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[Haggoroth]

I'm building a welcome mat over a pit.  How many z levels should I make it to ensure almost everything dies?

[Madman198237]

The magma sea might be a good stopping point.

[DoctorDorf]

As far as I understand, the answer to this strongly depends on the material of the floor you have them fall on. The denser the material, the stronger the impact, the fewer z-levels you need. Slap down a metal floor if you want to be sure, avoid wood:

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Density

I have a 15+ drop pit with spikes on the bottom in my current fort, and things are skewered quite nicely usually. However, I'm fairly certain that occasionally a falling unit will actually dodge the spike and that seems to negate their falling velocity as well. They seem to end up standing on the floor with no ill effects after that. Kind of strange, but the only way out is back up and across the pit again so it doesn't really matter that much.

[Haggoroth]

Oooooh, that's a great idea.  Finish it off with a tunnel out away from the entrance with a staircase that just leads them back outside.

I was also just considering leaving the bottom level right adjacent to my dwarf training grounds.  They can "practice" on whatever survives the fall.

[Kars]

I think around 15 z-levels with a lead, gold, or platinum plated floor would just about pulverize anything that can't fly. However, if you wanted to get DANGEROUSLY DWARFY, you could even go for Slade plated floors, though such a thing would be insanely hard to pull off and really is just a stupid dwarf trick

[bloop_bleep]

I think around 15 z-levels with a lead, gold, or platinum plated floor would just about pulverize anything that can't fly. However, if you wanted to get DANGEROUSLY DWARFY, you could even go for Slade plated floors, though such a thing would be insanely hard to pull off and really is just a stupid dwarf trick

There is currently no way to mine slade. Although there's nothing stopping you from making the pit literally go directly into the depths of hell.

Well, except for a demon horde, of course.

[wierd]

Yes you caaaaan....

You can mine it using a channel through another substance on the top layer. If you exploit the "Mudied tile turns into soil after plant grows" phenomenon, you can channelize the dirt-converted tile, which will dig into the slade layer below, producing a slade boulder. (Alternatively, you can drop a stone layer floor on top of the slade, producing a stone layer floor over the top of a slade underlayer, then channel into that.)

I am not sure that slade is an appropriate material for "rough stone floor" or not though.

[Ultimuh]

I usually do at least 20 z-levels. There will be limbs and guts everywhere.
Whatever survives that fall, is practically immortal.

[PatrikLundell]

I think around 15 z-levels with a lead, gold, or platinum plated floor would just about pulverize anything that can't fly. However, if you wanted to get DANGEROUSLY DWARFY, you could even go for Slade plated floors, though such a thing would be insanely hard to pull off and really is just a stupid dwarf trick

There is currently no way to mine slade. Although there's nothing stopping you from making the pit literally go directly into the depths of hell.

Well, except for a demon horde, of course.

Incorrect. There is a trick for mining slade (actually, there are two variations of it). The second variant is actually the same as the one required to ensure a clear path all the way down to the basement.

It can be noted that while it can be amusing to have dorfs practice on fall survivors, dorfs have a tendency to rush their targets. which means they have a chance of being the units that (letally) break the fall of the NEXT invader.

I would make the fall at least 25 tiles.

[wierd]

It's a little dated, but there was some pretty comprehensive science performed on fall lethality.

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=93256.msg2616283#msg2616283

[Werdna]

I don't see this mentioned anymore, so I wonder if something has changed since I last read about it ages ago.  I haven't seen anyone mention pit design; I thought that falls could be 'slowed' by fallers attempting to grab the walls next to them, so 1-tile wide square pits were less lethal than wider pits that ensure the faller is falling in space.  Am I just regurgitating disproved forum tribal knowledge?

[George_Chickens]

It's entirely possible that an athletically skilled victim will grab onto cracks in the walls somewhere and halt his fall, if not hold on to the edges. It's best to make a big pit and smooth the way down.

[Leonidas]

When dropping enemies for maximal damage, don't forget the Upright Spikes!

Has anyone tested whether the mechanism for floor density extends to damage from being thrown by a wrestler? I've been thinking of building a dojo with wood floor to allow my dwarves to wrestle safely without armor.

[Sutremaine]

They don't throw each other while sparring any more. I let a bunch of dwarves spar in the arena and then looked at the gamelog -- no throws.

[Bearskie]

15-20 for severe injuries and eventual death, 30+ for guaranteed splats (slams into the obstacle and blows apart).