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A list of random events with backstory

4 (57.1%)

A list of goals with specific tasks and events

3 (42.9%)

A mini-game in which most of the game is locked and you do quests to unlock stuff

0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 7

[KtosoX]

Since I'm feeling content creep is crawling up on me, I'm going to start a poll to pick a direction.

Firstly, I don't want this to turn in to a wall of text, so I'll put each part in to spoilers. Secondly, if something like this already exists, please point me to the relevant thread before I put a ton of effort in to this.

Spoiler: Reason (click to show/hide)

I've been thinking a lot about "Fortress Starting Scenarios" and recently, my drunk brain came up with "fortress quests". Basically it's like adding another set of "noble mandates" in to the game(that sounded better before I wrote it down). The strongest part of this idea is adding a "dynamic challenge" system in to a dynamic environment. Seriously, how can it go wrong?

Spoiler: Concept (click to show/hide)

I want to add challenges to spice up the game, but not like the ones listed on the wiki. You could imagine it as something like "Chance" or "Community chest" cards from Monopoly. It's as simple as picking some random challenge from a list. Every year unfinished quests are considered as failed and new quests are selected. Additionally, in order to make it more FUN, rewards/punishments should be added! Well, rewards in order to work would require the player to be handicapped in someway beforehand, so that once a goal was reached one of the handicaps is decreased or lifted.

Spoiler: Example (click to show/hide)

So, this is how I see it. First we need a set of limitations on your embark (things like "you can't export more than 10 items" or "no traps allowed"). Yearly you would pick random challenges from a list. If you succeed, a limitation is lifted/reduced. If you loose, a part of the game is locked away for a year (like "no woodcutting for a year").

So, summing it up...
TL;DR: I want to make a list of random events/quests for DF and I'm open for suggestions.

[acetech09]

I like the idea. Busy right now but will do some brainstorming on this later.

[itg]

Sounds like fun, if you can get a list of sufficiently interesting quests. I think the quests should be categorized by difficulty, so you will have to take more and more Fun quests after the first couple of years, and eventually they should get so hard (with consequences of failure so severe) that you could lose your fortress to them. I think most quests should be designed to facilitate roleplaying and/or creating a dwarven culture.

For example, an easy-ish quest might look like this:

Spoiler: Religious Fervor (click to show/hide)

Build a shrine to each god worshipped by at least one of your dwarves. Each shrine must include a statue of its god, and the total value of furniture in the shrine must be at least 2000.

Failure: The gods look upon you with disfavor. Destroy all currently planted crops and kill three tame animals (no eating them!).

And a harder quest might look like this:

Spoiler: The One (or More) True God(s) (click to show/hide)

Look at the god(s) your king or highest-ranking leader worships. This is now the state religion. Any dwarf who does not worship all of these gods must "convert" by owning a statue of any of those gods which he does not already worship (e.g put them in his bedroom).

Failure: All non-believers must be executed at the end of the year, ideally with magma.

[KtosoX]

Sounds like fun, if you can get a list of sufficiently interesting quests.

Well, I was kinda hoping for forum users to throw tier creativity at this thread. See what sticks and make a list out of it. If the reception is sufficient I'll list them in the first post.

I think the quests should be categorized by difficulty...

Adding multiple difficulty tiers sounds like a plan. But following the Monopoly reference, I'd prefer to see quests that are circumstantially hard. Like the "Make general repairs on all your property" card. If you get it early one it's no big deal. But later on it might be game over.
I'm also not sure how to connect rewards / punishment with specific quests...

[itg]

Rewards are probably not be feasible unless you hack them in, since there are only so many restrictions you can place to be lifted later. I think punishments can be specific to each quest and designed to "fit the crime."

I like the idea of circumstantially hard quests. Things that are harder the more dwarves you have should work in general.

[kero42]

Perhaps for overall easier ones that could still be hard in a bad situation:

"Make [Y] amount of product [X], then offer to caravans" (perhaps a bit too similar to mandates, but it should be easy unless you get "20 adamantine swords" or "30 featherwood figurines" in an evil region)

"Dig down into the caverns"/"Dig to the next cavern layer"/etc (rather variable depending on caverns danger, and it opens you up to new problems years after the fact)

"Secure breeding stock of animal [X], breed [Y] amount" (Perhaps a tad too hard if you get something ridiculous)
"Train [X] amount of preexisting fort animals for war/hunting" (should be simple if you have doggies)

Nothing that interesting, and I have no idea about specific punishments for each of them, but we could do with some safe-ish ones to fill the gaps so that we can occasionally "draw a card" and sigh in relief that you only have to make 30-odd wooden trinkets.

Also, inspired by religious ones above (due to many of my forts trying to incorporate shrines):

"[X] God has fallen out of favour, all depictions (statues, figurines, engravings, etc) of God [X] must removed (stored in some dank cellar or otherwise hidden away) and all shrines (or other public areas of worship) blocked off /hidden from liaisons/officials until the end of the year."

