Editing v0.31:Adventurer mode

{{quality|Exceptional|15:19, 17 April 2011 (UTC)}}{{av}} 


:''This is a detailed reference guide for Adventurer Mode. For a tutorial see the [[Adventure mode quick start|Adventure Mode Quickstart Guide]].
:''See [[Adventure Mode quick reference]] to quickly look up key commands.


In '''adventurer mode''' (also called "adventure mode") you create a single adventurer ([[dwarf]], [[human]], or [[elf]]) who starts out somewhere in one of your generated worlds. You can receive [[quest]]s, venture into the wilderness to find [[cave]]s, shrines, lairs, abandoned towers, and other [[Site|towns and settlements]]. You can even visit your abandoned [[fortress]]es and find whatever riches were left to be guarded by the [[creature]]s that sealed their fate.

Unlike [[fortress mode]], adventurer mode is a sort of advanced [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandbox_game open world] version of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_%28computer_game%29 rogue] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nethack  nethack] taking place in the same procedurally generated worlds used for fortress mode, but you control a single character in a turn-based manner rather than manage a group of creatures acting in real time.


=World Selection=

You can play Adventurer mode in any world that has a civilization with the [[Entity_token#Gameplay|ADVENTURE_TIER]] token (which are elf, dwarf, and human in unmodded raws) but as of the current version 0.31.25 only human civilizations have towns, NPC fortresses, or shops. As a result you need at least one human civilization if you want quests or anything but basic wilderness survival. Alternately, you can alter the other races to also use human towns -- see the talk page under "Dwarven Fortresses."

If you have previously built a fort in the world that you select, your adventurer will be able to go visit it. However, the fort must be abandoned because you will not be able to start an adventure mode game in the same world with an active fortress mode game. Note, though, that you can always save your fortress mode game, duplicate the save folder (copy ''regionX'' to ''regionX-copy'' or something), abandon the fortress in the copy of the world, then start adventure mode in the new clone world.

=Character Creation=

==Race and Civilization==

Any race with the [[Entity_token#Gameplay|ADVENTURE_TIER]] token is playable in adventure mode. In an unmodded game this means [[Dwarves]], [[Elves]], and [[Human|Humans]]. All three races can complete the same quests.

*'''Civilized Humans''' begin with bronze or iron weapons and can use any of the items sold by shopkeepers (who, for the time being, are only found in human towns and only sell human-sized clothing/armor). They also start with the widest variety of weapon skills.

*'''Human Outsiders''' can only start with Spear User and Knife User as weapon skills, and they cannot start with Armor User or Shield User. They also start out literally naked with no clothing, but can wear any human-sized armor that they trade for, steal, or loot. "Outsiders" of other races can be played if you add the [[Entity_token#Gameplay|INDIV_CONTROLLABLE]] token to the race's entity definition. 

*'''Dwarves''' have the advantage of being able to go into a [[Martial trance|martial trance]] when fighting multiple foes at once. They are the only race which can start with steel weapons, but they wear "small" sized clothing (like goblins and elves) which means that they're unable to wear human clothing and armor found in shops. They can start with almost all of the same weapon skills as civilized humans. Most human-sized weapons (such as longswords) must be wielded two-handed by dwarves, due to their size.

*'''Elves''' start with very weak wooden weapons and have a more limited list of weapon skills during character creation. They have the advantage that they have higher natural speed. Like dwarves they wear small sized clothing so will have the same problem finding suitable armor in shops.

If no civilization for the given race exists in a world, you won't be able to play as that race except perhaps as a human outsider.{{Verify}}

== Status ==

Determines the number of starting skill and attribute points, which does not change based on race:
*'''Peasant:''' 15 attribute, 35 skill
*'''Hero:''' 35 attribute, 95 skill
*'''Demigod:''' 105 attribute, 161 skill
The number of skill points is less significant than the number of attribute points because the time it takes to go from Peasant to Demigod in skill terms is much less than what it would take to go from Peasant to Demigod in attribute terms.

== Starting Attributes ==

[[Attribute|Attributes]] are divided into Body and Soul attributes. This section provides some guidance for allocating attributes as it relates to adventurer mode.

=== Body ===

*'''Strength''' - Alters the damage done in melee, increases muscle mass (thicker muscle layer also resists damage more), and increases how much a creature can carry. Increasing strength, at least in adventurers, increases movement speed (albeit not as much as agility) due to better carrying capacity.
*'''Agility''' - This attribute is directly related to a character's Speed and is also used in combat skills.
*'''Toughness''' - Reduces physical damage. Also relates to defensive combat skills.
*'''Endurance''' - Reduces the rate at which the adventurer becomes exhausted. Used in Wrestling.
*'''Recuperation''' - Increases the rate of wound healing. Not as important as Toughness. Recuperation isn't that useful in adventurer mode since you usually have as much time to rest as you need assuming you can escape a situation alive.
*'''Disease Resistance''' - Reduces the risk of disease. It isn't clear how useful this currently is in adventurer mode.

Strength, Agility, and Toughness are the Body attributes that most impact combat skills, and Endurance to a lesser extent. 

=== Soul ===

Some of these are useful for adventure-mode-applicable skills, but some are totally useless.

*'''Analytical Ability''' - Useful for certain crafting skills, the only one currently being Knapping.
*'''Focus''' - Affects Archer, Ambusher, Observer.
*'''Willpower''' - Fighter, Crutch Walker, Swimmer, and helps resist ''pain effects'' such as those caused by chipped bones.
*'''Creativity''' - Currently completely useless in adventure mode. Normally it impacts crafting skills.
*'''Intuition''' - Only helps with Observer.
*'''Patience''' - Currently useless.
*'''Memory''' - Appears to be useless.
*'''Linguistic Ability''' - Currently useless because adventurers don't have social skills. 
*'''Spatial Sense''' - Important. Affects combat skills, Ambusher, Crutch Walker, Swimmer, Observer, Knapping.
*'''Musicality''' - Completely useless as of yet.
*'''Kinesthetic Sense''' - Important. Combat skills, Crutch Walker, Swimming, Knapping, 
*'''Empathy''' - Might increase chance of persuading people to Join you.{{Verify}}
*'''Social Awareness''' - Increases the number of followers you can have at a given "fame" level. Normally you start with a limit of two. Increasing this stat by one level raises that to three.

=== Attribute Advancement Cap ===

Adventure mode attributes are capped at double the starting value or the starting value plus the racial average, whichever is greater. Humans, for example, have a racial average strength of 1,000. If a human adventurer starts with an ''above average'' strength of 1,100, then his strength will ultimately be capped at 2,200. Had this human started with a ''below average'' strength of 900, then his strength would be capped at 1,900 instead. For the purpose of maximizing final attributes, this makes it important to start with as many attributes in the ''superior'' range as possible (more attributes per point allocated), while avoiding taking any penalties to even remotely important attributes (big attribute deductions per point recovered). As a consequence of the attribute cap, demi-god adventurers will always have a much higher potential for advancement than mere peasants and heroes.

== Starting Skills ==

Not all races have the same sets of skills available at character creation time, but keep in mind that all starting [[skill]]s, as well as ones not available at character creation, can be improved through use in game.

This section will specifically address starting skills as they relate to adventure mode. For a full description of combat skills see [[Combat skill]]. Other skills that you can't start with, but which can be increased in game (such as Butchery) are described elsewhere.

