The Hall of Legends
Throughout the time of bay12, a number of powerful tales, shocking accounts, and amazing feats of engineering have appeared on the forums. Some of these tales are still popular today, be they stories of exceptional quality, or simply so ingrained in the culture of our forum that we can hardly forget. Others, less so, but still memorable enough in their own right to not be forgotten.
This thread is a continued compilation of what are generally considered the best stories in the Bay12 forums, and some of the new and developing tales that have the potential to merit the title of "Beyond Quality" some day. Unfortunately, the creator of the original thread appears to have succumbed to the devilish and maligned beast known but never spoken of, save in a whisper (or italics) as '
Real life'. As such, because I have an insatiable ego, I took it upon myself to create this thread to take its place as many stories still deserve to be remembered. Obviously I will gladly hand the reigns back to our much loved Jamini should he return.
The goal of this thread is not to draw attention to particular tales, but rather to chronicle the best so that anybody, new player or forum veteran alike, can find them with little difficulty.
If you find such a story that is not on the list, or discover one of the links are broken please either PM me or make mention of it in this thread. I will do my very best to keep this listing up-to-date and accurate. And provide a synopsis. I can't read everything, though I do try.
Succession GamesFinished/AbandonedBoatmurdered - The downfall of the greatest community fortress before our time. A must read!
SparkGear 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12 - SparkGear. Also know as SG, also known as 'That Complete and Utter Disaster'. A new type of succession fortress where turns are measured in real time. Each turn takes 24 hours before being handed over to the next willing sucker. The result? Unchecked and unparalleled insanity from top to tail. This isn't a tale for the history books. This is a tale to be spoken of in a darkened room, with the doors locked tight. The sprawling, epic mess that is SparkGear has left scars on those foolish enough to even glance at it, yet still proves more addictive than the most dangerous drug.
SparkGear. Where the good, the bad and the ugly dwarves (and everyone in between) go to die.
Headshoots -
Never seen a fortress resemble post-WWII Germany before.
Syrupleaf - Come join 185 drunken, belligerent, greedy jerks and the dwarfs named after them as we witness the highs, lows, battles, tragedies, amazing feats and crushing incompetence of a Dwarf Fortress succession game. The sequel to Headshoots, and you know what
that means. If you don't, go remedy that now.
ActiveBattlefailed -
Let us be frank, gentlemen. Killer herds of undead grazing animals? Battle donkeys? Identical goblins? Dedicated necropoli? Artifice barrels? Slime lakes? Shit monsters? Forgotten beast incursions through artifact gem windows? Anti-gravity miners with fey moods?
Battlefailed is 2010's Boatmurdered.
Halltraded (incomplete) - Out of the 120 dwarves who have braved this land of skeletal carp, dead trees, and steamy jungles only 31 remain. The inhabitants of Halltraded consider it a blessing even that many survived so far.
The Eternal Halls - The name speaks volumes, whilst the amount of owners this fortress has had could fill volumes in names alone. This is a zombie of a fortress, as each new unwitting participant drags it back to life that more madness and death can enter its halls, constantly and forever.
Community FortressesFinished/AbandonedNist Akath - The Captain was stranded in a winter wasteland, a deathtrap. Read on as with only his wits, six friends and meager supplies, he struggles to make his prison a bastion of hope that all dwarves respect. Hailed as one of the greatest DF stories of our time, on par with Boatmurdered, albeit on the other end of the spectrum.
Pirates of the Fondled Waters- the Dread Ship Bellsmaw sails the seven seas. Follow her crew's exploits as they struggle to survive their voyage on he ocean
All Dwarves are Bastards - A community fortress with a substantial twist, the story takes place over multiple forts. The first? The powerful, mysterious, and amnesiac dwarf lord Doomhammer and his cat... fluffycuddlekissesjoy. The second? a small, stout dwarven outpost of a few hardy souls working to survive directly on top of a goblin dark tower! What horrors... wait, why is that goblin offering us tea? ARGH!
Death and Glory - It's us adventurers VS the world. But this time, YOU decide what happens. Kagus has left the thread, but he has left a challenge for any and all who come after him. Can you write a tale of incredible deeds? Can you record histories of great triumphs, great disasters, or great evil? Bring your mettle and pen to the table, and let us go forward together.
ActiveNomekast - 'They spread like a wave. They infest every crevice of this once beautiful realm. The non-creations of the end have overrun most of the world. They are the Nothing. And they have only one goal: To kill every living being in what remains of the world. The gods themselves have shown to be no match for the great destroyer.
Ibruk thinks differently. A priest of almost insane devotion to the gods, he plans to set forth and thrive in the face of destruction. Refugees from the world over will come to seek a sanctuary in one of the last remaining bastions of power in the world. But the Nothing are feverent. And incursions from the Great Destroyers' Lieutenants and Generals from the deeps and the surface will not make it easy. Interracial living has stressed tensions to the breaking point as all five races unite under one banner, separated by suspicion, treachery, sabotage, and greed. Divine interferences mark the beginnings of something greater, but for now we wait. We will persevere.
We are Nomekast,
And we are Hiding From Nothing.'
