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# Space Dwarf Species

_"In spite of everyone and everything, we are still here."_

_- Translated chorus of the Dwarven drinking song 'Ab Skyald Ak Armok Ynon' ("We Dwarfs Told God Where To Shove It")._

## Draft warning!

This is a work-in-progress document designed to collect a broadly-common view of what Space Dwarfs should be in Space Station 14.

Due to the limited document collaboration tooling that can be done on Github, and the risk of spending a lot of design time on creating an initial large concept that is then torn down, this document is skeletal and will be filled in as a consensus emerges.

Currently this document creates an initial simple overview in to critique or reinforce.

## Overview

This proposal covers the Space Dwarf species as a playable roundstart species.

Space Dwarfs are a hardy space-faring species who have rattled around the cosmos for so long that records of their original homeworld are lost. They are a short, hairy species who via their unusual height-to-width ratio alone makes them are obvious in any room.

Space Dwarfs are a relatively simple species who do not cause medical more trouble than the average tider. In terms of the game's core technologies, they are the champion of the game's ability to deal with species of non-typical height.

Space Dwarfs have two key schticks that make them distinct from any other species:

1. They are hardier than most to the rigours of living in space, able to shrug off being spaced or blasted with radiation to a greater extent than your average Urist. If Vox are a "hard" species, Space Dwarf is generally an "easy" species, more suitable for new players who are less familiar with how to survive in space. Their species benefits do not beat a good hardsuit, but players are punished less harshly for screwing up.
2. They need alcohol to get through the working day, much like most species need water. Like other species, they suffer speed penalties and other debuffs when dehydrated, but they cannot rely on vending machines or water dispensers to quickly top up. This generally means they have a higher reliance on the stations's options for sourcing and serving booze.

## Background

Space Dwarfs are one of the earliest SS14 species and have not traditionally had much of a unique role. If humans did not exist in SS14, Dwarfs would probably just be the human replacement.

Alternatives to having a Dwarf species have been proposed, including outright removal and the introduction of a "dwarfism" trait and Dwarfs being relegated to just being "short humans".

These proposals are not ideal because of the role Space Dwarfs play in SS14 at present, with both fantasy and sci-fi alien species calling the station home. The game being modified to be more fantasy or sci-fi themed is a choice for downstreams, but the core content should seek to balance both.

The problem with designing a Dwarf species is that the tropes around what a Dwarf is are extremely well known. The obvious designs of making them miners and industrialists makes them too role-locked. This design seeks to take some inspiration from the Dwarfs of Dwarf Fortress, who are resilient but painfully reliant on alcohol, and fill a niche of a "good for new players" species that can be recommended in tutorials and guides. Both aspects reinforce each other - the need for booze is what powers Dwarf hardiness, and securing sufficient booze generally relies playing or interacting with roles that are friendly to new players, like botanist, bartender or cargonian.

## Design

### Core Visual Elements

### Species Features
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