's anger management coach, I want Death Star construction metrics to include employee satisfaction scores, because Vader is threatening to Force-choke the entire budget." (-2 DPI)

Department Adaptations

Original → Star Wars Equivalent:

  • Trap Operations → Superlaser Operations & Engineering
  • Creature Resources → Stormtrooper Resources & Deployment
  • Structural Integrity → Death Star Integrity & Maintenance
  • Adventurer Experience → Rebel Prisoner Experience & Interrogation
  • Regulatory Compliance → Imperial Compliance & Dark Side Arts

Flavor Additions

Manager Traits (Star Wars Edition):

  • Yes Admiral: +1 Capacity when agreeing with Imperial command, but you must always salute (even during emergencies)
  • Vision Seer: Once per cycle, re-roll a failed Curse using Force precognition, but lose 1 DPI if Vader senses your fear
  • Bureaucrat Whisperer: +1 on Imperial Charm rolls, but +1 Grim Point from dealing with red tape

Victory Condition: Survive 4 Construction Phases without the Death Star (or your sanity) being destroyed by a farm boy with daddy issues.

Defeat Condition: DPI hits 0. The Emperor dissolves the project via hologram while Vader Force-chokes the APM. Everyone updates their HoloLinkedIn to "Open to Galactic Opportunities."

Table 1: STAKEHOLDER (3d6)

Roll

Stakeholder

3

Galen Erso's guilt-ridden hologram

4

Unionized maintenance droids

5

Death Star Quality Assurance inspector

6

Imperial Safety & Health Administration

7

Krennic's personal brand consultant

8

Tarkin Doctrine compliance officer

9

Stormtrooper accuracy improvement committee

10

Death Star focus group survivors

11

Imperial R&D budget oversight

12

Superlaser calibration technician

13

Exhaust port design review board

14

Emperor's strategic planning AI

15

Death Star user experience researcher

16

Imperial procurement fraud investigator

17

Vader's anger management coach

18

The Dark Side wellness coordinator

Table 2: DEMAND (3d6)

Roll

Demand

3

All planet-killing to be carbon-neutral and sustainable

4

Proper mental health coverage for planet-destroyer operators

5

Work-from-Star-Destroyer flexibility options

6

Exhaust port security to meet minimum viable paranoia standards

7

All thermal exhaust ports to be ADA compliant

8

Stormtrooper accuracy training aligned with ISO 9001 standards

9

Death Star construction metrics to include employee satisfaction scores

10

Terror experiences to have better user journey mapping

11

All project codenames translated into Binary Sunset for inclusivity

12

360-degree feedback from destroyed civilizations

13

Emotional support porgs for stressed Imperial officers

14

Kyber crystal sourcing to meet ethical mining standards

15

Team building exercises with actual survival rates above 12%

16

Performance reviews conducted via lightsaber combat simulation

17

Hot desk policy extended to all detention centers

18

AI-driven optimization of fear algorithms

Table 3: JUSTIFICATION (3d6)

Roll

Justification

3

"to comply with the new Galactic Privacy Protection Regulation"

4

"to achieve our Q4 planet-destruction KPIs"

5

"because the Rebel Alliance has better Holonet reviews"

6

"to maintain our ISO 666-EMPIRE certification"

7

"because Mercury is in retrograde affecting all hyperdrive routes" (+1 Doom to all tasks)

8

"to address the findings from our recent Empire culture audit"

9

"because we're implementing Sith Agility methodology Empire-wide"

10

"to reduce our carbon hoofprint as a Galactic-Corporation"

11

"because Vader is threatening to Force-choke the entire budget" (-2 DPI)

12

"to comply with the new remote work accommodation laws for cyborgs"

13

"because our NPS score dropped below acceptable authoritarian levels"

14

"to align with the Emperor's digital transformation initiative"

15

"because we failed the surprise DEI (Droid, Ewok, Imperial) audit spectacularly"

16

"to prepare for the upcoming IPO (Initial Public Obliteration)"

17

"because the board mandated we pivot to a Death Star-as-a-Service model"

18

"to address technical debt in our legacy planet-killing systems"

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