=== Weapon ===

The weapon you start out with will be based on which of these, plus the unarmed combat skills, is the highest. In other words, even if Swordsman is your highest weapon skill, you won't start with a sword if your Wrestler or Striker skills are better. Usually the best choice anyway is to specialize in just one melee weapon skill.

Because these tend to take a bit longer to increase in game, it makes sense to put some points into one at the beginning.

Not all races/civilizations can start with all of these skills. (For example, Dwarves can't start with Bowman or Lasher).

*'''Axeman''' - allows characters to use axes, great axes, and halberds more effectively.
*'''Bowman''' - skill allows characters to use bows more effectively.
*'''Crossbowman''' - allows characters to use crossbows more effectively.  The dwarven version is called '''Marksdwarf'''.
*'''Hammerman''' - allows characters to use crossbows in melee, mauls, and war hammers more effectively.
*'''Knife User''' - allows characters to use large daggers and knives more effectively.
*'''Lasher''' - allows characters to use whips and scourges more effectively.
*'''Maceman''' - allows characters to use flails, maces, and morningstars more effectively.
*'''Pikeman''' - allows characters to use pikes more effectively.
*'''Spearman''' - allows characters to use spears more effectively.
*'''Swordsman''' - allows characters to use blowguns and bows in melee, long swords, scimitars, short swords, and two-handed swords more effectively.

=== General Combat ===

These two skills can be raised rather quickly in game and so you probably want to skip spending any points on them at the start.

*'''Fighter''' - This increases with, and contributes to, melee combat whether armed or unarmed. It appears that the purpose of it is to allow melee experience to contribute to melee combat in general regardless of weapon. Repeatedly wrestling (grabbing and releasing) even a small creature will raise this skill.
*'''Archer''' - This increases with, and contributes to, ranged combat including throwing. It works similarly to Fighter except for ranged attacks. It can be easily raised by repeatedly throwing rocks, making it advisable for archers to practice their marksmanship with rock throwing before using up the more finite and expensive forms of ammunition. Shooting at a wall with adjacent upward ramp one level below and picking back projectiles is also a good idea (such places often happen to be in castles). See the FAQ section on [[#powerleveling|powerleveling]] for information on raising bowman/marksman skills.

=== Defensive ===

These skills are critical for survival. Starting out with good ability in one (especially Shield User or Armor User) if not all is strongly advised.

*'''Shield User''' - Ability to block attacks with shields. Starting with skill in this means that the adventurer will start with a shield.
*'''Armor User''' - Related to how well an adventurer moves in armor, and increases whenever an adventurer wearing armor is attacked. A higher level of this skill reduces the encumbrance penalties of armor, allowing up to normal speed movement when wearing full steel plate. Unfortunately, starting with this skill does not provide any starting armor.
*'''Dodger''' - Ability to dodge out of the way of attacks.

=== Unarmed Combat and Improvised Weapons ===

While some of them come in handy at times, they can generally be raised fairly easily in game, especially Wrestler and Thrower.

*'''Wrestler''' - Ability to grapple, restrain, take-down, throw opponents, etc. See [[#Wrestling and Unarmed Attacks]] for details. Can be raised very easily in game.
*'''Striker''' - Punching ability.
*'''Kicker''' - Kicking ability.
*'''Biter''' - Biting ability.
*'''Thrower''' - Throwing any miscellaneous object including rocks, knives, axes, swords, heads, etc.
*'''Misc. Object User''' - Ability to beat things to death with their own severed body parts, basically. Also somewhat more commonly used for shield bashing.

=== Movement and Awareness ===

*'''[[Observer]]''' - Helps one to notice things like ambushes and enemies who are "sneaking" (stealth movement). Detection range increases with skill. Hard to train. Adding some points here is advisable.
*'''[[Swimmer]]''' - Allows movement through water without drowning. A Novice swimmer can swim but will revert to being unable to swim if stunned, which happens when falling even 1 z-level into the water. An Adequate swimmer can swim normally (not drown) while stunned. For this reason, ''starting out as an Adequate swimmer is advisable.'' If you don't, at least start as Novice and go get some swimming practice right away.
*'''[[Ambusher]]''' - The skill of {{K|S}}neaking around unobserved. This can be raised fairly easily by sneaking around while traveling from place to place when speed is not important. At lower skill levels, speed is greatly reduced, but the penalty gradually reduces until negated at Legendary skill and it's possible to sneak at full movement rate. Chance of detection is also reduced at higher skill levels; a more skilled ambusher can remain in close combat for longer without being detected.

=== Crafting ===

These allow your character to create things. There is only one skill currently available in an unmodified game.

*'''Knapper''' - The fine art of sharpening rocks by banging them together in a clever manner. The resulting rocks become sharp rocks which do more damage when thrown and can be used for things requiring a sharp edge like butchering. Easy to raise in game and doing so helps with Kinesthetic and Spatial Sense.

There is also Butchering, but you can't allocate points to that at creation time.


= Gameplay =

== Common UI Concepts ==
{{KeyConventions|3}}

== Moving Around ==

=== Local Movement ===
[[File:adventure-local-map.png|thumb|400px|The local travel screen. The lower left shows a small overview map of the area. The upper right shows a small area 1 z-level above the adventurer in the middle. The adventurer is standing in front of the door to a house full of humans, and visibility behind the house is obscured. In the upper left is a small box showing the direction to various sites (which may be quite far away).]]
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
|-
| {{k|8}} {{k|2}} {{k|4}} {{k|6}} {{k|7}} {{k|9}} {{k|1}} {{k|3}}
| Move
|-
| {{k|↑}} {{k|↓}} {{k|←}} {{k|→}}
| Move
|-
| {{k|Alt}} and a direction key
| Move carefully / Deliberately enter dangerous terrain
|-
| {{k|<}} or {{k|Shift}}+{{key|5}} (num lock off)
| Ascend
|-
| {{k|>}} or {{k|Ctrl}}+{{key|5}} (num lock off)
| Descend
|-
| {{k|.}}
| Wait for a step
|-
| {{k|s}}
| Stand or lie down
|-
| {{k|S}}
| Sneak
|}

Unless your character is an outsider, you will start out in a human town or hamlet; in the standard tileset the @ sign is your character.  In the lower left-hand corner of the screen is a mini-map, with the @ sign showing your relative location to other things in the town/hamlet.  The ▐ symbols are small collections of buildings.  

The directional keys allow movement. Diagonal movement is particularly important especially when chasing or running away from things.

Use {{k|Alt}}+direction to enter water, jump off of cliffs, or otherwise attempt to enter anything that you can't enter using normal movement commands. Note that when entering water it's best to enter the actual water and not the open space over the water as, in the later case, you will fall in causing you to become stunned which may lead to drowning.

Hitting {{k|.}} allows you to stay in one place and wait for other things to move.

Use {{k|s}} to sit/lay down. Moving while laying down (crawling) will let you move past NPCs which are standing in your way. Also note that you will frequently get knocked to the ground in combat, and if you don't hit {{k|s}} to stand back up then you will crawl slowly along the ground, giving your opponent a lot of opportunity to attack you.

{{k|S}}neak will allow you to move around invisibly, limited by your Ambusher skill and the Observer skill of nearby creatures. The closer you get to a creature, the more likely you are to be detected. Your movement rate will also be very slow at low Ambusher skill levels while sneaking. If you are within observation range of anything then you will be unable to go into stealth mode. Hiding somewhere you can't be seen (such as the inside edge of a murky pool, if you can swim) will allow you to go into stealth mode when creatures are around.

