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[Arkenstone]

---EPIC MOD---
(a work in progress)

I would like to announce my first (real) long-term project for DF: Epic Mod.

The aim of this mod is to make DF more, well, epic.
Epic is a really hard thing to pin down, because things can be epic in so many ways.  It'll be tricky, so I'd like the community to help me with the inspiration, and perhaps with some of the work. (I'm still choosing what makes the final cut). 

There are, however, several things I definitely want to AVOID with this mod: first and foremost BECOMING D&D
Seriously, D&D is like the cats of RPGs, it was okay when it started, then it catsploded with all kinds of ridiculous stuff, completely loosing the epic feel of the original fantasy lore; like, say, in the Lord of the Rings.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not out to create another LotR clone; in fact, any attempt to do so would just turn out like D&D.  What I want to do is to try and capture that 'feel of adventure' that D&D lost when it made halflings that can fight, wizards with very limited power, and rules for everything.  Rules really take the magic out of, err... magic.
This is the same problem that Toady One's encountering with trying to plan the magic system, so hopefully any stab at modding in the same general direction that Vanilla DF's going will cause his problem to also be pierced through entirely.

Essentially, I want this mod to be what Vanilla DF Should be: More Epic.


There are several things that need to be worked on (almost nothing's done or even started yet), but here's a list of projects that need to be worked on.

Plants:
The high level foods need a price drop;
Low level ones should give stomachache with the new contagion system (if possible)
More trees should be added, with special properties for their woods. [partially completed]

Animals:
Nothing needs to be done for nonsentient, mundane creatures.
Creatures like griffons which are already in the raws but are never seen should become merely rare.
'Unliving' creatures need a nerfing or removal, at least until Toady fixes them;
But then we get to have all sorts of Fun.
A few 'inside joke' creatures could be added, for instance, lava carp, but only a few small ones.
Megabeasts can be played around with; but I don't want 15 different types of dragon flaying around.

Entities
Dwarfs:
I want to make nobles useful, so that there's a reason why not to knock them off.  Think in terms of Dwarf Lords and Thanes from Warhammer.

Humans:
The humans in my mod need to be less 'Conan the Barbarian', and more anglo-saxony.
Human barbarians can still fit under [ENTITY:SAVAGE] (see below...)

Elves:
Elves need their own special metal, which is possible.  It should have a high maxedge, but low density.  This will mean that the elves will survive more often 'till 1050, that they'll be more of a threat in fortress mode, and that the only way to make certain alloys is to trade/fight with them.
A simmilar thing can be used for humans, so that you'll need their help (or their corpses' armor) too.

[ENTITY:EVIL]:
This entity needs steel.  A special type of steel that dwarves cannot make, so that goblinite can actually be an important thing for getting the high-end metals.
The races of dark elves and chaos dwarves should also be added to this file.  That way, they can be added in without changing the game balance (much).  It also makes the embark location more important, as you can only have one of these enemies per fortress.  It even helps with replayability!

[ENTITY:SKULKING]:
Add gnomes, gremlins, and perhaps something new to this entity, as it'll be interesting to what happens to a [MISCHIEVIOUS] thief who find an Unfortunate Accident Lever...
*Update*
Put gremlins in, but i need a new 'dirt gnome' or something to make gnomes work.  The current gnomes are of the garden variety! (which I might put in as well)

[ENTITY:SAVAGE]:
I'd like an entity for ogres, savage orcs, aboveground animal/beast-men and barbarian humans.
They'd have clubs and such simple weapons, and raid you from time to time.
Barbarian humans would even be buffer, having a different creature file.
Uncivilized Hill Dwarves would be nice, too.

Weapons:
I want to hold off on any modding here until either Toady fixes vanilla weapons or everything else is done

Metals:
Again, I gunna have to hold off on this; but this time I got a lot I want to do!


Always on the lookout for new ideas, and if you want to help, feel free!

[FACM]

On one hand, you're plenty welcome to take anything you find appropriate out of my Fantasy Flavor mod to use in this.

On the other hand, you'll probably want to explain what 'becoming D&D' means to you. I think I catch what you mean, if that's "Avoid expanding out so much that it becomes a catch-all".

