https://www.pcgamer.com/dwarf-fortresss-next-big-update-will-let-you-play-its-adventure-mode-with-a-proper-rpg-party/

Before Dwarf Fortress's creators start working on its upcoming Steam version with fancy new graphics and an improved interface, they're going to put out a big update to tide players over. After Steam comes the magic system, which could take a couple years to implement. Thankfully, the new villains system, which Tarn Adams tells me he's been working on for more than nine months, is going to have a lot to it. As part of the new release, Dwarf Fortress's Adventure mode is going to get its biggest update in years, allowing you to control not just a single dwarf, but an entire party, RPG-style.

Most of what you've read about Dwarf Fortress probably has to do with its Fortress mode where you simulate building a fortress, guiding your dwarves as they create a civilization. But you can also play in Adventure mode and take a "ground level" journey through a world you generated in Fortress mode. It plays sort of like a classic roguelike, except in a massive world with all of Dwarf Fortress's wild procedural systems at work.