Back to Dwarf Fortress

[aka Cthulhu]

Didn't set him up for one, mostly since I decided to make a new world. Forgot about savage biomes, so no big creatures to farm.

Since I had nothing to do today, lots of progress is made. 41 dwarves, sadly no undead citizens at the moment. Since I remembered a lot of things I forgot, I was able to set up the fort without having over half the citizens sitting around doing nothing. Clothesmaking, and by extension creating cloth. Leather as well. Got a high level armorer and also a high level weaponsmith among the citizens, and so far iron and flux stone is in abundance.

Managed to set up an above ground farm underground. Masons making blocks nearly non-stop to plug the hole I dug, and made a few block roads so caravans won't get blocked. Crafts... eh. Don't really like to clutter the fort with em. Glassmaking is the next thing I wanna do. Cages built, now littering the map with traps to capture creatures.

[aka Cthulhu]

First werebeast attack of the fort.

And it's a werebison. Sounds impressive, and challenging especially since my militia so far is a two man team. Nope. One of the militia men jumped away on werebison's first strike and counters with his own attack which instantly decapitated it.

That said, said soldier used a pick. Unlike other weapon styles, the pick as a weapon is trained via the mining skill, and the soldier was a miner before, achieving the max mining skill through toiling underground.

[aka Cthulhu]

About to nap, and I will, but apparently someone from the fort stole an artifact. A thing that got added on DF when I wasn't playing.

Read about it, and finding it won't be a big issue. Just find the artifact in stocks, and it'll zoom in on the culprit. Then I'll have my militia following him until he hands it off to one of the visitors that convinced him to do it.

Much slicing will happen. Not much bludgeoning, as my militia so far has blades and no hammers and maces. After that, I guess I gotta jail the dwarf who stole it in the first place. Unless the sentence is hammering, in which case I either craft a silver hammer to be firm, or a wooden one to be merciful.

I suppose it'll depend on the use of said dwarf who did the stealing.

[aka Cthulhu]

So, in my case, the artifact being stolen was made after the mastermind walked off with it. Not a big problem for me. So far, all the artifacts have been junk and it's no big loss.

On the bright side, a dwarf got another strange mood and took over a forge. If you wanna really customize what they make, you take note of the clues they say, and forbid low quality stuff. In a forge, it's either a weapon, armor, furniture, or worst-case scenario crafts. First thing they'll try to find is a metal bar... if you look at their bio, their interests may aim for a specific metal, but if they don't they'll take whatever is available. In that case, steel is the best bet, as material wise steel is the best thing for weapons or armor. Like, maybe for blunt weapons platinum may be better, but if they make something for protection or a cutting weapon steel is the way to go.

Also, their interests might clue you in on what they like. If they like a specific weapon, armor, furniture or craft, chances are it'll be that thing. And they will also seek out other materials to make, anything past the first material is just extras to bring the value up. If you really wanna make something worth lots, you forbid all the sought after materials except for the highest value ones. That may halt a lot of work who use those materials though.

Anyway, after dwarf got steel bars, I didn't bother with forbidding other materials. Result, artifact short sword, which I immediately gave to one of my soldiers. Artifact weapons also have a bonus of tripling accuracy, so that's good.

[aka Cthulhu]

So far, nothing much interesting in terms of animals. Best I got are giant peregrine falcons. 3-4 eggs per female, not rare, but with a few females I can set them up for breeding. Gives good amounts of meat at the very least, even barely a year old ones that aren't still adults.

Keeps the cooks and bone carvers busy at least. With that, I can set those up for trade instead of steel equipment. Need a fair amount compared to forging metals, but in terms of need I want to keep my metals instead of trading them off.

[aka Cthulhu]

Trying out of the features that happened during my hiatus of the game: being able to send squads out into the world.

Number of things to do: raid an area if populated, explore an area if not populated, pillage which is like raid but not avoiding fights. You can also try to take over an area, but you'll have to commit your military to staying in the place. You can also demand tribute to an area, either one time or once every in-game year. May also rescue prisoners or search/steal artifacts.

