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The Hall of Legends
Updated 04-14-16

Throughout the history of Bay12, a number of powerful tales, shocking accounts, and amazing feats of engineering have appeared on the forums. Of these threads, a chosen few have become ingrained in the collective consciousness of our community- our greatest achievements, our most sorrowful losses, our gripping stories and our unprecedented displays of dwarven ingenuity.
 
This thread is a continued compilation of what are generally considered the best stories in the Bay12 forums, the shared experiences that have defined our community as well as generations of forumites. The first incarnation of this thread was created by Jamini, and after he passed from the forums the second installment was maintained by Jackrabbit, and the third by Monk12. It is now my task to pick up the torch, to chronicle and archive the history of our community.

It is your task, dear reader, to find history in the making.

If you find, in your journeys across the forums, a thread truly deserving of the title Legendary, nominate it here. If it is already nominated, vote for its inclusion. Please use discretion- this is an intelligent, witty community, and the number of tales worth reading is innumerable, and beyond the scope of this thread. The Hall of Legends is for the tales that must be read.

The goal of this thread is not to draw attention to particular tales, but rather to chronicle the best so that anybody, new player or forum veteran alike, can find them with little difficulty.

The Nomination Process

To be eligible for nomination, the nominator (that's you) merely needs to post a link to the nominee, as well as a brief summary. It is considered bad form to nominate your own threads. Nominees need not be from a specific part of the Bay12 forums, nor is their format or subject matter a consideration- it merely needs to be worthy of preservation. Nominees that are not local to the Bay12 forums should be marked as such. To avoid suspicion of favoritism, I shall neither nominate nor vote for any nominee, no matter how deserving. I reserve the right to trim/alter synopses as I see fit (mostly to maintain a reasonable length.)

Nominees will be added to a list of candidates, which will be maintained a post or two following this one. There, other forumites can view the candidate and determine whether it is worthy of inclusion in the Hall of Legends. Each candidate is ineligible to receive votes for its first month of candidacy- after that, any forumite can vote for it. Threads will be announced in this thread as they become eligible.

Once a nominee receives 6 distinct votes, it is inducted into the Hall proper. If a nominee does not meet the required number of votes within a reasonable amount of time (currently one year) it will be removed from the list of candidates. Former candidates can be renominated at any time.

Once in the Hall, a thread can only be removed by 10 votes, author's request, or through evidence of foul play. I doubt this will come up, but I'd like to have precedent handy.

Forumites can vote for as many nominees as they like, and they may make as many nominations as they like. Just remember that because you CAN vote for everything doesn't mean you SHOULD.

If you find such a story that is not on the list, discover one of the links are broken, or otherwise find information to be outdated please either PM me or make mention of it in this thread. I will do my very best to keep this listing up-to-date and accurate. If I disappear for months at a time, feel free to badger me incessantly.

For ease of reading, threads will be organized based on subject matter.

Without further ado, in no particular order- The Hall of Legends

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Succession Games

In a succession game, a player starts a game of Dwarf Fortress and plays for a set period of time (normally an in-game year) before handing it off to another player.

Finished/Abandoned

Boatmurdered - In 2007, the Something Awful forums began a Let's Play of Dwarf Fortress. It became, perhaps, the most well known succession game in the history of Dwarf Fortress. It has its own page on the wiki and can be downloaded in pdf format here. A must read! This link is hosted by the nice folks over at lparchive.org

SparkGear 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12 - SparkGear. Also know as SG, also known as 'That Complete and Utter Disaster'. A new type of succession fortress where turns are measured in real time. Each turn takes 24 hours before being handed over to the next willing sucker. The result? Unchecked and unparalleled insanity from top to tail. This isn't a tale for the history books. This is a tale to be spoken of in a darkened room, with the doors locked tight. The sprawling, epic mess that is SparkGear has left scars on those foolish enough to even glance at it, yet still proves more addictive than the most dangerous drug.

SparkGear. Where the good, the bad and the ugly dwarves (and everyone in between) go to die.

Headshoots -

Never seen a fortress resemble post-WWII Germany before.

This link is hosted by the nice folks over at lparchive.org

Syrupleaf - Come join 185 drunken, belligerent, greedy jerks and the dwarfs named after them as we witness the highs, lows, battles, tragedies, amazing feats and crushing incompetence of a Dwarf Fortress succession game. The sequel to Headshoots, and you know what that means. If you don't, go remedy that now.

This link is hosted by the nice folks over at lparchive.org

Battlefailed -

Let us be frank, gentlemen. Killer herds of undead grazing animals? Battle donkeys? Identical goblins? Dedicated necropoli? Artifice barrels? Slime lakes? Shit monsters? Forgotten beast incursions through artifact gem windows? Anti-gravity miners with fey moods?

Battlefailed is 2010's Boatmurdered.

For Battlefailed, images are broken. Apparently this file has them still though.
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=57052.msg6131377#msg6131377


FailCannon - The sequel to Battlefailed.

I have no idea where anything is. I have no idea what anything does. This is not merely a madhouse designed by a madman, but a madhouse designed by many madmen, each with an intense hatred for the previous madman's unique flavour of madness.

