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[GrimDark_Majyyks]

I've gone ahead and stuffed these into spoilers because it seems like it would be easier to address most of these in separate chunks. I probably overlooked a "Simple Questions and Answers"-flavored thread, but other people have made strictly question topics and afaik I'm not breaching some kind of sacred forumite rule, though admittedly my knowledge on forum etiquette is flimsy outside of knowing to not do Uncivil and Really Ineffably Stupid Things as a general ruleset for not causing Tantrum Spirals utterly failing attempts to socialize with other humens.

This one is about adventurers dropping by in Fortress mode (mostly). We will call it QUESTIONSET 1

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The first thing I wanted to have cleared up was with regard to having your adventurers appear in Fortress Mode. My present (mis?)understanding states that it can provided your adventurer retires in one of your fortress civilization's holdings. If this is accurate I have two follow up questions in particular:

• Could they be an Elf or a Human instead of a Dwarf and still immigrate, or must the adventurer also be a dwarf?
• Is there a way to increase the likelihood of a retired adventurer's immigration? It seems to me that one must bank on gratuitous serendipity, and that getting one of your former skilled-and-well-equipped adventurers is something of a windfall.

Another thing I'm having trouble with in adventure mode is locating dwarves. The thing on the upper-left corner gives you directions, but I find that these directions are very misleading when it comes to getting you closer to Things That Are Underground. I think pausing to consider it has potentially yielded an answer, as I have entertained the possibility of simply following roads; surely following them would lead to the Mountainhome.

This one is about the game feeling slow after initial embark proceedings. Call it QUESTIONSET 2, but not to its face.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I am finding more and more that there is a rather large dearth of things for me to do over the course of the first year or two (ortenislandssuck). This is probably more of a question for the world cookbook thread, but I'm wondering if there are means by which one can secure more towers on the map? Also I have cave-display enabled, but I'm not exactly sure how to go about finding them so that I can try embarking near those too.

Why do I military? The kids are calling it QUESTIONSET 3 these days

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I suspect I am really undervaluing military dwarves, except for the crossbow kind. At the present I think of them mostly as only nominally more useful nobles with worse rooms, or, at best, a few less peons to manage. I suspect that strong military dwarves are the key to combating clowns, however, since my usual methods don't work against them. Am I putting to much faith in walls and bridges and traps? I use them nearly exclusively to repel things with at most a couple of squads of marksdwarves, whose main purpose is to rescue caravans/immigrants on occasion and to give me an excuse to build towers for them because I love to build towers.

Nearly my entire defense repertoire is traps; cave in traps, water traps, magma traps, pit traps, pits-wth-water-and-magma traps, collapse traps into pits that fill with water and/or magma, et al. Other than poor planning or against graduates of Clown school when is this going to fail me?

I don't feel this last one really needs it's own section:
Tips for dealing with a Giant Sperm Whale thrall?

[Di]

1. Haven't really bothered with adventurers and fort in the same world, but as far as I know, no adventurer has ever abandoned the place of his retirement to come into a fort in these two community games (1,2.
In this version (and all of .31's I believe) there are no dwarven, elven or goblin settlements, Toady is adding them back in next release.

2. Number of caves can be set in advanced world generation. Number of towers is determined by the worldgen length and probably by number of secrets which can also be set in advanced generation mode.

3. Pits won't walk down to your meeting hall to stop an ogre if one gets there, military will. Traps can't do a thing to [trapavoid] creatures, but there's no monster with [militaryavoid] tag. Complex traps can misfire letting someone through, soldier will fight till last breath to stop an enemy.

[GrimDark_Majyyks]

1. Haven't really bothered with adventurers and fort in the same world, but as far as I know, no adventurer has ever abandoned the place of his retirement to come into a fort in these two community games (1,2.
In this version (and all of .31's I believe) there are no dwarven, elven or goblin settlements, Toady is adding them back in next release.