Demanded tribute to a few small sites, and did some raiding. With raiding a squad member may carry off one item back to the fort, random but depending on the size of the area you raided. Sometimes rare tame animals, like beak dogs. Common mount in invading goblin armies. Those can be captured when goblins attack and then trained, but never fully tame - but in the case of getting one through a raid they're fully tame.

Slightly smaller than my giant falcons, but the falcon lays 4-5 eggs, while the beak dogs also lay eggs, in this case the amount is 5-10. Aside from that, giant falcon products are only common value, while beak dog parts has twice the value.

[aka Cthulhu]

Also, haven't really mined for a while. Dunno how deep the iron ore goes, but for most part I've developed the fort enough to trade as much items as I want, and for human and dwarven caravans that means all the metal junk they keep. Weapons, armor, trinkets and other goods made from metal. Just melt them all. Even gathered enough rose gold where the tavern floor is made out of it, with some platinum statues to impress the crowd.

Trade is going well. Just got more than enough that I dump the excess into the trade caravan to make the caravans come back to their homes happy and rich.

[aka Cthulhu]

With this feature, I kinda regret picking the current site, as it's the smallest continent in the world. Can't really get the squad to travel over large bodies of water, so options are a bit limited.

[aka Cthulhu]

And... victory! While they were already at war, I may have pissed the goblins a bit too much from the constant raids and pillages against their lands. They sent out an army of 62 - various goblins and trolls and some beak dogs.

All I got was a militia of 8. Them, the goblin army, with varied weapons, just plain quality iron, copper, and silver, and armor either copper, iron, or leather... all plain quality and damaged. Against my army kitted out in steel, training non-stop for years, masters of their weapons. Cage traps helped trap some before they could fight, and the rest went to face my militia. Only one entrance to the fort, so essentially they got wrecked before any could retreat.

All leather and cloth will be dumped into the trash, while the metal shall be melted and then remade into stuff of far higher quality.

[aka Cthulhu]

And just as I said that... though to be fair in-game months has passed while I kept the game running as I had dinner, fort gets invaded by undead. Probably due to my dwarves also raiding a tower trying to steal a necromancer's book.

Smaller force this time, since the tower I raided is just a small faction. On the other hand, while the corpses of the goblin attack have been hauled away to the dump, for some reason the dwarves were a bit lazy when it came to severed parts. In this case a number of troll arms.

Either way, undead has been put to rest, while the necromancer tried to run away and got caged.

[aka Cthulhu]

Another theft. This time I learned from my mistake. Pretty much all the artifacts are in one stockpile, in an open corridor between an equally open dormitory a big open area of workshops. Lots of witnesses. Culprit is one among a travelling band of entertainers - dancers, poets, and a few worker roles. They petitioned for temporary lodging in the fort, and if they're happy enough some might apply for permanent residence.

Anyway, knew what to do. Followed the thief around until they pass on the artifact to the one who persuaded them. A visitor. Anyway, dealing with that is easy enough. After all, only one exit and entrance to the fort, and militia is by the entrance and exit training. Basically time for them for some live training.

After that, interrogated the one who stole the artifact. Didn't crack. There were enough witnesses anyway, so off to jail for him for a month. Water under the bridge after that, unless the thief tries it again. Might still be lenient. Always good to have a practice dummy to maul.

[aka Cthulhu]

Some unfortunate timing. Werehorse appeared. Somehow both militia squads are underground for one reason or another, so it did a bit of damage. A mason, a farmer, a smelter and another farmer. Last two were particularly bad as they had legendary skills in their job. Three died from the werehorse. Other one I let bleed to death since he was on borrowed time anyway. Bleed out now, or have the entire militia waiting for him on the next full moon.

[aka Cthulhu]

Right now, making a small project. So far, the six small sieges, 2 small goblin and 2 undead, and 1 large each, has come from the same entry point. Highest point from the south east.

