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[JAL28]

I’m sure all of us love slaughtering elves, maybe the occasional humans. But has one actually though of what these mean diplomatically? Sure they bring sieges and ambushes which are easily dealt with with traps, but what about the civilisation as a whole? Maybe those elves were crucial allies in a war with a goblin civ. They may be weak tree-huggers but they make good meat shields to distract the gobbos.

It just feels like fortresses have far too much autonomy. A fortress can sustain itself basically indefinitely, without the interference of any home civ. The only meaningful things they do would be to send migrants and trade caravans. In fact, it is quite common that fortresses don’t even prioritise the needs of their home civilization(training lords to fight the goblins) but instead do seemingly artistic and useless things(see: Stupid Dwarf Trick, Megastructure). And while I cannot deny that such things are not good for dwarf fortress(they look cool and make for a great read/look), I feel like some of the actions players do might warrant a little...ramifications from the home civ. Like deposing of a king using an atom smasher or seemingly neglecting the civ’s interests for its own.

Every now and then, the Mountainhomes may give you requests to supply the other sites(since yours is so productive anyways) with materials, ranging from food to goods to armour and even animals(provably a max of 10 or so). The player receives this information from the liaison when he arrives and has the option to accept or refuse. Accepting makes it so you have to offer the goods necessary to the dwarves caravan within a year or the request will be considered unfulfilled. If the caravan leaves early/does not come/does not have a chance to trade the request will be extended by another year. If you refuse, however...

The mountain homes will not be happy. At first all that happens is that the Liason seems somewhat annoyed but complies, chalking it up to some shortage of goods or something. However, the more times you refuse, the more upset he will get until they just stop coming allthogether. Things will start happening, such as migrants no longer arriving, caravans not coming, taxes being levied on goods, etc etc.

Such unhappiness will also occur if you indiscriminately attack civilisations that are at peace or allied with the home civ, or if you happen to depose of the king through an unfortunate accident. The indiscriminate attacking does not apply to goblin and kobold civs because they are always hostile. Things like sacking the caravan through glitches like trade depot deconstructions also anger the home civ. Having merchants/guards killed DOES NOT anger them, because dwarven civs have long accepted the fact that their caravans will probably be slaughtered by FBs or other fun.

After enough refusals, the Liason will come to the fortress with a siege guard(like an adventurer persuading you to give artifacts), giving you an ultimatum: to stop refusing the requests and actually contribute to the home civ, or leave entirely. If you choose the latter, the Liason denounces your fortress as a group of the dwarven civ, effectively outcasting your group, and asks for all dwarves still loyal to the civ to follow him away from the fortress. A large portion of your fortress will likely join him, INCLUDING YOUR LEGENDARY SMITHS, SOLDIERS AND ANY OTHER IMPORTANT SITES. NO DWARF IS EXEMPT. After this, the Liason leaves with the loyal dwarves and you are formally out of your own home civ. Now they can send sieges to you, which are exceptionally dangerous because they can do things like digging and breaking bridges and walls, as well as knowing where every trap the Liason has seen is(and using a more advanced version, know where a trap is even if you deconstruct and reconstruct it). At this point, you have reached the rock bottom; there is no going back, only trudging onwards into the mire of FUN

[Azerty]

It's exact we need to be reminded our fortresses aren't generally independent sovereign states.

Maybe a fortress might gain ability to conduct independent diplomacy.

[towerator]

I'd like to see a few events linked to your civilization, so that the player's fortress feels part of a whole.

A few more ideas:

- A group of settlers want to create a fortress nearby, and asks for a few hands to kick-start the economy. You do not have to send anyone, but if you send, say, ten dwarves, there is a chance it will link itself to your holdings.

- (Once you have a lord-type noble) An important council will soon take place in the Mountainhome, and your baron/count/duke is expected to come. To complete the quest you must send him, and optionally some escort. If you are the capital, they will instead all move into your fortress. You must keep them satisfied with a decent bedroom (at least fit for a baron) for all guest. Other civilizations may try to attack you soon after all nobles come to try to kill them. Satisfying the quest improves the relations with the monarch/with your vassals.

- (Once you have a duchy and are NOT the Mountainhome) A duke, dissatisfied with the monarch, has come to meet with yours in an attempt to plot a coup. You can accept, at the risk of causing a civil war if not enough high-ranking nobles were swayed, or side with the monarch and try to prevent the impending civil war (can be averted if you warn him of the betrayal soon enough, or attack the renegarde fortress yourself). If you're the losing side, consequences will be dire: much of your administration will be executed, and the Mountainhome will not forget for long. If you win however, your relations with the monarch will be excellent, with him giving you help occasionally (such as a squad of elites that cannot be disbanded and eventually leaves).