Hellcannon - Third entry in the Battlefailed saga.

Like a perfectly pleasant little tundra fortress still busy getting its stuff together, that somebody painted a lovely shade of murder.

Gemclod - (hosted on goondorfs.net)

Gemclod: let's all get killed and eaten

Gemclod is a "let's play" ran in 2010-2011 in the true spirit of SomethingAwful's succession games with tons of reader collaboration. Perhaps the largest Dwarf Fortress story so far, Gemclod has about 350 official updates, about the same number of fan journals, several dozens of pictures and even 13 custom-made pieces of music. Come join the last surviving members of the "Famous Palisade" in their desperate bit to found a fortress in a sinister swamp, far from the eyes of greenskins, the Arrogant Ones and grizzly bears. Only there can they build a splendid, amazing, truly fabulous Great Hall.

Halltraded - Out of the 120 dwarves who have braved this land of skeletal carp, dead trees, and steamy jungles only 31 remain. The inhabitants of Halltraded consider it a blessing even that many survived so far.

Deathgate

I've really run this fort into the ground.  Half the military is dead or insane from the horrors of hell, six or so forsaken beasts are locked away in the caverns,  the road into Deathgate has been painted with troll blood,  we've slaughtered about 400 innocent animals via liberal application of a boot to the ass, a deer with its liver hanging out of its chest after two siege bolts to the face is still scaring the piss out of people using the old doom-bridge, and we have about a dozen ghosts routinely harassing our dwarves since I can't find or reach their corpses.  As I speak, lava is pouring down the side of the mountain in the hopes it burns some of those damned goblins sieging us to death or at least drives them towards the troll-blood bridge.  On the flip side, Armok's temple is almost complete and we've stolen enough goods from the humans to piss them off for a good decade. 

Ardentdikes

It is really, really easy to flood this place with magma fwiw.

Doors stop fire, right?

Moltenchannels - The successor to Ardentdikes. Featuring 2 in-game decades of absurdly large construction, suspiciously functional engineering madness, 'ornamental' mountains of corpses, multi-generational dwarfing and general confusion. The game is cracking under the strain of supporting the awesome that is this fort, which explains the frequent bugs. Basically, everything you'd expect from a game which mandates a device to cleanse the fort with magma in its initial rules.

Skyscrapes, the Tower-Fortress - Communal megaproject fort with a single goal: forsake the earth to create an entirely above ground testament to dwarven madness and ingenuity. Includes a pump stack spanning 247 z-levels bringing glory to the top of the sky.

Necrothreat

Necrothreat II

So, let me get this straight. I have been the play-thing of gods and their vampire servants, I have led the unwashed masses into a new age of splendour and military accomplishment. I have died, and risen again. The power of flame and sword, of divine wrath itself, was not enough to stop me. I have battled zombies, had their grasping hands inches from my neck and still come out on top. My influence helped to purge the spirits of the undead from the halls of the fortress and returned a fellow being back into the halls of life. I spat in the eye of Armok himself!
All that, I have done. I have seen the rise and fall of many suns and moons, the turning of the world and one season blending into another in a dizzying blend. And it all ends in a muddy field with a bloody yak goring me. In true Necrothreat spirit, what a Troll

Necrothreat III: A land in which the forces of Ur and Armok once more ravage the land. So far, we have seen the undead Thread Zombies attack the last bastion of Forumites. Sprin, the evil doctor of the fort, has lost his beloved Jenny in a terrible accident - his thirst for blood knows no bounds. The man we thought would tear the fortress down brick by brick instead builds it up again, the tears of the Threadromancers his mortar. This is a fortress of fire, of blood and death. And, ultimately, of hope. For the stout Forumites are not accustomed to yielding to fate.

Spearbreakers - A succession fort that started as a broad ranging sequel to nearly all the greats, Spearbreakers, like the awesome bastard son of a king, has moved away from trying to succeed them in favor of being a fresh new experience full of modded monstrosities stuck on inaccessible ledges, a hospital with a killcount higher then the resident superdorf, and a science fiction subplot that is more convoluted then that of Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid mashed together by a chimpanzee on LSD.
Come visit Spearbreakers, where you will walk inside, and immediately be suffocated by mugs!

Steelhold (and the continuing saga) - Steelhold is a twice-born succession fortress that, at first, looks like just another penal colony.  However, there is so much more going on behind the scenes.  A demon cultist, a dwarf with an ancient artifact, the daughter of a mad scientist, the son of a deranged baron, a brilliant and crafty engineer, and a ruthless gang leader: all play a delicate game of politics, as the fate of the fortress and the world hangs in the balance.  None know the full plans of their competitors, and their alliances are temporary and of convenience.

In a phrase: "Welcome to Steelhold, good luck keeping your sanity, let alone your immortal soul."

The Eternal Halls - The name speaks volumes, whilst the amount of owners this fortress has had could fill volumes in names alone. This is a zombie of a fortress, as each new unwitting participant drags it back to life that more madness and death can enter its halls, constantly and forever.

