I propose an experiment regarding the historical progression of Dwarf Fortress civilizations.
Here is the experiment outline:
0. Generate a vanilla pocket-sized world with X years of history.
0.a. Ensure that there is a landmass in which I can "play" an adventurer completely separated from the main landmass.
0.b. Mod in an immortal, non-eating, non-drinking, naturally skilled at everything species enabled for adventure mode.
1. Choose a civilization, savescum this "control" world and do one of the following to an experimental copy of the world.
1.a. Assasinate the civilization's leader.
1.b. Kill an entire fort full of soldiers.
1.c. Kill all religious leaders.
1.d. Kill a civilization's leader's biological/marriage heirs
1.e. Other?
2. Move adventurer to the previously mentioned island (0.a)
2.a. Sleep for Y amount of time in the experimental copy of the world.
2.b. Sleep for Y amount of time in the control copy of the world.
3. Compare the control and experimental worlds!
I would like some input. "X" and "Y" and "1.e. Other?", specifically. I'm debating between 100 and 250 years as the starting amount of history. To not lose the forest among the trees, so to speak, I'm thinking that I should "incubate" each world (2.a. and 2.b.) for the same amount of years that I start with (X == Y). Of course, I plan on savescumming each year in the control and experimental worlds so that if there are some interesting differences, I can trace when those differences took hold.
Additionally, I'd like to hear your suggestions for "Other?". What do you think would or would not change the course of a DF civilization's history that I can affect in adventure mode?