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[LogicalDash]

From what I read on the devblog, the next update to Dwarf Fortress will make it the most realistic close-combat simulator in existence. Nerves being able to take damage, permanently impairing the motor coordination of one or more body parts? Hells yes.

Tabletop roleplaying systems generally make a point of not requiring you to track those sorts of things, because the number of dice you have to roll and stats you have to track (without messing up) get ludicrous quickly. But Dwarf Fortress, being a computer game, does not have this problem.

I think it would be nifty to use the Dwarf Fortress engine as a simulator "backend" for a tabletop roleplaying game. The players would roll up their characters in the game engine, and then the gamemaster would take over and put those characters in the appropriate situations as the adventure played out. When combat occurs, it uses the same system as in the game's current Adventure Mode, just with multiple characters under control. The gamemaster should be able to construct the world by hand if he wants, and then construct arbitrary situations for the player characters to fight and/or weasel their way through. But it would also be compelling to have your party wander around the same world as in Fortress and Adventure mode, going on whatever adventures the game master and/or NPCs set them up with.

(I am specifically not requesting network play. It would be very difficult to communicate about the game in progress without having all the players there. Perhaps not impossible, but crafting the appropriate interface for online multiplayer can wait until after version 1.0 comes out, I think.)

Besides, it would be neat to put a hydra and a horde of kittens in a pit and have them fight to the death.

[Belteshazzar]

Ah the ever longed for WIZARD/DEBUG MODE many similar games allow spawning and level/tile manipulation modes for testing purposes
I would mostly use such a system to test new critters, objects and such. Making sure they react correctly and don't die because I forgot to give them lungs or some such nonsense. It would also speed the discovery and testing of bugs.

[neo1096]

Wow, this is a new idea, but it would add a lot to testing mods, one of the things keeping me from doing my own mods too much. Question is, what would Toady have to do to add this in?

[Yuu_Inohara]

Wow, this is a new idea, but it would add a lot to testing mods, one of the things keeping me from doing my own mods too much. Question is, what would Toady have to do to add this in?

Divide by zero and sacrifice some of the players to Armok probably. Though this would be somewhat cool to have around.

[Hectonkhyres]

Divide by zero and sacrifice some of the players to Armok probably. Though this would be somewhat cool to have around.

Oh, Toady already does such things on a regular basis. I think he calls it 'Tuesday'.

[penguinofhonor]

He did have the "create a berserk dwarf" button to test the new body system. I think this is a good idea so we can all test our stuff too.

[Footkerchief]

Wow, this is a new idea, but it would add a lot to testing mods, one of the things keeping me from doing my own mods too much. Question is, what would Toady have to do to add this in?

A simple one-tile-at-a-time editor would probably be pretty easy, but building a dungeon from scratch would require more sophisticated tools.

[LegoLord]

He did have the "create a berserk dwarf" button to test the new body system. I think this is a good idea so we can all test our stuff too.

Actually, a "test" mode would be great.  Just some pre-designed world that restarts on command, from, oh, say year 1050.  It could have a location with every mineral available to the game easily accessed, infinite fuel, the ability to spawn creatures at will, and any other good stuff Toady could come up with.