Judith Harmon
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Judith Harmon
A Villainous Mini Tabletop Role-Playing Game!
by Judith Harmon
In this fast, funny, and chaotic mini TTRPG, you and your fellow minions serve a brilliant but not-so-great-at-winning villain. The heroes are always meddling, and for some reason, your boss keeps hiring people who might not be the best for the job (like you). Your task? Carry out their latest evil scheme—but whether you stick to the plan or find your own way to victory is entirely up to you.
Will you follow orders to the letter or bend the rules for your own gain? Either way, someone is getting the blame.
Clock in, follow orders (or don’t), and try not to get obliterated—just another day in the life of a Misunderstood Minion.
In this fast, funny, and chaotic mini TTRPG, you and your fellow minions serve a brilliant but not-so-great-at-winning villain. The heroes are always meddling, and for some reason, your boss keeps hiring people who might not be the best for the job (like you). Your task? Carry out their latest evil scheme—but whether you stick to the plan or find your own way to victory is entirely up to you.
Will you follow orders to the letter or bend the rules for your own gain? Either way, someone is getting the blame.
Start playing in five easy steps!
Step 1: Create your own character. Build a unique minion with their own job, skills, history, and of course, flaws.
Step 2: Join forces (or cause problems) with other minions. Your villain has a grand plan—but what could possibly go wrong?
Step 3: Roll the dice and see what happens. Will the mission go smoothly, or will your team accidentally cause their own downfall?
Step 4: Outsmart the heroes. They think they can stop your boss? Prove them wrong. Or… at least try.
Step 5: Embrace the chaos. Shenanigans are inevitable.
Are you the strategist of the team? Potions worker? Animal tamer? Muscle or something else? Join forces with your fellow minions to keep those meddling adventurers on their toes and your boss off your back. Will your fatal flaw be your undoing or will you reign supreme?
Session Length: A few hours (depends on how much chaos unfolds)
Duration: One-Shot Adventure or a Short Form Campaign
Players: 3-6 minions (plus a Sinister Storyteller)
System: Uses a 12 sided dice (d12) and a narrative-driven approach
Tone: Silly, lighthearted, and full of what-could-go-wrong moments
Format: Digital PDF or Physical Copy (or both!)
“Misunderstood Minions is a tabletop roleplaying game designed to get players participating quickly with minimum barrier to entry and maximum comedic chaos. The art of the book is lovely to look at and there are smart layout decisions throughout, especially the Character Creation and Jobs portion, which provides a clean and simple full-page summary of each role. In terms of rules, the game relies on simple D12 rolls, affected by skills, circumstances, and difficulty set by the “Sinister Storyteller.” There are a couple fun twists to character creation that really support the minion theme: Temperament and Fatal Flaws. Temperament lets you pick (or leave up to the dice) whether you actually support your boss wholeheartedly. Meanwhile the very fun Fatal Flaws table assigns your character a weakness that will ensure the party performs like the bumbling lackeys they’re supposed to be — and even rewards players for leaning into it. Where I found this short game book to truly excel was in the four Quick Adventures. They provide just the right level of detail to help a Sinister Storyteller run a rollicking one-shot game, with tasks ranging from “reset the dungeon traps in between adventuring parties” to “ruin Prince Charming’s ball.” Judith Harmon is an educator who notes that Misunderstood Minions was born out of the need for a simple system to get students into roleplaying games. This game certainly achieves that goal. Some of the constraints of designing for students also provide fun and creative outcomes for players of every level. For example, a number of the Quick Adventures suggest setting a real-world timer of an hour. That makes a lot of sense with a student group who may be playing during a class or other structured time period. But I can see how having a ticking timer would create a hilariously frenetic environment in any circumstance! I look forward to running this with groups of all ages.”
Samovar Games
Judith Harmon is a creator, teacher, and storyteller who loves making stories, games, and scripts that help others discover and grow their own creative voices.
Judith Harmon is a writer, teacher, and creative guide with a passion for both creating and helping others create. She has written stories for her students, developed narrative tabletop roleplaying games that invite players to explore different aspects of themselves, and crafted scripts grown from the seeds of her students’ own imaginations. Through her work, Judith celebrates creativity as something collaborative, personal, and joyfully alive: a little spark that becomes a lantern when shared.