Reclaim of Battlefailed

When Battlefailed fell, there were attempts to reclaim it and continue the awesome. They failed, the fort was flooded beyond belief and apparently no longer playable. They gave up and made Failcannon nearby. But then several months later. This happened. -TV Tropes Community Page

Epic Adventure at the Dawn of Time - The story so far is also available in PDF form.

Gen a new HUGE world, and start playing from YEAR ONE.  That would mean super low population.  Super High Titan and mega beast population.  And it would mean each Dwarf is "the first of their kind"  No kids yet, no epic warriors, no time for anything. So EVERYTHING is new and from scratch.

Doomforests and The End of Doomforests - Doomforests is a hilarious and tragic tale of Forgotten Beasts killing dwarves, Forgotten Beasts killing other Forgotten Beasts, soap worshipers, wars between occult sects, an inquisition, a rutile hat, and a friendly goblin who has seen more tragedies than any living dwarf. Doomforests is, and forever will be, a clusterfuck of ideologies, buildings, hallways, strip mines, hallways, offices, and hallways that will continue to grow until each and every dwarf in the fortress eventually dies. And sometimes, dies again. Abnormality is so commonplace that there may as well be no such thing.

clobbermountains - A normal fortress with angry banshees, evil husks, and other mutants that all got ruined during one single turn where Taupe tried to use an army of clowns, secretly the spawn of holistic... I think? It makes no sense, but despite being thrice doomed, clobbermountains still stands. No- one's sure why it is, and the people outside most likely doubt this fact. Also, They tried to use children as a defence against the spawn. Owch.

Active

The Museum: Adventure Mode succession world - Join the mad treasure hunt in this unforgiving and harsh world! Explore over 34 player created fortresses, but beware of the unleashed mummy armies , the twice husked god Dishmab and the other monstrosities that have been set free by those that came before you.

Drunk Fortress -

Dwarf Fortress is often lauded as one of the most complicated games of all time. The interface is opaque, the learning curve a cliff. It's hard enough for experienced players to keep their forts safe and secure on the best of days.

So, what happens when a bunch of players play a succession fort while completely inebriated?

Drunk Fortress is a Dwarf Fortress succession game in which each player takes a turn playing while totally plastered. It's run on a "First Drunk First Serve" basis, in which whoever is consuming alcohol at the moment is the next player. As can be expected from such playing conditions, the fortress quickly became a labyrinthine mess of half-finished projects and forgotten passages, with magma leaking into the fort from every direction and hosting at least three tantrum spirals. And it is glorious.

Breadbowl: a Succession Farm

An aboveground farming-based fort which exports each and every ounce of food whenever a caravan stopped by, Breadbowl soon became menaced by goblins, titans, and worst of all, Hamsters.

Community Fortresses

In a Community Fortress, one player plays a game of Dwarf Fortress while the community kibitzes. Very often community members take on the role of dwarves within the fortress. The level of community involvement varies from game to game- in some fortresses the community dwarves have no say in how the game is played, and in others the community makes all the important decisions, leaving the execution to the player.

Finished/Abandoned

Nist Akath - The Captain was stranded in a winter wasteland, a deathtrap. Read on as with only his wits, six friends and meager supplies, he struggles to make his prison a bastion of hope that all dwarves respect. Hailed as one of the greatest DF stories of our time, on par with Boatmurdered, albeit on the other end of the spectrum.

Pirates of the Fondled Waters- the Dread Ship Bellsmaw sails the seven seas. Follow her crew's exploits as they struggle to survive their voyage on he ocean

All Dwarves are Bastards - A community fortress with a substantial twist, the story takes place over multiple forts. The first? The powerful, mysterious, and amnesiac dwarf lord Doomhammer and his cat... fluffycuddlekissesjoy. The second? a small, stout dwarven outpost of a few hardy souls working to survive directly on top of a goblin dark tower! What horrors... wait, why is that goblin offering us tea? ARGH!

Death and Glory - It's us adventurers VS the world. But this time, YOU decide what happens. Kagus has left the thread, but he has left a challenge for any and all who come after him. Can you write a tale of incredible deeds? Can you record histories of great triumphs, great disasters, or great evil? Bring your mettle and pen to the table, and let us go forward together.

My Little Fortress. Glitterglen -

After days of travel, she had arrived at the spot the princess had commanded. It was hot, and humid. The sound of a stream could be heard nearby, according to the map the stream was called, Bleachedroot the Pranks of Coincidence. The area was thick with plant life, and heavily forested with trees that looked unnatural, it seemed as if the very forest itself was hostile to the presence of the few terrified ponies. Charity decided that they would name the new fortress something happy, something to show that it was a shining point of civilization, inside the harsh and unforgiving jungle, and so it was decided that this would be Glitterglen, Strike the Earth!