I was afraid that misinformation was the case with that one. Sometimes it seems difficult to separate what information comes from mods, inaccuracy, or outdated sources; the wiki seems significantly more reliable than google.

[itg]

The first thing I wanted to have cleared up was with regard to having your adventurers appear in Fortress Mode. My present (mis?)understanding states that it can provided your adventurer retires in one of your fortress civilization's holdings. If this is accurate I have two follow up questions in particular:

• Could they be an Elf or a Human instead of a Dwarf and still immigrate, or must the adventurer also be a dwarf?
• Is there a way to increase the likelihood of a retired adventurer's immigration? It seems to me that one must bank on gratuitous serendipity, and that getting one of your former skilled-and-well-equipped adventurers is something of a windfall.

Another thing I'm having trouble with in adventure mode is locating dwarves. The thing on the upper-left corner gives you directions, but I find that these directions are very misleading when it comes to getting you closer to Things That Are Underground. I think pausing to consider it has potentially yielded an answer, as I have entertained the possibility of simply following roads; surely following them would lead to the Mountainhome.

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think you can get an elf or human adventurer as an immigrant. I would imagine the only way to increase the likelihood of getting a dwarven adventurer as an immigrant is to decrease the likelihood of getting other dwarven immigrants, e.g. by generating a world where dwarves are extinct. Again, can't say for sure.

The reason you can't find dwarves in adventure mode is because dwarf sites don't exist in this version. Toady's adding them in the next release.

This one is about the game feeling slow after initial embark proceedings. Call it QUESTIONSET 2, but not to its face.
I am finding more and more that there is a rather large dearth of things for me to do over the course of the first year or two (ortenislandssuck). This is probably more of a question for the world cookbook thread, but I'm wondering if there are means by which one can secure more towers on the map? Also I have cave-display enabled, but I'm not exactly sure how to go about finding them so that I can try embarking near those too.

It sounds like you're wanting more attackers? You can encourage them to come sooner and in greater numbers by creating a lot of wealth. Trap components like glass serrated disks or wooden spiked balls are absurdly valuable for their resource cost, so building a bunch of those might be a good place to start. Also, you could open up the caverns sooner.

As for generating more towers, longer histories will give the necromancers more time to build them and take apprentices who will go on to found their own towers. Also, there is a worldgen setting for number of "secrets." More secrets ought to result in more necromancers.

Why do I military? The kids are calling it QUESTIONSET 3 these days
I suspect I am really undervaluing military dwarves, except for the crossbow kind. At the present I think of them mostly as only nominally more useful nobles with worse rooms, or, at best, a few less peons to manage. I suspect that strong military dwarves are the key to combating clowns, however, since my usual methods don't work against them. Am I putting to much faith in walls and bridges and traps? I use them nearly exclusively to repel things with at most a couple of squads of marksdwarves, whose main purpose is to rescue caravans/immigrants on occasion and to give me an excuse to build towers for them because I love to build towers.

Nearly my entire defense repertoire is traps; cave in traps, water traps, magma traps, pit traps, pits-wth-water-and-magma traps, collapse traps into pits that fill with water and/or magma, et al. Other than poor planning or against graduates of Clown school when is this going to fail me?

Traps and bridges are incredibly effective, to the point that many players choose not to use them in order to increase the challenge. Believe it or not, traps are by far the easiest way to face the clowns, too. That's not to say that a good military isn't worthwhile, though. Unlike traps, dwarves move, so you can respond to unexpected threats and guard workers outside the fort. A good military is usually a lot less hassle than the elaborate traps necessary to deal with FBs and titans. Plus, you'll really want a failsafe for when things get by your traps.

I don't feel this last one really needs it's own section:
Tips for dealing with a Giant Sperm Whale thrall?

Cage it.

