Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

Statue

2026-05-02T20:45:52Z

IceWorm: Have updated bronze collosus/iron man line to agree with update to [ITEMCORPSE:STATUE...] introduced by v53.09

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{{v50_furniture
|name=Statue
|graphic=[[File:statue_covered_sprite.png|31px]]
|tile=Ω
|stonecarve=y
|metal=y
|glass=y
|ceramic=y
|rooms=
* [[Sculpture garden]]
|value=25
|size=60,000
}}
'''Statues''' are decorative buildings which can be built from the build furniture menu under statue ({{menu icon|b|f|u}}). They can be created from one [[stone]] at the [[stoneworker's workshop]], 3 [[metal]] at a [[metalsmith's forge]], [[sand]] or [[rock crystal]]s at a [[glass furnace]], or [[clay]] at a [[kiln]]. Graphically, statues will display as a sprite of the statue's subject only if the subject is a sentient race, animal, simple monster, or animal person. The statue will appear as a cube if it is any other type of subject. The color will match that of the material used to craft it.

Statues, like [[engraving]]s, depict people, places, things and events drawn from the game's generated history. Unlike engravings they do not display random geometric shapes, such as diamonds. Statues will often depict creatures that the artisan [[preferences|likes or loathes]], or other dwarves surrounded by the creatures they like or loathe.

Because of their high base [[value]], statues can be quite valuable when crafted from valuable [[material]]s, such as precious [[metal]]s, or when crafted by a highly [[skill]]ed dwarf. This makes them a good choice for raising the value of a [[zone]] to create a legendary dining room, for instance, or to meet [[noble]]s' requirements for rooms of a certain value.

A meeting area with statues inside is considered a [[sculpture garden]]. Dwarves with no job will spend time at a statue garden appreciating the statues (which generates a happy [[thought]]). In addition to normal [[decoration]]s, a stone or ceramic statue can be glazed by a [[glazer]].

Be careful when placing statues, because dwarves cannot normally move into the tile they occupy. (This also prevents dwarves from smoothing or engraving the floor underneath a statue.) A poorly placed statue can potentially seal off parts of your fortress. One can place a statue instead of a wall on a built floor, which leads to another possible use of statues: you may build a statue on a tile you don't want your dwarves to stand at. That makes an intentional [[cave-in]] much safer to carry out. Statues do not impede the flow of liquids ([[water]], [[magma]]). Creatures can see past statues as they do not completely block line of sight.

During combat, [[dodging]] creatures can move into a statue tile. Dwarves will immediately step out of the statue tile once they recover their bearings. This detail can make statues useful in a [[danger room]], by providing more space for training dwarves to practice dodging without requiring massive numbers of [[spear|training spear]]s and [[mechanism]]s. Statues may also prove useful in archer emplacements to control where your dwarves normally stand, but still allow them a chance to dodge incoming fire.

[[Building destroyer]]s will topple statues (deconstructing them, but not destroying them). This can make statues a useful delaying tactic while your crack military dwarves are finally collecting the [[weapon|arms]] and [[armor]] assigned to them months ago. Note that creatures that topple statues located in [[temple]]s, in either [[fortress mode]] {{cite forum|160118/7144627}}{{cite reddit|8l8x7i}} or [[adventurer mode]], will be cursed (e.g. as a [[werebeast]] or [[vampire]]). In adventurer mode, this can be done by pressing {{k|u}}.

A killed [[iron man]] or [[bronze colossus]] will transform into a masterwork statue of itself upon death (made of [[iron]] or [[bronze]] respectively).

Dwarves, left to their own devices, will generally make statues of sentient races and their own limited pool of [[Preference|preferred]] creatures. Most available sprites will require you to specify an image to ever appear in the game. While somewhat tedious, this is among the best ways to personalize your fort.

To specify an image, create a statue job, then inspect details ([[File:Mag glass icon.png]]) -> Specify image -> Specify a new image -> Creature. You can queue up multiples of the same image via [[work order]]. For rock statues, you may select the stone as well, allowing control of the statue's color. Note that clay and [[porcelain]] statues currently do not allow image specification.

==Graphics==

In the [[premium]] version of the game, statues of creatures will display as a sprite of that creature once placed, the color of which is based on the material used to create the statue. You can specify the creature to be used by inspecting the job. Only images of non-werebeast single-sprite creatures will be shown in statuary. Creatures assembled from multiple sprites such as [[demon]]s, [[forgotten beast]]s, or [[experiment]]s will display as the default cube. [[Werebeast]]s will display as a cube as well. Plants, items, objects, or any other category of subject will also display as a cube. Dwarves, humans, elves, goblins, and kobolds each use a single sprite-- individual clothing and features will not be reflected in statues. These limitations aside, there are 778 different creature sprites to choose from: megabeasts, animal people, and the incredible variety of animals and monsters (including vermin) in the game are all available to decorate your halls. There are also 16 more sprites that statues can have, including the default cube.

Some creatures have different sprites for male and female versions of that creature: chickens, sheep, and deer to name a few. These default to female. To get a male version, creatures are listed in the menu by their "caste name"-- this means to create a male [[sheep]], for example, you will need to search for "ram" instead of "sheep", for a [[blue peafowl]] search "Blue peacock" instead of "blue peafowl". Some creatures have no distinct caste names but '''do''' have visually distinct sprites: [[lion]]s are one such example. To make a male lion with a majestic mane, select "Lion ♂".

Notable sprites include the [[fire snake]] with sculpted flames, the [[tigerfish]], which hovers eerily above its plinth, and the [[deer man]], which comes in visually distinct male and female flavors.

Here is a large image containing every possible statue sprite alongside the name (including special male names as described above) needed to create it: [[Media:All_statue_sprites.PNG]].

===Gallery===
<gallery class="center" mode="packed" widths="524px">
statues_preview.png|Various [[Art|motifs]].
statue_extra_sprites.png|The 16 default motifs, many of them used for [[Legends|historical events]].
All statue sprites.PNG|All creature statues.
</gallery>
 
{{Buildings}}
{{Category|Furniture}}

User:IceWorm

2024-10-10T15:28:24Z

IceWorm:

= Welcome to the lair of the IceWorm! =
''A large burrowing creature, found in arctic permafrost. It is legless, long and thin.'' 

I am an infrequent user of the Bay 12 Forums, but a more frequent user of the Hellsite, Tumblr. I like filling in the gaps in the wiki and making sure everything is consistent with the style.
Started playing in 2021. More is to come...

Giant wombat

2023-09-13T12:08:17Z

IceWorm: Wrote up basic summary of giant Wombat including: habitat, cluster number, behaviour and preference.

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'''Giant wombats''' are [[giant animal]] variants of the [[wombat]], found in [[savage]] [[mountain]]s, [[temperate]] [[forest]]s and temperate [[shrubland]]s. Like the regular wombat, these animals appear in small groups of up to ten individuals. Being benign creatures they will meander and generally keep to themselves. Giant wombats are roughly the size of an [[alligator]], or roughly 12.5 times larger than a [[dwarf]], and as such they are a force to be reckoned with against a poorly equipped militia if provoked. Children of giant wombats are called ''giant wombat joeys'.

Some dwarves [[Preference|like]] giant wombats for their ''waddle''.
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{{Creatures}}

User:IceWorm

2023-05-29T12:03:02Z

IceWorm: Created userpage to avoid suspicion and be help accountable

= Welcome to the lair of the IceWorm! =
''A large burrowing creature, found in arctic permafrost. It is legless, long and thin.'' 

I am an infrequent user of the Bay 12 Forums under PaperPlinkPlonk, but a more frequent user of the Hellsite, Tumblr. I like filling in the gaps in the wiki and making sure everything is consistent with the style.
Started playing in 2021. More is to come...

Giant ostrich

2023-04-15T17:56:07Z

IceWorm: removed word duplicates

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{{Creaturelookup/0
|image=giant_ostrich_sprite.png
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{{creaturedesc}}
'''Giant Ostriches''' are [[giant animal]] variants of the [[ostrich]], found in [[savage]] [[desert]]s, [[tropical]] [[savanna]]s and tropical [[grassland]]s. Like the regular ostrich, these animals appear in small groups of up to ten individuals. Being benign creatures they will meander and generally keep to themselves. Giant ostriches are roughly the size of a [[water buffalo]], or 14 times larger than a [[dwarf]], and as such they are a force to be reckoned with against a poorly equipped militia if provoked. Males are called ''giant ostrich cocks'' and females are called ''giant ostrich hens''.

Giant ostriches can be captured in [[cage]] [[trap]]s and [[Animal trainer|trained]] into [[exotic pet|exotic]] [[pet]]s, possessing the usually high value of 1000. Their large size translates into a good amount of products if they are [[butcher]]ed, and they lay a fairly high amount of [[egg]]s if placed in a [[nest box]]. Like all giant animals, they are considered [[exotic mount|exotic]] [[mount]]s.

Some dwarves [[Preference|like]] giant ostriches for their ''long necks'' and their ''giant eggs''.

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{{Creatures}}

Giant ostrich

2023-03-02T16:29:10Z

IceWorm: Filled in the prose. Like basically wrote the article.

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{{Quality|Unrated}}
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|image=giant_ostrich_sprite.png
|bone=29
|meat=30-34
|fat=17
|skin=hide
|feather=1
|nail=1
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|gizzard=1
|gizzard_stone=1
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{{av}}
{{creaturedesc}}
'''Giant Ostriches''' are [[giant animal]] variants of the [[ostrich]], found in [[savage]] [[desert]]s, [[tropical]] [[savanna]]s and tropical [[grassland]]s. Like the regular ostrich, these animals animal appear in small groups of up to ten individuals. Being benign creatures they will meander and generally keep to themselves. Giant ostriches are roughly the size of a [[water buffalo]], or 14 times larger than a [[dwarf]], and as such they are a force to be reckoned with against a poorly equipped militia if provoked. Males are called ''giant ostrich cocks'' and females are called ''giant ostrich hens''.

Giant ostriches can be captured in [[cage]] [[trap]]s and [[Animal trainer|trained]] into [[exotic pet|exotic]] [[pet]]s, possessing the an usually high value of 1000. Their large size translates into a good amount of products if they are [[butcher]]ed, and they lay a fairly high amount of [[egg]]s if placed in a [[nest box]]. Like all giant animals, they are considered [[exotic mount|exotic]] [[mount]]s.

Some dwarves [[Preference|like]] giant ostriches for their ''long necks'' and their ''giant eggs''.

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{{Creatures}}

Surroundings

2023-02-07T17:23:03Z

IceWorm: Clarified terms used in embark finder and hyphenated color-coded

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[[File:surroundings_preview.png|thumb|400px|right|A good biome, neutral biome and a bloody, evil biome.]]'''Surroundings''' affect the types of [[crop|plant]] life, wild [[animal]]s and [[creatures]] which will appear in play within a given [[biome]]. The surrounding type is formed of two components: spirit and savagery. It is possible to start a [[fortress]] that overlaps multiple alignment types (for example, a terrifying [[forest]] and a calm [[shrubland]]). Some players consider this desirable, as it provides diversity in your little corner of the world, but it also has its dangers in the form of more ferocious wildlife.

Some plants and animals are unique to a certain type of surroundings and will only be found if those surroundings are present on the map. Note that most creatures also require a specific [[climate]] to spawn in. Again, it's important to check the specific biomes making up your site. Once a [[creature]] spawns on the map, it is under no compulsion to stay in its own biome and can roam as it pleases. Because of this, the specifics of what means what can be difficult to pin down sometimes.

[[Cavern]]s are not affected by alignments, despite some subterranean creature definitions including an alignment. Good creatures like the [[gorlak]], evil creatures like the [[troll]] and savage creatures like the [[giant cave spider]] can be found in any cavern, regardless of whether the fortress is settled in good/evil/savage surroundings or not.

Selecting surroundings is the closest (but not the only) thing to selecting a difficulty for the game. Surroundings may be removed in the 'Myth & Magic' update.[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf//index.php?topic=169696.msg8341484#msg8341484] This version of the game currently does not have the surrounding types show as color-coded, though the information box at the side of the screen will still inform the player of any type of surroundings the player's cursor hovers over.

== Combinations & characteristics of surroundings ==
The names given to different areas will reflect their moral standing. For example, good biomes may be named "The Hills of Sweetness" while an evil one may be named "The Prairie of Agony". Neutral biomes will generally have more generic names, such as "The Beige Jungles". Not all worlds will contain every kind of combinations. For example, a world that is low in savagery may not contain Joyous Wilds surroundings.
{| {{prettytable}}
|-style="background:#dddddd"
|style="background:#aaaaaa"| ||'''Benign'''||'''Neutral'''||'''Savage'''
|-
|style="background:#dddddd"|'''Good'''||Serene||Mirthful||Joyous Wilds
|-
|style="background:#dddddd"|'''Neutral'''||Calm||Wilderness||Untamed Wilds
|-
|style="background:#dddddd"|'''Evil'''||Sinister||Haunted||Terrifying
|}

===Good===

:Including {{DFtext|Serene|1:1}}, {{DFtext|Mirthful|2:1}} and {{DFtext|Joyous Wilds|3:1}}

[[File:good_biome_v50.png|thumb|120px|left|A sharp green good biome.]]'''Good''' biomes tend to have less aggressive (often {{token|BENIGN}}) and weaker [[creatures]], except for the [[unicorn]]. They also tend to have more [[fanciful]] creatures than neutral biomes. Good regions also support the wild [[sun berry]], which makes the best [[alcohol]] in the game. There are generally slight changes between ''Benign Good'' and ''Savage Good''. Though these biomes are the safest in the game, they can still come with a challenge. Therefore, players should still not be too complacent.

Good biomes will usually appear as lushious green patches, with that green being a more vibrant and sharp green than neutral biomes.

====Distinctive flora & fauna====
* Animals: [[merperson]], [[mountain gnome]], [[satyr]], [[unicorn]]
* Plants: [[bubble bulb]], [[downy grass]], [[sun berry]]
* Trees: [[feather tree]]
* Vermin: [[fairy]], [[fluffy wambler]], [[pixie]]
{{clear}}

===Neutral===

:Including {{DFtext|Calm|7:0}}, {{DFtext|Wilderness|2:0}} and {{DFtext|Untamed Wilds|6:1}}

[[File:neutral_biome_v50.png|thumb|120px|left|A generic, neutral biome.]]'''Neutral''' regions are the easiest to understand. They generally mimic the real world, with recognizable wildlife. They can be quite dangerous depending on the region, holding anything from benign and weak weasels, to the generally non-aggressive but physically powerful [[elephant]]s, to the very aggressive and very dangerous [[giant eagle]]s. As one might expect, ''Benign Neutral'' zones are really very safe, while ''Savage Neutral'' areas can pose some major difficulties, depending on the dominating climate, landforms, [[giant badger|or]] [[giant kea|wildlife]]. You'll find most of the standard aboveground plants in these alignments, such as [[prickle berry|prickle berries]], [[rope reed]], [[strawberry|strawberries]] and the like.
{{clear}}

===Evil===
:Including {{DFtext|Sinister|5:0}}, {{DFtext|Haunted|5:1}} and {{DFtext|Terrifying|5:1}}

[[File:bad_biome_v50.png|frame|left|Dark brown patch of an evil biome.]]'''Evil''' regions are much more dangerous and strange than their ''Neutral'' and ''Good'' counterparts across the board. First, in addition to the ordinary wildlife native to the biome, various other [[creatures]] that are nasty, dangerous, and spiteful such as [[beak dog]]s, [[harpy|harpies]], and [[ogre]]s can be found in evil regions.

Evil regions may exist either on their own (where they are known as "primordial" evil regions) or they may be caused by the presence of [[demon]]s or [[necromancer]]s ruling over a [[site]] in it (known as "circumstantial" evil regions). An evil region possesses [[sphere]]s associated with the entities, if any, inhabiting it, which influences the surroundings to some extent. E.G: Blight, death, and disease regions kill plant life, while nightmare regions are home to [[Bogeyman|bogeymen]]. Primordial evil areas are eternal, but circumstantial evil regions may fade away if there is no activity in the area, making it possible to revert it back to normal. Presumably, slaying the demons or necromancers responsible for the corruption is the way to do so.{{version|0.47.01}}

Most evil regions have associated evil [[weather]]. Evil clouds can inflict various [[syndrome]]s on par with those of [[forgotten beast]]s, or instantly transform creatures into freakishly powerful [[Undead#Thralls, Husks, and_Zombies|thralls]]. Evil rains may also inflict random evil syndromes, albeit less severe ones, and always cause unhappy [[thought]]s and a desire to wash (evil!). Evil rain won't refill pools, but a single evil biome may have both evil and regular rain, even at the same time.

About half of all evil regions are "reanimating", meaning that all wildlife and plantlife will be [[undead]], and any creature that dies will, after a short time, be reanimated as undead. Undead are hostile to all living creatures, and feel no fear or pain. In general, undead wildlife is '''extremely''' dangerous, especially in Terrifying regions, since the undead may include zombified fliers that swoop down and rip your dwarves to shreds with little to no warning at all, and even discounting those, typically harmless creatures like [[beaver]]s will turn out to be necro-buffed monstrosities that are out for all living blood.

Undead can only be killed in [[combat]] by beheading, bisection, or pulping damage, or otherwise by [[Butcher|butchering]], [[Cave-in|cave-ins]], [[Dwarven atom smasher|particle physics]], or good old fashioned [[Magma|magma]]. Beheading, bisection and butchering may leave remains that can be reanimated; any partial corpse or body part that is not "mangled" and contains at least one hand or head can reanimate. This includes [[skin]], and even [[hair]] left over from butchering or shearing. Remains can reanimate while your dwarves are processing them, frightening any nearby dwarves and canceling job orders. That being said, reanimated hair is not much of a threat and your dwarves will likely quickly dispatch them. The resulting mangled remains can still be processed just like the original material, but without the risk of job cancellations. {{clear}}

Creatures that can [[Building destroyer|destroy buildings]], [[Trapavoid|avoid traps]] or [[Steals items|steal items]] will retain these abilities in undeath. Undead do not need to breathe, so they will not be stopped by rivers or moats, and aquatic undead can and will come ashore. Furthermore, the usual strategy of dealing with wildlife by avoiding confrontation is impossible since the undead will always stay in a state of "perpetually murderous towards all living beings" no matter how much you decide to bother them. Maybe a [[vampire]] or [[necromancer]] can help?

If your [[Embark|embark]] site spans multiple biomes then only the evil part will have the reanimating effect, and only wildlife appearing from that side will be undead. The reanimating effect extends all the way underground. The trees at embark may all be dead, and though they can be cut down for logs, will not regrow. Undead shrubs are useless for [[Herbalist|gathering]], too.

When embarking in a reanimating evil region, it is advised to move everything underground as soon as possible, and immediately set up plenty of [[trap]]s and/or a [[military]] armed with blunt weapons. Be very careful with [[refuse]] stockpiles and butcher's shops. Keep livestock to a minimum, as they are a liability. Needless to say, hunting is a very bad idea.

Evil regions are so inhospitable that beginners might find evil surroundings—even ''Benign Evil''—too difficult. Still, players may wish to embark in such surroundings for <s>a challenge</s> [[fun]].

Evil regions can appear on the map as either dark brown or a dim sandy brown. There is no functional difference between these regions.

: ''So, in ASCII, for most regions (not oceans apparently), there's a special variable that says whether an evil region is gray-red, or light/dark magenta. It defaults to zero, which is the magenta version, but when the "evilify" region function is called, it is randomized from 0-1. There's also a version of this function used for circumstantially evil areas, and it appears to also set the variable from 0-1. If either of those things aren't working, then the colors would probably all be magenta.''
:
: — [https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Toady_One Toady One] ([http://www.bay12forums.com/smf//index.php?topic=169696.msg8341484#msg8341484])

====Distinctive flora & fauna====
* Animals: [[beak dog]], [[blizzard man]], [[dark gnome]], [[foul blendec]], [[grimeling]], [[harpy]], [[ice wolf]], [[nightwing]], [[ogre]], [[sea monster]], [[strangler]]
* Plants: [[sliver barb]], [[staring eyeball]], [[wormy tendril]]
* Trees: [[glumprong]]
* Vermin: [[blood gnat]], [[demon rat]], [[knuckle worm]], [[phantom spider]]

===Savage===
: Including {{DFtext|Untamed Wilds|6:1}}, {{DFtext|Joyous Wilds|3:1}} and {{DFtext|Terrifying|5:1}}

'''Savage''' surroundings are the only surroundings which have [[giant animal|giant]] and [[animal people|humanoid]] versions of some animals. It is also possible that two groups of animals happen outside on a savage biome, instead of one. They are also far more varied in wildlife than the other biomes.

Most of the creatures in savage biomes will leave you alone, especially the animal people, who are harmless (with a few exceptions), and most of the giant creatures will not be hostile, but then again, a savage biome may just surprise you with [[giant kea]]s or [[giant badger]]s, and some of the creatures found in savage biomes are dangerous indeed. If you don't know what to expect, just look it up. "Savage Good" regions are called Joyous Wilds, "Savage Neutral" regions are called Untamed Wilds, and "Savage Evil" regions are called <s>excessively fun</s> Terrifying.

Savage biomes also house [[whip vine]]s, a high-value millable/brewable aboveground crop, and [[highwood]]s, a slow-growing tree that can grow as thick as 3×3.

As of v50.01, animals can become ''agitated'', which increases their proactive desire to attack your dwarves. This behavior occurs much earlier and more frequently in Savage regions, and presumably less so in Calm regions.

Civilizations, except for [[elf|elves]], who are naturally at peace with animals, typically do not settle in high-savagery regions, which may cause problems during [[world generation]] if the game can't find enough low-savagery regions to place civilizations in.

====Distinctive flora & fauna====
* Animals: above-ground [[animal people]], [[giant animal]]s, [[giant desert scorpion]] (pre-[[Release information/0.42.04|0.42.04]]), [[sasquatch]], [[sea serpent]], [[yeti]]
* Plants: [[whip vine]]
* Trees: [[highwood]]
* Vermin: [[acorn fly]], [[fox squirrel]], [[moghopper]], [[two-legged rhino lizard]]

{{World}}

Tile attributes

2023-01-09T14:51:25Z

IceWorm: Spelling corrections, numbers to words added article, removed redundant "currently"

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[[File:tile_status_preview.png|thumb|332px|right|Underground and above ground. Simple as that.]]Every tile in ''Dwarf Fortress'' is described as {{DFtext|Outside|3:1}} or {{DFtext|Inside|6:0}}, {{DFtext|Light|6:1}} or {{DFtext|Dark|0:1}}, and {{DFtext|Above Ground|2:1}} or {{DFtext|Subterranean|0:1}}. Unlike in versions prior to v50, these attributes can no longer be observed from the {{k|k}} menu, when the cursor is located over any single tile.

These attributes do ''not'' change what tiles look like. DFHack's Rendermax plugin implements a lighting system into the game, but this is only an aesthetic change, and does not affect tile attributes.

There are eight different combinations, and only four of them occur naturally:
* {{DFtext|Outside |3:1}}{{DFtext|Light |6:1}}{{DFtext|Above Ground|2:1}} - Outdoors, or within outdoor-like conditions (such as being indoors, but with no roof above the tile, providing direct access to sunlight.)
* {{DFtext|Outside |3:1}}{{DFtext|Light |6:1}}{{DFtext|Subterranean|0:1}} - Impossible
* {{DFtext|Outside |3:1}}{{DFtext|Dark |0:1}}{{DFtext|Above Ground|2:1}} - Impossible
* {{DFtext|Outside |3:1}}{{DFtext|Dark |0:1}}{{DFtext|Subterranean|0:1}} - Impossible
* {{DFtext|Inside |6:0}}{{DFtext|Light |6:1}}{{DFtext|Above Ground|2:1}} - Constructed buildings on the surface, below-ground-level chambers with constructed floors or buildings only (possibly walls also{{verify}}) above them. Also tiles beneath branches of some trees.
* {{DFtext|Inside |6:0}}{{DFtext|Light |6:1}}{{DFtext|Subterranean|0:1}} - Impossible
* {{DFtext|Inside |6:0}}{{DFtext|Dark |0:1}}{{DFtext|Above Ground|2:1}} - Possible in [[Object testing arena|arena]], does not occur in Adventure mode. It can occur in Fortress mode, e.g: after unretiring on stockpile tiles (biome becoming embark tile level biome).
* {{DFtext|Inside |6:0}}{{DFtext|Dark |0:1}}{{DFtext|Subterranean|0:1}} - Underground tunnels, including most of your fortress

Being in the dark increases [[cave adaptation]], and being outside causes it to decrease (along with stunning/nausea if the sun is out).

The entire [[Location|fortress site]] starts out as {{DFtext|Inside |6:0}}{{DFtext|Dark Subterranean|0:1}}. After that, a ray for {{DFtext|Outside|3:1}} and a ray for {{DFtext|Light |6:1}}{{DFtext|Above Ground|2:1}} falls straight down from the highest [[z-level]] for every (x,y) position on the local map, changing each tile's modifiers until something that blocks that particular "ray" is encountered. Due to this behavior, any of the previous three tile combinations will never be encountered in the same (x,y) position on a lower z-level than a higher-numbered combination.

== Outside vs. Inside ==

This attribute is determined by whether there is a roof of some kind over a tile. Weather only affects tiles which are ''Outside''. Almost any kind of geometry will block the ''Outside'' ray including natural and constructed [[wall]]s, [[floor]]s, [[stair]]s, and [[fortification]]s, and [[bridge]]s, [[grate|floor grates]], [[bars|floor bars]], and [[hatch]]es. A tile which is ''Outside'' will always be ''Light Above Ground'', but an ''Inside'' tile may be either ''Light Above Ground'' or ''Dark Subterranean''.

Tiles under a lever-opened bridge, hatch, grate or floor bars will keep counting as inside until any tile in that 1×1 column is built, constructed or dug on to force an update; remaining so after closing until another update.

== Light vs. Dark and Above Ground vs. Subterranean ==

These two attributes are determined in exactly the same way. Once an area is exposed to the outside world, it is ''Above Ground'' and ''Light'' (and thus channelling this tile will make the tile below it also ''Above Ground'' and ''Light''). Even after being covered up again, it will remain this way. This allows growing outdoor crops inside safely.

{{Category|Map tiles|*}}
[[ru:Tile attributes]]

Talk:Bloodline

2023-01-06T11:18:20Z

IceWorm: /* Merge This Page with Succession Games */ new section

== Merge This Page with Succession Games ==

This page is too short and not properly categorised. Not only that, it seems to imply that a bloodline game is synonymous with a succession game, which if true should justify the merge.[[User:IceWorm|IceWorm]] ([[User talk:IceWorm|talk]]) 11:18, 6 January 2023 (UTC)Iceworm

Carp

2023-01-05T18:22:52Z

IceWorm: Artist credit added

{{migrated article}}
{{Quality|Unrated}}
{{Creaturelookup/0
|contrib=no
|heart=1
|intestine=1
|liver=1
|tripe=1
|sweetbread=1
|spleen=1
|kidney=2
|skin=scale
|skull=1
|meat=8-9
|fat=8
|brain=1
|bone=12
|wiki=yes
}}
{{av}}
{{creaturedesc}}

'''Carp''' are a species of [[Creature|fish]] found in [[tropical]] freshwater [[river]]s and [[lake]]s, where they appear in groups of 5-10 individuals. Infamous in previous versions of the game for their aggression and disproportionately powerful bite attacks, carp in the current version are an inconvenience at worst. Newborn carp are known as ''carp fry''.

Carp are nearly as heavy as [[Dwarf|dwarves]] but are entirely benign, and due to being aquatic, they will never attack civilians out of their own volition. While old carp were vicious, today they are overcome with terror at the sight of [[Fisherdwarf|fisherdwarves]] and serve only as target practice for your [[hunter]]s. [[Undead]] carp, however, are a different story altogether. Carp possess a [[pet]] value of 50, but lack the necessary tokens to be [[Animal trainer|trainable]] (on top of being out of reach).

Some dwarves [[Preferences|like]] carp for their ''protruding mouths''.

[[File:Caprinus carpio Prague Vltava 1.jpg|thumb|center|400px|Admired for their ''protruding mouths''.]]

{{D for Dwarf}}

In prior versions of the game, carp had teeth that could inflict 3 times as much damage as an unarmed dwarf's fist, and so could dispatch an unarmed and unarmored dwarf (e.g. a fisherman, or a miner going for a drink) with ease. They were also strangely aggressive for fish, something which was kept for many releases because it was funny.

:'' "I think I made fish too hardcore" ''--[[Main:Toady One|Toady One]]
[[Image:Carp_escape.jpg|thumb|center|700px|Legends of terrifying carp persist from [[40d:Carp|days of yore]] ''Art by Skullamity'']]

{{gamedata}}
{{creatures}}
{{Category|Animals}}

Dwarven language

2023-01-03T16:11:47Z

IceWorm: removed contraction added tones comment

{{av}}
{{distinguish|l1 = Khuzdul|wikipedia: Khuzdul}}

The '''Dwarven language''' is one of the [[language]]s the player will come across. This language is used in-game for the names of the universe, continents, rivers, dwarven governments and settlements, dwarves, [[artifact]]s and [[engraving]]s. However, as of yet, it lacks everything necessary for proper conversation, like grammar or personal pronouns.

==Alphabet==
The letters of the Dwarven alphabet are:
<center>
{|class="wikitable" style="border-collapse:collapse;"
|-

|width=2% align="center"|1||width=2% align="center"|2
|width=2% align="center"|3||width=2% align="center"|4
|width=2% align="center"|5||width=2% align="center"|6
|width=2% align="center"|7||width=2% align="center"|8
|width=2% align="center"|9||width=2% align="center"|10
|width=2% align="center"|11||width=2% align="center"|12
|width=2% align="center"|13||width=2% align="center"|14
|width=2% align="center"|15||width=2% align="center"|16
|width=2% align="center"|17||width=2% align="center"|18
|width=2% align="center"|19||width=2% align="center"|20
|width=2% align="center"|21||width=2% align="center"|22
|width=2% align="center"|23||width=2% align="center"|24
|width=2% align="center"|25||width=2% align="center"|26
|width=2% align="center"|27||width=2% align="center"|28
|width=2% align="center"|29||width=2% align="center"|30
|width=2% align="center"|31||width=2% align="center"|32
|width=2% align="center"|33||width=2% align="center"|34
|width=2% align="center"|35||width=2% align="center"|36
|width=2% align="center"|37||width=2% align="center"|38
|width=2% align="center"|39||width=2% align="center"|40
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="center" colspan="40" | '''Majuscule forms''' (also called '''uppercase''' or '''capital letters''')
|-
|width=2% align="center"|A||width=2% align="center"|À||width=2% align="center"|Á||width=2% align="center"|Â||width=2% align="center"|Ä||width=2% align="center"|Å||width=2% align="center"|B||width=2% align="center"|C||width=2% align="center"|D||width=2% align="center"|E||width=2% align="center"|È||width=2% align="center"|É||width=2% align="center"|Ê||width=2% align="center"|Ë||width=2% align="center"|F||width=2% align="center"|G||width=2% align="center"|H||width=2% align="center"|I||width=2% align="center"|Ì||width=2% align="center"|Í||width=2% align="center"|Î||width=2% align="center"|Ï||width=2% align="center"|K||width=2% align="center"|L||width=2% align="center"|M||width=2% align="center"|N||width=2% align="center"|O||width=2% align="center"|Ò||width=2% align="center"|Ó||width=2% align="center"|Ô||width=2% align="center"|Ö||width=2% align="center"|R||width=2% align="center"|S||width=2% align="center"|T||width=2% align="center"|U||width=2% align="center"|Ù||width=2% align="center"|Ú||width=2% align="center"|Û||width=2% align="center"|V||width=2% align="center"|Z
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="center" colspan="40" | '''Minuscule forms''' (also called '''lowercase''' or '''small letters''')
|-
|align="center"|a||align="center"|à||align="center"|á||align="center"|â||align="center"|ä||align="center"|å||align="center"|b||align="center"|c||align="center"|d||align="center"|e||align="center"|è||align="center"|é||align="center"|ê||align="center"|ë||align="center"|f||align="center"|g||align="center"|h||align="center"|i||align="center"|ì||align="center"|í||align="center"|î||align="center"|ï||align="center"|k||align="center"|l||align="center"|m||align="center"|n||align="center"|o||align="center"|ò||align="center"|ó||align="center"|ô||align="center"|ö||align="center"|r||align="center"|s||align="center"|t||align="center"|u||align="center"|ù||align="center"|ú||align="center"|û||align="center"|v||align="center"|z
|}
</center>

Of these 40 letters, 25 are vowels (A, À, Á, Â, Ä, Å, E, È, É, Ê, Ë, I, Ì, Í, Î, Ï, O, Ò, Ó, Ô, Ö, U, Ù, Ú, Û); the 15 others are consonants.

The letters J, P, Q, W, X, and Y of the [[wikipedia:ISO basic Latin alphabet|ISO basic Latin alphabet]] do not occur in the Dwarven alphabet.

===Letter frequency===

This lists the frequency of each letter (and digraph) found in the corpus of Dwarven:

{| class = "wikitable sortable"
! No. !! Letter
! colspan="2"| Frequency
|-
|1 || A || 883 || 8.45%
|-
|2 || À || 14 || 0.13%
|-
|3 || Á || 18 || 0.17%
|-
|4 || Â || 35 || 0.33%
|-
|5 || Ä || 33 || 0.32%
|-
|6 || Å || 31 || 0.30%
|-
|7 || B || 308 || 2.95%
|-
|8 || C || 54 || 0.52%
|-
|9 || D || 425 || 4.07%
|-
|10 || E || 697 || 6.67%
|-
|11 || È || 16 || 0.15%
|-
|12 || É || 14 || 0.13%
|-
|13 || Ê || 29 || 0.28%
|-
|14 || Ë || 30 || 0.29%
|-
|15 || F || 50 || 0.48%
|-
|16 || G || 336 || 3.21%
|-
|17 || I || 690 || 6.60%
|-
|18 || Ì || 16 || 0.15%
|-
|19 || Í || 17 || 0.16%
|-
|20 || Î || 38 || 0.36%
|-
|21 || Ï || 32 || 0.31%
|-
|22 || K || 489 || 4.68%
|-
|23 || L || 650 || 6.22%
|-
|24 || M || 524 || 5.01%
|-
|25 || N || 531 || 5.08%
|-
|26 || NG || 103 || 0.99%
|-
|27 || O || 733 || 7.01%
|-
|28 || Ò || 18 || 0.17%
|-
|29 || Ó || 20 || 0.19%
|-
|30 || Ô || 27 || 0.26%
|-
|31 || Ö || 32 || 0.31%
|-
|32 || R || 664 || 6.35%
|-
|33 || S || 664 || 6.35%
|-
|34 || SH || 295 || 2.82%
|-
|35 || T || 623 || 5.96%
|-
|36 || TH || 318 || 3.04%
|-
|37 || U || 619 || 5.92%
|-
|38 || Ù || 16 || 0.15%
|-
|39 || Ú || 13 || 0.12%
|-
|40 || Û || 30 || 0.29%
|-
|41 || V || 86 || 0.82%
|-
|42 || Z || 232 || 2.22%
|}

==Graphemics==
* [[wikipedia:digraph (orthography)|Digraphs]] ''sh'', ''th'', and ''ng''.
** ''h'' only occurs in the digraphs ''sh'' and ''th''.
* Common consonant cluster ''st''.
* Dwarven has no [[wikipedia:diphthongs|diphthongs]].
* ''c'', ''f'', and ''v'' are always followed by a vowel.
* Possible [[wikipedia: syllable structure|syllable structure]] either (C)2V(C)2 or (C)V(C).
===Diacritic meaning===
The Dwarven language has five diacritics ([[wikipedia:Grave accent|◌̀]], [[wikipedia:Acute accent|◌́]], [[wikipedia:Circumflex|◌̂]], [[wikipedia:Diaeresis (diacritic)|◌̈]], and [[wikipedia:Ring (diacritic)|◌̊]]) used on five vowels (''a'', ''e'', ''i'', ''o'', and ''u''). The ring accent only appears on ''a'' and the diaeresis accent doesn't appear on ''u''.

The use of diacritics in Dwarven could mean that vowels have different pronunciations, like in some European languages such as French, German, or Swedish, 
or that it is a tonal language (suggested by the existence of tone patterns in poetic forms) that indicates pitch, such as Chinese languages, Thai, Vietnamese, etc. The pronunciation of the diacritics is currently unknown.

{|class="wikitable" style="border-collapse:collapse;"
! Diacritic
! Diacritic name
! Use in other languages
! Probable Tonal meaning
|-
| ◌
| None
| -
| Neutral pitch
|-
| ◌̀
| [[wikipedia:Grave accent|Grave accent]]
| Low pitch, stressed vowels, open vowels, short vowels.
| Low pitch
|-
| ◌́
| [[wikipedia:Acute accent|Acute accent]]
| High pitch, stressed vowels, close vowels, long vowels.
| High pitch
|-
| ◌̂
| [[wikipedia:Circumflex|Circumflex]]
| Used to represent falling pitch or long vowels.
| Falling pitch
|-
| ◌̈
| [[wikipedia:Diaeresis (diacritic)|Diaeresis (diacritic)]]
| Used to show that a vowel should be read separately (like in ''coöperate''). This is certainly not its use in Dwarven, because there are no diphthongs. It could also indicate a sound change.
| Mid pitch
|-
| ◌̊
| [[wikipedia:Ring (diacritic)|Ring (diacritic)]]
| ''Å'' is a completely separate letter from ''A'' in various Nordic alphabets, and this diacritic is only used on ''a'' in Dwarven...
| Rising pitch 
|}

The coincidence of ''Å'' being a separate letter in the Nordic alphabets and the ring diacritic only being used on A in Dwarven is probably just that, a coincidence. If ''Å'' is distinguished from ''A'' in Dwarven, then it is quite strange that no other accents are ever applied to it.

General suggestions for the pronunciation of the various languages were developed [https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/7ttsz9/suggested_pronunciation_system_for_dwarf_fortress/|Ring here.]

==Vocabulary==
{{main|Template:Noun dictionary|l1=Noun dictionary|Template:Verb dictionary|l2=Verb dictionary|Template:Adjective dictionary|l3=Adjective dictionary|Template:Prefix dictionary|l4=Prefix dictionary}}

The average word in the Dwarven language is 5.088 letters long. The longest known word is ''ngathsesh'', meaning "[[vomit]]".

The average word has 1.868 syllables. Generally, words either have one or two syllables.

=== Notes ===
Interestingly, the language lacks words like dwarf (possibly ''bistök-udos'', "hairy man", or ''duradudos'', "bearded man"), human (technically they have ''udos'' ("man")), goblin or elf (though one could use ''dák-enur'' ("tree-hug") for that). However, it is not lacking words for "[[pearl]]" (''kovest'') or "pumpkin" (''elbost'') which do not even exist in-universe.

The letter W does not exist elsewhere in the dwarven language, so it is unlikely that the word "dwarf" is the native moniker of dwarves for themselves. However, "dwarf" might be adopted from the original dwarven word for their own kind, and similarly they might call other races by their respective chosen monikers. "Dwarf" would then be some other language's approximation of the native dwarven pronunciation, whose correct dwarvish spelling could purely hypothetically resemble forms such as "dorf" or "dvôrfum".

{{D for Dwarf}}
Although dwarves are capable of creating massive and powerful fortresses, killing unimaginable beasts and demons, wiping out entire civilizations, and becoming incredibly buff after hours of constant mining, they all develop a glaring weakness known as [[cave adaptation]], which causes dwarves to puke when exposed to the outdoors. It is because of these thousands of disturbances that the vile substance accelerating out of their guts had been given the <s>stupidly long name</s> incredibly intimidating title of "ngathsesh" due to the countless victims it has affected (including the poor bastards that have to clean the damned mess).

{{gamedata}}
{{Language}}

[[Category:Language]]
[[ru:Dwarven language]]

Quickstart guide

2023-01-01T15:07:02Z

IceWorm: Updated embark location example to v50.04 interface. Advice to turn enemies off. Further details of location finder.

{{Quality|Unrated}}
{{av}}
{{old}}
:''For installation instructions, see [[Installation]].''
:''This is a quickstart guide for [[dwarf fortress mode]] for those who have never played before and quickly want to jump in head-first.'' ''If you are looking to learn adventure mode instead, see the [[Adventure mode quick start]] guide.''
:''Also see [[Tutorials]] for more detailed tutorials that people have submitted.''
{{TipBox2|float=right|Before you get started...|Always remember that '''losing is [[fun]]!''' Be prepared to lose a few fortresses before you get all the way through this guide – it can be easy to accidentally kill the entire fortress while learning. But remember: losing means that next time, ''[[#Situational Awareness|you'll remember how you lost]].'' In a big way, ''Dwarf Fortress'' uses the principle of learning from one's mistakes.}}

So, you want to play '''Dwarf Fortress''', but you have no idea what to do. That's understandable; in ''Dwarf Fortress'' you can really do anything you like. It is a huge, complex, and totally open-ended game. But in order to do anything, first you need a sustainable fortress. It turns out that this is not as hard as you might think.

[[File:FlowchartDF.png|thumb|446px|right|[[Main:From Caravan to Happy Dwarves|From Caravan to Happy Dwarves]] - This is a flowchart showing approximately what sequence of actions players usually take when starting up a new fort. Feel free to ignore it if you want. It's not necessary to refer to this to understand the rest of the guide, but by the time you finish the guide it will probably all make sense.]]

__TOC__

= Common UI Concepts =
{{old}}

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Keeping Up|While the guide contains many links, you may still need to look something up. Refer to the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] or use the wiki [[Special:Search|search]] function. Also, don't hesitate to [[Main:Troubleshooting|ask for help]] if you can't find answers on the wiki.}}

This is just the Quickstart Guide, so we skip lots of details on the UI. If you're looking for more UI help as you get deeper into your first fortress, you may also want to read this section in the [[Dwarf_fortress_mode#Gameplay_user_interface|Fortress Mode Guide]].
{{KeyConventions}}

== Options menu ==
{{main|Dwarf_fortress_mode#Options_screen|l1=Options screen}}

Most basic game-related tasks (saving, keybindings, sound, etc.) are performed through the options menu, which can be reached with {{k|Esc}} from the main screen.

To save and quit back to the main menu, select {{DFtext|Save and return to title menu}}.
{{tc|#d00|Unless you know what you are doing, do not select either}} {{DFtext|Retire the Fortress (for the time being)}} or {{DFtext|Abandon the Fortress to Ruin}}! These will essentially cause you to lose your save.

=World Generation=
{{migrated section}}

First, [[World generation|generate a new world]]. ''Dwarf Fortress'' worlds are always procedurally randomly generated - there is no "default" or "standard" world. Luckily, the basic version of this process is simple, and with these suggested settings won't take too long. Wait until the game shows that the world has been generated, since stopping history too soon can limit material availability for embark and trade.

{{TipBox2|titlebg=#00a|Starting World|
For your first game, [[World generation|generate a new world]] using the {{DFtext|Create new world}} option in the main menu with the following options:

* {{DFtext|World size}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|History length}} is {{DFtext|100 years|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Civilizations}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Sites}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Beasts}} is {{DFtext|Low|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Natural Savagery}} is {{DFtext|Very Low|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Mineral Occurrence}} is {{DFtext|Everywhere|3:1}}
}}

= Embark =
{{migrated section}}
{{main|Embark}}

Embarking is the process of choosing a site, outfitting your initial dwarves, and sending them on their way.

After generating a world, select {{DFtext|Play now}} then choose fortress mode. The game will load and update the world, then show the world map.

Mouse over the map to inspect it. Left-click to zoom in, where you can then click the {{DFtext|Embark}} button in the bottom right corner to choose an embark site.

== Choosing a Good Site ==

Choosing a good embark site is crucial for beginners. Highly skilled players can run a fortress on an evil glacier, but for now, stick to friendly environments. Look for features in an embark site that will make your first fort easier to manage.

{{ambox
|type=type
|text=The world tooltip will only show features from the moused-over tile, but since the embark area covers multiple tiles it can contain '''multiple biomes'''. It is '''very important''' to inspect all tiles in your site. Each may have significantly different features such as an aquifer or evil biome '''not initially shown''' in the info due to not being under the cursor.
}}

{{TipBox2|titlebg=#00a|Starting Site|
[[File:Embark-location.png|thumb|600px|An example of a good starting location, note details in the top-right corner]]
For your first game, find a site with the following properties:
*'''NO [[Aquifer]]''' (or at least no '''heavy''' or '''varied''' aquifers. Light is interesting on later embarks, but heavy guarantees '''[[Fun]]'''!)
*'''Trees:''' Woodland or Heavily Forested (or, at the very least, sparsely forested)
*'''Surroundings:''' Serene, calm, or at least '''not''' any evil or savage biome.
*A '''River'''
The following are also good to have, but focus on getting a decent site, not a perfect one.
*'''[[Climate|Temperature]]:''' Warm
*'''Clay or Soil''' makes farming easier when starting out
*'''Flux stone layer''' For your steel industry
*Also avoid sites containing '''towers''', '''goblins''', or other groups at war with you.
See '''[[/Starting site/]]''' for more info on why these characteristics are important.}}

[[File:Quickstart-finder.png|thumb|right|Initial finder criteria]]
While finding a site is not as simple as world generation, the {{DFtext|Find embark location}} button at the bottom of the screen can help.
[[File:Quickstart-finder-partial.png|thumb|right|Finder partial match missing Good surroundings]]

Once the find tool has finished searching with matches found, press {{K|Esc}} to look at the results. Any region in which it found a match will be indicated by a green {{DFtext|X|2:1}} on the map. Any embark sites matching the criteria will be shown by a rectangle of yellow {{DFtext|X|6:1}}s on the zoomed-in map.

Additionally, when placing the embark area you can resize it using the buttons on-screen. A 4x4 embark (the default) is usually reasonable, but you may want to change the size to avoid an undesirable biome or match your finder criteria.

If you are unable to find a site that you are willing to embark on, you could always create a new world. Otherwise, move on to the next step.

== Skills and Equipment ==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Optional: Preparing Carefully|If, at this point, you'd like to get into all of the details of picking individual skills and equipment for your expedition, select {{DFtext|Prepare for the journey carefully}} and see '''[[Quickstart_guide/Preparing_carefully|Preparing carefully]]''' for instructions. '''This is completely optional'''.
And preparing carefully makes little difference in the long run, especially without experience as to what to change.}}
Now the '''Prepare for the Journey''' screen should appear. You will be given the choice to either:
*{{DFtext|Play Now!}}
*{{DFtext|Prepare for the journey carefully}}.
In addition, settings are also displayed on the right-hand side.
Turn enemies to {{DFtext|Off}}. Selecting {{DFtext|Play Now!}} will start you out with a default set of equipment that is reasonably safe, allowing you to skip having to set up your skills and equipment. If you'd like to get going now, just select that option.
{{clear}}

=A Minimal Fortress=
[[File:Quickstart-map-starting.png|thumb|right|Starting out. In this example, the dwarves will be digging out an entrance tunnel in the sandy cliff on the right. (You can use {{K|Tab}} to show or hide the overview map.)]]

At this point, you have embarked, and your dwarves have arrived at their destination. You will see your dwarves clustered around their wagonful of supplies, somewhere near the center of your map. '''Immediately hit {{K|Space}} to pause the game''' unless it is already paused.

==Getting your bearings==
'''Do not unpause the game just yet.''' Take a look around with {{k|w}}{{k|a}}{{k|s}}{{k|d}}. Look up and down a few [[z-level]]s with the scroll wheel. Place the cursor on various tiles to familiarize yourself with what the symbols mean. If you get lost, you can press {{K|F1}} (or {{k-|Fn|F1}} on some systems) to return to the wagon. (You can define more [[hotkeys]] later, to jump quickly to other sites of interest.) Notice the terrain features, the vegetation, and any minerals visible. If you chose a site with flowing water, where is it? What about pools of water? The more carefully you examine your site before breaking ground, the better off you will be.

In the bottom left, click the citizens information button to see a list of your dwarves. In the {{DFtext|Others}} tab, you can see any wild animals that may be nearby.

The {{DFtext|Stocks}} button at the top of the screen will show the items owned by your fortress.

On the left, there are buttons for various message logs.

Your wagon serves as the initial meeting area for your dwarves. Since you should have started in a non-freezing, calm (low savagery), non-evil biome, you shouldn't face any immediate danger, but if for some reason the area around your wagon proves to be unsafe, immediately designate another meeting zone (see [[#Temporary Meeting Area|Temporary Meeting Area]] below).

==Controlling Your Dwarves==
The first thing to keep in mind is that, for the most part, you can't directly control your dwarves the way you control characters in a typical fantasy RPG. Instead, you '''designate''' things that need to be done and then dwarves with the appropriate labor assignments will decide what to do.

Some tasks receive a higher priority. For example, if a dwarf needs to eat, then he will go eat, and only get around to digging a tunnel once he is done eating. It is also possible to designate things that no dwarf is able to do. For example, if you designate an area to mine, but no dwarf has mining as one of his allowed labors, or no dwarf has a [[pick]], then the mining will never get done, and the game will not always advise you of why.

So, what you are doing throughout the game is essentially giving your dwarves a detailed group-wide to-do list, but it's up to them to figure out which one of them will execute any given task if the task is even possible. Often many of the details of how a task is performed (such as exactly which rock will be used to make crafts) are left up to them.

===Labor and work details===
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#aa0|Utilities|2=
You may have noticed that the UI for managing dwarves is a bit difficult to use. There are a few utilities available for this purpose (for Windows, Mac OS X, and most Linux systems):
* '''[[Utilities#Dwarf_Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]]''' (not yet supported for v50) can make labor management considerably easier, especially when you're dealing with twenty times the number of dwarves you have now. It can group and sort dwarves by multiple attributes and display their preferences, mood, and more.
* '''[[Utility:DFHack|DFHack]]''' (not yet supported for v50) includes "Dwarf Manipulator", a UI for managing labors. It has fewer features than Dwarf Therapist, but displays much of the same information and is adequate for normal use. In addition, it is accessible from within DF via {{k-|u|l}}, eliminating the need to constantly switch between applications.
}}
{{Main|Labor}}

'''Labors''' are how you control what types of tasks a dwarf is allowed do. When dwarves are idle, it could be because you haven't given them anything to do, or it could be because none of the idle dwarves have been told that they're allowed to do the types of tasks you've designated. For example, if you designate an area to mine, but none of the dwarves have the mining labor enabled, they will all just sit around ignoring your mining designation, thinking that it isn't their job.

Labors are assigned to dwarves in groups called '''work details'''. Open the labor menu from the bottom left to see all the default work details and their assignments.

Fortunately, you don't need to assign a dwarf for every single labor in the game; work details can be set to "everybody does this" to allow any idle dwarf to pick up the job.

'''While you're here''', set the Hunters and Fisherdwarves work details to "nobody does this." Dwarves with these details enabled will constantly be outside attempting to perform them, and for now you don't want dwarves wandering around alone where they can get killed (in addition, they won't be doing anything useful, like hauling).

Also, the default embark comes with two pickaxes: so for efficiency, make sure two dwarves have the Miners detail enabled.

As dwarves perform jobs, they gain skill in those areas which leads to them working faster or producing higher-quality things. Note that ''any'' unskilled dwarf can perform any labor given the necessary equipment and materials; they'll just be worse at it.

The default work details contain all the essential labors for the very start of your fortress, but this guide will involve other labors. Keep in mind that at some point you'll have to assign the following labors by creating custom work details:

{| class="wikitable"
! Category
! Labor
|-
| Farming/Related || Wood Burning
|-
| Metalsmithing || Furnace Operating
|-
| Metalsmithing || Armoring
|-
| Metalsmithing || Weaponsmithing
|-
| Metalsmithing || Blacksmithing
|-
| Metalsmithing || Metalcrafting
|-
| Jewelry || Gem Cutting
|}

==Strike The Earth!==
{{TipBox2|titlebg=green|float=right|Getting your dwarves to safety|
As you now know, you can't control your dwarves directly. So how do you tell them to get inside your newly dug rooms?
*[[Activity_zone#Meeting_area|Meeting Area]] You can designate a Meeting Area zone inside the new rooms. Press {{k|z}} and click "Meeting Area". Draw a rectangle to create a meeting area, then click "Accept". ''See also the [[zone]] page for more information.''
*[[Stockpiles]] (see [[Quickstart_guide#Stockpiles|below]]) Stockpiles tell your dwarves where to put things. Create a stockpile for everything, and dwarves will start to haul all your items there.}}
Decide where you will build your main entrance. Generally, you will want to get all your dwarves and supplies inside a protected area as quickly as possible. The best strategy is to put the entrance near your wagon to speed up the process of hauling all of your supplies inside.

The digging orders menu allows you to select areas to dig. Click the pick axe at the bottom or press {{K|m}}. There are multiple methods of digging:
* '''[[Mining]]''' ({{K|m}}) removes solid, floor-to-ceiling terrain (natural 'walls') on the z-level selected, leaving behind a rock or soil surface (also referred to as a natural floor). This does '''not''' do anything in areas without natural walls (for example, the surface or previously-mined areas).
* '''[[Channel]]ing''' ({{K|m}}-{{K|u}}) removes ''natural'' (rock/soil) floors (either created naturally or by mining) and creates a ramp (▲) on the z-level below. Note that you will see a down arrow (▼) on the current z-level, indicating a ramp on the level below. (For best results, ensure that the area below is unrevealed, i.e. black).

To designate an area for digging:
#Hit {{K|m}} to bring up the digging orders menu.
#Hit {{K|m}} to mine or {{k|u}} to channel (see above)
#Draw a rectangular are you want to dig out.
#A rectangle will be highlighted and a miner will start to dig out this area once you unpause the game with {{K|Space}}.

[[File:Digging Channeling tiles.PNG|200px|thumb|right|Demonstrating the difference between mining and channeling. Mining creates empty space on the same level where it is designated. Channeling creates empty space in the level below, clearing the floor. The levels are connected by up/down ramps. ]]

{{TipBox2|titlebg=red|float=left|Channeling|
Note that channeling can be [[fun|dangerous]]. Unless you know what you're doing, you should only ever make a pit one z-level deep. If you dig a pit multiple z-levels deep, only the lowest level will have an upward [[ramp]], which is not enough for dwarves to leave the pit. (Dwarves can [[climb]] out in some circumstances, but this is unreliable.)

