Here's an idea that I'll do when MZ comes out, titled Fall of the Bastion.
Setting: The Bastion is the last stronghold of the Gilded Empire. It is beset by evil from all sides, but is nearly impenetrable thanks to the elite Gilded Army and the tangled network of ruins that surround it, forcing attacks to be small amounts of minions at a time. Inside the Bastion lies the Glimmer of the Heavens, a gemstone that is prophesized to destroy all evil when the Empire’s need is dire. This gem is the target of the Abyssal Guild, a group of villains that have combined their forces to take down the Empire once and for all, before the prophecy comes true (self-fulfilling prophecy much?)
You are a small-time villain, with barely any coin or minions to their name (can be male or female). You have been tasked to find a way into the Bastion, and can go two different ways: The Outer Ruins, or the Sewers. Each has several areas that you must fight through before attacking the Bastion itself. The Outer Ruins is the remains of the Gilded City, the remains of the outer walls of the Bastion, and the open fields before the Bastion, where the grass underfoot is swollen with blood and covered with decaying corpses, left for the crows. The Sewers is where the runoff of the Empire flows through, and connects to a different part of the Gilded City. This part is much closer to the Bastion, and blocks many shots from the Empire’s archers and other ranged forces due to the remains of houses and other buildings. There are numerous traps in each zone, so these can cut your attack short if you’re not careful.
Gameplay:
You can choose a variety of minions each excursion. If all of them die, the game is not over, it just goes back to the Abyssal Guild’s base camp, a conquered castle near the Bastion, and you can choose your next hapless group. There’s a wide variety of minions, some easily killed while others can take a lot of hits, and range from lowly Imps to the mighty Champions of Evil. There’s a variety of items to buy that make your journey easier, and you can buy equipment for your minions.
When you choose what zone you want to attack, there are random chests in preset locations that spawn. Each chest can contain gold, Heroic Relics, Evil Relics, and other items. They are grouped into Old, Gilded, Legendary, Vaulted (Evil Relics only) types. There are also lootable containers like Dusty Bookshelves, Forgotten Crates, Forgotten Pots, Old Furniture, etc. All gold you find goes into your coffers, and Relics have a variety of uses. They can be equipped to your minions if they are Evil Relics, while Heroic Relics can be melted down into gold or turned into Evil Relics. Both types of Relics can be traded to a Scholar of Heresy for stuff I haven’t figured out yet.