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Author Topic: Presenting: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World  (Read 251997 times)

Martin

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Presenting: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World
« on: April 29, 2009, 01:04:50 pm »

So, I've taken up the challenge of making the most interesting dwarf in the world, legendary in all skills (or as best as can be accomplished). Here's the setup:

1) Orc mod in, but with the orcs nerfed slightly. My concern is training spear near the end. Will also provide a suitable supply of metal to train up all the metal skills.
2) Gobbos modded out. Ambushing will make hunting very difficult. I could have found a site without gobbos, but why waste half a day genning worlds? I think the orcs will make up for the lack of gobbos, though.
3) His starting skills will be the two dissecting skills - fish and animal. I don't even know if I can catch moghoppers on this map to skill up fish dissecting... I'd start out with strand extracting, but that doesn't appear to be an option.
4) I modded humans to trade stone. It got bauxite on the map so I don't have to futz with that too much.

I'm using the dwarf heaven map. I know it well, it has a chasm and the humans and dwarves both bring  milk for cheesemaking. It has tons of trees. It has a slow but steady flow of animals. It has HFS, though not enough, but I don't think that can be helped. Magma, sand, water for fishing - I think everything is here. I embarked a bit east of the usual in order to get the kobold cave. They helped with the start since I collected all of their junk (some of which was very valuable) and could do some serious trading with the first caravan. Immigration is set for 20, and children for 100% of the adult population. I chose a male dwarf, Morul Cattenmat, so that he wouldn't be burdened with children flitting about.

Basically it's also a test for how well can one dwarf run a fortress solo here at the start. I've basically left all non-military skill tasks to him to do until he hits legendary, at which point I'll open those tasks up to other dwarves. Mostly everyone hauls and talks. Other dwarves will handle military operations since I can't go back to labor tasks if Morul hits elite, so military will be done last. To start, I had my dwarves *very* carefully wall in the GCS who was kindly discovered by a mountain goat at the top of the chasm. From there it was easy to cage it. The military also cleared out the surface hostiles - troglodytes, etc so that Morul wouldn't wander into danger.

His first legendary stat was mining in early winter 202. During the first two years, he split time evenly between farming and mining, with some brewing and stone/bone crafts thrown in. Once he hit legendary miner, I turned mining on for other dwarves and they are now mining the place out. I've also caught the 2nd GCS inside the pit, since that's where the fortress is going. I turned off planting for Morul for now since it caused him to spend inordinate amounts of time running back and forth, and I didn't have the barrels/bags to handle all of the plants. I have another dwarf acting as planter and Morul will return to that in a while.

Currently Morul is working on the food/cloth/leather skills. He's cycling between brewer/cook/miller/thresher/dyer/weaver/clothesmaker/leatherworker/butcher/tanner and occassionally peels off to chop down trees, make barrels, make bolts, and smooth stone. He's the trader for now, just to get appraisal off the list. Stone smoothing isn't important, but if I can get that off the list, then I can put everyone else to work on something. My next goal here is to get enough bags made to sustain the food industry and get sand collection started. Because all of these skills started from zero, it's very slow going, but he's proficient in a few now, so I expect things to pick up.

I have relatively little industry, because once I sold off all the kobold junk it's all down to Morul to make everything. Food is my main export so that skill can come up as quickly as possible and metal/leather my main import. I need a few more years for enough leather to get out 600 leather bags and with all the metal skills to raise, I need all I can find. I expect him to hit legendary in stone smoothing and appraisal next, and then cooking/brewing/milling/threshing/dying/weaving/cloth/leather all around the same time. After that, hunting/butcher/tanning as I'm breeding up as many animals as I can and trapping/extracting. I think all of these are regulated by outside forces to some degree. I'm planning on setting up a trapping/milking isolation room for him at the edge of the chasm. (He detests fire snakes, so that's easy to work around, unlike purring maggots...)