<diagram>
Pit depth: 1 z-level 2 z-levels 2 z-levels
Ground[%26] [#2:1]__[#4:1][%31][#2:1]__ __ __ __ [#4:1][%31][#2:1]_
[#6:1][@4:1][%178][%178][#4:1][@][%30][#6:1][@4:1][%178][%178][@#] [#6:1][@4:1][%178][%178][#4:1][@][%31][#6:1][@4:1][%178][%178][@#] [#6:1][@4:1][%178][%178][#4:1][@][%31][#6:1][#4:1][@][%30][#6:1][@4:1][%178][@#]
[#6:1][@4:1][%178][%178][%178][%178][%178][@#] [#6:1][@4:1][%178][%178][#4:1][@][%30][#6:1][@4:1][%178][%178][@#] [#6:1][@4:1][%178][%178][#4:1][@][%30][#6:1][@4:1][%178][%178][@#]
[#6:1][@4:1][%178][%178][%178][%178][%178][@#] [#6:1][@4:1][%178][%178][%178][%178][%178][@#]
</diagram>

This diagram shows the cross-section (side view) of 1x1 pits channeled 1 z-level deep, 2 z-levels deep and the correct way to do a 2 z-level deep ramp. The appearance of "downward ramps" can be confusing as there is no such thing - the down arrow indicates a ramp on the level below. Dwarves in the first pit can walk up the ramp to ground level and escape, while dwarves in the second pit cannot use the ramp at all. The third pit lets dwarves walk back to the surface again since the two ramps are offset to produce a continued slope. In short, channels (particularly channels multiple z-levels deep) can be dangerous. Digging an entryway from the surface level is one of the few times you'll ever need to channel.

Stairs can also be used for an entryway, but channels allow [[wagon]]s entry to your fortress.
}}
If your wagon is near a [[cliff]] or hill (generally speaking, any difference in levels, usually shown by the existence of natural ramps), you can just designate a tunnel to mine ({{K|m}}) into the cliff to create an entryway. If the wagon is surrounded by flat terrain, [[channel]] out a 3x3 rectangle on the surface with {{K|m}}-{{K|u}} to create a sort of pit with ramps on the edges, then go down one z-level with {{K|c}} (or use the mouse scroll wheel) and tunnel into one wall of the pit (with {{K|m}}) to create your entry.

Dig a hallway one tile wide and ''at least'' 10 long, ideally more like 20. This will be your entryway.

Your entryway defines the boundary between your safe and protected inner fort, and the big, bad, outside world. You want this to be your only entrance, so that you only have to worry about defending this one opening. A somewhat-outdated video guide to starting a fortress can be found [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLYDcuk29bE&feature=plcp here]. (Note that this applies to v0.34.11, not v{{current/version/ns}}, so some parts may be inaccurate in the current version.)

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=== ''Additional miners'' ===
Mining will go faster if you have more than one dwarf doing it. By default, only one dwarf has the Mining labor enabled, but this can be changed fairly easily:
* Press {{K|y}} to open the labor menu, and select "Miners" on the left side.
* Choose a dwarf that isn't doing anything especially useful (the fish cleaner is a good choice for a beginning fortress, but you can always change your mind if you end up with a useless peasant later on)
* Click the check box next to the dwarf to enable the mining labor.
* Exit with {{k|Esc}} or right mouse.
The next time you designate an area for mining, both of your miners should start working (assuming they're not busy doing something else).

'''Notes:'''
* Each miner requires a [[pick]]. A standard embark comes with 3 picks. If you want more than three miners, you'll need to forge more picks (forging is covered later in this guide). Two miners should be adequate for most fortresses, but more miners can add reliability (for when a miner decides to sleep) and speed. For now, you'll almost never need more than two miners, but you'll want more once your fortress expands.
* If you're digging a one-tile-wide hallway, only one miner can work from an end.
* Mining, Wood Cutting, & Hunting labors are mutually exclusive - a dwarf can only have up to one of these professions active at a time. For this reason, it's not recommended to make your only woodcutter a miner, since they won't be able to cut wood anymore.

==Delving Secure Lodgings==
Near the middle of the entry tunnel, build a 5x5 room, and link it to the entrance tunnel with a 3-tile-wide passageway. Expand the main entry tunnel to ''three'' tiles wide from the entrance of the new room to the outside entry. At the end of the entry tunnel, dig a small room, which will later become your main stairwell. Two tiles past that, dig a larger room, which will later become your general stockpile, and connect it to the stairwell with a narrow passageway.

[[File:Quickstart lodgings 1.png|thumb|right|An example layout, as described in this section. Note the 3-tile wide passage - this allows merchants to access your depot, which will go in the 5x5 room. Note that the turn also needs to be 3 tiles wide; otherwise, wagons won't be able to access the room.]]

=== ''Room dimensions'' ===
Apart from wagon access (3 tiles wide), the trade depot (5x5), and other workshops (3x3), there are no fixed dimensions you need to worry about. The lower limiting factor is the traffic your tunnels receive (dwarves may have to start climbing over each other), and the space your rooms need (stockpiles, tables/chairs, livestock). The practical maximum size is limited by how long it takes your miners to dig the rooms out, especially if they're digging in stone instead of soil (digging through soil is much faster). Most sites have at least one level soil layer below ground level, which is where you're digging right now, but as you dig deeper you'll hit stone (if you haven't already), and digging will become slower. In most fortresses, even the main hallways never need to be wider than 3 tiles, and needing more than 3 tiles of stairs per floor is very rare. A 3x3 per floor staircase (9 stairs!) is absolute overkill for anything but 20-year-old 300-resident capitals. For most tunnels in your fortress, 2 tiles wide will be sufficient, and many will be fine at just 1 tile wide. 11x11 is a reasonable size for stockpile rooms. However, something smaller is perfectly fine for rarer stockpiles, offices, and small dining rooms. Commoners’ bedrooms need not be larger than the amount of furniture you want inside.

=== ''Mining safety'' ===
While mining, take care to avoid digging into [[water]]. Dwarves are usually poor swimmers, and are unlikely to escape from an underground flood. However, it is safe to mine ''next to'' underground water, as long as you leave at least one "wall" tile between them (see the picture to the right). You can also mine one z-level under a body of water (for example, mining under a river), but you will have to designate each tile individually because DF automatically cancels digging of newly-revealed "damp" tiles (tiles are considered damp when they are adjacent to a water tile, regardless of whether the water tile is on the same z-level or not).

Also note that '''water can flow diagonally''':
<diagram>
[#00f]≈[#]▓.▓ [#00f]≈[#]▓.▓
▓▓.▓ ▓..▓

[#0f0]ok[#] [#f00]flood[#]
</diagram>

=== ''Stockpiles'' ===
[[File:Quickstart-custom-stockpile.png|right|thumb|Keep corpses, refuse, stone and wood out of general use stockpiles. You can come back and change the settings on this stockpile using {{K|q}}, selecting the stockpile, then pressing {{K|s}}. Try to remember to come back here to disable/forbid types of things as you create more specific stockpiles for them.]]
'''Stockpiles''' are very important. These areas are where your dwarves will drop things for storage when they aren't needed elsewhere. To create a '''general purpose stockpile''' for your first storage area:
#Hit {{K|p}} to open the Stockpiles menu.
#Click the plus sign at the bottom to add a new stockpile.
#Draw a rectangle and click "Accept".
#Click [[Stockpile#Custom_stockpiles|"Custom"]] to change the goods that the stockpile accepts. Enable everything but '''Corpses''', '''Refuse''', '''Stone''', '''Gems''', and '''Wood'''. To do this, first click "All" in the top left to enable everything, then go through each type you want to exclude, and click "None" in the top-center of the screen. This will reject all goods of that type.
#{{k|Esc}} or right mouse twice to exit the stockpiles menu.
Once you exit the stockpiles menu and unpause, you should see dwarves running off to haul everything from your wagon into the new stockpile area. Later, if you like, you can change what sort of things the stockpile accepts by hitting {{K|p}}, clicking on the stockpile, then changing the stockpile settings as above.

It is particularly important to '''keep wood, stone, refuse, and corpses out of your general purpose stockpile''', so you may want to double check to make sure all of these things are disabled in the stockpile settings. Failure to keep these things out of this stockpile will rapidly fill it up, causing workshops to become cluttered when dwarves can't store things in the stockpile.
'''Note:''' When assigning stockpiles, you should make sure they're in a vacant area (i.e. the tiles should not have any items already stored on them). Dwarves will not haul items to occupied tiles, so make sure the area is vacant (and already mined out) before assigning a stockpile.

=== ''Stairways'' ===

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|width=45%|Up, Down, Up/Down: Types of Stairs|
In Dwarf Fortress, every [[z-level]] is composed of a [[floor]] and a [[wall]] (or "space between floors"). The confusingly named "down" and "up" [[stairs]] have nothing to do with the direction creatures can move to; instead, down stairs penetrate floors, while up stairs penetrate walls. Up/down stairs penetrate the wall and the floor below. ''(note the picture to the left)''

When you designate a staircase to be dug out, the top level will be down-stairs, any inner levels will be up/down stairs, and the bottom level will be up-stairs.
}}

Dig a [[Stairs|stairway]] in the room you dug out for the stairwell (''not'' the 5x5 room that you dug out earlier): press {{K-|m|t}}, click on the floor of the room to start the staircase, scroll down one level, and click again to finish designating the staircase. This will create down-stairs on the top level, and up-stairs on the level below. To continue digging downwards later, you can designate another staircase ({{K-|m|t}}) starting on the lowest exposed level and continuing downwards. For now just dig down one level.

[[Image:DF2014 Terraform.png|thumb|left|600px|''This is how the different stairs would look like from the side.'']]

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==Temporary Meeting Area==
[[File:Quickstart lodgings 2.png|thumb|right|An example meeting area. Note that this layer has a different type of soil than the layer above - this can happen often. Also note that the "north" side of this room is directly below the lake in the level above, but no water is present.]]

On the second z-level below ground (the one below the stockpile level, which you just reached with the staircase), dig a short, 3-tile wide passageway (this only needs to be 1-2 tiles long). Past that, dig out a room between 5x5 and 7x7, leaving room to enlarge it in at least one direction in the future. Using the {{k|z}} key, create a meeting area in the room you just created, filling the entire room (be careful not to make this too small lest your [[overcrowding|overcrowded]] animals start fighting). This works much like creating a stockpile except that you define what the area is for before you draw the rectangle. Select "Meeting area", draw the rectangle, filling the entire room, and click "Accept". Your idle dwarves will hang around in this area, hopefully keeping them inside the fort and out of trouble.

NOTE: Again, make sure your [[DF2014:Activity_zone|activity zone]] is already mined out before attempting to designate the meeting area.

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==Refuse==
[[File:Dwarf fort tut miasma.jpg|thumb|right|Avoiding [[Miasma]]]]
Outside your fort entrance, use {{K|p}} and click the "plus stockpile" icon to create a stock{{K|p}}ile for [[Stockpile#Refuse|refuse]] (trash can icon) ''at least'' 5x5 in size. This should be outside in the open or you will have problems with [[Miasma]]. If you do not disable [[vermin]] (Item Types -> remains), you will probably have to expand it later as it will fill up with vermin remains rather quickly. If you are seeing refuse appear in your general-purpose stockpile instead of the refuse pile, click on the general stockpile and check its custom settings to make sure refuse has been disabled.
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==Food==

Food is necessary for your dwarves' survival - to keep functioning, they require constant supplies of food and drink - the amount of food and drink currently available is displayed in the status bar at the top of the screen. Luckily, your dwarves will eat almost everything raw, including plants.

===''Farming''===
For a reliable, long-term food and alcohol supply, you'll need to set up a farm. Dig out a medium-sized room in a [[soil]] layer (including sand, clay, loam, silt, peat, and ooze) accessible from inside your existing fortress. 5x5 is a good size to start with, but you'll want to leave room to expand in at least one direction. You must pick an ''underground'' area with mud or soil*. Placing this near the stockpiles is more efficient, since farmers won't need to travel as far.

[[File:DFwiki5by53by3farm.png|thumb|right|A 5x5 room with a 3x3 farm plot]]


* Hopefully you have chosen a site with a soil layer, which will make farming much easier, but if not you will need to [[Irrigation|irrigate]] to create the required mud on stone floors.

Use {{K-|b|o|f|p}} to build a 3x3 [[Farming|farm plot]] in the room you just created. Position the farm plot ideally near the wall to leave space for more plots later on.

The {{DFtext|Planters}} work detail must be enabled for at least one dwarf, or the farm plot won't get built and farming will not take place. By default, Planters is set to "Everybody does this", so there's no need to change this now.

{{K|Esc}} out of the build menu and wait for the farmer dwarf to create the plot. Once the plot is built, click on it, and set the plot to grow [[plump helmet]]s during all seasons. You need to go through each season tab to enable plump helmets in all seasons — otherwise you'll end up with an idle field for 3/4ths of the year.

Later, if you are curious what is planted in each plot this season and how much, click on the plot and it will show the list of seeds currently planted. There is no icon for a partially grown plant, so an empty field will look identical to a fully planted field until your crops are ready for harvest.

Note that a default embark starts with ''five'' plump helmet seeds — for now, only half of your field will end up being planted. Eventually, as your dwarves consume plump helmets, more seeds will become available and will be automatically planted by an unoccupied farmer.
:''For more troubleshooting tips, see [[How do I build a farm]]''
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=== ''Emergency food sources'' ===
Occasionally, even with a working plump helmet farm, you may experience food shortages. For now, you should have plenty of food on hand left over from embarking. However, if you ever run low on food, there are a few ways to obtain more:

==== ''Plant gathering'' ====
If you have shrubs ({{raw tile|"|2:0}}) growing above ground, you can harvest plants from them. Note that this requires a dwarf with the {{dftext|Plant gatherers}} work detail, and time (this can take a while for an inexperienced dwarf, and it doesn't always yield edible plants). To start, {{K|g}}ather plants on the surface (similar to selecting an area for mining, except it only selects plants in the given rectangle). Once processed, some will leave behind harvested plants (often edible berries).

====''Butchering''====
If you suddenly run low on food, butchering an animal is another option. Build a [[butcher]] shop ({{K-|b|o|f|b}}) and mark one of your animals for slaughtering (press {{k|u}}, click on "Pets/Livestock", and click the meat cleaver next to the animal you want to slaughter). A dwarf with the butchering labor enabled will haul the animal off to the butcher's shop, work for a while, and produce neat stacks of meat products.

==Building material==
Initially, [[wood]] is probably a good choice for building material, as it's lightweight and can be easily obtained. You will need plenty of building materials as your fortress grows, but wood will suffice for now. If you are unable to locate enough wood (or if you run out of trees, which is unlikely at this point), extend your staircase down to a stone level ({{k|m}}-{{k|t}}) and mine out a small area (at least 5x5) to obtain stone.

Even if you don't have trees, you can obtain 3 logs from your embark wagon. Click on your wagon, and click the button in the top right to deconstruct it. This will flag the wagon for disassembly. Eventually a carpenter will come along and turn the useless wagon into 3 units of wood. (Removing other buildings is done the same way.)

===''Woodcutting''===
{{Update in next major version}}
Assuming your site has [[tree]]s above ground, now is a good time to start obtaining wood. Create a stock{{K|p}}ile for wood outside your entrance (preferably near to it). As it will only be temporary, don't make it too big (maybe 5x3, or 15 tiles total). Later, you will move this closer to your carpenter's workshop (once you build one), so don't worry about placement too much. Also near the entry, designate a couple of trees to be chopped down with {{K|l}}. One tree will produce many logs, so only designate three to five at this point. If you designate too many trees, your woodcutters will spend all of their time chopping them down and hauling the resulting logs, instead of doing other work. As soon as one tree is cut down and its wood stored in a stockpile, you can proceed to the next step (your woodcutter will continue cutting down any remaining designated trees).

==Drinks==
Drinks can be more problematic than food, since they require more preparation (except for [[water]], that is). In warmer weather, you can specify a "water source" activity {{K|z}}one around a lake or river on the surface to keep your dwarves from dying of thirst, but dwarves deprived of [[alcohol]] slow down and become unhappy. In addition, drinking outside can be dangerous — dwarves running outside constantly risk running into wild animals, or worse. Creating a [[still]] to brew alcohol is the simplest solution to these problems.

You need a brewer to brew drinks. Fortunately, the brewing labor is enabled on all dwarves by default. If you want to change this later, use the [[Labor|labor menu]] ({{K|y}}).

[[File:Quickstart still 1.png|thumb|right|A completed still]]
Assuming you have building materials available (which you will if your woodcutter has been doing their job), you can now create a still:
# Dig out a 3x3 area connected to the farm plot.
# Use {{k-|b|o|f|l}} to build a still. Position it in the 3x3 area you just created.
# Click on a building material for the still (this is probably one of the logs you just cut down by default).
After a short delay, one of your dwarves should run off, drag a log over to the workshop site, and build the workshop. (This is also how building other workshops works, but you won't need to do that yet).

To brew drinks, click on the still, click "Add new task", and "Brew drink from plant". '''This will not work yet''', since you don't have any empty barrels or rock pots, but you should start brewing in the first six months (see [[Calendar]] and [[Status]]).
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==Pasture==
{{TipBox2|float=right|Grazers|
If you aren't sure whether or not an animal is a grazer, you can check {{catlink|Grazer|this category}}. (You can also [[Special:search|search]] for the animal on this wiki.)
}}
If you have any grazing animals with you, such as the draft animals used to pull your wagon, they will die if they are kept away from grass for too long. Use {{K|z}} to create a Pen/[[Pasture]] zone over a grassy area outside and assign your grazing animals to it with the "plus bunny" icon in the top right of the zone menu. This area needs to be about 10x10 or so to ensure they have enough grass and don't trample it all. The amount of grass required varies greatly, depending on the type(s) of animals being pastured. If you intend to keep grazing animals permanently, you may need vastly larger pastures later. As an alternative, you might wish to [[Butcher's shop|slaughter]] your largest animals for food and materials.

==Designing your first fortress==
While this guide recommends a vertical fortress design around a central stairwell, with each z-level being used for a particular purpose, it is not really that important to use this design for your first fortress. Therefore, feel free to put any of the areas described in the rest of this guide on your main level or wherever you want as long as dwarves can get to them without going outside the fort. In other words, you can think of the "levels" described in the guide more as areas that can really all be on the same level if you have space. Later you can ponder over what makes things most efficient, but for now just do whatever you find easiest. Note that you may need to dig down a bit to get to stone if you have more than one z-level of sand/clay/soil below the surface.

==Workshops==
[[File:Quickstart workshops 1.png|thumb|right|An example workshop layout. The gem stockpile (empty) is north of the Jeweler's workshop (southwest corner), the wood stockpile is east of the Carpenter's workshop (northwest corner), and the stone stockpile occupies the rest of the space. Note the wheelbarrow (Ö/umlaut-O) in the stone stockpile.]]
Most labors of your dwarves need a place where they can process raw materials — [[workshop]]s. Almost all of them occupy a 3x3 square, and most of them require just 1 unit of any building material (wood, stone, metal). Dig your stairwell down one level (with {{K-|m|t}}), if you haven't already. It's fine if this layer is soil — in fact, soil is better, since it's easier to dig through (if you only have one soil layer, you can put these workshops somewhere on your first level). Dig space for your workshops off of the stairwell. It will hold your [[Mechanic's_workshop|mechanic's]], [[Stoneworker's_workshop|stoneworker's]], [[Carpenter's_workshop|carpenter's]], and [[Jeweler's_workshop|jeweler's]] [[workshop]]s. Something to consider is stockpile proximity: the farther away the material is the dwarves use, the more time they waste with walking. So for now, dig out some more space for stockpiles close to where your new workshops will be (wood for your carpenter, stone for your stoneworker and mechanic, and gems for your jeweler).
It doesn't matter if you put everything in one large room or dig out small rooms for each workshop and stockpile. Once you've dug out your rooms, set your miners to work by adding a z-level or two to the staircase. Hopefully you'll obtain some stone by doing this, which will be useful eventually. While your miners are busy, use {{K-|b|o}} to build the workshops, using whatever building material you have. If you are still digging in soil and don't have stone yet, just use wood; the material really doesn't matter in this case. Be sure that your craftsdwarves still have labors corresponding to each workshop enabled (see [[#Labor and work details|Labor and work details]] above) so they will begin construction. (Dwarves already busy mining or hauling may not immediately stop to construct workshops; if you like, you may temporarily disable other labors in order to jumpstart workshop construction.) If the construction of any building gets "suspended" click on the workshop and click "Resume construction" to unsuspend it. (This can happen if another dwarf or object is blocking the way. See [[#"Garbage" Dumping|Garbage Dumping]] below if you find you need to remove an object.)

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Too Good for Menial Peon Work|Certain labors are crucial in setting up a fort. At some point you may want to disable less important labors such as hauling for dwarves with the crucial skills of mining, masonry, architecture, carpentry, mechanics, and maybe others. You want these dwarves working on creating beds, doors, and trap components before hauling stone and cleaning.}}

Click on your stoneworker's shop and queue up one [[table|table]] and one [[throne]]/chair. You will find out why you need these in a second, but now is a good time to start building them. If you still don't have any stone at this point just use wood at the carpenter's workshop.

At this point, it is a good idea to build a few [[wheelbarrow]]s to make hauling large objects (particularly stone) more efficient. Queue up 2 or 3 at the carpenter's workshop. (Wheelbarrows are located near the bottom of the list, you will need to scroll all the way down.) While the wheelbarrows are being built, click on your stone stockpile and click the barrel icon, and increase "Max wheelbarrows" to 3. Your dwarves will automatically move wheelbarrows to the stockpile once they are built.

===''"Where did I build that ____?"''===
As you build workshops, furnaces, Trade Depot, other buildings, rooms and even zones, you may start to lose track of where they all are -- or where they're supposed to be built, but some dwarf is too busy eating/drinking/hauling. There are a couple of commands available from the main UI that will help you locate what you built.

* You can View {{K|P}}laces and click the "Workshops" tab to see a Building List, and also Zoom to the building/item, or view the building's tasks.

* For incomplete buildings/constructions, you can also open the {{K|t}}ask list and then recenter on the partially constructed building to find the intended location.

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== Brewing ==
You'll need [[barrel]]s to store drinks for your dwarves. Queue up two or three barrels in your carpenter's workshop. (If you run out of wood at any point, cut down another tree or two outside). If a lack of wood cancelled a job, you will need to queue the job again. Go back to your still and order some drinks to be brewed. Each drink requires one barrel and one edible plant, such as a plump helmet. Even if none of yours have been harvested yet, you should have some left over from embark. Also, brewing plump helmets creates ''two'' seeds from one plant, which makes plump helmets an excellent choice for a beginning fortress. Five barrels should be plenty for now (each plant makes 5 "units", or servings, of booze, and dwarves don't need to drink too often, so 30 units should last you a whole year. When the stocks get low, you'll probably want to start queueing up more drinks to be made (you should have more empty barrels by then)).

=="Garbage" Dumping==
{{main|Garbage dump}}

'''Note that garbage is not the same thing as refuse.''' [[Stockpile#Refuse|Refuse]] is [[Miasma|rotting stuff]]. Garbage is anything you designate to be hauled to a [[Activity_zone#Garbage_Dump|garbage dump]], even important things that aren't really garbage. Think of your garbage dump zone as a way to specify that objects you select will be brought to a specific area.

Press {{K|z}}, click on "Garbage Dump", and create a 1x1 activity zone somewhere near your mason's and mechanic's workshops. Unlike stockpile areas where you are limited to storing one object per tile, any number of items may be piled in a garbage area. That means you will only need one tile to hold as much "garbage" as you like. Although many of the room sizes in this guide are suggestions, think of the 1x1 garbage dump size as mandatory. At some point you will probably want to retrieve an important item from your garbage dump, and the more tiles your dump contains, the harder it will be to find anything in it. Press {{k-|i|p}} to select the mass dump/forbid tool. Select a rectangle over the loose stones cluttering up your living area (if there are any – this often isn't a problem yet if you've built your fort in a soil layer). This will designate this stone to be transported to a garbage dump zone. Be sure not to designate the stone in your stockpiles by mistake, since that will only cause your dwarves to perform unnecessary hauling. Once the stone from your living area has been moved there, it will be set as [[Forbid|forbidden]]. Before it can be used you will need to unforbid it using {{K-|i|F}} (or just {{K|i}}). Note that dwarves hauling stone (or any large, heavy objects) move slowly, and can take a lot of time to reach their destination. This can be a major waste of time if you designate 50 boulders to be dumped at once. Unless the stone is in the way of something, you don't ''need'' to dump it every time you dig out a new area. Stones lying on the ground don't slow dwarves down at all. If there is a particular dwarf you don't want hauling "garbage", use the labor menu ({{K|y}}) and select the "Haulers" work detail. From there you can select certain dwarves that you want to haul items. By default, Haulers is set to "Everybody does this". You might want to exclude Miners from hauling, since they are far more useful when digging than when moving the stone they just dug out.

Congratulations! Knowing how to use garbage dump zones puts you head and shoulders above many new players - it takes some people weeks to figure this out.

==Trading==
Not all embark sites have all the resources you need for a successful fortress, but every site has ''something'' you can sell. A talented dwarf can process any useless resource into something valuable, and [[trading]] is a good way to sell those goods.

''Note that producing goods creates [[wealth]] and getting too much wealth too fast can have [[Immigration#Migrant_wave_sizes|unwanted]] [[Siege|consequences]].''
===Trade Depot===
Build a [[trade depot]] using {{K-|b|T}} in the 5x5 room you created near your entrance. This is where [[caravan]]s will park their stuff and where [[trading]] will take place when one arrives. (as stated earlier, the wagons are 3x3 so the entrance tunnel needs to be at least 3x3 for the wagons to go by). You need at least 3 logs or boulders to build the depot.

===Producing for export===
While there are some goods that are more valuable, and some that are less valuable, it's a good idea to simply produce/export what you have too much of and to import what you have too little of.
Generally though, [[Gem]]s and [[Finished goods]] are decent exports for a new player.

===Trading===
Once a caravan has arrived, you can mark the goods you want to sell through the Trade Depot, and your dwarves will begin moving them to the depot. Be careful not to sell wooden items to [[Elf|Elves]]; '''this includes containers:''' even a wooden bin full of metal crafts will make them upset. Also note that the traders will want to make a profit off of you. While they're happy with about 200%, the more profit they make on your site, the more goods they will bring next time, so it can be a good idea to give them even better deals.

''A more detailed overview of the entire process is [[Trading#Trading_Flowchart|here]].''

===What to buy===
In your first fortress, your priority should be importing some [[food]] and [[alcohol]]. In addition, you might want more [[Meat industry|livestock]], [[seed]]s (comes with a free bag), and - depending on what resources you are missing - additional [[pick]]s, [[barrel]]s, [[wood]], [[bag]]s, as well as [[rope]] and a [[bucket]] (for a well). While you're at it, check if you need an [[anvil]]. Maybe you forgot to bring one, or a [[kea]] stole it. Always having a small supply of ''all 3 kinds'' of [[cloth]], some [[gem]]s, [[leather]], a bit of [[sand]] (free bag!) are handy to have, as those are hard to come by on short notice.
If you're short on weapons-grade [[metal]] for your military, import not only actual metal [[bar]]s and [[ore]]s, buy ''all'' metal goods you can afford and [[Melt item|melt]] them down in a [[smelter]] to increase your yield.

===Troubleshooting===
Once the depot is built, make sure your depot is accessible. There needs to be a 3-wide passage from the depot to the edge of the map.

If you see the message [[Their wagons have bypassed your inaccessible site]] when the merchants arrive, try these solutions:
* Is the path to the depot (in your fortress) less than 3 tiles wide? If so, expand the entranceway and try again.
* Are there [[tree]]s blocking a path to the depot outside? Try clearing a path by cutting down a few.
* Are there [[boulder]]s ({{raw tile|∞|7:0:0}}) blocking the path outside? To remove them easily, you need a [[stonecutter]]. If you selected "play now", you should have one already. Use {{K|v}} to smooth stone and designate the boulder(s) for smoothing. They should flash this symbol: {{raw tile|┼|7:0:1}}
* Is the path to the depot only accessible via stairs or did you build traps in the way? Wagons cannot pass traps or stairs, even if they're 3x3 wide.
* Building a paved [[road]] {{K-|b|n|o}} will stop trees from growing on the wagon path, and can be a good way to ensure that the wagons have an unobstructed path to your depot.
It's possible that there are multiple obstacles blocking the depot, so this can take some troubleshooting.

''The first few times the traders arrive, they will not bring a wagon anyway. They will only start to bring a wagon once your fortress is a [[barony]]. Without a wagon, they will carry much less goods and you can sell them much less, because their carrying capacity is greatly reduced.''

== Migrants ==
{{gametext|Some migrants have arrived.}}
At some point soon, you'll most likely be getting migrants (if you haven't already). You'll usually get between 5 and 15 migrants in the first 2 waves, which occur sometime during your second and third seasons. See [[/Migrants|this page]] for advice when you receive migrants.

== Bedrooms ==
Up to this point, your dwarves have probably been sleeping on dirt or rock in your fortress. While this is fine for a short time, your dwarves will gradually become less happy if they are forced to sleep without a bed. Under normal circumstances beds can only be made from wood, so be sure to designate some more trees to be cut down if you're short on logs.

[[Bedroom design|Designing living quarters]] is largely a matter of personal preference and aesthetic sense. While a few useful designs are discussed here, there are many other options. In general, try to keep the bedrooms close to the stairs, and make your access hallways at least two tiles wide to reduce congestion.

=== Location ===
{{migrated section}}
Because noise generated from certain jobs (especially mining and woodcutting) can bother sleeping dwarves, doing these jobs within 8 tiles of a sleeping dwarf should be avoided (see [[noise]] for more information). There are two ways of accomplishing this:
* Placing bedrooms at the end of a hallway at least 8 tiles long will avoid most noise (as long as you are careful to avoid noisy jobs directly above or below the bedrooms).
* Extending your fortress down several z-levels will also work (9 levels from the surface is a safe choice), although extending a 3x3 staircase takes more work than extending a single hallway.
Both options work equally well, as long as you are careful to avoid disturbing sleeping dwarves. Ultimately it depends on how you want your fortress to look.

=== Layout ===
Due to the limited resources of a new fortress, setting up a communal sleeping area in a dormitory is often the best short-term solution. However, you can also set up individual bedrooms for dwarves.

'''Benefits of individual bedrooms:'''
* Dwarves are happier with their own bedroom and furniture.
* Individual rooms can increase your fort's perceived wealth.
'''Benefits of dormitories:'''
* Dormitories are easier to set up and expand (only one room is necessary, and each dwarf only requires one bed).
* Sleeping dwarves are much less likely to be attacked when other dwarves are around them.
* Multiple dwarves can sleep in a dormitory. In contrast, only one dwarf can ever sleep in a bedroom (dwarves cannot sleep in another dwarf's bedroom, even when unoccupied).
* Far fewer beds are needed – in a fort of 50 dwarves, for example, around five dwarves will be sleeping at a time (on average). A dormitory, therefore, rarely requires above ten beds, while individual bedrooms would require 50 beds to be built.
* Even when all of the beds are occupied, dwarves will still sleep in the general area of the dormitory. This is more convenient than having dwarves sleeping all over your fort.
For now, setting up a dormitory is easiest (although you can change this later, if you feel the need to).

=== Building ===
Queue up as many beds as you need in a carpenter's workshop (no more than 3 or 4 should be necessary for a dormitory). Build the beds with {{k-|b|f|b}}. You can check "Keep building after placement" to place multiple beds. (As long as your furniture/general-purpose stockpile isn't full yet, dwarves will store beds in them as they are finished, so there may be a delay before they're available to be built.)

'''Setting up a dormitory:'''
# Dig out an empty room in the location you selected.
# Open the {{K|z}}one menu and click on "Dormitory". Draw a rectangle over the room you dug out.
# Once you have a bed ready, build it anywhere in your dormitory.
You can place multiple beds in the dormitory.

[[File:Quickstart-level-7-bedrooms.png|thumb|right|An example of individual bedrooms (with furniture, discussed below)]]
'''Setting up individual bedrooms:'''
# Dig out a small room for each bed (the size and shape are up to you, but 2 to 4 tiles generally works best).
# Build each bed ({{K-|b|f|b}}) in a room when ready
# Make sure each room is enclosed by a door ({{K-|b|p|r}}). You can make doors at the carpenter's or stoneworker's workshops.
# Open the {{K|z}}one menu, and click on "Bedroom".
# Click "Multi" (instead of "Paint"), and draw a rectangle containing multiple bedrooms. Each room with a bed, enclosed by a door, will be marked as a bedroom.
You should see {{DFtext|Current owner: Nobody}} in the menu. A dwarf will eventually get around to claiming the bedroom – you don't need to assign each dwarf to a specific bedroom.

==Nobles and Administrators==
Hit the {{k|n}} key to open up the [[Noble|nobles and administrators]] screen. The most important positions to assign are '''[[manager]]''', '''[[broker]]''', and '''[[bookkeeper]]'''.
* A '''manager''' will allow you to queue up [[work order]], which will greatly simplify managing your production.
* A '''bookkeeper''' will allow you to maintain inventory counts on the stoc{{K|k}}s screen so you'll know what you do and don't have.
* A '''broker''' is necessary to trade with a caravan once one has arrived at your [[trade depot]].

===Manager & Bookkeeper===
Your [[expedition leader]] is a good choice for manager and bookkeeper when starting out. Don't worry that it's just one dwarf doing all this; none of these jobs take very long.

:''See [[Stocks]] for a detailed explanation of the stoc{{K|k}}s screen.''

===Broker===
The broker should be another one of your other dwarves (rather than being the same as your bookkeeper) so that they're not too busy doing bookkeeping to actually talk to the traders when a trade delegation arrives.

Don't worry about the [[chief medical dwarf]] yet. They will be needed when you set up your [[Healthcare|hospital]] which won't be covered in this guide. Feel free to go check out the [[Healthcare]] guide once you're done.

===Offices (Studies)===
Some of your administrative positions (manager and bookkeeper) require an [[office]] in order to function. If your manager, for example, doesn't have an office, you will not be able to do any of the things that require a manager even though you have one assigned.
[[File:Quickstart-noble-selection.png|right|thumb|Nobles screen. The red stuff turns white once an office is assigned.]]

Earlier you should have queued up a table and throne in your mason's shop, and they should be done by now.
# Dig out a room near your sleeping quarters or stockpiles (at least 1x3, no more than 5x5).
# Place the furniture in it with {{k-|b|f|r}} (chair) and {{k-|b|f|t}} (table).
# Wait for the dwarves to install the furniture
# Using the {{K|z}}ones menu, mark the room as an office, and then assign the office to your expedition leader (who should be both your bookkeeper and manager).
# Hit {{K|n}} to verify that these positions now have the office they need (if so, the icon next to the position should no longer be red).

==Furniture==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|width=45%|Different Names, Same Thing|As you've noticed, some things have different names based on what they're made of (for example, chairs vs. thrones and chests vs. coffers) even if they're functionally the same (material almost never makes a difference). [[Furniture#Furniture_types_with_multiple_names|Here's a list.]]

[[Bed]]s are a notable exception — they can only be made of wood.
}}
Now would be a good time to start building some [[furniture]]. You could queue up all these items directly from your workshops, but why not give your new manager a little practice?
Using the work {{K|o}}rders menu, click the clipboard icon in the top right to queue up a new job, and type "[[bed]]", and then select "Make bed." Click the number sign to set the quantity to around 4 (or more, depending on how many beds you need). Next, queue up at least four [[table]]s, eight [[throne]]s/chairs, and four doors. Make sure you select a material you have – rock or wood will both work for all of these (except beds), so use whatever you have in your stockpiles. If you like, you can also queue up a few wooden [[chest]]s or rock coffers and [[cabinet]]s (which can be used in bedrooms, if you set up individual bedrooms). The tables and chairs will go in your [[dining room]], speaking of which...

==Dining and Food Prep Area==
Right off the main stairwell (any unused area by the staircase will work), create three rooms. One will be for general food storage, one a [[dining room|dining hall]], and one a [[kitchen]]. The kitchen will allow you to make [[Cook#Recipes|prepared food]]. Make the room for the kitchen 5x5. The storage area and dining hall should be larger. Ideally, leave empty space on at least one side of your dining hall so that it can be expanded later if necessary.

[[File:Quickstart_dining_area.png|right|thumb|Dining level with dining hall (east), kitchen (north), storage area (west), fishery, butcher's workshop, and tanner's workshop (south).]]

Use {{K-|b|o|f|k}} to build the kitchen in the middle of the 5x5 room. Use {{k|p}} to create food stockpiles in the remaining space around it, as well as the entire food storage room. Go back to your general-purpose stockpile on the top level and change the settings to disable food (click "Food" then click "None" in the center column). This will cause any food in your general purpose stockpile to get moved to your new food-only stockpiles. Hit {{K|y}} and select ''[[Kitchen]]'' from the top of the screen, then disable all cooking for plants, and enable brewing for them so that they will only be used for brewing. Also disable alcoholic beverages for cooking, otherwise your cooks will waste perfectly good hooch in their cooking. The only time you might want to use alcohol in cooking is when you have lots of booze but are running out of food. If you plan to do any fishing, dig out another area and create a [[Fishery]] on this level so the uncleaned fish your fisherdwarf just caught can be cleaned (gutted) for consumption or cooking. If you plan to do any hunting or [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] any animals, create a [[Butcher's shop]] on this level so animal corpses can be butchered. The fishery/butcher's shop can be placed behind the kitchen or the general food stockpile, for example. A door is recommended for the butcher's shop in order to contain [[Miasma]] should something rot, and to otherwise avoid offending squeamish dwarves. Eventually, go check out the subpage on [[/Stockpiles/]] for more information on fine-tuning these stockpiles for maximum efficiency. For now you can safely procrastinate on this and move on to the next section.

==Placing Furniture==
Once your furnishings are complete, you need to place them in rooms using the build furniture ({{K-|b|f}}) command. Put the new chai{{K|r}}s and {{k|t}}ables in the dining room. If you like, you can add doors for aesthetics (they can be useful in case something starts rotting in your food stockpiles). If you created chests and cabinets, you can add them to each room if you want, but it is not urgent now.

==Meeting Hall==
Add a Meeting Area {{K|z}}one in the dining room. This will cause idle dwarves to hang around in the dining hall. You want idlers in a central location, close to where you will be placing your emergency drawbridge levers. You should probably remove the temporary meeting area (and any other meeting areas that you created earlier).

==Checking Supplies==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Hostile Wilds|Before turning on either hunting or fishing, examine the {{K|u}}nits screen to see if there are any dangerous critters your hunters/fishers need worry about. With hunting especially, you may need to check this screen frequently.}}
Use the [[stocks|stoc{{K|k}}s]] screen to check your stock levels. How much food and booze do you have left? You only have unprepared food at this point, and the booze you brought with you, but soon you will be making more. If you are running low on food, you can designate gathering some [[shrub|outdoor plants]], [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] some animals, turn on [[fishing]], or turn on [[hunting]] to tide you over for a bit. Hunting and slaughtering animals both require a butcher's shop.

==Brewing and Cooking==
Once your first crop of plump helmets starts to come in, you will want to start [[brewing]] as a [[repeat]]ing task. Also, now would be a good time to start [[cooking]] actual meals rather than forcing your dwarves to eat raw food. Cooking [[Cooking#Recipes|easy meals]] will train dwarves faster, but they may be happier with [[Cooking#Recipes|lavish meals]]. So, you might want to cook easy ones until your cook or cooks skill up to a certain point then have them start making lavish meals. Prepared food is cooked from two (easy), three (fine), or four (lavish) raw food/alcohol ingredients. Each prepared food item will be called a 'something' (for instance, a specific animal meat) "biscuit", "stew", or "roast" depending on the lavishness of the meal.

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Conserving Resources|Some things absolutely require wood (like beds and charcoal), but others can be made out of more common materials like stone. For this reason it's best, especially in the beginning, to make everything that you can out of stone. For example, you could make wood chests and barrels, but stone coffers and rock pots would let you save wood for things that require it and help you rid yourself of all that stone. And if you decide you want solid gold chests or something later when you have more resources, you can always throw out the rock coffers.}}
Speaking of booze, in order to keep the booze flowing, you will need to create some [[barrel]]s, or some stone [[pot]]s. Your dwarves should have emptied a few barrels by now to get you started, but you will definitely need more. A ''lot'' more. If you have an abundance of trees, then you can designate some more for cutting, and have your carpenter make a bunch of wooden barrels, but it may be more prudent to make a [[Craftsdwarf's workshop]], make sure someone has the [[Stonecrafting]] labor enabled, and build a bunch of rock pots. (Rock pots are essentially barrels made of rock.) And don't worry that you've made too many; you almost can't get enough of them. Keep checking your food and drink stock levels on the {{K|z}} screen periodically. While cooked food (properly stockpiled) and alcohol don't spoil, there is really no need to stock 2,000 units of dwarven wine at this point. Ten times the number of drinks and meals as you have dwarves is more than enough. If you start running out of food or drinks, designate some wild plants for harvesting, [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] some of your animals, start hunting or fishing, or start more farms. (Actually, now would be a fine time to make another 3x3 farm. Set it to produce [[sweet pod]]s in the spring and summer, [[cave wheat]] or [[pig tail]]s (your choice) in the fall (autumn), and [[plump helmet]]s in the winter. Having multiple types of plants will give your dwarves more variety in their food and drink, keeping them from [[Thought|grumbling]].)

==Storage Space==
{{TipBox2|titlebg=#0a0|float=right|Advanced Stockpiling|Check out the [[/Stockpiles|Stockpiles]] sub-page for more information on fine-tuning your stockpiles, especially in the food production area. This is somewhat complicated and it can safely be skipped if you don't feel like tinkering with stockpiles right now.}}
You should probably start making some wooden '''[[Bin|bins]]''' to help you store more stuff in less space. You might not need them yet, but you certainly will later. Bins are somewhat like barrels/pots, but they can store things other than just food and drink. Bins will also reduce the amount of labor needed to [[haul]] things to your trade depot or other stockpiles. So designate some more trees to be chopped down and queue up some bins. As with barrels and pots, you almost can't have enough bins.

=Beyond a Minimal Fortress=

By now you should have your main entrance created, along with a farm, general-purpose stockpile, refuse pile (for trash), and [[trade depot]]. Somewhere you should have a mason's shop, a mechanic's shop, a carpenter's shop, and a jeweler's shop, surrounded by appropriate storage piles with garbage zone (for excess stone). You should also have a furnished dining area with kitchen, still, and food storage, and a residential area with furnished bedrooms and an office. You should have selected your administrators, and might even have an optional fishery, butcher's shop, craftsdwarf's workshop, or other stuff. At this point, you have all the components of a minimal but functional fortress! Your next steps will be to make it safer and better-protected, to set up your [[metal industry]], and later to prepare your [[military|militia]].

==Traps==
Start producing '''[[mechanism]]s''' at your [[mechanic's workshop]]. Queue up ten. After they are built, use them to create [[Trap#Stone-fall_Trap|stone fall traps]] using {{k-|b|t|t}}. Be sure not to block access to your depot! Queue up some [[cage]]s, and more mechanisms, and use these to create some [[Trap#Cage_Trap|cage traps]] right after your stone traps. Cage traps are incredibly effective at stopping ambushers, but traps in general will not protect you from [[thief|thieves and kidnappers]] who will almost always bypass them. (To deal with these ambushers, see the next section on [[#Guard Animals|guard animals]]). Continue to fill up your entry hall with alternating rows of stone and cage traps as the parts become available. Ideally you want to have enough cage traps to take out most of the [[goblin]]s so your military will only have to mop up.

Note that traps will block wagons from reaching your trade depot (although pack animals will still arrive safely). A few ways to avoid this are shown below:

{|
|-
|<diagram>
[#1:1]^^^^^
[#2:1].....
.....
.....
[#1:1]^^^^^
</diagram>
|A simple strategy, most useful above ground where invaders can come from the sides – underground, this is less useful (invaders don't tend to emerge from the walls).
'''Legend:''' In this diagram and the one below, traps are blue {{DFtext|^|1:1}} (^) symbols, and the green {{DFtext|.|2:1}} and red {{DFtext|.|4}} (.) symbols represent the ground and cave floor.
|-
|<diagram fg="4:0">
░░░░░░░░░
░.......░
░.......░
░.......░
....[#1:1]^[#]....
....[#1:1]^[#]....
....[#1:1]^[#]....
░░░░░░░░░
</diagram>
|A more complex design, but also extremely effective (best used underground). The majority of invaders will choose to take the shortest path, directly through the traps. This can also be extended to make a wider group of traps of a longer safe route.

This is relatively easy to implement if you already have a 3-tile wide hallway – just dig a small loop off it and place traps in the old location.
|}

Note that this is only necessary when caravans can't get to your trade depot, because the hallway is filled with traps - if your trade depot is not behind a trap-lined hallway, you can safely make a hallway full of traps - citizens won't trigger traps.

If you place a trap somewhere you didn't mean to, remove it by clicking on it and selecting "Remove this building".

==Guard Animals==
Create one 1x1 [[pasture]] near the beginning of your entryway, in the middle tile, using {{K|z}}. Assign a [[dog]] or other non-grazing animal to it. This animal will spot thieves and raiders before they gain entrance to your fortress. Try to pick a disposable animal, as it ''will'' be slaughtered by the first ambush raiders. Ideally, don't assign female animals; you want them safe for [[Meat industry#Breeding|breeding]] (you should make sure to keep at least one male around for breeding as well).

==Drawbridge==
In case of an [[ambush]] or [[siege]], you will want to close up your fort, keeping the goblins out until your [[squad]]s have formed up and are in position. Therefore, you can build a [[Bridge|drawbridge]] ({{k-|b|n|b}}) to seal off your entryway. Make sure to set the draw direction, which then forms a barrier to block enemy ranged units. If you don't get the orientation of the bridge correct, it will just retract (disappear) instead of raising up, allowing enemy ranged units to fire across.

Put the drawbridge between the trade depot and the hall-o-traps so you can lock things out of the fort. Build a lever ({{k-|b|m|l}}) near your meeting area and [[Lever#Linking|link]] it to the drawbridge by clicking on the lever and selecting "Link lever". (This linking will require 3 [[mechanisms]] in total.)

==Metal Industry==
[[File:Quickstart-level-2-forge.png|thumb|right|Level -2: Forge and smelters with ore stockpile in the middle.]]
Now, below your first workshop level, dig out four more 5x5 rooms around the stairwell. Three of these will be [[smelter]]s ({{k-|b|o|u|l}}), and one a [[metalsmith's forge]] ({{k-|b|o|i}}). Designate stockpiles for bars around the smelters and forge. The bar stockpiles will hold [[Fuel|coke and charcoal]] and metal [[bar]]s. You will probably need larger bar stockpiles, but you can dig out more space and expand them later. Also dig out some space and create a stockpile for [[ore]] somewhere nearby. To make an ore stockpile, designate a stone stockpile, then change the settings on it to forbid all types of stone other than ore. Finally, go to your general-purpose stockpile on the top level and disable Bars. Stone should already be disabled on this stockpile, and if so, then ore is already disabled for it.

===Wood Burning===
Somewhere near your carpenter's shop, near your wood stockpile, dig out an area and build a [[wood furnace]] ({{k-|b|o|u|f}}). This is where you will create charcoal (see below) and ash (for making soap). Dwarf Fortress has two forms of carbon which are useful as [[fuel]] in the metal industry: ''charcoal'' (which is charred wood), and ''coke'' (refined coal). They are completely interchangeable. If your map has a lot of '''lignite''' or '''bituminous coal''', you can process that into coke, using charcoal to jump-start the process. If you don't find coal on your map, you'll need to either dig down to [[magma]] or make charcoal out of wood to run your forges and smelters, but don't worry about this yet. You need to do some digging around.

===Mining===
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|"I have struck what?"|New players who don't have a degree in geology usually find themselves confused as to what all these mineral names mean. In DF you'll never strike "iron ore" but you will strike [[magnetite]] or [[limonite]] which are [[ore]]s of [[iron]]. If you don't know that these things are ores of iron then it obviously won't occur to you to try to smelt iron. See '''''[[The Non-Dwarf's Guide to Rock]]''''' to help you figure out exactly what you've found.}}
At this point you want to start looking for metal ore. You may have already found some while digging out rooms, in which case you can just mine into the walls of the rooms to get more ore. If you haven't found ore yet or you want to see what else you can find, you will need to dig [[Exploratory mining|exploratory tunnels]] looking for ores, minerals, and [[gem]]s. For now just start digging tunnels out from your stairwell or rooms in all directions and see what you run into. Note that digging into '''damp stone''' or '''warm stone''' is not recommended as those areas may be holding back water or lava which can flood your fort.

===Fuel===
Whether you find [[coal]] or not, you will need to burn wood into at least one unit of [[charcoal]]. If you find some coal ([[lignite]] or [[bituminous coal]]), start your [[smelter]]s out processing it into [[coke]] using your charcoal to get things started. From then out you can burn coke to make more coal into more coke and so on. Put these coke-making jobs on repeat. Only use one smelter to begin with, but you should be getting a group of [[Immigration|immigrants]] fairly soon, if you haven't already, and you can put them to work in the other smelters. Don't give up on finding coal right away. Dig around for a while and if you're starting to get impatient then burn some more wood into charcoal, smelt some ore, and make some [[weapon]]s. If you rely on charcoal for fuel then you'll be needing a ''lot'' of wood, so in that case dig out another room near the furnace and create a wood stockpile. You might also want to just remove a smelter, replace it with a [[wood furnace]], and create the new wood stockpile down in the smelting area. Finally, go designate more trees for chopping.

===Forging===
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Alternative Energy|If you don't find coal then you will have to continue to burn wood into charcoal, or dig down to the bottom of the map and find the magma sea so you can power [[magma smelter]]s and [[magma forge]]s. Getting to magma can be difficult for various reasons that you will discover, so make sure you are ready for some trouble before you go that direction. Burning charcoal should work out okay in the short term.}}
Once you have smelted some ore to get metal bars, and have additional bars of either coal or charcoal, you can start forging metal items. Here are some suggestions on what to make first:
#'''[[Pick]]s''' - You may have only started out with one pick which limits the number of miners you have to one. By this point you are probably wishing you had more miners. Make a few picks and give some dwarves the mining labor once you get some immigrants. It doesn't matter what metal you use to make picks, at least when it comes to mining, so even copper is perfectly good.
#'''[[Weapon]]s''' - Picks actually make pretty good weapons, but there can be some issues equipping them because they're tied to the mining labor. You may want to make a few axes. They make good weapons, at least against most lightly armored opponents you're likely to encounter first, and can be used to chop trees. Start with 5 or so.
#'''[[Armor]]''' - You're going to want some armor. Start with mail shirts, helms, leggings, then gauntlets and boots. Start with 3 or so of each in the order listed, then make more later when your military grows. Also make some shields out of wood, unless you're swimming in metal (since the shield's material doesn't matter for defensive purposes). Once you have the essentials covered, you can include breastplates (but they take 3 bars of metal to make, and they don't cover as much of the torso and arms as a mail shirt).
An important thing to note is that mail shirts protect the upper leg as well as the torso and arms, and high boots protect the lower leg. As dwarves have no knees (at least in military terms), high boots and mail shirts are sufficient to protect your dwarves' legs.
[[Steel]] is the best normal metal to make armor and most weapons out of, but you will likely find that you want some arms before you can make steel. [[Iron]] is good, as is [[bronze]]. [[Copper]] is not ideal, but it still works and is better than no metal weapons/armor at all.

==Gemcutting and Trinkets==
You should have uncovered some [[gem]]s by now, so put your [[jeweler]] to work [[Gem cutter|cutting]] them. These will be used for [[Trading|trade]]. Only buy things that you need in the first year. [[Finished goods|Stone crafts]] produced by a craftsdwarf can make good trading goods as well. To get enough goods, you will need to dedicate a craftsdwarf's workshop and craftsdwarf to this task full-time, but you're very unlikely to ever run out of stone.

==Sticking to the Plan==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Getting Distracted|Say one of your new immigrants turns out to be a legendary weaver. Should you plant some pig tails and create a loom for him? '''No!''' Put his legendary butt to work smelting metal or something that's part of your current industry even though he has no skill at it. Do not split your efforts yet. You can make use of his unique talents later when you can afford to diversify your industry.}}
Metalsmithing will be your primary economic activity, with cutting gems (and possibly making stone crafts) being used to give you some short-term [[wealth]] until the [[metal industry]] gets going. This means you will need miners, haulers, smiths and furnace operators. Unless a dwarf is doing something else vital to the proper functioning of your fort, such as training in the militia, making traps, cooking food, and so forth, they should be doing one of those four things.

==Wealth and Invasion==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Crafting Invitations for Trouble|Creating too much wealth initially is a sure fire method of pulling down a goblin ambush that you are ill-equipped to deal with. Titans will also start attacking you should your wealth go over a certain amount. For this reason, spend no time smelting gold, smoothing, or engraving anything yet. Most of the wealth you create in the beginning should be the [[weapon|sharp pointy kind]].}}
You may have struck [[gold]] or some other valuable metal, and you may be tempted to put your furnaces and smiths to work creating valuable metal crafts. Don't do it! Until you have your militia formed and fully equipped with armor and weaponry, your smelters and forge should be doing nothing else but smelting cheaper materials like coal, iron, making pig iron and steel if possible, and making weapons and armor. Making [[steel]] will actually increase your wealth quite a bit, but at least you can stab and beat things to death with steel; you can't make weapons from gold.

=Military=

Your '''military''' is an important part of fortress defense. Unless you have totally cut yourself off from the outside world, then you will want at least some sort of military. Once you reach this point, you should hopefully have enough dwarves to start a small military training program. You will need at least 5 dwarves who aren't otherwise doing anything important. If you don't have any spare dwarves yet, or just don't want to mess with it yet, just skip to the next section and come back to this later. Don't wait too long to set up your military though; you especially will want soldiers before you reach a population of 80 dwarves. (You will find out why.) When you're ready to start up your military, see the [[Military quickstart]] guide.

= What Next? =

Congratulations! If you've made it this far then you have a self-sustaining fort going and can now start to branch out into whatever you are interested in exploring. Expect some goblin invasions, forgotten beasts, titans, dragons, giants, and other creatures to interrupt your activities at various points. This is part of the [[fun]].

Here are some things that people almost always do eventually, though not necessarily in any particular order (these are somewhat essential):
*Build [[coffin]]s and a graveyard or [[tomb]]s for dead dwarves and pets
*Set up a [[Healthcare|hospital]]
*Build a [[well]]
*Start producing [[textile industry|clothing]] to replace [[wear|worn-out attire]]
*Build a [[jail]] for unruly dwarves
*Set up [[Scheduling#Alert_Levels|civilian alerts]] to get civilians to a safe area during ambushes and sieges

Here are some things that players often do as their population grows:
*[[Smoothing|Smooth]] and [[engraving|engrave]] walls and floors
*Produce [[Meat industry|Meat]], [[Egg production|eggs]], milk and [[Beekeeping industry|honey]]
*Continue to expand the [[military]]
*Explore new [[Industry|industries]]
*Dig down to the [[caverns]] and create a defended lower entrance with traps to defend the fort against the [[creatures|denizens]] below
*Enable [[Animal training]] for a dwarf and train some war animals
*Build a [[Mass pitting]] system to dispose of caged enemies
*Build above-ground [[construction]]s such as an archery tower or garden
*Create a [[statue|statue garden]] or [[zoo]]
*Farm in an [[Farming#Above-ground_farming|above-ground farm plot]]
*Dig down to [[magma]] and set up [[magma forge]]s and [[magma smelter]]s to avoid the need for fuel
*Build [[machine component]]s to pump magma and water
*Create more [[Trap design|elaborate traps]] such as magma and drowning chambers
*Try some [[stupid dwarf trick]]s

You may also want to just read over the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] and the many other very useful documents on the wiki to give you other ideas of what to do.