Glazedcoast -

Okay, sure, we came out here to strip-mine the local landscape, and trained a squad of axe-wielding child soldiers to slaughter the indigenous population as well as murder an ancient being's family and friends one by one right in front of him. Yes, Sinthad's life has been so brutal and bloody that she is little more than a dead-eyed killer at 19. Yes, the arrival of a kindly and just King did nothing to improve the lives of the dwarves, because the problem is not people like Logem but rather the entire dwarven culture. Yes, Glazedcoast is a glass box filled with mud and dead plants, covered in sickening phlegm, below which sits a festering hole leading deep into the bowels of the earth; yes, its major exports are weapons and suffering; yes, there is not a single family that has not lost a child to monsters or the arrogance of the military. I have had endangered birds shot and left their bodies to rot on the ground. I allowed a four-hundred-year-old vampire queen to be ripped limb from limb to discover the limits of her powers. I have thrown innocents into battle with vicious goblins simply because the amazing works of art they produced did not amaze me quite enough. I have made pies out of puppies.

This is grim? This is monstrous? THIS. IS. DWARF! FORTRESS!

*kicks human ambassador into a pit full of captured goblins; puts on gem-studded human-hair crown*

External link warning- hosted at brokenforum.com

Rockfalls the Depths of Volcanoes - Twenty dwarves, a baby and a ghost entombed in a small three-story fortress under an ocean of magma. Let's see what happens when a society of dwarves in close quarters gets pressure-cooked.

Severedcoils - The only reason this fort was built is luring treacherous nobles out of mountainhomes and disposing them in order to ensure safety of the crown. The consorts however should not be harmed. For how long will Zon Rimtarothil, simple fisherdwarf that just happened in wrong place in wrong time, be able to keep that arrogant spoilt horde happy?

Towersoared - Cog is an architect. Cog is an architect who is unhappy with the lack of megaconstructions in the mountainhomes. Cog is an architect who complained about things, and got kicked out, with only 6 friends to accompany him.

Join Cog in his excursions to build a truly grand fortress. Be afraid of the plagues of Nightwings. Be confused about Catten, the fittingly catatonic miner-gone-swordsdwarf. Admire Derm, the legendary axedwarf, who killed three giants, two forgotten beasts, and a giant cave spider before finally getting his first injury. Glare at Syntic, who is a master of getting underfoot. Laugh at Martini, who is perpetually high on Quarry Bush, and paranoid that Syntic is a spy. Search for Comp, who lives in the caves. And join many others in the fun that is Towersoared- Chronicles of Construction.

Choose Your Own DF - Goblin Blight Island - SURROUNDED ON ALL SIDES BUT DOWN, CAN YOU SURVIVE THE ISLAND'S TERROR? Another great and inventive community game from OneMoreNameless.

Wait, all sides but down? This is the new version, right? Hoooo boy.

Flamebanner -

For being a story based on books about bloody cats, it is exceedingly Dwarven.

Plus, their Dwarves are somehow surviving without throats. That's hardcore.

Blockedlance - Grave of a Thousand Dwarves - Welcome to Blockedlance, grave of a thousand dwarves!  Welcome to a fortress so awesome, that it was destroyed before it even began!  Meet Urist Salvedangers the Foggy Barbs, butcher of dwarves, and sole survivor of a reclamation gone wrong.  Watch her rebuild her fallen dwarven nation from nothing but dolomite and the blood of peasants .  Warm your heart as the dwarves worship their blood-thirsty God!  This is the inspiring tale of child sacrifice and blood feuds, and of peasants being crushed under the golden boot of the Queen's majesty!

THIS.  IS.  BLOCKEDLANCE!!!

Migrursut: Utopia in the Wastes - One Dwarf dared to defy the Queen of the Mountainhomes and build his fever-dreamed utopia with a group of settlers seeking a better life.  This act of treason may inadvertently save their race, if his madness and megalomania doesn't doom them all to destruction first.

"The quintessential Dwarf Fortress story: Lofty goals, tall structures, and slow rapid descents into high-functioning insanity." -- Jim Groovester

"Migrurust:  Goodness is a choice, but madness is mandatory." -- Knick

Brightwater - Community fortress of science, oceans, and animal taming-as author describes it.

Nomekast - 'They spread like a wave. They infest every crevice of this once beautiful realm. The non-creations of the end have overrun most of the world. They are the Nothing. And they have only one goal: To kill every living being in what remains of the world. The gods themselves have shown to be no match for the great destroyer.
Ibruk thinks differently. A priest of almost insane devotion to the gods, he plans to set forth and thrive in the face of destruction. Refugees from the world over will come to seek a sanctuary in one of the last remaining bastions of power in the world. But the Nothing are feverent. And incursions from the Great Destroyers' Lieutenants and Generals from the deeps and the surface will not make it easy. Interracial living has stressed tensions to the breaking point as all five races unite under one banner, separated by suspicion, treachery, sabotage, and greed. Divine interferences mark the beginnings of something greater, but for now we wait. We will persevere.
We are Nomekast,
And we are Hiding From Nothing.'

Active

The Rise of the Fahstrom Clan -
"A story about the rise to power of a small clan at the end of the world and the beginning of a new age. When a group sets out to worship a goddess of death in a terrifying wilderness and establish their place of worship all sorts of bad things can happen. Including attacks by the unicorn riding avar! (winged humans from Legendary Lands) Read the story where Chaos and Order battle and where ties to Family and Clan override the ties to the Kingdom." - Paulus Fahlstro

Archcrystal -
Its a fortress that has been active for 310 in-game years. And it is currently building a glass city in the HFS. Its military of only 2 dozen or so have faithfully guarded its gates both in the HFS and the surface for these past 3 centuries.