So modifying the landscape there. Before, it was 8 tiles long, then next to it is 2 tiles long. Slopes downward to walk down on the edges. Turning it into a massive platform. Well, not that massive. But basically they enter, and there's no more slopes. Only stairs downward NW from they enter. Between that it a corridor that's pretty much lined with cages, plus another corridor with a chained animal to lure them in to be killed. All cage traps between the stairs and animal. Unwalled, but if they decide to go for a detour they'll have a nice long drop. Might even improve the drop point by flooring it with either stone or metal instead of dirt.

And even if they survive, the stairs will lead to a corridor with a few more cage traps, and that's the only way they'll be able to get to the fort, where the militia will wait for them.

'course, while I took into consideration their point of entry based on past attacks, it's possible that they may enter through another part of the map, but that's why the entrance cage traps exist. So far, the only invaders that entered through a different point has been single-enemy ones. Giants, ettins, etc. Dangerous to a citizen, but a squad of militia makes easy work out of them.

Bit of a problem, as the last goblin siege took the lives of six of my militia. Those were pretty much fresh-ish recruits. Not enough experience in weapons or wearing armor.

In any case, last caravan of the in-game year has come. Halted all production and sent all civilians to set up the cages. Always choose wood for cages. Metal is heavy, and the problem with human and dwarven caravans is that they love using metal cages when selling off animals. A dwarf carrying a lead cage up a mountain is slow as hell. Zinc and tin cages aren't as heavy in terms of metals, and if you're really wanna waste resources candy is the lightest metal, but for most part going with wood is the most efficient when it comes to a fort reliant on capturing things on cages. I feel zinc and tin are better off as wheelbarrows, so you won't use wood on wheelbarrows when you can use them for cages.

Now that I've set my industries to a level where I give more to the caravans than get, all new citizens are drafted into militia duty and set to train. Hopefully, once winter ends, the cages will be set up and I'll have two full militia that's very experienced. Then I'll set up a third militia and send out two to pester some neighbors.

[aka Cthulhu]

Cage platform is complete. A little close to 200 cages all in all. Either invading forces entering there will have a massive chunk of their army trapped in cages... or they can walk off the edge and fall several levels into a nice solid rock floor waiting for them.

Also, due to the elevation of the area, been catching more flying animals lately.

Got some giant monarch butterflies. Good amount of meat, but they don't make a good breeding program. Insects, the giant ones in-game don't lay eggs, but give live birth. So that's months of waiting. And giant insects in the game have a lifespan of one year.

[aka Cthulhu]

Also, two in-game years has passed. A band of entertainers petitioned for temporary citizenship then. Outsiders can petition for temporary citizenship. If approved, they join for two years and once that time has passed they may petition to be permanent citizens. While temporary, you can't change their jobs, but once they become permanent you can.

Outsiders can vary in race. In this case, the ones who petitioned are rather vanilla; bunch of humans and elves. Don't really need entertainers, but they'll work well enough for another militia. Humans might be a bit trickier to work with. Elves and dwarves use the same size clothing, while humans require something bigger.

[aka Cthulhu]

And the cage platform paid off! Goblins invaded, and as expected they entered through the SW. First time with an invasion force of over a hundred goblins, beak dogs, and trolls. And when I say the platform had close to 200 cages, I meant it. The melee invaders, the trolls, beak dogs, and some goblins tried to push forward and got trapped in cages for their effort, unable to do anything at all.

The rest were some smarter goblins, mostly crossbow and bow users, who realized that they can't really go down without getting caged, and won't risk the drop, as they'll pretty much go splat. Sent squad 1 to mop up the remainder.

26 trolls, 13 beak dogs, and 58 goblins are caged. 97 caged, and around 30 killed.

Beak dogs will be trained by my animal trainer to give him more experience. Then my butcher will chop them up for various meat, fat, and edible parts. Bone carvers will make their bones into tradeable material, while the tanner turns their skin into leather and can be made into clothing.

As for the goblins and trolls... well, dwarves are against consuming sentient creatures... so I'll strip them of their armor, clothing, and weapons. Clothing is trash to be dumped, don't want those for trade when I can make better stuff, but weapons and armor can be melted down to make better stuff.

