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Author Topic: Were-whaaat?  (Read 1376 times)

pasanax

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Were-whaaat?
« on: November 15, 2017, 06:28:28 pm »

Okey so something happened in my fort that i never had before. Anyways, I've started fairly good, established nice food income, had such a nice fort layout like a mountain hall carved into the cliffs overlooking the plains to the west where i groomed my cattle and stuff... Than suddenly, so early in the game, a freaking were-mammoth thing appeared  out of nowhere. It was so early i didn't even build my gates! I organised my 20 dwarfs to fight the beast with all weapons available (that would be 2 bronze axes). They jumped on the creature and started biting and chewing it, but body parts of my dwarves flew all over the fort (literally i found a torso on top of an unreachable chicken coop). 2 dwarfs survived the carnage before the beast bled out somewhere inside my fort. It turned back into its dwarf form, but the body never decayed, its corpse just stood there all flashing blue. So the remaining two dorfs build a wall around its corpse (heck this is the first time i've encountered a werebeast i dunno if they come back to life or smthing since its body didn't decay). And the two of them started building an epic memorial site for their fallen comrades. In the meantime a lot of migrants came and then i remembered - oh i should build a gate really.
But it took so much time for them to finish the gate and just before i linked the gate to the lever -- a night creature showed up. Again, no gate. It was a werehyena this time. Organised my dorfs, went to fight it with bare fists and bare teeth... meh killed it relatively easy. Left a few dwarves dead, and a few bleeding to death (since i sold all my medical supplies in preparation for the jurney... really needed that fisherdwarf). And i finally finished the gate! NOW i was safe finally, no more night beasts in my fort now when i have some sort of protection, oh no more of that yeah.

The merchants finally came to visit us. Finally i can buy some steel axes and shields so i can fight off these horrible beasts. As the dorfs were carrying their stuff to sell them i accidentally notice a HUGE splatter of blood just where the merchants were suppose to be. Yeah.. It turns out it was full moon, and my dwarves got infected! 5 of them infected to be precise... They wiped out my fort in like a milisecond...they even killed the children! Meh, screw children, they killed my puppy colony! And than they just turned back into dwarf form...

And now what? Has anyone tried to actually play with a werefort? And I have a new migrant wave coming... They'll love the smell since the entire fort is a damn miasma cloud atm, but thats the least of their problems.
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Loam

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Re: Were-whaaat?
« Reply #1 on: November 15, 2017, 07:09:42 pm »

Yeah, werebeasts can show up very early, so an early drawbridge-gate and military is important. Also they sneak into your fort, so you won't know they're there until they're spotted by a citizen or pet; you could chain dogs at intervals around the perimeter of your fort to avoid this.

Werebeasts won't come back to life once dead, so nothing to worry about there. Your main concern after a were attack is to identify potential infectees. Check the combat logs to see if the beast bit and broke the skin (i.e. "tore the skin/fat/muscle") of any of your dwarves: such dwarves will have been infected with the were-curse. Claw attacks and bites that don't break the skin don't transmit the curse. Quarantine any infected dwarves - this part is tricky, because dwarves are reluctant to follow orders, but with a combination of room assignment/turning off labors/burrows it can be done most times (children seem to ignore burrows though). You could probably also use squad station orders to do this. Keep in mind that werebeasts can break furniture, so locked doors won't keep them in; you'll need to use bridges or just wall them in.

I think wereforts are possible, but I've not made one before.
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mikekchar

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Re: Were-whaaat?
« Reply #2 on: November 15, 2017, 07:41:45 pm »

I've run forts with were beasts a few times.  It's not particularly hard, but you have to be organised.  Easiest way is to draft them into the military and station them somewhere remote every full moon.  Best to station them a few days before just in case they decide to socialise or get a drink, etc.  As long as a stationed were beast can not see any other creature, it will just stand there.

In my last were beast fort, I build a kind of lair with a workshop that was assigned only to the were dwarf.  I added a daily work order to the manager's list for that workshop only.  The idea here is that if I forget to station the dwarf, chances are they will be in the workshop/lair.  The downside is that if they transform in the workshop, they will destroy it :-(  I wish there was a monthly repeating job I could give a were dwarf that didn't involve an installed piece of furniture, but I can't find one.

I've written a few times about surviving a were beast attack, but in short the key is *not* to engage it with the military.  This will just cause infections.  Were beasts only stay transformed for a few days -- after that they are not dangerous at all.  The key is to delay them for that time.  Obviously getting the gates up is a good idea, but strategically placed animals, or a *single* unarmed dwarf can also delay it (ideally dying valiantly in the process).  During the distraction, burrow your other dwarfs as far away as possible.
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pasanax

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Re: Were-whaaat?
« Reply #3 on: November 15, 2017, 08:28:04 pm »

But they turn so often into werebeasts... It seems kinda more fun to turn this into a fort with only werehyena's inside that eat the unsuspecting migrants... maybe build a special chamber where the migrants will live with loads of food and drink and than fool moon comes and they get rekt. Like a farm for my other dwarfs.  The survivors get to live with other werehynenas.

I've read that werebeasts dont need food, does that count when they are in dwarf form aswell?
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MCreeper

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Re: Were-whaaat?
« Reply #4 on: November 16, 2017, 03:25:21 am »

Everything that not yours don't need food. Dwarfs-werebeasts don't need food because transforming resets hunger and thirst timers, and they are transforming frequently enough to not starve to death.
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mikekchar

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Re: Were-whaaat?
« Reply #5 on: November 16, 2017, 05:08:54 am »

Yeah, in special circumstances your own were dwarf *can* die of thirst (i.e. if it's really, really hot).
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pasanax

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Re: Were-whaaat?
« Reply #6 on: November 16, 2017, 10:40:49 am »

So i might just try and do a were fort. It might have some benefits since i wont have to worry about food industry, i can concentrate on other stuff. Man this game never ceases to amaze me :)
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MCreeper

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Re: Were-whaaat?
« Reply #7 on: November 16, 2017, 10:51:19 am »

Yeah, in special circumstances your own were dwarf *can* die of thirst (i.e. if it's really, really hot).
Me too. I thought that thirst timer is dead-set, except !!FUNNY!! cases when dwarf eats fire imp meat (damned unobtanium in newer versions), and even about that i thought as about half-joke.
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Pancakes

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Re: Were-whaaat?
« Reply #8 on: November 17, 2017, 12:23:46 pm »

Does the werecurse transmit if the bitten limb is severed entirely, in the same attack? The only times I have had this happen to a dwarf also resulted in them getting bitten somewhere else on their body as well, so I haven't been able to determine if the cause was from the initial limb-severing bite or the following minor bite

i.e
The wereelephant bites the dwarf Urist in the left lower arm, and the severed part flies off in an arc!
Urist, dwarf: I have been attacked. I am annoyed.
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