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Stories

A story is just that- a tale about Dwarf Fortress. This category includes fiction, dramatizations, and anecdotes.

Finished/Abandoned

Oilfurnace - A beautifully illustrated look into the standard Dwarven Fortress by the same artist that penned Bronzemurder.

This is an external link.

Lanternwebs - awaiting blurb.

Bronzemurder (an illustrated Dwarf Fortress battle report) - a tragic yet hilarious story of the type only DF can conjure, retold in majestic pictures. This is a true work of art.

One Dwarf Against the World - Some say she was mad, others claim she was simply genius. Regardless of what people call her, her name still burns in the memory of dwarves everywhere.

A Kobold's Quest - The story of Fale Thimaiyilo, Kobold Adventurer.
 
A Kobold's Quest II- The young Kobold Prince Blitikus Thimaiyilo is forced to flee after an assassination attempt. Racing north, he digs out for himself a new home in the tundra and vows his vengeance upon those who have wronged his family in a story that crosses both time and space.

Questionable Ethics - The story of Kazo, the construct, friend of Blitikus. Long after the events of Kobold's Quest II, Kazo finds himself awakening in a new time and place without a clue on what to do in it.
 
A Journey to Mountain-Banners- A short introduction for a monster of a fortress. It is truly a marvel that must be seen to believe.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Zombie Troll - Sometimes authors try to rationalize the insanity of DF. Other times...

Cacame - click the link to the left for an introduction into an alternate world. An odd world, much like our own and yet so very different. A world where the unthinkable occurs. Elves, ruling Dwarves. But cultures can rub off, and the king of the Dwarves, Cacame, is... well... see for yourself.

God save whoever goes up against the king.

The Legend of Tholtig Cryptbrain - Dwarf Fortress at its finest. Death, destruction, mayhem, it's an epic and tragic tale of a true dwarven queen, locked in an epic struggle with the elves in a monumental war that devastated both civilizations. She is also reputed to have killed more living things than any other ever recorded. I say reputed because there were no witnesses left afterwards.

The Epic of Sodel Udir - 
                               
                               I’ll tell you the legend of Sodel Udir
                      A dwarf with a name that has come to mean fear
                          I’ll show you the doom of his lost fortress Ur
                 In the spines of the north where the dark creatures stir

Quest: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World - It was year 201, a bitter cold spring thaw after an even colder winter, when Morul Cattenmat suddenly became obsessed with becoming the single most skilled dwarf in the multiverse. One skill after another, he went forth, practiced, and mastered each one, becoming renowned not just for his crafting ability, efficiency, or brutality in combat, but rather for all of those and more. It's a tale that must be heard to be understood, the amazing tale of the most skilled, and interesting, dwarf in the world.

Ironblood, look out.

An Illustrated Holiday Anecdote - Half heartwarming story, half achievement of Dwarven Ingenuity, this brief seasonal greeting will warm even the coldest hearts. With magma, of course.

You have found... - Guy finds spoilers, asks what it is in a thread, hilarity ensues. Truly emblematic of Urist McEveryplayer's first brush with HFS.

The Legend of Ungrashzon - A German animation/game design student made a short film about Ungrashzon, your typical Dwarven Fortress. This is that film.

The Legend of Aban Diamondtowns - Aban Diamondtowns the Charms of Society, legendary dwarven warrior-hero, descends into the depths of the world, where he is kept from certain death by unlikely saviors.

I killed a Bronze Colossus, and you'll never guess how - Really, saying more than this would only spoil the ending. It isn't long, go read it!

Weatherwires: Children of Dwarves -

25th Moonstone, 182, Early Winter - Water flooding of the top of guildhalls began this month, but with the sealed passages between the buildings accidentally closed off, the dwarves (restricted to the interior of the halls, via burrows) pathed along the exterior avenues. Four dwarves perished when water flow pushed them off of the streets to fall many z-levels to their deaths. Additionally, one dwarf died on the surface, slain by a goblin ambush before the military could rush to protect him. The total fortress population has been reduced to 96, with no new dwarves having been born since 157.

Elves of Amanereli - The Goal: Make it to the Dwarf Mountain Home of Copper Gates with the least amount of elf deaths and the most amount of trade goods. Keep in mind that trade goods are more important than elves. After all, the final trade deal will hinge on what kind of goods survive the journey. But if you run out of Elves, it's game over, the Caravan failed. DO NOT LET THE CARAVAN FAIL!

Matul Remrit, Bravemule - (hosted at Bravemule.com)

The journey of Deebus, a kobold story

Active

The Littlest Cheesemaker - A Dwarf Fortress tale in the style of MSPA, written by evictedSaint, about a young dwarf girl who has recently come of age and is ready to pursue her life-long goal of becoming "The Greatest Cheesemaker Ever"...even if it seems like the whole world is against her.  Join Misty as she ventures off to the mighty fortress of ShieldDawn to ply her trade.  Surely there must be a place for Misty in such a grand hall; after all, who doesn't love having a new cheesemaker migrate to their fortress?

