I've actually found that dwarf fortress tales make for great conversation topics with non dwarf fortress-ers. It's pretty easy to turn a tale of everything going wrong at the end of a series of !!Fun!! events into a highly entertaining story. On the other hand, all of my friends are geeks. That might have something to do with it.
This was my favourite that I can remember:
Me: So then, after the giant spider demon had the majority of my seasoned soldiers trapped in webs, the goblins invaded.
Lady: uh-huh.
Me: So I sent out all that I had left, the one rookie to face the horde. She was well equipped but almost completely untrained.
Lady: I think I saw that movie, actually. Was she disguised as a man?
Me: And as the goblins charged, she stands her ground and bravely faces them down...
Lady: And wins, right? Cool story.
Me: And, with goblins all around her and limbs flying everywhere, she gave birth.
Lady: Wait, what?
Me: Then levelled up her combat skills, like, eight or nine times from all the goblins she was dismembering, but soon found herself cut off from her baby
Lady: How did she get back to him?
Me: She didn't. She decided she could really use a drink, and ran back to grab some mushroom booze.
Lady: What?
Me: The baby, of course, had its head bitten off by the goblin warleader. My hero rushed back to the front lines, but took an unlucky arrow to the head. The helmet took most of the damage, but she was knocked out.
Lady: So, you lost?
Me: Wait for it. Being knocked unconscious triggered the giant steel serrated disc traps she was standing on --
Lady: what.
Me: -- which took off both her legs at the knees. She then tore the remaining goblin's eyes out with her teeth, in the ensuing scuffle the now blinded goblin was tossed into the trap and expired.
Lady: Wow. So, the hero survived, then?
Me: Nope. She died of infection, and her husband went berserk and emptied a quiver of cat bone bolts into the mayor. The mayor's wife then ripped a door off its hinges in a tantrum; unfortunately, the door was to the auxiliary magma reserve and the dining room flooded with the red stuff. The only "survivor" went insane and tossed himself off of a windmill, but instead of the quick death he was hoping for, he broke both of his shins and died of dehydration.
*I glance over, she's writing this down*
Lady: Hang on, go over that again, I don't want to forget any of this.
That was our first conversation longer than a few sentences. She posted the story onto facebook, and now she and all of her friends are hooked. We started dating shortly after.