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[Krixooks]

hi all, steam player here
I'm going to share some observations from my 250 year old world and I'm seeking advice and comments from veteran DF players.
(may be some spoilers if you're new)

I started my world at Year 50 (only 50 years of procedurally generated history) and I've found the world to have become a bit "flat". We are nearing the Year 300 now.
- I'm at fort #25 or something, plus some adventurers.
- We got lots of megabeasts which was fun, but for some reason the forgotten beasts have been exhausted- I haven't encountered a forgotten beast for probably the last 5 forts.
- Goblins have been relatively contained to one area.
- There are no towers of necromancy in my world. I know that there are a few existing necromancers, but no towers have yet appeared. I have not encountered one undead creature.
- There are no night creatures (were-creatures or vampires) or any other strange visitors in my world. I did manage to "create" a vampire in one of my forts (toppled altar).
- There are basically no visitors to my fortresses other than scholars from previous forts. i.e. no monster slayers, no animal people, no performance troupes (there was one performance troupe a long time ago but they slowly disintegrated).
- There's only one volcano which I built a fort in already. (I know you can create worlds with more volcanism) I actually find volcano forts very easy because you don't need lumber.
- I've become pretty good at managing the game over time, always on hard difficulty now and sometimes setting myself certain challenges, but if I manage things carefully I basically won't lose a fort for any reason now.

So I'm not here to complain, I've had loads of fun and recorded a lot of stories/screenshots which I will compile into some youtube videos later. Every fort has at least one funny/bizarre story.
But I'm wondering where to go with the world now.
I have enjoyed delving deep into the history of this world, and sticking to this one world to get the benefit of historical continuity. But I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of the chaos from "older" worlds where, due to necromancy, night creatures, wars etc. things are spiraling out of control.

I've sort of answered my own question. But I'd really love any comments and suggestions from veteran players.

[Blue_Dwarf]

Have you tried releasing the clowns? That tends to escalate quickly. Lots of spiraling out of control.

[anewaname]

Prepare for the clowns, then take their homeland...

[NordicNooob]

How about a generation fort? Crank that pop slider all the way down (I prefer sub-50 so I don't have to deal with mayors; 32, 40, and 48 are my most common picks because they're nicer numbers to make bedrooms of) and make a fort that explores the challenges of surviving with low pop and the super lategame mechanics you might never see in a normal fort. Your first bed decay is always an event to be celebrated.

[Krixooks]

How about a generation fort? Crank that pop slider all the way down (I prefer sub-50 so I don't have to deal with mayors; 32, 40, and 48 are my most common picks because they're nicer numbers to make bedrooms of) and make a fort that explores the challenges of surviving with low pop and the super lategame mechanics you might never see in a normal fort. Your first bed decay is always an event to be celebrated.

What's a bed decay?

I have run a few low-pop forts. One of my most fun ones recently (Pillarwax) I limited myself to 50 pop.
Smaller pop. forts I think are actually more challenging because if you lose a single dwarf it can have an impact. And if you lose too many, the fort starts to fill up with more and more children...

Something else I like to do is- the first child that is born in the fortress is given the name of the fortress, e.g. Pillarwax I (or use the dwarven name). The father/mother of the fort is usually given noble status if/when that is required. That way noble dynasties are easily identified in my world. You can also name any descendants based on the initial firstborn's name.
For me, when that firstborn comes of age, so 18 years, that's my marker of a successful mature fortress.

[brewer bob]

What's a bed decay?

When enough time passes beds and other wooden furniture (such as doors) begin to show wear like old clothes do (e.g., an oaken bed becomes an xoaken bedx then later an Xoaken bedX etc.).

[Quietust]

What's a bed decay?

When enough time passes beds and other wooden furniture (such as doors) begin to show wear like old clothes do (e.g., an oaken bed becomes an xoaken bedx then later an Xoaken bedX etc.).

To the point, wooden items gain one level of wear every 100 years, as do cloth/leather items sitting in stockpiles (though back in 40d they gained a level of wear every 20 years).

[TheFlame52]

To the point, wooden items gain one level of wear every 100 years, as do cloth/leather items sitting in stockpiles (though back in 40d they gained a level of wear every 20 years).

Are you sure about those numbers? In Bastiongate I didn't have any bed wear, but the earliest cloth bags produced in the fortress were reaching XXtatteredXX after about 50 years.