I may be presenting an unpopular opinion here. Not sure since I've never voiced it before. So here goes.

I see a lot of new programmers asking question about advanced data structures and algorithms. I think this is a bad idea. Things are called 'advanced' for a reason. A new writing student doesn't start with learning the structure of an essay, but the structure of a sentence. Similarly, a new piano student doesn't start learning things like syncopation until they've practiced enough to at least hit the right keys at the right times. New programmers need to start the same way. If you're a new programmer, I would recommend just writing a bunch of programs in the simplest way you can think of. Don't worry at first if you're using the 'right' structures or the 'best' algorithms. Right now you just need to practice writing code. After you've written some things you'll start to notice that you're writing similar code blocks over and over again. This is when you can step back and ask yourself, "self, how could I write this in a more generic way so I can apply it to more than one problem?" In this way you'll start to build up your own library of functionality that you will actually use. At the same time, you'll train yourself to think about how to abstract away problems.

One of the main reasons for this approach is that it lets you make mistakes. You've already considered using a grid for your text RPG; that's good! Now try it. See how it works. Figure out what problems it has. Then think about how to solve those problems. This will train you to think critically about your architecture instead of just using whatever everyone else says is the 'right answer.' One of the other key points to this is that you actually work at it instead of getting paralyzed wondering if you're doing it the "right" way. Because there is no right way. There are just ways that work better than others in certain situations. Another benefit is that you'll understand through experience the things that others just know by rote (and therefore don't really know at all): why globals should be treated carefully, why goto should be avoided, the importance of commenting your own code, etc.

Now that I'm done with my soapbox, I think your overall plan is good. I would just recommend approaching each step in at least two different ways before moving on. Again, this will help you improve your problem solving skills and will train you to write good code. The only other thing I could recommend right now is to get away from C++ as soon as possible. There's still a huge misconception that you have to write games in C++. It's absolutely not true. You're years away from needing to worry about the few milliseconds that C++ might gain you. You should be worried about the hours you'll waste dealing with C++ features that are easier or complete non-issues in other languages.

You're years away from needing to worry about the few milliseconds that C++ might gain you. You should be worried about the hours you'll waste dealing with C++ features that are easier or complete non-issues in other languages.

You don't waste hours working with c++ if you learn it. It is also a much more elegant language if used properly, and cannot only save you "milliseconds" if used correctly, but can save you much more than that by being low enough to skip a lot of unneeded steps.

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You're years away from needing to worry about the few milliseconds that C++ might gain you. You should be worried about the hours you'll waste dealing with C++ features that are easier or complete non-issues in other languages.

You don't waste hours working with c++ if you learn it. It is also a much more elegant language if used properly, and cannot only save you "milliseconds" if used correctly, but can save you much more than that by being low enough to skip a lot of unneeded steps.
[/quote]

Agreed, those hours "wasted" on C++ will be hours gained on game development in the months to come, with every hour you "waste" dealing with C++ problems you gain knowledge, you research and you may even stumble upon stuff that make you think in ways you never would have thought if you did everything by the book. Also, I may be weird, but sometimes I get enjoyment from dealing with C++ problems, at least the end result gives me more a feeling of satisfaction like nothing else can.

If you learn C++ you will gain enough knowledge to do programming in mostly any major language used for the purpose of game development, as they are all quite similar (also majorly different at some points), but all in all C/C++ is the core of all game development, and whatever you do you will probably run into it one day no matter how much you try to avoid it.

But enough about that. Your plan looks good overall, also about the audio, you are likely to use SDL/SFML for that, so you would be all set for graphics and all the other stuff too, you can use both SDL and SFML components without having a window created by them, meaning - you can have audio in your text-based RPG.