Bay 12 Games Forum

Towns tend to have more soldiers and "power" but as Toady explained, right now lords are just more successful bandits basically, they got enough followers and such to set up a hamlet, and some are able to set up and grow huge towns.

As a poli sci and history geek, I'll say, IMO, that's not as far off as you might think...

I lost 2 of my three retainers in the first invasion of the dark fortress, but I slew many beak dogs and trolls, so emboldened I tried again. I invaded further this time, passing many trolls and others by as I sought the hare demon. I wandered upstairs, fighting off monsters and slaves, til i found the hatch. By this time, I fear my companions had all died, but I struggled on until a beak dog got lucky and broke my sword arm.

At that point, I fled, slamming enemies with my shield as I needed. Outside, the only one chasing me was an elvish slave. We beat each other, me with my shield and her with her hands, until I demanded that she yield.

I went to a nearby town and, thinking of retiring to my castle over the sea, began to work my way back, having picked up another companion for protection. The trip was eventful. First we were attacked by hyenas, one of whom broke my other arm, so I dove into the river and waited for my companion to finish them off. He did, in short order. Then it was dingos. Rinse and repeat. We wandered on past some camps, and were ambushed by two goblin gangs. The first one killed my companion while I sprinted away, the other left me mortally wounded. I ran as hard as I could, and was nearing exhaustion when they mysteriously gave up the chase.

From here, I found my way alone, and extremely vulnerable. I wandered into a meadhall to find it overrun with hostile goblins. One attacked me and, being crippled, I fled. I slept in abandoned houses and lay low as I wandered near a bandit camp I had raided many times in the past, until I returned to civilization. I greeted my liege in his meadhall, and made the hike north. I picked up a couple new retainers in a farmer's house where I spent the night. Hungry, drowsy, and out of food, I found my keep to be filled with loyal soldiers and a new poet.

I retired to live out the remainder of my days in peace.

I'm going out in a limb here, but I'm pretty sure Nothing is THAT violent.

Titus Andronicus?

Granted, it's a play, not a video game...

My intrepid hero wandered far from his liege, having gotten bored with dragon and minotaur-slaying, bandit purging and kobold eradication. So he traveled north and found a keep at the northern end of the peninsula. I wandered far, being attacked by lions, and then by anacondas. I feasted on crab and honey badger. We passed through a goblin war-camp on the way in, killed them all. These are the kinds of fights that have bored me.

We arrived at the keep. Inside, we found a dwarf with a sword and a human with a mace. No lord. This is suspicious...

The dwarf and human insist that they're soldiers, and that the lord is somewhere about. We accepted that, for the time being, and wandered through the basement. There, we found a few more humans, but also some goblins. One human said they were under attack, so we took the goblins for invaders and responded appropriately. Then we returned to the hall, and found the same two just standing around. Frustrated with the lack of action and seeing no lord, we took hold of that keep. There was no resistance. I notice that the walls are made of olivine. I like that, gives the place character.

And there's a temple not far away that's stuffed to the gills with brigands. I'll take care of them at some point, I guess.

We asked the dwarf about local troubles, as clearly this keep had fallen into some disrepair, and he said that they were being invaded by a goblin horde, led by a hare demon. Where can I find this demon? In a spire underneath the dark fortress "Sinfulitches."

So I have trekked miles and miles, past lions and honey badgers and through strange enclaves, across rivers and streams. Now we've come to the place, and are trekking over and through trenches dug in white sand. The tower is now before us.

Were any other dwarves caught in the blast?

Checking the wiki, it does look like "pain" is a long term symptom of some poisons.

Not sure about the specifics, but I think giants (and other non-titan megabeasts) could use some improvement.

Just had a thought on the climbing thing.

Fortificaitons, if constructed instead of carved. do not create a floor on the tile above. That's why you can't build walls on top of constructed fortifications.

So, if you top your walls with fortifications, would that work?

Seems that a curtain wall, especially topped with hoardings, is still a pretty safe bet, long as there aren't convenient trees.

My current plan, which is ambitious, involves a 4 or 5 story curtain wall, three tiles wide. I may, in the spirit of the hoarding, build fortifications projecting off of the top to ensure maximum inconvenient to goblin climbers.