It's 205 now and I'm guessing the next legendary skills will be in 207 or 208. I'm genuinely concerned that he'll die of old age before I finish at this rate. I wonder if I should have gotten a fortress setup and chosen the first child to hit adulthood, just to make the most of that.

Stay dwarfy, my friends.



On 27th Opal, 263, Morul has finally completed his quest and is now legendary in 71 different skills. His experience tops 2,000,000 after 63 years of working toward the goal. 1903 notable kills and 1590 other kills. Morul constructed the armor he is currently wearing, all masterwork adamantine as well as 4 other full sets and 5 masterwork adamantine weapons of each type.

Below are the saves for Morul both after completion and just prior to being committed to the military. In the former state, the fortress is well equipped with steel and adamantine wafers for players to make the most of. A combat arena has been prepared for Morul to work on the fun stuff. The fortress population has never exceeded 80 and so no megabeasts have yet arrived, and there are a number in this world. Two untamed caged giant cave spiders are present as well. The raws are included and most modifications are still in place but I set orcs back to normal strength. If you want to play with the sieges, I'd move them up to size 25/damblock 25 for a start. He had trouble as they got to 50/50 as he couldn't land hits and would get exhausted and then pass out. That was quite some time ago, however, and with weak weapons.

I took a run at the fun arena. Fireballs are brutal and apparently are undodgable. Maybe y'all will have better luck. First real injury I've seen Morul sustain. Was pretty hard to watch, actually.

Map Archive
Saves

I do have a few requests for the community, however.

1) If anyone runs the fortress until Morul dies of old age, I'd like to know what year that happens in.
2) I wanted to test, definitively, the effect of stats and armor on fall damage. There's a 23 z-level shaft in the fortress. Use it.
3) If Morul can clear the fun arena, I'd like to hear the result, whether now or after more skilling.
4) Any other interesting milestones. If someone wants to mod crossbows to give liar or throwing skills or whatever, that'd be cool to learn about.

I started this 10 months and 2.75GB of seasonal saves ago and at 8 FPS, it's turned into a bit of a chore. Time for something new. Enjoy.

--- Labor (52)
18th Moonstone, 202, Early Winter - Miner
19th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn - Woodcutter
27th Granite, 207, Early Spring - Appraiser
9th Sandstone, 207, Mid-Autumn - Bone Carver
11th Granite, 208, Early Spring - Furnace Operator
27th Opal, 208, Mid Winter - Engraver
5th Granite, 209, Early Spring - Carpenter
24th Timber, 209, Late Autumn - Mason
13th Opal, 209, Mid-Winter - Weaver
14th Obsidian, 209, Late Winter - Dyer
12th Granite, 210, Early Spring - Clothier
2nd Hematite, 211, Early Summer - Miller
10th Sandstone, 211, Mid-Autumn - Bowyer
26th Sandstone, 211, Mid-Autumn - Cook
20th Felsite, 212, Late Spring - Brewer
12th Limestone, 214, Early Autumn - Milker
12th Limestone, 214, Early Autumn - Cheese Maker
13th Timber, 214, Late Autumn - Thresher
13th Obsidian, 214, Late Winter - Trapper
23rd Felsite, 215, Late Spring - Metalsmith
6th Opal, 215, Mid-Winter - Glassmaker
5th Sandstone, 216, Mid-Autumn - Wood Burning
12th Timber, 216, Late Autumn - Animal Dissector
13th Granite, 217, Early Spring - Lye Maker
25th Malachite, 217, Mid-Summer - Potash Maker
8th Sandstone, 217, Mid-Autumn - Siege Operator
27th Timber, 217, Late Autumn - Leatherworker
25th Hematite, 218, Early Summer - Animal Training
21st Sandstone, 218, Mid-Autumn - Tanning
27th Sandstone, 218, Mid-Autumn - Butcher
18th Granite, 219, Early Spring - Gem Cutter
23rd Felsite, 219, Late Spring - Mechanic
4th Limestone, 219, Early Autumn - Stonecrafter
26th Hematite, 221, Early Summer - Siege Engineer
24th Slate, 222, Mid-Spring - Ambusher
19th Limestone, 222, Early Autumn - Herbalist
26th Sandstone, 222, Mid-Autumn - Gem Setter
14th Galena, 225, Late Summer - Fishing
14th Sandstone, 225, Mid-Autumn - Fish Cleaning
12th Malachite, 226, Mid-Summer - Grower
21st Hematite, 227, Early Summer - Architect
3rd Malachite, 227, Mid-Summer - Soap Making
15th Limestone, 227, Early Autumn - Organizer
14th Felsite, 228, Late Spring - Fish Dissector
5th Hematite, 228, Early Summer - Animal Care
26th Hematite, 228, Early Summer - Pump Operating
6th Galena, 228, Late Summer - Armorsmith
1st Moonstone, 228, Early Winter - Weaponsmith
1st Hematite, 229, Early Summer - Woodcrafter
27th Galena, 229, Late Summer - Metalcrafter
2nd Galena, 230, Late Summer - Strand Extracting
9th Malachite, 231, Mid-Summer - Record Keeper

