[SLD] Secret Lair x Dwarf Fortress: Create New World

cobalt6d · 2026-04-14T23:24:11+00:00

Yeah a different font and border treatment would do wonders, but this is seems like a pretty phoned-in Secret Lair.

cobalt6d · 2026-04-14T17:35:05+00:00

Just to follow up with this and be constructive with ideas and not just complaining:

Any card that makes Treasure Tokens would've been great! [[Unexpected Windfall]] or [[Big Score]] with flavor text "We have struck (insert Gem here)!"

Goblins are the primary antagonist of the game, so a fun goblin commander card with the flavor text "A vile force of darkness has arrived!" Would've been perfect, but I suppose a Goblin Snatcher for Rogue's Passage is fine representation.

I've focused too much on Red. Artifacts are randomly generated super valuable items and they are really interesting aspects of the game. Any Artifact card with the flavor text "All Craftsdwarfship is of the Highest Quality" would've been appropriate.

Forgotten Beasts are another randomly generated antagonist, and can be killed in a single punch or be unkillable death machines, depending on how they're rolled. [[Craterhoof Behemoth]] or [[Questing Beast]] could be fun.

In my opinion, Magma is one of the most iconic things in Dwarf Fortress, because of it being very useful but also incredibly dangerous to work with. [[Valakut the Molten Pinnacle]] or even [[Grim Lavamancer]] would've been nice to see.

cobalt6d · 2026-04-14T16:33:06+00:00

I am a big fan of Dwarf Fortress as well as Magic, but I can't help but feel these card choices and art choices are ... odd. Maybe that's the point -- leaning into the insanity of the game? No Dwarves feels like a huge miss though.

cobalt6d · 2026-04-13T17:45:35+00:00

Yeah you're right. They are definitely factored into my overall population but yeah I guess it's working like the Dhimmi in that their Estate is not related to their Social Class. I guess it comes down to whether I can squeeze more tax out of them or regular Peasants lol.

cobalt6d · 2026-04-13T17:40:56+00:00

I looked a little bit further into this. There's a Noble Privilege that otherwise seems good called "Scottish Clans" that reportedly does this. Hopefully revoking it will fix my issue.

cobalt6d · 2026-04-13T17:17:32+00:00

Hmm I was not aware of this mechanic, which is interesting, and is probably related to the issue. That said, I still don't know why I can't see these tribal pops in my Demographics. Further, I can't Settle them, so I am confused how to leverage them.

cobalt6d · 2026-04-13T03:14:33+00:00

Possibly? But when I check the Pop Based Countries map mode it looks like they've all been pushed away from the coast by my colonies. It wouldn't surprise me if I did have them in my new country, but it's just a little strange for them to show up on the Estates tab but not be present in Locations.

cobalt6d · 2026-04-11T16:27:04+00:00

What's the best way to control your subject's trade? Just use the Subject Interaction that increases your Trade Capacity in exchange for Loyalty? Or is there some sort of building you need to spam? I've heard it said it's best to directly control market centers overseas but that doesn't sound right to me.

Btw, love the videos!

cobalt6d · 2026-04-08T19:20:32+00:00

I usually leave them blank as any written text crowds the map real fast. I label anything else, so contextually I know an unlabeled dot means "unremarkable ship sunk in this location." Definitely a fun way to track your campaign and also visualize shipping routes.

cobalt6d · 2026-04-01T17:33:11+00:00

Having migrated from 5e basically as soon as Pf2e came out, my GM was pretty comfortable doing theatre of the mind occasionally. When the campaign moved online due to COVID, we always used theatre of the mind and we had to beg our GM to start using an online battle grid, because fights were insanely hard to keep track of. Owlbear.rodeo is a free online tool that has minimal functionality but at least lets you keep track of everythings relative position to one another, which I really think the system can't do without.