It's an interactive story, where the author draws the story and viewers make suggestions for what comes next. Be sure to check out the fanart!

The Increasingly Tragic Tale of Dumplin

Hetarios's Wirejade: An Uninvited Guest [SPOILERS]

Roomcarnage

The Captain's Log - After Moist Vetek, a somewhat mediocre weather god, appears to Kubluk Taniden in a dream, the unlucky dwarf is thrust into an epic adventure featuring elves, demons, goblins, zombies and scattered showers.
With nothing but their wits and the somewhat suicidal dwarves of the Courageous Bolt to help them, the travelers must fight their way across the lands of the mountain home to build for their very survival.

The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large - Through a series of mishaps, the titular elephant finds himself forced to live with those most peculiar of creatures, the "digbeards."

On the nature of Dwarves - Why our lovable bearded drunks are as Armok made them.

Forgotten Beast Art Contest

Vaults?
It's basically "You have found..." only in adventure mode. A new player finds a vault, wanders in, loses all companions and three limbs while trying to figure out what's going on. Asks questions on the forums. Manages to get the slab but has no idea what to do with it. Is told to google. Learns about clowns.
After backing up the save and searching legends mode they found that the demon who created the vault has been long dead, slain by the same roc that killed their last three adventurers. Awesome story.

Oh, and they killed a bunch of angels and got the slab while wearing only goose leather armor.

Adventure Mode

Epic Fortresses

These are triumphs of architecture and city planning, even by Dwarven Standards. Look on our works, ye mighty, and despair.

Finished/Abandoned

DF 2010

Dwarves within Dwarves - "In a flash of utter retardation I have decided to build a 100 or so z level tall statue of a dwarf that my dwarves will live inside."

2212 z-level above-ground Adamantine Spire - Includes save!

Version 40d

FlareChannel - Quantum Sawdust started it. And awed us.

He has now finished it and any one of you who does not feel the need to drop to their knees and praise Quantum Sawdust must report to the magma chamber.

Undergrotto, an experiment in terraforming - A hand-carved massive grotto cavern with a fortress inside. Complete with a grand arch made of ice, a hollowed-out mountain, a large lake, a ship docked at the beach, a tower-cap park, a magma caldera, a 91z drop-tower, a metallic palace, and much, much more. DFMA map here.

Version 23a and earlier

Copperblazes - "It was just pointlessly large." Hosted over at the DF Map Archive.

Dwarven Ingenuity

These are the truly phenomenal ideas, projects, and applications of SCIENCE! that define our community.

Chasing the elusive Mermaid -

The amount of malice in this thread is actually causing me some concern. I mean, chaining up mothers and forcing them to breed, just so we can drown their children to harvest their organs? Does this strike no one else as absolutely horrific?

You misspelled 'hilarious'

Dwarven Computer - Exactly what it says on the tin- the Dwarven Computer is pretty compelling evidence that Dwarf Fortress is probably going to become sentient and that the players are magnificent bastards when they want to be.

Sphalerite's Dwarvern Game of Life - Conway's Game of Life, recreated in Dwarf Fortress. Enough said.

An AussieGuy Project - The Dwarven Checkerboard - ThatAussieGuy kills the clown car with a boardgame, and then goes on to build a town in Hell in the same thread.

Cyberdorf Systems: Dwarfputing an AI -

SO. I don't know if this is all going to lead to a functioning A.I, but at the very least when the above is installed and everything linked up, I will have essentially made the very first dwarfputed notepad. Hurray!

Dwarven... "Child Care" -

It's like regular childcare, except with more dogs, and less care.
...
The only issue is trying to get the child to survive without going berzerk.  But then again, that might just turn into training for the other caged children, right?

Design ideas or implementation, anyone?

The Dwarfposal -

Well, this one would be a fine example for "Signs that you play Dwarf fortress (way) too much" thread.

The Toad himself assisted here. I support this.

Here lies Wagon: may he rest in peace -

The sponge now has a natural predator: THE WAGONMANCER

Bacon like a pro

Forum Games

Forum games are games devised by the community, and do not tend towards a single theme- they can be found in the Forum Games and Roleplaying subforum. This category includes Roll To Dodge and Mafia as subcategories, but NOT Let's Plays.