=== Fast Travel ===
[[Image:adventurer-fast-travel.png|thumb|400px|Fast Travel screen. A fort is on the west side, and a town is on the east side of the map. The regional map is displayed on the far right.]] 
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
|-
| {{k|T}}
| Fast Travel
|-
| {{k|>}}
| Exit fast travel mode
|}

Entering Fast Travel mode will allow you to move large distances in a single keypress. Of course, the same amount of time will go by and you can also be interrupted (ambushed) while moving in fast travel mode.

See the [[Map legend]] for information on what the map symbols mean. Settlements are indicated by {{Tile|■|7:0:1}} tiles and you can find houses by exiting fast travel while standing on one of these tiles. Yellow tiles of the same shape {{Tile|■|6:0:1}} indicate the presence of shops rather than houses.

Pressing {{K|m}} will put a fully zoomed-out map on the right side of the screen, with your current location marked by a blinking "X".  When seeking out a quest, move in the direction of the quest site until the blinking "X" is on top of the symbols indicated in the Adventure Log (you can press {{K|Q}} at any time to look at it again).

Along the top of the map is a line showing the sky, and the position of the sun and/or moon from west to east. This primarily helps you determine how long you have before it gets dark at which point you won't be able to see very far and will be more vulnerable to attack.

While in the fast travel screen you can:

* {{k|c}} - Display/hide clouds/weather
* {{k|m}} - Display/hide the regional map on the right
* {{k|Q}} - Display the Quest log
* {{k|Z}} - Display the sleep menu

Other commands are not available until you exit fast travel with {{k|>}}.

== Status and Information ==

{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
|-
| {{k|l}}
| Look around
|-
| {{k|Space}}
| Advance/Clear Messages
|-
| {{k|a}}
| View Announcements
|-
| {{k|z}}
| Status
|}

=== Looking Around ===

If you're not sure what a tile is, the {{k|l}}ook command will tell you. In addition to being useful for identifying tiles and creatures, you can also view creatures' equipment and what items are sitting on the ground in a given tile. If in doubt, try the look command.

Move the cursor to the tile you want to look at using direction keys and {{k|Shift}}+direction. It's possible to look up and down z-levels (assuming you have line of sight) using the {{k|<}} and {{k|>}} keys. This, for example, allows you to find out if any flying creatures are above you. Hit {{k|Esc}} to exit look mode and go back to movement mode.

=== Messages ===

The game makes frequent use of messages on the screen to tell you what is going on. If there are a lot of these you may need to use {{k|Space}} to display the rest of the messages that won't fit on the screen. You can always go back and view old messages by pressing {{k|a}}.

=== Status Screen ===

This screen shows your skills, attributes, wounded body parts, health (along with more detailed descriptions of your wounds), lets you view your description, and change your nickname if you want.

=== Saving the Game ===

Hit the {{k|Esc}} key at any time and select {{DFtext|Save Game}} to save your game. You can then come back to it later by using the {{DFtext|Continue Playing}} option in the main menu.


== Searching and Manipulating ==

{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
|-
| {{k|u}}
| Interact with building, furniture, or mechanism
|-
| {{k|L}}
| Search the nearby area very carefully
|}

The {{k|u}} key can be used to do stuff like pull levers in your abandoned forts.

{{k|L}} will perform a thorough search of the area that you're standing in, possibly revealing some small creatures.


== Managing Equipment ==

{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
|-
| {{k|i}}
| Show Inventory
|-
| {{k|d}}
| Drop an item
|-
| {{k|g}}
| Get (pickup) an item off the ground
|-
| {{k|p}}
| Put an item into a container
|-
| {{k|r}}
| Remove an item you are wearing or from a container
|-
| {{k|w}}
| Wear an item
|-
| {{k|I}}
| Interact with an object in an advanced way. (unstick a weapon, refill waterskin etc)
|}

=== Inventory ===

Press {{k|i}} to display a list of what you are currently carrying. Press {{k|-}} {{k|+}} to scroll the list. This list will show you if items are being worn, held in hands, stuck in your body, or are inside a container. Detailed information about an object can be viewed by pressing the key associated with the item.

=== Getting/Dropping Things ===

You can {{k|d}}rop items in your inventory, as well as {{k|g}}et items on the ground on the same tile that you are standing on. If there is more than one item a menu will be listed. Press {{k|-}} {{k|+}} to scroll the list if the list is too long to fit on the screen.

=== Containers ===

Items can be placed into containers with {{k|p}} and removed with {{k|r}}.

=== Wearing ===

Items can be worn using {{k|w}} and removed using {{k|r}} (the same command used for removing from containers. If an item you want to wear does not show up as an option then it means you are already wearing too many items in the location used by that item. Try {{K|r}}emoving items in that location and then wear them again in order of priority.

After acquiring [[armor]] from one source or another, you'll most likely want to equip it. To do this, first make sure it is in your possession--not on the ground. You can then {{key|w}}ear it, granted you don't already have too much on that equipment slot already. You can {{key|r}}emove or {{key|d}}rop inferior equipment as necessary.

See [[Armor]] for more information on wearing things. One thing to note in particular, DF allows you to wear more than one item in the same location in many situations.

=== Wielding ===

There is no command for wielding items such as [[Weapon]]s in specific hands. Instead, they are automatically equipped when you either {{k|g}}et them from the ground or {{k|r}}emove them from your [[backpack]] - provided the hand that would wield them is free. So in order to change [[weapon]]s or [[shield]]s you should drop items or place them into containers (such as your backpack) until your hands are free, then get items from the floor or remove them from containers which will place them in your hands. For example, put all items into backpack, remove sword from backpack, remove shield from backpack. The items will end up in the right and left hand. Simply remember the {{k|r}}emove command and the {{k|p}}ut into container command.

It should be noted that the world of DF seems to have a lot of left handers, so do not be surprised if your character holds the weapon with the left hand and the [[Armor#Shields and Bucklers|shield]] with the right hand.

=== Advanced Interaction ===

The {{k|I}} key allows "complex interaction" with objects in your inventory. This is used for removing arrows and weapons stuck in wounds, and refilling waterskins, but in theory various types of objects could implement some sort of behavior to be activated. Basically this is similar to "use" commands in other games.


== Time and Weather ==

{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
|-
| {{k|D}}
| Date/Time
|-
| {{k|P}}
| Temperature
|-
| {{k|W}}
| Weather
|}

The game has a day/night cycle with time passing as various actions take place. When in the fast travel screen you can just look at the bar along the top to see where the sun is an estimate the time, but in local travel mode you'll have to use the {{k|W}} command.

When using quick travel mode the top line of the screen will indicate the position of the sun in the sky with a yellow "☼"; further to the right of the screen is earlier in the day and further to the left is later in the day.  

At night you won't be able to see nearly as well and you will be more vulnerable to ambush.

The game also has weather and temperature. Weather is, to some extent, directly viewable on the fast travel screen. Temperature is important because if it happens to drop below freezing while you're swimming through water, you're dead instantly. Therefore you might want to keep an eye on the temperature while swimming, especially if it's getting cold.

Weather can also reduce visibility.

== Sleep ==

{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
|-
| {{k|Z}}
| Sleep
|}

Eventually your character will become {{DFtext|Drowsy|3:1}} and this will get worse until you get sufficient sleep. 