Towersoared - Cog is an architect. Cog is an architect who is unhappy with the lack of megaconstructions in the mountainhomes. Cog is an architect who complained about things, and got kicked out, with only 6 friends to accompany him.
Join Cog in his excursions to build a truly grand fortress. Be afraid of the plagues of Nightwings. Be confused about Catten, the fittingly catatonic miner-gone-swordsdwarf. Admire Derm, the legendary axedwarf, who killed three giants, two forgotten beasts, and a giant cave spider before finally getting his first injury. Glare at Syntic, who is a master of getting underfoot. Laugh at Martini, who is perpetually high on Quarry Bush, and paranoid that Syntic is a spy. Search for Comp, who lives in the caves. And join many others in the fun that is Towersoared- Chronicles of Construction.
Choose Your Own DF - Goblin Blight Island - SURROUNDED ON ALL SIDES BUT DOWN, CAN YOU SURVIVE THE ISLAND'S TERROR? Another great and inventive community game from OneMoreNameless.
Wait, all sides but down? This is the new version, right? Hoooo boy.
Flamebanner -
For being a story based on books about bloody cats, it is exceedingly Dwarven.
Plus, their Dwarves are somehow surviving without throats. That's hardcore.
Blockedlance - Grave of a Thousand Dwarves - Welcome to Blockedlance, grave of a thousand dwarves! Welcome to a fortress so awesome, that it was destroyed before it even began! Meet Urist Salvedangers the Foggy Barbs, butcher of dwarves, and sole survivor of a reclamation gone wrong. Watch her rebuild her fallen dwarven nation from nothing but dolomite and the blood of peasants . Warm your heart as the dwarves worship their blood-thirsty God! This is the inspiring tale of child sacrifice and blood feuds, and of peasants being crushed under the golden boot of the Queen's majesty!
THIS. IS. BLOCKEDLANCE!!!
Migrursut: Utopia in the Wastes - In a land dominated by Zombie Giant Scorpians, duplicious nobles, and religious zealots. A paradise... no... a Utopia will arise. It shall be called ... Migrursut.
The Rise of the Fahstrom Clan -
"A story about the rise to power of a small clan at the end of the world and the beginning of a new age. When a group sets out to worship a goddess of death in a terrifying wilderness and establish their place of worship all sorts of bad things can happen. Including attacks by the unicorn riding avar! (winged humans from Legendary Lands) Read the story where Chaos and Order battle and where ties to Family and Clan override the ties to the Kingdom." - Paulus Fahlstro
StoriesFinished/AbandonedOilfurnace - A beautifully illustrated look into the standard Dwarven Fortress by the same artist that penned Bronzemurder.
Lanternwebs - awaiting blurb.
Bronzemurder (an illustrated Dwarf Fortress battle report) - a tragic yet hilarious story of the type only DF can conjure, retold in majestic pictures. This is a true work of art.
One Dwarf Against the World - Some say she was mad, others claim she was simply genius. Regardless of what people call her, her name still burns in the memory of dwarves everywhere.
A Kobold's Quest - The story of Fale Thimaiyilo, Kobold Adventurer.
A Kobold's Quest II- The young Kobold Prince Blitikus Thimaiyilo is forced to flee after an assassination attempt. Racing north, he digs out for himself a new home in the tundra and vows his vengeance upon those who have wronged his family in a story that crosses both time and space.
Questionable Ethics - The story of Kazo, the construct, friend of Blitikus. Long after the events of Kobold's Quest II, Kazo finds himself awakening in a new time and place without a clue on what to do in it.
A Journey to Mountain-Banners- A short introduction for a monster of a fortress. It is truly a marvel that must be seen to believe.
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Zombie Troll - Sometimes authors try to rationalize the insanity of DF. Other times...
Cacame - click the link to the left for an introduction into an alternate world. An odd world, much like our own and yet so very different. A world where the unthinkable occurs. Elves, ruling Dwarves. But cultures can rub off, and the king of the Dwarves, Cacame, is... well...
see for yourself.God save whoever goes up against the king.
The Legend of Tholtig Cryptbrain - Dwarf Fortress at its finest. Death, destruction, mayhem, it's an epic and tragic tale of a true dwarven queen, locked in an epic struggle with the elves in a monumental war that devastated both civilizations. She is also reputed to have killed more living things than any other ever recorded. I say reputed because there were no witnesses left afterwards.
The Epic of Sodel Udir -
I’ll tell you the legend of Sodel Udir
A dwarf with a name that has come to mean fear
I’ll show you the doom of his lost fortress Ur
In the spines of the north where the dark creatures stir
Quest: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World - It was year 201, a bitter cold spring thaw after an even colder winter, when Morul Cattenmat suddenly became obsessed with becoming the single most skilled dwarf in the multiverse. One skill after another, he went forth, practiced, and mastered each one, becoming renowned not just for his crafting ability, efficiency, or brutality in combat, but rather for all of those and more. It's a tale that must be heard to be understood, the amazing tale of the most skilled, and interesting, dwarf in the world.
Ironblood, look out.
