Adventure Mode: A Breakdown

This blog will be focused primarily on my various adventures while playing the upcoming version of Dwarf Fortress' Adventure Mode. It would be wise, therefore, to explain exactly what Adventure Mode is.

Within Dwarf Fortress, there are three different methods of play. Adventure Mode, wherein the player controls a single person (or dwarf or elf) and is free to explore the world they have generated; Fortress Mode, wherein the player controls an initial band of seven dwarves and must build up a prosperous fortress, defend it from attack, and take care of possibly hundreds of migrants that will make your fortress their home; and Legends Mode, which allows the player to look at the entire history of every historical figure and location in the world you've generated.

This post will break down Adventure Mode in simple terms.

Adventure Mode allows you, the player, to take control of a human, dwarf, or elf (or anything else, really, if you're good enough at modding the game or have access to third party modifications) and go on wild adventures.

Adventure Mode has, for most of the game's history, been a secondary feature, something that players could do in addition to making fortresses, but generally not the focus of the game. In version 00.31.18, however, Adventure Mode was greatly expanded. Annoying things like hunger and thirst were removed, targeting in combat was implemented, and night creatures were added so that they may stalk the careless wanderer of the wilderness.

Adventure Mode is, in my opinion, the most fun (both in the literal and dwarfy sense) aspect of Dwarf Fortress. Combat is personalized, giving meaning to the inevitable crippling nerve damage and bone shatterings that so often plague both fortress-dwelling dwarves and brave adventurers.

Adventure mode allows for an incredible variety of action, with the only real limit being your imagination and willingness for the insane.

a typical adventurer's death (picture drawn by user piecewise on the DF forums)

While playing Adventure Mode, I have killed an elf, removed his socks, and used them to mercilessly beat his family to death. I have been strangled by giants, melted by dragonfire, and thrown so hard against a wall that my body literally exploded. I have punched a wolf in the face, and I have stabbed an ettin in the heart with a dagger made from jaguar bones. Adventure Mode allows the player to experience unbelievable gore and horror and majesty, all in a fantastically depicted ASCII landscape.

socks. deadly. (picture drawn by user piecewise on the DF forums)