Sleep does not necessarily have to coincide with night, but if you're traveling alone when night comes you'll be in danger of being attacked by [[Main:bogeymen|bogeymen]].  To avoid this while traveling solo you need to make it to shelter before nightfall and sleep the night away inside a building or abandoned lair.  Enter a building, use {{K|k}} to talk to a human, and ask for permission to stay the night. Next press {{K|Z}} to sleep, {{K|d}} to sleep until dawn, then {{K|Enter}} to confirm. ('''NOTE''': If you stay the night in a castle, you have to sleep in the keep which houses the lord/lady of the castle.  Sleeping inside the castle but outside the keep still leaves you vulnerable to attack.)('''NOTE''': You can disable boogeymen by going into advanced world builder and setting "Number of Night creatures" to 0)

Though sleeping inside can be safe, it's also limiting: any quest site you want to go to has to be within a daytime's round-trip time of a safe habitation, and you have to make your way to there by hopping from one habitation to the next, sleeping at each along the way.  A way to avoid this is to travel with companions.  If you have any companions with you then [[Main:bogeymen|bogeymen]] won't attack you.  You'll still have to sleep at night, though, both to avoid sleep deprivation and because there's no visibility at night.  You can still be ambushed at night by wildlife, but that's much less likely than being ambushed by [[Main:bogeymen|bogeymen]] when traveling alone. If you find yourself alone at night with nowhere safe to sleep, the safest best is to keep traveling until dawn, even if that means running around in circles. You will eventually feel unwell from sleep deprivation, but this can take a considerable time. You can make up for lost sleep once you've found your way to safety.

Note that sleeping in lairs, shrines, and labyrinths makes you safe from ambush, assuming that you or someone has killed whatever was living there. If you have sufficient shrines/lairs/etc between you and your goal and they are either uninhabited or inhabited by things you are capable of killing then you can travel from lair to lair using each lair as a safe lodging. This is much much safer than sleeping out in the open, day or night, even with companions.

== Food and Drink ==

{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
|-
| {{k|e}}
| Eat or drink something
|}

'''Note:''' As of 31.17, the need to eat and drink has been removed pending further changes.

The easiest way to stay hydrated and full when starting out is by finding and fighting something weak (say, a vulture, or a raccoon, or a fox).  You will almost certainly end up covered in blood.  You can drink any liquid covering you using 'e' and then simply selecting the fluid - perhaps a little salty in real life, but in Dwarf Fortress it works.  The corpse can then be butchered for edible parts, to cure your hunger - the first two problems are solved.

== Combat ==

{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
|-
| {{k|8}} {{k|2}} {{k|4}} {{k|6}} {{k|7}} {{k|9}} {{k|1}} {{k|3}}
| Attack adjacent hostile creature
|-
| {{k|↑}} {{k|↓}} {{k|←}} {{k|→}}
| Attack adjacent hostile creature
|-
| {{k|A}}
| Attack an adjacent creature.
|-
| {{k|A}} then {{k|Enter}}
| Wrestle an adjacent creature.
|-
| {{k|f}}
| Fire a projectile
|-
| {{k|t}}
| Throw an item
|-
| {{k|C}}
| Open combat preferences interface
|}

[[Combat]] is the fine art of using physical force to cause injury and death, and it is particularly fun in Dwarf Fortress.

=== Melee Attacks ===

Hostile creatures can be attacked using a non-aimed attack by simply advancing towards your enemy using the arrow keys. Doing a non-aimed attack will also free up any stuck weapon.

Any creature can be attacked by standing next to it and pressing {{k|Shift}}+{{k|A}}. Attacking a friendly or unconscious creature (which includes wild animals for elves) will further require a confirmation, given using  {{k|alt}}+{{k|y}}.

Attacking a creature with {{k|A}} will allow you to make an '''aimed attack'''. You must first select the body part that you want to attack. Look at the difficulty rating for various possible attacks. Impossible attacks will be impossible to land and Easier attacks will be very easy to land. The difficulty rating for an attack does not change depending on your weapon skill. Based on player experiences, a Grand Master weapon user can almost always land a "Tricky" strike, while a Novice generally cannot. Attacks on various locations will also have limits on how "squarely" they can land (due to being out of reach, for example). Square and very square attacks will deal more damage.{{Verify}} Attacks which "can't land squarely" are generally still effective.

Attacks aimed at the head are the most effective; a single attack to the cranium with a weapon will usually put an end to the fight. Aimed attacks are especially useful for dismembering opponents. Opponents who are missing a foot will fall over, thereby greatly lowering their speed, and giving you an immediate edge in the fight. Cutting off both hands also highly recommended for obvious reasons. After all, a field full of armless, one-legged enemies can be a big experience booster for your companions. 

Aimed attacks are also especially helpful when fighting giant beasts. Some enemies like giant desert scorpions have lots of redundant body parts, and random attacks waste valuable time on low priority areas while the scorpion is busy injecting venom into the whole party. Very large enemies, like giants and hydras, are too tall for effective strikes at the head. Fighting such beasts with random attacks will prove mostly futile until the monster has been knocked over, either due to spinal injuries or loss of feet. Lastly, aimed attacks allow you to grab trophies that are not available via butchering. For example, a minotaur's horns can be cut off during a fight, but since its a humanoid, most adventurers will refuse to butcher its corpse after the fight.

=== Ranged Attacks ===

To attack with a ranged weapon press the {{k|f}} key and select the square where you want to attack. Similarly use the {{k|t}} key to throw any random object in the same manner. Random objects appear to make a random attack if they happen to have more than one possible type.{{Verify}} For example, if you throw a sword it may hit with a blunt impact, a stabbing impact, or a slicing impact. Throwing crossbow bolts with sufficient throwing skill and strength seems to have an affect similar to firing them, although less powerful.

It is not possible to aim for specific body parts with ranged or thrown attacks.

=== Wrestling and Unarmed Attacks ===

:''Main article: [[Wrestling]]''

'''[[Wrestling]]''' (grappling) can be performed by standing next to an enemy and pressing {{k|A}} followed by {{k|Enter}} to switch to wrestling. You can wrestle any enemy. Wrestling works somewhat like a targeted attack. Once you grab a creature by some body part, you may be able to make another wrestling attempt that will allow you to perform a throw or takedown.

For a detailed list of moves such as takedowns, throws, choke holds, etc, see [[Wrestling]].

It's also possible to punch, kick, and bite. These are not in the wrestling menu but are performed like normal targeted attacks with {{k|A}}.

=== Weapons ===

[[Weapon]]s are basically divided into axe, sword, spear, pike, mace, whip, bow and hammer, with various versions of these taking up the gray area.

=== Wounds ===

If you get wounded during combat, there's not much that you can do except perhaps run before you get more wounded. Your wounds will heal over time, so just travel around or sleep in a safe place. Some wounds however may never heal, leaving you permanently crippled. Obtaining a crutch may help with this.

If you have some bolts or arrows stuck in your body, they can be removed by using the complex interaction menu {{k|I}}. Select the stuck bolt or arrow from the list and then pull it out with {{k|a}} You'll probably start bleeding after you pull it out, but the bleeding is rarely anything to worry about.