[shadowclasper]

My suggestion? Read through the entire D For Dwarf articles on the old wiki, and the stories, look for as much lore as you can find. Base your mod on that to make your EPIC truly unique.

[Deon]

I like your spirit. This is how the majority of my mods started. I wanted to make something new, complete and cool, and with time my tiny projects became quite big and nice mods.


Sorry to disappoint you, but you cannot make a D&D game in DF. Actually you cannot make any real D&D game anywhere without making it overly complex in rules, it's mostly for tabletop games . But I see what you mean: latest D&D editions' bestiaries are too... random. But there's a reason: it's for a module building, so clever dungeon masters should only use the necessary parts to build a flavorful module instead of grabbing everything and making a huge mess out of it. /offtopic

Anyway, this sounds like an ambitious project. I am generally against threads like "look this is my mod but it's not done yet so wait", but I can understand your desire to be acknowledged so it's OK .

[FACM]

I recall reading the design idea for the D&D monster manuals. They said the wanted the first ones to have more general monsters, so that they could be used in most every campaign at any time, and the later ones had mostly monsters that had one particular trick that only really made them good for one fight, but it was meant to be one interesting/unique fight.

It's not a terrible approach, but their goal was to sell books to make money, not quite the same task here.

[Deon]

When will you upload the alpha version? I want to test it.

P.S. The wonderment mod pointed in the right direction in the previous version. Now you have lots of ore, huge amounts of gems and enormous deposits of coal. The current system is reworked totally and you could want LESS, not MORE deposits to make the game interesting. Some tweaks could be interesting though.

[HonkyPunch]

Which edition of DnD are you talking about, specifically? Also i must say i'm interested in seeing what is considered to be "epic". Heh.

[Lancensis]

DF seems an odd game to try and make more "epic", given how focused it is on the minutae of running a stock fantasy fortress in dwarf mode and abrupt, meaningless death in adventure mode. Seems to me that it's the very opposite of epic as I understand it.

I think you might need a more focused concept than just "epic" anyway. Gilgamesh is an epic, but  so is Gone With The Wind. And then of course, there's the contemporary definition, which is becoming rapidly irritating.

[Rumrusher]

make some entertainment workshops like arcade booths or an casino that will milk your folks money.

[Arkenstone]

Okay, I clearly need to be more specific here, but part of the reason I choose 'epic' as a title is because it isn't focused on any specific theme, giving more room to put whatever fits in.

First off, a couple things I'd like to avoid:
1.  Having 20 different playable races with 5 subspecies each.
    Normally, this would include animalmen as well, but since they're already part of the theme of DF, they're staying in.  The only races I'm going to add are going to be Dark Elves, Chaos Dwarfs (both of which will share the same entity file as gobbos) and maybe ratmen (if I can get an underground siege to work right).
2.  Putting rules to magic.
     Toady's been saying pretty much the same thing here, so I think this'll probly be no-brainer to keep to.
3. 

"Avoid expanding out so much that it becomes a catch-all".

     You hit the nail right on the head.

I'm gunna go write now a list of what I want to do on the first post.

[Deon]

make some entertainment workshops like arcade booths or an casino that will milk your folks money.

Shameless self-advertising:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Poor nords . Why did you kill him.

Anyway, I lied that I don't have a time today to develop the mod. Well I am tight on time, but I want to do it .

I plan to add more "cosmetical" workshops. Right now I have a gaming board (requires 4 chairs and a new toy "'Human Fortress' tabletob game"), a chess table (requires 2 tables and a new toy "chessboard"), rockball (which actually trains throwing, it depicts a game where a dwarf tries to throw a boulder into an urn), gateball (a huge field, looks like a football field; because we cannot make group reactions which require a few dwarves yet there's no possibility for matches, but maybe someone wants a gaming field in their fortress for cosmetic reasons) and an obstacle course (actually trains dodging).

Gaming table:


Chess table:


Rockball:


Gateball:


Obstacle course:


I accept any suggestions on workshops for 1.2. Also I will use Crematorium by Lazureus.

and much more for the 1.2 .

The only races I'm going to add are going to be Dark Elves, Chaos Dwarfs

There're dark elves and ratmen for the 1.2 of my Genesis mod so you can borrow graphics if you feel like this.

Here's the thread with the tileset I've made:
http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=45339.0