March 6, 2024: Dwarf Fortress 50.12 has been released.
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News: February 4, 2021: Dwarf Fortress Talk #28 has been posted.
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+1Death World, built among old ruins as a symbol of the empire we're going to build atop the corpse of the old one.Yes, on the Deathworld, built among and integrating a fully-surveyed section of the old ruins.
The planet is formally designated Antwir, but "heck" is a common nickname for it.
Information spreads slowly and we only figured out that our name wasn't unique some time after becoming renegade, which motivated us to change names to The Watchtower.
This is good! +1Name: Steel Sentinels. Unofficially, "The Watchtower", or, more recently, "The Blind Tower".
Colors: Silver with rust-red highlights
Symbol: Eye over a tower. Originally open, now shut.
Battlecry: "YOUR END IS IN SIGHT!"
Doctrinal drift: Revere the God-Emperor as the pinnacle of humanity, but take issue with the corruption of His word the Imperium has made over the millenia. Prognosticators are believed to be the voice of the God-Emperor, and the well-being of humankind is the prime goal.
Codex deviation: Not quite a breakdown of the hierarchy, but it's definitely looser. Just as each battle-brother is expected to listen to their CO, the COs are expected to listen to each battle-brother; squad leadership is relatively fluid within each squad, and promotions are highly meritocratic. Techmarines have distributed the Mechanicus' secrets throughout the chapter out of necessity and practicality, although they are still the undisputed masters of those practices. The Chapter-Master is primarily advised by an informal council of the most-respected Astartes within the ranks, but any and every battle-brother has the right to speak with them. A small branch has also developed that specializes in mortal bureaucracy and economics, though they are considered deeply strange by the rest of the chapter; another branch, more highly-considered, specializes in training auxiliaries in both operating alongside the chapter as well as in the beloved art of Bolter marksmanship. One squad in particular has taken up the specific role of being the Chapter's gremlin-wranglers.
Culture stuff: Many battle-brothers receive tattoos pertaining to their accomplishments, and tattoo artistry is thought highly of within the Chapter. One of the highest honors is to be deemed worthy of the Scalpel tattoo, marking one as among the best medics in the chapter - not as skilled as the old Apothecaries, but one of the closest the Chapter has to them. Regicide [read: chess] is popular, though an extra piece, the Prognosticator, is added, which moves like a King but can be switched with any piece that will be imminently captured. It is considered a rite of passage to convince one of the neophytes that you're one of the Prognosticators, even though the Prognosticators are constantly trying to get the practice stamped out. Although everybody has the right to speak their mind to power, you are expected to consider how to use that right wisely; a reputation for giving little thought to one's ideas is one of the worst a battle-brother of the chapter can acquire.
+1 to this
As expressed earlier:
1. Trapped ruins/hallucinogenic plants/feral orks
2. Xeno ruins
3. n/a
4. Ambush predators
5. Esoteric ruins
6. Tectonically-unstable surface
7. Cannibalistic reavers
8. Even more trapped ruins
I'd also be willing to switch out cannibals for more ambush predators, and if that was done, I'd also be willing to switch the original ambush predators for trapping plants. But I think we should take at least one of the ambush predators.
Cunning+1 to Cunningtech-heresy GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Delicate, I say. Nothing some good body armor can't fix!+1 Nothing some long-range weapons can't fix!
Humanoid, why not. Easier to adapt tech for them.Humanoids can use human-pattern guns and armor, which is all we can make and all we WANT to make. This is 40k, they are going to never be more than second- or third-class citizens and barely-equipped cannon fodder for our militaries, might as well make it easy to slot them into their appropriate role.
Rogue Military, I say. From a personal perspective, I prefer we be soldiers rather than terrorists; from a gameplay perspective, it appears to allow us to choose our battles rather than being ideologically encouraged to rush into stuff and take actions we may not wish to do; and from a story perspective, it just makes sense for people trying to run their own little country to at least be trying to be levelheaded about it.
If we want to go on a crusade in the name of bureaucratic efficiency, we can decide to do so later.