Keep in mind that how you play is not set in stone. Some people never defend, some start a [[Megaprojects|megaproject]] right after settling, some never dig and just build an above ground castle or town using logs. Some never smelt ore, some start smelting as soon as they arrive. Some make their home in the dangerous natural caverns. Some deal with invaders by flooding the map or isolating themselves completely. And that's not even considering the [[List of mods|mods]] and some of the crazier [[challenges]] that people have come up with. There's really no one "right" way to play DF.

= Feedback =
If you have any feedback on this guide, you can leave a message on the [[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|talk page]] for this article.

{{Getting Started}}
{{Category|Fortress mode}}
{{Category|Quickstart guide}}

[[ru:Быстрый старт]]
[[zh:Quickstart guide]]

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IceWorm:

Screen after you have chosen an embark site

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Depicts a white embark square in ASCII mode with details of resizing the embark in the top-left corner and details of the location in the top-right.

Industry

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{{Quality|Exceptional|12:32, 30 December 2015 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
[[File:industry_preview.jpg|thumb|300px|right|[[Human]]s busy with their own industry.]]
All dwarves love [[currency|money]], and a complete '''industry''' in all its glory is the easiest way to make lots and lots of money.

Traditionally, industries have been broken into primary (resource extraction), secondary (the refining and reprocessing of these resources into goods), and tertiary (provision of services). Although dwarves are not typically known for their intellectual pursuits, with the introduction of libraries, your fortress can even have a quaternary sector "industry" (science, information generation and sharing).

Industries can be broken into the following categories. These categories are based on [http://geography.about.com/od/urbaneconomicgeography/a/sectorseconomy.htm Economy Sectors]. Note that the end products of one industry are often the inputs to another, and some industries can fit into more than one category.

===Primary industries===
*[[Wood industry]]: Growing and [Wood cutting|cutting wood] to produce items, including furniture and fuel. To start wood crafting, a carpenter's workshop is needed. Wood can be used for making pretty much anything, but note that wooden weapons will become training weapons instead (great for a danger room) and that wood is definitely not magma-safe (obvious). Those tree-hugging elves will whine and send a diplomat begging you to stop if you chop too many trees down.
*[[Stone industry]]: Exploration and mining of stone to produce buildings and items. Stone is a versatile material and can be used to make furniture and crafts, or build stone walls to protect your squishier dwarves. Note that any type of wall cannot currently be destroyed by any invader/monster, no matter the material (wood, stone, clay,...) but for role-playing purposes, having stone walls sounds so much better than having wooden ones.
*[[Farming]] industry: The gathering and farming of plants for food and textiles.
*[[Fishing industry]]: Fish are harvested and processed into food and shells. Fishermen will automatically fish in nearby pools and rivers unless you designate a fishing area. Shells are great for making crafts and/or encrusting them in finished goods.
*[[Meat industry]]: Animals are processed into [[meat]], [[leather]], [[bone]]s, teeth, [[horn]]s and [[skull]]s. Meat rots away pretty fast, so don't overdo it if you already have an abundance of food. Leather is great for clothing as well as making backpacks, quivers and waterskins. Farming animals for their bones is a great idea since a legendary bone carver can encrust your finished goods with said bones masterfully, thus increasing the value of your fort dramatically (and making your dwarves get more happy thoughts). Small teeth are useless, but larger teeth and horns are valuable items for making crafts or encrusting furniture/finished goods. If you have too many skulls lying around, make totems. Masterful skull totems of even unremarkable animals, such as turkeys, may fetch 120 dwarfbucks per totem. Note that having many animals on-site will tank your FPS.
*[[Beekeeping industry]]: Bees are collected into hives, which produce honeycomb and royal jelly.
*[[Poultry industry]]: Raising egg-laying animals primarily to collect and consume the eggs. Excess animals can be used in the meat industry as a byproduct. [[Crundle]]s produce a ton of eggs, and hatch in adult form, making them a great source of eggs, meat, bones and skulls (nasty but effective).

===Secondary industries===
*[[Alcohol]] industry: The production of alcohol to keep dwarves hydrated and content. Dwarves drink as many times as you blink per day. They are also massive alcoholics, and if you cut their supply of booze they will get very cranky and show withdrawal symptoms. Alcohol is made at the still and can be used to make food too.
*[[Armor]] industry: Metal, wood, leather, and bone are used to produce armor to keep your dwarves safe. Wood, leather, and bone provide minimal protection. Metal is key, but note that armor is meaningless against [[Titan]]s, as a blow from them would probably turn your dwarf into a bloody pulp.
*[[Ceramic industry]]: Clay is used to create moderate quality containers, bricks, crafts, and statues. Kilns are also used to produce [[gypsum plaster]] for [[Healthcare]] and [[pearlash]] for the [[Glass industry]].
*[[Finished goods]] industry: Almost all materials can be used to produce crafts for export. The base of your economy, crafts can be massed produced and thus are a valuable trading commodity.
*[[Food]] industry: Cooking of items such as meat, eggs, flour, and plants to make meals for hungry dwarves.
*[[Fuel industry]]: The production of fuel to support the metal, glass and ceramics industries either with charcoal or coal.
*[[Furniture industry]]: Using stone, wood, and metal to produce furniture, primarily for installation in your outpost.
*[[Glass industry]]: Sand is used to create low-quality gems, plus an assortment of other goods.
*[[Gem industry]]: Raw gems are cut, some into finished goods, while most are then used to decorate ("encrust") a multitude of items.
*[[Metal industry]]: Raw ore is refined into metal bars, which may be used for weapons, armor, furniture, and crafts. Prioritize your weapon-grade metals (bronze, steel, iron, etc...) to make weapons and tools. Gold is useful if you want to bump up the value of certain rooms or satisfy your roleplaying needs (gold throne, gold chains that hold the most exotic pets, gold doors leading to your monarch's room, etc...)
*[[Soap]] industry: The production of soap to be used in healthcare.
*[[Textile industry]]: Plant fiber, spider silk, and wool/hair thread are woven into cloth to produce clothing, rope, bags, and bandages, and to decorate crafts.
*[[Extract]] industry: Vermin and plants can be processed into valuable extracts for export.
*[[Weapon]] industry: Metal, wood, stone, and bone are used to produce weapons to keep the goblins away.
*[[Paper industry]]{{version|0.42.01}}: Papyrus, cloth plants, or animal hide with milk of lime are processed into paper sheets. These are used for quires and scrolls. Written-on quires and parchments can be bound into a book and they show up in the "artifacts" menu.

===Tertiary industries===
*[[Noble|Administration]]: Dwarves who process work orders, keep the inventory, administer justice, and meet with foreign diplomats. Also good at pulling levers.
*[[Healthcare]]: Patching up your inevitably-wounded dwarves.
*[[Military]]: Brave dwarves put themselves in danger so that others may live in peace.
*[[Trading]]: Fortress goods are exchanged for materials and goods from other civilized places.
*Entertainment: Attract visitors to your fort using [[Tavern]]s.

===Quaternary industries===
*[[Library]]: Dwarves and visiting scholars will discuss new ideas about life, the universe and everything else. Quires and scrolls can be filled with the acquired knowledge and can be read by your dwarves for happy thoughts (or be copied and sold for profit).
*[[Temple]]: Religious activities

{{Category|Industry| }} {{Industry}}
[[ru:Industry]]

Stockpile

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{{For/see|exploits related to stockpiling|[[Quantum stockpile]]}}

'''Stockpiles''' are where [[dwarf|dwarves]] store items of various types, usually in a safer, closer or more convenient place for the consumers. Dwarves with the corresponding "[[hauling]]" job will seek out items that are not already on a stockpile that accepts them and carry them to an appropriate stockpile, if available. It's important to place your stockpiles carefully to minimize the amount of time spent carrying items back-and-forth. Items in a stockpile may be stored in [[container]]s such as [[bag|bags]], [[barrel|barrels]] or [[bin|bins]] (see [[Using bins and barrels]]). Seed bags, flour bags, and dye bags can go inside barrels. Empty bags, however, cannot be stacked.
[[Image:StockpilesMenu2010.png|right]]
== Allocating stockpiles ==

To allocate an area as a stockpile, use the {{key|p}} menu. The right-hand menu pane will list all the stockpile categories, and the appropriate key to press to begin allocating that type. Allocating an area works exactly the same as designating an area. Press {{k|Enter}} to specify the first corner of the stockpile, use the primary movement keys to move the cursor to the opposite corner, and press {{k|Enter}} again. (Alternatively, it is possible to use the mouse at this stage to select individual tiles) This will create a stockpile of the chosen type that occupies the area between the two corners specified. If the chosen area has parts that cannot be made into a stockpile, like a [[wall]], a [[workshop]], or an already existing stockpile, a stockpile will be created but they will not be part of it.

When creating a stockpile, any movable items (e.g. loose [[stone]], unbuilt [[furniture]], etc.) currently occupying the designated tiles will automatically be considered part of the stockpile, even if the stockpile settings disallow those particular items. These items also mark the tile as "full", so no new items will be stored in that tile until all the original items in the tile are moved. To handle unwanted items, you can specify that the stockpile "gives" to a workshop or stockpile that will accept those items, or use a [[dump]] command to have them carried off to a garbage [[zone]].

Removing a stockpile works exactly the same, but choose {{key|x}}: Remove Designation. This will un-designate the specified area. It is possible to create a single stockpile with a shape other than a rectangle by using the Remove Designation tool to remove only part of the stockpile. This can be useful for cutting out sections of a stockpile in a way to carve a convenient path through them.

Stockpiles cannot be expanded once created; you must delete the pile and create a new one. [[Utility:DFHack|DFHack]] provides three stockpile-related [https://docs.dfhack.org/en/stable/docs/Plugins.html#stockpiles commands] capable of loading, saving, and copying stockpile settings, which can make moving and resizing stockpiles much less tedious.

=== Stockpile Designation Size Limits ===
Stockpile allocation (and removal) is limited in size: each edge of the designation area is limited to a maximum of thirty-one tiles. The limit is per-edge, so for example a stockpile that is only two tiles wide is still limited to a length of thirty-one (2x31 total size.) The largest possible stockpile is therefore a square of 961 tiles (31*31). DF will not allow a larger area to be selected.

Note that this size limitation applies not only to creating stockpiles, but also to removing them. This means that you also cannot remove stockpiles with {{K|x}} in areas greater than 31 long or wide - DF will limit the operation to an area of 31x31 tiles, at most.

== Using stockpiles ==

Once a stockpile has been allocated, by default dwarves will automatically move items to the stockpile when they are available, and as long as the stockpile has available space. Note that the dwarves will place the item into the empty spot that is nearest to the item, ''not counting any obstructions''{{verify}}. Additional behavior also includes the fact that dwarves will stockpile the ''newest'' item first, which may not necessarily be the nearest item to the stockpile. You can disable automatic stockpiling by setting the stockpile to "take from links only" using {{k|q}} {{k|a}}. Tiles, within a stockpile, containing only forbidden items are considered available space, and can accumulate another item without exploiting [[Quantum_stockpile#Quantum_stockpiles|quantum stockpiling]].

One method to ensure a workshop has raw material on hand is to place a small stockpile next to the workshop. This will speed up production as the crafter in question only has to take a few steps to obtain the material (this also prevents the crafter from dragging material across the entire map when a new job order is issued). Whenever a crafter picks up material from the stockpile, your hauling dwarves will automatically fetch more material to refill the stockpile. This speeds up a queue of jobs, as other dwarves perform the time-consuming distant haul whilst the crafter concentrates on actually making items.

It's not necessary to place stockpiles for all types of objects. If no storage is available for a certain item type, dwarves will seek out items wherever they might lie as mentioned earlier. This can be advantageous — if you don't have a stockpile for [[gem]]s, your [[jeweler]] will go pick up fresh gems without waiting for them to be carried to a pile first. However, this also means your jeweler has to spend a lot of time fetching the gems. If you have enough haulers available, it's generally more advantageous to designate stockpiles than not. Also remember that your workshops will get [[clutter]]ed and suffer production slowdowns if you let ridiculous numbers of items pile up in them, so it's important to occasionally clear out workshops if they get cluttered. This can be done either by having a stockpile available so that haulers will remove the items, by [[DF2012:Exploit#Quantum_stockpiles|quantum stockpiling]] the accumulation, or by removing and rebuilding the workshop, which will empty its contents onto the ground.

== Take from a stockpile/workshop ==

Another feature of stockpiles allows you to tell dwarves to transfer items from one stockpile to another. To specify such a flow, use the {{k|q}} menu, and highlight the ''destination'' stockpile. Press {{k|t}}, and, using the cursor, highlight another stockpile and press {{k|Enter}}. Your chosen stockpile will now list the stockpile it will take from. This will cause items in the second stockpile to be hauled to the first stockpile. To stop the first stockpile from taking items from the second, use the {{K|q}} menu on the first one, highlight the unneeded stockpile in the list using {{K|+}} and {{K|-}} and press {{K|d}}'''elete Selected'''.

Each stockpile can take from any number of other stockpiles. You can't make two stockpiles feed into each other, although larger loops (e.g. three stockpiles that feed into each other in a circle) are allowed.

Stockpiles may also take from a workshop, using the same interface ({{k|q}}-{{k|t}}, then select a workshop instead of a second stockpile). In this setup, any items produced inside the workshop (visible with {{k|t}}) become eligible to move to the stockpile. Be aware that any items produced in the workshop that ''aren't'' accepted by the linked stockpile will not be moved anywhere at all. They will sit inside the workshop until a linked stockpile accepts them.

Enough micromanagement will allow for effective and (relatively) streamlined supply chains. Here are some examples:

*Speeding up [[wood cutting|lumber harvesting]], [[carpentry]], ''and'' [[ash]] and [[charcoal]] production by putting several wood stockpiles near the various [[Chop_down_trees|tree-felling areas]], then one large "primary" stockpile near the [[carpenter's workshop]] that takes from those small ones, and then finally, a small stockpile near the [[wood furnace]] that takes from the primary one.
*A smallish [[plant]] stockpile near your farms, disallowing barrels, will allow harvesters to spend very little time stockpiling the crops they just picked. A larger stockpile near the [[still]] (this one possibly allowing barrels), taking from the smaller stockpile, lets your general-purpose haulers do most of the grunt work of getting plants in place for the brewer. The larger stockpile should be set to "take from links only", so the harvesters do not waste their time.
*A [[clothier's shop]] produces high-quality new [[clothing]]. There is currently no way to stockpile ''only'' new clothing, as opposed to [[wear|worn]] clothing, except for the fact that the new clothing is sitting in its workshop. A stockpile can be set to take from the clothier's shop (and to "take from links only"), so that it only gets new clothing produced in that workshop. If another stockpile with "take from anywhere" and no links is created, that one will accept all the worn clothing - it will never take from the linked clothier's shop. This worn-clothing stockpile may be placed near the [[trade depot]], if you plan to sell the used clothing, or near the [[magma|garbage disposal]], if you do not.

== Give to a stockpile/workshop ==
Conversely, the {{k|g}} key allows a pile to give [[item]]s to another pile, or to a workshop. When giving to a stockpile, an equal and opposite "take from stockpile" is created in the other direction (and vice versa). Deleting one of these inter-stockpile links also deletes the other link.

Specifying that a workshop or furnace will only get its materials from a certain stockpile provides a way to make sure everything that the workshop produces is of a specific material. For example, setting a granite stockpile to give to a mason's workshop ensures that the workshop will only use granite as its material. This is also extremely important when the workshop's input materials are heavy (e.g. [[stone]]s); linking a nearby stone stockpile to the workshop prevents the mason from hauling an enormous rock from hundreds of tiles away.

This option is quite powerful, but should be used '''very''' carefully as the linked workshop will now ''only'' take from the stockpiles set to give to that workshop. Make sure that the workshop gets ''all'' of the materials needed for its jobs there if you use this feature. For example, if you link your ore stockpile to a non-magma [[smelter]], but don't also link a stockpile that includes a [[fuel]] source, then the dwarves will be unable to smelt ores at that smelter due to a lack of fuel. If you set a fuel stockpile to give that smelter, it will still be unable to [[melt]] down items marked for melting, because it only takes from the ore and fuel stockpiles. Another common mistake is setting a plant stockpile to give to a [[still]], but forgetting to also link a [[furniture]] stockpile to the still so that it has access to [[barrel]]s.

==Max bin/barrel ==
The ''max bin'' and ''max barrel'' settings control the number of barrels and bins that are used for the organisation of items inside the stockpile. It can be useful to disallow bins and barrels from some stockpiles, for example stockpiles used to store seeds or for [[Exploit#Quantum stockpiles|quantum stockpiles]], by reducing this setting to 0.

Increasing these numbers is not usually needed - they are set to the number of tiles in the stockpile when it is created, which is the maximum number of bins or barrels the stockpile can hold anyway. Which of bins or barrels is turned on is determined by the item type selected when the stockpile is designated - food stockpiles allow barrels, for example, and bar stockpiles allow bins. However, these settings are not updated if the types of items allowed in the stockpile are changed. If you change the types of items allowed in the stockpile, it may also be useful to change the number of bins and barrels that are allowed in it to allow your dwarves to store those items more efficiently.

== Max wheelbarrow ==
Another feature of the stockpile system, ''max wheelbarrow'' allows the player to control the number of [[wheelbarrow]]s assigned to the stockpile. It can be set to 0, 1, 2, or 3.

If set to 0 (which is the default for all stockpiles other than stone stockpiles), the stockpile will generate a separate hauling job for each item that needs to be placed in it -- potentially one job per tile in the stockpile, simultaneously.

If set to non-zero, then that number of wheelbarrows will be brought to the stockpile. Once a stockpile has wheelbarrows assigned and moved to it, the number of wheelbarrows will act as a limit on the number of simultaneous hauling jobs for moving items to that stockpile. Each hauling job will be performed using a wheelbarrow, rather than by hand. You can see this as fine-tuning the speed of collection of the desired items.

Unfortunately, wheelbarrows are currently rather buggy, and may actually reduce the efficiency of your stockpiles; see [[Wheelbarrow]] for more information.

[[Minecart]]s can also be used for efficient hauling, although they require a much greater infrastructure investment.

== Will take from anywhere ==
A stockpile that will take from anywhere does not restrict the source of its goods. Stockpiles with "take from links only" enabled will only accept goods from their assigned [[workshop]]s and linked stockpiles. You can use {{k|q}} {{k|a}} to toggle this setting on a stockpile.

Setting your [[seed]] stockpiles to "take from links only" will prevent your haulers from carrying your vital seeds back and forth across the map to pick up each new seed in the [[dining room]]. When your stockpiled seeds run low you can temporarily toggle to "anywhere" to collect the loose seeds in bulk.

== Stockpile categories ==

===[[Ammo]]===
This stockpile contains ammo for all forms of ammunition-requiring weaponry (except [[siege engine]]s). It can use [[bin]]s to consolidate stacks.

===[[Animal]]===
[[Creature|Animals]] stored in [[cage|cages]] that are not affixed to a location will be stored in these stockpiles. [[Animal trap|Traps]] used for capturing wild animals and empty [[cage|cages]] are also stored here.

This type of stockpile cannot use bins or barrels.

===[[Armor]]===
Armor of all types is stored here. There is no preference for specific body parts, but usable/unusable armor may be specified. All types of armor can be stored in [[bin]]s.

Note that if refuse is enabled on the stockpile, armor and clothing will [[wear]] at an accelerated rate.

===[[Bar]]/[[Block]]===
Bars of smelted [[metal]] and blocks of cut stone and [[glass]] are kept here after being processed by the [[smelter]], [[mason's workshop|mason's workshops]], and [[glass furnace|glass furnaces]], before being used for other purposes. Weirdly, [[ash|ashes]], [[potash]], [[soap]], [[charcoal]], and [[coke]] from the [[wood furnace]], [[ashery]], [[soap maker's workshop]] and [[smelter]] will also be stored here. As with all stockpiles, this can be changed to allow for specific blocks and bars to be stored with custom settings. [[Bin]]s can be used to consolidate up to 10 bars/blocks.

===[[Cloth]]===
Woven cloth and [[thread]] are stored here (plant fiber, animal hair, and silk). [[Bin]]s can be used to consolidate items.

===[[Currency|Coins]]===
Minted coins are kept here, several thousand of them fitting into a single bin.

===[[Corpse|Corpses]]===
Dead dwarves and [[pet|pets]] that have no burial location will be placed here. If placed indoors, decaying bodies will generate [[miasma]], but [[bone]]s will not be removed at the end of the season. Rotting [[pet]]s or [[friend]]s give dwarves unhappy [[thought]]s unless they are given a proper burial in a [[Coffin|burial receptacle]].

Corpse stockpiles are now also used to dispose of the bodies of ANY sentient being (goblins, trolls, etc.).

===[[Finished goods|Finished Goods]]===
Finished goods created by the [[craftsdwarf's workshop]], as well as the [[clothier's shop]] and the [[leather works]], are placed here before being used in trade or other uses. This type of stockpile can use [[bin|bins]] to consolidate items, over a hundred objects can fit into a bin.

Since this stockpile can also contain supplies that the player might not want to trade away ([[splint]]s, [[crutch]]es, [[rope]]s, [[waterskin]]s...), it is wise to make separate custom stockpiles for these goods.

Note that if refuse is enabled on the stockpile, clothes and armor will [[wear]] at an accelerated rate.

=== [[Food]] ===
As one would assume based on the name, food is stored here, in addition to a wide variety of inedible plant and animal products -- [[seed]]s, [[lye]], [[giant desert scorpion]] venom, bags of [[dye]], and [[liquid fire]], to name a few. Raw [[Creature#Aquatic|fish]] is brought here, before being processed by a [[fishery]] and turned into edible [[meat]]. Drinks are always stored in [[barrel]]s or [[large pot]]s. Seeds are stored in [[bag]]s (which may in turn be stored in barrels/pots); other food items can be stored in barrels or pots.

Barrels and pots can hold, at most, 60 [[prepared meal]]s. Stacks larger than that (☼Dwarven Beer Roast [200]☼ is possible) will not fit in a barrel, but will still only take up one tile of stockpile space. To free up barrels, you may decide to have separate prepared food stockpiles that do not accept barrels - if you cook larger meals, this shouldn't be a problem.

Food will never [[wear|spoil]] while in a stockpile, although it may attract and be eaten by [[vermin]]. Food stockpiles should, in most cases, be restricted to desired types (e.g. [[seed]] stockpiles or meat stockpiles or unprepared fish stockpiles); there are simply too many things that go in them.

Fat and tallow go in the same list and are listed by animal, meaning that manual separation of fat and tallow takes a ''long'' time. Because fat will only ever enter your fortress at a butcher's shop, it is possible to link a general fat/tallow stockpile to the butchers' and have it take only from links. It may be necessary to link the butchers' to the stockpile you want the other butchery products to end up in. If you are playing with [[Utility:DFHack|DFHack]], you can use the search function to show only fat or tallow- the permit and forbid keys to toggle only those visible in the list.

===[[Furniture]] Storage===
Completed items from the [[carpenter's workshop]], [[mason's workshop]], and [[mechanic's workshop]] will be stored here, along with furniture created from other shops, until placed or used in another building. Bags filled with [[sand]] can also be stored in furniture stockpiles, and in fact will appear in any furniture stockpile unless expressly forbidden, regardless of materials permitted.

Since this is a very broad category, it may be useful to create stockpiles for a specific type of item (like barrels, bags, bins, mechanisms) via the stockpile settings.

Furniture cannot be stored in barrels or bins.

===[[Gem]]===
This stockpile stores gems and raw [[glass]], both cut and uncut, along with [[gizzard stone]]s. It can use [[bin]]s to consolidate gems.

===[[Leather]]===
Leather, which is produced at a [[tanner's shop]], will be kept here. Like most stockpiles, it can use [[bin]]s to consolidate items.

===[[Refuse]]===
Since dwarves hate rot, because of the [[miasma]] it spreads when in an enclosed place like a [[cave]], any garbage item that can rot will be stored in a refuse stockpile. Also, any [[wear|XXdamaged itemsXX]] will be moved to the refuse stockpile. Many players prefer to place this stockpile outside their cavern, usually a small distance from the entrance, as rottable items on tiles that are {{DFtext|Outside |3:1}}{{DFtext|Light |6:1}}{{DFtext|Above Ground|2:1}} do not generate miasma.

If placed on a {{DFtext|Subterranean|0:1}} tile, decaying items will generate miasma, which will spread through your fortress and generate a small unhappy thought in any dwarf passing through it. For this reason, it is sensible to build [[door|doors]] (preferably several, separated by a few tiles to create an airlock) to all of your indoor refuse stockpiles. Miasma won't spread through a closed door, so only dwarves with business in the room will be bothered by the rot.

An alternative to this is to dig [[channel|channels]] down from the surface, creating an area of tiles considered to be {{DFtext|Light |6:1}}{{DFtext|Above Ground|2:1}}, yet still located within your fortress. You can place your refuse stockpile here, and although it will be in your fort, rotten items on those tiles will not generate miasma. If you choose to cover them with walls or floors for security and/or aesthetic reasons, it will convert them to {{DFtext|Inside|6:0}}, but they will remain {{DFtext|Light |6:1}}{{DFtext|Above Ground|2:1}} tiles, which again do not generate miasma in rotten items. (For even more creative methods to restrict the spread of foul rotting stench, see the [[miasma]] page.)

[[Bone]]s, [[skull]]s, and [[shell]]s are also stored here, whether from defeated enemies or raw food processing - if left in an area with high [[vermin]] levels, these will randomly disappear. Refuse stockpiles can be restricted to store only [[bone]]s, [[skull]]s, [[shell]]s, teeth, and horns/hooves.

Note that a refuse stockpile is not the same as a [[Activity_zone#Garbage_Dump|garbage dump]]. A garbage dump is only for things manually marked to be dumped. Additionally, refuse types specifically marked as '''Dwarves Dump '''''refuse type'' in {{k|o}}-{{k|r}} will be hauled to the garbage dump instead of the refuse stockpile.

Note that all armor and clothing stored in a refuse stockpile will suffer [[wear]] at an accelerated rate. This is a "feature" intended to dispose of unwanted armor.{{bug|5711}}

Be careful on evil biomes, since some can reanimate dead creatures and body parts. If your fort is located on a map where part is evil and part is not, it is best to put your refuse stockpile on the part that is not evil.

The corpses of sentient beings (goblins, trolls, etc.) are no longer stored in refuse stockpiles, [[Stockpile#Corpses|but in a corpse stockpile instead]]. If your dwarves are not cleaning up bodies, this is probably why.

===[[Sheets]]===
This stockpile stores sheets, including paper and parchment. Like most stockpiles, it can use bins to consolidate items.

===[[Stone]]===
Rough stone will be stored here, as well as [[ore]]. These stockpiles cannot use bins or barrels, but the use of [[wheelbarrow]]s is strongly advised.

[[Stone management]] is a complex topic; in the simplest terms, most stones are extremely heavy, so you want to minimize the distance they are [[hauling|hauled]] by hand (e.g. from the stone [[stockpile]] to the [[mason's workshop]] or [[smelter]]) by putting such stockpiles very close to the workshops that they feed.

===[[Weapon|Weapons]]===
Weapons of all types are stored here by default, including picks, trap components, and weapons too large for dwarves to use. [[Bin]]s can be used to consolidate weapons of any type.

===[[Wood]]===
Chopped trees are brought to the wood stockpile before being used by carpenter's workshop, a wood furnace or siege workshop. Because wood takes a long time to haul and tends to travel a long way, the stockpile should be rather close to a fortress entrance (which does not necessarily mean on the upper z-levels - moving down one z-level is only one tile), unless you have an [[Tower-cap|underground tree farm]]. It is a good idea to position this stockpile close to your carpenter's workshop (or the other way round) since he is likely to be the main "customer". Wood stockpiles will also accept "grown" wood logs that elves bring.

This type of stockpile cannot use bins or barrels.

===Additional Options===
The options are "Allow Plant/Animal" (organic goods) and "Allow Non-Plant/Animal (non-organic goods). Unlike all the other categories, the Additional Options settings apply to all other active categories. A stockpile that allows neither organic nor non-organic goods will never receive any items. Disabling "Additional Options" is a common cause of stockpile problems, and these options generally aren't useful anyway.

=== Custom stockpiles ===

With custom stockpiles, you can change which types of materials, goods, etc., can be stored in that stockpile. Any type of things can be mixed, so you could have a stockpile that will hold raw [[turtle]], [[mechanism|mechanisms]] and all stone types apart from [[onyx]] if you wanted, or only high-quality steel crossbow bolts (Ammo), all quivers (a Finished Good), and metal crossbows (a Weapon) - the combinations are endless, and can be finely tuned. Highlighting a stockpile with {{key|q}}, then pressing {{key|s}} will allow you to adjust the stockpile settings or in the {{key|p}} menu you can press {{key|t}} to adjust a custom stockpiles settings before placing it with {{key|c}}. Note that many sub-menus consist of several pages ( the 'other' menu of stone e.g. consists of several pages while 'metal [[ore|ores]]' and 'economic' consist of only one ).

Note that any custom stockpile that accepts any type of [[refuse]] will cause automatic [[wear|degradation]] to all [[clothing]] and [[armor]] stored in that stockpile. It is highly advisable to store your [[shell]]s and [[bone]]s in a separate stockpile.

== Stockpile Settings ==
The '''Stockpile Settings''' screen is weird to use. In the first column are the major categories. In the second column there may or may not be subcategories. In the third you will see the individual items. The second and third columns are only visible when a category is enabled and selected.

You navigate this screen with {{key|+}} and {{key|-}}, and left and right on the arrow keys. {{key|e}} and {{key|d}} are used to enable and disable the categories. {{key|a}} and {{key|b}} are used to allow or disallow all the subcategories. {{key|p}} and {{key|f}} will permit or forbid individual subcategories. These six keys work no matter which column you have selected, though the last four will not always be available. {{key|Enter}} will toggle individual item types.

Be careful when selecting 'block all' on the subcategories as it can make your stockpiles useless. For example, if you block all the furniture subcategories and then re-enable beds under types, the stockpile won't actually accept anything because it still registers all materials and all quality levels as forbidden. The correct way would be to 'forbid types' and then re-enable beds.

=== Core Quality ===

Core quality means the quality of the ''craftsdwarfship of the item''. A masterfully crafted armor (made from qualityless metal bars) has masterful core quality. A finely-crafted dress (made from an exceptional pig tail fiber cloth) has fine core quality (because the craftsdwarfship ''of the item'' is fine).

=== Total Quality ===

Total quality means the highest between the craftsdwarfship of the item and the craftsdwarfship of its components (or decorations). The finely-crafted dress from our previous example has a fine core quality, but its total quality is exceptional because its component — a pig tail fiber cloth — is of exceptional quality. Likewise, a superior quality steel gauntlet, masterfully studded with copper is of masterful total quality (and superior core quality).

A more complex example: A rope reed fiber sock is superiorly decorated with pond turtle shell. Is masterfully crafted from a rope reed fiber cloth which was finely dyed with redroot dye. Core quality: masterful, Total quality: masterful. (Remember, for total quality, the best of either the item's quality, the quality of its components, or the quality of its decorations is chosen.)

See also [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=96501.msg2765710 Crafting Skills, Quality and Statistics research].

=== Notes ===
Some categories will have a special extra type of item(s) that can be toggled with {{key|u}} and sometimes {{key|j}}.

{| border="1" cellpadding="4"
|+
! Categories
! Item type
|-
| Animals
| Empty cages and Empty animal traps
|-
| Food
| Prepared food
|-
| Weapons
| Usable and unusable
|-
| Armor
| Usable and unusable
|}

If you disable an item or items that are already sitting in a stockpile then they become loose items and your dwarves will move them to a more suitable stockpile should one exist. All existing stockpiles (and zones) are listed under {{key|R}}ooms.

== Custom Stockpile Uses ==

A custom stockpile is most useful for food, furniture, and bar/block stockpiles, to prevent your lye and venom sitting next to the [[kitchen|kitchens]], your [[floodgate|floodgates]] and mechanisms near the [[room|rooms]] that need [[statue|statues]] and doors, your stone blocks next to the forges, and your metal bars by the farms.

When setting up a custom stockpile to hold more than one type of raw material, it is often best to set up multiple custom stockpiles, one for each type. Otherwise your stockpile will invariably fill up with lesser-used items, rendering your custom stockpile nearly useless.

One use for this is to have an outdoor stockpile next to your gate that will accept all refuse except bones, shells, skins and skulls, and then one or more indoor pile(s) near your craftsdwarf's workshop that will '''only''' accept these things. If you have set the option for dwarves to gather refuse from outside, the bones will be brought in once all the meat has rotted off of any carcasses outside. This means added risk to your dwarves if they try to gather refuse that is far from your gate, and additional hauling.

Another effective use of custom stockpiles is Elven trading. Make a stockpile just for elf-safe trade goods: most categories where it is relevant have a 'materials' option. Note, however, that items with [[wood]]en [[decoration]]s will '''not''' be excluded. Similarly, [[noble]]s who frequently [[mandate]] restricted trading can have their preferred goods stored separately, far away from the [[trade depot]].

A highly efficient method is to have wood burning furnaces feeding into a '[[charcoal]] only' bar/blocks stockpile, which in turn is near the smelting furnaces and forges. Bonus points if you also place a small wood stockpile near the wood furnaces.

Other good uses:
* Planter's stock: [[seed|seeds]] and [[potash]]. If your [[ashery]] is nearby, include ashes and lye.
* Smelter stock: [[ore|ores]], [[flux]] and, unless you're using [[Magma smelter]], [[coal]].
* Sandpile: [[sand]] bags.
* Dyer's stock: a food stockpile that only includes [[dye|dyes]].
* Food Plus: a food stockpile that includes barrels. This spares your dwarves from carrying empty barrels to and from the furniture stores.
* Skins: a refuse stockpile limited to [[skin|skins]], a bit like the bone & shell stockpile above. Place near the tannery.
* Brewer's stock: [[List of crops|brewable plants]].
* Miller's stock: [[List of crops|millable plants]]. (An empty [[bag]] stockpile will also speed up milling.)
* Refreshment stand: Since dwarves drink twice as often as they eat, having several small food stockpiles that only accept [[Alcohol|drinks]] scattered strategically through your fort can minimize [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoko smoko breaks]. The usefulness of this kind of stockpile is often disputed as dwarves go to the fullest barrel first, so if you can't keep your stockpile constantly filled with new full barrels of alcohol your masons might decide to run all the way over to the alcohol stockpile you have set up for your brewers or your metalsmiths. If you can keep each stockpile constantly filled with fresh supplies of full barrels of alcohol then this can increase productivity greatly. A simple way of doing this is by keeping a brewery near each separate alcohol stockpile, or [[burrow]]ing dwarves so that local stockpile is the only one they can [[path]] to.
* Artifact materials: The massive value and effectiveness of [[artifact|artifacts]] mean the materials used in them can have drastic effects, sometimes even into the ''[[Value|millions]]''. Having special stockpiles for high-value metals, stones, gems, and other such materials will make it that much easier to ensure that you will get the most out of each [[strange mood]]. (However, even with materials-specific stockpiles, it can take a fair amount of micromanagement to get a moody dwarf to use a specific material.)
* Artifact storage: Artifacts add a great deal to the created wealth of the fortress. Keep valuable artifacts safe in a special "treasure" stockpile.
* Ingredients: Store things that are cookable but not edible, like milk and quarry bush leaves, near [[kitchen]]s. Also, more [[rot|volatile]] foods (such as [[meat]]) can be stored closer to your kitchen to encourage your cooks to use them quickly.
* Mason's Stone: Linking a single- or limited-type stone stockpile to a mason's workshop allows you to specify exactly which [[stone]] your masons will use, providing consistent output (and increased [[value]] if using [[economic stone]]). Additionally, if your mason has a [[preference]] for a particular stone, you can increase output [[quality]] by having him work with that stone.
* Finished goods stockpiles near a Trade Depot that includes crafts that you want to sell, but excludes ordinary clothing, backpacks, waterskins, splints and crutches that you want your dwarves to use.

==Bugs==
* Stockpile options don't work for cloth {{Bug|4380|workaround=http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=122782.0}}.
* Gem stockpiles' material option for clay is hidden in the UI {{Bug|9749}}.
* Marksdwarves may refuse to use ammo stored in bins.{{Bug|2706}}
* [[Hauling]] blocks access to items stored in [[container]]s; consider creating container-less "feeder" stockpiles linked to your storage stockpiles.
* [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=92241.msg3276117#msg3276117 Research] has suggested that stockpiles are a significant cause of [[Maximizing framerate|lag]]; see [[Exploit#Quantum_stockpiles|Quantum Stockpiles]] for designs that minimize stockpile tiles.
* Disabling "Additional Options" in the stockpile menu is a common source of stockpile problems.

==Troubleshooting==
Getting dwarves to haul items to a stockpile is a frequent source of frustration. Here are some things to check:

* Do you have idle dwarves?
** Do the idle dwarves have the appropriate hauling labors enabled?
** Are the idle dwarves constantly taking and cancelling other jobs?
* Do you have a stockpile that wants this item?
** Is there an empty spot in the stockpile?
*** Note that hidden items and wheelbarrows tie up stockpile tiles.
** Can the idle dwarves path to the stockpile and the item?
** Is the stockpile set to accept from anywhere, not just links?
** Check both the item's type and its material, in stockpiles that can filter materials.
** Check that the armor/weapon stockpile setting is "usable" and/or "unusable" as appropriate.
** Check that "Additional Options" are set correctly to allow the desired items.
* Is the item unforbidden?
* Is the item accessible (no civilian alert, burrows, etc.)?
* Is the item not owned by any dwarf?
* Is the item not tasked for a job?
* Is the item not assigned for use in any buildings/constructions?
* Check your standing orders (o), and make sure this kind of item can be gathered.
** For refuse, make sure dwarves are allowed to gather refuse that is "outside" (o r).
* Does the stockpile have wheelbarrows assigned? If so, are they all in use?
* If the item normally goes in a container, do you have suitable unused containers?
* Is the item claimed by a location (hospital, tavern, library, temple)?

{{Category|Stockpiles|*}}
{{Category|Items}}
[[ru:Stockpile]]

Cartilage

2022-12-04T11:44:20Z

IceWorm: Removed contractions

{{quality|fine}}{{av}}

'''Cartilage''' is a body part generated from [[butcher]]ing most animals. It has no use in the [[meat industry]], and can be dumped without a second thought.

Some fish, such as [[shark]]s, are notable for having cartilaginous skeletons. These fish do not drop bones, only cartilage.

Note that dwarves consider cartilage useful (like bones), so they will not dump it automatically, even if you have the {{k|o|r|sep=-}}-dump other option enabled. It does not rot on its own either.

[[File:cartilage.jpg|thumb|300px|center|Bodily material between bones.]]

{{gamedata}}
{{materials}}

{{Category|Materials}}
{{Category|Body parts}}
[[ru:Cartilage]]

Symptom

2022-12-04T11:41:05Z

IceWorm: Implemented footnote formatting

{{av}}{{Quality|Exceptional}}
A '''symptom''' is a status effect most often caused by contracting a [[syndrome]]. Individual symptoms can range from mild temporary annoyances to lifelong disabilities to even death if untreated. An affected dwarf will need to be diagnosed at a [[hospital]] before a treatment can be prescribed.
__TOC__
==Blisters==
'''Effects''': Areas affected become prone to infection, this becomes more and more likely as severity goes up. While usually harmless in itself, a resulting infection might cause a loss of life or limb if not properly dealt with.*

==Bleeding==
'''Effects''': Areas affected will continue to bleed for the duration of the effect and will not taper off like a normal wound. In effect it suggests that whatever caused the wound had an anti-coagulant in the venom. This will quickly cause an affected creature to bleed out if the syndrome is not immediately treated.

==Bruising==
'''Effects''': Causes pain long after the blunt trauma that caused it is over. Even the most severe bruises will heal without intervention, but may hint at fractures under the skin.

==Cough==
'''Effects''': Dwarf will stop and cough occasionally. While nearly harmless by itself severe coughs will sometimes bring up blood. In this case it's a sign of internal hemorrhaging.

==Dizziness==
'''Effects''': Creature might stumble/fall in a random direction when attempting to perform an action (including moving [!!!]). The more severe the dizziness the more likely this is to happen. Beware that stumbling, much like dodging, might end up putting a dwarf in a moat, or chasm, or magma, or off a wall, or falling just enough to land unconscious for a second on a cage trap. The list goes on.

==Drowsiness==
'''Effects''': Creature tires faster than normal and requires more sleep. This can be almost unnoticeable if the severity is low, but results in narcoleptic fits if high.

==Fever==
'''Effects''': Appears to reduce the ability to focus. Intense fevers can also cause stunning. While a fever in itself seems relatively harmless, it's often just the most visible symptom. Feverish dwarves blink with a red "X".

==Impaired Function==
'''Effects''': Creature will be unable to use affected body parts for the duration. Much of the functionality here is mirrored in swelling, but this allows certain parts (such as organs) that normally can't swell to still cease functioning

==Nausea==
'''Effects''': Creature will stop and [[Vomit]]. How often this happens depends on severity. Sustained and intense vomiting will cause dwarves to dehydrate.

==Necrosis==
'''Effects''': The affected tissue starts to rot away, which needless to say is a medical emergency. If action isn't quickly taken to remove the tissue (through either surgery or amputation) it will spread throughout the body and may cause [[Health_care#Infection|infection]], killing the creature. Also commonly seen in [[Undead]] creatures.

==Numbness==
'''Effects''': Creature will not be able to feel affected body parts. This makes pain a non-issue, but also hampers their use (I.E. Something with numb hands will find using weapons difficult, something who has a leg that's fallen asleep with have difficulty standing). Prolonged numbness will lead to permanent sensory nerve damage.

==Oozing==
'''Effects''': A sign of infection. Infected areas heal much slower and might kill if especially severe or widespread.

==Pain==
'''Effects''': Creatures that aren't in a martial trance that have pain above a certain level get all their rolls halved. They might give into pain and fall unconscious depending on toughness. This is more likely to happen more often the more severe the pain is, which is usually fatal in combat, since enemies will automatically target the unconscious victim's head with a perfectly accurate, perfectly square strike.

==Paralysis==
'''Effects''': The creature can't move. Severity only decreases the chance of resisting the symptom. Untargeted paralysis often leads to suffocation in smaller creatures, which can include dwarves.

==Swelling==
'''Effects''': Impedes the ability to use affected areas. Normally fairly harmless but can cause death by suffocation if it affects the throat. Prolonged swelling will lead to necrosis.

==Unconsciousness==
'''Effects''': Affected creature will pass out for the duration of this effect, even if the creature isn't in pain or extremely tired.

==Vomiting Blood==
'''Effects''': Much as excessive vomiting can lead to death from dehydration, vomiting blood can lead to death from blood loss. Considered to be a separate condition from coughing blood. If your creature happens to have green blood you'll be unable to tell this from nausea without checking the tiles.

==Notes==
:* Unless in the lungs, in which case the unlucky dwarf may be unable to breathe if the effect or a subsequent infection is severe.
[[ru:DF2012:Symptom]]

{{Category|Healthcare}}

Tree

2022-12-04T11:22:23Z

IceWorm: Removed contractions and made z-level capitalisation consistent

{{quality|exceptional}}
{{av}}
{{Translation
| dwarven = dák
| elvish = thelire
| goblin = tonspe
| human = akan
}}

{{buggy}}

'''Trees''' are a multi-[[tile]] feature that can be found aboveground on all but the most arid or mountainous of maps, and below ground in the [[cavern]]s. The types of trees that grow in a given location depend on that location's [[biome]], as different species prefer different conditions. For example, tropical areas often have palm trees, while colder areas feature pines. Underground trees such as [[nether-cap]]s are an exception, as they will grow anywhere underground. The species of a tree in turn determines its properties, including its structure, the color and density of its wood and what kind of growths it produces. Note also that "trees" in ''Dwarf Fortress'' also covers things that are not actually trees, such as palms, cacti, large herbaceous plants (e.g. [[banana]]s), and large mushrooms (underground trees).

Trees are used as a source of [[wood]], an essential resource in the game, irreplaceable (or hard to replace) for some applications. Thus, the amount of local trees greatly affects fortress development, as without a ready source of wood, the player will be forced to rely on [[trade]] to get it. Tree growth density on the embark site is determined by its [[biome]], so it is displayed with the rest of the biome properties (temperature, etc.) on the "Choose Fortress Location" screen at [[embark]].

[[File:trees_many.jpg|thumb|320px|right|Beautiful, until turned into [[table]]s. Then they are even more beautiful. OTOH, the forgoing being a [[dwarf|dwarven]] [[elf|opinion]]... ]]

== Structure ==
[[File:Tree animated.gif|thumb|Animation of all z-levels of an [[Apricot]] tree]]
Trees consist of several types of tiles - '''roots''', '''trunk''' sections, '''thick branches''', '''branches''', and '''twigs''', that may be covered in a number of "growths" (leaves, needles, flowers, fruit, cones, etc.), depending on species and season. A single tree is a structure that can span multiple tiles of each type in both horizontal and vertical directions. For example, a typical deciduous tree will have a single tile-wide trunk at ground level supporting a multiple-level crown of intertwined trunk sections, branches and twigs covered with leaves. Not all species follow the same scheme, though - palms have a high, naked trunk that doesn't branch and just a tuft of leaves on top of it, and some species can have trunks that are thicker than a single tile at ground level. Trees also have an underground system of roots, but there is only one kind of root tile and the extent of the root system doesn't seem to vary with species.

Graphically, vertical 1×1 trunk sections resemble wooden columns {{tile|O|6:0}}. The thicker trunks (2×2 and 3×3) are represented by rounded double-line structures. Above the first ground level the trunk may branch out, producing horizontal trunk sections that resemble wooden [[wall]]s {{tile|║|6:0}}. These can peter out into thick branches {{tile|│|6:0}} or end directly with branches {{tile|¼|2:0}}. The branches can extend further out, ending with twigs {{tile|;|2:0}}. A vertical trunk end, if not covered with a branch, is represented by a pointed cap {{tile|⌂|6:0}}.

Root tiles ({{tile|¼|6:0}}) overlap a number of underground tiles below each tree. They can be designated for digging, but because they usually use the same brown color as the mining designation rectangle, the designation is not evident (the only exceptions are trees with white roots). Some trees can have multiple tiles of roots, others just the one{{verify}}.

Dug-away roots of a tree can spawn twigs and fruits of the tree around them if there is space and grass/cave moss there. You can in principle access fruit trees from below the tree, without putting a dwarf in danger or walling off the tree.

There are exceptions to the description above. [[Saguaro]]s don't have any leafy branches or twigs, just a trunk and thick branches. Mushroom cap trees that grow in the caverns underground don't have branches - instead they have a '''cap''' consisting of ramps that can be walked upon.

Trees can be [[climb]]ed in both fortress and [[adventurer mode]]. In densely wooded areas, the overlapping tree crowns can form a continuous canopy that can be traversed by walking, climbing and/or jumping. Both thick and regular branches provide a floor-like support for walking. Twigs are too frail to support the weight of a dwarf, but they can be climbed through and jumped over. All kinds of trunk tiles are treated as solid barriers, except trunk tips - they can be climbed through and jumped over like twigs.

On ground level, tree trunks are obstacles that prevent [[channel]]ing or the creation of [[wall]]s and other [[construction]]s on their tiles. This is problematic for caravan [[wagon]]s, which require a path at least three tiles wide in order to access your fortress; on heavily forested maps it may be necessary to check [[trade depot|depot]] access ({{k|D}}) every once in a while as trees continue to grow to make sure wagons can get through, and chop down ({{k|d}}-{{k|t}}) the impeding forest if they can't. Later on this can actually become a blessing, as if there is only one or a few pathways to the fortress it makes it easier to route incoming caravans down certain well-defended pathways, instead of allowing them to choose their own way across the map, where they may fall foul of ambushers or worse. It also makes building above-ground constructions more challenging, as any trees in the way must be chopped down first.

A tree's branches and leaves will result in the tiles below them being considered "inside", leading to the formation of [[miasma]] if corpse and body parts decay while under them. It is therefore advisable to ensure no trees grow in the immediate vicinity of your corpse stockpiles.

<gallery caption="Heights of a tree" widths="90px" heights="90px" perrow="5">
File:Tree-1.png|1 level below ground: roots in a [[Red sand]] wall on the side of a hill
File:Tree0.png|Ground level: trunk
File:Tree+1.png|1 level above ground, trunk, branches and twigs
File:Tree+2.png|2 levels above ground
File:Tree+3.png|3 levels above ground, includes some Open Space
File:Tree+4.png|4 levels above ground
File:Tree+5.png|5 levels above ground
File:Tree+6.png|6 levels above ground
File:Tree+7.png|7 levels above ground, only Open Space
</gallery>

=== Growths ===
Growths are the things that grow ''on'' a tree, i.e: they are not an essential part of the tree's structure and can be shed or picked without destroying the tree. This includes leaves, needles, flowers, fruit, seed pods, catkins, cones, etc. Each tree species has at least one type of growth, the most common one, unsurprisingly, being leaves.

The leaves of deciduous trees change color in the autumn, fall before the winter and grow back in the spring. Fallen leaves will color the tiles beneath their trees, turning the forest floor into a colorful patchwork.

Trees of fruit-producing species usually grow flowers in spring and fruit later in the year. Flowers will fall in a cloud during the transition from flowers to fruit; the cloud is shown falling, and loo{{k|k}}ing at the ground after that will show "<tree> flowers" in addition to other tile contents. Both flowers and fruit appear and fall at set times through the year, so it is possible that a young tree that has never flowered will give fruit.

Fruit can be picked from trees in Adventure mode. Fortress mode harvesting is done with a [[stepladder]] (as long as the fruit-bearing tree is within a plant gathering zone) or by collecting fallen fruits. Fruit can be brewed at a [[still]]. Cutting down a tree with fruit causes the fruit to vanish{{verify}}.

If a tree is set on fire in fortress mode and is described as 'dead' when examined, it will eventually rejuvenate itself and come back to life after a few years, starting from the trunk and leading out into the branches if left alone.

== Chopping down trees ==
{{main|Woodcutting}}

Trees can be cut down by dwarves to produce [[wood]]. It is enough to [[designations menu|designate]] only one trunk tile for cutting to chop down the whole tree it belongs to. Any trunk tile will do, even those that are above ground, or even a single tile of a multi-tile trunk. As a result, it is impossible to "prune" trees by chopping down only parts of them.

Once a woodcutter is done with the first tile, the tree instantly converts to a number of free-floating logs that fall to the ground in a direction away from the cutter. Cutting a tree from a trunk section above ground level may result in the woodcutter losing their footing and crashing to the ground (similar to having a tile deconstructed under their feet).

If you dug the tile below the trunk before cutting the tree, it will leave a hole to the surface, potentially allowing dangerous creatures to path into your underground fort. Avoid digging directly below one z-level in wooded areas before clearing out the trees, and make sure to check for open floor spaces {{Tile|·|0:1}} on the surface afterwards. If holes are present, construct [[floor]] tiles over the holes, which will prevent creatures from moving below. Constructing a wall below the open floor will work as well. Unexplained underground logs can alert you to the presence of these "guest entrances". Moving a building preview all around the surface (kennels are good for their size) and inspecting any non-ramp or tree invalid tiles can sweep large areas.

If you had [[smoothing|smoothed]] the wall below the trunk and then cut down the tree, it will leave an open floor above the smoothed wall, unlike constructed walls (see this [[tile#Walls|diagram]] for a visual illustration). If there is an open space adjacent to the smoothed wall, creatures can diagonally move below the adjacent space (by swimming, flying, or climbing) from the open floor above. Such occurrences should be uncommon, as it requires the tile below the tree to be made of stone (so it can be smoothed), and occur mainly in [[mountain]] biomes and areas affected by erosion.

== Products ==
=== Wood ===
{{main|Wood}}

One of the variations between the different tree species is in the weight and color of their wood. Weight is often a minor concern but when using wood to create objects that will be moved, such as bins or buckets, choosing lighter wood is an advantage as it will be hauled faster. Heavier wood will make wooden weapons and siege engine projectiles more effective, while lighter wooden shields reduce penalties to speed while blocking just as well as heavier shields.

Nonetheless, all types of wood have the same (low) value (beyond the [[preference]]s of individual dwarves), although the [[color]] of the wood may matter for aesthetic purposes.

=== Fruit ===
Various kinds of tree produce fruit. In [[dwarf fortress mode]], they can be gathered with a [[stepladder]] in a designated [[zone#Gather/pick Fruit|plant gathering zone]], and [[Elf|elves]] will also bring fruit to [[trading|trade]]. Fruit can be eaten, producing [[seed]]s.

== Growing trees ==
Trees grow from '''saplings''', which start growing randomly on non-occupied tiles of a suitable biome; thus chopping down a forest may create a clearing, but within a couple of years a new forest will have grown. Saplings will not grow to maturity if their tile contains an item or building (including stockpile designations), though removing the item may cause the tree to spontaneously grow up. Saplings will block the construction of farm plots unless there is also a dusting or pile of mud beneath them.

Saplings can be killed by heavy [[traffic|foot traffic]], but not by flooding — they can survive submergence for extended periods of time and will still grow to maturity once the water level drops to 4/7{{verify}} or lower. Dead saplings will remain for some seasons, and then disappear, more quickly if heavy traffic tramples them away. Many underground trees are called "young <tree>" instead of sapling, but the concept is the same. Paved [[road]]s and (even unbuilt) [[farm plot]]s periodically purge all terrain features below them, preventing trees (or shrubs) from growing in unwanted areas. Trees cannot grow on stairs or ramps, making it possible to keep trees out of your plumbing by using {{K|u}}p stairs instead of {{K|d}}igging (this does not reveal the tile above). Above-ground trees will only grow in areas where there is sufficient soil one z-level beneath them (currently observed to be at least one unmined tile within a two-tile radius); underground trees not only ignore this restriction for dry subterranean soil but will also grow on muddy subterranean stone.

Trees ''cannot'' be specifically "planted" ([http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/dev.html as of yet]); even if a map is stripped of all trees, new saplings will regrow, randomly and in their own time. (Sadly, the [[elf|elves]] do not seem to comprehend this.) It is possible to [[tree farming|farm]] trees by walling off or engineering a patch of soil and locking it away so your dwarves don't trample all over it, but it will take a long time for the farm to yield results. After you expose the caverns, subterranean flora (including trees) will begin to grow on any exposed, previously-bare soil within your fortress; this can be annoying when a copse of [[blood thorn]]s suddenly appears in your [[sand#Glass|sand collection]] area, but allows you to easily mine out large subterranean [[Tree farming|tree farms]] full of colorful subterranean trees.