(I suppose any list should just have the challenges themselves, then Players could come up with roleplay reasons themselves, e.g: "Don't dig sideways into the surface of the mountain" could be read as "The King enjoys his view of these mountains, don't damage the surface with your mining, at least until he loses interest".)

I might be straying a wee bit too far off the original idea, but perhaps there could be a small chance of more long term challenges, such as having to do something over (or every) two years or maybe even four? They would probably have to have higher stakes/rewards.

And with that I conclude with my humble and none-too-original list of ideas. I'm quite interested in this, and would like to see what you lot come up with.

[KtosoX]

@kero42 all of those challenges seem solid, especially the cavern one since it creates a lot of room for future FUN.

...
I might be straying a wee bit too far off the original idea, but perhaps there could be a small chance of more long term challenges, such as having to do something over (or every) two years or maybe even four? They would probably have to have higher stakes/rewards.
...

Well, I first thought of these challenges more like side quests. Stuff that you get done and move on. What you are suggesting is something that takes years to finish, so you will probably have to design your fort around that task in order to get it done.
So, how I'm seeing this right now:
Come up with a list of Goals (starting scenario-ish stuff), Tasks (something like megaprojects) and Events (minor yearly random stuff). The player would either pick or random a goal at start. Parts of the game needed to fulfill said goal are locked until Tasks are finished. Random Events would pop up yearly in order to set the player back.
Example:
Goal- Export 1 milion dorfbucks worth of stuff to the Mountainhome. BUT you can only export clothing.
Tasks- Clothing labor is turn on on every dwarf until you get a masterful/artifact clothing item.
You can't dye thread/cloth until you have 300 dimple cups
You can order cloth/thread from your liason once your Mayor has a Throne Room.

[UnlawfullyDeranged]

There has been seismic activity that has disrupted the magma sea. You must seal off all magma sea access for one year to ensure that your fort is not flooded. Failure to do so will result in the loss of your five most skilled dwarves to immolation. Any isolated magma reservoirs you may have built up will not be affected.

This could be an example of a challenge that makes you diversify in case it ever comes up (e.g. make a magma reservoir or have a stockpile of charcoal or coke so you aren't at a loss for metalworking). Calculated sacrifices are also an option.

[Urist MacNoob]

I'd prefer that the quests made a lot of story sense, like what a dastardly politician would organize for your fortress.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[The King rubbed his temples, scowling. This was the third week of the riots. The third week of mass chaos, murder, rape and pillage. The goblins had struck one of the mountainhomes, and his armies were not yet producing the vengeance they so fervently demanded. Their gods screamed for blood, but progress was slow. Too slow. They had lost an entire section of one of the mountainhomes to chaos.

He worried not for the war, but for the stability of The Tame Corridor.

Indeed, he would win this war. The petty goblins only had a terrain advantage, at least for now. His armies were clad in gleaming steel, stalwart iron and--]

"My King?"

[The King turned, noting the presence of his cousin in his throne room. He was not to be disturbed, but she was the attorney general. She knew better than to bother him without good reason.]

"...Why are you here?"

"I have a solution to our problem, my King. The law is quite clear on this matter; The riotous populace must be quelled and adequately punished. We lack the prisons necessary to accommodate them all, and mass execution is totally out of the question--"

"Is it, now?"

"It is if you want to avoid making thousands of grudges against your lineage, my King. My solution, before we get into bickering, is as follows. We send out seven Dwarves adequately skilled for the foundation of a Fortress. We construct a prison away from the Mountainhomes to send these raging fools, away from prying eyes, where justice can be meted out in a quiet, excusable fashion..."

"I see... This could work. It just might work..."

The challenge of that one? All migrants sent to you have criminal tendencies. All of them save infants, who will grow up as normal dwarves. The King will also never come to your fortress, no matter how great it is, because to him it is merely a Prison. No place fit for royalty.

The bonus?

I'd assume that trade caravans from your Empire would give you a sizable discount. After all, most of your populace will be under lock and key and unable to work. Or insane. Most likely insane.

[acetech09]

I like the idea in its simplest form, the more complication the worse imho. And I don't think they should be simple mandate-style 'make X of X' challenges. I liked itg's ideas the best.

But what I really see this being hilarious in is succession forts... hmm.

Some more suggestions:

Spoiler: Sharpshooter (click to show/hide)

Sharpshooter

Task: Assign a peasant a crossbow and a quiver. Train him to X level (proficient? not sure what's reasonable but challenging) with only live-fire training. If your trainee dies, you are allowed to draft another one.

Penalty for incompletion:
If you have crossbow squads, you can't use them in combat for three years.
If you don't have crossbow squads, you must discharge your three most decorated melee warriors permanently.

If you have docile surface fauna, it can be easy. But if you have to go into the caverns, may god be with you.

