Bay 12 Games Forum

I plan to add a section to this Wiki article:
Wounds

We've all encountered the issue of having dwarves incapacitated by injury. Sure, you could just arrange an Unfortunate Accident, but maybe the dwarf in question is a military hero, a Starting Seven member, or a member of a dwindling population you're trying to keep alive (ex., starting in a world where dwarves are extinct, so you receive no migrants).

Common problems with injured dwarves:
--Dwarf with no use of his hands (or no hands at all). Cannot work and sends you those annoying cancellation messages.
--Dwarf who moves very slowly because of nerve injury that keeps him from walking.
--Military dwarf who cannot fight well because of an injury, but can still work or train soldiers.
--Dwarf with a long-term syndrome from cave spider bite or similar, causing dizziness and lowering the quality of his work.
--A dwarf with eyes missing or damaged, resulting in blindness.

I'd like a good list of ways to use these dwarves, to put on the wiki page. So how have you employed your injured dwarves?

It *would* be kind of interesting to have a way to cure dwarven insanity--perhaps a risky one, but why not?

But dwarven health care in general has a long way to go. There still aren't any wheelchairs for our wounded warriors (or, y'know, that-guy-who-dodged-away-from-a-raccoon-and-off-a-cliff-and-broke-his-back, which is far more common). It could be something for the Mechanics shop--maybe Throne+Wheelbarrow+Mechanism. It'd work like the crutch, just go into the dorf's inventory, moves normal speed on floor, half speed on dirt, quarter speed on stairs and ramps. Personally, I find it irritating to see a dwarf with nerve damage dragging himself around slowly. We're working with a race that's as injury-prone as dwarves and so mechanically adept that they can create traps which infallibly capture dragons in wooden cages or pump magma up from the depths... You'd think they could figure out the concept of "wheelchair", or something like it.

Though maybe that's the issue. The concept is just too simple for the dwarven mind to grasp!

I prefer dogs to birds, if I want just meat. Dogs don't require nest boxes, can be trained for war or hunting, and grow up quickly. Extra puppies are caged to keep FPS manageable.

A larch bucket, alpaca cheese, a wine of choice, leapoard meat, yak meat, giant sponge man sponge.

Leopard-and-yak lasagna with alpaca cheese topping, dwarven wine chilled in the larch bucket, and giant sponge cake for dessert.

Sun berries, forgotten beast intestine, dwarven cheese, and giant cave swallow eggs.

Heh, yeah, I've got seven industries under my belt now (still no metalworking or mechanics, confound it!) and I'm learning that reassigning dwarves to whatever you happen to need is crucial. And I don't think I've ever been so happy to see a master glassworker show up.

Quite possible. All you really need are at least two couples, and a high baby/child cap. The children in one family will marry the children of the other family, and then you're off. The only rule dwarves seem to follow is "no marrying siblings" and "must be within non-creepy age range".

Dear Urist McDeceased,
I understand that throwing a tantrum and punching somebody is the natural response to the death of a pet bunny. But did you really have to choose the fortress's steel-clad, Legendary-Hammerdwarf militia captain as your punching bag? The peasants are still cleaning your brains off the dining room floor, where they're doing about as much good as they did while they were in your thick skull.

With The Usual Exasperation,
Your Overseer.