- (Once you have a county or above) A nearby count/duke, having heard of your reputation, wishes to marry one of their children to one of your noble's. Doing so will strenghen the link between your fortress and theirs, but may be the cause of fun later if the dwarf they sent were to die of unnatural causes.

[Orange-of-Cthulhu]

They could also be issuing demands. Same principle as mandates, but should make sense.

For items, manpower, livestock.

In case your civ is at war they could demand say 50 armor items or 5 soldiers. You'd have a long time to comply, so it would be a small mini-game. Depending on the value of the stuff you provide them with, you should get some reward.

In peacetime they could demand like dresses for a special celebration of lavish meals. Or that you send a some entertainers to entertain in another site.

Another thing I think could be funny was that you'd be asked to host some people for a year, say 20 homeless children or 20 dancers. Or maybe that you had to take care or 30 cows they don't want to deal with that year as they are busy. Then you should get in back standing if they died while you were taking care of them.

I'd love if these festivals you see in world gen happened, and they could ask you to send a wrestling champion to the civilizational wrestling championship.

I think guests from the other sites of your civ should happen more often as well. It could be relatives who just came to visit. Or scholars and bookkeepers who went to count stuff and copy books from the library.

[JAL28]

They could also be issuing demands. Same principle as mandates, but should make sense.

For items, manpower, livestock.

In case your civ is at war they could demand say 50 armor items or 5 soldiers. You'd have a long time to comply, so it would be a small mini-game. Depending on the value of the stuff you provide them with, you should get some reward.

In peacetime they could demand like dresses for a special celebration of lavish meals. Or that you send a some entertainers to entertain in another site.

These are good and all when it’s just armour and clothes, but if you are fully expected to send soldiers away permanently then it would not be so good. Being forced to donate your lords to the war effort seems both cruel to the player and also un-dwarfy, as it is known that the dwarven military as a whole are pretty fragmented, only under loose, possibly vestigial rule under the general. Though if they return eventually(and also all survive, having lords die is a pain in the Urist) it would be ok.

I will add one more scenario of my own, only when at Mountainhome/capital status.

Every now and then, the Mountainhome will come asking you for supplies; things like clothes, seeds, crutches and anvils. They are preparing a new embarking caravan, to found a hillock/mountain hall/very rarely a fortress(which will ask for more stuff) and need supplies for the journey.  Very rarely, around 25-50 dwarves may be picked from your fortress to found a new hillock/mountain halls/fortress, as well as 6-12 animals. The dwarves picked cannot be weapon smiths, masons, carpenters and other “useful” jobs, and animals picked can only be mundane(meaning your cave crocodiles and giant olms will never be Chosen.

[Orange-of-Cthulhu]

They could also be issuing demands. Same principle as mandates, but should make sense.

For items, manpower, livestock.

In case your civ is at war they could demand say 50 armor items or 5 soldiers. You'd have a long time to comply, so it would be a small mini-game. Depending on the value of the stuff you provide them with, you should get some reward.

In peacetime they could demand like dresses for a special celebration of lavish meals. Or that you send a some entertainers to entertain in another site.

These are good and all when it’s just armour and clothes, but if you are fully expected to send soldiers away permanently then it would not be so good. Being forced to donate your lords to the war effort seems both cruel to the player and also un-dwarfy, as it is known that the dwarven military as a whole are pretty fragmented, only under loose, possibly vestigial rule under the general. Though if they return eventually(and also all survive, having lords die is a pain in the Urist) it would be ok.

I will add one more scenario of my own, only when at Mountainhome/capital status.

Every now and then, the Mountainhome will come asking you for supplies; things like clothes, seeds, crutches and anvils. They are preparing a new embarking caravan, to found a hillock/mountain hall/very rarely a fortress(which will ask for more stuff) and need supplies for the journey.  Very rarely, around 25-50 dwarves may be picked from your fortress to found a new hillock/mountain halls/fortress, as well as 6-12 animals. The dwarves picked cannot be weapon smiths, masons, carpenters and other “useful” jobs, and animals picked can only be mundane(meaning your cave crocodiles and giant olms will never be Chosen.

For the manpower, it could be a % of what you have. Say 10% or 5% of your lords. "For the glorious campaign against ... / to aid with the defense against ... / to kill the megabeast ... ".

It would be too harsh of they demanded your one legendary weaponsmith, but if you have 3, it could be OK if they wanted one of them.

And I forgot to write it, but my idea was thay they came back after a year. Then you'd look at their kill lists and such and try to figure out what had happened.

I like your idea as well. I would find it great if you can choose them yourself. You'd first decided if you sent your rubbish dwarves or gave it a serious shot and send good dwarves, and then I'd sit forever and look at dwarves and put a team together.

[Iä! RIAKTOR!]

Only after adding an option to play without parent civ.