I started up a dwarf settlement, Sedilkulet Namash, The Angelic Abbey of Brews, based on a concept and its own set of rules. Proving the concept still.
Idea stemmed from the Breadbowl succession game. In this case we're an abbey and allow only adults. Kids are "adopted out" even if they are migrants. (They are disappeared via dropping bridge.) No pets allowed except male or neutered cats (or moleweasels, pick one) and dogs (mastiff in place of dogs are okay, if those still exist). Dogs can be bred. Trapped and tamed animals can be bred. Animals can be bought from trade caravans only for immediate butchering. Migrant pets are expelled (atom-smashed) if named or butchered if not.
Only export is booze. There are rules about how much can be exported per caravan based on the number of different type of booze exported. More types allows more barrels of each type.
After the first year, booze can only be shipped out in glass barrels or pots. First year is tough even with wooden barrels I've found. Suspect second year will be too. And third.
Only metalworking allowed is minting gold. Bars traded in can be used in construction, but not to make things (and can be used in moods.)
Abbey is a commune of sorts. No standing military allowed. Everyone is part of the militia. Only hand-to-hand, picks, hammers and axes are allowed (tools used in the abbey.) No metal armor. Leather of any type is okay, and esoteric stuff like stone, bone or gems. Everyone does everything EXCEPT the specialties for producing booze: brewers, glassmakers and herbalists can be specialists. (Think I will have to add in farmers. It's just too painful with low skill farmers. But I'll decide once I am farther in. For next time.)
I have a scoring system based on the export value and the sqrt of the settlement value itself at end of settlement or 20 years. Just to measure "success." Higher settlement value shouldn't boost skill that much unless I am wildly overestimating how much booze I can ship. And higher settlement value should boost the risk levels, so trying to get score that way is two-edged.
Only 'Master Brewers' can hold offices. One can hold them all. Rules on what happens if someone with less than that ends up Abbot. Still toying with what skill level a master brewer should be. If it's 5, a starting dwarf can be one, which makes the noble/office rules simpler to follow. 5 is pretty easy once there's a library and a guildhall (and coins) since brewers can specialize keep the riff raff in the mines or fields.
Only guilds permitted are farmers, merchants and jewelers, with a limited number of the last two. Still toying with this restriction too. Might decide to allow monk training in a garrison (atm garrison is verboten) and some other guilds' members in limited numbers.
Kind of hard to get a guildhall ... coins are tough at first. Trying this as humans would be easy though. Loads of ways for humans to make coins. Including selling excess booze you can't trade away within the rules to the tent merchants.
This is a subset of "the rules" which are still evolving some. Limits on housing for monk-dwarves (1x4 cells only), officeholders/nobles (maximum tileage), and requirement for a communal dining room that can sit all residents plus at once (but settlement capped at 100, so decided to make end-state dining hall 120 tables/chairs.) Temple(s), of course, it's an abbey. Tavern optional. Hammerer required at first sign of crime. Etc.
In any case, made it through my first year going hand-to-hand with badgers. Dog pack helped though they are not war dogs yet. Needed to bulk up the pack. Had one monk wring a wombat's neck.
I exported 353 value in the fall. Only the one trader. It was all brew from foraged fruits, grains and berries. Some silly dwarf thought he'd brought plump helmet and pig tail spawns. He had not. Not a one. Even if we'd had them, probably would not have more than doubled that number. In fact, with the low farming skill we got much better bulk from foraged materials. A 5 skill herbalist yanks some nice stacks.
Green glass production was running, barely, by year end. That will help export number because green glass pots are worth more themselves than wooden or stone barrels. Once settled we can move up to crystal glass too.
All we could afford to buy were plump helmet spawns (didn't breach caverns yet) and cave wheat spawns (latter was a bad call, sweet pods would have been better. Pig tail not available with this trade caravan.)
Have a large "above ground" (dug in one layer and roofed over) farm only partly in crops. Have a decent variety of above ground seeds and fruit trees to boost the variety. Am guessing I'll do a wide variety so I can pound out the things I can grow en masse. Current rule is for ever three different brew types shipped, can ship 1 barrel of each. So 18 types would mean we can ship up to 6 containers of any of those types per caravan. May have to gem-encrust barrels. A fine brew deserves a fine package!
We do have gold below us, but haven't found but one small lode so far. And we don't have an anvil. (the embark points are also limited to 1000, but should have brought an anvil. Thing weren't that tough. Just my first attempt and so finding chinks in my planning and rules. Thought dwarves could still make stone ones, but can't find that option so far. Maybe it's rockforge.)
Once I can mint coins I can get up liason and merchants, but won't have much gold to spend. Until I mine a lot more. Guild members would help, as would getting a decent library up. Harder when can't just buy stuff from caravans easily. Going to have to take bargaining seriously.
Saw a kobold thief so should not be very peaceful. Area is wilderness, and so far loads of badgers. Also saw some giant dingos. All are dangerous at this stage but giant dingos are really nasty with no armor (not even leather yet) and no standing military to skill up fast. Have 7 races as neighbors in this embark, and only two (elves and humans) are friendly... I expect. Lots of orcs and goblins close. Assuming we see any invasions, could end suddenly.
So far, very different style of play from the rut I was in. This is good. I think having a scoring system will add a twist too.
Current ground level:
Depot still outside, but working on opening the wagon path into the hill. Those are glass pots of brew in lower right. Unfortunately, most are only 20% full. Considered a rule that only full containers could be traded, but that seems less than workable. What's a full container? Sizes vary depending on barrel vs pot. And so far haven't seen any way to combine drinks from two part full into one.
Housing for our current 15 monks down 5 levels or so. 20 rooms with beds in place down there. Spartan, but smoothed. Food no issue. Drink no issue except they keep drinking the profits. Well functional (had to rush it due to an accident resulting in a bleeder and a broken leg. He's okay now. Need to make soap real soon too. And get some cloth production going. Do have rope reeds growing nicely now. (I love multifunction plants! Drink and thread! Pig tails are great too.)
