Bay 12 Games Forum

Hello! I'm a bit of a modding newbie, and I'm wondering if it's possible to create a megabeast that - when encountered in Fortress Mode, can summon creatures to help it in battle? And if so, how?
EDIT: I completely forgot that nightmares exist. Please ignore this.

The ability to hire workers as they arrive in Caravans would be really interesting.

Of course, they would be very expensive but would stay with your fortress for a large amount of time. Said time could be determined by the dwarf that is being hired, or decided upon by the player via contract. The longer the time at the fortress, the larger the costs are. There could also be additional costs added based on the skills of the worker and their overall role. A hired mercenary/military dwarf could cost an additional 3-4k☼ at the next caravan if they are killed in the line of duty, while a legendary gem cutter could cost 10k extra at the start due to their sheer skill in the craft.

This solves a problem with some fortresses, as ones on islands have a very limited amount of workers. Being able to hire more will make them able to grow faster, with a price on doing so as well. It will also allow you to gain some more dwarven strength early-game when you are low on the metals needed for military work, or just want a dwarf to be able to teach your new migrants on the best ways to butcher goblin tuchus via blunt force trauma.

To you, what are the songs that most scream 'Dwarf Fortress!' without actually being from any games that involve fantasy or dwarves in any significant fashion? Personally, it would be Prelude in C Minor from Ib; but, I'd like to hear what others think as well!

I noticed there's barely any images of Adamantine in Wafer form, so I decided to draw one.

I like using my mount when exploring fortresses so that I can move faster. But every time there is a door, I have to either dismount, open the door and then remount, wait for someone else to come by and open it for me, or just find a different path (there usually isn't one). How can I open doors while remaining on my mount?

I'm making a fortress whose main industry is Fishing.
I'm in my first year, scouting out how deep the caverns are. I skip the first cavern, and literally 30 Z-Levels away from the bottom, I find Cavern Layer 2. Since the location is surrounded on all but one side by water, I decide to make an outpost, and accept two monster hunters.

And later, I found a group of hostile cave fish people.
On a single mushroom tree, which was surrounded by water.
Covered with blood.
And with the corpse of a troll at the top.

I have absolutely no idea what happened, there is literally no way for the troll to get over to the tree directly, and the nearest ground tile is a good 50 tiles away.

I had a thought; Necromancers, especially Dwarves, may see their creations as an art form. If they do, they may try and create new works of art, similarly to experiments, but in a way more similar to crafting.

Thus, I came up with the idea of Necromasons. These are Necromancers with different behaviors than typical, run-of-the-mill necromancers. Instead of resurrecting corpses, they are dissected, with some organics stolen. Priority is given to Muscles and Brains. When what the necromancer desires is taken, they will either walk away or ressurect the materials they didn't want.
After this process, the Necromancer will take the materials gotten from their butchery and use it to create living tools and weapons. These tools and weapons are just made of flesh, or - if more than 25% of them is made up of brain matter - have a personality based off of whose brains it is. Here are a few categories of how these Object Personalities could be;

Mindless: These are loyal to the Necromason that crafted them. They will attack like any other undead if they are placed onto the ground.
Assistant: These are loyal to whoever holds them. If nobody does, they won't move.
Intelligent: If they are made up of more than 80% brain matter, they will hide behind doors to strike, be able to climb (if their biology allows it), and will - if a mouth is attached - be able to make weak, caveman-esque language.
Pissed: These are found discarded inside of the smaller buildings of necromancer towers, or on the plains around them. They seek to destroy literally anything, including other undead.

Like normal Dwarves, Necromasons make Artifacts sometimes. But they're not perfected flesh weapons, no.
When Necromasons enter a Strange Mood, they go on a rampage. They take a small group of undead and go on a massacre of any nearby towns or groups of fauna, quickly butchering corpses and taking what they need. After what can be weeks of collection, they hide away in their tower for days - if not weeks - until a new creature is born.
This is the Necromasons' Masterpiece, which is similar to an Undead Luitenant, crossed with a Giant, crossed with a Forgotten Beast. They are Semi-Megabeasts who are loyal to the Necromason, and will protect its creator at all costs. They are not capable of speech, and can come in many shapes, from formless blobs to towering humanoids. They all, however, are made of flesh, skin and bone.

Please tell me what you think of this idea!

By "Stone Protection Tower", I mean vault.

So; Vaults are typically the most dangerous thing an adventurer will conquer, yes? There is no major movement challenge; only combat-based. Plus, I doubt the demon would simply let the hero go after they get the slab. So, I propose an idea.

When the slab is gotten, the Vault will start to destroy itself in a last-ditch attempt to keep you from escaping with the knowledge of the demon's true name. By "Destroy Itself", I mean the slade will begin to crumble into a heavy, brittle rocks, straight from the walls and ceiling. Stones will fall from the ceiling, and worst of all;
The door will 'melt' away, keeping you trapped.

This is you and the vault's last dance. As the structure crumbles with you inside, your goal is to find an escape - any escape - before you are crushed alive. Some examples of possible escapes include;

- Jumping through openings created by the crumbling walls
- Climbing through the ceiling once the highest layer starts to crumble
- Surviving inside until the building collapses to the point where you can walk out
- Breaking through the now-brittle slade; which is, while difficult, now actually possible with enough skill

And the demon would probably have some method of actually knowing about this, due to it being so important. So, if the demon's civilization is around, expect a large goblin army to be marching toward the vault"s position.

Please tell me what you think of this idea!