Bay 12 Games Forum

I like the ideas proposed here (a lot) except for one thing: you leave out any form of religious conversion. If dwarves get a bad thought from their temple being 'worse' than the temple of another religion, you need a way to control the religions present in your fortress. In other words, highly skilled priest(esse)s should be able to convert others to their cause.

It would be pretty neat if some dwarves came with a 'S/he is completely devoted to their faith' personality tag, which would mean they just plain couldn't be converted. This would make sure at least two or three dwarves in your fort would remain uncoverted 'heathens'.

Edit: Even better if other dwarves came with 'S/he easily falls under the sway of unorthodox beliefs', which would make certain dwarves more likely to convert to 'rogue religions' and mess up the order of your fort.

1. Hit 'ESC'.
2. Select 'Abandon Fortress'
3. Profit!

I've never, in my entire DF-playing career, pitted a creature. Now that I think back I'm not sure why this is (I've been playing for quite a while), but as far as I know I've just never had any particular reason to want to.

In my current fort I've trapped fairly large sections of the surface with cage traps in order to stock up animals for my zoo. This has had the unforeseen result of netting me a lot of goblin captives.

Naturally I think these unwanted guests have to be disposed of. And I think the most dwarven way to do it would be to toss them into a giant, semi-bottomless pit dedicated to the Blood God. I say semi-bottomless because I want to see them explode when they hit the bottom, of course.

My question is: what exactly is the best way to go about this? Since the goblins are hostile, when I try to pit them will they escape and attack my dwarves? Do I need to think of some more clever way of tossing them into the abyss (read: some kind of trap/lever based cage system)?

Every now and then something interesting, weird, or funny happens in my fort. It's usually not enough for me to want to create a whole topic dedicated to it, so I'm going to use this one as a compilation of everything I get the impulse to write about that happens in Reinhammers.

Some quick facts:

I should also note that this story probably belongs here, so if a mod wants to just copy it over as a post and delete the old topic it'd be downright nifty.

The stories I'll post aren't guaranteed to be chronologically connected or even in correct chronological order. Mostly they'll just be amusing anecdotes.

So, on to the first story...


Excerpt 1: The Foolish Farmer

Iden Idemberul Shanthak Am, or 'Iden Keybastions the Familial Locks of Opening', First Marksdwarf and High Commander of the army of Reinhammers, bit into the camel-tallow roast and chewed thoughtfully. It was a day like any other, although there was a lot on her mind. The goblin sieges as of late had become increasingly impressive. This wasn't a problem because it posed any danger to the dwarves - indeed, even the newly-drafted rookie mace squad had done well this year, having slaughtered an entire unit of goblins by themselves. No, it was problem because so many goblins had been killed that hauling and sorting all of their equipment took up the better part of the following summer.

Oh well, she thought, the bureaucrats can't fault my troops for doing their job properly.

She was sitting on a small platform suspended over a system of water-filled canals. These were the famed 'underwater dining halls' of Reinhammers. Iden preferred to remain seated apart from the other dwarves - not because she didn't enjoy company, but because she spent so much time chatting and sparring in the barracks that a little peace and quiet every now and then was a blessing.

Suddenly a dwarf came barreling through the entryway from the main stairwell. She was covered in dust and filth and dressed in the clothes of a common farmer. Iden recognized her - she thought her name was Sibrek, though she couldn't be certain.

"ELF!"

A mild state of panic ensued. All of the dwarves that had been eating stood. Those who had weapons immediately drew them. A rumbling murmur of tension  enveloped the dining hall.

Until Iden stood and raised a gauntleted hand. Her fabled presence immediately commanded silence. "Where is this elf?"

Sibrek wavered. "It's.. locked in the cage chambers, ma'm."

Iden arched a brow. She knew the elven prisoner of war they'd captured during the first siege by the point-ears had been kept in her cage for years without any trouble. "And how did the elf escape from its cage?"

There was a pause. The planter squeaked, "I was bringing one of the new marmots we've caught into the cage room. The elf asked me to bring it some water.. it just looked so.. so pathetic in there, with its beardless face and.."

"You let it go?" Iden growled.

"No, ma'm... it hit me upside the head with its bow and I ran away. But I managed to lock the door behind me.."


Immediately the entire room filled with laughter. Sibrek bowed her head. Iden permitted the dwarves to have their chuckle before silencing them again by clanging the butt of her axe on the dolomite floor. "You're lucky the elf didn't have any arrows or you wouldn't be standing here. I'll have to remember to have the fool who didn't take its weapon away put on goblin-watching duty for the next six months."

She turned to the two swordsdwarves who had been chatting at a table nearby. They were young, the newest conscripts to the army. They also both had at least one parent who had become a dwarven champion in the past, and were thus chosen to form the backbone of the fledgling sword squad. "Nish. Nil. Go take care of the elf. Whoever kills it will get a bonus on their next pay day."

The two dwarves grinned and ran towards the stairwell. Iden, meanwhile, gave a good long glare to the planter. "You're dismissed. Try not to take pity on anything that eats its victims from now on, hm?"


Nish and Nil ran up the stairwell they'd ascended so many times before, huffing and puffing eagerly as they neared the cage rooms. Nish was slightly taller and was the faster runner, but Nil was doing a good job of keeping up.

"You can bet I'm going to be the one to get that bonus," Nish called down to the female swordsdwarf.

"Loser shaves their beard off!" Nil returned, obviously feeling just as confident. It was a typical bet among young dwarven soldiers, and one that was generally frowned upon by their superiors.

"You're on," Nish agreed.

They both arrived at the doorway to the cage room in time to see the door burst open from the jamb. A bedraggled elf emerged, snarling curses and swinging her bow around wildly.


"Time to di--" Nil began.

But she was cut short by the elf, who attacked with the ferocity of a wild animal. Both dwarves and the elf traded a series of quick blows, but in the end it was Nil's sword that lopped the creature's head clean from its shoulders.


After catching her breath, Nil turned to Nish and grinned. "Guess I should start calling you 'baby-face', huh?"

Grumbling to himself, Nish stamped off. Nil cleaned her sword of filthy elven blood and followed him, savoring the thought of the pay bonus that awaited her.. not to mention the story she'd be able to tell in the barracks to the next batch of new recruits.

Quote from: benoit.hudson on August 28, 2008, 06:01:10 pm

I always just make blocks and build above-ground.

But indeed, it takes rock a long time to melt.  Dwarves, on the other hand, vaporize almost instantly.

Is there any advantage to using blocks rather than raw stone?

It increases architectural value.

I'm so going to start up a new fort with this... 

Edit: Well, I got it all fired up.. and found out that if I try to embark anywhere with a river/brook the game instantly crashes. 

Be willing to accept giving up one or two of those criteria and you'll probably find a site quite quickly that you'll enjoy.

The trick to finding a good site isn't trying to hunt down 'the perfect area', it's just to find a fun, unique area, accept that it's lacking some things, and roll with it.

At least blood doesn't get tracked around like it used to.  I remember my first fortress turning into a bloody hellpit after a goblin snatcher got torn apart by dogs.

I don't know how many forts I abandoned due to this bug. One dead kobold thief on the main stairwell and five minutes later my entire fortress was coated in gore..