Finished/Abandoned
 
TACTICUS - "The Complete Rules of Tacticus, New Expanded Abridged Revised Pantshelm Edition, cannot all exist in the same space, or else odd quantum-mechanical effects will result in the removal of all dwarven beards in that space. We wouldn't want that, now would we? Of course, that doesn't preclude a small amount of informal organization in which to experience the game, such as "unless the Complete Rules of Tacticus, New Expanded Revised Pantshelm Edition, instruct otherwise, the starter of the game is the one who keeps track of what the hell is going on for everyone else's benefit" or "once the starter of the game informs everyone what the hell went on the previous turn or other period of time-space-dwarfdom specified in the Complete Rules of Tacticus, New Expanded Revised Pantshelm Edition, everything else going on prior to that is what the hell is going on the next turn or other period of time-space-dwarfdom". Of course, as seasoned Tacticus veterans, we know that the former is implied via Enid Butterclasped's Interpretation of rule 107.908.1 Section E, subtitled "Ordering of Events - Game Information - Periods of Required Drinking - The Score and Its Relation to Hoary Marmots", while the latter clearly follows from Appendix D-2 Section 77B, "Time Flows Forward, Unless It Flows Backwards Or Sideways & Considerations on Special Temporal Conditions Both Alcohol-Induced And Not". Sure, there is some debate regarding Enid Butterclasped's Interpretation and its ramifications on interior antman movements - heck, I think we all disagree with her stance that brewing occurs before the second subsidiary non-underground event phase - but her general thoughts seem logically sound. " - Felix the Cat
 
Battle of the Gods RP thread - Following a battle of deiific proportions, where the planets shook and the cosmos shuddered under the combined weight of the magic of the gods brout forth in full force a truce was made. No longer would any god fight one another directly. Instead, a board game was devised for the gods to vent their frusteration, anger, and agression on each other in a less destructive manner.
 
The pieces being, of course, mortals.

Battle of the Gods II: an RP thread- A smattering of many civilizations in world too small to hold them all! Which race will come out on top in the end? I present to you, the Battle of the Gods II!

Battle of the Gods III - What was once now an oddity, a new and incredible forum tradition has been born! We bring you... the Third Battle of the gods!

Battle of the Gods IV - A new take on a popular forum game. The fourth battle of the gods is an attempt to take the more free-form gameplay of the second and first games, and the stricter ruleset and game moderator interaction of the third, and create a conglomerate that will be even better than it's predecessors!
 
Snoopicus and the Ham Sandwitch of Life of Death - Snoopicus starts out this story stark naked, with only one piece of equipment. "The Ham Sandwich of Life of Death". Its abilities remain mostly unknown, but there are several rules which govern its use/existance. Follow his adventures as he seeks enlightenment, recognition in combat, and true understanding of the sandwitchy way.
 
Right after he eats lunch.

Roll to Dodge

A type of Forum Game characterized by simple, flexible rules. Players tell the Game Master their action, and the Game Master rolls a six sided die to interpret the results of that action. In short, a 1 is a Critical Failure, a 2 is a Failure, a 3 is neither Failure nor Success, a 4 is a Success, a 5 is a Critical Success and a 6 is an Overshoot. You will note that only two of those options results in your plan going as suspected, and three of them can make your situation worse. Hilarity Ensues.

Complete

Multiworld Madness - What insanity can emerge from a game where literally ANYTHING can happen? FIND OUT!

Roll to Roll to Dodge: A Meta-Adventure

"HELLO, BAY12ERS. I WOULD LIKE TO PLAY A GAME. YES FLESHBAG, WE ARE GOING TO BE PLAYING A VERY SPECIAL GAME OF RTD TODAY."

A two-layered RTD epic, complete with soundtrack. Maintains the perfect balance between "realistic" and "totally insane." Sometimes updates dizzyingly quickly. I think they're trying to save the world, but it's not entirely clear... Now with references to Liberal Elf Crime Squad!

Roll to Die/Dwarf/Derail - Beginning as a simple arena game, it quickly devolved into utter chaos when several players became gods through various means, culminating in the destruction of the world. It then passed onto the next stage, where the four players who became gods teamed up together to create a planet and species, some gods even fighting themselves. Their infighting was ended when the first god cursed the eldritch god with an inability to kill, entering slumber with the other gods to activate the curse. The game then progressed into it's third, and so far final phase, where players played various creatures, such as humans, dwarves and wizards of all kinds. The game is currently on hiatus, as it's creator is drawing a hex map of the world, to be used in the next phase.

Deviation-22 - In this science-fiction epic of a Roll to Dodge, join Tarran, Taric, Dom, Trol, James and Ashley, a band of Unchained rebels fighting the cruel Technocracy, the disorganized independents, and the mysterious bio-suited Immortals as they also struggle to survive on the alien surface of Mahdavi, a moon orbiting the gas giant Zeus, in a war filled with such goodies as Tarran shooting his teammates while dual-wielding, weaponised porn, and crazy people!

Active

Einsteinian Roulette - In short: > A Roll To Dodge/Die game > In the future > IN SPACE! > Mission based > Combat oriented > Incredibly fatal > Black Comedy

The Warrens of Oric the Awesome -

The Warrens of Oric the Awesome is an illustrated 2D dungeon crawler suggestion game that got completely out of hand. Who are we? What's going on? Dear gods what is THAT? Should we have prevented that senseless death? Just how much of these walls can we loot?

Come join us for page after page of us theorizing on why we still don't know the answers to any of these.

Format of this thread by Sizik, and large portions of the text are just cosmetically altered from what Jackrabbit had, where it isn't exactly the same.