--- Social (9)
15th Limestone, 241, Early Autumn - Consoler
15th Limestone, 241, Early Autumn - Negotiator
15th Limestone, 241, Early Autumn - Intimidator
15th Limestone, 241, Early Autumn - Persuader
15th Limestone, 241, Early Autumn - Judge of Intent
15th Limestone, 241, Early Autumn - Pacifier
15th Limestone, 241, Early Autumn - Comedian
15th Limestone, 241, Early Autumn - Conversationalist
15th Limestone, 241, Early Autumn - Flatterer

--- Military (10)
11th Hematite, 234, Early Summer - Swimmer
26th Moonstone, 235, Early Winter - Marksdwarf
15th Limestone, 235, Early Autumn - Wrestler
1st Limestone, 236, Early Autumn - Shield User
28th Sandstone, 238, Late Autumn - Armor User
7th Felsite, 241, Late Spring - Macedwarf
21st Opal, 246, Mid-Winter - Hammerdwarf
27th Limestone, 252, Early Autumn - Axedwarf
15th Granite, 255, Early Spring - Speardwarf
27th Opal, 263, Mid-Winter - Swordsdwarf
« Last Edit: January 12, 2010, 11:52:51 pm by Martin »
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dornbeast

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Re: Quest: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World
« Reply #1 on: April 29, 2009, 01:10:33 pm »

I wonder if I should have gotten a fortress setup and chosen the first child to hit adulthood, just to make the most of that.

Stay dwarfy, my friends.

If you're going that route, I'd recommend choosing the first child to get a skill-enhancing strange mood.
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Martin

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Re: Quest: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World
« Reply #2 on: April 29, 2009, 01:19:37 pm »

I wonder if I should have gotten a fortress setup and chosen the first child to hit adulthood, just to make the most of that.

Stay dwarfy, my friends.

If you're going that route, I'd recommend choosing the first child to get a skill-enhancing strange mood.

Yeah, I thought a child legendary wood crafter would be handy. We'll see if I have the temperament to try this again...

Smew

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Re: Quest: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World
« Reply #3 on: April 29, 2009, 01:25:05 pm »

You might want to take NOFEAR off the orcs if they have it, I ifnd that tends to make any creature MUCH stronger, strong enough that if they are in a pack they can take out even a legendary +5 champion with legendary shield use and everything.
Also, you could remove the AMBUSHER tag from goblins, that way they would just siege you... as long as you removed [INTELLIGENT] from them and added [CAN_CIV] and [CAN_LEARN].

Martin

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Re: Quest: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World
« Reply #4 on: April 29, 2009, 01:50:22 pm »

I can always thin the orc numbers with a marksdwarf. I'll probably have at least 3 champions before I even start on military - and most of the mil training will be done by sparring.