If a sapling grows into a tree, it can block off narrow areas, such as one-tile-long hallways in a muddy cavern layer. This can cause dwarves to take longer alternate routes to perform their jobs, or entrap them entirely.
{{clear}}

One can grow additional tree branches by digging away parts of tree roots and replacing them with grass or cave moss. Afterwards, when tree grows, it may spread (fruit-bearing) branches there.

== Growth rate & wood yield ==

From the time a sapling appears, it takes about three years for a tree to grow. Trees make a growth check once every year, and then grow randomly - it's possible for a tree to reach eight z-levels of height in a decade, not have gone past five in three or avoid growing branches at all initially.

Most tree raws currently specify exactly the same canopies. They'll yield more wood overall with sparser cutting, though the breakeven point is unknown presently. Each "tree trunk" tile will yield exactly one log, while light branches, twigs and (brown) heavy branches will give nothing. The size of aboveground trees at embark depends heavily on unknown factors beyond age and species; possibly temperature, latitude or biome?{{Verify}}

For wood, branching trees with nonbranching trunks (Papayas, Ginkgos, Saguaros, Pines, Cedars, Fungiwoods, Alders, and Birches) should be cut down preferentially, as their branches will obscure saplings and their trunks grow slower. They will not yield any more wood past reaching their maximum trunk height (4-9 depending on species). Vice-versa, Glumprong trees are near-ideal for forestry, as they're all trunk, though their max height is limited to 8.

Palm trees don't obscure other ones with canopies, so should be cut when wood is needed or when they reach their maximum height of 9.

Mushroom caps of subterranean 'trees' don't contribute to their wood yield, and thus will never yield additional wood past their sprouting.

== Aboveground trees ==

Most of them bear fruits and nuts, which can be [[Activity zone#Gather/Pick Fruit|harvested]] for food and drinks.


{{multi-tile tree table head}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Abaca|super=3|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y
|tile1={{tile|O|2:0}}{{tile|⌂|2:0}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|¼|6:0}} roots
|eat=n|cook=n
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|4:1}} flower
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Acacia|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forest|biome2=Tropical Grassland|biome3=Tropical Savanna|biome4=Tropical Shrubland|dry=y|dense=0.600
|eat=n|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|2:1}} seed pod
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Avocado|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.540
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|2:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|2:0}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Banana|super=3|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y
|tile1={{tile|O|2:0}}{{tile|⌂|2:0}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|¼|6:0}} roots
|drink=Banana beer|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|4:0}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|6:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Bitter orange|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.590
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|6:0}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Cacao tree|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forest|dry=y|dense=0.430
|eat=n|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|4:0}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Candlenut|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical Forest|dry=y|dense=0.140
|eat=n|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|•|6:0}} nut
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Carambola|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.550
|drink=Carambola wine|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|3:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|2:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Cashew|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.450
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|5:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|6:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Citron|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.700
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|2:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Coconut palm|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.680
|tile1={{tile|O|6:0}}{{tile|⌂|6:0}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|¼|6:0}} roots
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|*|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|2:0}} spathe
|grow3={{tile|•|6:0}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Coffee|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.620
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|4:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Custard-apple|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.360
|drink=Custard-apple cider|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|2:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|6:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Date palm|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=b|dense=0.820
|tile1={{tile|O|6:0}}{{tile|⌂|6:0}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|¼|6:0}} roots
|drink=Date wine|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|*|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|5:0}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Desert lime|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Tropical Grassland|biome2=Tropical Savanna|biome3=Tropical Shrubland|dry=y|dense=0.590
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|2:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Durian|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.520
|drink=Durian wine|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:0}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|2:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Finger lime|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.590
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|2:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Guava|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.610
|drink=Guava wine|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|6:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Kapok|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forest|dry=y|dense=0.260
|eat=n|cook=n
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|•|2:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Kumquat|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.590
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|4:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Lime|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.590
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|2:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Lychee|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.880
|drink=Lychee wine|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|5:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|5:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Macadamia|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.705
|eat=Seed|super=4|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|5:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|6:0}} nut
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Mahogany|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical Forest|dry=y|dense=0.600
|eat=n|cook=n
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|6:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|•|6:0}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Mango tree|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical Forest|dry=y|dense=0.520
|drink=Mango wine|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|4:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|•|6:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Olive|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.990
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|0:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Orange|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.590
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|6:0}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Papaya|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.130
|drink=Papaya wine|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|6:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Paradise nut|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.820
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|6:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|6:0}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Pomelo|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.590
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|2:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Rambutan|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.620
|drink=Rambutan wine|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|2:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|4:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Round lime|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.590
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|2:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Rubber tree|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forest|dry=y|dense=0.490
|eat=n|cook=n
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Tea|symbol=♣|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.560
|eat=n|cook=n
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|6:0}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Pomegranate|symbol=Γ|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Tropical|dry=y|dense=0.770
|drink=Pomegranate wine|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|4:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|4:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Mangrove|symbol=♣|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Mangrove Swamp|dry=n|dense=0.830
|eat=n|cook=n
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|•|4:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Cedar|symbol=↨|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Temperate Coniferous Forest|biome2=Tropical Coniferous Forest|dry=y|dense=0.570
|tile1={{tile|O|6:0}}{{tile|⌂|6:0}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|¼|2:0}} branches
|tile3={{tile|;|2:0}} twigs
|tile4={{tile|¼|6:0}} roots
|eat=n|cook=n
|grow1={{tile|*|2:0}} scale-leaf
|grow2={{tile|*|6:0}} seed cone
|grow3={{tile|*|5:0}} pollen cone
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Feather tree|symbol=♣|color=7:1|decid=No|biome=Not Freezing|dry=y|align=Good|dense=0.100
|tile1={{tile|O|7:1}}{{tile|═|7:1}}{{tile|⌂|7:1}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|─|7:1}} thick branches
|tile3={{tile|¼|7:1}} branches
|tile4={{tile|;|7:1}} twigs
|tile5={{tile|¼|7:1}} roots
|eat=n|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|7:1}} down
|grow2={{tile|%|7:1}} egg
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Glumprong|symbol=┤|color=5:0|decid=No|biome=Not Freezing|dry=y|align=Evil|dense=1.200
|tile1={{tile|O|5:0}}{{tile|═|5:0}}{{tile|⌂|5:0}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|¼|5:0}} roots
|eat=n|cook=n
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Highwood|symbol=¶|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Not Freezing|dry=y|align=Savage|dense=0.500
|eat=n|cook=n
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|3:1}} flower
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Saguaro|symbol=╞|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Desert|dry=y|dense=0.430
|tile1={{tile|O|2:0}}{{tile|⌂|2:0}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|─|2:0}} thick branches
|tile3={{tile|¼|2:0}} roots
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow2={{tile|•|4:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Willow|symbol=⌠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Temperate|biome2=Any Tropical Forest|biome3=Tropical Grassland|biome4=Tropical Savanna|biome5=Tropical Shrubland|biome6=Tropical Freshwater Swamp|biome7=Tropical Saltwater Swamp|biome8=Tropical Freshwater Marsh|biome9=Tropical Saltwater Marsh|dry=n|dense=0.390
|eat=n|cook=n
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|*|7:1}} pollen catkin
|grow3={{tile|*|7:1}} seed catkin
|grow4={{tile|*|6:0}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Alder|symbol=♣|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate Broadleaf|dry=y|dense=0.410
|tile1={{tile|O|6:0}}{{tile|⌂|6:0}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|¼|2:0}} branches
|tile3={{tile|;|2:0}} twigs
|tile4={{tile|¼|6:0}} roots
|eat=n|cook=n
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|*|4:0}} pollen catkin
|grow3={{tile|*|6:0}} seed catkin
|grow4={{tile|*|6:0}} cone
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Almond|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate|dry=y|dense=0.795
|eat=Seed|super=4||cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|6:0}} nut
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Apple|symbol=♣|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate|dry=y|dense=0.745
|drink=Apple cider|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|5:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|4:0}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Apricot|symbol=♣|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate|dry=y|dense=0.745
|drink=Apricot wine|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|5:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|4:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Ash (tree)|alt=Ash|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate Broadleaf|dry=y|dense=0.600
|eat=n|cook=n
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|6:0}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Birch|symbol=♣|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate Broadleaf|dry=y|dense=0.650
|tile1={{tile|O|7:1}}{{tile|⌂|7:1}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|¼|2:0}} branches
|tile3={{tile|;|2:0}} twigs
|tile4={{tile|¼|7:1}} roots
|eat=n|cook=n
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|*|6:0}} pollen catkin
|grow3={{tile|*|6:0}} seed catkin
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Cherry|symbol=♣|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate|dry=y|dense=0.425
|drink=Cherry wine|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|4:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Chestnut|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate Broadleaf|dry=y|dense=0.430
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|*|7:1}} pollen catkin
|grow3={{tile|*|7:1}} seed catkin
|grow4={{tile|*|2:0}} burr
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Ginkgo|symbol=↑|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate|dry=y|dense=0.450
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|*|6:0}} pollen catkin
|grow3={{tile|%|7:1}} seed
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Hazel|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate|dry=y|dense=0.500
|eat=Seed|super=4|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|*|6:1}} pollen catkin
|grow3={{tile|%|6:0}} nut
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Maple|symbol=♣|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Temperate Broadleaf Forest|biome2=Temperate Grassland|biome3=Temperate Savanna|biome4=Temperate Shrubland|dry=y|dense=0.540
|eat=n|cook=n
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|2:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|6:0}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Oak|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate Broadleaf|dry=y|dense=0.700
|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|2:0}} flower
|grow3={{tile|•|6:0}} acorn
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Peach|symbol=♣|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate|dry=y|dense=0.795
|drink=Peach cider|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|5:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|4:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Pear|symbol=♣|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate|dry=y|dense=0.600
|drink=Perry|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|2:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Pecan|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate|dry=y|dense=0.735
|eat=Seed|super=4|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|*|2:1}} pollen catkin
|grow3={{tile|%|6:0}} nut
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Persimmon|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate|dry=y|dense=0.835
|drink=Persimmon wine|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|4:1}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Plum|symbol=♣|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate|dry=y|dense=0.795
|drink=Plum wine|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|5:0}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Sand pear|symbol=♣|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate|dry=y|dense=0.690
|drink=Sand pear cider|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|♣|7:1}} flower
|grow3={{tile|%|6:0}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Walnut|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Any Temperate|dry=y|dense=0.562
|eat=Seed|super=4|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}}{{tile|♠|6:1}}{{tile|♠|4:1}}{{tile|♠|4:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|*|6:0}} pollen catkin
|grow3={{tile|♣|2:1}} flower
|grow4={{tile|%|6:0}} nut
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Bayberry|symbol=♠|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Any Temperate|biome2=Taiga|dry=y|dense=0.700
|drink=Bayberry wine|drinkv=10|eat=y|cook=y
|grow1={{tile|♠|2:0}} leaf
|grow2={{tile|*|6:0}} pollen catkin
|grow3={{tile|*|6:0}} seed catkin
|grow4={{tile|%|5:0}} fruit
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Larch|symbol=↑|color=2:0|decid=Yes|biome=Taiga|biome2=Temperate Coniferous Forest|dry=y|dense=0.590
|eat=n|cook=n
|grow1={{tile|*|2:0}}{{tile|*|6:1}}{{tile|*|4:1}}{{tile|*|4:0}} needle
|grow2={{tile|*|6:0}} seed cone
|grow3={{tile|*|2:0}} pollen cone
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Pine|symbol=↑|color=2:0|decid=No|biome=Taiga|biome2=Temperate Coniferous Forest|biome3=Tropical Coniferous Forest|dry=y|dense=0.510
|tile1={{tile|O|6:0}}{{tile|⌂|6:0}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|*|2:0}} branches
|tile3={{tile|*|2:0}} twigs
|tile4={{tile|¼|6:0}} roots
|eat=n|cook=n
|grow1={{tile|*|2:0}} needle
|grow2={{tile|*|6:0}} seed cone
|grow3={{tile|*|4:0}} pollen cone
}}
|}

'''Notes:'''
:1 This is the value for a stack of 5 units, which is the number rendered from a single fruit.
:2 Anything that can be cooked is edible afterwards.
:3 These trees do not produce wood when cut.
:4 These trees only edible raw product is seed, which dwarves will not currently eat raw despite the tag.

== Underground trees ==

These are the trees that can grow in subterranean caverns. None of them produce growths.

{{multi-tile tree table head}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Fungiwood|symbol=♣|color=6:1|decid=No|biome=Subterranean Water/Layers 1-2|dry=b|dense=0.600
|tile1={{tile|O|6:1}}{{tile|⌂|6:1}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|¼|6:1}} branches
|tile3={{tile|;|6:1}} twigs
|eat=n|cook=n
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Tower-cap|symbol=♠|color=7:1|decid=No|biome=Subterranean Water/Layers 1-2|dry=b|dense=0.600
|tile1={{tile|O|7:1}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|O|7:1}}{{tile|║|7:1}}{{tile|▲|7:1}}{{tile|∙|7:1}} cap
|eat=n|cook=n
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Black-cap|symbol=♠|color=0:1|decid=No|biome=Subterranean Water/Layers 2-3|dry=b|dense=0.650
|tile1={{tile|O|0:1}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|O|0:1}}{{tile|║|0:1}}{{tile|▲|0:1}}{{tile|∙|0:1}} cap
|eat=n|cook=n
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Goblin-cap|symbol=♠|color=4:1|decid=No|biome=Subterranean Water/Layers 2-3|dry=b|dense=0.600
|tile1={{tile|O|4:1}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|O|4:1}}{{tile|║|4:1}}{{tile|▲|4:1}}{{tile|∙|4:1}} cap
|eat=n|cook=n
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Spore tree|symbol=♣|color=3:0|decid=No|biome=Subterranean Water/Layers 2-3|dry=b|dense=0.600
|tile1={{tile|O|3:0}}{{tile|═|3:0}}{{tile|⌂|3:0}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|─|3:0}} thick branches
|tile3={{tile|¼|3:0}} branches
|tile4={{tile|;|3:0}} twigs
|eat=n|cook=n
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Tunnel tube|symbol=│|color=5:1|decid=No|biome=Subterranean Water/Layers 2-3|dry=b|dense=0.500
|tile1={{tile|O|5:1}}{{tile|═|5:1}}{{tile|⌂|5:1}} trunk
|eat=n|cook=n
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Blood thorn|symbol=╡|color=4:0|decid=No|biome=Subterranean Water|biome2=Subterranean Chasm/Layer 3|dry=b|dense=1.250
|tile1={{tile|O|4:0}}{{tile|═|4:0}}{{tile|⌂|4:0}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|─|4:0}} thick branches
|tile3={{tile|¼|4:0}} branches
|tile4={{tile|;|4:0}} twigs
|eat=n|cook=n
}}
{{multi-tile tree table row|name=Nether-cap|symbol=♠|color=1:0|decid=No|biome=Subterranean Water/Layer 3|dry=b|dense=0.550
|tile1={{tile|O|1:0}} trunk
|tile2={{tile|O|1:0}}{{tile|║|1:0}}{{tile|▲|1:0}}{{tile|∙|1:0}} cap
|eat=n|cook=n
}}
|}

==Bugs==
* Trees grow through bridges. {{bug|7872}}
* Cutting down trees will leave a hole in the floor if the layer below has been mined (which has the potential for lots of fun, especially considering invaders). {{bug|8469}}
* Trees not yielding wood will not be generated. {{bug|10581}}
* Some underground trees will only give one log. {{bug|7313}}

{{Plants}}

[[Category:Map tiles]]
{{Category|Trees}}
[[ru:Tree]]

Two-humped camel

2022-12-03T17:45:49Z

IceWorm: Added cursed camel anecdote

{{Quality|Exceptional|07:38, 9 July 2010 (UTC)}}
{{Creaturelookup/0
|contrib=no
|wiki=Bactrian camel
|bone=17
|meat=16
|fat=15
|skull=1
|lung=2
|intestine=1
|spleen=1
|kidney=2
|eye=2
|brain=1
|heart=1
|liver=1
|tripe=1
|sweetbread=1
|skin=hide
}}
{{av}}
{{creaturedesc}}

'''Two-humped camels''' are [[creature]]s who can be found in [[desert]]s, often seen being used as pack animals by [[dwarf]] and [[human]] [[merchant]]s - like other herbivorous livestock, they require a sizeable [[pasture]] to survive. Two-humped camel calves need two years to grow to their full adult size, and they only live for a maximum of 10-20 years.

They may be [[butcher]]ed for a good amount of returns or assigned as fairly valuable [[pet]]s. Female two-humped camels produce [[milk]], which can be [[cook]]ed or processed into [[cheese]].

Two-humped camels are also known as Bactrian camels, and not to be confused with (nor bred with) the [[one-humped camel]], which is a different species.

Some dwarves [[Preferences|like]] two-humped camels for their ''humps''.

{{D for Dwarf}}

Legend says that an untamed two-humped camel laden with fire clay is an omen of great destruction.

[[Image:2011 Trampeltier 1528.JPG|thumb|center|400px|Admired for its ''humps''.]]
{{gamedata}}
{{Creatures}}
{{Category|Animals}}

Computing

2022-12-03T17:35:52Z

IceWorm: Adding in missing words, changed size of list of disciplines to be expressed in word form

{{Quality|Exceptional}}
{{Computing}}
{{av}}

Computing in ''Dwarf Fortress'' is the practice of setting up complex constructions to perform logical operations and calculations; ideally, to control some functionality of your fortress. Even if it isn't a young concept anymore, there is still much room for improvement and development. One reason is that there are many ways to solve one problem. Innovation and invention are encouraged.
=== Binary information ===
Binary information can have one of two possible states: true or false, respectively 1 or 0. In dwarf fortress they can be represented by different entities:
* on/off state or signal of a trigger ([[pressure plate]] or [[lever]])
* power or connection state of a [[machine component]]
* open or closed state of a [[door]] or similar buildings
* [[pressure plate|low/high]] or [[flow|flowing/standing]] [[water|fluid]]
* present [[creature]]s and [[dwarf|borgs]]
* present [[minecart]]s on track

Electronic devices and computers are based on this elementary form of information, and if you want to go into computing, you’ll have to familiarize yourself with it: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propositional_calculus propositional calculus]
=== Input/Output ===
Input can be any device which can be linked to another device with mechanisms, such as [[lever|levers]] or [[pressure plate|pressure plates]]. Pressure plates can measure water or magma depth, or creature or minecart weight, and can be set to react to your own dwarves if measuring creature weight. If measuring water or magma you specify the minimum and maximum levels at which it should output 'on', and at all other levels it will output an 'off' signal. Regardless of the actual amount of water or magma or the exact weight of a creature or cart on your pressure plate, the plate can only output an 'on' or 'off' signal (1 or 0) to whatever devices it is linked to. So everything you build will have a binary base.

====Input elements====
* manual: [[lever]] -> binary on/off signal
* triggered: [[pressure plate]] -> binary on/off signal

According to input, output can be anything that is able to react to an on/off signal. This can be doors, bridges, floodgates allowing or stopping flow, gears controlling pumps and much more. In some special configurations - when [[mechanical logic]] is involved - output may not be an on/off signal but power, thus running or not running a machine component.

Currently, to convert from power to an on/off signal, the only way is to use a kind of [[Mechanical_logic#Power_to_signal_converter|power to signal converter]]. This can be a screw pump connected to that power source, and a pressure plate to measure whether water is being pumped, or a minecart moved by a roller over a closed track with a pressure plate activated by its passage.


====Output elements====
* signal: [[pressure plate]] -> binary on/off signal -> linkable Object(s)
* power: [[gear assembly]] -> binary power on/power off -> machine

=== Binary logic ===
Basic binary logic takes one or two input bits and creates an output based on them. The devices that perform these operations are commonly called '''logic gates'''.

* NOT - takes one input and returns the opposite of the input

{| class="wikitable" border=1
|-
! input A
! NOT
|-
| 0
| 1
|-
| 1
| 0
|}

* AND - takes two inputs and returns true if both inputs are true
* OR - takes two inputs and returns true if at least one input is true
* XOR - takes two inputs and returns true if exactly one input is true
* NAND - takes two inputs and returns true if either input is false
* NOR - takes two inputs and returns true if both inputs are false
* XNOR - takes two inputs and returns true if both inputs are identical

{| class="wikitable" border=1
|-
! input A
! input B
! AND
! OR
! XOR
! NAND
! NOR
! NXOR
|-
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 1
| 1
| 1
|-
| 0
| 1
| 0
| 1
| 1
| 1
| 0
| 0
|-
| 1
| 0
| 0
| 1
| 1
| 1
| 0
| 0
|-
| 1
| 1
| 1
| 1
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 1
|}

The most human-understandable logic system requires NOT, AND and OR gates, but having a design for either a NAND or a NOR gate is enough to build any of the other gates. Some gates are easier to create or need fewer components than others depending on what discipline your logic relies on. Designing each individual gate that you will need (or using designs that had each individual gate designed) rather than building a gate out of multiple NAND gates or the like will generally result in your dorfputer reacting faster and using less resources (power, water, kittens, construction materials, what-have-you).

=== Complex gates ===
* [[Latch]] - storing and reading a single binary value
* [[Repeater]] - sending a repeating signal
* [[Adder (Computing)|Counter/Adder]] - binary calculation

== Disciplines ==
There are four main disciplines of dwarfputing, depending on what would drive the dwarfputer. Each of them has its assets and drawbacks.

The four disciplines are:
=== Fluid logic ===
[[Fluid logic]] is controlling the ''flow of fluid'' over different pressure plates. Fluid logic can be easily constructed and every known logic gate in dwarf fortress has already been built with it. On the other hand, this discipline depends on a somehow unlimited source of the used fluid to deal with its [[evaporation]] and [[Water#Water in Fortress Mode|destruction]].

=== Mechanical logic ===
[[Mechanical logic]] uses systems of axles and [[gear assembly|gear assemblies]] to build logical gates. Mechanical logic reacts very fast and can be easily constructed. Since every gear can itself be linked to a trigger (or multiple triggers), and automatically connects to adjacent gears for transferring either power or load, mechanical logic gates are very flexible and don't require anywhere near the number of different devices that tend to be used in fluid logic gates. On the negative side, this discipline uses a LOT of mechanical power and basic mechanic gates output no signals but power. If you need a signal as output, either to control signal-operated buildings like doors or bridges or to perform further logical operations, you will need power->signal converters. There is, however, a fully functional fluid-preserving "rotation sensor" design. With the advent of [[Minecart]]s, compact fluid-less power->signal converters have become available, making [[Minecart logic]] an attractive alternative for deploying mechanical logic in your fortress. Along with advanced techniques to construct logic gates by "pre-toggling" a gear assembly (see [[Pre-Toggled Mechanical Logic]]), any logical circuit can be built, given enough space in the game to do it.

=== Creature logic ===
[[Creature logic]] uses pressure plates and constraints on creatures' movement through buildings such as doors and [[hatch cover|hatches]], in conjunction with their [[path]]ing behavior, to build logic gates. Creature logic is very space intensive, but requires no power, fluid, or valuable materials. Every kind of logical circuit can be built with creature logic.

[[Animal logic]] is a special kind of creature logic that relies on animals attempting to path through tightly closed doors. Animal logic circuits can be much more space-efficient than other forms of creature logic, but are somewhat unreliable.

=== Minecart logic ===
[[Minecart logic]] involves the control of the paths of [[minecart]]s over pressure plates to build logical gates. Minecart logic integrates easily with mechanical logic. Power, perhaps surprisingly, is optional. Minecart logic is complete and compact. It lacks the brute speed of which mechanical circuits are capable, but minecart circuit design may be much simpler and more intuitive to some architects.

===Examples of things you could do with logic gates===
* Repeater: Repeatedly toggling hatches open and closed, or spikes up and down.
* Latch: Making resettable one-use pressure plates which are reset by a lever.
* NOT gate: Reversing the effect of a switch or creature-sensing pressure plate, generally linked to a latch device.
* AND gate: Requiring more than one condition to be true for something to occur. For instance, you could have a group of AND gates, with a system on/off switch, and other triggers, with each trigger linked to a different AND gate with the system on/off switch linked to the second input on all the AND gates, so that when the system on/off switch is OFF the output will be OFF on all the AND gates.
* OR gate: You could link two 1-7 water sensors to an OR gate, and link that to a NOT gate, and link that to some floodgates or doors which act as emergency bulkheads, closing when water is detected in the area. Or, link the OR gate to bridges which raise instead (but you may crush things, and bridges are slower than doors).
* XOR gate: You could use pressure plates hooked to latches at different points in your fort to detect enemy intrusion, and set them up to seal off the area with both an interior and exterior bulkhead when the intrusion occurs, but hook your latches up with an XOR gate and hook the output to the interior bulkhead to unseal that one if your pressure plates have detected that the enemy has gotten past it.
* NOR gate: A NOR gate returns TRUE (ON) only if both inputs are FALSE. Instead of using the OR gate example with a NOT gate, you could use a NOR gate linked to two 1-7 water sensors, whose output goes to doors or floodgates. When the pressure plates are both waterless, the floodgates will be open. When one detects water, the floodgates close. (If you used 0-0 pressure plates with an OR, you would get an OFF signal if both plates detected water, or an ON signal otherwise (which is the same as 1-7 NAND 1-7))
* NAND gate: A NAND gate returns TRUE (ON) whenever both inputs are not both TRUE (e.g. ON NAND ON is OFF, but every other combination is ON). Instead of the OR NOT or NOR example, you could link two 0-0 water sensors to a NAND gate, and link the NAND gate's output to raising bridges. 0-0 NAND 0-0 is the same as 1-7 OR 1-7. If there is no water on both pressure plates, the NAND gate will output an OFF signal. If, however, either has water, it will output an ON signal.

* And here's a more complicated example, omitting the details of what gates to use: An automated swimming training room, where you pull a lever to close exit doors and open hatches to drop water into it, then pressure plates detect when there's enough water and close the hatches, and after a certain amount of time (using a very slow repeater, for instance), drains and exit doors open and the system resets until you pull the lever again. Or, the lever could be taken out entirely and the system could be made fully automatic (with dwarves set to train in the room, for instance) using the repeater.

== Examples ==
There are a few examples of a really useful dwarfputer and some concepts which have the potential to become useful for others. But in most cases, they are made just for fun. That's not to diminish their designers' achievements, because these are in general the more complex ones. At the moment there are no known examples of animal or borg logic.
=== Useful ===
* Magma trap
** This is an example of a useful dwarfputer controlling a magma trap. It automatically floods an area with lava, cleans up and resets afterwards. The timing is perfectly adjusted to let the victims vanish only leaving their valuable metal behind
*** video: http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-1808-perfectmagmatrap
*** design: http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/ss208/kanddak/magmatrap.png

=== Concepts ===
* repeater
** mechanical logic http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-1370-pump-basedautorepeater
* adding machine
** mechanical logic, 6-bit: http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-1561-addingmachine
** fluid logic, 8-bit: http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-1084-numberabbeydemonstration
[[File:Armoc Invaders intro.png|thumb|right|200px|''[[User:BaronW#Armok_Invaders|Armok Invaders]], a playable game'']]
=== Such a doddle ===
* decimal display for 4-bit binary input
** mechanical logic, decimal with overflow-bit: http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-1745-dwarfputerv01
** probably fluid logic: http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-1657-7segmentlcddisplay
** fluid logic, hexadecimal: http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-1092-7-segmentdisplaydemonstration
* tic tac toe
** mechanical logic http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-1813-tictactoev10simple
* Armok Invaders
** mechanical & minecart logic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2cMHwo3nAU

== Related user pages ==
*[[User:BaronW]] - The Almighty Dwarven Calculator and Armok Invaders
*[[User:Jong/Dwarven_Computer]] - The first fully programmable digital Dwarven Computer
*[[User:SL/Logic Gates]] - These use mechanisms for connecting gates and devices and so forth, but fluid for logic. They're built on top of a body of water, and require power (for a pump or two per gate).
*[[User:Kyace/Adder]] - A full adder built using fluid logic, with a video of a rough prototype. Trivial to combine 8 of these to make a fluid device capable of adding two 8 bit numbers together.
*[[User:Soundandfury#Logic_Gates]] - These have a water supply reservoir above and a drain below. The drained water can be pumped back into the supply reservoir.
*[[User:Bidok]] - Animal logic with all gates, memory, repeater and counter. All powered by kittens.
*[[User:LordOOTFD#Animal_Logic]] - Animal logic with fast complex gates, building upon Bidok's kitten-powered systems.
*[[User:Hussell#Assorted_Devices]] - Fluid logic
*[[User:Gammon]] - Fluid logic. Very detailed CMOS gates.
*[[User:Root Infinity]] - Misc. logic gates.
*[[User:Vasiln/Goblin Logic 1]] - Theory and practice of invader-based creature logic.
*[[User:Larix]] - Various engineering projects, including the second fully programmable Dwarven Computer (arguably the first capable of autonomous execution) and a thorough treatment of logic based on moving minecarts.
*[[User:Gnidan]] - Minecart routing system, to move goods point-to-point using shared track
{{Category|Computing}}
[[ru:Computing]]

Garbage dump

2022-12-03T16:59:05Z

IceWorm: Tweaked reclaim wording for grammar and style

{{Quality|Superior|12:14, 19 April 2015 (UTC)}}
{{projects}}{{av}}

[[File:Stockpile.png|thumb|350px|right|Garbage dumps are used most often for clearing out large areas of leftover stone - for instance, when constructing a [[stockpile]].]]

'''Garbage dumps''' are [[activity zone]]s in which dwarves will throw items marked for dumping. (The garbage dump may be inappropriately named, as it's more of a matter compression zone. The specifics are beyond human understanding; however, dwarves are in fact capable of compressing an infinite amount of matter into only one tile, as long as it is specified as a garbage dump.)

Garbage dumps are ''not'' the same as [[Refuse#Refuse|refuse]] stockpiles.
* Refuse stockpiles can be designated to accept specific type(s) of refuse, such as animal [[corpse]]s or [[bones]], and then are automatically filled by haulers whenever the items appear on the map.
* Garbage dumps don't have categories. If you tell your dwarves to Dump Items from a single block or an area, the dwarves will move all designated objects from those blocks to the Dump, including objects of value!

Garbage dump zones are useful for many things beyond [[garbage disposal]]; they can create [[quantum stockpile]]s, transport materials to a job site, send items to the [[trade depot]] when no caravan is present, [[trap design#Falling_debris_trap|drop rocks]] on enemies below, and numerous other uses.

=== Create Garbage Dump ===
To place a garbage dump, create a zone ({{k|i}}) on either a relatively empty plot of land or adjacent to a cliff face or hole and enable garbage {{k|d}}umping. If a garbage zone is designated beside a [[cliff]] or hole (both natural or dwarf made) garbage will be thrown off/in the z-space. Each ground tile within that zone is considered a garbage dump tile; thus, if you want to place a single-tile zone, place the zone onto a ground tile (optionally adjacent to a cliff or [[pit]]), not onto an [[open space]]. This mechanic also works with rivers.

=== Marking items to Dump ===
Items can be marked for dumping either by using {{k|k}}-{{k|d}} (one item at a time), or {{k|d}}-{{k|b}}-{{k|d}} (bulk dumping).
'''NOTE:''' Bulk dumping designates ''all'' items on the tiles for dumping, even built [[furniture]], the construction materials making up buildings, items inside [[container]]s, etc. In the case of built furniture and building components, this will have no immediate effect; however, upon deconstruction the item will immediately be dropped on a nearby square by the dwarf hauling the item to await disposal in the nearest dump.

=== Moving items to Dump ===
Garbage dumps only accept items that have been marked for dumping, require dwarves to have [[refuse hauling]] [[labor]] enabled, and are subject to refuse [[standing orders]] ({{k|o}}-{{k|r}}).

Dwarves usually throw dumped items in the nearest available garbage dump, although this is not an ironclad rule. If a nearer zone becomes available after they have already started the job they will ignore it. They also have a preference for open space dumps. If a garbage dump is located next to open space, dwarves will always stand on a garbage dump square when throwing ''into'' that open space, even if it could potentially be done more efficiently. If a garbage dump is located next to multiple tiles of open space, they seem to prefer the one farthest to the northwest. If a tile to the north and a tile to the west are the only tiles available, they will throw to the west. Such garbage dumps can be a very efficient method of moving materials to the lower levels of your fortress. However care must be taken to prevent dwarves and livestock from being struck by falling objects, perhaps with [[traffic]] designations and [[pasture]]s.

Dwarves will ''not'' dump items that are in a tile marked "Above Ground" unless you allow them to ({{k|o}}->{{k|r}}->{{k|o}}).

Items dumped into [[magma]] that are not [[magma safe]] will permanently disappear, which is useful for disposing of clutter and increasing [[FPS]]. Otherwise a single tile (either a dump zone, or the ground below the open space) will hold any number of dumped objects. Dumping items into [[magma]] can be [[fun|dangerous]] due to the [[magma mist]] generated when objects fall into magma. It is advised to dump items into magma from a hole several z-levels up to avoid [[Fire|!!Dwarves!!]] running around the fortress.

'''NOTE:''' If you designate items for dumping, but forget to mark an active garbage dump, your dwarves will ignore the item until an active garbage dump is marked.

=== Dumped Items ===
Dumped items are automatically marked as [[forbid]]den, preventing dwarves from touching them. Therefore, these items can't be used, or even selected, in workshop jobs, etc.

=== Reclaim Dumped Items ===
If for some reason [[Main:Urist|Urist]] is yet again incapable of locating his favorite pair of cave troll leather socks, he should think to look among the black hole of matter that is the nearest garbage dump, as they could be snugly lodged between a few billion rocks.

You can reclaim Dumped/forbidden items in three different ways:
* Press {{k|k}} to view the item and {{k|f}} to toggle forbid status.
* Use the reclaim [[designation]] to reclaim simultaneously all of the items dumped by using {{k|d}}-{{k|b}}-{{k|c}} and tracing the designation over the objects in question.
* Remove the Garbage Dump zone with {{k|i}}-{{k|x}}-{{k|Enter}} (Or {{k|i}}-{{k|x}}-{{k|X}})

===Dwarves won't dump no matter what I do===

# The key to set a zone for dumping is now {{k|d}} instead of {{k|g}}. Make sure that your muscle-memory has not caused you to designate a fruit gathering zone by accident.
# Probably due to a bug, dwarves occasionally ignore items that are meant to be dumped; viewing the item by pressing {{k|k}} then toggling forbid and dump status on, then off again ({{k|f}}-{{k|f}}-{{k|d}}-{{k|d}}) seems to correct this problem. Dumping items requires the '[[refuse hauling]]' labor. Items located in an "outside" tile will not be moved unless 'gather refuse from outside' is enabled in your [[standing orders]].

=== Strategy ===
Garbage dumps are great space savers because they can hold an infinite number of items on one tile; with some micromanagement they can even compress large, one-item-per-tile [[stockpile]]s into single-tile [[quantum stockpile]]s (although this requires additional work and is usually considered an [[exploit]]). The most common use for garbage dumps is for cleaning away loose stones left in your fortress by your [[miner]]s: mark them for dumping, wait for the jobs to be completed, and then reclaim them ({{k|d}}-{{k|b}}-{{k|c}}) for use by your stonemasons; bonus points if you do this next to a stoneworking workshop and then re-designate the tile as a stone stockpile. If the dump is designated inside a workshop, the workshop will not become cluttered. However, if you put a garbage dump inside a magma workshop with the intent of dumping ores there, make sure the zone does not overlap any open pits of magma you may have carelessly left around, or as per intended behavior, items will be dumped into the magma.

==See also==
*[[Garbage disposal]]
[[ru:Garbage dump]]

Health care

2022-12-03T14:37:24Z

IceWorm: Expressing integers as words

{{Quality|Masterwork|11:55, 22 June 2020 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
{{buggy|bugsection=Bugs}}
[[File:healthcare_icon.png|100px|right]]A '''hospital''' [[zone]] allows [[wound]]ed dwarves to rest and receive care and treatment. Hospitals use any [[bed]]s, [Table]s, [[traction bench]]es, and [[container]]s that have been built within the zone. The hospital will requisition [[thread]], [[cloth]], [[splint]]s, [[crutch]]es, [[Gypsum plaster|plaster powder]] (for casts), [[bucket]]s, and [[soap]] for medical use. These will be stored within the hospital's containers; you may adjust the desired quantities.

'''Doctors''' are dwarves assigned to any of the five doctoring labors: [[wound dresser|dressing wounds]], [[diagnostician|diagnosis]], [[surgeon|surgery]], [[bone doctor|setting bones]], and [[suturer|suturing]]. All doctors in the fortress operate under the instruction of the [[chief medical dwarf]], an appointed [[noble]]. Doctors perform their medical procedures on a dwarf only after treatment has been prescribed by a diagnostician. Doctors do not (yet; one must needs use [[DFHack]] in the interim) perform any healthcare on animals, despite injured animals "requesting" diagnosis in the [[Health screen|health screen]] ({{k|z}}).

All beds within a hospital zone are automatically hospital beds, where injured dwarves will go (or be brought) to recuperate. Tired, healthy dwarves will occasionally camp there too if the hospital is close, even if they have their own bed.

==Setting up a hospital==
Hospitals are designated as [[zone]]s, press {{k|i}} and lay out the area you plan on having your hospital in using the cursor keys --proximity to [[water]] is a plus, since patients need to be washed and cannot drink alcohol-- hit enter when you're done. Then with your cursor over the zone you've just placed press {{k|h}} to designate it as a hospital. From this screen, you can also press {{k|H}} 'Set Hospital Information' to check the equipment and medical supplies missing/available to your hospital.
* Place enough [[bed]]s in that zone to ensure you can keep all wounded dwarves in the hospital. Note that normal beds or [[bedroom]]s can and will accept wounded dwarves whether or not a hospital zone exists, though hospital beds will be preferred if they are free. Doctors do not need a hospital zone, though a lack of equipment will probably limit care options.
* Place at least one [[table]] ({{k|b}}-{{k|t}}) for surgeons to perform surgery on. Adjacency to beds makes it easier to move a patient for surgery. You may perform surgery without tables; it will be messier.
** Multiple dwarves may undergo simultaneous surgeries on the same table.
* Place one or more [[traction bench]]es ({{k|b}}-{{k|R}}) to handle compound fractures when the dwarf requires "immobilization."
** Each traction bench can only accommodate one dwarf at a time, and the dwarf may be there for quite some time, so plan accordingly.
* Place [[container]]s ({{k|b}}-{{k|h}}) to store medical supplies reserved for hospital use. Once placed, dwarves will start stocking the hospital with medical supplies, you can track their progress and change storage limits in the zone's 'Set Hospital Information' menu. A small hospital can manage with two containers, while a fully-fledged fortress with an adventurous military may need as many as eight. (Containers are not strictly necessary; doctors can and will use supplies from anywhere, but dedicated hospital containers allow you to earmark some supplies for medical use - for example, to prevent the auto-looming of ''every'' last thread.)

Medical Staff:
* Assign a [[chief medical dwarf]] (in the [[noble]]s screen) to enable the fortress-wide {{k|z}} [[health screen]] as well as individual dwarves' health summary screens ({{k|v}}-{{k|z}}-{{k|h}}), for easier monitoring and tracking of dwarves seeking treatment and their conditions.
* Pick one or more dwarves to be doctors, and enable the health labor(s) on them (through {{k|v}}-{{k|p}}-{{k|l}}). You might want set several dwarves to be dedicated doctors, with diagnosis labor well-covered - without a diagnosis, patients cannot be treated, if they cannot be treated, they will occupy the hospital area until they die, performing no function. (Any dwarf with the Diagnosis labor enabled can diagnose dwarves, but the Chief Medical Dwarf may impact the diagnosis job creation{{verify}}. Once a patient is diagnosed, you can see on the individual health screen what procedures are needed, for example, washing or suturing.)
* If you use a [[burrow]] to keep doctors near the hospital zone, ensure that this burrow covers all needed materials or you could get job cancellations because of a lack of material. Thread/cloth stockpiles, and items bought from caravans (e.g. plaster early in the game) are often the most troubling.

== Skills and injuries==
There are five skilled [[doctor]]ing labors and two unskilled supporting hauling labors involved in healthcare.

{| Class=wikitable
! Labor
! Use
|-
| [[Diagnostician]]
| Determines what procedures (of the other four) are necessary
|-
| [[Surgeon]]
| Repair internal organ damage, excise necrotic tissue or serious injuries to muscle, bones
|-
| [[Suturer]]
| Stops serious bleeding
|-
| [[Wound dresser]]
| Finalizes closed wounds for healing
|-
| [[Bone doctor]]
| Sets simple breaks for healing
|- style="background-color:#eaeaea;"
| [[Labor|Recovering wounded]]
| For those who cannot walk to a hospital zone
|- style="background-color:#eaeaea;"
| Feed patients/prisoners
| for those who cannot walk to food/drink
|}

Those with the '''recover wounded''' labor will attempt to carry an injured dwarf to a hospital zone, or, lacking one, to the nearest unoccupied bed. Dwarves are not light, especially ones in full armor, so these laborers should not have low strength [[attribute]]s. Note that recovering wounded appears to be an extremely low priority task, and since immobile patients will need to be carried to a hospital before diagnosis, it may be necessary to temporarily disable all other labors on dwarves with this labor to get the wounded moved quickly.

Once in the hospital, a '''diagnoser''' will then evaluate the patient and prescribe a treatment, which any doctor who have the appropriate medical labors enabled (including themselves) may carry out – dwarves cannot be treated without a diagnosis. Depending on the injury, a treatment job will occur. Diagnosis is often required between procedures as well.

After diagnosis, [[Wound|injuries]] to various body parts will be revealed. The color of the text will indicate the severity of the wound, from least to most serious, as follows:

<div style="background:black; width:840px; border-radius:3px">
:{{DFtext|NONE: No recorded active wounds on the part.|#fff}}
:{{DFtext|MINOR: Any damage that doesn't have functional/structural consequences (might be heavy bleeding, though).|#808000}}
:{{DFtext|INHIBITED: Any muscular, structural, or functional damage, without total loss.|#ffff00}}
:{{DFtext|FUNCTION LOSS: An important function of the part is completely lost, but the part is structurally sound (or at least partially intact).|#00ffff}}
:{{DFtext|BROKEN: The part has lost all structural integrity or muscular ability.|#ff0000}}
:{{DFtext|MISSING: The part is completely gone.|#808080}}
</div>

With a chief medical dwarf appointed, you can view your fortress' health using the {{k|z}}-[[health screen]], or individually by selecting a dwarf and using {{k|w}} for wounds section.

*'''Internal Organs''' can be treated or removed by a surgeon using tables and traction benches, and are typically caused by [[attack_types#Piercing_weapons|piercing]] injuries.

: Surgery also covers the repair of [[Health care#Infection|infected]] or rotten wounds, which are typically caused by lack of [[soap]], poor [[water]] access for cleaning, delayed medical care, or just bad luck.

* '''Bones''' can be set and treated by bone doctors using thread and cloth (for minor fractures), splints and casts, or traction benches, depending on severity. [[Health screen#Fifth Key Column|Grasping]] is often impaired during healing. The {{DFtext|Immobilization Request}} status tag is an indication that a splint or plaster cast is required. Multiple overlapping and compound fractures require a surgeon. Typically caused by [[attack_types#Blunt_weapons|blunt]] trauma.

*'''Skin and muscle''' can be treated by a suturer using thread and cloth. The wound will continue to bleed until sutured. Severe wounds to the hands can impair grasping during healing. Typically caused by [[attack_types#Edged_weapons|slashing]] injuries.

* Closed wounds will be dressed by a wound dresser.

Any dwarves with the feed patients/prisoners labor will attempt to give food or a bucket of water to a hungry or thirsty patient. By default, all dwarves start with the non-doctoring, supporting labors enabled; these have no corresponding [[skill]]s, do not cause experience gain, and merely are activities that can be performed by any dwarf, but can be disabled for those with more important labors.

==Infection==
Every open wound can become infected. Infections may heal over time; however, many dwarves will die due to infection, often months after the actual wounding.

Causes of infection include:
* No cleaning of the wounds.
* Cleaning with water from a [[Water#Stagnant_Water|stagnant water]] source, or cleaning with [[Water#Water_laced_with_mud|water laced with mud]]. {{Verify}}
* Cleaning without [[soap]].
* Bad luck

An infection effectively causes constant internal bleeding, and if the infected dwarf is healthy enough, they can naturally replenish their blood quickly enough to outpace the infection.

== Equipment and medical supplies ==
[[File:Hospital information.png|thumb|In-game hospital information summary]]
=== Traction benches ===
A traction bench is used by a [[bone doctor]] in a [[Hospital|hospital zone]] to immobilize a dwarf that has sustained complex or overlapping fractures.

It is constructed in the [[Mechanic's workshop]], and requires a [[table]], a [[mechanism]], and a [[rope]] or a [[chain]] to construct. The [[quality]] of each component is not reflected in the quality of the traction bench, and only the [[material]] of the table is used as the material for the bench. "Recycling" low-quality, low-value components into high-quality traction benches can provide a modest increase in [[value]]. Note that if any [[Stockpile|stockpiles]] have been linked to "Give" to the workshop, all of the resources needed to construct the traction bench must be found in the linked piles (e.g., linking only a stone stockpile may prevent access to the necessary tables/ropes/chains).

=== Gypsum plaster ===

Casts are made out of [[Gypsum plaster|plaster powder]] and are used to keep bones in their proper place until healed. To store them in a hospital, place a chest or other container inside the hospital zone. Applying a cast also requires a bucket, cloth, and a water source.

Plaster powder is produced at a [[kiln]] or [[magma kiln]] from [[gypsum]], [[alabaster]], [[selenite]], or [[satinspar]] and an empty [[bag]] by a dwarf with the furnace operator skill enabled. They can also be bought at embark for 3 points per unit; each unit comes with a free bag.

=== Splints ===
Splints immobilize limbs that have sustained bone fractures. They allow the broken limb to be utilized until it is fully healed. Dwarves will be able to leave the hospital and resume their normal duties once securely splinted up, since by this stage their wounds have already been cleaned, sutured and dressed. Applied by a bone doctor.

They can be made out of one [[wood]] at the [[carpenter's workshop]] or out of one metal [[bar]] at the [[metalsmith's forge]] or the [[magma forge]]. Splints seem to be an effective alternative to plaster casts, and are easier to obtain and prepare. Splints are categorized as [[finished goods]].

=== Other equipment===
*[[Crutch]]es {{DFtext|┬|770}} help a crippled dwarf walk again.
*[[Table]]s are used to conduct operations on.
*[[Bed]]s are used by patients to rest.
*[[Thread]] is used to suture closed wounds.
*[[Cloth]] is used to clean wounds, wash patients and dress wounds.
*[[Soap]] is used to clean wounds, sterilizing and preventing infection.
*[[Water]] is used to clean wounds, bathe patients and give drink, as patients do not drink alcohol.
*[[Bucket]]s are used to gather and hold the water for its uses.
*[[Container]]s are used to store hospital supplies.

==Tips for an effective hospital==
* Regularly use ({{k|i}}-{{k|H}}) to examine your hospital stockpile. Ensure your hospital is well-stocked. If you run out of materials regularly, increase the limits.
** Note that the quantities listed in the "Set Hospital Information" screen are different than those used in stockpiles.
*** 1 stockpile unit of thread = 15000 in the hospital
*** 1 cloth = 10000
*** 1 soap = 150
*** 1 gypsum powder = 150
* It is possible to do without soap in the hospital stockpile. Choosing to do so, however, increases the risk of infection, which will most likely kill the patient. Consult the [[soap]] page to understand that industry. Bring 1 lye on embark for one bar of soap, which translates to 150 units.
* Put a [[well]] inside (or near) the hospital for maximum efficiency. Doctors need to wash patients regularly, and clean water reduces infection.
* Do not place chairs next to your surgery tables. A chair is an invitation for rat-roast-eating freeloaders to block the medical process.
* Consider making use of [[burrow]]s to ensure your healthcare workers stay in the area.
* You may wish to consider individual rooms for each bed; if you find your doctors are choosing to treat Urist McPaperCut over Urist McBloodFountainTheGushing. A locked door minimizes the mess, and thereby infection and allows you to prioritize.
* The Chief Medical Dwarf only enables the Health status screen. The position has no in-game use. Look after your Chief Medical Dwarf if you rely heavily on this screen, but otherwise they can be treated as any other dwarf.
** Diagnosis skill level does not affect the diagnosis, only the time it takes for the diagnosis to happen. Embarking with a dwarf skilled in diagnosis (and other medical skills) is helpful, both to speed diagnosis and to stave off skill rust when long periods of time go between injuries.
** Also helpful is enabling medical skills on all dwarves in the fortress, which allows medical jobs to be picked up immediately, so long as there is an idle dwarf.
* Create "nurses" by setting dwarves to only use the Recover wounded, Give food and Give water labors.
** It is important not to distract doctors from treating patients (or other medical helpers such as crutch haulers, or wounded recoverers).
** "Recover wounded", "Give food" and "Give water" are low-priority jobs, so it is entirely possible for a patient to starve, dehydrate, or bleed to death if no one ever gets "unbusy" enough to bring them food or water, or move them to the hospital.
** Similarly, it is important not to put your doctors at risk by recovering wounded in the middle of a battle — if they become injured, they cannot treat themselves.
* You can select nurses who enjoy helping people to give them good thoughts. This also prevents dwarves that hate bringing others food from receiving unhappy thoughts.
* If you use Dwarf Therapist, try to select strong or large-sized dwarves to recover wounded. Weak dwarves slowly inching back to the hospital from a hostile area with a dying patient can result in [[fun]].
* When a serious injury happens, don't exit (or save) the game until the injured are in the hospital zone, especially if a dwarf is immobile. "Bring crutch" and "Recover Wounded" jobs will be lost, keeping the patient away from the hospital, and doctors will NOT go to patients, even if burrowed with them, because a diagnose job hasn't been created. Sometimes a second "crutch required" or "recover wounded" request will be generated, but often too late for the patient's full recovery. Your best bet is to ensure someone (not burrowed) has "recover wounded" enabled at all times; burrow doctors doing non-medical tasks immediately; hope the patient makes it to the hospital.{{Verify}}
* Long-term residents will seek medical care if injured. This includes non-dwarves. Doctors will treat them the same as dwarves and the different physiology doesn't seem to be an issue.
* Set the hospital zone to inactive and forbid everything in it when you don't have any real medical issues. It will prevent dwarves who have no real injuries from useless resting there (bee stings & harmless evil weather syndromes can result in this, medics will cancel diagnose patient due to "not resting" because the resting phase usually ends very fast).
* To prevent the usage of adamantine thread, store no thread in hospital settings and instead have a stockpile of non-metal thread in hospital, while additionally having a manager order to make 1 wafer when you have 1 adamantine thread.
* You may want to disable the hospital if you want your injured dwarves to get up from it while you lack the equipment to treat them. When able, military dwarves will keep fighting enemies or follow current valid station or kill orders despite injuries they may incur, but civilian dwarves will go into "resting mode" when injured, and once they've gone or carried in they won't leave the hospital until the injury is healed or treated. You can re-enable the hospital once you no longer need your dwarves to stay out of it.

Dwarves will prefer to store and use the most expensive thread and cloth - yes, that includes special "[[raw adamantine|exotic]]" strands, which you may want to forbid during medical emergencies.

==Bugs==
* For a variety of reasons, an injured dwarf may leave the hospital and/or refuse to go to the hospital. {{Bug|309}}
* Wounded dwarves are not always recovered properly. {{bug|94}} Re-injuring the dwarf (with a [[minecart]] collision, dropped item, etc.) may trigger proper recovery.
* Adamantine thread used for suturing. {{Bug|1346}}
* The quality and value of a finished traction bench does not account for all of the inputs used to make it. {{verify}}
* Dwarves resting in bed may be starving/dehydrated and not being taken care of, deconstructing the bed to generate a new Recover Wounded task and force them to rest properly fixes this.

{{d for dwarf}}
Soap is the only item dwarves will use to sterilize a wound. While dwarves are of course aware that humans will pour perfectly quaffable alcohol over their bloody wounds and onto the filthy ground to get the same effect, dwarves understand that some things are more precious than a single life, and face oblivion with a bit more dignity. The application of extreme heat is also well known to prevent infections and seal a wound, but dwarves consider magma the only legitimate heat source, and the non-lethal application of magma is sacrilege.
[[File:healthcare_preview.png|thumb|370px|center|A [[human]] doctor attempting to help. ''Art by Luke Fildes (October 3, 1843 – February 28, 1927)'']]
{{Category|Healthcare}}
{{Industry}}
[[ru:Health care]]

Health care

2022-12-03T13:30:13Z

IceWorm: Linked furniture pages at top of page and changed coffer/bag to container. Minor grammar correction and removal of a contraction.

{{Quality|Masterwork|11:55, 22 June 2020 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
{{buggy|bugsection=Bugs}}
[[File:healthcare_icon.png|100px|right]]A '''hospital''' [[zone]] allows [[wound]]ed dwarves to rest and receive care and treatment. Hospitals use any [[bed]]s, [Table]s, [[traction bench]]es, and [[container]]s that have been built within the zone. The hospital will requisition [[thread]], [[cloth]], [[splint]]s, [[crutch]]es, [[Gypsum plaster|plaster powder]] (for casts), [[bucket]]s, and [[soap]] for medical use. These will be stored within the hospital's containers; you may adjust the desired quantities.

'''Doctors''' are dwarves assigned to any of the five doctoring labors: [[wound dresser|dressing wounds]], [[diagnostician|diagnosis]], [[surgeon|surgery]], [[bone doctor|setting bones]], and [[suturer|suturing]]. All doctors in the fortress operate under the instruction of the [[chief medical dwarf]], an appointed [[noble]]. Doctors perform their medical procedures on a dwarf only after treatment has been prescribed by a diagnostician. Doctors do not (yet; one must needs use [[DFHack]] in the interim) perform any healthcare on animals, despite injured animals "requesting" diagnosis in the [[Health screen|health screen]] ({{k|z}}).

All beds within a hospital zone are automatically hospital beds, where injured dwarves will go (or be brought) to recuperate. Tired, healthy dwarves will occasionally camp there too if the hospital is close, even if they have their own bed.