=== Combat Preferences ===

At any time during gameplay (Except travel mode), you can press {{k|C}} to open the Combat Preferences menu. There are three different preferences you can set: Attack, Dodge and Charge Defense. These have a few different preferences each:

*'''{{k|a}}ttack'''
**'''According to Opponent''' - The default setting. When set to this, charging happens more or less frequently, depending on the difference in size between you and the opponent. Bigger opponents get charged less, smaller more often. Can be very risky, since a random charge against a huge opponent is likely to get you knocked down and stunned. In the same vein, charging when close to obstacles or other environmental hazards is very dangerous, potentially fatal, if the enemy dodges you.
**'''Strike''' - This setting ensures that you never charge an opponent, but rather just swing your weapon at them. This carries less risk than the above, but you're never going to knock anyone down without hitting their legs or spine. Very preferable against large opponents.
**'''Charge''' - When set to this, you ALWAYS charge. When faced with numerous small enemies (Bogeymen in particular), this can be extremely useful, but remember to switch back when facing something bigger. Charging a large dragon is almost a certain death sentence.
**'''Close Combat''' - With this setting, all your auto-attacks are grapples. Generally not very useful, since the random nature of it tends to prevent you from actually doing any damage with it.

*'''{{k|d}}odge'''
**'''Move Around''' - This means you can jump away from attacks, physically moving in a random direction. While this lets you dodge attacks more often, it can also result in you jumping into a wall or down a lake. If you're fighting at really tight spaces, you might want to switch it off.
**'''Stand Ground''' - As can be expected, you stand your ground. No jumping around, which is useful in the above situation, but risky in the open. If you have room for jumping around, go with Move Around, but otherwise this could be a good idea.

*'''{{k|c}}harge Defense'''
**'''According to Opponent''' - Again, the default setting. You're more likely to stand still against small enemies charging, but will probably prefer moving away from larger ones. Somewhat risky, in that even a somewhat small enemy can stun you by charging.
**'''Dodge Away''' - With this, you'll dodge away from charging enemies, if you can. It's not a sure bet, but it's very much worth it against enemies who like to charge. This is probably the most preferable mode, since you're not losing a whole lot by dodging a small foe charging, but dodging an angry night beast can save you from a world of pain.
**'''Stand Ground''' - If you're certain of your physical superiority to the opponent, you can choose this. Standing your ground like a real man/woman might feel hardcore, but getting knocked down in a fight can be extremely dangerous. It probably has some use against bogeymen though, since they're quite small. If you really are much bigger than the enemy, you'll end up knocking THEM down. Most of the time though, charges heavily favor the attacker, so dodging away is probably preferable.

Using Combat Preferences properly can actually save your hide, so it's worth fiddling with. Just don't forget that you've fiddled with them, since a malplaced charge or dodge could end up killing you.

== Talking ==
[[File:adventurer-talking.png|thumb|400px|Talking to someone in Adventurer mode.]]
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
|-
| {{k|k}}
| Talk to somebody
|}

Now that you know how to kill people, you may also want to know how to talk to and otherwise interact with them in a less violent manner. While this is less entertaining, it can sometimes be useful.

Press {{k|k}} to enter tal{{k|k}} mode. Move the cursor over a being and a list of language-capable beings on that tile will be shown in the lower left of the screen. If there is more than one creature on the tile, you can select the one you want to talk to using the {{k|-}}/{{k|+}} keys. Hit {{k|Enter}} to begin the conversation.

Normally you will need to Greet someone first, then you will have the following options when it comes to subjects of discussion:
*'''Trade''' - Attempt to initiate [[#Shops|trade]]. This only works for NPCs in shops.
*'''Join''' - Ask the individual to join you as one of your [[#Companions|Companions]]. Soldiers will join you 100% of the time if you don't already have too many companions, but the chance of regular townsfolk joining you will be highly impacted by your reputation.
*'''Surroundings''' - Ask about sites and things in the general geographical area. This may reveal hidden sites (such as lairs) on the map, and may also reveal bits of history such as "in 123 Urist McSucker founded Boatmurdered". This can be selected repeatedly to reveal multiple facts about the area.
*'''Capital''' - Ask where the capital of the current civilization is. As with the '''Surroundings''' topic, a random bit of the capitol's history will also be given.
*'''Service''' - Ask for a [[#Quests|quest]].
*'''Profession''' - Ask the individual about their profession. If the person is willing to '''Join''' you, they will add a line such as "How I long for some excitement in my life..".
*'''Family''' - Ask about a random family member. If the person has more than one family member then selecting this option repeatedly will eventually reveal all of them. Like Surroundings this can also reveal bits of information about history such as "Gor Lorthor was my son. In 123, Gor Lorthor was struck down by Trogdor the Flames of Burninating the Dragon."
*'''Report success/accomplishments''' - This option will only appear once you have completed a quest. Selecting it will cause you to regale people with tales of your amazing adventures, increasing your fame/reputation level. After you have done this once, with one person, the option will not appear again anywhere in any conversation until another quest has been completed. Basically everyone is telepathic and doesn't want to hear the same story again.
*'''Goodbye''' - End the conversation.

Sometimes other options may also appear. Experiment with them and see what happens.


== Companions ==

{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
|-
| {{k|c}}
| View companion interface
|}

Companions are the guys who follow you around after you've asked them to Join and they've accepted. Your character will have a limit on the maximum number of companions that is based on fame/reputation level and the ''Social Awareness'' attribute. With average social awareness and the maximum level of fame, the limit is 19 companions.

You can use the {{k|c}} key to open up a list showing your companions and their relative position to you. This can be useful if one of them runs off somewhere and you want to find them. You can select specific companions who are in visual range in order to view them. This is the same as viewing them with {{k|l}}ook.

Short of using special utilities and hacks, you can't change your companions' equipment. When they die you can loot their corpses however. (One devious and evil way to get equipment is to intentionally get your companions killed and then take their stuff.)

Your companions will continue to follow you and fight hostile creatures around you until they either die or are left behind by entering fast travel mode while they are too far away from you. Companions with missing feet and legs will attempt to hobble along behind you.

== Civilization ==

Civilizations are organized groups of creatures (generally of the same race) which build sites such as towns.

=== Towns ===

Humans live in towns comprised of buildings and often a paved road.  Human villages are highly modular.  The small 5x5 buildings are citizen houses and shops.

Towns appear on the fast travel map as {{Tile|■|7:0:1}} or {{Tile|■|6:0:1}} symbols which are small collections of buildings. Yellow buildings indicate the presences of shops where you can trade. The buildings can be spaced rather far apart, so even when you get your @ on top of a {{Tile|■|7:0:1}} it might take some wandering about in local travel mode to find a building.

Once you find a building, step through the door.  It should have multiple U's, each of which is a human.

=== Fortresses ===

Humans also live in fortresses which appear on the fast travel map as large buildings. You can't walk over them. Instead you must move over to what looks like the entrance, exit fast travel with {{k|>}}, and walk toward the direction of the fortress.

Fortresses, if they haven't been abandoned, will be populated by soldiers, a Lord or Lady of some sort, and possibly others. If they have been abandoned then they may be overrun by various wild animals. They do not contain shops.

If control of a civilization has been taken over by a Demon, the fortress may be empty except for that demon, who acts as the Lord. He will behave as any human lord. Sometimes in an abandoned fort you might also find a demon that is a prisoner, who you can actaully recruit without any significant amount of fame. If they can be trusted or not is more or less up for debate, but it is still better then Urist McFaceplant.

