Intro
DCSS famously lacks a plot, and what plot it has is admittedly incoherent in its amoral ambiguity:
On the face of it, the adventurer is simply seeking the Orb. Since “evil”-aligned adventurers act in essentially the same way that “good” ones do in pursuit of this goal, it is unlikely that the finding of this orb is a sufficiently good act in itself to justify the avalanche of butchery.
From being voted the #1 roguelike in 2008, DCSS has been surpassed in the last decade or so by its competitors. Perhaps it's time to add some polish and finally finish the game. The below terse plot resolves the game's moral ambiguities. Tell me whether this would motivate you to win.
Zot plot
From Council the Wizards of Zot fell to Cabal, consorting with chaos, corrupting the timelines, and meddling with souls. The Earth groaned, the people cried out, and the gods descended.
In wrath the lower gods slew the rebel Cabal, binding their essence into a tortured Orb, and declaring a contest to select new champions for the Council.
The Cabal's underworld Dungeon labyrinth was shattered through time, instanced, a virtual simulation powered by the souls of its victims. One winner from each race would seize the Orb and escape, proving his worthiness as sperm do an egg.
The prize? Training by your godly patron, initiation into the mysteries and laws, then to be sent back 20 years prior, to undo the Cabal's meddling. Thus spake Saturn, Chronos, elder god of Time.
Secret the contest was kept, to prevent earthly interference. Mundane adventurers who entered the Dungeon found only the Cabal's dark magic dulling their wits and subverting their will, until they wandered as thralls to the mad Orb.
Only those called by the gods, born of ancient bloodlines ready to awake, can pass through the Dungeon's grim gate with their minds unbroken, to dare the Trial of Champions. In these bloody halls the rulers of the next cycle will be threshed from the chaff like wheat!
[PIC: Saturn, Chronos, elder god of Time]
Conclusion
The SJW takeover of the dev team has led to the transformation of DCSS' game mechanics to match the moral relativism of its postmodern plot. Their goal is subversive; they will never accept any plot, let alone this one. Thus a fork is necessary.
To that end, I propose a fork from v.23 called "Darwin Crawl: Survival of the Fittest". The key feature is to use Ru as the missing difficulty setting, so that hardcore gamers players can be entertained with six new well-balanced difficulty levels, from Easy through Impossible. (The default game is considered "Beginner".) No more tedious streaking! This feature is playable now.
To learn more, visit Malcolm Rose's fork of the main DCSS subreddit. They banned Malcolm for being right-wing, despite the fact that he's the top DCSS streaker.