[NAV]

Nominees
Updated 04-14-2016


November

Dwarf Fortress from Scratch v1 - Basically some modder (halfling) decided to delete the entire raws folder from the game, put whatever the game needed to physically run into place, then posted it on google for any modder to tamper with and tweak. the only real guideline is "it's scifi themed." After finally learning how to read the raws, i have realized it is a mass of abominations and mad scientists nightmares wandering around a deserted wasteland of a planet, sustained only by carnage.... on the rare chance you won't meet imperialistic alien civilizations, or Insectoid overlords, you will get to enjoy the local wildlife.... or they will enjoy you... eating you that is - 4 Votes

Dwarf Fortress from Scratch v2 - 2 votes


Demongate: Steelhold 2 - The last big succession fort of 34.11 on Bay12, featuring all the community generated lore of Steelhold with at least twice the competence. Join the dwarves working for or against a drunken illuminati-esque society known as the Evening Prayer Group as they set out to defeat; monsters that apparently all died out in worldgen, substance abuse issues, a mysterious hellfort full of zombies that most certainly does not exist, pointless interpersonal dramatics and, most dangerous of all, the thread's unsatiable lust for Overseer bloodshed. - 5 votes


August

I am Tholtig - 3 votes


September

Arrowrags, the Fort of a Megadwarf. - 1 vote


October

Silentthunders - 3 Votes


November

OceanShoots - 2 votes

Dwarven Academy of Science: The New Knowledge Center - 2 votes

"How parrots ruined my fortress: Shocking coordination edition" 1 vote
March
Constructivory - Follow Bearskie and this plucky band of misfits as they create perhaps the most undwarfy thing every thought up by dwarves, a tower. A tower to pierce the heavens. Full of political intrigue, mysterious physics-defying murders, an insane Queen, kittens running for mayor, a lava pooping chicken god, a gold idol to an overseer, and Bells. Or perhaps, more accurately, THE Bell. Come and look upon the monstrosity that is Constructivory.
2 votes

April
The Illustrated Dwarf - 4 votes

May
Dwarf Fortress for the blind - 1 vote

Murdermachines 2 Votes

Out of curiosity, I downloaded the last save and opened it up.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

A few, half-naked dwarves roam a massive, incomprehensible fort. The surface is covered with bodies and random items. The caverns are a mess. There are corpses sitting at tables everywhere. A fisherdwarf is paralyzed at a table after putting on clothing covered in forgotten beast extract. Some keets just hatched. People are going missing and being found dead. Hallways that lead nowhere, multiple staircases to get to the same place. Random veins being excavated. Miasma fills the halls. Levers in random places. Engravings of voidspawn killing dwarves. Engravings of dwarves engraving. Random corpse stockpiles. Slabs for voidspawn. Everything is covered in Fungin's blood. I cannot wrap my mind around this fort. Screenshots just do not do the place justice. Just... what the fuck.

August
Spearbreakers II - Braveworks

October

You Can't Die
You Can't Die 2
You Can't Die: Cosmological Complication
You Can't Die: Medieval Meyhem
You Can't Die: Technology Takeover
You Can't Die: Space Shinanigans - An otherwise typical suggestion game except for the fact that every action is completed perfectly, no matter how improbable or ridiculous. The story features a janitor on a military space ship who is thrust into battle when his ship comes under attack. The janitor must use his wits and all his cleaning supplies to come out of the war alive.

Sabotaged Fortress - 2 Votes

The Story of Atolasob (A Community Fort with an Export Challenge) - 1 Vote

Necrothreat IV - 5 Votes

Whisperwhip - 4 Vote

Cog The Blind Drunk
A poor NPC gets dfusioned with the player and the result is an epic tale of a bumbling Blind Drunk and a lot of mangoes.
- 1 Vote[abbr]

Pokeyball
The amount of clown related nonsense that this fortress has been able to survive truly amazes me.
- 1 Vote[/url]

Mon Kima Nation Of Pearls
- 1 Vote[/url]

[NAV]

Reserved

[NAV]

Reserved

[highmax28]

Huzzah!

Also, quick question:

Does Necrothreat have the synopsis of the entire thing listed under III or is it listed as just that one alone?

Also, Necrothreat III is still active... It's just slow as molasses

[TheBiggerFish]

PTW.

[TD1]

PTW.

Also, Necrothreat III is still active... It's just slow as molasses

Hey, I'm not as slow as a molas...

Hold on, the tide's coming in. I'll get back to you in 12 hours, tops!

[Gwolfski]

Why two halls o fame? 

[PsychoAngel]

Doomforests still needs to be moved from "Community Fortresses" to "Succession Games," just to let you know.

[4maskwolf]

Why two halls o fame? 

Monk can't keep up anymore, so he passed it off to someone else.  Now we just need to get the stickies switched and it'll be all good.

[onciblu]

so this tread is important!? I fell like I need to post on it

[apiks]

And so the torch passes once more. All aid be to you, NAV, drunken crossbowman.

[Immortal-D]

Of course, soon as I nomiante Oceanshoots, all of the pics go down after 4 years   Also, 'Bacon Like A Pro' still has the wrong link   Seriously though, somebody needs to grab the Oceanshoots save and repost pictures, it really is an astounding feat of engineering.