Bay 12 Games Forum

As the name suggests, this would be humans, dwarves, elves, or goblins, who were left behind/exiled/had the rest of their civilization or family destroyed as children, and were abandoned in the wilderness. These children learned to survive and fight on their own, and lived in the wilderness, sort of like Tarzan.

It could also be possible for a feral being to be adopted by a pack of animals (wolves, apes, etc.), whom the child would be raised by.

They would generally be reclusive, choosing to stay away rather than fight, but they would be territorial, and if you build your fort on their territory, or if one of your dwarves attacks or gets a little too close, they will fight viciously.

I thought I could take on a giant cave spider alone in the caverns.

I got webbed and then spent several in-game hours being shaken around by my head until I finally died. The venom couldn't even get to my character because none of the bites could pierce through my helmet.

These would generally be more of a problem for fortresses rather than adventure, but it could still be entirely possible to stumble upon one in adventure mode.

They would be pretty rare in general, so don't count on one always happening in a game

Natural disasters would of course affect sieges as well, so depending on how well prepared you are a natural disaster could actually be a gift from the RNG

Hurricanes and Flash Floods

-Only appear in coastal or low-lying areas

-Mass flooding, storms

-Dwarves and animals can be swept away entirely, or drowned, by the rush of water

-Proper drainage would be essential, to prevent water from completely flooding the lower areas of your fortress.

Avalanches

-Only appears in more mountainous areas

-Rocks start sliding down from higher elevated areas, crushing all in their path

-Keep everyone inside

Volcanic Eruption

-Obviously only happens in areas close to a volcano

-Magma everywhere, torches everything it touches

-Extremely rare

-After the initial magma release, clouds of ash and soot cover the land and temporarily block out the sun, destroying outdoor crops

-These are extremely rare and also extremely devastating, but there needs to be some more risk with setting up a fortress by a volcano

Tsunamis/

-Also known as tidal waves

-Unlike hurricanes and flash floods, which are more like sustained flooding and giant storms, a tidal wave would be one enormous wave of water smashing into the coast

-Coastal areas only

-Still a potential for flooding

-Keep everyone inside, ensure proper drainage as well

Earthquakes

-Large breaks in the land, shifts, etc.

-Really a chance of happening anywhere

-Dwarves, animals, items, and even buildings could get thrown around by the shaking

Tornadoes

-Also called twisters and cyclones

-Rare chance of occuring anywhere

-Very high-speed windstorm capable of sucking just about anything up into the air.

-Keep all your dwarves inside and underground

Lightning Storms

-Not exactly a "natural disaster" but something that could be good to add

-Intense rainfall, high winds

-Small chance of lightning striking a random spot, could potentially take out a dwarf or an animal

It was a dark night in the continent of Zûza Snûn. A young human named Nemo Athasemabe slowly approached the giant black bear Nonulitho. Sneaking up from behind, he attempted to grab the throat of the beast. The beast roared and turned to face him. Failing to choke the bear, Nemo let go and drew his weapons, an iron shield and a bronze longsword. Nemo was an adept swordsman, and the fight was easy. Multiple deep stab wounds to the bear's upper and lower body caused it to bleed out from its heart, pierced in two places. Unable to take any more, the helpless bear merely closed its eyes and let out a depressed sigh, knowing its fate was soon to be ahead. Standing over the massive corpse of his adversary, Nemo started blankly for a moment.

Then, suddenly, he raised his arms, chanting something under his breath. He began performing a strange gesture with his hands, while moving his arms in perfect sync. Nonulitho's corpse, still bleeding heavily, began to shake, and its eyes opened, completely black. The bear's middle spine was broken during the fight, but the corpse nonetheless began to stand on all four legs, as though it were never hurt. Having fought for its very life mere minutes earlier, the bear was now completely passive towards his former enemy.

Nemo grinned. The Zombie Army had risen.

So, right after the dwarven caravan leaves, I forbid the bridge used to access the depot and order the lever to be pulled. At the same time the bridge goes up, four masterpieces suddenly are lost.

A couple days later, a migrant wave arrives. I check my population, and notice that there are six dead/missing instead of the normal five.

One of my fisherdwarves are missing, he wasn't missing a few days ago.

Alternative theory:

The bridge in question is right above a four Z-level deep moat. If the bridge raised up from underneath my dwarf, and he fell into the moat, is he considered missing because nobody saw him fall?

Individual combat training, danger rooms, etc? Which will raise Discipline the best?

If I were to have a military squad consisting entirely of non-dwarves, let's say, an elven mercenary squad, and my fort were to be besieged by elves, and I sent my mercs out to fight them, which side, if any, would take a morale hit from fighting their own race?