I was just about to start a new thread, but this one is so closely related and well organized that I'll just hop on. :D
This is a spinoff of the Funerary rites (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165442.0) thread, in which:
The features this would implement should be generalized. Perhaps a general "rituals" section should be implemented, with specific groups doing different rituals for different items . . .
I thought that idea was worth exploring, and here's what I've come up with. Dwarves currently have a wide variety of actions that they can do themselves, but only a handful of things that they can do to/with other dwarves. Here is a set of small "subroutine" actions that can be combined to represent larger social behaviors--which, in turn, could be partially randomized during worldgen, giving dwarven life a richness of flavor, and a way to help make each civilization feel distinct from the next.
Subroutines. Some of these are little more than job names: for instance, "Pray" is nothing more than a brief "On Break" while the dwarf stands still and does nothing. Some of the subroutines are focused on a Person(s) of Importance, the POI. This could be the happy couple at a wedding, the new monarch at a coronation, the deceased at a funeral, the priest at a temple service, etc.
- Gathering at a location: A necessary first step. The location could be just about anything designated for the game's recognition: [ temple / tavern / tomb area / barracks / dining hall / throne room / etc. ]
- Moving to a different location: Same kinds of destinations as above, but if a more circuitous route is desired, waypoints will have to be designated. Possible variations: [ walking / marching / dancing / running / as a group vs. separately / carrying the POI / carrying an object / carrying many objects (flowers, torches, etc.) ]
- Singing / Dancing: Already implemented. May have to be expanded a bit to incorporate movement, for things like marching bands.
- General party eating / drinking / socializing: Already implemented.
- Ritualized eating / drinking: Distinguished from above by its ceremony and solemnity--think Holy Communion.
- Praying: Variations include [ praying silently / chanting / singing hymns ]
- Giving of gifts [ to / by ] the POI, the gifts are [ handed / thrown through the air / scattered randomly ].
- Individuals giving speeches to the gathering.
- One-on-one meetings with POI. A separate meeting spot, separate from the main assembly, may need to be designated.
- Reverence toward POI. The assembly may [ applaud / cheer / kneel / etc. ]
- Attend POI. This may include things like [ feeding / dressing / washing / treating wounds / cutting hair / etc. ]
- Reverence toward object, which may be [ movable / stationary ].
- Destruction of sacrificial item or creature. Disposal might take the form of [ burning / smashing / scattering / executing ].
- Ritual combat: Fighting is [ to the death / to the mercy ], combatants are [ audience volunteers / audience conscripts / separate from audience].
- Contest: This is the most varied and complex subroutine, and of such different types that it will be difficult for code for any one type to be useful for another. Regardless, all contests will involve at least one judge, who will determine which contestant (of at least two) is the winner.
- Punishment: May take place in any designatable location, but most likely a public spot like a [ barracks / temple / throne room / trade depot / etc. ] The criminal(s) is [ jailed / held immobile / beaten / marked / maimed / executed ].
Once these subroutines are in place, the game can use them as building blocks to procedurally generate rituals and other public functions. Depending on which subroutines are used, how they are ordered / nested, and of course what they're called while they're being enacted, all of these events can be represented:
Celebration of birth / reaching childhood: While I doubt any culture should celebrate both of these events, I think it's quite likely for a civ to pick one of them. It might involve something like: Gathering at [ hospital / mother's office ], Reverence toward [ mother / child ], Giving of gifts [ clothes / toys ], General party eating / socializing.
Reaching adulthood: Possible subroutines include:
Gathering at [ temple of POI's favored god ], POI gives a speech, POI hands out ritual [ food / drink / symbolic gifts ], speech by [ POI's godparent / craftsdwarf / warrior / priest / etc. ] formally taking POI on as their [ apprentice / squire / novice priest / etc. ], gathering moves to POI's room in his parents' house, gathering carries POI's belongings to POI's new adult home.
Mastering a skill / entering a guild: Naturally, only after guilds are implemented, and/or it becomes far more noteworthy to reach the rank of Master in a skill.