==Setting up a hospital==
Hospitals are designated as [[zone]]s, press {{k|i}} and lay out the area you plan on having your hospital in using the cursor keys --proximity to [[water]] is a plus, since patients need to be washed and cannot drink alcohol-- hit enter when you're done. Then with your cursor over the zone you've just placed press {{k|h}} to designate it as a hospital. From this screen, you can also press {{k|H}} 'Set Hospital Information' to check the equipment and medical supplies missing/available to your hospital.
* Place enough [[bed]]s in that zone to ensure you can keep all wounded dwarves in the hospital. Note that normal beds or [[bedroom]]s can and will accept wounded dwarves whether or not a hospital zone exists, though hospital beds will be preferred if they are free. Doctors do not need a hospital zone, though a lack of equipment will probably limit care options.
* Place at least one [[table]] ({{k|b}}-{{k|t}}) for surgeons to perform surgery on. Adjacency to beds makes it easier to move a patient for surgery. You may perform surgery without tables; it will be messier.
** Multiple dwarves may undergo simultaneous surgeries on the same table.
* Place one or more [[traction bench]]es ({{k|b}}-{{k|R}}) to handle compound fractures when the dwarf requires "immobilization."
** Each traction bench can only accommodate one dwarf at a time, and the dwarf may be there for quite some time, so plan accordingly.
* Place [[container]]s ({{k|b}}-{{k|h}}) to store medical supplies reserved for hospital use. Once placed, dwarves will start stocking the hospital with medical supplies, you can track their progress and change storage limits in the zone's 'Set Hospital Information' menu. A small hospital can manage with 2 containers, while a fully-fledged fortress with an adventurous military may need as many as 8. (Containers are not strictly necessary; doctors can and will use supplies from anywhere, but dedicated hospital containers allow you to earmark some supplies for medical use - for example, to prevent the auto-looming of ''every'' last thread.)

Medical Staff:
* Assign a [[chief medical dwarf]] (in the [[noble]]s screen) to enable the fortress-wide {{k|z}} [[health screen]] as well as individual dwarves' health summary screens ({{k|v}}-{{k|z}}-{{k|h}}), for easier monitoring and tracking of dwarves seeking treatment and their conditions.
* Pick one or more dwarves to be doctors, and enable the health labor(s) on them (through {{k|v}}-{{k|p}}-{{k|l}}). You might want set several dwarves to be dedicated doctors, with diagnosis labor well-covered - without a diagnosis, patients cannot be treated, if they cannot be treated, they will occupy the hospital area until they die, performing no function. (Any dwarf with the Diagnosis labor enabled can diagnose dwarves, but the Chief Medical Dwarf may impact the diagnosis job creation{{verify}}. Once a patient is diagnosed, you can see on the individual health screen what procedures are needed, for example, washing or suturing.)
* If you use a [[burrow]] to keep doctors near the hospital zone, ensure that this burrow covers all needed materials or you could get job cancellations because of a lack of material. Thread/cloth stockpiles, and items bought from caravans (e.g. plaster early in the game) are often the most troubling.

== Skills and injuries==
There are 5 skilled [[doctor]]ing labors and 2 unskilled supporting hauling labors involved in healthcare.

{| Class=wikitable
! Labor
! Use
|-
| [[Diagnostician]]
| Determines what procedures (of the other four) are necessary
|-
| [[Surgeon]]
| Repair internal organ damage, excise necrotic tissue or serious injuries to muscle, bones
|-
| [[Suturer]]
| Stops serious bleeding
|-
| [[Wound dresser]]
| Finalizes closed wounds for healing
|-
| [[Bone doctor]]
| Sets simple breaks for healing
|- style="background-color:#eaeaea;"
| [[Labor|Recovering wounded]]
| For those who cannot walk to a hospital zone
|- style="background-color:#eaeaea;"
| Feed patients/prisoners
| for those who cannot walk to food/drink
|}

Those with the '''recover wounded''' labor will attempt to carry an injured dwarf to a hospital zone, or, lacking one, to the nearest unoccupied bed. Dwarves are not light, especially ones in full armor, so these laborers should not have low strength [[attribute]]s. Note that recovering wounded appears to be an extremely low priority task, and since immobile patients will need to be carried to a hospital before diagnosis, it may be necessary to temporarily disable all other labors on dwarves with this labor to get the wounded moved quickly.

Once in the hospital, a '''diagnoser''' will then evaluate the patient and prescribe a treatment, which any doctor who have the appropriate medical labors enabled (including themselves) may carry out – dwarves cannot be treated without a diagnosis. Depending on the injury, a treatment job will occur. Diagnosis is often required between procedures as well.

After diagnosis, [[Wound|injuries]] to various body parts will be revealed. The color of the text will indicate the severity of the wound, from least to most serious, as follows:

<div style="background:black; width:840px; border-radius:3px">
:{{DFtext|NONE: No recorded active wounds on the part.|#fff}}
:{{DFtext|MINOR: Any damage that doesn't have functional/structural consequences (might be heavy bleeding, though).|#808000}}
:{{DFtext|INHIBITED: Any muscular, structural, or functional damage, without total loss.|#ffff00}}
:{{DFtext|FUNCTION LOSS: An important function of the part is completely lost, but the part is structurally sound (or at least partially intact).|#00ffff}}
:{{DFtext|BROKEN: The part has lost all structural integrity or muscular ability.|#ff0000}}
:{{DFtext|MISSING: The part is completely gone.|#808080}}
</div>

With a chief medical dwarf appointed, you can view your fortress' health using the {{k|z}}-[[health screen]], or individually by selecting a dwarf and using {{k|w}} for wounds section.

*'''Internal Organs''' can be treated or removed by a surgeon using tables and traction benches, and are typically caused by [[attack_types#Piercing_weapons|piercing]] injuries.

: Surgery also covers the repair of [[Health care#Infection|infected]] or rotten wounds, which are typically caused by lack of [[soap]], poor [[water]] access for cleaning, delayed medical care, or just bad luck.

* '''Bones''' can be set and treated by bone doctors using thread and cloth (for minor fractures), splints and casts, or traction benches, depending on severity. [[Health screen#Fifth Key Column|Grasping]] is often impaired during healing. The {{DFtext|Immobilization Request}} status tag is an indication that a splint or plaster cast is required. Multiple overlapping and compound fractures require a surgeon. Typically caused by [[attack_types#Blunt_weapons|blunt]] trauma.

*'''Skin and muscle''' can be treated by a suturer using thread and cloth. The wound will continue to bleed until sutured. Severe wounds to the hands can impair grasping during healing. Typically caused by [[attack_types#Edged_weapons|slashing]] injuries.

* Closed wounds will be dressed by a wound dresser.

Any dwarves with the feed patients/prisoners labor will attempt to give food or a bucket of water to a hungry or thirsty patient. By default, all dwarves start with the non-doctoring, supporting labors enabled; these have no corresponding [[skill]]s, do not cause experience gain, and merely are activities that can be performed by any dwarf, but can be disabled for those with more important labors.

==Infection==
Every open wound can become infected. Infections may heal over time; however, many dwarves will die due to infection, often months after the actual wounding.

Causes of infection include:
* No cleaning of the wounds.
* Cleaning with water from a [[Water#Stagnant_Water|stagnant water]] source, or cleaning with [[Water#Water_laced_with_mud|water laced with mud]]. {{Verify}}
* Cleaning without [[soap]].
* Bad luck

An infection effectively causes constant internal bleeding, and if the infected dwarf is healthy enough, they can naturally replenish their blood quickly enough to outpace the infection.

== Equipment and medical supplies ==
[[File:Hospital information.png|thumb|In-game hospital information summary]]
=== Traction benches ===
A traction bench is used by a [[bone doctor]] in a [[Hospital|hospital zone]] to immobilize a dwarf that has sustained complex or overlapping fractures.

It is constructed in the [[Mechanic's workshop]], and requires a [[table]], a [[mechanism]], and a [[rope]] or a [[chain]] to construct. The [[quality]] of each component is not reflected in the quality of the traction bench, and only the [[material]] of the table is used as the material for the bench. "Recycling" low-quality, low-value components into high-quality traction benches can provide a modest increase in [[value]]. Note that if any [[Stockpile|stockpiles]] have been linked to "Give" to the workshop, all of the resources needed to construct the traction bench must be found in the linked piles (e.g., linking only a stone stockpile may prevent access to the necessary tables/ropes/chains).

=== Gypsum plaster ===

Casts are made out of [[Gypsum plaster|plaster powder]] and are used to keep bones in their proper place until healed. To store them in a hospital, place a chest or other container inside the hospital zone. Applying a cast also requires a bucket, cloth, and a water source.

Plaster powder is produced at a [[kiln]] or [[magma kiln]] from [[gypsum]], [[alabaster]], [[selenite]], or [[satinspar]] and an empty [[bag]] by a dwarf with the furnace operator skill enabled. They can also be bought at embark for 3 points per unit; each unit comes with a free bag.

=== Splints ===
Splints immobilize limbs that have sustained bone fractures. They allow the broken limb to be utilized until it is fully healed. Dwarves will be able to leave the hospital and resume their normal duties once securely splinted up, since by this stage their wounds have already been cleaned, sutured and dressed. Applied by a bone doctor.

They can be made out of one [[wood]] at the [[carpenter's workshop]] or out of one metal [[bar]] at the [[metalsmith's forge]] or the [[magma forge]]. Splints seem to be an effective alternative to plaster casts, and are easier to obtain and prepare. Splints are categorized as [[finished goods]].

=== Other equipment===
*[[Crutch]]es {{DFtext|┬|770}} help a crippled dwarf walk again.
*[[Table]]s are used to conduct operations on.
*[[Bed]]s are used by patients to rest.
*[[Thread]] is used to suture closed wounds.
*[[Cloth]] is used to clean wounds, wash patients and dress wounds.
*[[Soap]] is used to clean wounds, sterilizing and preventing infection.
*[[Water]] is used to clean wounds, bathe patients and give drink, as patients do not drink alcohol.
*[[Bucket]]s are used to gather and hold the water for its uses.
*[[Container]]s are used to store hospital supplies.

==Tips for an effective hospital==
* Regularly use ({{k|i}}-{{k|H}}) to examine your hospital stockpile. Ensure your hospital is well-stocked. If you run out of materials regularly, increase the limits.
** Note that the quantities listed in the "Set Hospital Information" screen are different than those used in stockpiles.
*** 1 stockpile unit of thread = 15000 in the hospital
*** 1 cloth = 10000
*** 1 soap = 150
*** 1 gypsum powder = 150
* It is possible to do without soap in the hospital stockpile. Choosing to do so, however, increases the risk of infection, which will most likely kill the patient. Consult the [[soap]] page to understand that industry. Bring 1 lye on embark for one bar of soap, which translates to 150 units.
* Put a [[well]] inside (or near) the hospital for maximum efficiency. Doctors need to wash patients regularly, and clean water reduces infection.
* Do not place chairs next to your surgery tables. A chair is an invitation for rat-roast-eating freeloaders to block the medical process.
* Consider making use of [[burrow]]s to ensure your healthcare workers stay in the area.
* You may wish to consider individual rooms for each bed; if you find your doctors are choosing to treat Urist McPaperCut over Urist McBloodFountainTheGushing. A locked door minimizes the mess, and thereby infection and allows you to prioritize.
* The Chief Medical Dwarf only enables the Health status screen. The position has no in-game use. Look after your Chief Medical Dwarf if you rely heavily on this screen, but otherwise they can be treated as any other dwarf.
** Diagnosis skill level does not affect the diagnosis, only the time it takes for the diagnosis to happen. Embarking with a dwarf skilled in diagnosis (and other medical skills) is helpful, both to speed diagnosis and to stave off skill rust when long periods of time go between injuries.
** Also helpful is enabling medical skills on all dwarves in the fortress, which allows medical jobs to be picked up immediately, so long as there is an idle dwarf.
* Create "nurses" by setting dwarves to only use the Recover wounded, Give food and Give water labors.
** It is important not to distract doctors from treating patients (or other medical helpers such as crutch haulers, or wounded recoverers).
** "Recover wounded", "Give food" and "Give water" are low-priority jobs, so it is entirely possible for a patient to starve, dehydrate, or bleed to death if no one ever gets "unbusy" enough to bring them food or water, or move them to the hospital.
** Similarly, it is important not to put your doctors at risk by recovering wounded in the middle of a battle — if they become injured, they cannot treat themselves.
* You can select nurses who enjoy helping people to give them good thoughts. This also prevents dwarves that hate bringing others food from receiving unhappy thoughts.
* If you use Dwarf Therapist, try to select strong or large-sized dwarves to recover wounded. Weak dwarves slowly inching back to the hospital from a hostile area with a dying patient can result in [[fun]].
* When a serious injury happens, don't exit (or save) the game until the injured are in the hospital zone, especially if a dwarf is immobile. "Bring crutch" and "Recover Wounded" jobs will be lost, keeping the patient away from the hospital, and doctors will NOT go to patients, even if burrowed with them, because a diagnose job hasn't been created. Sometimes a second "crutch required" or "recover wounded" request will be generated, but often too late for the patient's full recovery. Your best bet is to ensure someone (not burrowed) has "recover wounded" enabled at all times; burrow doctors doing non-medical tasks immediately; hope the patient makes it to the hospital.{{Verify}}
* Long-term residents will seek medical care if injured. This includes non-dwarves. Doctors will treat them the same as dwarves and the different physiology doesn't seem to be an issue.
* Set the hospital zone to inactive and forbid everything in it when you don't have any real medical issues. It will prevent dwarves who have no real injuries from useless resting there (bee stings & harmless evil weather syndromes can result in this, medics will cancel diagnose patient due to "not resting" because the resting phase usually ends very fast).
* To prevent the usage of adamantine thread, store no thread in hospital settings and instead have a stockpile of non-metal thread in hospital, while additionally having a manager order to make 1 wafer when you have 1 adamantine thread.
* You may want to disable the hospital if you want your injured dwarves to get up from it while you lack the equipment to treat them. When able, military dwarves will keep fighting enemies or follow current valid station or kill orders despite injuries they may incur, but civilian dwarves will go into "resting mode" when injured, and once they've gone or carried in they won't leave the hospital until the injury is healed or treated. You can re-enable the hospital once you no longer need your dwarves to stay out of it.

Dwarves will prefer to store and use the most expensive thread and cloth - yes, that includes special "[[raw adamantine|exotic]]" strands, which you may want to forbid during medical emergencies.

==Bugs==
* For a variety of reasons, an injured dwarf may leave the hospital and/or refuse to go to the hospital. {{Bug|309}}
* Wounded dwarves are not always recovered properly. {{bug|94}} Re-injuring the dwarf (with a [[minecart]] collision, dropped item, etc.) may trigger proper recovery.
* Adamantine thread used for suturing. {{Bug|1346}}
* The quality and value of a finished traction bench does not account for all of the inputs used to make it. {{verify}}
* Dwarves resting in bed may be starving/dehydrated and not being taken care of, deconstructing the bed to generate a new Recover Wounded task and force them to rest properly fixes this.

{{d for dwarf}}
Soap is the only item dwarves will use to sterilize a wound. While dwarves are of course aware that humans will pour perfectly quaffable alcohol over their bloody wounds and onto the filthy ground to get the same effect, dwarves understand that some things are more precious than a single life, and face oblivion with a bit more dignity. The application of extreme heat is also well known to prevent infections and seal a wound, but dwarves consider magma the only legitimate heat source, and the non-lethal application of magma is sacrilege.
[[File:healthcare_preview.png|thumb|370px|center|A [[human]] doctor attempting to help. ''Art by Luke Fildes (October 3, 1843 – February 28, 1927)'']]
{{Category|Healthcare}}
{{Industry}}
[[ru:Health care]]

Necromancer

2022-11-19T14:36:37Z

IceWorm: Removed duplicate link to bay12 forums thread on advanced worldgen settings

{{Quality|Exceptional|18:33, 6 May 2015 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
[[File:necromancer_preview.jpg|thumb|360px|One of the worst ways to deal with grief. ''Art by ChrisCold''.]]'''Necromancers''' {{Tile|Ñ|5:1}} are [[immortal]] beings blessed with the [[secret]]s of life and death. These [[night creature]]s are [[magic]] users who raise legions of [[undead]] and seclude themselves in [[Tower_(necromancy)|tower]]s.

==The Origin of Necromancers==
Necromancers initially begin as normal [[historical figure]]s who are [[Creature_token#MAXAGE|mortal]], [[Creature_token#CAN_SPEAK|can speak]], [[Creature_token#CAN_LEARN| learn]] and are also part of an [[civilization|entity]]; in unmodded games these are [[dwarf|dwarves]], [[human]]s and civilized [[animal people]]. At some point in its life, one of these creatures may suddenly become "obsessed with his/her/its own mortality" and seek to become immortal. Shortly afterwards, it will begin (if it does not do so already) worshiping a [[deity]] (or a creature with the {{token|SUPERNATURAL|c}} tag) who has a [[sphere|DEATH sphere]]. Once the deity/supernatural creature becomes an object of ardent worship to the figure, it will reward the worshipper with an artifact [[slab]] containing the secrets of life and death, which is then swiftly claimed by the recipient for diligent learning, thus becoming a necromancer. This original necromancer may then take as apprentice one or more fellow immortality-seekers, who will obtain the knowledge of their master.

==Description==
Having mastered the secrets of life and death, necromancers have reached their goal of [[immortality]], in that they do not [[age]], need to [[food|eat]], [[thirst|drink]], or require [[sleep]], as they [[No Exert|never get tired or exhausted]]. However, they ''do'' need to breathe, unlike [[vampire]]s. Necromancers are still fertile, and in fortress mode, female dwarf necromancers can give birth. Their {{token|ANXIETY_PROPENSITY}} is raised by 50, while their {{token|TRUST}} is lowered by 50, and some necromancer secrets add {{token|LIKES_FIGHTING}}.

The defining characteristic of necromancers is that they know the secrets of life and death, which gives them extra powers. However, not all secrets are created equal - different secrets will yield different powers.

== Secrets ==
Each secret gives a combination of magical abilities, which come in the form of [[interaction token]]s. These abilities may vary widely in type and power level, but will always include the ability to raise corpses and [[intelligent undead]]. Depending on their [[sphere]]s (which stem from the spheres of the original [[deity]] that granted those secrets) secrets may also grant the ability to summon [[nightmare]]s, [[bogeymen]], and also the ability to "ghoulify" a living creature (in effect, giving it a [[syndrome]] that turns it into a [[thrall]], much like [[evil]] clouds). In addition, the intelligent undead will also be granted powers of their own, which may range from raising blisters to rotting nerves, to even being able to raise the dead themselves. The [[Advanced_world_generation#Number_of_Secret_Types|number of secrets]], and [[Advanced_world_generation#Allow_Divination.2C_Experiments.2C_and_Necromancy_types|which advanced powers]] they can convey, can be set in advanced world generation.

A single necromancer can learn multiple strains of necromancy by reading different sources. Ambitious necromancers tend to create more towers of the same strain via proxy, so you might find your world populated by a single strain. Usually it’s easier when you know which tower houses what kind of undead, or when you go after the source slabs via legends mode. Recovery is also easier when you have a sneaky squad of artifact raiders in fort mode.

=== Raise corpse/intelligent undead ===
Necromancers always have the [[interaction token|power]] to animate [[corpse]]s of organic creatures, which can include heads or any body parts which have a {{token|GRASP}} token or are attached to body parts which do ([[skin]], and [[hair]]). Corpses must be within the necromancer's line of sight – about 15 tiles – to be animated. Necromancers do this by gesturing; raising of the dead is reported in the [[reports|combat log]]:

{{gametext|[Necromancer] gestures!|3:1}}
{{gametext|[Corpse] shudders and begins to move!|3:1}}

Once a dead being is animated, it will become [[Adventure mode#Companions|enslaved]] to the necromancer and {{token|OPPOSED_TO_LIFE}}, regardless of previous allegiances. Unless the necromancer attacks their new undead minions, they will remain companions in Adventure mode. If you are a necromancer and attack one of your undead companions, all of them will turn neutral. Animated corpses are also neutral toward creatures that are {{token|NON_LIVING}}. Necromancers will also, occasionally, revive corpses as [[intelligent undead]] – in this case, the revived creature will retain most of its personality and existing loyalties. The name "undead" never quite appears as such in the game – instead, a procedurally-generated name like "lost butcher" or "risen zombie" is used. These undead have special powers but won't be enslaved or {{token|OPPOSED_TO_LIFE}}. In fortress mode, this means that intelligent undead raised by necromancer citizens of your fortress will stay citizens, if they were such when they died. It also means putting necromancers in military squads very risky, as they might accidentally revive your enemies with fun new powers. In adventure mode, if you attempt to raise someone you killed as an intelligent undead, they will remember you attacked and killed them, and will be hostile to you.

=== Summon [[nightmare]]s/[[bogeymen]] ===
Secrets aligned with the nightmare sphere will grant the ability to summon nightmares or bogeymen at a random location near the target to haunt it. In-game, necromancers with this ability will "call upon the night" to do so. These summons are large and freakish, but last a short amount of time. Nightmares are neutral toward creatures with {{token|NO_FEAR}}.

=== Ghoulification ===
Certain necromancers may also turn living creatures into [[infected ghoul]]s. The victims will be said to have "been infected with a contagious ghoulish condition". In adventure mode, you cannot make ghouls even if the announcement after reading a secret-containing book says you learned the power. Ghouls are opposed to life and attack/infect all living creatures who aren’t ghouls through bites. They still retain their sentience and can still bleed to death, but they maintain their gear and abilities, are immune to drowning, do not tire, and have extravision.

== In world generation ==
[[File:Secrets.png|thumb|Secrets of life and death.]]In world generation, necromancers may raise suspicions from their fellow citizens due to not aging, which can lead them to be expelled. This does not apply to necromancers living in goblin and elven civilizations since both goblins and elves are already immortal. Upon being expelled, the necromancer may form a grudge against the civilization and turn to [[villain]]y, and they will generally take refuge in a site of their own.

Necromancers who have a sufficient following may use their undead minions to build dark [[Tower (necromancy)|tower]]s, a task that requires at least 50 followers; younger necromancers may take over [[town]]s or camps instead. Necromancers will also raise a few [[intelligent undead]] as lieutenants. The building of a tower is carried out by the original necromancer of a group (the one who was given the slab) as apprentices join the group after the tower is built. Therefore, each necromancy group has one tower.

Necromancers can make zombies build their tower up a bit to increase the site's zombie cap. If the necromancer is at their zombie cap, they can still raise more zombies, but they are added to a wilderness population instead. The wilderness population can still be used for invasions, but they are also able to roam on to player forts in the region and also encounter adventurers.

Necromancers may conduct experiments on civilians and their [[domestic animal|livestock]], turning them into night creatures known as [[experiment]]s. Eventually, these experiments may leave the necromancer that made them and join other civilizations. In older worlds, many civilizations will likely have significant populations of escaped experiments. In adventure mode, it is not currently possible to create necromancer experiments.

Necromancers can also turn intelligent creatures into [[infected ghoul]]s. The ghouls can then be found around necromancer towers, but it is not currently possible to turn a creature into a ghoul in adventure mode.

Since the secrets of life and death are generated with a {{token|MUNDANE_RECORDING_POSSIBLE}} tag, necromancers will often write numerous [[book]]s during world generation, some concern the secrets of life and death (''blessed, or mayhap, cursed'') so that anyone who reads them will become a necromancer. Like the slab, all (''first-edition, not copies'') books, even those that do not contain secrets, are considered [[artifact]]s, and as such can be viewed in the "Codices and scrolls" list in [[legends|legends mode]]. Books containing the secrets of life and death will include any of the following words in their title: Annihilation, Bereavement, Death, Demise, Departure, Doom, Dying, Eternal Rest, Expiration, Extinction, Mortality, Immortality, Loss, Oblivion, Parting, Ruin, Ruination, Sleep, the Afterlife, the End, the Grave. (Note: "the End" can also turn up in mundane titles as well, typically as part of the phrase "after the end")

It is possible to ensure that a world is generated devoid of necromancers by setting the '''Number of Secret Types''' to '''0''' in [[advanced world generation]]. To the contrary, creating a world with a high number of secret types will increase the probability of there being multiple necromancers in the world. Since necromancers in unmodded games are usually humans or dwarves, having a large amount of neutral plains and/or mountains will further increase this probability, as it means that these civilizations will have more space to expand, and thus the amount of historical figures eligible for necromancy will increase.

Necromancer towers spread death-[[sphere|aligned]] [[evil]] regions around them. Destroying the tower and killing the necromancers in it (e.g. through a [[raid]] to raze the site) will reverse the evil-spreading.

Necromancer towers seem to be treated as a type of criminal government{{verify}} and as such function similarly to a regular civilization. Necromancers from opposing entities will attack each other, but amusingly, their undead armies will be neutral to everyone. Due to their ability to amass large armies quickly, necromancers are currently one of the most powerful geopolitical forces in the game, often declaring war on and destroying even powerful goblin civilizations in older worlds.

==Fortress mode==
===Sieges===
{{DFtext|The dead walk. Hide while you still can!|5:1}}
{{main|Siege#Necromancer sieges}}

Necromancers can lay [[siege]] to your fortress at any stage, including before the first [[immigration|migrant wave]], but only if their tower or town is within 20 tiles of your fortress. As such, picking a location within that distance of such a tower is regarded as a sure way to have an extra helping of [[fun]], and can be checked with {{k|tab}} during world gen. Note that if no tower is present during embark, no necromancer sieges will ever arrive (they may still show up as migrants and/or visitors), except if you [[mission|attack]] them. The sieges are structured much like normal sieges, except that the numbers tend to be much larger and much more disorganized, consisting not of individual squads but of masses of zombies coming from every side. The necromancer (or necromancers, if the former has an apprentice) may or may not arrive with the siege; if they do, and are captured or killed, you can expect to see no more activity from that particular tower. Undead are hostile to everything that breathes as well as to enemy necromancer hordes, meaning that other sieges or [[ambush]]es (or, indeed, caravans) that happen to arrive when a necromancer siege is milling about will always result in a battle. They may also send small squads or armies of experiments to attack you, sometimes stealthily acompanying their minions.

The easiest way to deal with a zombie siege is through the application of [[dwarven atom smasher|particle physics]] to grind the zombies into nothingness. Anything that obliterates any trace of the zombie will prevent raising; a drop into [[magma]] or [[semi-molten rock]] or encasing in [[obsidian]] are more creative alternatives. The jury is still out on whether slashing weapons are better or worse against necromancer sieges; although they tend to separate zombies into many parts, these parts can all be raised, leaving the question of whether the whole zombie or an arm here and a leg there is more dangerous. The undead that the necromancer(s) will bring will be sapient creatures, but if you killed some [[elephant]]s in a combat exercise and a necromancer happens upon them, the danger is magnified.

If you have a [[vampire]] and haven't walled them in yet, you can draft them and take a leisurely walk through town, as undead will ignore them (unless attacked), and the necromancer, has one arrived, is an easy, valid game for a clobbering.

Necromancers that are idle during a siege used to occasionally start [[campfire]]s.

===Ambushes===
Necromancers can arrive under cover, alone, in [[ambush]]es, and raise the dead without being seen. This is much more difficult, as you cannot see the necromancers in question, only their products. Potential necromancer ambushes can be dealt with by internalizing all corpse/remains stockpiles behind heavily trafficked areas, and posting sentries if possible.

===Applications===
Necromancers can be made useful by applying them in [[training]] schemes. Necromancers trapped in a room with line of sight to, say, the contents of the corpse stockpile, can be used to generate an infinite amount of hostile creatures to fight; when you get tired of the sport (or your dwarves start getting beat up), simply block their line of sight with a bridge and put down the remaining enemies, and your military can walk out of training with more experience.

Capturing necromancers is simple: build a tunnel near the necromancer, link floodgates or bridges within so that it can be sealed off, and then poke a hole into the surface. Assuming the necromancer was the nearest creature to where you opened the tunnel, they will be the first one in, and you can then seal off the tunnel and trap them inside. It's difficult to get the necromancer in there alone, without a few zombies following, but it shouldn't matter. [[Cage trap]]s will work too; however, caged necromancers do not appear to revive stuff. You must put necromancers on a restraint afterwards if you want them to be able to.

They can also be weaponized. Replace the militia training room with a room full of goblins, and fun will result. Upright spike [[trap]]s can "kill" the corpses after each use so that the resulting [[goblinite]] can be gathered, and the trap reused. Given enough time and enough bodies, such a trap can even best the [[HFS|circus]].

Much like [[vampire]]s, necromancers may seize control of a [[civilization]] and become its [[monarch|king/queen]]. In that case, the dwarf in question must be isolated from any corpses, as ''they'' may be friendly, but the zombies they tend to create... will be of the dwarven-arm-ripping variety. They should be either isolated from the dead with a [[burrow]], or applied to training/killing. Either way, necromancers are very [[fun]].

Necromancers may occasionally arrive with their slab in hand. It is possible to add necromantic texts as part of your library, allowing you to turn your dwarves into necromancers once they read them. It is also possible to use the world map to send military squads to raid necromancer towers for the reading material contained in them. Dwarven necromancers no longer age, need to eat, or sleep, but they will also no longer need to drink, which can slow them down tremendously for it to be worth it. They ''may'' also raise the occasional corpse, which will often attack non-necromancers, while this might not sound like a big deal if you already have a fort full of necromancer dwarves, the real [[fun]] comes when diplomats, trade caravans, and outpost liaisons show up and if you have the dead walking among your populace. Also, be wary of sending necromancers out in melee, as intelligent undead invaders may remain hostile to your necromancers, who are ceaseless in bashing their heads in before killing them again in an endless, FPS-killing cycle.

Another way of getting necromantic reading material into your library is to "liberate" it in adventure mode, then drop the book off at a retired fortress. This will then be able to be picked up by your dwarves to read at their leisure.

A necromancer may raise the dead when threatened, which is fun when your battlefield is full of previously hostile sentients. This is why you should almost always manually control the necromancer in fortress mode.

===Visitors or immigrants===

Necromancers may also casually arrive as [[visitor]]s or [[immigrant]]s in your fortress. When visiting, they won't attack you or attempt to raise any corpse they see – they came to relax, and just happen to know the secrets of life and death (the visitors are normally, though not necessarily always, schemeing something). They ''will'', however, use their powers in combat (for instance, if they enlist as mercenaries in your squads), but not necessarily mindless corpse-raising – they may revive one of your dwarves that just died as an [[intelligent undead]], who is loyal to your fortress and has extra powers. Necromancer immigrants can be put to work like any other immigrant dwarf - this may be bad for your meat supply when they practice their craft on the corpses produced by your hunters, however.

==Adventurer Mode==
In [[adventurer mode]], necromancers are most commonly found in towers {{Tile|I|5:0}}, but can very rarely be found in towns and camps, due to reasons explained earlier in this article. Towers will contain all the necromancers that are part of the necromancer group to whom the tower belongs, as well as a horde of undead. Towers require abundant human populations (low savagery, large tracts of neutral land) and a high number of secrets to be generated in world generation. Elves or goblins cannot become necromancers through normal means (bestowed by a death god) as their immortality means they cannot become obsessed with their own mortality. They can still learn the secrets of life and death by reading them, however.

It is possible to become a necromancer yourself in adventurer mode by [[reader|reading]] the slab or one of the books containing the secrets of life and death. Both will be found on the tables scattered around the tower, often amongst a pile of other, less useful books.

So, becoming an immortal being who doesn't need to worry about petty things like eating, drinking and sleeping and can also raise and control an undead army merely requires you to read some slab or book. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Unfortunately, it isn't. The tower is stuffed with undead monstrosities who would probably like nothing better than to tear your poor adventurer to shreds. If that isn't bad enough, the necromancers to whom the slab and books belong will raise their
servants each time you strike them down, if they can see the corpses.

So, what can we do to get at those secrets? Well, there are methods:

* '''1. Storm the tower'''
This is probably the most obvious solution, and is also the most likely to get inexperienced adventurers killed. Once you have become powerful enough, attack the tower head-on, preferably bringing with you an army of <s>meatshields</s> soldiers (who will likely get themselves killed, but will provide a distraction for you). It is advisable for you to lure the undead out of the tower first, away from the necromancers' gaze. This will make dealing with them far easier, and will give you a lot more space to dodge (or run if things get bad). If a necromancer is in the midst of the horde, try to move around so that the necromancer is exposed, then go in for the kill. Proceed until everyone (excluding yourself) is dead. Alternatively, just run into the tower and begin hitting everything like a madman. Eventually, either you or all of the tower's occupants will be dead. Then just take the slab/book and do what you will with it.

* '''2. Sneaking'''
Since [[ambusher|sneaking]] in the current version basically makes you invisible{{verify}}, and due to the fact that lighting barely exists yet, sneaking into the tower with a high enough skill and [[thrower|throwing]] stuff will allow you to kill everyone with minimal damage done to yourself. There is, however, the risk of being spotted, in which case you are advised to run away as quickly as you can. Alternatively, you could try to sneak around the tower and steal the slab/book without killing anything, but, because of the high density of enemies in a tower, it is extremely likely that you will be spotted, swarmed and killed.

* '''3. Being a Night Creature'''
Visiting the tower as a [[night creature]] [[Faction#Faction relative hostility|to whom undead are friendly]], such as a [[vampire]], [[undead|husk/thrall]] or, of course, a fellow necromancer, is by far the easiest way to obtain the slab/a book. Seriously. The undead are {{token|OPPOSED_TO_LIFE}}, but these night creatures are {{token|NOT_LIVING}}, so they will ignore you completely. Since undead will not attack necromancers, making a mad dash for the slab/book is also a viable option, but you will risk being killed/severely wounded before you get the chance to become a necromancer. If you are already one of these night creatures, you can just skip gleefully past the undead, read the slab/book and get out. You may also want to have a chat with the necromancers, who are actually quite friendly once you get to know them. In fact, night creatures who are shunned by society will often still be accepted by necromancers, who you can even ask for [[Adventure mode#Quests|quests]]! That is, of course, unless you are an enemy of their group, in which case they will attempt to kill you. Be advised that you cannot become a necromancer as an [[experiment]].

* '''4. Fire. A lot of fire.'''
The undead hordes will not cross small fires. The aspiring adventurer can outrun undead, leading them away from the tower, then run for the entrance. If there are more undead inside, run away. Repeat this until the undead have emptied from the tower, outrunning them and herding them. Run to the tower entrance and light fires around it, sealing them out. Take your time, enjoy the books, maybe mess with a necromancer. When you're ready to leave, scale the wall or jump over the fire. Bonus points: completely enclose the undead in a fire circle they cannot escape from. Side note: while running from undead, igniting the grass in clever places will slow them down even further.

* '''5. Vampire recruit'''
Another strategy, which may not always be available but can work well, is recruiting a vampire. Undead creatures and vampires won't bother each other, but the vampire will attack any hostile necromancers present. Once the necromancers are all dead, you will be left with the far simpler task of killing the undead without having to worry about any of the corpses reanimating.

* '''6. Leapfrog'''
{{k|j}}umping is an often overlooked but fairly powerful combat tool, especially against large hordes of very stupid zombies. Huge numbers have no impact of how effective jumping is, and zombies don't really try all that hard to get out of your way. It's fairly easy to just leap through entire hordes of zombies until you get to the tower proper, at which point you can just dash up some stairs and wait a bit for the zombies to forget you. The actual sentient inhabitants of the tower are strangely hospitable (even to the living) and don't seem to mind you that much, although some experiments seem to turn aggressive if you try talking to them. Once you've found the secret the zombies have probably forgotten about you and will ignore you now that you're also a night creature, and any that still remember you can be dispatched easily without causing any more trouble.

===Playing as a necromancer===

As a necromancer, you:

*don't need to eat or drink, so you don't need to worry about running out of food/water and can get rid of the extra weight such objects produce.
*don't need to sleep, and can't get tired or exhausted, so you'll never again feel the negative effects of these statuses.
*are immortal, as necromancers do not age. This will ensure that your adventurer will not die of old age if your world goes on until its natural {{token|MAXAGE}} is reached (such as if you retire an adventurer and play fortress mode for a while).
*can reanimate corpses to create undead companions. This can be done as many times as you want, with a small [[time]] limit between each reanimation, and only requires a corpse/body part.

Becoming a necromancer also freezes your physical [[attribute]]s so that they cannot rust or be increased. Therefore, it might be wise to raise them to a high level before becoming a necromancer. (However, this does not seem to be happening in the current version, including 0.47.05, probably due to a bug, or it's a design choice. Because let's be honest, just because you're a necromancer doesn't mean you can't learn new things, right?)

==== Reanimating dead creatures ====
1.Open the actions menu by pressing {{k|x}}. 
2.Press {{k|p}} or scroll to "acquired power". 
3.Select ({{k|→}} {{k|Enter}}) "Animate corpse". 
4.Now move the cursor onto the corpse(s) you wish to animate, press the letter that they are represented by on the items screen (such as {{k|a}}) and press {{k|Enter}}. Note that you can animate more than one corpse at a time, and that you can also animate corpses that are in your inventory. 
[[File:Animatecorpsemenu.jpeg]]

It is worth noting that you can only raise corpses with intact heads or grasping body parts (hands). That is, if the creature's head and hands explodes into gore, collapses into gore, or otherwise is pulped via damage to the head or torso, then that corpse cannot be raised. It is still possible, however, to raise a corpse that has had its head completely severed. The arms and head of a single individual can also be raised as different zombies, granted they are separated properly to begin with.

Besides acting as reusable and easily-replenishable soldiers, undead hold potential usage as training dummies for weapons and wrestling skills and can be used to build for you, including animated body parts. A crafty adventurer may cut the limbs off their undead slaves and reanimate them, counting as an additional companion, and reducing build time. However, while a necromancer can still be friendly to mortals, its minions will attack everything living in sight.

For combat, because raised dead lose all their skills as well as the ability to learn, only the attributes and size of the creature at the time of their death are important.

As in fortress mode, necromancer companions and NPCs will automatically raise the dead when in the heat of battle. To counter this in adventure combat, mangle a sentient being using a blunt weapon so they can never be raised, or butcher them once and mangle the raised skin. Butchering doesn’t take time, so it doesn’t hurt to immediately butcher someone you killed.

Alternatively, you can destroy someone’s soul by raising a corpse as a non-intelligent undead. This rewrites their faction and soul traits, and any subsequent resurrection will raise them as a soulless creature loyal to you. This is very useful when you are in mass combat.

Be warned that raising a corpse in front of a lot of people who are already in combat will cause a lag spike.

==[[Object testing arena]]==
Necromancy can be assigned to any creature by simply changing the "effect" of the spawned creature to "necromancer" by pressing {{k|u}}. As expected, necromancers will reanimate dead creatures and severed body parts, though, depending on which team the player has set for the spawned necromancer and that of any creature that died that said necromancer chose to resurrect, strange behaviors can occur.

For example, a necromancer revives the body parts of a dead, dismembered dwarf in an effort to aid itself in fighting, but because the dwarf was on the "independent" team (or just a different one from the necromancer), the body parts just end up attacking the necromancer that raised them. So said necromancer may end up killing what it resurrected, only to keep resurrecting what it just killed to fight it again, which can happen over and over in an endless loop - all due to the clashing of how the arena handles teams/sides and the necromancer's natural AI in raising the dead to help itself.

==Modding==
{{mod}}
It is entirely possible to create your own unique secret class, with powers ranging from material emission (fireballs, firebreath, syndrome-inducing materials) to turning corpses into enthralled creatures, such as giant lions.
This can be accomplished by creating an "interaction_secretnamehere" raw file with the appropriate tokens.

It is also possible to improve the number of necromancers, and therefore towers, by permitting more races to have necromancers. This can be done by adding mortality to races that are not mortal ([[Elf|Elves]] and [[Goblin]]s) with the {{token|MAXAGE}} token, or by adding intelligence to other creature tokens. Even having the ability to pray seems to add yet more original necromancers (that have discovered the secret by worshiping). This could be done by giving religion to races that don't have it, like goblins (see some digging on these subjects here: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=161352.0, http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=154533.0). It also seems that having a DEATH [[Entity_token#RELIGION_SPHERE|sphere]] in the religion of the race vastly improves the ability to discover the secret of life and death.

Example:
Modded goblin race with:
<nowiki>
[RELIGION:PANTHEON]
[RELIGION_SPHERE:DEATH]
</nowiki>
in entity_default and:[MAXAGE:200:250] in creature_standard, will generate a lot of tower-building necromancers.

Doing this for all races with massive population amounts in your world will ensure that towers, and, therefore, undead, are present in large numbers for more [[fun]].

{{gamedata|title=Example raws (as extracted from world.dat in version 0.47.04)|
[INTERACTION:SECRET_11]
[GENERATED]
[I_SOURCE:SECRET]
[IS_NAME:the secrets of life and death]
[IS_SPHERE:DEATH]
[IS_SPHERE:NIGHTMARES]
[IS_SECRET_GOAL:IMMORTALITY]
[IS_SECRET:SUPERNATURAL_LEARNING_POSSIBLE]
[IS_SECRET:MUNDANE_RESEARCH_POSSIBLE]
[IS_SECRET:MUNDANE_TEACHING_POSSIBLE]
[IS_SECRET:MUNDANE_RECORDING_POSSIBLE:objects/text/book_instruction.txt:objects/text/secret_death.txt]
[I_TARGET:A:CREATURE]
[IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_CREATURE]
[IT_REQUIRES:MORTAL]
[IT_REQUIRES:CAN_LEARN]
[IT_REQUIRES:CAN_SPEAK]
[I_EFFECT:ADD_SYNDROME]
[IE_TARGET:A]
[IE_IMMEDIATE]
[SYNDROME]
[SYN_CONCENTRATION_ADDED:1000:0]
[CE_DISPLAY_TILE:TILE:165:5:0:1:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_DISPLAY_NAME:NAME:necromancer:necromancers:necromantic:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_ADD_TAG:NOEXERT:NO_AGING:NO_EAT:NO_DRINK:NO_SLEEP:NO_PHYS_ATT_GAIN:NO_PHYS_ATT_RUST:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_CHANGE_PERSONALITY:FACET:ANXIETY_PROPENSITY:50:FACET:TRUST:-50:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_CAN_DO_INTERACTION:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CDI:ADV_NAME:Animate corpse]
[CDI:INTERACTION:SECRET_ANIMATE_11]
[CDI:TARGET:A:LINE_OF_SIGHT]
[CDI:TARGET_RANGE:A:10]
[CDI:VERB:gesture:gestures:NA]
[CDI:TARGET_VERB:shudder and begin to move:shudders and begins to move]
[CDI:WAIT_PERIOD:10]
[CE_CAN_DO_INTERACTION:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CDI:ADV_NAME:Raise damned butcher]
[CDI:INTERACTION:SECRET_UNDEAD_RES_11]
[CDI:TARGET:A:LINE_OF_SIGHT]
[CDI:TARGET_RANGE:A:10]
[CDI:VERB:gesture:gestures:NA]
[CDI:TARGET_VERB:shudder and begin to move:shudders and begins to move]
[CDI:WAIT_PERIOD:10]
[CE_CAN_DO_INTERACTION:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CDI:ADV_NAME:Summon bogeymen]
[CDI:INTERACTION:SECRET_SUMMON_B_11]
[CDI:VERB:call upon the night:calls upon the night:NA]
[CDI:WAIT_PERIOD:100]
[CE_CAN_DO_INTERACTION:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CDI:ADV_NAME:Summon nightmare]
[CDI:INTERACTION:SECRET_SUMMON_N_11]
[CDI:VERB:call upon the night:calls upon the night:NA]
[CDI:WAIT_PERIOD:12000]
[CE_CAN_DO_INTERACTION:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CDI:ADV_NAME:Create ghoul]
[CDI:INTERACTION:SECRET_GHOUL_11]

[INTERACTION:SECRET_ANIMATE_11]
[GENERATED]
[I_TARGET:A:CORPSE]
[IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_ITEM]
[IT_AFFECTED_CLASS:GENERAL_POISON]
[IT_REQUIRES:FIT_FOR_ANIMATION]
[IT_FORBIDDEN:NOT_LIVING]
[IT_MANUAL_INPUT:corpses]
[I_EFFECT:ANIMATE]
[IE_TARGET:A]
[IE_IMMEDIATE]
[SYNDROME]
[SYN_CONCENTRATION_ADDED:1000:0]
[CE_FLASH_TILE:TILE:165:3:0:0:FREQUENCY:2000:1000:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_PHYS_ATT_CHANGE:STRENGTH:130:0:TOUGHNESS:300:1000:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_SPEED_CHANGE:SPEED_PERC:60:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_ADD_TAG:NO_AGING:NOT_LIVING:OPPOSED_TO_LIFE:EXTRAVISION:NOEXERT:NOPAIN:NOBREATHE:NOSTUN:NONAUSEA:NO_DIZZINESS:NO_FEVERS:NOEMOTION:PARALYZEIMMUNE:NOFEAR:NO_EAT:NO_DRINK:NO_SLEEP:NO_PHYS_ATT_GAIN:NO_PHYS_ATT_RUST:NOTHOUGHT:NO_THOUGHT_CENTER_FOR_MOVEMENT:NO_CONNECTIONS_FOR_MOVEMENT:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_REMOVE_TAG:HAS_BLOOD:TRANCES:MISCHIEVOUS:START:0:ABRUPT]

[INTERACTION:SECRET_UNDEAD_RAISE_11]
[GENERATED]
[I_TARGET:A:CORPSE]
[IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_ITEM]
[IT_AFFECTED_CLASS:GENERAL_POISON]
[IT_REQUIRES:FIT_FOR_RESURRECTION]
[IT_REQUIRES:CAN_LEARN]
[IT_FORBIDDEN:NOT_LIVING]
[IT_MANUAL_INPUT:corpses]
[IT_CANNOT_HAVE_SYNDROME_CLASS:WERECURSE]
[IT_CANNOT_HAVE_SYNDROME_CLASS:VAMPCURSE]
[IT_CANNOT_HAVE_SYNDROME_CLASS:DISTURBANCE_CURSE]
[IT_CANNOT_HAVE_SYNDROME_CLASS:RAISED_UNDEAD]
[IT_CANNOT_HAVE_SYNDROME_CLASS:RAISED_GHOST]
[IT_CANNOT_HAVE_SYNDROME_CLASS:GHOUL]
[I_EFFECT:RESURRECT]
[IE_TARGET:A]
[IE_IMMEDIATE]
[SYNDROME]
[SYN_CONCENTRATION_ADDED:1000:0]
[SYN_CLASS:RAISED_UNDEAD]
[CE_DISPLAY_TILE:TILE:165:3:0:1:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_DISPLAY_NAME:NAME:damned butcher:damned butchers:damned butcher:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_PHYS_ATT_CHANGE:STRENGTH:200:1000:TOUGHNESS:200:1000:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_ADD_TAG:NO_AGING:NOT_LIVING:STERILE:EXTRAVISION:NOEXERT:NOPAIN:NOBREATHE:NOSTUN:NONAUSEA:NO_DIZZINESS:NO_FEVERS:NOEMOTION:PARALYZEIMMUNE:NOFEAR:NO_EAT:NO_DRINK:NO_SLEEP:NO_PHYS_ATT_GAIN:NO_PHYS_ATT_RUST:NOTHOUGHT:NO_THOUGHT_CENTER_FOR_MOVEMENT:NO_CONNECTIONS_FOR_MOVEMENT:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_REMOVE_TAG:HAS_BLOOD:TRANCES:MISCHIEVOUS:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_CAN_DO_INTERACTION:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CDI:ADV_NAME:Propel away]
[CDI:INTERACTION:SECRET_RES_POWER_11_1]
[CDI:TARGET:B:LINE_OF_SIGHT]
[CDI:TARGET_RANGE:B:25]
[CDI:BP_REQUIRED:BY_TYPE:GRASP]
[CDI:USAGE_HINT:ATTACK]
[CDI:VERB:make a flicking motion:makes a flicking motion:NA]
[CDI:MAX_TARGET_NUMBER:B:1]
[CDI:WAIT_PERIOD:50]

[INTERACTION:SECRET_RES_POWER_11_1]
[GENERATED]
[I_TARGET:A:LOCATION]
[IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_LOCATION]
[I_TARGET:B:CREATURE]
[IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_CREATURE]
[IT_MANUAL_INPUT:target]
[I_EFFECT:PROPEL_UNIT]
[IE_PROPEL_FORCE:100000]
[IE_TARGET:A]
[IE_TARGET:B]
[IE_IMMEDIATE]

[INTERACTION:SECRET_SUMMON_B_11]
[GENERATED]
[I_TARGET:A:LOCATION]
[IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_LOCATION]
[I_TARGET:B:LOCATION]
[IT_LOCATION:RANDOM_NEARBY_LOCATION:A:5]
[I_EFFECT:SUMMON_UNIT]
[IE_TARGET:B]
[IE_IMMEDIATE]
[IE_CREATURE_CASTE_FLAG:NIGHT_CREATURE_BOGEYMAN]
[IE_TIME_RANGE:200:300]

[INTERACTION:SECRET_SUMMON_N_11]
[GENERATED]
[I_TARGET:A:LOCATION]
[IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_LOCATION]
[I_TARGET:B:LOCATION]
[IT_LOCATION:RANDOM_NEARBY_LOCATION:A:5]
[I_EFFECT:SUMMON_UNIT]
[IE_TARGET:B]
[IE_IMMEDIATE]
[IE_CREATURE_CASTE_FLAG:NIGHT_CREATURE_NIGHTMARE]
[IE_TIME_RANGE:200:300]

[INTERACTION:SECRET_GHOUL_11]
[GENERATED]
[EXPERIMENT_ONLY]
[I_SOURCE:EXPERIMENT]
[IS_HIST_STRING_1: infected ]
[IS_HIST_STRING_2: with a contagious ghoulish condition]
[IS_TRIGGER_STRING_SECOND:have]
[IS_TRIGGER_STRING_THIRD:has]
[IS_TRIGGER_STRING:been infected with a contagious ghoulish condition]
[I_SOURCE:ATTACK]
[IS_HIST_STRING_1: bit ]
[IS_HIST_STRING_2:, passing on the ghoulish condition]
[I_TARGET:A:CREATURE]
[IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_CREATURE]
[IT_AFFECTED_CLASS:GENERAL_POISON]
[IT_FORBIDDEN:NOT_LIVING]
[IT_CANNOT_HAVE_SYNDROME_CLASS:WERECURSE]
[IT_CANNOT_HAVE_SYNDROME_CLASS:VAMPCURSE]
[IT_CANNOT_HAVE_SYNDROME_CLASS:DISTURBANCE_CURSE]
[IT_CANNOT_HAVE_SYNDROME_CLASS:RAISED_UNDEAD]
[IT_CANNOT_HAVE_SYNDROME_CLASS:RAISED_GHOST]
[IT_CANNOT_HAVE_SYNDROME_CLASS:GHOUL]
[IT_MANUAL_INPUT:victim]
[I_EFFECT:ADD_SYNDROME]
[IE_TARGET:A]
[SYNDROME]
[SYN_CONCENTRATION_ADDED:1000:0]
[SYN_CLASS:GHOUL]
[CE_FLASH_TILE:TILE:165:4:0:1:FREQUENCY:2000:1000:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_DISPLAY_NAME:NAME:diseased ghoul:diseased ghouls:diseased ghoul:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_ADD_TAG:NO_AGING:NOT_LIVING:OPPOSED_TO_LIFE:EXTRAVISION:NOEXERT:NOPAIN:NOBREATHE:NOSTUN:NONAUSEA:NO_DIZZINESS:NO_FEVERS:NOEMOTION:PARALYZEIMMUNE:NOFEAR:NO_EAT:NO_DRINK:NO_SLEEP:NO_PHYS_ATT_GAIN:NO_PHYS_ATT_RUST:NOTHOUGHT:NO_THOUGHT_CENTER_FOR_MOVEMENT:NO_CONNECTIONS_FOR_MOVEMENT:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_REMOVE_TAG:TRANCES:MISCHIEVOUS:START:0:ABRUPT]
[CE_SPECIAL_ATTACK_INTERACTION:INTERACTION:SECRET_GHOUL_11:BP:BY_CATEGORY:MOUTH:BP:BY_CATEGORY:TOOTH:START:0:ABRUPT]

}}
{{Creatures}}
{{category|humanoids}}

[[ru:Necromancer]]

Stupid dwarf trick

2022-08-25T16:18:45Z

IceWorm: /* Tower of Death-Struction */ changed defense to defence

{{Quality|Masterwork|19:26, 25 August 2020 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

{{D for Dwarf}}

A '''stupid dwarf trick''' is any project that requires a large amount of time and/or effort. They may provide a practical benefit, but are frequently done for the sake of doing them; they exist primarily as a [[challenge]] for experienced players. And remember... no wagering. (''Except in quatloos, one might think.'')

==Adventure mode fortress==


Build a fortress specifically for exploring in [[adventure mode]]. You can either make a nasty monster-filled challenge, or a smörgåsbord of masterpiece adamantine weapons and armor. Possibly both. Breaching the [[caverns]] or [[hidden fun stuff]] should ensure the fortress is occupied. Building a fortress is now possible ''inside'' of adventure mode as of DF v0.43.

'''Difficulty:''' The sky's the limit.

'''Usefulness:''' None for fortress mode, but filling it with high-quality equipment can certainly be useful for adventure mode.

==Alarm clock==
Are your soldiers all sound asleep while blood soaks the walls? No need to deconstruct their beds one by one, ''if'' you bought the Dwarf Wakey 3000! Simply a solitary floor tile balanced on a support, one or more can be toppled with the pull of a lever to produce an earth-shaking racket that'll have them leaping for their axes!

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Limited. They'll sleep through <s>'''anything'''</s> the noise. Although they have been known to awaken when drenched in water, possibly due to thinking it's alcohol, making an alarm clock is not impossible, if carefully prepared.

==Alphabet cages==
[[Image:Cage.gif|right]]
Use captured monsters in cages to spell messages.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Vowels are hard to come by.

'''Usefulness:''' Absolutely none whatsoever. (Easy reminders in case you're too lazy to use notes?)

==Altar of Armok==

Build a large altar made out of adamantine, clear glass, magma, and obsidian. The main altar should be hollow adamantine with clear glass "windows." It should have magma inside. The altar should be adorned with large obsidian spikes, as it pleases Armok.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium, raising with the amount (and respective difficulty) of bonuses you add.

'''Usefulness:''' Low to medium. If the chamber containing the altar is consecrated as a [[temple]], dwarves will go there to pray, and may gain additional happy thoughts for admiring the altar's materials and craftsdwarfship.

*Bonus: Guard the altar with a megabeast.
*Bonus: Cover the altar with blood of a Titan.
**MegaBonus: Cover the altar with blood of a denizen of the HFS.
***ArmokBonus: Build the altar in the HFS.
*MegaBonus: Cover the altar in a temporarily lasting strength inducing extract.
*BerserkBonus: Cover the altar in a nausea-inducing extract.
*BloodBonus: Also cover the altar in an extract inducing slow death.
**SychronizationBonus: Make it so that a dwarf that goes into contact with the altar dies the moment the strength runs out.
*SacrificialBonus: Sacrifice a dwarf to the altar every day.
**MegaSacrificialBonus: Sacrifice an elf to the altar every day.
**HistorySacrificialBonus: Sacrifice a human to the altar every day
***MegaArmokBonus: Sacrifice all three species to the altar every day!
*MonarchBonus: Build the altar in the monarch's throne room! Yes, this stacks with the ArmokBonus up above.