ActiveElves of Amanereli - The Goal:
Make it to the Dwarf Mountain Home of Copper Gates with the least amount of elf deaths and the most amount of trade goods. Keep in mind that trade goods are more important than elves. After all, the final trade deal will hinge on what kind of goods survive the journey. But if you run out of Elves, it's game over, the Caravan failed.
DO NOT LET THE CARAVAN FAIL!The Captain's Log - After Moist Vetek, a somewhat mediocre weather god, appears to Kubluk Taniden in a dream, the unlucky dwarf is thrust into an epic adventure featuring elves, demons, goblins, zombies and scattered showers.
With nothing but their wits and the somewhat suicidal dwarves of the Courageous Bolt to help them, the travelers must fight their way across the lands of the mountain home to build for their very survival.
Epic FortressesFinished/AbandonedPost 40dDwarves within Dwarves - "In a flash of utter retardation I have decided to build a 100 or so z level tall statue of a dwarf that my dwarves will live inside."
Copperblazes - "It was just pointlessly large"
Version 40dFlareChannel - Quantum Sawdust started it. And awed us.
He has now finished it and any one of you who does not feel the need to drop to their knees and praise Quantum Sawdust must report to the magma chamber.
Undergrotto, an experiment in terraforming - A hand-carved massive grotto cavern with a fortress inside. Complete with a grand arch made of ice, a hollowed-out mountain, a large lake, a ship docked at the beach, a tower-cap park, a magma caldera, a 91z drop-tower, a metallic palace, and much, much more.
DFMA map here.
ActiveForum GamesFinished/Abandoned TACTICUS - "The Complete Rules of Tacticus, New Expanded Abridged Revised Pantshelm Edition, cannot all exist in the same space, or else odd quantum-mechanical effects will result in the removal of all dwarven beards in that space. We wouldn't want that, now would we? Of course, that doesn't preclude a small amount of informal organization in which to experience the game, such as "unless the Complete Rules of Tacticus, New Expanded Revised Pantshelm Edition, instruct otherwise, the starter of the game is the one who keeps track of what the hell is going on for everyone else's benefit" or "once the starter of the game informs everyone what the hell went on the previous turn or other period of time-space-dwarfdom specified in the Complete Rules of Tacticus, New Expanded Revised Pantshelm Edition, everything else going on prior to that is what the hell is going on the next turn or other period of time-space-dwarfdom". Of course, as seasoned Tacticus veterans, we know that the former is implied via Enid Butterclasped's Interpretation of rule 107.908.1 Section E, subtitled "Ordering of Events - Game Information - Periods of Required Drinking - The Score and Its Relation to Hoary Marmots", while the latter clearly follows from Appendix D-2 Section 77B, "Time Flows Forward, Unless It Flows Backwards Or Sideways & Considerations on Special Temporal Conditions Both Alcohol-Induced And Not". Sure, there is some debate regarding Enid Butterclasped's Interpretation and its ramifications on interior antman movements - heck, I think we all disagree with her stance that brewing occurs before the second subsidiary non-underground event phase - but her general thoughts seem logically sound. " - Felix the Cat
Battle of the Gods RP thread - Following a battle of deiific proportions, where the planets shook and the cosmos shuddered under the combined weight of the magic of the gods brout forth in full force a truce was made. No longer would any god fight one another directly. Instead, a board game was devised for the gods to vent their frusteration, anger, and agression on each other in a less destructive manner.
The pieces being, of course, mortals.
Battle of the Gods II: an RP thread- A smattering of many civilizations in world too small to hold them all! Which race will come out on top in the end? I present to you, the Battle of the Gods II!
Battle of the Gods III - What was once now an oddity, a new and incredible forum tradition has been born! We bring you... the Third Battle of the gods!
Battle of the Gods IV - A new take on a popular forum game. The fourth battle of the gods is an attempt to take the more free-form gameplay of the second and first games, and the stricter ruleset and game moderator interaction of the third, and create a conglomerate that will be even better than it's predecessors!
Snoopicus and the Ham Sandwitch of Life of Death - Snoopicus starts out this story stark naked, with only one piece of equipment. "The Ham Sandwich of Life of Death". Its abilities remain mostly unknown, but there are several rules which govern its use/existance. Follow his adventures as he seeks enlightenment, recognition in combat, and true understanding of the sandwitchy way.
Right after he eats lunch.
ActiveRTD -
Multiworld Madness - A popular forum game first invented not long after forum games recived their own section in bay12. The premise behind RTD (Roll the Dice) is simple. You tell the game master what you want your character to do, and then roll a six sided die: On a 1 you fail spectacularily, On a 2 or 3 you fail marginally. On a four, you partially succeed, on a five you perfectly suceed, on a 6 you overshoot. What insanity can emerge from a game where literally ANYTHING can happen? FIND OUT! (Warning, this thread is excessively long and will take DAYS to read)
ConstructionsDwarven Computer - so strange that it demands a new category, the Dwarven Computer is pretty compelling evidence that Dwarf Fortress is probably going to become sentient and that the players are magnificent bastards when they want to be.
Sphalerite's Dwarvern Game of Life - Conway's game of life, recreated in Dwarf Fortress. Are you sold? Yes you are.
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Topic: The Hall of Legends (Read 274259 times)