Gathering at POI's workshop, audience watches while POI makes an item (yeah, this one isn't in the list, so what), reverence toward object, audience members give speeches (which may be positive or negative) about the item, Contest where the highest-ranking craftsdwarf weighs the combined Persuader skills of those who voted Yea against the total Persuader ranks of the Nay-sayers. If the Yeas have it, the judge gives a ceremonial gift (probably a wearable token of guild membership) to the POI, gathering moves to a dining hall, general party drinking / socializing.
Earning a combat title:
Gathering at POI's barracks, individual speeches from those who witnessed POI's kill(s), audience members call out possible new combat titles (based on the stories just told), the title is selected by [ POI / militia captain / the player], POI is "punished" by being marked with a victory tattoo, general party drinking.
Royal Coronation / ascension to Mountainhome:
The crown prince(ss) is attended [ bathed / dressed ], gathering at royal throne room, reverence toward POI, procession to Trade Depot (assumed to be near fortress gate). If the fort is becoming the new Mountainhome, this is when the monarch's cortege arrives on the map / meets the fort's delegation at the Trade Depot. Procession to the fort's temple of the god of fortresses (assuming there's still a 100% chance that there is one), with the POI scattering coins to the crowd along the way. Speeches given by high priest & POI, POI is attended [ anointed with oils / scepter ], procession from temple to royal throne room, POI is attended [ crowned ], reverence toward POI, general party [ eating / drinking / socializing ].
Trial:
Gathering at appropriate site [ ideally, the temple to the god of laws / justice, although these spheres are rare ], speeches given by the plaintiff, defendant, and all witnesses. Contest where the judge [ sheriff / fortress guard / mayor / audience member with the highest Judge of Intent rank ] calculates the social skills of one side against those of the other, and determines the outcome of the case. (If the judge is relatively uncertain, the overseer may be tapped to provide a tiebreaker.)
Foot-race:
After waypoints are designated, this is simply gathering, procession with the flags of [ running ] and [ not_as_group ], contest where the judge picks the contestant with the highest Strength, and giving a gift to the winner.
Attending School:
Students gather in designated classroom(s) and [ read / write ], while teachers give individual speeches. Recess would include games, mostly physical--essentially sparring, but given names like "Dodgeball".
Weddings, funerals, the fort's ascension to barony / county / duchy, the creation of artifacts, the hallowing / reclamation of relics, general temple services, victory celebrations, etc., etc., etc. Doctors and patients could use One-on-one Meetings to perform house calls or annual medical checkups, or have their friends visit them in the hospital. Squires could use Attend POI to help warriors into their armor. Haulers could use Procession [ carrying_object ] to spontaneously generate multi-dwarf hauling jobs, when an object is too heavy for one person alone. Just about any action that requires 2 or more dwarves can be simulated (or at least improved) with these protocols.
Best of all, each ceremony can be coded as what constitutes the minimum "bare bones" of that particular social ritual, and during worldgen, each civilization can randomly add different subroutines onto each basic structure. One culture's typical wedding ceremony might include aspects like a child scattering flower petals, and audience members throwing seeds at the POI during the procession out of the temple--while a different civ might have the groom Attend POI on the bride, removing her old cloak & dressing her in one of his own, and the ritual ends with the audience members using Procession [ carrying_POI ] and Attend POI [ dress ] simultaneously, so that the happy couple are carried off to their new bedroom, and stripped naked along the way. Each new game would thus automatically be infused with its own quite flavorful culture--which the player could learn about by going to the Civilization screen and reading the details of the various types of social behaviors, and also witness firsthand every time one of them happens. There would also be some culture-related and religion-specific renaming: Suppose a temple has a small room off to the side, just large enough for a priest to hold private one-on-one meetings with parishoners. If this were a Catholic church, we would be able to [v]iew the humans and see that they were engaged in "Confession", instead of "Conduct Meeting" . . . but in a DF temple to a god whose spheres include Rumors, that same activity should be named "Gossip".
Other related thoughts: Critically, time would probably need to be reworked for most of these ceremonies to take place within a reasonable timeframe; the average citizen doesn't need a bar mitzvah that takes a full 4 days to celebrate. Also, attendance at these social events should drop by 50% when there is an active Siege going on--the unhappy thoughts in those who were randomly "unable" to attend should generate additional incentive to end sieges quickly.