Introduction

An introduction to life (or death) as a dwarf.

Dwarf Fortress is one of the most detailed computer games ever made. Every item and creature is tracked from creation to it's end (and if you are misfortunate enough to encounter a Necromancer, beyond the grave as well).

The game uses randomization on top of a pattern of cyclic events. For instance, every season there is a chance of a forgotten beast (monster) to be spawned at the edge of your map. If the digital-dice-roll clicks in for a spawn, the game triggers a selection process to grab pieces from the beast library. The monster may have scales, or tough skin. It could breath fire, shoot webs, or move very fast. And of course it's given a name. 

In one of my games, the random process spawned a wereskink. I, of course, had never heard of a wereskink. You have probably already guessed, but here's what it is: a wereskink is a fairly harmless creature, like a human, who transforms into a scaly ravenous lizard. 

It did take some work to stop the creature from killing all my dwarves, but I learned that the game even keeps track of the pools of blood spilled in battle. I learned this, because as it turns out, if a dwarf is splattered with the blood of a wereskink, he (or she) becomes a wereskink. Which you then have to kill. And the cycles continues. (To break the cycle I had to set up a quarantine, and leave dwarves in there for a month to see if they changed into dangerous skinks).

In order to share the tales of my random creatures, I am pulling the combat reports from the game. These reports give a blow-by-blow account of what happens when the monster encounters my dwarves. With minimal commentary, these reports can be turned into full-blown adventures. Have doubts? Read on and see for yourself...