The goblin and trolls will be... executed. First stuffed into one cage since it's a waste to keep them all on separate cages. Most likely they shall be released in small amounts to provide some practice to my militia. Unarmed and naked, they won't put much of a fight, but killing them via militia will make the soldiers feel less bad about taking lives, thus they'll be efficient soldiers.

Or, if I want some fun, I got a cyclops who invaded and got stupidly caught in another cage trap. Could set up where the cyclops mauls goblin prisoners. Or release several animals to try to do the same. Killing a named creature may give a nickname to the killer, thus putting them in the history books.

But for most part, the value lies in the beak dogs and any metal that the goblins brought.

[aka Cthulhu]

In general, main problem after these kinds of invasions is sorting out the trash. Clothing is low value, especially as most invaders have damaged goods. Metal stuff can be melted at least, but in the end it's all picking up and sorting the junk, which can be a pain. Solution is just dump everything, and once they're at the dump area sort through them.

[aka Cthulhu]

Also, shouldn't have trained captured beak dogs. They're still considered invaders, so the butcher won't touch them, and until they revert to a wild state, I can't kill them to be butchered.

Tried moving necromancer. Forgot that it can revive things close to it, even if in chains. That said, all it resurrected were giant hamster hair. Dwarves didn't like getting attacked by harmless hair, so several crowded around the necromancer and beat him to death.

And while I was typing, get alerted by another goblin attack. Once again, most of them got cage trapped, 100 or so of them, while remaining 30 or so got mopped up by militia squad 1.

[aka Cthulhu]

Just for funsies, I took a look at my fort's stock of items, and I figure it would be interesting to explain each category bit by bit.

Ammunition: Bolts for crossbows, and arrows for bows. There's blowpipes in the game so I assume they would have ammunition for it. Required for hunters and crossbowdwarves. For target practice, bone bolts may come in handy so you won't need to use metal for practice ammo. More shots a dwarf fires the more xp, and bone will do less damage so that's more xp. Wood may be used... but you may need wood for a variety of other stuff so it would be a waste. For combat ammo, copper is good enough. No need for steel.

Amulets: just crafts. Not much use aside from trading them off. Stuff like wood, stone, bone, or metal can be used to make them. Some nobles might like them and will demand you to make them, or demand that you don't trade them away for a period of time.

Animal traps: traps for small animals. Vermin basically, not the stuff dwarves would normally eat. Vermins annoy some dwarves, but not enough to be a big deal unless you have a massive amount of problems in your fort. Vermin can be trained to be traded, but honestly what's the point. An animal trapper and dissector makes use of vermin, but your better off having the ones who have those skills do something more productive.

Anvils: Important part of the fort. No anvil, no forging. No forging, no weapons and armor. No weapons and armor, you might as well wait for an invasion to put an end to your misery. Sorta. Iron and steel anvils are available, though there's no difference between them aside from metal used. Some dwarves may create an artifact anvil, which functions like iron and steel, but has more value to make your fort richer.

To be continued later. Otherwise this is gonna be one hell of a long post.

[aka Cthulhu]

So I kinda forgot to do a noble's request to make a damn buckler and for some reason the blame was put upon the very captain of the guard. Whoops.

In any case, embarked on the area of the fort for the possibility of giant saltwater crocodiles. So far none has arrived in the biome, but got a consolation prize. Elves finally did something nice and got me two non-giant saltwater crocs. They ain't giant, so not as effective as security, but still a saltwater croc that can breed. A female can lay up to 20-70 eggs, and saltwater crocs can be trained for war. Giant or normal sized. Takes three years for a croc to reach adult age to be trained, so bit of an investment, but through egg amount they're pretty much the best if you want lots of animals.

Feeling like I invest 6 years for two generations of tame crocs. War train them, and unleash them on a small room along with all the goblin, troll, and beak dog prisoners I got so far. Naked prisoners with no weapons, but the crocs are naked as well. Let them fight. Either the invaders overcome and I kill them, or the crocs get names for their feats and I keep some of them for breeding. As nature intended.