==Aqueduct power==
If your river's a long way away from your fortress, building a trans-map axle may be less efficient than building an aqueduct and pump stack driven by waterwheels in the river. The pump stack raises it to the height of your fort, where it flows through the long, long aqueduct and drives waterwheels on the other end. Getting the water pressure just right so it powers your waterwheel without flooding the fort can be [[Fun]]. Diagonal channels make good pressure reducers.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Lots of stone, lots of engineering, lots of dangerous outdoor work, lots of trial-and-error for the receiving waterwheels. Aquifers will absorb any amount of water at any rate. Using an aquifer as drain for the reservoir will nullify the risk of flooding the fortress due to the drain not keeping up with the supply.

'''Usefulness:''' High. As much water and power as you want, wherever you want, whenever you want.

==Aquifer power==
Aquifers can be a resource of immense power. If you have two levels of aquifer, you can generate a continuous flow by draining one level of aquifer into another and plant waterwheels above it. One stream can power a lot of wheels.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Anything to do with draining aquifers is very [[Fun]].

'''Usefulness:''' <s>High.</s> Low. It is now very rare to find a powerful enough aquifer.

==Archaeological excavation==
A Fortress in the Caverns, built by the first dwarf tribes. Build the Fortress however you see fit for those prehistoric Dwarves (i.e. only primitive metals, elaborate tombs for the chieftains with burial objects, cave art, etc.) and abandon it. Then, embark with modern Dwarves, and excavate the ancient Fortress. Sort of like the Adventure Fortress above, only for Reclaim Mode

'''Difficulty:''' As High as you want.

'''Usefulness:''' Variable. Carving a premade fort or building controlled access to caverns can potentially be useful for a Reclaim effort, effectively making the first wave dispoable setup so your would-be archologists to dig up and exploit their new home. The more Fun you leave behind, the harder it will be for your second wave to repurpose the place.

*Bonus: A museum detailing the lives of those early dwarves.
*Bonus: Create a save with your First Tribe fort collapsed/flooded/etc, for other users to explore. Leave them some Fun what-does-this-lever-do problems to solve.
*EncinoDwarfBonus: Some of those early dwarves frozen in a block of ice.
*FunBonus: Breach the HFS.
**MegaBonus: Do a cave in to the HFS after fighting it leaving multiple signs of battle in the fortress, to be dug by your modern dwarves.

==Artificial waterfall==
{{main|Waterfall}}
To keep the waterfall going, you need a [[pump]] stack, preferably powered by a [[windmill]] or [[water wheel]]. Alternatively, an [[aquifer]], or other limitless water source, makes for a waterfall entirely underground.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate (Low if there is an aquifer above pouring down).

'''Usefulness:''' Dwarves love [[waterfall]]s. Putting a waterfall in your [[meeting hall]] will give your dwarves good [[thought]]s, although it can significantly lower frame rate.

*Bonus: Build it in a "Warm" or hotter [[climate]] so it does not freeze.
*DwarfBonus: Build it in a freezing/cold/temperate climate and keep it going entire year!
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use [[magma]]. It does not freeze, even in a freezing climate!
*MegaDwarfBonusEXTREME+: Use magma and water in the same waterfall. The results will enshrine you in dwarf history! Possibly permanently.

==Ballista battery==
{{main|Ballista}}
Overlap a few ballistas to completely cover a narrow corridor. There is an unavoidable risk of your operators wandering into the line of fire.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. If you insist on highly trained operators with high-quality ballistas, it gets harder.

'''Usefulness:''' A complicated and dangerous way to defend a single corridor. Ultimately extremely effective. Sometimes.

==Bastion==
Construct an isolated burrow containing a farmer and some labourers, containing at least an uncontaminated well (an [[aquifer]] is great for this) and some farms. Use whatever elaborate mechanism you wish to seal it off from the rest of the fortress. Congratulations; your bastioned dwarves and their descendants will keep your fortress alive forever until one of them goes nuts.

* Bonus: Build your bastion at least in part in a clay or sand layer, add a little magma, and continue manufacturing useless crap even as the world crumbles around you!
** StonksBonus: Rig a way for your bastion to transfer supplies to the outside world without exposing themselves to danger, so they can be somewhat useful to the rest of your fort before their inevitable downfall. Doubles as a way to restock the bastion with fresh supplies and/or bodies, or a way to let the apocalypse in a little at a time if your survivors get too comfortable.
* Bonus: Build it on top of a tower outside, and then deconstruct the stairs up.
* Bonus: Fill it exclusively with vampires, to avoid having to worry about food, children, and aging.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Hollow out a shell around your bastion, connecting it to the rest of the cavern by a single 1x1 adamantine support, and flood the shell with magma.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' High. If your bastioned dwarves have high enough quality living space and few enough nonbastioned friends, it makes the fortress functionally immortal.

==Bathtub==
Stop dwarves from hauling in tons of exotic, poisonous sludge into your fortress by creating a tub filled with 3/7 water that everyone has to get through to enter the fortress. Include a system to change the water, so that they don't bathe in grime.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate

'''Usefulness:''' Low in most cases. High in some evil areas.

* DwarfBonus: Make it drain and refill itself with clean water automatically once in a year.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Clean it with magma.
* *MegaDwarfBonus*: Have an alternative bathtub-buffered entrance next to the main one, which opens automatically when sanitizing the main one and closes and sanitizes itself when it is no longer needed, so that no jobs are canceled during cleansing cycle.
* ≡MegaDwarfBonus≡ : Make it clean itself with magma automatically once in a year, but make it wait for the moment when it's unused, so that no dwarves or pets are incinerated.
* ☼MegaDwarfBonus☼: All of the above, plus make it detect when there should be no dwarves or pets around, but invaders are in it, so that the cleansing cycle can be started prematurely.

==Boat==
In intermittently freezing biomes, [[ice]] may be used to create actual floating boats, submarines, or other floating objects/forts; as constructions built on top of ice do not collapse when the ice thaws.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Needs an intermittently freezing biome, construction is limited to frozen periods, and there's a substantial risk of flooding, drowning and being encased in ice.

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Forts within boats are protected from invaders while the water is unfrozen, but they're also trapped within the confines of the boat.

Note: You'll probably want to limit your saves to the colder months.

* DwarfBonus: Have the dwarves live on the boat.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Make miscreants/nobles walk the plank.
* *MegaDwarfBonus*: Bury your treasure on shore.
* ≡MegaDwarfBonus≡ : Have a pet [[kea]] for each of your dwarves.
* ☼MegaDwarfBonus☼: Build it on top of an ice tower.

==Bolt splitting operation==
One curious property of Dwarven physics is that a bar of metal makes 25 bolts, but if each of those 25 bolts is melted separately, they will become 2.5 bars, generating metal from nothing. Prior to the update that allowed splitting stacks at the [[trade depot]], the difficult part was separating the stacks of bolts into individual bolts without destroying them. EliDupree originally discovered this trick:
{{diagram|spaces=yes|color=#888|\
∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙
∙++++[#05F]☻∙+++++++++
∙+∙∙∙[#0A0]┼∙+++++++++++++[#BBB]╬[#BBB]╬
∙+∙[#F00]g∙[#0A0]┼∙+++++++++++++[#BBB]╬[#FF0]@
∙+∙∙∙[#0A0]┼∙+++++++++++++[#BBB]╬[#BBB]╬
∙+++++∙+++++++++
∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙
}}

The yellow @ at the right is a stack of marksdwarves (all in different squads so that they'll stand on the same tile) equipped with [[adamantine]] bolts, standing on top of a stairway surrounded by [[fortification]]s. The blue ☻ at the left is a single [[Attributes#Agility|Perfectly Agile]] soldier with orders to patrol up and down the line of green doors, with little delays at the top and bottom. (The doors are free-standing; they were built attached to a wall, then the wall was removed.) The "g" at the left is a goblin standing on a pillar (pitted from the z-level above).

When the dwarf at the left runs up or down the line of doors, it opens all of them, and some of the marksdwarves loose their bolts. By the time the bolts get there, the doors have closed, so they hit the doors and fall into the channel, where they can be collected and melted separately. (That distance is exact, by the way. Any less and they sometimes get shots through the doors, which kills your goblin. Also, with less-skilled marksdwarves, some of the bolts will stray and land on the floors, but that isn't enough to worry about even with mere dabblers.) Naturally, this is also an excellent way to train marksdwarves.

Another design resembles a tower where marksdwarves shoot from the top, with the following setup: (click then press '<' and '>' to go through different z-levels)
<diagram>
<frame type="level" level=0>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%203][%203][%205][%187]
[%186]<[%204][%185][#5:1]g[#7:0][%186]
[%200][%205][%202][%202][%205][%188]

< 01
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=1>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%203][%203][%205][%187]
[%186]X[%204][%185][#7:1]O[#7:0][%186]
[%200][%205][%202][%202][%205][%188]

< 02 >
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=2>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%205][%205][%205][%187]
[%186]X+[#3:1]/[#7:0].[%186]
[%200][%205][%205][%205][%205][%188]

< 03 >
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=3>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%203][%205][%187]+
[%186]X[%186].[%186]+
[%200][%205][%202][%205][%188]+

< 04 >
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=4>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%203][%205][%187].
[%186]X[%186].[%186].
[%200][%205][%202][%205][%188].

< 05 >
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=5>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%205][%205][%187]
[%186]>+[#6:1]@[#7:0][%186]
[%200][%205][%205][%205][%188]

06 >
</frame>
</diagram>
The '@' is any number of marksdwarves standing on a down stair. You may want to use a defend burrow order to restrict them to that tile. The 'g' is a goblin or any other creature your marksdwarves will normally fire at upon encounter (pitted from 2 z-levels above). The 'O' is a well, which is suspected to be preventing dwarves from plunging in and starting brawling with the creature. Marksdwarves will be able to see the goblin or whatever creature below and will loose all bolts in their quivers on them. Curiously, nearly all the bolts will fail to cross the bend in the middle and will fall onto the tile '/' where they can be collected. This disregards crossbow and archery skills and the only difference they make is the speed at which the bolts are split. This design has the advantage of taking less space and being easier to set up, however it is reported that sometimes the dwarves will not miss some of the bolts. If you are only stationing one marksdwarf in the tower, stationing another one may help the first one miss all of his bolts, even after the newly added one is then removed. Sometimes dwarves will spam job cancellation on the bolt collection level, and it is also reported that sometimes some dwarves will start firing when they are on the bolt collection level. In such cases you may want to seal the collection level off and open it once in a while to retrieve the bolts.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate. The hardest part is keeping the system running reliably.

'''Usefulness:''' Moderate. While there are certainly [[Exploit#Infinite metal|easier ways to generate adamantine]], this is perhaps the most dwarfy.

*Bonus: Build a [[repeater]] to open and close the doors automatically.

==Break the dam (release the river!)==
Dam a river (or brook) using something non-permanent (floodgates, drawbridges) and build your fortress entrance in the now dry river bed, make sure you can seal it off nicely (floodgates anyone?) then wait till the first Goblin siege, let them get to your entrance floodgates, seal them, open the dam and laugh maniacally.

'''Difficulty:''' Low

'''Usefulness:''' Instantaneous death to all sieges

*DwarfBonus: Use magma.

==Bridge-a-pult==
A bridge that raises under its victims' feet, flinging enemies away.

Bridges don't fling creatures in any specific direction, apart from "up". So it's more of a spring-board than a catapult. If there's a lot of open space above the bridge, creatures can get flung very high - ten z-levels and more - and take appropriate falling damage. Most of them will land atop the bridge, and bringing the same bridge down will simply crush them.

'''Difficulty:''' Fairly easy. Getting the timing right promises to be the biggest challenge.

'''Usefulness:''' There are far more effective ways to defend a fortress, but few are as entertaining.

===Cat-a-pult===
Essentially a Bridge-a-pult with specific ammo.

'''Difficulty''': Very easy, given that you have live cats in your fortress.

'''Usefulness''': Can be used as a way to stop a [[catsplosion]] if used with male cats. [[Unfortunate accident|Cats can also be replaced with elite citizens of your fortress.]] 

==Corpse processing facility==
WARNING: The system can freely jam on any body parts, besides hands and heads, without killing undead.
With the help of a necromancer, corpses your dwarves refuse to butcher can be brought back to life and re-killed to yield bones and skulls for your bonecarvers if they are mushed up enough.

1. The simplest way to do this is with the help of height. A 1x1 pit with a minecart stop that dumps corpses down the chute, and several alternating [[floor hatch]]es that close and open (linked to a repeater) with necromancers behind windows overlooking each layer of hatches to revive the bits of corpses. 2 windows with a mechanism controlled door in between, in front of each necromancer group can be used to control vision; but the system can only be stopped by unlinking the minecart dump to the refuse pile in your routes. Note: when I built this I had 3 hatches with 6 necromancers overlooking each (I had plenty of them since I embarked close to 4 towers). Revived corpses drop to their death and explode onto a tile with unright spikes linked (note that some of them will survive, so you need the spikes with a repeater or lever). The corpses that explode from the impact of height (or from other body parts/undead crashing into them) will hopefully yield bones. You make choose to re-haul up the body parts for another round, but only body parts still attached to a grasping part or the head will be revived, and this system isn't very efficient in the first place, so it may not be worth the trouble. Note that whole corpses usually yield 5-8 bones upon death (avg 6), arms only yield 1-4 (avg 2). You may also use this system with or without necromancers and pit live [[goblin]]s into it, they usually yield 6 bones and some body parts.

2. The second way is much more efficient than the first, but requires 1 or more [[artifact]] [[mechanisms]] to make it work. Instead of using height to kill the corpses, a weapon trap with an artifact mechanism and 10 serrated blades of any material can be used instead (since artifact mechanisms never jam). Only 1 necromancer is needed for this method, and is positioned 3 tiles away from the weapon trap, overlooking it behind 2 glass windows with a mechanism [[door]] in between to control its vision. Your 1x1 pit should still be 5 tiles deep at least though, to prevent dwarves being spooked by the revived corpses. When you're ready, link up the route to the minecart and watch body parts revive and slowly get mowed down. It's recommended you have more than 1 of these small pits set up so you can grind more corpses and clear out 1 pit at a time while the others keep grinding.

Note: To clear out pits, turn off all refuse stockpiles that accept anything other than bones and skulls by turning on "accept from links only" so your dwarves only haul out the bones and not the trash.

Note: Try to use raising bridges as the door for each pit, kobold body parts tend to get mixed into the grinders which can lock-pick its way out of doors and result in doors with "door taken by intruder" and a couple hundred zombie body parts overrunning your fortress from the inside (a.k.a fun).

Note: I didn't try this with many building destroyers, but I'm pretty sure the glass windows are safe. Fortifications are not usable since corpses and body parts tend to get tangled up in them and are hard to get out, and spook dwarves trying to clean out the pits.

*Bonus: Use water to clean out the contents of the pits and wash them onto a 1x1 refuse stockpile.

'''Difficulty:''' Hard

'''Usefulness:''' High, and becomes higher the more corpses you have; especially useful for getting something more out of necromancer sieges than just useless corpses. Can also be used to recycle dead stray animals and your own dwarves that your dwarves refuse to butcher (don't forget slabs).

NOTE: necromancer siege's corpses now drop clothes and gear.

==Crocodile farm==
They're a thing in real life, and you can make them a thing in-game too! Use cage traps to capture multiple breeding pairs of [[alligator]]s, [[cave crocodile]]s or [[saltwater crocodile]]s, [[Animal trainer|train]] them, then create an area to store them with [[nest box]]es. Breed them so you have more crocodilians to keep laying eggs, rinse and repeat.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium, somewhat dependent on RNG - you need to find someplace with available crocs, you want said crocs to actually spawn and you want said crocs to actually get caught in the traps. <s>May</s> Will also lead to an explosive and FPS-shattering [[Catsplosion#Crocsplosion|crocsplosion]] sooner or later.

'''Usefulness:''' Very high, you'll never have to worry about food again simply from cooking the eggs, and that's not counting butchering the crocs when they're adults.

*Bonus: Have alligators, cave crocs and saltwater crocs '''all''' present in the farm.
*SwampBonus: Have your croc farm submerged in anywhere between 1/7 to 3/7 [[water]]. You gotta keep your crocs healthy and wet! But make sure not to submerge the nest boxes!
*SavageBonus: Have [[giant alligator]]s or/and [[giant saltwater crocodile]]s as part of your farm.
*TrainerBonus: Have your dwarves become Expert alligator/cave croc/saltwater croc trainers.
**SteveIrwinBonus: Have your dwarves become Expert trainers of all croc species.
*HungryHungryCrocBonus: Build your farm in such a way that [[siege]]s have to go through it to reach your fortress.
*UltraCrocBonus: Have [[Alligator man|alligator men]] or/and [[Saltwater crocodile man|saltwater crocodile men]] inhabiting your fortress and helping train the croc farm.
**UltraArmokCrocBonus: Have an entire fortress of croc men handling a croc farm. You're dwarves in spirit.

==Dam==
{{main|Dam}}
Build a wall across a riverbed to stop the flow of water. Floodgates optional.

'''Difficulty:''' On a map that freezes in the winter, or an aquifer located below the river, this is easy. Otherwise, very difficult. (See [[dam]], or Moses effect, below. But with the bonuses it gets a bit harder.)

'''Usefulness:''' Depends on how many bonuses you fulfill. The power station is obvious, and with the control room you could build up a nice defense system.

*Bonus: Excavate a reservoir and a lower river valley. 
*Bonus: Build a control center to control the water flow. 
*Bonus: Draw your entire energy from a power station within. 
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use screw pumps and another dam to replace the water with magma.

==Danger room==
{{main|Danger room}}
A room full of upright spear traps linked to a lever or pressure plate. Teach your dwarves to dodge the pointy sticks!

'''Difficulty''': Low to Medium, depending on how you activate the traps.

'''Usefulness''': Low. While this used to be a very effecting training method in past versions, the combat changes in 0.43.04 has made them much more deadly, even for militia dwarves. They also wear down your dwarves' armor and shields quickly, making them harmful for your long term survival even if your militia dwarves manage to survive the room itself.

'''Downside''': Civilians and pets that wander into the danger room will inevitably get killed, even if you use low quality training spears.

*MegaDwarfBonus: Menacing spikes greatly increase the danger, and may help train your medical team (and/or your coffin construction crew).
*UltraDwarfBonus: Use [[adamantine]] spikes! On the plus side, you have a thriving coffin industry going now.

==Day care==
A room where you put all your dwarf children so they cannot be kidnapped by snatchers. Make a room with beds and tables and stuff, then turn it into a burrow, then add all your children to it. Remember to include a food chute to quantum stockpile a huge amount of food and alcohol on a 1x1 stockpile (so it doesn't rot) in the room. High quality food, furniture, and socializing should keep them happy. Note that the children will no longer be able to perform certain useful tasks like crop harvesting and deconstruction, and will not level up their skill in various professions like an otherwise vulnerable child, but this is a small trade-off if they usually get kidnapped before maturing anyway. This is probably obvious, but make sure this room is guarded, otherwise it will turn into a Dwarf Orphanage (Dorfanage) (with Goblins and Minotaurs welcome!)

'''Difficulty:''' Low. With the invention of burrows, you can designate the Day Care to contain all children, so it is unnecessary to use suicide-booth-micromanagement to contain the children.

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Think of the children, they will grow up and enter adult Dwarf life completely unprepared for the [[Fun|things]] [[Dragon|that]] [[Hell|await]] them, having spent their entire lives coddled in a safe room. They might make good nobles however.

*Bonus: Add dogs and/or other creatures on lashes to constantly bite and scratch the children, so their attributes will raise due to constant fighting and dodging. When they come of ages, you will have incredibly tough, strong and agile dwarves, but covered in scars and psychologically traumatized.
*DwarfBonus: Add a small amount of magma mist to mentioned above, that'll burn the fat and make them fireproof.
*ArmokBonus: Combine this with danger room.

==Doberman bomb==
Whenever a dog or cat gives birth, stuff all the kittens and puppies in one cage in your entryway. Link this cage to a pressure plate beside it. Should your last lines of defense be breached, goblins will step on it and in the next instant be torn apart by dozens of goblin-seeking hostiles and distracted by dozens of surplus targets. The trap actually going off will probably be very bad for your frame rate.

'''Difficulty:''' Low to high, depending on the animal you use

'''Usefulness:''' Medium to very high, potentially fortress-saving

*Bonus: Train the dogs inside as war dogs
**DwarfBonus: Use [[giant badger]]s, [[tiger]]s, [[alligator]]s, bears, or anything big and aggressive when tamed
***MegaDwarfBonus: Use [[giant cave spider]]s, [[cave dragon]]s, [[blind cave ogre]]s, crossbow-wielding [[giant desert scorpion]]s, [[jabberer]]s or something really dangerous and rare.
****UltraMagmaArmokBonus: Use one (or more!) of the following list: [[dragon]](s), a [[bronze colossus]](es), a [[forgotten beast]](s) (bonus points for flesh-melting secretions), an [[undead]] [[giant sponge]], or [[Hidden Fun Stuff|Clowns of Hidden Funland]].

==Drophole==
Imagine an execution tower, for rocks and pants. It's nothing but a very deep 1x1 up-down staircase for express service to the depths. Designate a garbage dump beside the top and dwarves will pitch anything marked for [[Dumping]] into it.

'''Difficulty:''' Harder than it sounds, there's always snags along the way. Surprise caverns can cost you miners and tools. Hitting water can be vexing. Dumping and reclaiming things can be a chore. It may serve as an unintended highway for Fun of any liquid or airborne variety

'''Usefulness:''' It's '''far''' easier to drop ore 100 z-levels to the magma sea than carry it. You can use this to transfer items between burrows.

*Bonus: Minecarts can make this semi-automatic, fed from a stockpile.

==Drowning chamber==
{{main|Drowning chamber}}
'''Difficulty:''' Moderate.

'''Usefulness:''' You can kill prisoners, useless peasants, irate nobles, hammerers, untamable animals, or anything else. Just be ready for something that knows how to swim. Also useful for catching fishies.

*Bonus: Utilize lava.
*Bonus: Utilize trained fish.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Edit the raws and do both.

==Dwarfputer complex==
{{main|Computing}}
A big mess of [[fluid logic|fluid]], [[machine logic|machine]], and/or [[creature logic|creature]] logic full of hatches, floodgates, gears, pumps, etc. and powered by waterwheels, windmills, or useless idle dwarves. Hook it up to doors, bridges, and traps.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium to high, depending on what you want to build. You'll want to build for very high water flow if you have more than a few fluid gates.

'''Usefulness:''' Your mechanics and architects will level up very fast. Manual pumps give something for your haulers to do. Try and make a clock to trigger different mechanisms in different seasons. See if enemies actually blunder into your intricate traps. Watch all hell break loose as water freezes and building destroyers enter your computer.
*Bonus: Use lava.
**Doombonus: Use lava ''and'' build it so that building destroyers that enter the complex get killed by the mechanisms they destroy.
***SelfRepairingbonus: Use both lava and water and implement the building destroyer killing system, but modify it so it's self-repairing, filling up broken spaces with obsidian.

==Dwarven apartment complex==
Essentially, one of the many possible [[megaprojects]] dedicated to providing dwarves with rooms so high above the ground they get vertigo. Every floor must have plenty of rooms of at least 2x3 squares, with walls and a door surrounding this. Oh, and it has to go up as many Z-levels as possible. For extra credit, decide on what the top story will be (i.e. as many levels up as you deem possible, minus one so you can build a roof) and turn this into a Royal bedroom for a [[noble]], complete with gem windows, artifact/masterwork components, and untold numbers of armour stands and weapon racks. And then build some shorter but wider apartment buildings nearby to turn your fortress into essentially a giant fist with extended middle finger. Extra points for adding extra useless things for luxury, such as a magma-based heating system, fireplaces in rooms, and a lock-down lever in case of goblin attack. (or a self-destruct lever connected to the main supports, in case your dwarfish tenants are unsatisfied with your ☼5-star service☼).

'''Difficulty:''' Low, although the walls around the rooms can be a bit fiddly due to the impossibility of building walls on constructed floors (yes, an extra credit challenge is to do this without using Remove Construction).

'''Usefulness:''' Limited, because you could just dig the things underground and save yourself the hassle. However it is much harder to flood a tower than a cave, in case you're prone to [[Losing|fun]] by water. Additionally, if you have the time and resources to train a sizable force of marksdwarves, placing a few "security rooms" (with barracks, ammunition store, ration cache, armory, etc.) at appropriate floors, complete with fortified balconies, will allow you to take advantage of the higher vantage point.

*MegaDwarfBonus: Extend the tower to have levels below ground as well as above.
*MegaOrwellBonus: Make the whole construction out of clear glass. (privacy? Whatever for?)

==Dwarven courtyards==
Dig large shafts [first dig the staircase to the desired depth, digging out the size you want the shaft to be on all layers. Channel the outer later, then install supports on the base floor. Link the support to a trigger, clear everyone out, destroy the remaining staircase and pull the trigger] then cover them in glass, creating an indoor but light area that will keep dwarves from being irritated and nauseated by the sun, also improving general happiness and allowing close proximity to caverns and magma.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium, make sure not to mess up or you will lose your miners

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. creates vertical circulation and brings light to lower levels.

*Bonus: Punch a large shaft through a multi-level aquifer (hint: punch through the aquifer from below).
*MegaDwarfBonus: Create a network of self-sufficient communities per shaft, allowing them to be sectioned off in case of disaster. (I plan on colonizing HFS eventually on this paradigm, creating a mining team of soldiers to extract, manufacture and ultimately use adamantine products without being connected to the main colony in order to take on the [[Demon|clowns]] while keeping the rest of the burrow safe.)

==Dwarven disco ball==
Why waste all those cut gems on things that only some selfish noble will enjoy? Create as large a wall-less sphere as you can, then cover it in Gem Windows of 3 different-colored gems to make it shine! The bigger, and more valuable gems involved (e.g., [[ruby|rubies]], [[sapphire]]s, and [[emerald]]s, or colored diamonds if you're really masochistic), the dwarfier.

'''Difficulty:''' Constructing a sphere is very hard, especially the larger you make one. Gathering enough differently colored gems can also be very hard, depending on stone layers. Trading helps a lot.

'''Usefulness:''' Negative. More value can be created by encrusting furniture, and Gem Windows lack quality.

*Bonus: Alternating [[alunite]] and [[obsidian]] tiles to make a 'dance floor'.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use lava contained in glass for illumination.
*UltraDwarfBonus: Caged "[[Elf|dancers]]".

==Dwarven labor camp (aka Dwalag)==
Create an aboveground walled fortress in a freezing climate with guard towers, barracks, housing, and armories. Dig a long ramp downward and add a large mining network below the surface. Make some small military squads to guard the camp. Designate the lower levels as workshops, and when migrants arrive, assign them to the mines. Give the workers minimal food and only water (no booze, booze is for the hypocritical decadence of Dwarkuta's leaders). Have them haul the stone and metal they mine back to the surface and ship the raw materials off to the Motherland. Import only food, booze, weapons, fuel, and other necessities.

*Bonus: Build the giant digging machines. They don't actually have to dig anything.
*Bonus: Go into the raws and rename the beverage of your choice to "Dwarven Vodka", and drink to the glory of the Motherland!
*MegaBonus: Escape. Wait for a goblin siege, then get everyone underground and block the entrance. Let the goblins in. Wait a few months. The goblins are now the guards you must kill.

Step 1. Secure the keys: Make improvised weapons. If you have obsidian at your disposal, make rock short swords.

Step 2. Ascend from darkness: Get your dwarves out of the mines and into the camp.

Step 3. Rain fire: Use your imagination. Try using magma, if possible.

Step 4. Unleash the horde: Attack!

Step 5. Skewer the winged beast: If the goblins brought a giant bat or other flying creature, kill it.

*Bonus: Use a ballista.

Step 6. Wield a fist of iron: Break open the armory and equip your rebels with armor and weapons.

Step 7. Raise hell: Exactly what it says on the tin.

Step 8. Freedom!

*MegaDwarfBonus: In Adventure mode, try (and probably fail) to lead the prisoners to freedom.

==Dwarven refrigerator==
Dig down to the 3rd cavern layer and harvest as many [[nether-cap]]s as you can. Make them all into barrels! Nether caps have the unique property of being 10000° Urist, which is 32°F or 0°C. Now your dwarves can enjoy their favorite alcohol, cheese, and plump helmets chilled to perfection! If you've set your population cap very low in the INIT files, caverns aren't extremely dangerous, but you should still be on the lookout for nasties down there. Remember to wall off your entrance to the cavern once you're finished.

'''Difficulty:''' Low to Medium

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Booze stored inside will not perish due to heat if say, [[magma]] is dumped on it.

Bonus: Also use nether-cap wood to build the walls, floor, ceiling, and door.

Bonus: While we are at it make all your coffins out of it. 'Cryogenically' freeze those corpses!

==Dwarven machine gun==
Build a high fire rate, minecart firing machine gun. Must be fully automatic, capable of reloading itself, and should not jam due to minecarts being disrupted by collisions or derailments.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium to high, depending on fire rate, reload downtime, and whether or not minecarts are filled with [[magma]].

'''Usefulness:''' High. A sophisticated minecart trap can keep out even the most persistent invaders.

*Bonus: Automatically reload minecarts with [[magma]].
*MegaDwarfBonus: Integrate the trap with a dwarfputer so that it can automatically send minecarts to where they are needed most.

==Emergency destruct stairs==
A tall column of stairs plunging all the way down into the underdark, with a one-tile wide area of thin destructible floor all around it. In case of subterranean invasion, a thrown switch drops a stone O straight down, ringing the staircase and neatly severing all inter-level connections at a blow. Does with one lever and one support what would take dozens of bridges or hundreds of retracting grates.

'''Difficulty:''' Harder than it sounds.

'''Usefulness:''' Sometimes... sometimes they fly.

==Execution tower==
Just a tall tower to chuck your captives to their deaths.

'''Difficulty:''' Easy.

'''Usefulness:''' Lets you dispose of prisoners, and claim expensive silk, meltable iron, and (eventually) useful bones. Also highly amusing.

*MegaDwarfBonus: Send prisoners straight to hell. May make retrieving items difficult, however.

==Flak==
If flying enemies circumventing your walls and causing mayhem inside your fortress is a problem, don't use marksdwarves, just make some flak! Simply cover a series of drawbridges in rocks, and when fliers come by pull the lever.

'''Difficulty:''' Easy

'''Usefulness:''' Low, contrary to the description, marksdwarves are more accurate, versatile, and just better. However, if you manage to hit something with this there's a large chance of it getting stunned and crashing to the ground.

*Bonus: Use minecarts and pressure plates to make it fully automatic.
*SuperBonus: Make it closer to real world flak by using burning lignite bins.
*EfficiencyBonus: Use goblins as ammo
*AlternateBonus: Instead of drawbridges and stone, use jets of water to stun flyers, and then release the dogs. Alternatively, burn them in midair with lava.
*FunBonus: Use the above method with lava, except use the lava as a propellent to throw the circus at the local crow population.
*AmokBonus: Use all of the above to emulate what happens when you drift into American airspace.

==Flamethrower bunker==
If your fortress happens to be visited by a [[dragon]], capture it in a [[cage trap]], then release it into a sealed bunker with [[fortification]]s around the edge. When invaders arrive, watch them get roasted.

'''Difficulty:''' Low, but requires a fair bit of luck - a dragon (or fire-breathing forgotten beast) needs to survive worldgen, then it needs to attack your fortress (instead of a giant/minotaur/ettin/cyclops or other megabeast), and finally it needs to make it to your cage trap without being killed by something else.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. [[Dragonfire]] can kill almost anything, but will be blocked by a [[shield]] greater than 99% of the time. Adding a combustible floor (such as a paved [[lignite]] [[road]]) will significantly increase lethality for shield-toting targets. Also, any protective bridges in front of the fortifications may melt under sustained fire, leaving you with a bunker that ''nobody'' can safely approach; ensuring the bridge center tile isn't near the fire, or building the bridges (and mechanisms) from [[ash]], dragon [[soap]], [[divine metal|divine]]{{version|0.43.03}} [[metal]] (or [[slade]]) will make them immune to the fire. Additionally, a skilled enemy archer can easily kill your dragon with a lucky shot, if line-of-sight access is available.

*Bonus: Capture a fire-breathing [[titan]] or [[forgotten beast]] and use it.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Release the denizens of the hidden fun stuff and use them.

==Flood the world==
'''Difficulty:''' High danger. Will kill your frame rate unless you sink the world below water level (river or ocean).

'''Usefulness:''' Will prevent any sieges, at least. Or anything else, save for the occasional invasion of sociopathic [[giant sponge]].

*Bonus: Use magma, just like [[Main:Boatmurdered|Boatmurdered]].
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use trained fish to kill off all creatures not of your colony.
*MegaArmokBonus: Mod the game and do both.

==Gladiator arena==
{{main|Live training}}
Station some soldiers at the bottom of a shallow [[Activity_zone#Pit/Pond|pit]] and dump your captives in. You can also use dangerous animals instead of soldiers. For extra points, put the prisoners in cages connected to ramps underneath the arena floor. One lever will open both the cage and a hatch above the ramp. Variant: build prisoner cages inside the arena, link to a lever outside the arena, lock the soldiers in, and then open the cages. Keep in mind that you can't actually make your dwarves "watch" the battles like an actual gladiator arena, as civilians will flee in fear at the sight of non-restrained hostile creatures, even if they're in a pit and not actively attacking them.

'''Difficulty:''' Low, but time consuming. Some danger depending on the relative skill of your soldiers and the danger of the captive. (If the prisoners have weapons, you can remove them by using {{k|d}}-{{k|b}}-{{k|d}} to dump the cage and its contents, then looking at and undumping the cages themselves with {{k|k}}-{{k|d}}).

'''Usefulness:''' Low to High, depending on how long your soldiers can draw out the execution. Equipping your soldiers with wooden training weapons can greatly increase the fun (and/or [[Fun]] if their armor isn't as good as you thought).

*Bonus: Losers get incinerated by Magma.
*DwarfBonus: Winners also get incinerated by Magma.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use your arena as a "trial by fire" for migrants.

==Grazer reanimation facility==
Just as stables, but without grass, and on a reanimating biome. Pasture every grazer in a separate box, and build [[cage trap]]s to recapture the animal after it joins [[undead|the Dark Side]]. Make sure to forbid the area after you finish setting things up, because you don't want your dwarves getting <s>killed</s> caught instead.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. You always get some grazing animals to start with.

'''Usefulness:''' You get a decent supply of zombies to use in your [[trap design|cunning traps]]. Depending on your style of play, this may prove to be worth the effort.

* DwarfBonus: Use war [[elephant]]s, or any other giant [[:Category:DF2014:Grazer|grazing animal]] you <s>bought</s> seized from elves.
** MegaDwarfBonus: Use [[giant elephant]]s.
*** BoatMurderedBonus: Release them all simultaneously to challenge your militia/play out a [[fun|!fun!]] scenario for your fort.
* MenagerieBonus: Create a zoo using only undead grazers.
** DwarvenMenagerieBonus: Combine this with the [[DF2014:Stupid_dwarf_trick#Zombie_thunderdome|Zombie Thunderdome]] and have a rotation of undead cows fighting in the arena only to be re-caged when they try to leave.
*** ChampionBonus: Give each grazer rooming in the zoo according to their kills, with the champion having the most luxurious room.
**** AltarBonus: Turn the champion's room into an [[DF2014:Stupid_dwarf_trick#Altar_of_Armok|Altar of Armok]].
**** FreedomBonus: Let the champion and higher-ranking zombies roam freely in their rooms, having to be re-captured for each battle.
***** !FreedomBonus!: Release the champion into your fort.
* HolyGrailBonus: Use white [[bunny|bunnies]].

==Greenhouse==
A [[farming|greenhouse]] is just a farm with the ceiling channeled out from above. This lets you grow outdoor plants without venturing above ground. For maximum style, build the greenhouse above ground and cover it with a glass roof to keep your farmers safe.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Surface plants can be grown at any time of the year, and some are more useful than those available underground - for example, [[sun berry|sun berries]] can be brewed into valuable [[Sunshine]], and [[whip vine]]s can be milled into superior quality flour. Having greater food and booze diversity can also keep your dwarves happier.

*Bonus: Give it a glass floor to allow surface plants even lower down.
**DwarfBonus: Utilize [[obsidian|volcanic glass]].

==Hammer of [[main:armok|Armok]]==
A gigantic hammer made out of pure steel and/or valuables looming over your fortress entrance ready to smite those foolish enough to lay a siege on you. Also gives you a psychological advantage over the traders who unload their goods under it. Attach to a lever-linked support for quick-smiting.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. Depends on size and materials, though. Make it a gold hammer menacing with adamantine spikes, if you're going for high quality.

'''Usefulness:''' Low-medium. 10x10 size is minimum for practical effectiveness. 30x30 attached to a handle extending from your entrance actually works against sieges.

* Bonus: Cover it with blood.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Make it hollow and fill it with Magma
* ArmoksMachineHammerBonus: Set up an automated system that allows you to reset it quickly. Obsidianizers and the magma sea will be your friends here.

==Human Fortress==
Instead of digging a fortress, build above-ground houses. Create walls to keep the nasties out. The only thing you may have underground are mines and stockpiles. Create a huge stone fort for your nobles.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Building stuff will cost you resources instead of gaining them and flyers can be a real pain. Keep several Marksdwarfs handy!

'''Usefulness:''' N/A. (No cave adaptation)

*Bonus: Pave the roads between houses.
*HumanBonus: Dig a moat around your castle.
*MegaHumanBonus: Fill the moat with lava.
*MegaHumanBonusPlus: Designate multiple dumping spots into the lava moat.
*SurfaceDwellerBonus: Get the stone for your constructions entirely from open-pit quarries, i.e. by c[h]annelling instead of [d]igging.
*MegaSurfaceDwellerBonus: Never use picks at all, all stone and metal must come from caravans or embark.
*WhereTheBeardedLadiesAtBonus: Enforce as many <s>pointless</s> quaint human quirks as feasible, for instance: nominating officials per wealth/popularity/relationships instead of merit and suitedness, coddling Nobles, burrowing farmers, miners, brewers, craftsdwarves and other backbones of society into the most tattered ridings, enforcing a specific religion upon the populace, and so forth.

==Ice tower==

Building a huge tower is easy. To make things more [[fun]], make one out of some exotic material, like [[glass]], [[ice]], [[gold]], or [[soap]].

'''Difficulty:''' Low. You need to be on a freezing map to pull off an ice tower.

'''Usefulness:''' Depends entirely on you.

* BabelBonus: Use [[DFHack]]'s <code>infiniteSky</code> and build to the heavens themselves.

==Journey to the Center of the Earth==

Construct a sturdy vessel hanging over the top of a magma pipe or volcano, outfitted with everything your intrepid crew might need for their journey of exploration - food, booze, sleeping quarters and a bridge are a must, but depending on the amount of effort it can include other items such as a recreation deck, water reservoir and trade depot for dealing with the natives. When all is ready, lock the explorers inside and send them on their way. Bonus points if you can detach it from inside so you can use it in Adventure mode later.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate to High, depending on the size of the ship. For bonus points, carve the entire thing out of existing rock overhanging a magma pipe and engrave it with messages. Burrows help to get the whole crew inside at the same time.

'''Usefulness:''' [[Cave-in|Negative]]. For some reason, no explorers have returned. Of course, if you select only the [[Nobles|Best and Brightest]] for the ship's crew...

*Bonus: Drop the vessel into a deep cavern
*SuperBonus: Make the outer walls, roof and ground floor completely out of glass, so that the explorers can watch everything around them.
*VampireBonus: Send a vampire with the crew!
*MegaDwarfBonus: Drop the vessel into a halfway-empty adamantine vein
*YouHorribleEvilDwarfBonus: Drop the vessel into the [[Hidden Fun Stuff]]!
*YouHorribleInsaneDwarfBonus: Drop the vessel into a glowing chasm.
*OhMyArmokBonus: When you arrive to the bottom of the magma sea, excavate and then create a new community under it!
**OhMyF****ingArmokBonus: Send supplies every year!
**IsThatEvenPossibleBonus: Send a piece of an aquifer down there to provide water! (Mine around a water-producing tile, build the ship around it, then send it!)
**≡MegaDwarfBonus≡: create a high enough tower and drop it into the magma sea to connect the surface and the undersea community!
***☼MegaDwarfBonus☼: create ''two'' towers and use one to send water down there!

==Single-lever emergency lockdown (LEL)==

The only real requirement is that you need a fort based around a central stairwell. All you need to do is leave space for and eventually build the same number of bridges (that raise!) as your stairway is tall on each side of your stairwell on every level, and then link them all to the same lever. Friends get through all your best traps and champions? Simply pull the lever, and they're trapped in the central stairwell forever! Remember to roof off the entrance if your fort is situated on flat land otherwise the bonuses become much less useful. Also important is to ensure that you either wall off access or include sealable bridges or doors (linked to the same lever of course) for any inter-level paths that bypass the main stairwell, like vertical axles running out of centralised power generators.

3*3 stairwell setup:

{{diagram|1=
O[#6ff]╞[#6ff]═[#6ff]╡O
[#6ff]╥XXX[#6ff]╥
[#6ff]║XXX[#6ff]║
[#6ff]╨XXX[#6ff]╨
O[#6ff]╞[#6ff]═[#6ff]╡O
}}

'''Difficulty:''' Medium to High, depending on whether you use the MegaDwarfBonus below or not and how much you spread your fortress over the layers - although more spread means more usefulness. Extremely time-consuming, and requires architects, masons, and mechanics, as well as a lot of mechanisms (2 per bridge, ~4 bridges per level)

'''Usefulness:''' Medium to High, also depending on whether you use the Bonuses. With all bonuses applied it becomes a guaranteed last resort way of destroying the toughest enemies with minimal dwarven casualties; without the bonuses it's still a damn sight better than letting temporarily victorious enemies run freely about your fortress.

*DwarfBonus: Connect your cistern to the stairwell (remember to put a floodgate in too). Once the impossible-to-defeat enemies are safely trapped inside, Pull lever number 2 and watch them slowly, slowly, drown (VERY IMPORTANT: have the level of the cistern input at at least the same height as the level of the stairwell, else there won't be enough pressure to properly flood the stairwell, meaning nasties WILL survive).
*MegaDwarfBonus: Connect your MAGMA cistern to the stairwell. Laugh maniacally. (Remember to build your bridges and floodgates out of magma-safe material or a lot of !!FUN!! will be had)
*MegaArmokEntombmentBonus: Do both and cast your enemies in obsidian and boil the survivors in steam as a semi-permanent testament to their foolhardiness. This also means that you will have stairs cut out of lovely obsidian once your miners are finished making your stairwell usable again.
*MegaArmokEntombmentEXTREME+Bonus: "Forget" to pull the lockdown lever before you pull lever number 2.
*MegaArmokEntombment<s>'''Bait&Switch'''</s>Diplomatic+Bonus: Set the highest level up on another switch, with a particularly <s>'''demanding and annoying noble'''</s> skilled diplomatic representative is waiting at the very bottom to <s>'''lure'''</s> invite them all down for a nice meal on <s>'''his flesh'''</s> the stockpile of food and booze that's keep him ever so happy. Then you can wait for the entire army to flow into the stairwell before flipping the switches. Don't forget to carve a statue out of the block of the noble! What noble doesn't want their grand <s>'''sacrificial defense'''</s> grand diplomatic skills to be immortalized in volcanic glass!!!
**UltraArmokBonus: Defeat all your invasions this way, and build a temple to Armok full of the once noble, now obsidian statues, only the highest of quality (and value) memorial slabs.

==Magma Lock System==
This system is a little more complicated than the LEL system described above, and requires that you space out all of your floors so that there's a 'plumbing floor' between each level. From there you set up tons and tons of magma proof floodgates and hatches. Each 'area' you wish to be self-contained from one another needs at least a 3x2 hallway separating it from the other areas. 4 of these will contain flood gates, and the other two must remain bare. Above one of the two bare points you need to have a hollowed out space, and connecting into it from one side you need to have a hatch leading to your water plumbing system, to the other, a hatch to your lava plumbing system. You need two levers for controlling this, one lever is connected to all of the lower floodgates, the other to the upper floodgates. Pull the first hatch to lock in the flood gates just in case, the second to the upper flood gates to begin pouring in water and magma and have them make obsidian filling the entire hallway, sterilizing it of literally anything that could have contaminated it. You do this instead of hatches so they'll drop in properly and mix with no risk of only one side or the other of the hallway turning to obsidian and resulting in a dangerous leak. Throw the first switch again to open up the floodgates and begin mining to access the old chambers again. Whatever was invading your fortress, whether plague, necromancer, clowns, or forgotten beast, will be safely locked away, and unable to break back out whether or not it possesses building destroyer or not. Then you just have to wait for your miners to dig their way out. You can simply avoid the chambers that still have FUN inside, and any the purity of magma and obsidian will have utterly obliterated any traces of contaminants between containment zones.

'''Difficulty''': Medium to High. While not dealing with anything overtly hostile, this process more or less demands that you plan your fortress from the start for this specific system and deal with lots and lots of moving parts, mechanisms, and similar, plus the power necessary to pump magma and water into this network in a timely manner.. If you screw up part of it then it's very easy to end up with your entire fortress flooded with water or magma. Build it on small and give it a test run then expand it once you've gotten the process working for a single chamber, such as the chamber leading to your cavern layer.

'''Usefulness''': High. Depending on how you prepare things (See the bonuses below) the necessary set up for all of this will result in a network of magma and water pipes in every single level of your fortress, powering forges, wells, baths, showers, and defenses of all sorts. Then when things are at their worst, throw a switch and barring one or two (or many depending on how many dwarves are transitioning between containment areas) horribly swift deaths, your entire fortress is safe from any possible threats. You can also prepare chambers ahead of time for other activities and use this to trap enemies in them for later usage.

*DwarfBonus: Put a stockpile of food, drink, and pickaxes in each containment area.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Put a lever in every zone connected just to their own, so your dwarves can heroically seal off an entire section by themselves if necessary.
*UltraDwarfBonus: Extend the hallways, and make the water half of them use grates and constant water falls to give good thoughts while traversing between zones. Change up your levers to shut off the water for when digging begins again.

==Maze==

A maze of twisty little passages, all alike. [[Trap]]s and dangerous animals are essential. You can have a retracting bridge drop invaders in, or just have a labyrinth as a back door.

'''Difficulty:''' It's a lot of mining. Having a bridge drop invaders inside is more difficult, but more useful. You can also use the free maze-generating program Daedalus, available [http://www.astrolog.org/labyrnth/daedalus.htm here] if you're too lazy to come up with your own.

'''Usefulness:''' It makes a nice element of fortress defense, and you can dump your prisoners inside it. Also makes a great place to explore in [[adventure mode]].

*Bonus: Generate a world with large mountain [[cave]]s. Instead of using the labyrinth as your backdoor, use it as your fortress.
*Filodorima: Release a live caged [[minotaur]] into the maze.
*MegaBonus: Make it three-dimensional and [http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/maze/design/index.htm#uni unicursal].
*MemorialBonus: Capture the Goblin King and make him fight the Minotaur.

==Magma chamber==
'''Difficulty:''' Dangerous as any magma project.

'''Usefulness:''' It's like a drowning chamber, but any non-iron items carried by the victim will be destroyed. Depending on your style of play, this may be a good thing.

==Magma cannon==
[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=33837 It can be done!] It uses a row of pumps to pressurize the magma in a chamber with only one exit. When the floodgate opens, the magma flies out a short distance.

'''Difficulty:''' Very high. You need [[metal]] (or [[glass]]) [[screw pump]]s to make it work, [[magma-safe]] floodgates and mechanisms, plus a big above-ground construction.

'''Usefulness:''' Marginal. But very cool.

==Magma access early==
ASAP from embark, dig down to the magma 
make 2 magma proof pumps 
make a small (5x5?) room that you can pump magma into and out of 
make a stockpile for only iron & steel minecarts in the room 
make enough minecarts to fill the room 
Once room is full of minecarts, seal room and pump full of magma 
then pump magma out 
delete stockpile 
make a new stockpile near your forge/smelt/glass/kiln area 
haul minecarts by hand (or magma proof wheelbarrow) 
use tracks and stops to dump 4 deep magma into shallow pits 
2 minecart loads per pit 

'''Difficulty:''' Low. 
'''Usefulness:''' Very High. 
*Bonus: !!Magma Economy By Autumn!!

==Magma highway==
Magma moves across the map annoyingly slowly, due to its thickness and lack of pressure. But a tunnel several Z-levels high, with magma entering at the top, will flow much faster because the magma's '''falling''' in, not flowing in, and can expand on either Z-level before falling down.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Not hard to make, but cutting open a multi-Z magmafall is [[fun]].

'''Usefulness:''' Medium.

==Magma mausoleum==
This trick involves dripping water on to the middle of a magma pool until you have a column of obsidian, then channeling down into the obsidian ''more than'' one Z level, and putting a burial receptacle there. This probably won't work in magma tubes or Volcanos since the created obsidian would fall into the bottomless pit. The trick is getting the water to fall onto the magma in a controlled manner.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Requires certain resources from the start, plus lots of setup. And your dwarves tend to erupt into dwarf steam occasionally.

'''Usefulness:''' None, since an obsidian lined room with exactly the same furniture somewhere else will please your nobles just as much.

*Bonus: Put the coffin at least 20 floors down.
*MegaBonus: Build it in a volcano if possible, and put the coffin at the very bottom of the map

==Magma sea colony==

If you cast obsidian around the edges of the magma sea, it is possible to pump out the magma and build a colony in the empty space. Once the colony is built, you can destroy the obsidian walls and refill the magma sea. Note: you cannot cast obsidian on the bottom layer of the magma sea, so building a colony on this layer is nearly, but not quite, impossible (see below).

'''Difficulty:''' High. You need to get water down to each edge of the magma sea, and you need a pump stack to get rid of the magma.

'''Usefulness:''' None.

*☼MegaDwarfBonus☼: Build your colony on the floor of the magma sea. This will require draining the sea to the next-to-bottom layer as described above, then dumping enormous amounts of water into the bottom layer to crowd out the magma while simultaneously draining the magma from holes poked in the magma sea floor. Constructions can be built at the border between the water and the magma. See [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=128226.0 This forum post] for full, detailed instructions.
* Bonus: Obsidianize the entire magma sea, leaving a single spot to use as a source for pumps. Then proceed to carve your new fortress subsection out of this bounty.

'''Difficulty:''' Insane. The project will take at least ten years of dwarf time and claim many lives.

'''Usefulness:''' Low. You can finally get the last bit of adamantine when you drain the magma sea, and the magma sea floor has a cool twinkly effect.

==<s>Magma</s> Lava sprinkler==
Build a twisting <s>magma</s> lava aqueduct above the entrance to your fortress. Leave a few thin (diagonal) holes in it, so that lava can seep out of it. When invaders arrive, pump magma into the sprinkler. Diagonal holes will limit the rate at which the fluid flows out of them, ensuring a nice steady lava rain rather than a big wave.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Similar to magma canon, except with a bit more engineering, but less pumps and smaller reservoir needed (due to less magma being required for the same effect).

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Like magma cannon it can obliterate a siege, but this time you can have a bit more control over how it happens. Lava rain doesn't depend on ground structure (your entrance doesn't need to be in a valley for it to work well) and leaves less magma to evaporate.

*Bonus: Cover the holes with floodgates or hatches and keep the lavaduct filled with lava rather than filling it only when using it.
*Bonus+1: Build the lavaduct in such a way that it starts raining on the outermost part of the area first, then goes inwards, to ensure that invaders who start burning can't escape.

==Mass cage recycling system==
{{main|Mass pitting}}
Build a [[mass pitting]] system to recycle your cage trap cages quickly.

'''Difficulty:''' Very easy. Requires basic digging and very little time.

'''Usefulness:''' Very. Keeps you from having to build cages before releasing monsters from them. With six hatches you can safely empty out 48 cages very quickly. You can build lots of cage traps without having to worry about emptying each cage individually.

*Bonus: Cover the floor of your pit with cage traps, creating a neverending cycle and giving your dwarves something to do during the long harsh summer when going outside is overly taxing on their stomachs.
*ConcentrationCampBonus: Combine with Pit of Doom below.

==Mega/Water drowning trap-thing==
{{main|Drowning chamber}}
This is basically a channel above some pressurized water with a short tunnel leading to a door. The door needs to be connected to a lever somewhere in a safe part of the fortress. Position the door facing the main stairs into your fortress (for multiple stairs use multiple traps). When enemies come down the stairs, pull the lever and make them drown. (It helps to seal off the rooms).

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Needs flowing water under pressure and levers.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Depends on the size of your fortress/defences/amount of attackers. Works well with fire creatures to create a sauna.

==Monumental statue==
'''Difficulty:''' Depends on how big you want the statue to be. If you are feeling really masochistic, cast it out of obsidian using magma and water.

'''Usefulness:''' None.

*Bonus: Make the statue hollow and have dwarves live inside it.
*BestWayToGetRidOfStoneBonus: Make one for every dead dwarf.
**UberTombBonus: Use the statue as a tomb and put their coffins in it.
*Dwarfbonus: Give the statue magma eyes.
**HellNo,DwarfsYesBonus: Combine the magma eyes idea with the magma cannon idea above and place the statue just behind (and above) the entrance to your fortress.

==Moses effect==
With enough pumps, you can pull water out of a square faster than it flows in. This can create a reverse waterfall, or a dry spot in the middle of a flowing river. The effect is like Moses parting the Red Sea.

'''Difficulty:''' Surprisingly easy.

'''Usefulness:''' You can use this trick to create a waterfall or drowning chamber. It is also important if you want to pass through an [[Aquifer]], although that is far more difficult. The same trick can be used in lieu of a drawbridge, although its practicality as compared to the drawbridge is highly questionable.

*Bonus: Use the Moses effect to make doors from water, which are opened/closed using a lever.
*TechBonus: Automatize the doors so that they open (only!) when a dwarf is near.

==Never-ending shower==
{{main|Waterfall}}
Don't you get angry when your dwarves carry enough grime on them to dirty the entire fortress? And how they get infected because of that griminess? Suffer no more! With the Never Ending Shower (NES for short), dwarves will be able to stay (relatively) clean without having to take the time to run for a bath or dirtying your drinking water!

It is easy to understand: use the same instructions as in the Artificial Waterfall, but make it so that the waterfall is somewhere where the dwarves will be going through almost daily--a central stairway works well. It cleans them and gives them happy [[thought]]s for the same price!

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate to high. You do have to make sure that dwarves don't try anything funny, and create a drain to draw the dirty water out.

'''Usefulness:''' Incredibly high. Reduces risk of infection and keeps your dwarves happy.

*Bonus: Use an aquifer to get clean water AND drain dirty water.
*Bonus: Use levers to control the NES.
*SuperBonus: Make it work as a trap!
*SuperDuperBonus: Make it work as a trap AND as a recovery system!
*ArmokBonus: Make it so that magma can be poured down, too!