=== Other Sites ===

'''Note:''' As of version .25, only humans have civilization sites.

Elves live out in the forest, literally.  Although defined to specific regions on the map, they have no structural wealth whatsoever.  Some trees are named.

Dwarves live underground.  Their entrances are large square pits with stairs around the perimeter, and a row of leading down into the fortress halls at the bottom.  The main halls are wide and have pillars near the walls, long and occasionally turn corners.  Different levels in the fortress are marked by a row of ramps with two pillars on the side (walk towards the side of the ramp that has the pillars) and, although the number of floors in a fortress can vary, they are usually little and only become deep if the lay of the land above is variable.  There are two-tile-wide hallways, empty 5x5 rooms, and scant Dwarves in these pre-fab fortresses.  It's obvious the computer is playing a completely different game than you are in [[Fortress mode]]!

Goblins live in [[obsidian]] towers, usually found built in twos, though they both don't necessarily have to be built up.  One could be a "tower," one could be an over-glorified "basement."  There is probably a temple nearby, completely similar to human temples.  Goblin towers have tight 1-wide hallways, spacious and empty rooms, and strange hall extensions that end in remote cross-like dead-ends.  Like dwarf fortresses, there is rarely anything in a Goblin tower asides from Goblins, and they have a strange tendency not to attack non-Goblin visitors.  They seem to have lots of children.

You may come across what the map defines as a "Goblin" city that is actually populated by Humans or Dwarves living in or around the towers.

=== Shops ===

==== Trading (barter) ====
In human towns (not hamlets or castles), you can find [[building|shops]].  Once you're inside of a shop and right next to any of the NPCs, you can use {{K|k}} to talk to him/her, then select trade. Use {{K|Enter}} to select which items to trade, left/right arrow keys to switch between the list of shop items and your items, and up/down arrow keys to scroll through the lists.  Once done, press {{K|t}} to trade.  The shopkeeper won't get angry if you're not offering enough in trade, so you can start offering just a few items, keep trying again with a little more until the trade is accepted.  Once the trade is accepted all of the items you offered will be on the floor underneath you.

After buying an item, you must pick it up manually from somewhere in the shop.  {{K|l}}ook around for an item without $ signs around it. If NPCs are standing directly over the items you just bought, go prone with the {{K|s}} key so you can move onto the same space as them and pick them up.

Due to some limitations, there are only "human town" shopkeepers in a pre-fab Adventure mode civilization.

====Theft====
You may also pick up the item before buying it, but you should never walk out of a shop carrying an unbought item, as that is theft. It is punishable by death if you are caught, and excommunication if you are not. On any occasion when you have stolen goods from a store, ie goods bounded by the $$ signs, the game requires you to exit the site ''and'' move a considerable distance before allowing you to quick travel. This may make a getaway more difficult if your adventurer is not already faster than anyone else. This only applies to goods in stores; killing townsfolk and taking their personal things, including those of the shopkeep still only requires exiting the site. The moment you are out of sight, you will be able to warp out as usual. Theft and murder remain within entities; even depopulating one country and stealing all its things will not generate ill response in another country.

In recent versions, you may find towns that are entirely deserted. In this case, you can steal from their shops with no consequences.

'''Note that if you steal anything, then nobody in that civilization will talk to you anymore, making it impossible for you to get new quests, use the shops, or get new companions.'''

==== Selling and buying with money ====
In addition to bartering, you can sell items to a shop for coins, then use the coins to buy stuff at another shop.  Just select the items you want to sell or buy, and then set a price using the following format:
* {{k|a}} asking for all of the shop's money (will be 9000☼ if you have not yet bought from or sold to that shop)
* {{k|s}} +100☼
* {{k|d}} +10☼
* {{k|f}} +1☼
* {{k|g}} reset to 0☼
* {{k|h}} -1☼ (offering)
* {{k|j}} -10☼
* {{k|k}} -100☼
* {{k|l}} offer all of your money

The use of these keys may seem non-intuitive, and this is further complicated by the limit on your available offers by your current financial health.

Shopkeepers are used to adventurers with inflated ideas about the value of their goods, so it may be simplest to ask for 9000☼ for your goods, or offer 1☼ for theirs and suggest a {{k|t}}rade. The shopkeeper will counteroffer with the actual value of the goods, and will be quite delighted to accept a {{k|t}}rade at the price they've just quoted to you. You can then purchase things with your store credit. One turn after the trade session ends, the balance of your coins will appear on a small table next to a chest.

====Managing coins====
You will find that coins from one civilization are nearly worthless in other civilizations. This will typically result in adventurers carrying around lots of now useless coins. Coins can and will encumber your adventurer, eventually reducing your speed. To reduce that effect you can try to exchange your copper and silver coins for gold ones. To do that you can purchase goods from a merchant to the sum of your copper coins, then sell them back. Check the merchant's chest to see how much gold and silver coins they have. You can delay the problem by selling your loot to many merchants, as they will try to pay you in higher denomination currency first. Alternatively, you can take your excess coinage and use it to purchase [[Gem|large gems]] at a trinket shop. Large gems make good investments because they are 1) light, 2) variably priced, and 3) equally valuable between different civilizations.

A few goods are strictly superior to all forms of coinage as a store of value, most notably giant cave spider silk items. A suitably sneaky (or powerful) adventurer can murder a few dwarves or goblins for such items for trade and sale for human goods. Giant cave spider silk is a non-renewable resource in a given world - please harvest responsibly.

==== Where to get items to sell ====
The best place to get items to sell is at bandit camps, after you've slaughtered all the bandits.  You can loot the clothes and equipment off of the corpses of the bandits (and off your fallen companions, too), plus at the very center of camp there'll be a few scattered weapons and a few bags/chests containing various goods.

The next best way to get items to sell is to kill non-talking monsters, butcher their corpses (see below for how), and pick up the edible bits. Butchered bits from the corpses of people (dwarves, elves, humans, etc) can sometimes be found in monster lairs and these seem to be just as desired by shopkeepers as the products you gain from your own butchering.

At the bottom of the list comes {{k|L}}ooking Carefully and selling any small creatures you might find. However, shops will not accept live creatures unless they are in cages. Some rocks, piles of sand, and other things found on the ground nearly everywhere can also be sold for 1☼ each.

== Quests ==

{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
|-
| {{k|Q}}
| Adventure (Quest) log (tasks, map, et cetera...)
|}

Once you have a quest, press {{K|Q}} to look at them (this screen is called the Adventure Log).  The world map is on the left, with your current location highlighted by a blinking "O", while on the right is the list of your quests.  You can select a quest and press {{K|z}} to find the location of the quest site: the blinking "O" will move to the quest site, with a green line drawing the path you need to take.  Pressing {{K|m}} will tell you the species of the monster you're supposed to kill.  You can also use the arrow keys to move the "O" around to examine the surrounding terrain and sites.

Note that once you complete a quest that you can report your success to ''any'' human.  Once you tell one human, everyone in the same civilization will know about it.  The Adventure Log will tell you to report back to a particular hamlet/town/castle, but you can safely ignore that.

If you're having trouble finding the site on the fast travel map for some reason, exit quick travel mode by pressing {{K|>}}.  In the upper left-hand corner of the screen will be a box with symbols running down the left-hand side.  At the top of the box will be the symbol of your quest site, with the compass direction to the site at to its right, and "TSK" to the right of the direction indicating an unfinished quest at that site. You can then go back into fast travel mode and head in that direction.