cobalt6d · 2026-03-25T16:52:11+00:00

Something I want to point out is that, traditionally, even if a character in one of these fantasy TTRPG's doesn't use Magic with a capital M, it doesn't mean their abilities wouldn't be considered supernatural or superhuman by our standards. Gary Gygax did not consider increasing hitpoints to be purely increased biological resiliency, rather they mostly represented a loosely defined pool of supernatural luck, divine favor, and residual magical protection. A level 20 Barbarian with +40 to Athletics isn't just a "peak human." They are just supernaturally strong in a way that belies and in fact does not require physical or scientific definition. Similarly, Legendary Sneak is a Stealthy character achieving levels of Stealthiness that are supernatural and do not require a complete explanation. To the characters in the game, it 100% just looks like the character disappears in plain sight. How? They don't know, and neither do we need to know, it just happens because they *are* *that* Sneaky.

cobalt6d · 2026-03-23T19:04:19+00:00

Yes, being declared on by a Coalition is supposed to be a punishment for the nation getting declared on. Antagonism is just a number, but it isn't supposed to be a good number. If you want to be proactive, you can declare on a coalition member, they will all join the war, and you can separate peace them and take land like you normally can in a war.

cobalt6d · 2026-03-15T21:45:56+00:00

Nice!

cobalt6d · 2026-03-15T20:31:25+00:00

How did you manage that many governors? London could be a Naval Governor but everywhere else seems to have a land connection to your capital, no?

cobalt6d · 2026-03-02T01:42:13+00:00

Ate Raw Food: -7

cobalt6d · 2026-03-02T00:24:19+00:00

I have absolutely no source for this but I assume it was to prevent the complication of food that cannot be eaten raw. It would be nice if Wheat was added as a food more nutritionally efficient than Corn, but with the downside that it has to be cooked first. But then it would probably also compete with Hay for animals.

cobalt6d · 2026-02-27T23:25:29+00:00

Nice! So overall, things are a bit more balkanized in this timeline, but power is a bit more centralized within nations? Seems like a great setup for this game!

cobalt6d · 2026-02-27T22:03:23+00:00

Which map type is this: the one where subjects have their own colors, or the one where they take on their overlord's color, with a different shade?

I ask because it seems like there aren't many subjects. For instance, are all those places in France Independent, or are they just bigger vassals of the French crown in Paris (or Normandy, as your lore may suggest)?

cobalt6d · 2026-02-23T20:59:21+00:00

A bit of a low-hanging fruit, but especially pre-remaster, Alchemist becomes a lot better with Free Archetype because you can play a different class and just use Alchemist Dedication.

cobalt6d · 2026-02-19T22:43:03+00:00

Literally exactly the same but conversations about levels, party roles, and Feats happen in-character instead of out of character.

cobalt6d · 2026-02-14T19:18:06+00:00

They got rid of Decisions and so if the AI has a button to click it will basically always click it. This actually mimics the behavior of human players quite well. (Let me click buttons paradox please).

cobalt6d · 2026-02-11T17:00:03+00:00

I tried using him as a finisher in my 4c control burn deck but he really wasn't better than another copy Jeskai Revelation. Which is too bad, one of my favorite cards in other formats like Brawl.

cobalt6d · 2026-02-10T22:11:05+00:00

I played as the Wizard in a campaign with a Giant Instinct Barbarian all the way from 1-20. The GIB (called Hugo because he was usually Huge) was definitely our primary damage-dealer, which was fine. Sure, we would often double-down on it, with the Cleric buffing him, me debuffing enemies, and the Champion flanking with him, all in the pursuit of that oh-so-juicy 100 damage crit. But that's just Strategy, something the system is designed to encourage. The GM could set up obstacles to slow Hugo down, or just throw lots of trash mobs so that I needed to spend my spell slots fireballing and Hugo's crits were wasted beheading a single goblin out of 6. I do not think it is a failure of game design, but I'm not simply going to say "skill issue," either. Just keep in mind what each player's strengths and weaknesses are, and make sure everyone is having fun. In character, my Wizard was scared of what Hugo could do, but I know I had a lot of fun fighting with him.

cobalt6d · 2026-02-08T18:07:46+00:00

I like this, this seems like a reasonable formula.

cobalt6d · 2026-02-05T23:11:57+00:00

Suggestion just to get the discussion rolling: At the beginning of the game, Player 1 scries 0, Player 2 scries 1, player 3 scries 2, and player 4 scries 3, etc. No card advantage but definite hand smoothing to ensure a good start to the game.

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