==Nuclear Fallout Bunker==
Build a mini fortress with everything your dwarves could need deep underground. Stock it with enough food, drinks, and materials to last your small band of survivors for years or alternatively make it self-sufficient with its own food production. Lastly, add a bridge that allows you to seal off the bunker from the rest of the world.

'''Difficulty:''' Easy-Medium depending on the relative luxury of the bunker and how many dwarves you intend to shelter from the apocalypse.

'''Usefulness:''' High. If your fort is threatened by some particularly nasty disaster (be it zombie goblin horde or Bronze Colossus) simply rush your best and brightest dwarves down to the Nuclear Fallout Bunker and raise the bridge, sealing it off from the rest of the world.
*MutallyAssuredDestructionBonus: Have a self-destruct lever in the bunker that is pulled once everyone is safely inside.

==Obsidian factory==
{{main|Obsidian farming}}
You need one reservoir of water, and one of magma. Mix, cool, mine, and repeat as necessary.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium.

'''Usefulness:''' Obsidian is 50% more valuable than [[flux]] and 3 times as valuable as ordinary stone, making it ideal for your [[mason]]s and [[stone crafter]]s. Done properly, it can also serve as a magma chamber, a drowning chamber and even an obsidianizing chamber that can kill any creature that gets in (except [[ghost]]s and possibly [[vermin]]).

* MegaDwarfBonus: Make the system fully automated using [[computing]] principles.

==Pit o' doom==
Combine with an Execution Tower for maximum z-level executions! Traps which menace with spikes are a must.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. You want it nice and deep though.

'''Usefulness:''' Dispose of prisoners, execute nobles, gruesome fatal injuries, laugh maniacally. If high enough, you may be able to recover [[bone]]s from creatures your dwarves refuse to [[butcher]].

* Bonus: Link the spikes to a lever so you can proceed to make swiss cheese of whatever didn't die from the fall.

==Pixel art stockpiles==
Arrange several stockpiles of similar items of different colors (gems work well for this) so the different colors make some sort of picture. Don't forget to set "max bins" to 0 on all the stockpiles so you can actually see the items!

It's probably also a good idea to forbid the items once they're in place, to prevent them from being moved later (and allow you to remove the stockpiles if you want.)

'''Difficulty:''' Medium; only tricky parts are (potentially) finding enough items of different colors, and keeping track of which colors are where before the hauling is done.

'''Usefulness:''' Negative

==Pressure washer==
A huge tower with floodgates at the bottom on one side. When opened, the pressurized water fires out and pushes anything in the way of the flow away. Depending on size, can be surprisingly powerful. You can see an example tower [http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-7485-griffonwind here.]

'''Difficulty:''' Medium, construction technique takes some consideration.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium-High. Tested in version 0.28.181.40d with 50 recruits standing in front of it when the floodgates opened, killed 46 of them, including ones not pushed into the pit.

* Bonus: Fill it with Magma instead (though Magma doesn't pressurize).

==Quantum Blizzard Cannon==

Do you need to kill something? Is atom-smashing no longer a viable option? Do you wish to bring glory to Armok? Do not fear, the QBC is here! By creating individual stops to fill minecarts with projectiles of your choosing, then loading up to 12 filled minecarts into a final “Launcher” minecart (using a stop designated to fill the "launcher" with minecarts), you can effectively fire as many items as you would like at your foe using a standard minecart shotgun. It is also possible to fill this with fluids, to great effect (and risk of crashing the game). This can often have interesting effects because hitting a goblin with 996 bars of lead at extreme speeds is not good for the squishy bits. The cannon gains its name from its creator.

''' Difficulty:''' excessive, lots of time in menus and loading per shot, but really ((Fun))

''' Usefulness:''' medium to low. The same trick can be used to move large amounts of items via minecart, but ultimately the QBC is excessive for even the HFS.

==Redesign the fortress==
And when we say "redesign", we mean completely replanning and rebuilding the entire fortress, from scratch. Ever thought about a cool thing that you could add to your fortress, but can't because a critical area(such as the dining room, general-purpose stockpile, central workshop area etc.) are in the way? Did you start the fortress by building the most critical areas in the first available spot? Well, now is a good time to get rid of that! For added effects, put the sleeping areas especially close to the booze stockpile so that dwarves are always happy!

'''Difficulty:''' Varies depending on the size of the fortress.

'''Usefulness:''' Varies depending on how you carry it out, a.k.a. the efficiency of the new organization.

==Rehabilitation centre==
Had any problems with dwarves charging brainlessly towards the enemy, getting slaughtered, and then starting a tantrum spiral that will destroy your fortress? Turn your prison into a luxurious room full of things that make dwarves happy. Add artifact furniture, beds, a booze stockpile, chains made of gold (or anything valuable,) a waterfall, creatures in cages, etc. Hopefully they will return to society as a happy, productive dwarf.

'''Difficulty:''' Low-Medium. Acquiring valuable items and setting up the waterfall can be annoying sometimes. Also you need guards to actually put them in jail. And it can be a real pain when those ungrateful sobs destroy the nice furniture you give them.

'''Usefulness:''' High. A tantrum spiral can quickly turn a productive fort of 200+ dwarves into a rioting fortress inhabited by a bunch of insane, miserable dwarves who spend their time punching people and breaking furniture. Don't let it happen to you.

* MegaDwarfBonus: Points for making every other dwarf drink water and sleep on cheap beds.

==Road of the damned==
Create a giant channel filled with spike traps, 10 tiles wide and going all the way from your fort to the map edge. Pave it over with crystal glass so traders can get that foreboding feeling that'll make them seal the deal without bargaining too hard!

'''Difficulty:''' Low-mid, depending on the rarity of crystal glass.

'''Usefulness:'''Low. The same as a normal road.

* Bonus: Spike a goblin on every trap!
* Megabonus: Spike traders who annoy you on the traps!

==Roof of the world==
Sick of having your dwarves vomit all the time when they go out to retrieve loot or lumber? Despair no more! Build an almost-infinitely tall tower, and then put a floor on the highest level, spanning the entire map. For extra kicks, make a mechanism that will crash the entire thing upon the heads of the one goblin horde that manages to get through all your other deathtraps.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Very grueling.

'''Usefulness:''' Low, but potentially fortress-saving. (see above)

==Sectorized world==
Divide the world edges into multiple sectors and then gate access to each one separately. This allows you to protect your fortress from sieges whilst keeping access to most of the outside world and allowing most traders into and out of the fortress (those unfortunate enough to enter the world from the same direction as the siegers may be screwed, of course). For bonus points, build separate gateable access routes for each sector. For further bonus points, design your fortress so that you can simultaneously allow access to traders ''at the same time'' as siegers are exposed to your defensive mechanisms.

'''Difficulty:''' Low, unless you allow separate access routes for each sector in which case high.

'''Usefulness:''' Moderate, increasing with each bonus you fill. Mostly for those who want to build the best possible defenses. Can also double as a means of easily trapping wild animals.

==Self-contained vampire-based factory==
Take advantage of the independence of vampires by building a self-contained factory. The best industries are those that require no special raw materials-- a factory containing both a magma glass furnace and a sand tile, for instance, would work well, as would a clay industry, but if you're feeling ambitious, consider building a vampire into your [[giant cave spider|GCS]] [[silk farm]]-- if you happen to have scored an [[undead]] GCS, your vampire won't even spook! You can treat your factory as a piggy bank to be broken into as needed, or for perfect fire-and-forget action, build a dropping [[User:Vasiln/Undump|undump]] into the factory, and the vampire will deliver the output to your front door.

'''Difficulty:''' The only hard part is getting yourself a [[vampire]].

'''Usefulness:''' Depends on how many green glass blocks you plan on using.

==Sapient zoo==
Start by creating a [[zoo]] containing at least one of every [INTELLIGENT] and [CAN_SPEAK] creature
including [[humans]], [[elves]], [[goblin]]s and [[kobold]]s.

*Bonus: include a berserk dwarf in cage

'''Difficulty:''' Easy for some, Hard for others

'''Usefulness:''' None, really, a place for dwarves to throw a [[party]].

==Self-destruct lever==
A mechanism that, for example, could flood your fort with magma, or release a trapped megabeast. For bonus points, build the whole fort on a single [[support]].

'''Difficulty:''' Very high. Extremely fun.

'''Usefulness:''' Could serve as kind of a last revenge on a goblin siege, but also highly amusing. If done properly it can make reclaim easier.

* DorfBonus: Make it have a timer before your fortress self-destructs. You can do this with a water channel, or if you're particularly technical, make a [[Computing|seven segment display]].
** For bonus Dwarfy-ness, make the timer be the depth number of the magma or water that will actually trigger your fortress' destruction.
* Bonus: Build your fortress high above ground, connect the fortress to a roof through just one support and have the system, when activated, drop the whole construction into the magma sea, destroying the whole thing permanently.
* FunBonus: use the lever to drop the fortress off a pillar while simultaneously opening the [[hidden fun stuff]], preferably in a whole lot of places.
*ExtraFunBonus: do as may of these bonuses as you please (as long as they still function together) AND unleash a whole lot of dwarves throwing tantrums near the lever when you wish to set the fun things off.

==Shark catcher==
Capture of [[Bull shark|sharks]] or [[Carp|other]], [[Sturgeon|dangerous fish]] achieved by making an artificial bay, filling it with [[Cage trap|cage traps]], opening the floodgate to the sea or river and some sort of drainage system, likely pumps and/or floodgates.

'''Difficulty''': Low to Medium as drowning while setting up is very possible with bad planning.

'''Usefulness''': Low, purely aesthetic, but very cool to have a shark infested moat (Potentially kills invaders).

==Silk farming==
{{main|Silk farming}}
Capture a web-slinger (generally a [[giant cave spider]]) and build a farm to efficiently harvest its [[silk]].

'''Difficulty''': Low to Medium; the hardest part is generally catching the web-spinner.

'''Usefulness''': Medium to High. Provides an endless supply of potentially-valuable [[silk]] cloth and rapidly [[cross-training|cross-trains]] [[weaver]]s.

==Steamed vegetables==
Make a pot and drop <s>elves</s> vegetables in from about three levels up. This makes it so the vegetables do not <s>run</s> get overcooked. Proceed to bask the vegetables in [[steam]].

'''Difficulty''': Medium. Can be annoying to boil some water.

'''Usefulness''': Great way to make friends with the merchants.

*MegaDwarfBonus: Add <s>goblins</s> seasoning.
*ArmokDoubleBonus: Use [[magma mist]].
*DwarfBonus: feed any vegetables you did not steam to your dear friends, the [[Demon|clowns]].

==Swimming pool==
{{main|Swimming#Learning/Teaching swimming|l1=Swimming § Learning/Teaching swimming}}
It's a reservoir that fills to 4/7 exactly. Station soldiers inside, lock them in, and fill. This way they gain [[swimming]] skill.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. It's just a pair of reservoirs.

'''Usefulness:''' The swimming skill is only slightly useful. This is most useful if the entrance to your fort has narrow walkways/moats surrounded by water, and you station your soldiers there. It does help gain attributes though. Though if you utilize a '''H'''ydraulic '''E'''levation and '''L'''owering '''P'''latform, this is a priceless necessity.

==Swimming track==
{{main|Swimming#Minecart_training|l1=Swimming § Minecart_training}}

[[Image:Swim track 0.png|thumb|right|250px|A large swimming track]]

A [[minecart]] ride that trains [[swimming]] safely and automatically.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Minecart tracks can be fiddly, and adding a non-traversable depth of water makes any mistakes more difficult to fix.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. The swimming skill is only slightly useful, but it does provide [[cross-training]] for attribute gains.

==Tower of Death-Struction==

Have you ever wondered, "What would it take to make my [[Siege|friends]] all [[Gravity|fall]] at once into a pit of [[Trap|fun times]] while also not risking failure?" Elementary, my aspiring architect -- [[Fun|THE TOWER OF DEATH-STRUCTION]]!

Step 1: Build a tower with a [[bridge]], to allow for non-lethal access to the fortress. Build the tower roughly 25-30 blocks high, though higher towers tend to result in roughly equivalent amounts of [[Fun]]. The access bridge should be linked to a lever, to close it like a standard gate.

Step 2: Build a thinner tower 20 blocks away, for maximum bridge length. Any number of middle towers can be constructed, though one is recommended.

Step 3: Build another tower, one that can be ascended by [[Goblin|curious friends]]. Fill it with cage traps, to thin out the number of [[Troll|friends]] to take up space on the bridge.

Step 4: Build two bridges on either side of the skybridge, to trap attackers on the skybridge.

Step 5: Hook up the skybridges to one lever, and the trap bridge to another.

Once this is done, just wait for a [[Siege|surprise party]] to be thrown for you. Close the access bridge, forcing the [[Goblin|visitors]] to path onto it. Trap them, and when the time looks right...

'''Pull the lever, Kronk!'''

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate to hard. If all of your dwarves have cave adaptation, the construction might take a lot longer to complete. As well, the cost of floors and traps alone will mean that just acquiring the materials will need its own stupid dwarf trick.

'''Usefulness:''' Low to high, depending on how well you use it. If you forget to open the access gate, you might find your dwarves trapped inside the tower, or even worse, they may run up to the bridge to fight and meet a [[Gravity|bad time]]. Also, the goblin corpses piling up in the spike pit might cause extra [[Miasma|fun]] depending on how regularly you take care of it. If done correctly, this tower might become the most efficient and effective defence against all problems that one could possibly ask for.

*Bonus: Build enough middle towers to build a bridge path long enough to trap an entire siege and drop them onto spikes below.
*SuperBonus: Build the towers above a river.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Build the towers above a lava pit.
*SuperMegaDwarfBonus: Build the towers above a ticket straight to [[HFS|the circus]].
*ArmokBonus: Build the towers out of [[Slade]] (Note: This should be impossible, so if you do it...))
*SuperMegaUltraHardcoreDwarvenMasterpieceArtifactBonus: Build the fortress at the top of the tower that the goblins have to try to get to.

==Underground forest==
{{main|Tree farming}}
Break into an underground cavern, make some muddy floors over a big area and wait.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium - need to dig out a suitably large area, then find a way of introducing water to the area and subsequently draining or evaporating it.

'''Usefulness:''' Depends on size (bigger is better) as well as proximity to wood stockpiles. A tree farm outside the caverns can grow trees from all 3 layers, and you'll never have to worry about hostile creatures threatening your wood cutters.

==Underground perpetual motion power plant==
Combine with a use for the power and you either have an awesome setup, or a ticking time bomb.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Maintaining the correct water level is annoying difficult at times. Note: Incredibly easy with an aquifer.

'''Usefulness:''' Depends on size of plant and what it's connected to. Also useful as a puzzle for adventurers.

==Underwater statue room==
A simple room filled with statues that just also happens to be flooded. Simply dig a room near to a water source smooth and engrave the walls and floors then fill with statues. Dig a tunnel to the water source and a separate escape route. seal both off with floodgates pull the levers in the right order and bam! underwater statue room. For added effect make the meeting room a room directly above with a glass floor.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Absolutely positively none.

*Bonus: Build it on area with trees and shrubs; make walls from ice or use windows; fill it with fish and merfolk; now you'll get a big aquarium
*Note: It doesn't count if you accidentally flood your fortress and wind up with one of these. It does count if one of your nobles has an unfortunate accident in their sculpture garden.

==U.R.I.S.T. artificial intelligence==
Basically, a dwarf in a bunker that controls your fortress. Being that there are no supercomputers in DF at the moment, we'll have to use the closest substitute, a dwarf. Seal your dwarf in a room full of levers that activate various floodgates, bridges, doors, hatch covers, traps, etc. Make sure this room has no exits or entrances, but it needs a luxurious bedroom and dining area, and you must include a chute for dropping in <s>food</s> biomass and <s>alcohol</s> coolant fluid. Profile the levers so that they can only be used by the A.I. dwarf.

It would be a good idea to make the system into two rooms. The food/drink/bed room and the lever room. Should you need to add more levers, you can lock the A.I. dwarf outside the lever room and have your mechanics set up more levers without interacting with or releasing the A.I.

You can make the lodging room suited for the particular dwarf by adding furniture made from their favorite materials, and smoothing and engraving everything. Use quantum stockpiling to give them 10+ years of food and drink. Make sure the A.I. is unable to communicate with other dwarves. His/her mood must not be affected by the deaths of the walking meat-bags who tried to befriend him/her.

In order to ensure that your A.I. doesn't find sleep interfering with crucial lever pulling, you might consider incorporating an alarm clock. If a goblin siege turns up on your doorstep, a single external lever to dump 7/7 of water on the sleeping A.I. might well save your fortress (and is so much cooler than having backup levers in your meeting hall).

You must also make a snazzy/lame acronym name for your AI, here are some examples:
*A.R.M.O.K. - '''A'''ll-'''R'''eaching '''M'''achine '''O'''f '''K'''illing
*A.S.S. - '''A'''lmost-autonomous '''S'''ystems '''S'''elector
*C.A.T. - '''C'''reepy '''A'''utonomous '''T'''echnology
*D.E.E.P.E.R. - '''D'''warf of '''E'''ngineering the '''E'''ldritch and '''P'''ractical '''E'''xploitation of '''R'''esources''
*D.I.E.D. - '''D'''edicated '''I'''rrigation and '''E'''verything else '''D'''warf(s)
*D.O.M.E.S. - '''D'''warf '''O'''perated '''M'''echanics and '''E'''ngineering '''S'''ystem
*D.O.R.F. - '''D'''oes '''O'''rders '''R'''ather '''F'''ast
*D.O.S. - '''D'''warf '''O'''perating '''S'''ystem
*D.W.A.R.F. - '''D'''rains '''W'''ater '''A'''nd '''R'''ecruits '''F'''armers
*G.L.A.D.O.S. - '''G'''enetic '''L'''ifeform '''A'''nd '''D'''warf '''O'''perating '''S'''ystem
*H.A.L. - '''H'''airy '''A'''lternate '''L'''ifeform
*M.A.G.M.A. - '''M'''assively '''A'''lcoholic '''G'''ear-'''M'''achine '''A'''ssembly
*N.O.B.L.E. - '''N'''arcissistic '''O'''bnoxious '''B'''oastful '''L'''aughable '''E'''xcrement
*P.O.T.A.T.O. - '''P'''ossibly '''O'''rganic '''T'''echnically '''A'''live '''T'''rash '''O'''mitted
*U.R.I.S.T. - '''U'''nderground '''R'''easonably '''I'''ntelligent '''S'''ettlement '''T'''echnologist
*V.A.C.A.T.E.D. - '''V'''ampire '''A'''ssisted '''C'''omputerized '''A'''ssembly '''T'''errorizes '''E'''xtra-'''D'''warves
*V.O.D.A.P.H.O.N.E. - '''V'''ampire '''O'''perated '''D'''efence '''A'''pparatus, '''P'''erpetrating '''H'''arm '''O'''f '''N'''efarious '''E'''ntities (See Bonus for more information)


'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Setting up all the levers and lodgings can be a micromanagement hassle. Further research is required as to how well the A.I. will fit into a dwarven economy.

'''Usefulness:''' High. Having a dwarf dedicated to pulling levers will ensure that they are pulled on time. Additionally, you will have a constantly-ecstatic dwarf who is virtually invulnerable to all threats. Should your fortress be slaughtered by invaders or drowned by flooding or tantrum spiraled, your fortress will be preserved until more migrants arrive, or the AI runs out of food.

Bonus: Make the A.I. dwarf a vampire. Vampires don't need food, alcohol, or sleep and cannot age, which makes them perfect for the job. As an added bonus, keeping a vampire in this way will make your fortress completely indestructible, as sealing him in will prevent the possibility of the vampire of being killed in combat or from a syndrome, while keeping the vampire from making friends he will inevitably outlive will prevent him from going insane. (It also ensures that the bloodsucker won't use any of your dwarves as a midnight snack.) NOTE: Vampires may still go insane without any blood. Might be worth considering adding on a 3rd "feeding chamber" where you assign an unfortunate victim to sleep whenever the vampire gets hungry.

===D.O.S.T.N.G.O.S.P.===

Dwarven Organic Switch Toggle, Neutered Gastrectomied Overpersistent Sober Prisoner. Goblins have several advantages over dwarves in the lever pulling department: they live forever, do not breed or tantrum, and need not eat, drink, or sleep. Seal one or more goblins in your supercomputer complex, and use their predictable pathing in combination with instantly lockable doors and pressure plates to make dwarven lever pulling a thing of an older, less advanced era.

Also known by several product names:
*G.O.B.L.I.N.A.T.O.R. - '''G'''oblin '''O'''perated '''B'''astion of '''L'''ogic to '''I'''nfalliably '''N'''eutralize '''A'''ntiquated '''T'''ypes of '''O'''perational '''R'''egimes
*N.G.O.K.A.N.G. - '''N'''efarious '''G'''oblin '''O'''f '''K'''illing '''A'''nd '''N'''eedless '''G'''riping
*S.T.O.Z.U. - '''S'''ecret '''T'''echnological '''O'''perative who '''Z'''aps '''U'''nruly Nobles

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. While goblin pressure plate runners require more space than dwarven lever pullers, once their room is set up, it's done, and easily copied for the next one. With only one goblin, you'll need a pressure plate for every possible combination of lever states, but it's easy to add more goblins instead.

'''Usefulness:''' High. Instant response time (<50 ticks is possible) can make lever worries a thing of the past. The D.O.S.T.N.G.O.S.P. requires absolutely no maintenance once set up. Unlike with the U.R.I.S.Ts of the previous generation, modern POW-based computing is never held hostage to eating, drinking, or breaks. Stay tuned for the next-generation C.A.C.A.M.E.!

==Vomitorium==
[[Image:Vomit_Trail.png‎|thumb|right|Vomitoria: preventing cave adaptation since [[23a:Vomit|23a]].]]

Prevents [[cave adaptation]]. It's like the greenhouse, only instead of a farm, it's a [[meeting hall]] or [[barracks]]. Since you can't build [[table]]s or [[bed]]s outside, build the room and [[channel]] down to it. Variant: above-ground statue garden or zoo.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Make sure to wall the pit in, or it will become very [[fun]] once [[goblin]] archers become involved.

Bonus: Make an ACTUAL Vomitorium for this - Build a [[meeting hall]] with a [[grate]]d floor. Let [[cave adaptation]] set in, then open the place up for the most extravagant and lavish of parties every 3~4 years! Those will be some Armok grade hangovers though....

==Water tower==
This functions much like real life: Lifting water above ground level creates pressure, allowing buried pipes to deliver water to any elevation below the top of the tower. This is smarter, faster, and cheaper than a map-spanning raised aqueduct. A pump stack at the river, raising water into a sealed, pressurized U-bend, can deliver large volumes of water to whatever level you want, very quickly.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. No harder than any other pump stack to design, but high pressure can amplify minor errors into abandon-worthy disasters. You could conceivably divert the river into your fort. Be sure to make an off-switch.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Once the pump stack is operating, you no longer need to be anywhere near your water source.

==Watervator==
By creating a vertical "'''H'''ydraulic '''E'''levation and '''L'''owering '''P'''latform" chamber, or HELP (so named for the cries of the passenger dwarf) with lever controlled water levels, you can move a dwarf up several z-levels without any stairs. All it takes is the dwarf's ability to swim up to the surface of the water to breathe.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Moderate possibility of Fun by way of flooding your fortress. Any dwarves that can't swim will instead experience Fun when using the Watervator. The actual construction time and resource usage is very low. Using the Watervator often leads to unhappy thoughts about drowning

'''Usefulness:''' Low to Medium. The Watervator requires manual micromanaging, while stairs do not. On the other hand, it can be used to create a pathway that most <s>Dwarves</s> enemies will simply be unable to use. Those that can would still be doing so at great risk of drowning or falling to their death. It is recommend that with the exception of the entrance you use stairs.

*Bonus: Utilize vampires (who can't drown).
*MegaDwarfBonus: Utilize trained fish.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Engineer it so that it performs a full cycle on one activation of a pressure plate and include that pressure plate as a part of the patrol route, then create a reverse Watervator and also include it as a part of same patrol route, so that your militia automatically uses it to get in and out the fortress.

==Werewolf clock==
The changing of the werewolf is the most reliable indicator of the passing of seasons. For precisely one day per full moon, he will go berserk and trigger standard pressure plates.

'''Difficulty:''' You will get a were sooner or later. Getting him pitted in the right spot without havoc is the hard part.

'''Usefulness:''' Low.

*Bonus: Make the werewolf do most of the work himself.

==Zombie thunderdome==
Embark in a [[surroundings#Evil|reanimating]] biome in the current version (preferably savage as well), find or dig a deep pit, and dump any unused (non-dorf) corpses and butchery products into it. They will animate and begin to walk around, providing you with the endless entertainment afforded by watching horse hair walk. Make sure the pit is deep enough not to scare your dwarves!

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Keeping your fort safe from the threat of animated beak dog beaks is worth any price. However, [[DF2012:Defense guide|there may be better things]] [[DF2012:Mega construction|to do with your time]].

*Bonus: Set up a series of [[bridge|defenses]] that drop invaders into the pit.
*DwarfBonus: Set up a series of bridges and walls that flings invaders into the pit.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Drop a Megabeast into the pit and watch it do battle with multiple layers of undead.
*CavernFunBonus: Channel the bottom into a cavern and let your zombies hunt [[forgotten beast|the wonderful creatures there]].
**BonusFunBonus: Let them hunt [[Demon|Clowns]] as well.
*ZombieDwarfBonus: Ignore the suggestion above and dump dwarven corpses in anyway.

==Zombie shooting gallery==

In a reanimating biome, build a holding room for your undead, wall it off with fortifications. In the adjacent (accessible) area, build an archery range and order your archery squads to train there. Your marksdwarves will go to their scheduled archery training and whenever a zombie is raised, they'll switch focus from the boring old archery target and instead shoot down the undead. Once the zombies are dead, they'll return to regular shooting practice until the corpses rise again. The raised corpses cannot attack through fortifications and thus cause no unhappy thoughts from seeing them, but will spook haulers trying to collect errant socks from the shooting range.

A viable (if finicky) alternative to a reanimating biome could be a [[necromancer]]. This has the benefit of being more controllable, but comes with the threat of [[intelligent undead]] and their abilities. Most would be relatively harmless or a minor inconvenience, but some are potentially lethal to your dwarves. Whether or not this is a downside depends on how many corpses you have available to restock the gallery.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. The difficulty lies in finding a source of permanent undead, the actual construction is trivial.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. This setup significantly increases the skill gain from bolts used by training dwarves, since every bolt shot at a zombie counts as combat action, giving much more experience. The scheme works without any supervision once set up.

{{Category|Design}}
[[ru:Stupid dwarf trick]]

Stupid dwarf trick

2022-08-25T16:12:10Z

IceWorm: /* Tower of Death-Struction */ Stupid dwarf trick link

{{Quality|Masterwork|19:26, 25 August 2020 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

{{D for Dwarf}}

A '''stupid dwarf trick''' is any project that requires a large amount of time and/or effort. They may provide a practical benefit, but are frequently done for the sake of doing them; they exist primarily as a [[challenge]] for experienced players. And remember... no wagering. (''Except in quatloos, one might think.'')

==Adventure mode fortress==


Build a fortress specifically for exploring in [[adventure mode]]. You can either make a nasty monster-filled challenge, or a smörgåsbord of masterpiece adamantine weapons and armor. Possibly both. Breaching the [[caverns]] or [[hidden fun stuff]] should ensure the fortress is occupied. Building a fortress is now possible ''inside'' of adventure mode as of DF v0.43.

'''Difficulty:''' The sky's the limit.

'''Usefulness:''' None for fortress mode, but filling it with high-quality equipment can certainly be useful for adventure mode.

==Alarm clock==
Are your soldiers all sound asleep while blood soaks the walls? No need to deconstruct their beds one by one, ''if'' you bought the Dwarf Wakey 3000! Simply a solitary floor tile balanced on a support, one or more can be toppled with the pull of a lever to produce an earth-shaking racket that'll have them leaping for their axes!

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Limited. They'll sleep through <s>'''anything'''</s> the noise. Although they have been known to awaken when drenched in water, possibly due to thinking it's alcohol, making an alarm clock is not impossible, if carefully prepared.

==Alphabet cages==
[[Image:Cage.gif|right]]
Use captured monsters in cages to spell messages.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Vowels are hard to come by.

'''Usefulness:''' Absolutely none whatsoever. (Easy reminders in case you're too lazy to use notes?)

==Altar of Armok==

Build a large altar made out of adamantine, clear glass, magma, and obsidian. The main altar should be hollow adamantine with clear glass "windows." It should have magma inside. The altar should be adorned with large obsidian spikes, as it pleases Armok.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium, raising with the amount (and respective difficulty) of bonuses you add.

'''Usefulness:''' Low to medium. If the chamber containing the altar is consecrated as a [[temple]], dwarves will go there to pray, and may gain additional happy thoughts for admiring the altar's materials and craftsdwarfship.

*Bonus: Guard the altar with a megabeast.
*Bonus: Cover the altar with blood of a Titan.
**MegaBonus: Cover the altar with blood of a denizen of the HFS.
***ArmokBonus: Build the altar in the HFS.
*MegaBonus: Cover the altar in a temporarily lasting strength inducing extract.
*BerserkBonus: Cover the altar in a nausea-inducing extract.
*BloodBonus: Also cover the altar in an extract inducing slow death.
**SychronizationBonus: Make it so that a dwarf that goes into contact with the altar dies the moment the strength runs out.
*SacrificialBonus: Sacrifice a dwarf to the altar every day.
**MegaSacrificialBonus: Sacrifice an elf to the altar every day.
**HistorySacrificialBonus: Sacrifice a human to the altar every day
***MegaArmokBonus: Sacrifice all three species to the altar every day!
*MonarchBonus: Build the altar in the monarch's throne room! Yes, this stacks with the ArmokBonus up above.

==Aqueduct power==
If your river's a long way away from your fortress, building a trans-map axle may be less efficient than building an aqueduct and pump stack driven by waterwheels in the river. The pump stack raises it to the height of your fort, where it flows through the long, long aqueduct and drives waterwheels on the other end. Getting the water pressure just right so it powers your waterwheel without flooding the fort can be [[Fun]]. Diagonal channels make good pressure reducers.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Lots of stone, lots of engineering, lots of dangerous outdoor work, lots of trial-and-error for the receiving waterwheels. Aquifers will absorb any amount of water at any rate. Using an aquifer as drain for the reservoir will nullify the risk of flooding the fortress due to the drain not keeping up with the supply.

'''Usefulness:''' High. As much water and power as you want, wherever you want, whenever you want.

==Aquifer power==
Aquifers can be a resource of immense power. If you have two levels of aquifer, you can generate a continuous flow by draining one level of aquifer into another and plant waterwheels above it. One stream can power a lot of wheels.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Anything to do with draining aquifers is very [[Fun]].

'''Usefulness:''' <s>High.</s> Low. It is now very rare to find a powerful enough aquifer.

==Archaeological excavation==
A Fortress in the Caverns, built by the first dwarf tribes. Build the Fortress however you see fit for those prehistoric Dwarves (i.e. only primitive metals, elaborate tombs for the chieftains with burial objects, cave art, etc.) and abandon it. Then, embark with modern Dwarves, and excavate the ancient Fortress. Sort of like the Adventure Fortress above, only for Reclaim Mode

'''Difficulty:''' As High as you want.

'''Usefulness:''' Variable. Carving a premade fort or building controlled access to caverns can potentially be useful for a Reclaim effort, effectively making the first wave dispoable setup so your would-be archologists to dig up and exploit their new home. The more Fun you leave behind, the harder it will be for your second wave to repurpose the place.

*Bonus: A museum detailing the lives of those early dwarves.
*Bonus: Create a save with your First Tribe fort collapsed/flooded/etc, for other users to explore. Leave them some Fun what-does-this-lever-do problems to solve.
*EncinoDwarfBonus: Some of those early dwarves frozen in a block of ice.
*FunBonus: Breach the HFS.
**MegaBonus: Do a cave in to the HFS after fighting it leaving multiple signs of battle in the fortress, to be dug by your modern dwarves.

==Artificial waterfall==
{{main|Waterfall}}
To keep the waterfall going, you need a [[pump]] stack, preferably powered by a [[windmill]] or [[water wheel]]. Alternatively, an [[aquifer]], or other limitless water source, makes for a waterfall entirely underground.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate (Low if there is an aquifer above pouring down).

'''Usefulness:''' Dwarves love [[waterfall]]s. Putting a waterfall in your [[meeting hall]] will give your dwarves good [[thought]]s, although it can significantly lower frame rate.

*Bonus: Build it in a "Warm" or hotter [[climate]] so it does not freeze.
*DwarfBonus: Build it in a freezing/cold/temperate climate and keep it going entire year!
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use [[magma]]. It does not freeze, even in a freezing climate!
*MegaDwarfBonusEXTREME+: Use magma and water in the same waterfall. The results will enshrine you in dwarf history! Possibly permanently.

==Ballista battery==
{{main|Ballista}}
Overlap a few ballistas to completely cover a narrow corridor. There is an unavoidable risk of your operators wandering into the line of fire.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. If you insist on highly trained operators with high-quality ballistas, it gets harder.

'''Usefulness:''' A complicated and dangerous way to defend a single corridor. Ultimately extremely effective. Sometimes.

==Bastion==
Construct an isolated burrow containing a farmer and some labourers, containing at least an uncontaminated well (an [[aquifer]] is great for this) and some farms. Use whatever elaborate mechanism you wish to seal it off from the rest of the fortress. Congratulations; your bastioned dwarves and their descendants will keep your fortress alive forever until one of them goes nuts.

* Bonus: Build your bastion at least in part in a clay or sand layer, add a little magma, and continue manufacturing useless crap even as the world crumbles around you!
** StonksBonus: Rig a way for your bastion to transfer supplies to the outside world without exposing themselves to danger, so they can be somewhat useful to the rest of your fort before their inevitable downfall. Doubles as a way to restock the bastion with fresh supplies and/or bodies, or a way to let the apocalypse in a little at a time if your survivors get too comfortable.
* Bonus: Build it on top of a tower outside, and then deconstruct the stairs up.
* Bonus: Fill it exclusively with vampires, to avoid having to worry about food, children, and aging.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Hollow out a shell around your bastion, connecting it to the rest of the cavern by a single 1x1 adamantine support, and flood the shell with magma.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' High. If your bastioned dwarves have high enough quality living space and few enough nonbastioned friends, it makes the fortress functionally immortal.

==Bathtub==
Stop dwarves from hauling in tons of exotic, poisonous sludge into your fortress by creating a tub filled with 3/7 water that everyone has to get through to enter the fortress. Include a system to change the water, so that they don't bathe in grime.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate

'''Usefulness:''' Low in most cases. High in some evil areas.

* DwarfBonus: Make it drain and refill itself with clean water automatically once in a year.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Clean it with magma.
* *MegaDwarfBonus*: Have an alternative bathtub-buffered entrance next to the main one, which opens automatically when sanitizing the main one and closes and sanitizes itself when it is no longer needed, so that no jobs are canceled during cleansing cycle.
* ≡MegaDwarfBonus≡ : Make it clean itself with magma automatically once in a year, but make it wait for the moment when it's unused, so that no dwarves or pets are incinerated.
* ☼MegaDwarfBonus☼: All of the above, plus make it detect when there should be no dwarves or pets around, but invaders are in it, so that the cleansing cycle can be started prematurely.

==Boat==
In intermittently freezing biomes, [[ice]] may be used to create actual floating boats, submarines, or other floating objects/forts; as constructions built on top of ice do not collapse when the ice thaws.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Needs an intermittently freezing biome, construction is limited to frozen periods, and there's a substantial risk of flooding, drowning and being encased in ice.

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Forts within boats are protected from invaders while the water is unfrozen, but they're also trapped within the confines of the boat.

Note: You'll probably want to limit your saves to the colder months.

* DwarfBonus: Have the dwarves live on the boat.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Make miscreants/nobles walk the plank.
* *MegaDwarfBonus*: Bury your treasure on shore.
* ≡MegaDwarfBonus≡ : Have a pet [[kea]] for each of your dwarves.
* ☼MegaDwarfBonus☼: Build it on top of an ice tower.

==Bolt splitting operation==
One curious property of Dwarven physics is that a bar of metal makes 25 bolts, but if each of those 25 bolts is melted separately, they will become 2.5 bars, generating metal from nothing. Prior to the update that allowed splitting stacks at the [[trade depot]], the difficult part was separating the stacks of bolts into individual bolts without destroying them. EliDupree originally discovered this trick:
{{diagram|spaces=yes|color=#888|\
∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙
∙++++[#05F]☻∙+++++++++
∙+∙∙∙[#0A0]┼∙+++++++++++++[#BBB]╬[#BBB]╬
∙+∙[#F00]g∙[#0A0]┼∙+++++++++++++[#BBB]╬[#FF0]@
∙+∙∙∙[#0A0]┼∙+++++++++++++[#BBB]╬[#BBB]╬
∙+++++∙+++++++++
∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙
}}

The yellow @ at the right is a stack of marksdwarves (all in different squads so that they'll stand on the same tile) equipped with [[adamantine]] bolts, standing on top of a stairway surrounded by [[fortification]]s. The blue ☻ at the left is a single [[Attributes#Agility|Perfectly Agile]] soldier with orders to patrol up and down the line of green doors, with little delays at the top and bottom. (The doors are free-standing; they were built attached to a wall, then the wall was removed.) The "g" at the left is a goblin standing on a pillar (pitted from the z-level above).

When the dwarf at the left runs up or down the line of doors, it opens all of them, and some of the marksdwarves loose their bolts. By the time the bolts get there, the doors have closed, so they hit the doors and fall into the channel, where they can be collected and melted separately. (That distance is exact, by the way. Any less and they sometimes get shots through the doors, which kills your goblin. Also, with less-skilled marksdwarves, some of the bolts will stray and land on the floors, but that isn't enough to worry about even with mere dabblers.) Naturally, this is also an excellent way to train marksdwarves.

Another design resembles a tower where marksdwarves shoot from the top, with the following setup: (click then press '<' and '>' to go through different z-levels)
<diagram>
<frame type="level" level=0>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%203][%203][%205][%187]
[%186]<[%204][%185][#5:1]g[#7:0][%186]
[%200][%205][%202][%202][%205][%188]

< 01
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=1>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%203][%203][%205][%187]
[%186]X[%204][%185][#7:1]O[#7:0][%186]
[%200][%205][%202][%202][%205][%188]

< 02 >
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=2>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%205][%205][%205][%187]
[%186]X+[#3:1]/[#7:0].[%186]
[%200][%205][%205][%205][%205][%188]

< 03 >
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=3>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%203][%205][%187]+
[%186]X[%186].[%186]+
[%200][%205][%202][%205][%188]+

< 04 >
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=4>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%203][%205][%187].
[%186]X[%186].[%186].
[%200][%205][%202][%205][%188].

< 05 >
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=5>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%205][%205][%187]
[%186]>+[#6:1]@[#7:0][%186]
[%200][%205][%205][%205][%188]

06 >
</frame>
</diagram>
The '@' is any number of marksdwarves standing on a down stair. You may want to use a defend burrow order to restrict them to that tile. The 'g' is a goblin or any other creature your marksdwarves will normally fire at upon encounter (pitted from 2 z-levels above). The 'O' is a well, which is suspected to be preventing dwarves from plunging in and starting brawling with the creature. Marksdwarves will be able to see the goblin or whatever creature below and will loose all bolts in their quivers on them. Curiously, nearly all the bolts will fail to cross the bend in the middle and will fall onto the tile '/' where they can be collected. This disregards crossbow and archery skills and the only difference they make is the speed at which the bolts are split. This design has the advantage of taking less space and being easier to set up, however it is reported that sometimes the dwarves will not miss some of the bolts. If you are only stationing one marksdwarf in the tower, stationing another one may help the first one miss all of his bolts, even after the newly added one is then removed. Sometimes dwarves will spam job cancellation on the bolt collection level, and it is also reported that sometimes some dwarves will start firing when they are on the bolt collection level. In such cases you may want to seal the collection level off and open it once in a while to retrieve the bolts.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate. The hardest part is keeping the system running reliably.

'''Usefulness:''' Moderate. While there are certainly [[Exploit#Infinite metal|easier ways to generate adamantine]], this is perhaps the most dwarfy.

*Bonus: Build a [[repeater]] to open and close the doors automatically.

==Break the dam (release the river!)==
Dam a river (or brook) using something non-permanent (floodgates, drawbridges) and build your fortress entrance in the now dry river bed, make sure you can seal it off nicely (floodgates anyone?) then wait till the first Goblin siege, let them get to your entrance floodgates, seal them, open the dam and laugh maniacally.

'''Difficulty:''' Low

'''Usefulness:''' Instantaneous death to all sieges

*DwarfBonus: Use magma.

==Bridge-a-pult==
A bridge that raises under its victims' feet, flinging enemies away.

Bridges don't fling creatures in any specific direction, apart from "up". So it's more of a spring-board than a catapult. If there's a lot of open space above the bridge, creatures can get flung very high - ten z-levels and more - and take appropriate falling damage. Most of them will land atop the bridge, and bringing the same bridge down will simply crush them.

'''Difficulty:''' Fairly easy. Getting the timing right promises to be the biggest challenge.

'''Usefulness:''' There are far more effective ways to defend a fortress, but few are as entertaining.

===Cat-a-pult===
Essentially a Bridge-a-pult with specific ammo.

'''Difficulty''': Very easy, given that you have live cats in your fortress.

'''Usefulness''': Can be used as a way to stop a [[catsplosion]] if used with male cats. [[Unfortunate accident|Cats can also be replaced with elite citizens of your fortress.]] 

==Corpse processing facility==
WARNING: The system can freely jam on any body parts, besides hands and heads, without killing undead.
With the help of a necromancer, corpses your dwarves refuse to butcher can be brought back to life and re-killed to yield bones and skulls for your bonecarvers if they are mushed up enough.

1. The simplest way to do this is with the help of height. A 1x1 pit with a minecart stop that dumps corpses down the chute, and several alternating [[floor hatch]]es that close and open (linked to a repeater) with necromancers behind windows overlooking each layer of hatches to revive the bits of corpses. 2 windows with a mechanism controlled door in between, in front of each necromancer group can be used to control vision; but the system can only be stopped by unlinking the minecart dump to the refuse pile in your routes. Note: when I built this I had 3 hatches with 6 necromancers overlooking each (I had plenty of them since I embarked close to 4 towers). Revived corpses drop to their death and explode onto a tile with unright spikes linked (note that some of them will survive, so you need the spikes with a repeater or lever). The corpses that explode from the impact of height (or from other body parts/undead crashing into them) will hopefully yield bones. You make choose to re-haul up the body parts for another round, but only body parts still attached to a grasping part or the head will be revived, and this system isn't very efficient in the first place, so it may not be worth the trouble. Note that whole corpses usually yield 5-8 bones upon death (avg 6), arms only yield 1-4 (avg 2). You may also use this system with or without necromancers and pit live [[goblin]]s into it, they usually yield 6 bones and some body parts.

2. The second way is much more efficient than the first, but requires 1 or more [[artifact]] [[mechanisms]] to make it work. Instead of using height to kill the corpses, a weapon trap with an artifact mechanism and 10 serrated blades of any material can be used instead (since artifact mechanisms never jam). Only 1 necromancer is needed for this method, and is positioned 3 tiles away from the weapon trap, overlooking it behind 2 glass windows with a mechanism [[door]] in between to control its vision. Your 1x1 pit should still be 5 tiles deep at least though, to prevent dwarves being spooked by the revived corpses. When you're ready, link up the route to the minecart and watch body parts revive and slowly get mowed down. It's recommended you have more than 1 of these small pits set up so you can grind more corpses and clear out 1 pit at a time while the others keep grinding.

Note: To clear out pits, turn off all refuse stockpiles that accept anything other than bones and skulls by turning on "accept from links only" so your dwarves only haul out the bones and not the trash.

Note: Try to use raising bridges as the door for each pit, kobold body parts tend to get mixed into the grinders which can lock-pick its way out of doors and result in doors with "door taken by intruder" and a couple hundred zombie body parts overrunning your fortress from the inside (a.k.a fun).

Note: I didn't try this with many building destroyers, but I'm pretty sure the glass windows are safe. Fortifications are not usable since corpses and body parts tend to get tangled up in them and are hard to get out, and spook dwarves trying to clean out the pits.

*Bonus: Use water to clean out the contents of the pits and wash them onto a 1x1 refuse stockpile.

'''Difficulty:''' Hard

'''Usefulness:''' High, and becomes higher the more corpses you have; especially useful for getting something more out of necromancer sieges than just useless corpses. Can also be used to recycle dead stray animals and your own dwarves that your dwarves refuse to butcher (don't forget slabs).

NOTE: necromancer siege's corpses now drop clothes and gear.

==Crocodile farm==
They're a thing in real life, and you can make them a thing in-game too! Use cage traps to capture multiple breeding pairs of [[alligator]]s, [[cave crocodile]]s or [[saltwater crocodile]]s, [[Animal trainer|train]] them, then create an area to store them with [[nest box]]es. Breed them so you have more crocodilians to keep laying eggs, rinse and repeat.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium, somewhat dependent on RNG - you need to find someplace with available crocs, you want said crocs to actually spawn and you want said crocs to actually get caught in the traps. <s>May</s> Will also lead to an explosive and FPS-shattering [[Catsplosion#Crocsplosion|crocsplosion]] sooner or later.

'''Usefulness:''' Very high, you'll never have to worry about food again simply from cooking the eggs, and that's not counting butchering the crocs when they're adults.

*Bonus: Have alligators, cave crocs and saltwater crocs '''all''' present in the farm.
*SwampBonus: Have your croc farm submerged in anywhere between 1/7 to 3/7 [[water]]. You gotta keep your crocs healthy and wet! But make sure not to submerge the nest boxes!
*SavageBonus: Have [[giant alligator]]s or/and [[giant saltwater crocodile]]s as part of your farm.
*TrainerBonus: Have your dwarves become Expert alligator/cave croc/saltwater croc trainers.
**SteveIrwinBonus: Have your dwarves become Expert trainers of all croc species.
*HungryHungryCrocBonus: Build your farm in such a way that [[siege]]s have to go through it to reach your fortress.
*UltraCrocBonus: Have [[Alligator man|alligator men]] or/and [[Saltwater crocodile man|saltwater crocodile men]] inhabiting your fortress and helping train the croc farm.
**UltraArmokCrocBonus: Have an entire fortress of croc men handling a croc farm. You're dwarves in spirit.

==Dam==
{{main|Dam}}
Build a wall across a riverbed to stop the flow of water. Floodgates optional.

'''Difficulty:''' On a map that freezes in the winter, or an aquifer located below the river, this is easy. Otherwise, very difficult. (See [[dam]], or Moses effect, below. But with the bonuses it gets a bit harder.)

'''Usefulness:''' Depends on how many bonuses you fulfill. The power station is obvious, and with the control room you could build up a nice defense system.

*Bonus: Excavate a reservoir and a lower river valley. 
*Bonus: Build a control center to control the water flow. 
*Bonus: Draw your entire energy from a power station within. 
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use screw pumps and another dam to replace the water with magma.

==Danger room==
{{main|Danger room}}
A room full of upright spear traps linked to a lever or pressure plate. Teach your dwarves to dodge the pointy sticks!

'''Difficulty''': Low to Medium, depending on how you activate the traps.

'''Usefulness''': Low. While this used to be a very effecting training method in past versions, the combat changes in 0.43.04 has made them much more deadly, even for militia dwarves. They also wear down your dwarves' armor and shields quickly, making them harmful for your long term survival even if your militia dwarves manage to survive the room itself.

'''Downside''': Civilians and pets that wander into the danger room will inevitably get killed, even if you use low quality training spears.

*MegaDwarfBonus: Menacing spikes greatly increase the danger, and may help train your medical team (and/or your coffin construction crew).
*UltraDwarfBonus: Use [[adamantine]] spikes! On the plus side, you have a thriving coffin industry going now.

==Day care==
A room where you put all your dwarf children so they cannot be kidnapped by snatchers. Make a room with beds and tables and stuff, then turn it into a burrow, then add all your children to it. Remember to include a food chute to quantum stockpile a huge amount of food and alcohol on a 1x1 stockpile (so it doesn't rot) in the room. High quality food, furniture, and socializing should keep them happy. Note that the children will no longer be able to perform certain useful tasks like crop harvesting and deconstruction, and will not level up their skill in various professions like an otherwise vulnerable child, but this is a small trade-off if they usually get kidnapped before maturing anyway. This is probably obvious, but make sure this room is guarded, otherwise it will turn into a Dwarf Orphanage (Dorfanage) (with Goblins and Minotaurs welcome!)

'''Difficulty:''' Low. With the invention of burrows, you can designate the Day Care to contain all children, so it is unnecessary to use suicide-booth-micromanagement to contain the children.

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Think of the children, they will grow up and enter adult Dwarf life completely unprepared for the [[Fun|things]] [[Dragon|that]] [[Hell|await]] them, having spent their entire lives coddled in a safe room. They might make good nobles however.

*Bonus: Add dogs and/or other creatures on lashes to constantly bite and scratch the children, so their attributes will raise due to constant fighting and dodging. When they come of ages, you will have incredibly tough, strong and agile dwarves, but covered in scars and psychologically traumatized.
*DwarfBonus: Add a small amount of magma mist to mentioned above, that'll burn the fat and make them fireproof.
*ArmokBonus: Combine this with danger room.

==Doberman bomb==
Whenever a dog or cat gives birth, stuff all the kittens and puppies in one cage in your entryway. Link this cage to a pressure plate beside it. Should your last lines of defense be breached, goblins will step on it and in the next instant be torn apart by dozens of goblin-seeking hostiles and distracted by dozens of surplus targets. The trap actually going off will probably be very bad for your frame rate.

'''Difficulty:''' Low to high, depending on the animal you use

'''Usefulness:''' Medium to very high, potentially fortress-saving

*Bonus: Train the dogs inside as war dogs
**DwarfBonus: Use [[giant badger]]s, [[tiger]]s, [[alligator]]s, bears, or anything big and aggressive when tamed
***MegaDwarfBonus: Use [[giant cave spider]]s, [[cave dragon]]s, [[blind cave ogre]]s, crossbow-wielding [[giant desert scorpion]]s, [[jabberer]]s or something really dangerous and rare.
****UltraMagmaArmokBonus: Use one (or more!) of the following list: [[dragon]](s), a [[bronze colossus]](es), a [[forgotten beast]](s) (bonus points for flesh-melting secretions), an [[undead]] [[giant sponge]], or [[Hidden Fun Stuff|Clowns of Hidden Funland]].

==Drophole==
Imagine an execution tower, for rocks and pants. It's nothing but a very deep 1x1 up-down staircase for express service to the depths. Designate a garbage dump beside the top and dwarves will pitch anything marked for [[Dumping]] into it.

'''Difficulty:''' Harder than it sounds, there's always snags along the way. Surprise caverns can cost you miners and tools. Hitting water can be vexing. Dumping and reclaiming things can be a chore. It may serve as an unintended highway for Fun of any liquid or airborne variety

'''Usefulness:''' It's '''far''' easier to drop ore 100 z-levels to the magma sea than carry it. You can use this to transfer items between burrows.

*Bonus: Minecarts can make this semi-automatic, fed from a stockpile.

==Drowning chamber==
{{main|Drowning chamber}}
'''Difficulty:''' Moderate.

'''Usefulness:''' You can kill prisoners, useless peasants, irate nobles, hammerers, untamable animals, or anything else. Just be ready for something that knows how to swim. Also useful for catching fishies.

*Bonus: Utilize lava.
*Bonus: Utilize trained fish.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Edit the raws and do both.

==Dwarfputer complex==
{{main|Computing}}
A big mess of [[fluid logic|fluid]], [[machine logic|machine]], and/or [[creature logic|creature]] logic full of hatches, floodgates, gears, pumps, etc. and powered by waterwheels, windmills, or useless idle dwarves. Hook it up to doors, bridges, and traps.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium to high, depending on what you want to build. You'll want to build for very high water flow if you have more than a few fluid gates.

'''Usefulness:''' Your mechanics and architects will level up very fast. Manual pumps give something for your haulers to do. Try and make a clock to trigger different mechanisms in different seasons. See if enemies actually blunder into your intricate traps. Watch all hell break loose as water freezes and building destroyers enter your computer.
*Bonus: Use lava.
**Doombonus: Use lava ''and'' build it so that building destroyers that enter the complex get killed by the mechanisms they destroy.
***SelfRepairingbonus: Use both lava and water and implement the building destroyer killing system, but modify it so it's self-repairing, filling up broken spaces with obsidian.

==Dwarven apartment complex==
Essentially, one of the many possible [[megaprojects]] dedicated to providing dwarves with rooms so high above the ground they get vertigo. Every floor must have plenty of rooms of at least 2x3 squares, with walls and a door surrounding this. Oh, and it has to go up as many Z-levels as possible. For extra credit, decide on what the top story will be (i.e. as many levels up as you deem possible, minus one so you can build a roof) and turn this into a Royal bedroom for a [[noble]], complete with gem windows, artifact/masterwork components, and untold numbers of armour stands and weapon racks. And then build some shorter but wider apartment buildings nearby to turn your fortress into essentially a giant fist with extended middle finger. Extra points for adding extra useless things for luxury, such as a magma-based heating system, fireplaces in rooms, and a lock-down lever in case of goblin attack. (or a self-destruct lever connected to the main supports, in case your dwarfish tenants are unsatisfied with your ☼5-star service☼).

'''Difficulty:''' Low, although the walls around the rooms can be a bit fiddly due to the impossibility of building walls on constructed floors (yes, an extra credit challenge is to do this without using Remove Construction).

'''Usefulness:''' Limited, because you could just dig the things underground and save yourself the hassle. However it is much harder to flood a tower than a cave, in case you're prone to [[Losing|fun]] by water. Additionally, if you have the time and resources to train a sizable force of marksdwarves, placing a few "security rooms" (with barracks, ammunition store, ration cache, armory, etc.) at appropriate floors, complete with fortified balconies, will allow you to take advantage of the higher vantage point.

*MegaDwarfBonus: Extend the tower to have levels below ground as well as above.
*MegaOrwellBonus: Make the whole construction out of clear glass. (privacy? Whatever for?)

==Dwarven courtyards==
Dig large shafts [first dig the staircase to the desired depth, digging out the size you want the shaft to be on all layers. Channel the outer later, then install supports on the base floor. Link the support to a trigger, clear everyone out, destroy the remaining staircase and pull the trigger] then cover them in glass, creating an indoor but light area that will keep dwarves from being irritated and nauseated by the sun, also improving general happiness and allowing close proximity to caverns and magma.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium, make sure not to mess up or you will lose your miners

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. creates vertical circulation and brings light to lower levels.

