Crazy Idea: Dwarf Fortress by PBP

[Ancalagon]

So... I had this idea.

Would it be possible to play a dwarf-fortress like PBP game?

Basically the players control a number of dwarves. We play by "seasons". So player one says "ok, my first dwarf is going to cut some wood, and my second dwarf is gathering plants", Second player is going "Ok, my first dwarf will did a chamber underground for storage, my second dwarf will build a cooking area and start cooking" etc etc. Players can discuss what to do before presenting their plans to the GM.

Then the GM takes those inputs and modify the map to reflect the dwarves effort - in this case there would be trees cut, plants gathered, cooked meals and an underground chamber. There would be an "event" phase where stuff happens - merchants, strange moods, goblin attacks, migrants etc. System wise probably something preeety simple - troika like skill base system.

I think it's doable. But would it be fun? Is this worth doing?

 

[Ancalagon]

So we would start with 2 dwarves per players. We would have waves of migrants of about 1 dwarf per player, until we reached some agreed upon max (I'm not running 200 dwarves!)

Each dwarf would have a name, a basic skill rating (4 is a clutz, 5 is a normal dwarf, 6 is skillful), 2 skill they have basic training in (rank 1) and 1 skill they have decent skills in (rank 2), and equipment. Dwarves get better by doing stuff. Skills would be things like fighting, wood cutting, crafting, cooking, mining, jewel cutting, healing, Dwarves can do 2 tasks per season (or double on 1 if it's really important).

Dwarves would also have mood. They are really tough and can withstand hardship, but as their needs are neglected (no booze, sleeping on the ground) their mood goes worse. However, good stuff (having a nice bed, doing something you like) increases the mood.

I would have a map set up with elevation levels. Each season would be a week IRL, and I would update the map on the weekends.

 

[JustinCase]

I have a hard time figuring out if this would be fun. The nature of RPGs seems somewhat incompatible with this concept, although I'd love to be proven wrong on this account.

But considering nobody's responded so far (except me now), I guess we'll never know...

 

[Tonguez]

Have you looked at Pathfinder"Building and Oganisation' Downtime Rules? It presents rules to generate influence, labour and goods which you can then use to build structures and organisations from scratch.

 

[Ancalagon]

I have a hard time figuring out if this would be fun. The nature of RPGs seems somewhat incompatible with this concept, although I'd love to be proven wrong on this account.

But considering nobody's responded so far (except me now), I guess we'll never know...

The silence was quite deafening - a lot of people saw the thread, but almost no reply. I guess that's our answer eh?

 

[Tonguez]

Unfortunate, I‘m one who would enjoy the premise

 

[JustinCase]

A shame, but without more people interested...