Slough House for D&D

 First, some product placement. 

SLOUGH HOUSE is a series of novels and novelettes by Mick Herron about a group of spies who've messed up so badly, they were sent to the worst of the worst departments where they have to do meaningless tasks. They have less rights and possibilities than civilians. But, since they're technically still part of the intelligence service, time and again the find themselves pulled into some spy games, used as pawns or bargaining chips or false targets. In the Service, they're known as "slow horses". 

Good books, some tragedy, some comedy, lots of references to real life. 

SLOW HORSES is a TV show that's based on the novels, and it's very good. Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, theme song by Mick Jagger. Good scripts, good actors, good camera work. Worth watching.

Anyways. 

Your characters are your world's equivalent of slow horses. You were part of an organization, an order, a sect - and then you messed up so badly, you were sent off to the Bad Place.You still have your training, your very specific sets of skills, but if you even think about putting those skills to use - well, things will go from bad to worse very fast. 

But still, you were once part of a bigger thing. And you dream of coming back. 

Why do I like this idea? 

Maybe it's a burnout. I keep going back to the ol' "What's my motivation here?" question. Or, as a GM - "Why would the characters take this adventure hook?" 

With the slow horses, the movitavion is clear and strong. I want out of here. I want to be a Solamnic Knight again. I want to be a Harper again. You get the idea.

It brings the party together while still leaving some space for conflict - they've all messed up, they all want redemption, they probably all despise each other for being such losers. 

It gives a basis for some backstory - how did you mess up? Why didn't they just execute you or throw you into jail for a thousand years, what buttons did you manage to push? What kind of contacts have you kept since your glory days? 

Probably not something I could try in an actual play anytime soon, since a) war b) the group wants to play fantasy China c) I've got my Usagi Yojimbo thing that we play when I'm mastering. But maybe someday. Maybe I'll have time to write a simple adventure around it.