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[Meph]

I had a lengthy discussion about this in my mod board, we called it "the random god of death", which adds a 1% chance of a dwarf dying a year, listing humorous reasons (choked on alcohol, got a heartattack because his sock was missing, etc).

The overall feedback was positive, as long as it was an optional feature that can be disabled for people that dislike it. It would have resulted in 1 death a year in a 100 dwarf fort, and 2 deaths in a 200 dwarf fort, etc. The fact most people disliked is the inevitability, every time I introduce negative mod features, there must be a counter-measure, otherwise people dislike it.

Accidents I introduced long before, with specific workshops being able to start fires, or people getting arsenic poisoning from smelting metals, or people getting sick while butchering, or working with refuse.

Just pointing out that it works well in gameplay, and adds a certain realism and dynamic,  if your smelter starts to burn or your refuse-burner (I have a crematory) starts to puke from the stench.

[utunnels]

1% is a high chance.
But I see you point.

Although I think the accidents should be based on their traits. Careful dorfs usually don't burn their workshops easily. A toothless dorf tend to choke on food. And so on.

[BoogieMan]

I was coming to suggest something similar and decided to search first.

 I think random minor injuries would be good for adding depth to the world as well as doctor practice and such. Mostly for Dwarves doing semi dangerous tasks such as mining, woodcutting, animal training, and hauling heavy objects without a wheelbarrow.

[Gargomaxthalus]

It might already be a thing since DF2014:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=141539.0

Staalo(sp?) gave that the name "Flying Dwarf Syndrome" in the new dwarven childcare thread. It's a bug not a feature.

[jwpartain1]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This seems like a good idea, if implemented properly.  Here's how I would do it:

Every time a creature moves, it has a chance of stumbling.  Things that increase the chance of stumbling are:

• Moving over rough floors or stairs
• The presence of contaminants on the tile, especially liquid
• Moving over an item outside of a container
• Moving at a fast gait
• Carrying a heavy burden
• Dizziness, drowsiness, fever, nausea, or extreme hunger and thirst
• High levels of stress
• Being an unskilled crutch walker

This is weighed against the creature's agility, kinesthetic sense, and observation skill, which reduce the chance of stumbling.  Stumbling also trains observation slightly.

Creatures attempting to move past each other may also collide with each other.  This deals damage (as if one was thrown into the other, but much weaker) and has a chance to cause stumbling as well.  For additional fun, the collision may be interpreted as a (non-lethal) attack by dwarves who are prone to anger or have other particular personality traits, which can potentially spark a brawl.

Stumbling deals minor impact damage to one of the creature's STANCE bodyparts.  Upon stumbling, the creature also has a chance of tripping, which will be based on the same stats as the stumbling calculation, dealing further impact damage to another bodypart and causing them to fall to the ground.  The chance of injury will be greatest for GRASP bodyparts and lowest for the creature's HEAD.

Creatures with more than two legs are (i.e. creatures that will not collapse if they lose the use of one STANCE part) or those who are able to fly are much less likely to trip even if they stumble, although it can still happen.  Creatures with no functional legs will never stumble.

If the creature is carrying something when they trip, there is also a chance that they may injure themselves on a random body part with the item they were carrying.  This is calculated as if they were attacked with the item using a basic strike attack.  If the item is a weapon, a random attack with that weapon may be chosen, but the force behind the attack will be proportional to the severity of the trip instead of based on the creature's strength or skill.

A creature stumbling or tripping may also move one space in a random direction, potentially knocking them into a pit.  The chance of moving in the direction they were trying to move is higher than the chance of moving in a different direction.

A creature that trips (or falls down for other reasons) while on a flight of stairs may continue to fall, dealing further injuries with each z-level down and also colliding with anyone else in their way.  They have a chance of catching themselves each step, though, and the speed of falling is capped at a reasonable amount (so no falling all the way down the stairs and exploding).

Work-related injuries may also occur during regular workshop tasks.  These injuries would be biased toward the hands (i.e. GRASP bodyparts) but could potentially occur anywhere on the body.  They would typically be very minor though, and simulated by a weak edged or blunt attack toward the bodypart in question - for jobs that require fuel such as smelting or metalsmithing, burns may also be involved.  The skill of the worker would prevent or mitigate these injuries.

The effect of this would be:

• An accumulation of minor injuries for training your doctors.
• Gradual training of the observation skill.
• Discouragement of lazy fortress design based around long up/down staircases.
• Further discouragement of crowded, narrow corridors and tiny meeting places.
• Small amounts of combat training if you do have crowded areas.
• More good reasons to smooth out your fortress floors and keep them clean and organized.
• An accumulation of scars on the hands of legendary craftdwarves.
• More potential for hilarity and !!fun!!

This is exactly how I would love to see it implemented. Training of observation, which would have a large effect on accidents, would be great.

[Gargomaxthalus]

The potential for fatal accidents is important if accidents exist at all. Features that don't have downsides in proper proportion to any upsides don't really fit with the game's tone. What we need is better, balanced ways to replace the dwarfs that succumb to such things. Not being liked is no reason for a valuable feature, even if the value is only found in the drama that it kicks off, to be excluded. Only after a feature has actually been implemented can anyone really know whether or not to like it.

Any feature that is considered "controversial", should be made an option rather than a hard and fast rule. Simply dismissing an idea like this based on preconceptions is foolish. Start out at max complexity and then scale back until you reach a level that feels fair and balanced while also causing some undervalued discomfort.


Yeah sorry about how all of that is structured. Communication isn't really "my thing". 

[Batgirl1]

I like this idea, especially the way IndigoFenix outlines it.  I'd limit it to floors and work-related injuries, though, unless some other feature gets implemented to justify "falling out of bed" being a thing (Nightmares in haunted forts, perhaps?) ...Okay, I changed my mind: haunted forts should have a chance for Dwarfs having nightmares that roll them right out of their beds.