Once you get to the quest site, you'll be unable to enter it when using quick travel mode.  Attempting to do so will give the message "You cannot travel through the [site]".  You must exit quick travel mode by pressing {{K|>}} and move the rest of the way using the normal movement mode.  The box in the upper left-hand corner will tell you the direction to go.  When you complete the quest the "TSK" will be gone from the site's line in the box, and looking at the Adventure Log ({{K|Q}}) will show "Report Death of ..." instead of "Kill ...".  You then have to move off the site using the slow travel method before entering quick travel mode again with {{K|T}} (trying to do so on the site will tell you "You cannot travel until you leave this site".)


==Crafting==
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
|-
| {{k|x}}
| Perform action (butcher, create item...)
|}

Adventurers can perform limited crafting, (also known as "reactions"). To access the crafting menu, press {{k|x}}. 

'''Knapping''' allows an adventurer to sharpen a rock. '''Knapping does not work with stones in containers, only ones on the ground or in your hand.'''<br />Stones can only be {{k|d}}ropped if the stone type does not naturally exist in the biome you are in, so to use ground stones it is worthwhile to {{k|T}}ravel far from the area you {{k|g}}ot the stones. Otherwise, you can place both stones into your hands. This can be achieved by {{k|d}}ropping whatever is held in your left and right hands, then {{k|g}}etting small stones from the ground. Next, press {{k|x}} to open the action menu, and press {{k|c}}reate and then {{k|→}} to select "Make sharp stone". You will be prompted to choose a rock to sharpen ("tool stone"), and then the hammerstone. The tool stone will be replaced in your hand by a sharp version.

'''Butchering''' acts similarly to Fortress Mode's [[Butchery]] by converting a corpse into edible products, bones, and skin. A corpse must be {{k|d}}ropped onto the ground to be butchered, or held in one hand. With a sharp object (such as a dagger or knapped stone) in your hand or on the same tile of the corpse, press {{k|x}}, {{k|b}}, and {{k|→}} to select the corpse, and then the sharp tool. The corpse will be replaced by its butchering returns.

These are the only reactions possible in an unmodified game though others can be added through modding.


== FAQ ==

===How do I get past NPCs which are in my way?===
Press {{K|s}} to sit, then move to crawl between their legs.  Once you're done press {{K|s}} to stand again.

===How do I find an entrance to the underworld?===
As of version 0.31.17, quest monsters no longer live in caves, so you can't find caves by asking for quests.  Instead, repeatedly ask NPCs about the surroundings, and they might tell you about the location of a cave.  If this doesn't show any caves, travel to a hamlet/town/castle some distance away and try again.

===I keep getting maimed and killed! How can I fight without getting seriously hurt?===
The best defense is a good offense. If you let your enemies attack you, you're (unsurprisingly) likely to get hurt eventually.
* Try to ''avoid fighting difficult enemies until you get some armor''. Don't fight enemies at all unless you're sure you can beat them. If you're unsure, you're probably going to get hurt.
* If you have good speed, try to ''fight enemies one-by-one'' - keep moving backwards and only attack when you're within range of just one enemy.
* If you have a slashing weapon, try to ''chop parts off of your enemy'' - it makes them stop fighting for a turn, allowing you to keep attacking them without being attacked in exchange. Chopping off limbs will also weaken your enemies - taking their arms can prevent them from using weapons, taking their legs can make them slow and knock them down.
* Remember that ''it's better to let your enemy come to you, than to go to your enemy''. You have to either move or attack. If you move, you can't attack, so if you move within range to attack your enemy, you allow them to have the first strike (unless you're much faster than them). On the other hand, if you let them move within range of you, then you get to have the first strike.
* Follow the advice under [[#Combat Preferences|Combat Preferences]].

===How can I obtain armor as quickly as possible?===
* Here's the evil way. If you don't mind causing an entire civilization to be hostile to you (preventing trade, et al, with that civ):
** It's relatively easy to obtain some armor by killing a sleeping soldier in a fort and taking his stuff.
** Most villagers are pretty easy to kill and while their stuff isn't usually too valuable it is worth something. Instead of killing animals you can go around killing villagers and taking their stuff, then travel to another civilization that doesn't know (or maybe care) how evil you are in order to trade.
** Don't try this in the beginning if the next civilization over is more than a day or so away. You need to be able to flee to another country in order to escape justice and continue to quest/trade.
* Pick companions with good equipment so you can "inherit" it when they get killed. Letting them do all of the fighting for a while might help speed up this process. While this might be kind of evil, it's not as evil as the first option and will cause you much less trouble.

<div id="powerleveling"></div>

===How do I increase my skills and attributes? (powerleveling)===

Here are some techniques for raising your skills, very rapidly in some cases.

Most of these skill-raising techniques involve repeatedly entering the same keystrokes. To assist with this you can use a [[Main:Macro|Macro]] to make entering the same sequence of keystrokes over and over again much easier.

Increasing skills increases associated attributes which may in turn benefit other skills. For example, sharpening rocks using {{k|x}} will increase Knapping which will increase a number of attributes that help with combat skills. See [[DF2010:Attribute#Skills_and_associated_attributes|Skills and Associated Attributes]] for a mostly complete list.

*'''Fighting and Wrestling''' - A good way to raise your Fighting and Wrestling skills and related attributes is to go find a small relatively harmless animal and wrestle with it over and over again. You can wrestle using {{k|A}} followed by {{k|Enter}}. Continually grabbing and releasing a creature is sufficient to raise your skill, and this will not injure the animal so you can do it infinitely with the same one. Wrestling will increase Endurance as well as other stats.
*'''Shield User, Armor User, and Dodging''' - In addition to wrestling the creature, you can also sit and let it attack you to raise your defensive skills. If you have metal armor then a small animal like a gopher can't do any real damage to you even if it hits. Also change your {{K|C}}ombat preferences to "stand ground" to increase the amount of shield blocking you do, unless you want more dodging practice than shield practice. 
*'''Weapon Skills and Fighting''' - Once your defensive skills are getting up there and your agility is high enough to make your speed 1300+, you might want to try fighting bogeymen to increase your weapon skill. Just make sure to fight them one at a time while running away. If you don't know what a bogeyman is yet then you are probably not ready to try this. Also, doing difficult targeted shots will gain more experience and keep the training dummy alive longer.
*'''Throwing and Archery''' - Throwing rocks with {{k|t}} will raise your Throwing and Archery skills. Being able to throw objects at creatures, while not terribly devastating (In fact, it used to be. In early 31.xx, somebody killed a bronze colossus by throwing a fluffy wambler at its head. We can only hope the wambler survived.), can still come in handy. Since throwing also raises your archery skill, you can improve your aim with bows and crossbows by throwing, but it is also possible to improve bow/crossbow skills without wasting ammunition.
*'''Marksman, Bowman, and Archery''' - Raising the bow and crossbow weapon-specific skills is best done by shooting at a wall or cliff with no floor in front of it. If bolts or arrows hit a wall that has a floor (or ground) in front of it on the same z-level the ammunition will be destroyed, however ''ammunition that falls at least one z-level after hitting a wall will remain intact.'' So, you just need to find something like a hill inside a castle, stand on the hill, then shoot at the wall on the same z-level that you're on. The arrows will hit the wall and fall one z-level to the ground, remaining intact. You can then go pick up the arrows and fire them at the wall from the hill again, ad infinitum. You can also stand next to a wall that's at least 2 z-levels high, then shoot up a z-level at the wall by hitting {{k|<}} after you hit {{k|f}}. How ever you decide to do it, the key is that the arrow needs to be able to fall at least one z-level after it hits a wall in order to remain intact. Using a macro will speed this up greatly.
*'''Ambushing and Swimming''' - When approaching a camp or other site, you may want to use {{k|S}} to sneak in and loot any loose items first. While it's very slow, you can sneak over large distances instead of using fast travel in order to increase your sneaking skill (Ambushing). It's also possible to sneak and swim at the same time, so training these things can be combined. Just make sure you '''start with at least Novice in swimming''' or you will find it practically impossible to train swimming.
*'''Observer''' - You can't really powerlevel this skill as it is slow and difficult to train, which is why you're advised to sink some points into it during character creation. The only apparent way to train this skill currently appears to be sleeping or walking around in the wilderness, repeatedly getting ambushed. Running away from the ambush, if you can, will probably allow you to repeat this cycle faster if you live.
*'''Spatial and Kinesthetic Sense''' - Sharpening rocks with {{k|x}} will improve your Knapping skills, but more importantly, raising these skills with raise your Spatial Sense and Kinesthetic Sense attributes which help with a number of other skills. This can be combined with throwing, using a macro, to keep your inventory from filling up.
*'''Other Stats''' - Other useful stats like Strength, Agility, and Toughness will increase significantly as the fighting and defense skills increase, so you don't need to do anything other than what you'd normally be doing to increase these.