Derakon

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Re: Quest: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World
« Reply #5 on: April 29, 2009, 02:38:04 pm »

Hm...if I were to do this challenge, the first skills I'd aim for would be all the social ones, since once you get those, your dwarves are demigods and will do everything else much faster.

Though that doesn't mesh well with the "one dwarf must provide for all others" thing you're doing.
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Martin

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Re: Quest: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World
« Reply #6 on: April 29, 2009, 02:42:43 pm »

I didn't really intend it to be the solo support thing, it just seemed easier that way since those things needed to be done anyway.

He showed max stats pretty quickly, simply by always working on something - certainly before any other dwarf did, and most of the others are max social skills now.

Vilien

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Re: Quest: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World
« Reply #7 on: April 29, 2009, 02:48:02 pm »

The hermit challenge with orcs is just a goddamn nightmare.
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ButterNBacon

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Re: Quest: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World
« Reply #8 on: April 29, 2009, 03:32:12 pm »

Hm - it sounds like leveling the dwarf in all those skills at once might be inefficient. Wouldn't it be better to have him parked in one place, doing one thing at a time? Less walking-around time.
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Martin

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Re: Quest: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World
« Reply #9 on: April 29, 2009, 03:47:19 pm »

Hm - it sounds like leveling the dwarf in all those skills at once might be inefficient. Wouldn't it be better to have him parked in one place, doing one thing at a time? Less walking-around time.

It actually works out that way with some management. Basically, I let the plump helmets pile up for half a year or a year and then tell him to brew repeatedly until he runs out. By then the pigtails and quarry bush leaves have piled up, so then he processes them, etc.

I set up each space for maximum efficiency, so each room is 9x9 with the workshop dead center. A 3x9 stockpile is above with the pigtails/quarry bushes and a 3x9 stockpile is below with bags, each set to pull from a larger stockpile if needed. I have enough idle dwarves such that everything is cleared out/restocked immediately.

Martin

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Re: Quest: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World
« Reply #10 on: April 30, 2009, 01:51:03 am »

Winter 206, Morul is now a legendary woodcutter. The need for bins and barrels forced the issue. Another year should get appraisal, and another siege should get bone carver. First casualty - a child who wandered out during a siege.

Slowly clearcutting the map now with other dwarves to have enough wood on hand to get the various wood skills. Carpenter, wood burner (gets lye), wood crafter, siege engineer, potash. That's 3,000 wood, minimum. Lots of trees...

Grax

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Re: Quest: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World
« Reply #11 on: April 30, 2009, 05:56:25 am »

The hermit challenge with orcs is just a goddamn nightmare.
No.
Just stones, mechanisms and long tunnels.
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Wahad

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Re: Quest: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World
« Reply #12 on: April 30, 2009, 06:11:43 am »

The hermit challenge with orcs is just a goddamn nightmare.
No.
Just stones, mechanisms and long tunnels.

Wouldn't it be easier to just make a one-tile entrance and wall it off? If you're going hermit, it's easy to get a self-sustaining fortress. Who cares about what's going on outside?  :P
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Time Kitten

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Re: Quest: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World
« Reply #13 on: April 30, 2009, 08:49:52 am »

Personally, I'd start with a child with legendary social skills (happens if there are a bunch of children and small meeting rooms to 'talk' in) that way you start with the idle activities finished, garentied youth, and perfect stats, and possibly grower levels, and a crafting skill from moods.
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Nightwind

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Re: Quest: The Most Interesting Dwarf in the World
« Reply #14 on: April 30, 2009, 11:27:16 am »

Slowly clearcutting the map now with other dwarves to have enough wood on hand to get the various wood skills. Carpenter, wood burner (gets lye), wood crafter, siege engineer, potash. That's 3,000 wood, minimum. Lots of trees...

Elfie Elf is going to be peeved...

good, more food for the children!
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