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[goblinator]

On every game start so far a werebeast was spawned in the direct vicinity of the fortress and massacred everything in a fraction of a second. This happens always in the second year. Looks like a game feature. So all tutorials out there can be dumped as the first most important task is to completely wall off. Also, digging into a slope is a no go as weres just jump down a Z-level if there is no wall above (of course I removed all slopes).
Is that "feature" configurable anywhere (I want to turn it off)?

[thefriendlyhacker]

On every game start so far a werebeast was spawned in the direct vicinity of the fortress and massacred everything in a fraction of a second.

FYI, they don't spawn by the fortress. They enter the map under stealth, like ambushers.

This happens always in the second year. Looks like a game feature.

Nope. I have had them show up only after several years. It is a combination of where your fortress is located, the state of the world, and luck of the draw. Looks like you have been getting unlucky.

So all tutorials out there can be dumped as the first most important task is to completely wall off. Also, digging into a slope is a no go as weres just jump down a Z-level if there is no wall above (of course I removed all slopes).

Yes, climbing is a thing now for units in combat, so you can't just rely on a ditch for defense. However, the thing about werecreatures is that while they are really good at butchering untrained, unarmed civilians, they are themselves unarmored and usually unarmed, making them fair game for a competent melee squad. Throw half a dozen dwarves with axes and shields at one, and it will go down very quickly. In other words, don't neglect your military just because you don't expect sieges yet.

Is that "feature" configurable anywhere (I want to turn it off)?

You can use advanced worldgen and create worlds with no werecreatures. That would solve your problem.

[Loam]

Ninja'd by above, but oh well:

Possibly [INVADERS:YES/NO] in d_init.txt, though that will turn off all invaders, including sieges, megabeasts, etc. You could turn it off, set up your fort as you like, and then turn it on again to get attacked.

Alternatively, if you just don't like werebeasts, you can turn them off using the advanced world generation options.

But, what's wrong with walling off first thing? Isn't that standard practice? Building a raising drawbridge for complete safety can only take, what, an in-game week at most? And can be done almost immediately after embark.
You can also try raising a small militia. Werebeasts are tough, but a few decently-trained and armored dwarves can at least hold them off until your citizens are safe.

As for why werebeasts seem to appear in the second year: weres have an [ATTACK_TRIGGER] of 20 population, which a typical fort will just have reached in the second year. So, it's not really a "guaranteed" feature. You can avoid this by setting your pop cap to under 20 dwarves.

[goblinator]

I have had them show up only after several years. It is a combination of where your fortress is located, the state of the world, and luck of the draw. Looks like you have been getting unlucky.

I must have been really un^Z^Zlucky as a werebeast came every single time on like 10 different worlds and 30+ game plays.

@Loam, I did try with the militia one time - three guys in iron armour. They were turned into minced meat before I could even blink. One amusing thing was that based on the logs one of them got his face eaten through a helmet by a waremoose.

Thank you guys for the advanced worldgen params tip. That's what I'm going to use. I have no patience for FUN with weremooses in the second year.

[Khalari]

Don't give up, buddy!

Werebeasts really shouldn't be so powerful as to kill an armored militia. Did you have them train properly? Remember you have to not only create the squad in the (m)ilitary screen and then set up their (m)->(s)chedule, but you also need to activate the squad in the (s)quad screen.

What I like to do to train my military is to set them up to train with no armor or weapons for the first year or so, this trains their dodging, fighting, etc.

Only then do I give them armor and weapons. Otherwise they only train their weapon skill and have no skill in dodging attacks and such, which is very important in any fight.

I remember one of my first forts got attacked by a werebeast and then I had monthly attacks as my infected dwarves would turn and slaughter their friends. I had to setup military squads on highly populated areas so they could intervene and slaughter the ones who turned. No more transformations after a few months!

[PatrikLundell]

You can close off a fortress completely in a rather short time. However, that means you'll also forego logging, fruit and plant gathering, and caravans (and fishing and hunting).

While the were curse can spread to dorfs surviving encounters, you ought to brick those dorfs in (separately) over the next full moon to know which one were infected and which ones were not. You can also scour the combat log to see if each units has had blood drawn through a bite, as that's the only way to spread the infection (I've seen different opinions on whether it's possible to resist an infection or not).

As an alternative to closing off the fortress, you can chain up sacrificial animals along the perimeter of the embark: once one of these gets attacked you'll be notified of the presence of a were (note that weres killing visitors does NOT trigger any alert).

Personally I have a recessed and roofed over courtyard with 3-4 access tunnels out from it, with drawbridges at the end of each tunnel. Each tunnel also has a "dogbox" above it with a grate floor overlooking the tunnel, and that dogbox has an animal (typically adopting female cat, as those can't be castrated) pastured in it, and the opening closed with a drawbridge. All entrance tunnels except one have doors in the tunnel, adjacent to the inner drawbridge, so when the guard cat detects a were I order both drawbridges to be raised NOW!, and I lock the doors as the were draws near. The were typically attacks a door, and turns back before the door is destroyed (and if it is, the drawbridge should be closed by that time anyway). The tunnel without doors is the trade tunnel, which has to be wide enough to let wagons through.

Also, when attacked by a were (or a titan), order the closing of entrances immediately, possibly sacrificing the dorfs that are outside at the time (or take the risk to try to save them...).