===I managed to escape but my limbs are chopped off. Now what?===

It's just a fleshwound!

Unfortunately (as of .25) there's currently no way to get them back, but as long as you have at least one leg and one arm left you can actually do pretty well. First, get a crutch from somewhere, such as a general store, and make sure it's in one of your hands. Once you do that you should be able to {{k|s}}tand back up again. You will notice that your speed is now much slower than before.

Now go find someplace reasonably safe and walk back and forth until your Crutch Walking skill gets up to Legendary or above. You will notice your speed increasing as your skill levels up until your speed is completely back to normal. As a bonus you'll probably see some stat increases as well. You can continue to dodge with a crutch just as well as before.

As of version .25 you can wield a sword, shield, and crutch all in one hand, so even if you are missing an arm then you're all set. If you are missing both arms but still have both legs then unfortunately you'll be limited to biting, dodging, and wrestling with legs. If you're missing both arms and one leg then your movement will be limited and you'll be limited to biting and wrestling with your one remaining leg. And if all limbs are missing then you'll be limited to rolling around on the ground biting things.

Though you might actually be able to do surprisingly well as a Legendary Biter, especially if you powerlevel your strength to the point where you can shake things around by the teeth ripping limbs off, if you lose both legs then your character is going to be severely limited just due to the poor movement rate, so at that point it's probably best to opt for retirement or a glorious death in battle.

=== How do I keep my companions from running off after random wildlife? ===

As of version 31.25, in unmodified games, only human companions are typically available and humans currently seem to have the philosophy that all wildlife MUST DIE AN IMMEDIATE BRUTAL DEATH ASAP. While there's currently no way to order them to ignore wildlife and other neutral creatures, you can modify the ''raw\objects\entity_default.txt'' file and add the '''<nowiki>[AT_PEACE_WITH_WILDLIFE]</nowiki>''' to the entity definition for humans. This will cause humans to have an elf-like attitude toward wildlife, and vice versa. Humans will then avoid killing animals and animals will not run away from humans, also giving you somewhat of an advantage when hunting as a human.

Animals.... You either love them and they love you, or they must die a horrible death right now.

=Version Changes=

==Changes from 40d==

Fast-travel, {{k|shift}}+{{k|t}} to enter, and {{k|shift}}+{{k|.}} (Pretend you are making the '>' downstairs symbol) to exit, no longer heals all of your wounds instantly, nor can fast-travel be used when bleeding out. Some wounds do heal over time.

Cave systems are accessible to adventurers but you are virtually guaranteed to get lost exploring them - even if you find your way back to the general vicinity of the entrance, you cannot fast-{{K|T}}ravel away until you are outside. If you can make your way underneath a Human village, however, you may be able to Travel directly to the surface.

Material changes are extremely noticeable in adventure mode. Elves with wood are noticeably weaker, and throwing/ranged weapons somewhat reduced in effectiveness.

As of the current release, adventurers start out more powerful than they had in 40d, with certain builds(use all skill points) granting super-----ly tough/strong/agile at start.

"Stuck-in" weapons no longer are endlessly twisted in the wound until the creature bleeds to death, or the weapon is yanked out. There is now a roll to see who controls the stuck-in weapon on the turn following the "stuck-in" attack.

Human towns have only bronze weapons and armor, and large clothing.

Swimming, sneaking, fighting, etc. seem to improve the associated skills only. Attributes (strength, etc.) remain the same even after a long and active period of adventuring.

Combat is much more forgiving than in 40d. Bolts and arrows are less deadly, because they can be blocked with a shield. Armor protects you much better versus bolts and arrows -- when wearing plate, it's rare for one to get through. Don't assume you're arrow proof, but you can take a bit more punishment now. {{verify}} Also, no metal armor can protect one's throat. {{verify}}

Based on what civilizations are allied with humans you may be able to play Kobolds or Goblins, but only random names can be used.

== Changes in 0.31.17 ==
When generating an adventurer you now have points to assign to [[attribute]]s as well as to skills.  You can reduce unwanted attributes down to 1 to get more points for other attributes.

The travel-mode map is now more zoomed-in than before.  To see a fully zoomed-out map during travel mode, press {{key|m}}, and one will appear at the right.

The bar at the top of the travel-mode screen shows the position of the sun, giving you an easy indication of how much daylight is left.

You become sleepy during travel mode. You can choose to sleep or wait for a specific time using (by default) {{k|shift}}+{{k|Z}}.  If you sleep outside during the night you can be ambushed by bogeymen or a myriad of other night monsters.  Sleeping inside a building (including the temples and lairs of vanquished monsters) will protect you from this. Ambushes will also not be initiated when you are staying on a beach or mountain, but ones that have already started will continue even if you enter such an area.

There are now hamlets (Æ and æ) and castles (○) in addition to towns (+) (NOTE: those symbols are how they appear in the world map (fully zoomed-out)).  When in a town or hamlet clusters of buildings will be marked as ■ in the mini-map in the lower-left hand corner.  Only towns have shops, which appear as yellow ■ in both the travel map and the mini-map.

You can get quests from any person in a town/hamlet, and from any soldier in a castle after you've gained enough reputation from completing a few quests.  Quests to kill titans, dragons and hydras you can only get from leaders found in castles, and only after you've gained a lot of reputation.

The ability to recruit soldiers now depends on reputation from completing quests, rather than how skilled you are compared to them.

Worlds generated before [[Release information/0.31.09|version 0.31.09]] cannot perform knapping in Adventure Mode, and new worlds must be generated if custom adventurer reactions are added.

=See Also=
*[[Main:Adventure Mode quick reference|Adventure Mode quick reference]]
*[[DF2010:Adventure mode quick start|quick start guide]]


{{Getting Started}}
{{Category|Adventurer mode}}
{{Category|Interface}}