Spoiler: Booze Cruise (click to show/hide)

Booze Cruise

Task: You must brew 30 units of drink for every dwarf in your fortress. You must have roughly equal quantities of six different kinds of booze.

Penalty for incompletion:
Dorfs must drink water for three years.

This of course must be waived if there isn't any water on the map at all, but if there is even one small murky pool, this challenge is valid.

[kero42]

I like the idea in its simplest form, the more complication the worse imho. And I don't think they should be simple mandate-style 'make X of X' challenges. I liked itg's ideas the best.

But what I really see this being hilarious in is succession forts... hmm.

Some more suggestions:

Spoiler: Sharpshooter (click to show/hide)

Sharpshooter

Task: Assign a peasant a crossbow and a quiver. Train him to X level (proficient? not sure what's reasonable but challenging) with only live-fire training. If your trainee dies, you are allowed to draft another one.

Penalty for incompletion:
If you have crossbow squads, you can't use them in combat for three years.
If you don't have crossbow squads, you must discharge your three most decorated melee warriors permanently.

If you have docile surface fauna, it can be easy. But if you have to go into the caverns, may god be with you.

Ooh, I quite like this one. I agree that simple is best.
Just some un-refined ideas here:

Spoiler: Matching Set (click to show/hide)

Matching Set

Task: Equip your Militia/Guards in matching sets of X (Steel, Iron, Copper? I suppose it could be "Highest armour-grade material available") material armour (Helmet, Leggings, Bracers, Chestplate, etc).
Penalty for incompletion: (unsure, I'll just list possibilities off the top of my head)
-Militia must be disbanded for x duration (one year/two seasons? It would be a tad lenient, but probably fairer)
-No new armour may be forged for x duration
-Militia must be unarmoured for x duration
-etc

If you have ready access to materials, fuel, and a smallish militia (say about 6-10) then it should be easy, but no access to these things or a large militia could be a problem (50 sets could take a while).

This challenge could be slightly modified for simplicity.

Spoiler:  Captains Set (click to show/hide)

Captains Set

Task: Forge a Complete Set (Helmet, Leggings, Bracers, Chestplate, etc; include shield/weapon?) of armour out of the highest grade materials available for your militia captain to wear.
Penalty for incompletion: Militia Captain retires.

I admit to having difficulty scaling these, so I'm not sure if these are long term or hard enough to merit being a year long challenge, but I'm just posting these to try and get a general idea what these should challenges should be like.

[itg]

I have a couple more ideas:

Spoiler: Seasons of Love (click to show/hide)

Four dwarven couples (or all possible couples) must get married by the end of the year.

Failure: Pick an unmarried male and an unmarried female for each failed marriage (e.g, if you manage one marriage, pick six dwaves, total). These dwarves have become despondent due to loneliness. For one year, disable all labors except for hauling on these dwarves, and relieve them of duty, if they are soldiers. If the dwarf was already primarily a hauler, disable hauling, too.

Spoiler: Power Struggle (click to show/hide)

Pick a dwarf other than the current mayor. This dwarf must hold the title of mayor at the end of the year. You may not manually appoint a mayor at all during this year. If you kill the current mayor, your chosen rival should have a hand in it.

Failure: The incumbent mayor is not happy. For one year, imprison your rival candidate, and disable all labors but hauling on his/her friends and family.

[Gentlefish]

Here's one.

Spoiler: LDOE Shelter (click to show/hide)

Your dwarves desire to keep the fort maintained even after everyone has passed.
You must build 10 self-sufficient bunkers and assign a dwarf to each. This dwarf must have two or fewer friends. Those in other LDOE shelters do not count towards this number.

Failure to do so requires a purge of your ten physically weakest dwarves in order to try and survive through genealogy.

[KtosoX]

I've added a poll to see what forum users think about it.
Most of the ideas coming up so far are pretty solid. I'd like to know what you guys think about events in which something happens without any player interaction (like " the merchant will only take coins this year" or similar).
Also, what about events related to stuff we can't directly control, like the married couples idea by itg (since we can't make dwarves fall in love with each other, we can only make it more probable).

Expanding on what's in the poll

Spoiler: A list of random events with backstory (click to show/hide)

As simple as a list of events with backstory explaining why we are doing something and punishment in case we fail. This list would probably be divided to parts (religion, genetics, mass hysteria, kings demands etc.) to allow players to define these events to their play-style.

Spoiler: A list of goals with specific tasks and events (click to show/hide)

The greatest down side to the event based system mentioned above is lack of rewards. If the fort has some kind of goal specified at start we can make it harder or easier. This way we could create a list of tasks and goal specific events turning it in to a campaign played inside DF.

Spoiler: A mini-game in which most of the game is locked and you do quests to unlock stuff (click to show/hide)

We could also turn this in to a mini-game, in which the players has limited access to industries / game elements. Random events would allow the player to expand what he can do or handicap him further.