[Uristoteles]

This one is about adventurers dropping by in Fortress mode (mostly). We will call it QUESTIONSET 1
The first thing I wanted to have cleared up was with regard to having your adventurers appear in Fortress Mode. My present (mis?)understanding states that it can provided your adventurer retires in one of your fortress civilization's holdings. If this is accurate I have two follow up questions in particular:

• Could they be an Elf or a Human instead of a Dwarf and still immigrate, or must the adventurer also be a dwarf?
• Is there a way to increase the likelihood of a retired adventurer's immigration? It seems to me that one must bank on gratuitous serendipity, and that getting one of your former skilled-and-well-equipped adventurers is something of a windfall.

I've read in "NEW CHALLENGE: starting at the dawn of time!", that for a (presumably dwarven) adventurer to show up as a migrant, he must retire at the embark location of the soon to be build/reclaimed fortress. The confirmation that this works is on page 37.

[Thuellai]

On question 1, my understanding is that yeah, any adventurer who retires in a mountainhome will be considered a member of your fortress, although keep in mind that a human who emigrates to your fort might have some trouble equipping armor (since dwarf-made armor is dwarf sized) although I suppose he'll probably bring his own, but it will deny him the chance to be loaded up with masterwork gear.

Also, yeah, roads are generally the easiest way to find actual sites, in my experience.  Once you're closing in, look for a road and follow it along and it will generally take you where you want to go.

As to q3, honestly, traps are a legitimate way to handle most invaders, and crossbows are fairly powerful, so as long as you take precautions (to ensure your crossbowmen don't decide that their crossbow is best employed as a bludgeon).  Using architecture is as valid a means of destroying your enemies as using steel.  Of course, having some melee soldiers can be an advantage if things get dicey, or against monsters big enough that bolts won't bring them down fast enough.

[GrimDark_Majyyks]

I've read in "NEW CHALLENGE: starting at the dawn of time!", that for a (presumably dwarven) adventurer to show up as a migrant, he must retire at the embark location of the soon to be build/reclaimed fortress. The confirmation that this works is on page 37.

I glanced at that the other day and had determined I would begin reading it at some point, glad it worked. I knew the thought came to me from something that seemed promising, so I'm happy I don't have to deal with disappointment in that regard, as I inadvisedly let myself be more optimistic than usual.

It sounds like you're wanting more attackers?

I don't feel this last one really needs it's own section:
Tips for dealing with a Giant Sperm Whale thrall?

Cage it.

I wouldn't call them attackers so much as future inmates.

As to the whale, I did intend on doing that; I just thought encountering it was amusing. I am presently working on a means by which to make it be my military for me, ideally in a way that won't backfire horribly. I've read threads and wiki articles and have a general of idea how to make these things.

As to q3, honestly, traps are a legitimate way to handle most invaders, and crossbows are fairly powerful, so as long as you take precautions (to ensure your crossbowmen don't decide that their crossbow is best employed as a bludgeon).

I don't find myself have to worry about that as I usually have things in place such that, barring any expeditions outside, it is impossible for them to get into melee range should they decide bludgeonings need doling out.

[chris_strain]

I used to hold most melee militia in great disdain because they always seemed to die without accomplishing much. Then I started a militia early enough for them to drill and train themselves up to a decent level in their weapon of choice +armour/shield user. It made all the difference in the world. Crossbow militia is still a cheap and easy defense though....

[Drazinononda]

I used to hold most melee militia in great disdain because they always seemed to die without accomplishing much. Then I started a militia early enough for them to drill and train themselves up to a decent level in their weapon of choice +armour/shield user. It made all the difference in the world. Crossbow militia is still a cheap and easy defense though....

Same here. For a while I thought danger rooms were the only way to get a decent military before ambushes started showing up, but then I decided I'd start two of my dwarves training from embark (who needs fish anyway?) and that made a huge difference. Embarking with just a helm and starting them sparring to train wrestling and armor user, then adding in shields and weapons and the rest of the armor later works well for me. In my last few forts, my initial two soldiers were my only military through the first several ambushes and they did just fine without the help of traps or walls.