*Bonus: Punch a large shaft through a multi-level aquifer (hint: punch through the aquifer from below).
*MegaDwarfBonus: Create a network of self-sufficient communities per shaft, allowing them to be sectioned off in case of disaster. (I plan on colonizing HFS eventually on this paradigm, creating a mining team of soldiers to extract, manufacture and ultimately use adamantine products without being connected to the main colony in order to take on the [[Demon|clowns]] while keeping the rest of the burrow safe.)

==Dwarven disco ball==
Why waste all those cut gems on things that only some selfish noble will enjoy? Create as large a wall-less sphere as you can, then cover it in Gem Windows of 3 different-colored gems to make it shine! The bigger, and more valuable gems involved (e.g., [[ruby|rubies]], [[sapphire]]s, and [[emerald]]s, or colored diamonds if you're really masochistic), the dwarfier.

'''Difficulty:''' Constructing a sphere is very hard, especially the larger you make one. Gathering enough differently colored gems can also be very hard, depending on stone layers. Trading helps a lot.

'''Usefulness:''' Negative. More value can be created by encrusting furniture, and Gem Windows lack quality.

*Bonus: Alternating [[alunite]] and [[obsidian]] tiles to make a 'dance floor'.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use lava contained in glass for illumination.
*UltraDwarfBonus: Caged "[[Elf|dancers]]".

==Dwarven labor camp (aka Dwalag)==
Create an aboveground walled fortress in a freezing climate with guard towers, barracks, housing, and armories. Dig a long ramp downward and add a large mining network below the surface. Make some small military squads to guard the camp. Designate the lower levels as workshops, and when migrants arrive, assign them to the mines. Give the workers minimal food and only water (no booze, booze is for the hypocritical decadence of Dwarkuta's leaders). Have them haul the stone and metal they mine back to the surface and ship the raw materials off to the Motherland. Import only food, booze, weapons, fuel, and other necessities.

*Bonus: Build the giant digging machines. They don't actually have to dig anything.
*Bonus: Go into the raws and rename the beverage of your choice to "Dwarven Vodka", and drink to the glory of the Motherland!
*MegaBonus: Escape. Wait for a goblin siege, then get everyone underground and block the entrance. Let the goblins in. Wait a few months. The goblins are now the guards you must kill.

Step 1. Secure the keys: Make improvised weapons. If you have obsidian at your disposal, make rock short swords.

Step 2. Ascend from darkness: Get your dwarves out of the mines and into the camp.

Step 3. Rain fire: Use your imagination. Try using magma, if possible.

Step 4. Unleash the horde: Attack!

Step 5. Skewer the winged beast: If the goblins brought a giant bat or other flying creature, kill it.

*Bonus: Use a ballista.

Step 6. Wield a fist of iron: Break open the armory and equip your rebels with armor and weapons.

Step 7. Raise hell: Exactly what it says on the tin.

Step 8. Freedom!

*MegaDwarfBonus: In Adventure mode, try (and probably fail) to lead the prisoners to freedom.

==Dwarven refrigerator==
Dig down to the 3rd cavern layer and harvest as many [[nether-cap]]s as you can. Make them all into barrels! Nether caps have the unique property of being 10000° Urist, which is 32°F or 0°C. Now your dwarves can enjoy their favorite alcohol, cheese, and plump helmets chilled to perfection! If you've set your population cap very low in the INIT files, caverns aren't extremely dangerous, but you should still be on the lookout for nasties down there. Remember to wall off your entrance to the cavern once you're finished.

'''Difficulty:''' Low to Medium

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Booze stored inside will not perish due to heat if say, [[magma]] is dumped on it.

Bonus: Also use nether-cap wood to build the walls, floor, ceiling, and door.

Bonus: While we are at it make all your coffins out of it. 'Cryogenically' freeze those corpses!

==Dwarven machine gun==
Build a high fire rate, minecart firing machine gun. Must be fully automatic, capable of reloading itself, and should not jam due to minecarts being disrupted by collisions or derailments.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium to high, depending on fire rate, reload downtime, and whether or not minecarts are filled with [[magma]].

'''Usefulness:''' High. A sophisticated minecart trap can keep out even the most persistent invaders.

*Bonus: Automatically reload minecarts with [[magma]].
*MegaDwarfBonus: Integrate the trap with a dwarfputer so that it can automatically send minecarts to where they are needed most.

==Emergency destruct stairs==
A tall column of stairs plunging all the way down into the underdark, with a one-tile wide area of thin destructible floor all around it. In case of subterranean invasion, a thrown switch drops a stone O straight down, ringing the staircase and neatly severing all inter-level connections at a blow. Does with one lever and one support what would take dozens of bridges or hundreds of retracting grates.

'''Difficulty:''' Harder than it sounds.

'''Usefulness:''' Sometimes... sometimes they fly.

==Execution tower==
Just a tall tower to chuck your captives to their deaths.

'''Difficulty:''' Easy.

'''Usefulness:''' Lets you dispose of prisoners, and claim expensive silk, meltable iron, and (eventually) useful bones. Also highly amusing.

*MegaDwarfBonus: Send prisoners straight to hell. May make retrieving items difficult, however.

==Flak==
If flying enemies circumventing your walls and causing mayhem inside your fortress is a problem, don't use marksdwarves, just make some flak! Simply cover a series of drawbridges in rocks, and when fliers come by pull the lever.

'''Difficulty:''' Easy

'''Usefulness:''' Low, contrary to the description, marksdwarves are more accurate, versatile, and just better. However, if you manage to hit something with this there's a large chance of it getting stunned and crashing to the ground.

*Bonus: Use minecarts and pressure plates to make it fully automatic.
*SuperBonus: Make it closer to real world flak by using burning lignite bins.
*EfficiencyBonus: Use goblins as ammo
*AlternateBonus: Instead of drawbridges and stone, use jets of water to stun flyers, and then release the dogs. Alternatively, burn them in midair with lava.
*FunBonus: Use the above method with lava, except use the lava as a propellent to throw the circus at the local crow population.
*AmokBonus: Use all of the above to emulate what happens when you drift into American airspace.

==Flamethrower bunker==
If your fortress happens to be visited by a [[dragon]], capture it in a [[cage trap]], then release it into a sealed bunker with [[fortification]]s around the edge. When invaders arrive, watch them get roasted.

'''Difficulty:''' Low, but requires a fair bit of luck - a dragon (or fire-breathing forgotten beast) needs to survive worldgen, then it needs to attack your fortress (instead of a giant/minotaur/ettin/cyclops or other megabeast), and finally it needs to make it to your cage trap without being killed by something else.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. [[Dragonfire]] can kill almost anything, but will be blocked by a [[shield]] greater than 99% of the time. Adding a combustible floor (such as a paved [[lignite]] [[road]]) will significantly increase lethality for shield-toting targets. Also, any protective bridges in front of the fortifications may melt under sustained fire, leaving you with a bunker that ''nobody'' can safely approach; ensuring the bridge center tile isn't near the fire, or building the bridges (and mechanisms) from [[ash]], dragon [[soap]], [[divine metal|divine]]{{version|0.43.03}} [[metal]] (or [[slade]]) will make them immune to the fire. Additionally, a skilled enemy archer can easily kill your dragon with a lucky shot, if line-of-sight access is available.

*Bonus: Capture a fire-breathing [[titan]] or [[forgotten beast]] and use it.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Release the denizens of the hidden fun stuff and use them.

==Flood the world==
'''Difficulty:''' High danger. Will kill your frame rate unless you sink the world below water level (river or ocean).

'''Usefulness:''' Will prevent any sieges, at least. Or anything else, save for the occasional invasion of sociopathic [[giant sponge]].

*Bonus: Use magma, just like [[Main:Boatmurdered|Boatmurdered]].
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use trained fish to kill off all creatures not of your colony.
*MegaArmokBonus: Mod the game and do both.

==Gladiator arena==
{{main|Live training}}
Station some soldiers at the bottom of a shallow [[Activity_zone#Pit/Pond|pit]] and dump your captives in. You can also use dangerous animals instead of soldiers. For extra points, put the prisoners in cages connected to ramps underneath the arena floor. One lever will open both the cage and a hatch above the ramp. Variant: build prisoner cages inside the arena, link to a lever outside the arena, lock the soldiers in, and then open the cages. Keep in mind that you can't actually make your dwarves "watch" the battles like an actual gladiator arena, as civilians will flee in fear at the sight of non-restrained hostile creatures, even if they're in a pit and not actively attacking them.

'''Difficulty:''' Low, but time consuming. Some danger depending on the relative skill of your soldiers and the danger of the captive. (If the prisoners have weapons, you can remove them by using {{k|d}}-{{k|b}}-{{k|d}} to dump the cage and its contents, then looking at and undumping the cages themselves with {{k|k}}-{{k|d}}).

'''Usefulness:''' Low to High, depending on how long your soldiers can draw out the execution. Equipping your soldiers with wooden training weapons can greatly increase the fun (and/or [[Fun]] if their armor isn't as good as you thought).

*Bonus: Losers get incinerated by Magma.
*DwarfBonus: Winners also get incinerated by Magma.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use your arena as a "trial by fire" for migrants.

==Grazer reanimation facility==
Just as stables, but without grass, and on a reanimating biome. Pasture every grazer in a separate box, and build [[cage trap]]s to recapture the animal after it joins [[undead|the Dark Side]]. Make sure to forbid the area after you finish setting things up, because you don't want your dwarves getting <s>killed</s> caught instead.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. You always get some grazing animals to start with.

'''Usefulness:''' You get a decent supply of zombies to use in your [[trap design|cunning traps]]. Depending on your style of play, this may prove to be worth the effort.

* DwarfBonus: Use war [[elephant]]s, or any other giant [[:Category:DF2014:Grazer|grazing animal]] you <s>bought</s> seized from elves.
** MegaDwarfBonus: Use [[giant elephant]]s.
*** BoatMurderedBonus: Release them all simultaneously to challenge your militia/play out a [[fun|!fun!]] scenario for your fort.
* MenagerieBonus: Create a zoo using only undead grazers.
** DwarvenMenagerieBonus: Combine this with the [[DF2014:Stupid_dwarf_trick#Zombie_thunderdome|Zombie Thunderdome]] and have a rotation of undead cows fighting in the arena only to be re-caged when they try to leave.
*** ChampionBonus: Give each grazer rooming in the zoo according to their kills, with the champion having the most luxurious room.
**** AltarBonus: Turn the champion's room into an [[DF2014:Stupid_dwarf_trick#Altar_of_Armok|Altar of Armok]].
**** FreedomBonus: Let the champion and higher-ranking zombies roam freely in their rooms, having to be re-captured for each battle.
***** !FreedomBonus!: Release the champion into your fort.
* HolyGrailBonus: Use white [[bunny|bunnies]].

==Greenhouse==
A [[farming|greenhouse]] is just a farm with the ceiling channeled out from above. This lets you grow outdoor plants without venturing above ground. For maximum style, build the greenhouse above ground and cover it with a glass roof to keep your farmers safe.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Surface plants can be grown at any time of the year, and some are more useful than those available underground - for example, [[sun berry|sun berries]] can be brewed into valuable [[Sunshine]], and [[whip vine]]s can be milled into superior quality flour. Having greater food and booze diversity can also keep your dwarves happier.

*Bonus: Give it a glass floor to allow surface plants even lower down.
**DwarfBonus: Utilize [[obsidian|volcanic glass]].

==Hammer of [[main:armok|Armok]]==
A gigantic hammer made out of pure steel and/or valuables looming over your fortress entrance ready to smite those foolish enough to lay a siege on you. Also gives you a psychological advantage over the traders who unload their goods under it. Attach to a lever-linked support for quick-smiting.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. Depends on size and materials, though. Make it a gold hammer menacing with adamantine spikes, if you're going for high quality.

'''Usefulness:''' Low-medium. 10x10 size is minimum for practical effectiveness. 30x30 attached to a handle extending from your entrance actually works against sieges.

* Bonus: Cover it with blood.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Make it hollow and fill it with Magma
* ArmoksMachineHammerBonus: Set up an automated system that allows you to reset it quickly. Obsidianizers and the magma sea will be your friends here.

==Human Fortress==
Instead of digging a fortress, build above-ground houses. Create walls to keep the nasties out. The only thing you may have underground are mines and stockpiles. Create a huge stone fort for your nobles.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Building stuff will cost you resources instead of gaining them and flyers can be a real pain. Keep several Marksdwarfs handy!

'''Usefulness:''' N/A. (No cave adaptation)

*Bonus: Pave the roads between houses.
*HumanBonus: Dig a moat around your castle.
*MegaHumanBonus: Fill the moat with lava.
*MegaHumanBonusPlus: Designate multiple dumping spots into the lava moat.
*SurfaceDwellerBonus: Get the stone for your constructions entirely from open-pit quarries, i.e. by c[h]annelling instead of [d]igging.
*MegaSurfaceDwellerBonus: Never use picks at all, all stone and metal must come from caravans or embark.
*WhereTheBeardedLadiesAtBonus: Enforce as many <s>pointless</s> quaint human quirks as feasible, for instance: nominating officials per wealth/popularity/relationships instead of merit and suitedness, coddling Nobles, burrowing farmers, miners, brewers, craftsdwarves and other backbones of society into the most tattered ridings, enforcing a specific religion upon the populace, and so forth.

==Ice tower==

Building a huge tower is easy. To make things more [[fun]], make one out of some exotic material, like [[glass]], [[ice]], [[gold]], or [[soap]].

'''Difficulty:''' Low. You need to be on a freezing map to pull off an ice tower.

'''Usefulness:''' Depends entirely on you.

* BabelBonus: Use [[DFHack]]'s <code>infiniteSky</code> and build to the heavens themselves.

==Journey to the Center of the Earth==

Construct a sturdy vessel hanging over the top of a magma pipe or volcano, outfitted with everything your intrepid crew might need for their journey of exploration - food, booze, sleeping quarters and a bridge are a must, but depending on the amount of effort it can include other items such as a recreation deck, water reservoir and trade depot for dealing with the natives. When all is ready, lock the explorers inside and send them on their way. Bonus points if you can detach it from inside so you can use it in Adventure mode later.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate to High, depending on the size of the ship. For bonus points, carve the entire thing out of existing rock overhanging a magma pipe and engrave it with messages. Burrows help to get the whole crew inside at the same time.

'''Usefulness:''' [[Cave-in|Negative]]. For some reason, no explorers have returned. Of course, if you select only the [[Nobles|Best and Brightest]] for the ship's crew...

*Bonus: Drop the vessel into a deep cavern
*SuperBonus: Make the outer walls, roof and ground floor completely out of glass, so that the explorers can watch everything around them.
*VampireBonus: Send a vampire with the crew!
*MegaDwarfBonus: Drop the vessel into a halfway-empty adamantine vein
*YouHorribleEvilDwarfBonus: Drop the vessel into the [[Hidden Fun Stuff]]!
*YouHorribleInsaneDwarfBonus: Drop the vessel into a glowing chasm.
*OhMyArmokBonus: When you arrive to the bottom of the magma sea, excavate and then create a new community under it!
**OhMyF****ingArmokBonus: Send supplies every year!
**IsThatEvenPossibleBonus: Send a piece of an aquifer down there to provide water! (Mine around a water-producing tile, build the ship around it, then send it!)
**≡MegaDwarfBonus≡: create a high enough tower and drop it into the magma sea to connect the surface and the undersea community!
***☼MegaDwarfBonus☼: create ''two'' towers and use one to send water down there!

==Single-lever emergency lockdown (LEL)==

The only real requirement is that you need a fort based around a central stairwell. All you need to do is leave space for and eventually build the same number of bridges (that raise!) as your stairway is tall on each side of your stairwell on every level, and then link them all to the same lever. Friends get through all your best traps and champions? Simply pull the lever, and they're trapped in the central stairwell forever! Remember to roof off the entrance if your fort is situated on flat land otherwise the bonuses become much less useful. Also important is to ensure that you either wall off access or include sealable bridges or doors (linked to the same lever of course) for any inter-level paths that bypass the main stairwell, like vertical axles running out of centralised power generators.

3*3 stairwell setup:

{{diagram|1=
O[#6ff]╞[#6ff]═[#6ff]╡O
[#6ff]╥XXX[#6ff]╥
[#6ff]║XXX[#6ff]║
[#6ff]╨XXX[#6ff]╨
O[#6ff]╞[#6ff]═[#6ff]╡O
}}

'''Difficulty:''' Medium to High, depending on whether you use the MegaDwarfBonus below or not and how much you spread your fortress over the layers - although more spread means more usefulness. Extremely time-consuming, and requires architects, masons, and mechanics, as well as a lot of mechanisms (2 per bridge, ~4 bridges per level)

'''Usefulness:''' Medium to High, also depending on whether you use the Bonuses. With all bonuses applied it becomes a guaranteed last resort way of destroying the toughest enemies with minimal dwarven casualties; without the bonuses it's still a damn sight better than letting temporarily victorious enemies run freely about your fortress.

*DwarfBonus: Connect your cistern to the stairwell (remember to put a floodgate in too). Once the impossible-to-defeat enemies are safely trapped inside, Pull lever number 2 and watch them slowly, slowly, drown (VERY IMPORTANT: have the level of the cistern input at at least the same height as the level of the stairwell, else there won't be enough pressure to properly flood the stairwell, meaning nasties WILL survive).
*MegaDwarfBonus: Connect your MAGMA cistern to the stairwell. Laugh maniacally. (Remember to build your bridges and floodgates out of magma-safe material or a lot of !!FUN!! will be had)
*MegaArmokEntombmentBonus: Do both and cast your enemies in obsidian and boil the survivors in steam as a semi-permanent testament to their foolhardiness. This also means that you will have stairs cut out of lovely obsidian once your miners are finished making your stairwell usable again.
*MegaArmokEntombmentEXTREME+Bonus: "Forget" to pull the lockdown lever before you pull lever number 2.
*MegaArmokEntombment<s>'''Bait&Switch'''</s>Diplomatic+Bonus: Set the highest level up on another switch, with a particularly <s>'''demanding and annoying noble'''</s> skilled diplomatic representative is waiting at the very bottom to <s>'''lure'''</s> invite them all down for a nice meal on <s>'''his flesh'''</s> the stockpile of food and booze that's keep him ever so happy. Then you can wait for the entire army to flow into the stairwell before flipping the switches. Don't forget to carve a statue out of the block of the noble! What noble doesn't want their grand <s>'''sacrificial defense'''</s> grand diplomatic skills to be immortalized in volcanic glass!!!
**UltraArmokBonus: Defeat all your invasions this way, and build a temple to Armok full of the once noble, now obsidian statues, only the highest of quality (and value) memorial slabs.

==Magma Lock System==
This system is a little more complicated than the LEL system described above, and requires that you space out all of your floors so that there's a 'plumbing floor' between each level. From there you set up tons and tons of magma proof floodgates and hatches. Each 'area' you wish to be self-contained from one another needs at least a 3x2 hallway separating it from the other areas. 4 of these will contain flood gates, and the other two must remain bare. Above one of the two bare points you need to have a hollowed out space, and connecting into it from one side you need to have a hatch leading to your water plumbing system, to the other, a hatch to your lava plumbing system. You need two levers for controlling this, one lever is connected to all of the lower floodgates, the other to the upper floodgates. Pull the first hatch to lock in the flood gates just in case, the second to the upper flood gates to begin pouring in water and magma and have them make obsidian filling the entire hallway, sterilizing it of literally anything that could have contaminated it. You do this instead of hatches so they'll drop in properly and mix with no risk of only one side or the other of the hallway turning to obsidian and resulting in a dangerous leak. Throw the first switch again to open up the floodgates and begin mining to access the old chambers again. Whatever was invading your fortress, whether plague, necromancer, clowns, or forgotten beast, will be safely locked away, and unable to break back out whether or not it possesses building destroyer or not. Then you just have to wait for your miners to dig their way out. You can simply avoid the chambers that still have FUN inside, and any the purity of magma and obsidian will have utterly obliterated any traces of contaminants between containment zones.

'''Difficulty''': Medium to High. While not dealing with anything overtly hostile, this process more or less demands that you plan your fortress from the start for this specific system and deal with lots and lots of moving parts, mechanisms, and similar, plus the power necessary to pump magma and water into this network in a timely manner.. If you screw up part of it then it's very easy to end up with your entire fortress flooded with water or magma. Build it on small and give it a test run then expand it once you've gotten the process working for a single chamber, such as the chamber leading to your cavern layer.

'''Usefulness''': High. Depending on how you prepare things (See the bonuses below) the necessary set up for all of this will result in a network of magma and water pipes in every single level of your fortress, powering forges, wells, baths, showers, and defenses of all sorts. Then when things are at their worst, throw a switch and barring one or two (or many depending on how many dwarves are transitioning between containment areas) horribly swift deaths, your entire fortress is safe from any possible threats. You can also prepare chambers ahead of time for other activities and use this to trap enemies in them for later usage.

*DwarfBonus: Put a stockpile of food, drink, and pickaxes in each containment area.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Put a lever in every zone connected just to their own, so your dwarves can heroically seal off an entire section by themselves if necessary.
*UltraDwarfBonus: Extend the hallways, and make the water half of them use grates and constant water falls to give good thoughts while traversing between zones. Change up your levers to shut off the water for when digging begins again.

==Maze==

A maze of twisty little passages, all alike. [[Trap]]s and dangerous animals are essential. You can have a retracting bridge drop invaders in, or just have a labyrinth as a back door.

'''Difficulty:''' It's a lot of mining. Having a bridge drop invaders inside is more difficult, but more useful. You can also use the free maze-generating program Daedalus, available [http://www.astrolog.org/labyrnth/daedalus.htm here] if you're too lazy to come up with your own.

'''Usefulness:''' It makes a nice element of fortress defense, and you can dump your prisoners inside it. Also makes a great place to explore in [[adventure mode]].

*Bonus: Generate a world with large mountain [[cave]]s. Instead of using the labyrinth as your backdoor, use it as your fortress.
*Filodorima: Release a live caged [[minotaur]] into the maze.
*MegaBonus: Make it three-dimensional and [http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/maze/design/index.htm#uni unicursal].
*MemorialBonus: Capture the Goblin King and make him fight the Minotaur.

==Magma chamber==
'''Difficulty:''' Dangerous as any magma project.

'''Usefulness:''' It's like a drowning chamber, but any non-iron items carried by the victim will be destroyed. Depending on your style of play, this may be a good thing.

==Magma cannon==
[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=33837 It can be done!] It uses a row of pumps to pressurize the magma in a chamber with only one exit. When the floodgate opens, the magma flies out a short distance.

'''Difficulty:''' Very high. You need [[metal]] (or [[glass]]) [[screw pump]]s to make it work, [[magma-safe]] floodgates and mechanisms, plus a big above-ground construction.

'''Usefulness:''' Marginal. But very cool.

==Magma access early==
ASAP from embark, dig down to the magma 
make 2 magma proof pumps 
make a small (5x5?) room that you can pump magma into and out of 
make a stockpile for only iron & steel minecarts in the room 
make enough minecarts to fill the room 
Once room is full of minecarts, seal room and pump full of magma 
then pump magma out 
delete stockpile 
make a new stockpile near your forge/smelt/glass/kiln area 
haul minecarts by hand (or magma proof wheelbarrow) 
use tracks and stops to dump 4 deep magma into shallow pits 
2 minecart loads per pit 

'''Difficulty:''' Low. 
'''Usefulness:''' Very High. 
*Bonus: !!Magma Economy By Autumn!!

==Magma highway==
Magma moves across the map annoyingly slowly, due to its thickness and lack of pressure. But a tunnel several Z-levels high, with magma entering at the top, will flow much faster because the magma's '''falling''' in, not flowing in, and can expand on either Z-level before falling down.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Not hard to make, but cutting open a multi-Z magmafall is [[fun]].

'''Usefulness:''' Medium.

==Magma mausoleum==
This trick involves dripping water on to the middle of a magma pool until you have a column of obsidian, then channeling down into the obsidian ''more than'' one Z level, and putting a burial receptacle there. This probably won't work in magma tubes or Volcanos since the created obsidian would fall into the bottomless pit. The trick is getting the water to fall onto the magma in a controlled manner.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Requires certain resources from the start, plus lots of setup. And your dwarves tend to erupt into dwarf steam occasionally.

'''Usefulness:''' None, since an obsidian lined room with exactly the same furniture somewhere else will please your nobles just as much.

*Bonus: Put the coffin at least 20 floors down.
*MegaBonus: Build it in a volcano if possible, and put the coffin at the very bottom of the map

==Magma sea colony==

If you cast obsidian around the edges of the magma sea, it is possible to pump out the magma and build a colony in the empty space. Once the colony is built, you can destroy the obsidian walls and refill the magma sea. Note: you cannot cast obsidian on the bottom layer of the magma sea, so building a colony on this layer is nearly, but not quite, impossible (see below).

'''Difficulty:''' High. You need to get water down to each edge of the magma sea, and you need a pump stack to get rid of the magma.

'''Usefulness:''' None.

*☼MegaDwarfBonus☼: Build your colony on the floor of the magma sea. This will require draining the sea to the next-to-bottom layer as described above, then dumping enormous amounts of water into the bottom layer to crowd out the magma while simultaneously draining the magma from holes poked in the magma sea floor. Constructions can be built at the border between the water and the magma. See [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=128226.0 This forum post] for full, detailed instructions.
* Bonus: Obsidianize the entire magma sea, leaving a single spot to use as a source for pumps. Then proceed to carve your new fortress subsection out of this bounty.

'''Difficulty:''' Insane. The project will take at least ten years of dwarf time and claim many lives.

'''Usefulness:''' Low. You can finally get the last bit of adamantine when you drain the magma sea, and the magma sea floor has a cool twinkly effect.

==<s>Magma</s> Lava sprinkler==
Build a twisting <s>magma</s> lava aqueduct above the entrance to your fortress. Leave a few thin (diagonal) holes in it, so that lava can seep out of it. When invaders arrive, pump magma into the sprinkler. Diagonal holes will limit the rate at which the fluid flows out of them, ensuring a nice steady lava rain rather than a big wave.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Similar to magma canon, except with a bit more engineering, but less pumps and smaller reservoir needed (due to less magma being required for the same effect).

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Like magma cannon it can obliterate a siege, but this time you can have a bit more control over how it happens. Lava rain doesn't depend on ground structure (your entrance doesn't need to be in a valley for it to work well) and leaves less magma to evaporate.

*Bonus: Cover the holes with floodgates or hatches and keep the lavaduct filled with lava rather than filling it only when using it.
*Bonus+1: Build the lavaduct in such a way that it starts raining on the outermost part of the area first, then goes inwards, to ensure that invaders who start burning can't escape.

==Mass cage recycling system==
{{main|Mass pitting}}
Build a [[mass pitting]] system to recycle your cage trap cages quickly.

'''Difficulty:''' Very easy. Requires basic digging and very little time.

'''Usefulness:''' Very. Keeps you from having to build cages before releasing monsters from them. With six hatches you can safely empty out 48 cages very quickly. You can build lots of cage traps without having to worry about emptying each cage individually.

*Bonus: Cover the floor of your pit with cage traps, creating a neverending cycle and giving your dwarves something to do during the long harsh summer when going outside is overly taxing on their stomachs.
*ConcentrationCampBonus: Combine with Pit of Doom below.

==Mega/Water drowning trap-thing==
{{main|Drowning chamber}}
This is basically a channel above some pressurized water with a short tunnel leading to a door. The door needs to be connected to a lever somewhere in a safe part of the fortress. Position the door facing the main stairs into your fortress (for multiple stairs use multiple traps). When enemies come down the stairs, pull the lever and make them drown. (It helps to seal off the rooms).

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Needs flowing water under pressure and levers.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Depends on the size of your fortress/defences/amount of attackers. Works well with fire creatures to create a sauna.

==Monumental statue==
'''Difficulty:''' Depends on how big you want the statue to be. If you are feeling really masochistic, cast it out of obsidian using magma and water.

'''Usefulness:''' None.

*Bonus: Make the statue hollow and have dwarves live inside it.
*BestWayToGetRidOfStoneBonus: Make one for every dead dwarf.
**UberTombBonus: Use the statue as a tomb and put their coffins in it.
*Dwarfbonus: Give the statue magma eyes.
**HellNo,DwarfsYesBonus: Combine the magma eyes idea with the magma cannon idea above and place the statue just behind (and above) the entrance to your fortress.

==Moses effect==
With enough pumps, you can pull water out of a square faster than it flows in. This can create a reverse waterfall, or a dry spot in the middle of a flowing river. The effect is like Moses parting the Red Sea.

'''Difficulty:''' Surprisingly easy.

'''Usefulness:''' You can use this trick to create a waterfall or drowning chamber. It is also important if you want to pass through an [[Aquifer]], although that is far more difficult. The same trick can be used in lieu of a drawbridge, although its practicality as compared to the drawbridge is highly questionable.

*Bonus: Use the Moses effect to make doors from water, which are opened/closed using a lever.
*TechBonus: Automatize the doors so that they open (only!) when a dwarf is near.

==Never-ending shower==
{{main|Waterfall}}
Don't you get angry when your dwarves carry enough grime on them to dirty the entire fortress? And how they get infected because of that griminess? Suffer no more! With the Never Ending Shower (NES for short), dwarves will be able to stay (relatively) clean without having to take the time to run for a bath or dirtying your drinking water!

It is easy to understand: use the same instructions as in the Artificial Waterfall, but make it so that the waterfall is somewhere where the dwarves will be going through almost daily--a central stairway works well. It cleans them and gives them happy [[thought]]s for the same price!

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate to high. You do have to make sure that dwarves don't try anything funny, and create a drain to draw the dirty water out.

'''Usefulness:''' Incredibly high. Reduces risk of infection and keeps your dwarves happy.

*Bonus: Use an aquifer to get clean water AND drain dirty water.
*Bonus: Use levers to control the NES.
*SuperBonus: Make it work as a trap!
*SuperDuperBonus: Make it work as a trap AND as a recovery system!
*ArmokBonus: Make it so that magma can be poured down, too!

==Nuclear Fallout Bunker==
Build a mini fortress with everything your dwarves could need deep underground. Stock it with enough food, drinks, and materials to last your small band of survivors for years or alternatively make it self-sufficient with its own food production. Lastly, add a bridge that allows you to seal off the bunker from the rest of the world.

'''Difficulty:''' Easy-Medium depending on the relative luxury of the bunker and how many dwarves you intend to shelter from the apocalypse.

'''Usefulness:''' High. If your fort is threatened by some particularly nasty disaster (be it zombie goblin horde or Bronze Colossus) simply rush your best and brightest dwarves down to the Nuclear Fallout Bunker and raise the bridge, sealing it off from the rest of the world.
*MutallyAssuredDestructionBonus: Have a self-destruct lever in the bunker that is pulled once everyone is safely inside.

==Obsidian factory==
{{main|Obsidian farming}}
You need one reservoir of water, and one of magma. Mix, cool, mine, and repeat as necessary.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium.

'''Usefulness:''' Obsidian is 50% more valuable than [[flux]] and 3 times as valuable as ordinary stone, making it ideal for your [[mason]]s and [[stone crafter]]s. Done properly, it can also serve as a magma chamber, a drowning chamber and even an obsidianizing chamber that can kill any creature that gets in (except [[ghost]]s and possibly [[vermin]]).

* MegaDwarfBonus: Make the system fully automated using [[computing]] principles.

==Pit o' doom==
Combine with an Execution Tower for maximum z-level executions! Traps which menace with spikes are a must.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. You want it nice and deep though.

'''Usefulness:''' Dispose of prisoners, execute nobles, gruesome fatal injuries, laugh maniacally. If high enough, you may be able to recover [[bone]]s from creatures your dwarves refuse to [[butcher]].

* Bonus: Link the spikes to a lever so you can proceed to make swiss cheese of whatever didn't die from the fall.

==Pixel art stockpiles==
Arrange several stockpiles of similar items of different colors (gems work well for this) so the different colors make some sort of picture. Don't forget to set "max bins" to 0 on all the stockpiles so you can actually see the items!

It's probably also a good idea to forbid the items once they're in place, to prevent them from being moved later (and allow you to remove the stockpiles if you want.)

'''Difficulty:''' Medium; only tricky parts are (potentially) finding enough items of different colors, and keeping track of which colors are where before the hauling is done.

'''Usefulness:''' Negative

==Pressure washer==
A huge tower with floodgates at the bottom on one side. When opened, the pressurized water fires out and pushes anything in the way of the flow away. Depending on size, can be surprisingly powerful. You can see an example tower [http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-7485-griffonwind here.]

'''Difficulty:''' Medium, construction technique takes some consideration.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium-High. Tested in version 0.28.181.40d with 50 recruits standing in front of it when the floodgates opened, killed 46 of them, including ones not pushed into the pit.

* Bonus: Fill it with Magma instead (though Magma doesn't pressurize).

==Quantum Blizzard Cannon==

Do you need to kill something? Is atom-smashing no longer a viable option? Do you wish to bring glory to Armok? Do not fear, the QBC is here! By creating individual stops to fill minecarts with projectiles of your choosing, then loading up to 12 filled minecarts into a final “Launcher” minecart (using a stop designated to fill the "launcher" with minecarts), you can effectively fire as many items as you would like at your foe using a standard minecart shotgun. It is also possible to fill this with fluids, to great effect (and risk of crashing the game). This can often have interesting effects because hitting a goblin with 996 bars of lead at extreme speeds is not good for the squishy bits. The cannon gains its name from its creator.

''' Difficulty:''' excessive, lots of time in menus and loading per shot, but really ((Fun))

''' Usefulness:''' medium to low. The same trick can be used to move large amounts of items via minecart, but ultimately the QBC is excessive for even the HFS.

==Redesign the fortress==
And when we say "redesign", we mean completely replanning and rebuilding the entire fortress, from scratch. Ever thought about a cool thing that you could add to your fortress, but can't because a critical area(such as the dining room, general-purpose stockpile, central workshop area etc.) are in the way? Did you start the fortress by building the most critical areas in the first available spot? Well, now is a good time to get rid of that! For added effects, put the sleeping areas especially close to the booze stockpile so that dwarves are always happy!

'''Difficulty:''' Varies depending on the size of the fortress.

'''Usefulness:''' Varies depending on how you carry it out, a.k.a. the efficiency of the new organization.

==Rehabilitation centre==
Had any problems with dwarves charging brainlessly towards the enemy, getting slaughtered, and then starting a tantrum spiral that will destroy your fortress? Turn your prison into a luxurious room full of things that make dwarves happy. Add artifact furniture, beds, a booze stockpile, chains made of gold (or anything valuable,) a waterfall, creatures in cages, etc. Hopefully they will return to society as a happy, productive dwarf.

'''Difficulty:''' Low-Medium. Acquiring valuable items and setting up the waterfall can be annoying sometimes. Also you need guards to actually put them in jail. And it can be a real pain when those ungrateful sobs destroy the nice furniture you give them.

'''Usefulness:''' High. A tantrum spiral can quickly turn a productive fort of 200+ dwarves into a rioting fortress inhabited by a bunch of insane, miserable dwarves who spend their time punching people and breaking furniture. Don't let it happen to you.

* MegaDwarfBonus: Points for making every other dwarf drink water and sleep on cheap beds.

==Road of the damned==
Create a giant channel filled with spike traps, 10 tiles wide and going all the way from your fort to the map edge. Pave it over with crystal glass so traders can get that foreboding feeling that'll make them seal the deal without bargaining too hard!

'''Difficulty:''' Low-mid, depending on the rarity of crystal glass.

'''Usefulness:'''Low. The same as a normal road.

* Bonus: Spike a goblin on every trap!
* Megabonus: Spike traders who annoy you on the traps!

==Roof of the world==
Sick of having your dwarves vomit all the time when they go out to retrieve loot or lumber? Despair no more! Build an almost-infinitely tall tower, and then put a floor on the highest level, spanning the entire map. For extra kicks, make a mechanism that will crash the entire thing upon the heads of the one goblin horde that manages to get through all your other deathtraps.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Very grueling.

'''Usefulness:''' Low, but potentially fortress-saving. (see above)

==Sectorized world==
Divide the world edges into multiple sectors and then gate access to each one separately. This allows you to protect your fortress from sieges whilst keeping access to most of the outside world and allowing most traders into and out of the fortress (those unfortunate enough to enter the world from the same direction as the siegers may be screwed, of course). For bonus points, build separate gateable access routes for each sector. For further bonus points, design your fortress so that you can simultaneously allow access to traders ''at the same time'' as siegers are exposed to your defensive mechanisms.

'''Difficulty:''' Low, unless you allow separate access routes for each sector in which case high.

'''Usefulness:''' Moderate, increasing with each bonus you fill. Mostly for those who want to build the best possible defenses. Can also double as a means of easily trapping wild animals.

==Self-contained vampire-based factory==
Take advantage of the independence of vampires by building a self-contained factory. The best industries are those that require no special raw materials-- a factory containing both a magma glass furnace and a sand tile, for instance, would work well, as would a clay industry, but if you're feeling ambitious, consider building a vampire into your [[giant cave spider|GCS]] [[silk farm]]-- if you happen to have scored an [[undead]] GCS, your vampire won't even spook! You can treat your factory as a piggy bank to be broken into as needed, or for perfect fire-and-forget action, build a dropping [[User:Vasiln/Undump|undump]] into the factory, and the vampire will deliver the output to your front door.

'''Difficulty:''' The only hard part is getting yourself a [[vampire]].

'''Usefulness:''' Depends on how many green glass blocks you plan on using.

==Sapient zoo==
Start by creating a [[zoo]] containing at least one of every [INTELLIGENT] and [CAN_SPEAK] creature
including [[humans]], [[elves]], [[goblin]]s and [[kobold]]s.

*Bonus: include a berserk dwarf in cage

'''Difficulty:''' Easy for some, Hard for others

'''Usefulness:''' None, really, a place for dwarves to throw a [[party]].

==Self-destruct lever==
A mechanism that, for example, could flood your fort with magma, or release a trapped megabeast. For bonus points, build the whole fort on a single [[support]].

'''Difficulty:''' Very high. Extremely fun.

'''Usefulness:''' Could serve as kind of a last revenge on a goblin siege, but also highly amusing. If done properly it can make reclaim easier.

* DorfBonus: Make it have a timer before your fortress self-destructs. You can do this with a water channel, or if you're particularly technical, make a [[Computing|seven segment display]].
** For bonus Dwarfy-ness, make the timer be the depth number of the magma or water that will actually trigger your fortress' destruction.
* Bonus: Build your fortress high above ground, connect the fortress to a roof through just one support and have the system, when activated, drop the whole construction into the magma sea, destroying the whole thing permanently.
* FunBonus: use the lever to drop the fortress off a pillar while simultaneously opening the [[hidden fun stuff]], preferably in a whole lot of places.
*ExtraFunBonus: do as may of these bonuses as you please (as long as they still function together) AND unleash a whole lot of dwarves throwing tantrums near the lever when you wish to set the fun things off.

==Shark catcher==
Capture of [[Bull shark|sharks]] or [[Carp|other]], [[Sturgeon|dangerous fish]] achieved by making an artificial bay, filling it with [[Cage trap|cage traps]], opening the floodgate to the sea or river and some sort of drainage system, likely pumps and/or floodgates.

'''Difficulty''': Low to Medium as drowning while setting up is very possible with bad planning.

'''Usefulness''': Low, purely aesthetic, but very cool to have a shark infested moat (Potentially kills invaders).

==Silk farming==
{{main|Silk farming}}
Capture a web-slinger (generally a [[giant cave spider]]) and build a farm to efficiently harvest its [[silk]].

'''Difficulty''': Low to Medium; the hardest part is generally catching the web-spinner.

'''Usefulness''': Medium to High. Provides an endless supply of potentially-valuable [[silk]] cloth and rapidly [[cross-training|cross-trains]] [[weaver]]s.

==Steamed vegetables==
Make a pot and drop <s>elves</s> vegetables in from about three levels up. This makes it so the vegetables do not <s>run</s> get overcooked. Proceed to bask the vegetables in [[steam]].

'''Difficulty''': Medium. Can be annoying to boil some water.

'''Usefulness''': Great way to make friends with the merchants.

*MegaDwarfBonus: Add <s>goblins</s> seasoning.
*ArmokDoubleBonus: Use [[magma mist]].
*DwarfBonus: feed any vegetables you did not steam to your dear friends, the [[Demon|clowns]].

==Swimming pool==
{{main|Swimming#Learning/Teaching swimming|l1=Swimming § Learning/Teaching swimming}}
It's a reservoir that fills to 4/7 exactly. Station soldiers inside, lock them in, and fill. This way they gain [[swimming]] skill.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. It's just a pair of reservoirs.

'''Usefulness:''' The swimming skill is only slightly useful. This is most useful if the entrance to your fort has narrow walkways/moats surrounded by water, and you station your soldiers there. It does help gain attributes though. Though if you utilize a '''H'''ydraulic '''E'''levation and '''L'''owering '''P'''latform, this is a priceless necessity.

==Swimming track==
{{main|Swimming#Minecart_training|l1=Swimming § Minecart_training}}

[[Image:Swim track 0.png|thumb|right|250px|A large swimming track]]

A [[minecart]] ride that trains [[swimming]] safely and automatically.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Minecart tracks can be fiddly, and adding a non-traversable depth of water makes any mistakes more difficult to fix.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. The swimming skill is only slightly useful, but it does provide [[cross-training]] for attribute gains.

==Tower of Death-Struction==

Have you ever wondered, "What would it take to make my [[Siege|friends]] all [[Gravity|fall]] at once into a pit of [[Trap|fun times]] while also not risking failure?" Elementary, my aspiring architect -- [[Fun|THE TOWER OF DEATH-STRUCTION]]!

Step 1: Build a tower with a [[bridge]], to allow for non-lethal access to the fortress. Build the tower roughly 25-30 blocks high, though higher towers tend to result in roughly equivalent amounts of [[Fun]]. The access bridge should be linked to a lever, to close it like a standard gate.

Step 2: Build a thinner tower 20 blocks away, for maximum bridge length. Any number of middle towers can be constructed, though one is recommended.

Step 3: Build another tower, one that can be ascended by [[Goblin|curious friends]]. Fill it with cage traps, to thin out the number of [[Troll|friends]] to take up space on the bridge.

Step 4: Build two bridges on either side of the skybridge, to trap attackers on the skybridge.

Step 5: Hook up the skybridges to one lever, and the trap bridge to another.

Once this is done, just wait for a [[Siege|surprise party]] to be thrown for you. Close the access bridge, forcing the [[Goblin|visitors]] to path onto it. Trap them, and when the time looks right...

'''Pull the lever, Kronk!'''

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate to hard. If all of your dwarves have cave adaptation, the construction might take a lot longer to complete. As well, the cost of floors and traps alone will mean that just acquiring the materials will need its own [[Stupid dwarf trick|Stupid Dwarf Trick]].

'''Usefulness:''' Low to high, depending on how well you use it. If you forget to open the access gate, you might find your dwarves trapped inside the tower, or even worse, they may run up to the bridge to fight and meet a [[Gravity|bad time]]. Also, the goblin corpses piling up in the spike pit might cause extra [[Miasma|fun]] depending on how regularly you take care of it. If done correctly, this tower might become the most efficient and effective defense against all problems that one could possibly ask for.

*Bonus: Build enough middle towers to build a bridge path long enough to trap an entire siege and drop them onto spikes below.
*SuperBonus: Build the towers above a river.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Build the towers above a lava pit.
*SuperMegaDwarfBonus: Build the towers above a ticket straight to[[HFS|the circus]].
*ArmokBonus: Build the towers out of [[Slade]] (Note: This should be impossible, so if you do it...))
*SuperMegaUltraHardcoreDwarvenMasterpieceArtifactBonus: Build the fortress at the top of the tower that the goblins have to try to get to.

==Underground forest==
{{main|Tree farming}}
Break into an underground cavern, make some muddy floors over a big area and wait.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium - need to dig out a suitably large area, then find a way of introducing water to the area and subsequently draining or evaporating it.

'''Usefulness:''' Depends on size (bigger is better) as well as proximity to wood stockpiles. A tree farm outside the caverns can grow trees from all 3 layers, and you'll never have to worry about hostile creatures threatening your wood cutters.

==Underground perpetual motion power plant==
Combine with a use for the power and you either have an awesome setup, or a ticking time bomb.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Maintaining the correct water level is annoying difficult at times. Note: Incredibly easy with an aquifer.

'''Usefulness:''' Depends on size of plant and what it's connected to. Also useful as a puzzle for adventurers.

==Underwater statue room==
A simple room filled with statues that just also happens to be flooded. Simply dig a room near to a water source smooth and engrave the walls and floors then fill with statues. Dig a tunnel to the water source and a separate escape route. seal both off with floodgates pull the levers in the right order and bam! underwater statue room. For added effect make the meeting room a room directly above with a glass floor.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Absolutely positively none.

*Bonus: Build it on area with trees and shrubs; make walls from ice or use windows; fill it with fish and merfolk; now you'll get a big aquarium
*Note: It doesn't count if you accidentally flood your fortress and wind up with one of these. It does count if one of your nobles has an unfortunate accident in their sculpture garden.

==U.R.I.S.T. artificial intelligence==
Basically, a dwarf in a bunker that controls your fortress. Being that there are no supercomputers in DF at the moment, we'll have to use the closest substitute, a dwarf. Seal your dwarf in a room full of levers that activate various floodgates, bridges, doors, hatch covers, traps, etc. Make sure this room has no exits or entrances, but it needs a luxurious bedroom and dining area, and you must include a chute for dropping in <s>food</s> biomass and <s>alcohol</s> coolant fluid. Profile the levers so that they can only be used by the A.I. dwarf.

It would be a good idea to make the system into two rooms. The food/drink/bed room and the lever room. Should you need to add more levers, you can lock the A.I. dwarf outside the lever room and have your mechanics set up more levers without interacting with or releasing the A.I.

You can make the lodging room suited for the particular dwarf by adding furniture made from their favorite materials, and smoothing and engraving everything. Use quantum stockpiling to give them 10+ years of food and drink. Make sure the A.I. is unable to communicate with other dwarves. His/her mood must not be affected by the deaths of the walking meat-bags who tried to befriend him/her.

In order to ensure that your A.I. doesn't find sleep interfering with crucial lever pulling, you might consider incorporating an alarm clock. If a goblin siege turns up on your doorstep, a single external lever to dump 7/7 of water on the sleeping A.I. might well save your fortress (and is so much cooler than having backup levers in your meeting hall).

You must also make a snazzy/lame acronym name for your AI, here are some examples:
*A.R.M.O.K. - '''A'''ll-'''R'''eaching '''M'''achine '''O'''f '''K'''illing
*A.S.S. - '''A'''lmost-autonomous '''S'''ystems '''S'''elector
*C.A.T. - '''C'''reepy '''A'''utonomous '''T'''echnology
*D.E.E.P.E.R. - '''D'''warf of '''E'''ngineering the '''E'''ldritch and '''P'''ractical '''E'''xploitation of '''R'''esources''
*D.I.E.D. - '''D'''edicated '''I'''rrigation and '''E'''verything else '''D'''warf(s)
*D.O.M.E.S. - '''D'''warf '''O'''perated '''M'''echanics and '''E'''ngineering '''S'''ystem
*D.O.R.F. - '''D'''oes '''O'''rders '''R'''ather '''F'''ast
*D.O.S. - '''D'''warf '''O'''perating '''S'''ystem
*D.W.A.R.F. - '''D'''rains '''W'''ater '''A'''nd '''R'''ecruits '''F'''armers
*G.L.A.D.O.S. - '''G'''enetic '''L'''ifeform '''A'''nd '''D'''warf '''O'''perating '''S'''ystem
*H.A.L. - '''H'''airy '''A'''lternate '''L'''ifeform
*M.A.G.M.A. - '''M'''assively '''A'''lcoholic '''G'''ear-'''M'''achine '''A'''ssembly
*N.O.B.L.E. - '''N'''arcissistic '''O'''bnoxious '''B'''oastful '''L'''aughable '''E'''xcrement
*P.O.T.A.T.O. - '''P'''ossibly '''O'''rganic '''T'''echnically '''A'''live '''T'''rash '''O'''mitted
*U.R.I.S.T. - '''U'''nderground '''R'''easonably '''I'''ntelligent '''S'''ettlement '''T'''echnologist
*V.A.C.A.T.E.D. - '''V'''ampire '''A'''ssisted '''C'''omputerized '''A'''ssembly '''T'''errorizes '''E'''xtra-'''D'''warves
*V.O.D.A.P.H.O.N.E. - '''V'''ampire '''O'''perated '''D'''efence '''A'''pparatus, '''P'''erpetrating '''H'''arm '''O'''f '''N'''efarious '''E'''ntities (See Bonus for more information)


'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Setting up all the levers and lodgings can be a micromanagement hassle. Further research is required as to how well the A.I. will fit into a dwarven economy.

'''Usefulness:''' High. Having a dwarf dedicated to pulling levers will ensure that they are pulled on time. Additionally, you will have a constantly-ecstatic dwarf who is virtually invulnerable to all threats. Should your fortress be slaughtered by invaders or drowned by flooding or tantrum spiraled, your fortress will be preserved until more migrants arrive, or the AI runs out of food.

Bonus: Make the A.I. dwarf a vampire. Vampires don't need food, alcohol, or sleep and cannot age, which makes them perfect for the job. As an added bonus, keeping a vampire in this way will make your fortress completely indestructible, as sealing him in will prevent the possibility of the vampire of being killed in combat or from a syndrome, while keeping the vampire from making friends he will inevitably outlive will prevent him from going insane. (It also ensures that the bloodsucker won't use any of your dwarves as a midnight snack.) NOTE: Vampires may still go insane without any blood. Might be worth considering adding on a 3rd "feeding chamber" where you assign an unfortunate victim to sleep whenever the vampire gets hungry.

===D.O.S.T.N.G.O.S.P.===

Dwarven Organic Switch Toggle, Neutered Gastrectomied Overpersistent Sober Prisoner. Goblins have several advantages over dwarves in the lever pulling department: they live forever, do not breed or tantrum, and need not eat, drink, or sleep. Seal one or more goblins in your supercomputer complex, and use their predictable pathing in combination with instantly lockable doors and pressure plates to make dwarven lever pulling a thing of an older, less advanced era.

Also known by several product names:
*G.O.B.L.I.N.A.T.O.R. - '''G'''oblin '''O'''perated '''B'''astion of '''L'''ogic to '''I'''nfalliably '''N'''eutralize '''A'''ntiquated '''T'''ypes of '''O'''perational '''R'''egimes
*N.G.O.K.A.N.G. - '''N'''efarious '''G'''oblin '''O'''f '''K'''illing '''A'''nd '''N'''eedless '''G'''riping
*S.T.O.Z.U. - '''S'''ecret '''T'''echnological '''O'''perative who '''Z'''aps '''U'''nruly Nobles

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. While goblin pressure plate runners require more space than dwarven lever pullers, once their room is set up, it's done, and easily copied for the next one. With only one goblin, you'll need a pressure plate for every possible combination of lever states, but it's easy to add more goblins instead.

'''Usefulness:''' High. Instant response time (<50 ticks is possible) can make lever worries a thing of the past. The D.O.S.T.N.G.O.S.P. requires absolutely no maintenance once set up. Unlike with the U.R.I.S.Ts of the previous generation, modern POW-based computing is never held hostage to eating, drinking, or breaks. Stay tuned for the next-generation C.A.C.A.M.E.!

==Vomitorium==
[[Image:Vomit_Trail.png‎|thumb|right|Vomitoria: preventing cave adaptation since [[23a:Vomit|23a]].]]

Prevents [[cave adaptation]]. It's like the greenhouse, only instead of a farm, it's a [[meeting hall]] or [[barracks]]. Since you can't build [[table]]s or [[bed]]s outside, build the room and [[channel]] down to it. Variant: above-ground statue garden or zoo.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Make sure to wall the pit in, or it will become very [[fun]] once [[goblin]] archers become involved.

Bonus: Make an ACTUAL Vomitorium for this - Build a [[meeting hall]] with a [[grate]]d floor. Let [[cave adaptation]] set in, then open the place up for the most extravagant and lavish of parties every 3~4 years! Those will be some Armok grade hangovers though....

==Water tower==
This functions much like real life: Lifting water above ground level creates pressure, allowing buried pipes to deliver water to any elevation below the top of the tower. This is smarter, faster, and cheaper than a map-spanning raised aqueduct. A pump stack at the river, raising water into a sealed, pressurized U-bend, can deliver large volumes of water to whatever level you want, very quickly.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. No harder than any other pump stack to design, but high pressure can amplify minor errors into abandon-worthy disasters. You could conceivably divert the river into your fort. Be sure to make an off-switch.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Once the pump stack is operating, you no longer need to be anywhere near your water source.

==Watervator==
By creating a vertical "'''H'''ydraulic '''E'''levation and '''L'''owering '''P'''latform" chamber, or HELP (so named for the cries of the passenger dwarf) with lever controlled water levels, you can move a dwarf up several z-levels without any stairs. All it takes is the dwarf's ability to swim up to the surface of the water to breathe.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Moderate possibility of Fun by way of flooding your fortress. Any dwarves that can't swim will instead experience Fun when using the Watervator. The actual construction time and resource usage is very low. Using the Watervator often leads to unhappy thoughts about drowning

'''Usefulness:''' Low to Medium. The Watervator requires manual micromanaging, while stairs do not. On the other hand, it can be used to create a pathway that most <s>Dwarves</s> enemies will simply be unable to use. Those that can would still be doing so at great risk of drowning or falling to their death. It is recommend that with the exception of the entrance you use stairs.

*Bonus: Utilize vampires (who can't drown).
*MegaDwarfBonus: Utilize trained fish.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Engineer it so that it performs a full cycle on one activation of a pressure plate and include that pressure plate as a part of the patrol route, then create a reverse Watervator and also include it as a part of same patrol route, so that your militia automatically uses it to get in and out the fortress.

==Werewolf clock==
The changing of the werewolf is the most reliable indicator of the passing of seasons. For precisely one day per full moon, he will go berserk and trigger standard pressure plates.

'''Difficulty:''' You will get a were sooner or later. Getting him pitted in the right spot without havoc is the hard part.

'''Usefulness:''' Low.

*Bonus: Make the werewolf do most of the work himself.

==Zombie thunderdome==
Embark in a [[surroundings#Evil|reanimating]] biome in the current version (preferably savage as well), find or dig a deep pit, and dump any unused (non-dorf) corpses and butchery products into it. They will animate and begin to walk around, providing you with the endless entertainment afforded by watching horse hair walk. Make sure the pit is deep enough not to scare your dwarves!

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Keeping your fort safe from the threat of animated beak dog beaks is worth any price. However, [[DF2012:Defense guide|there may be better things]] [[DF2012:Mega construction|to do with your time]].

*Bonus: Set up a series of [[bridge|defenses]] that drop invaders into the pit.
*DwarfBonus: Set up a series of bridges and walls that flings invaders into the pit.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Drop a Megabeast into the pit and watch it do battle with multiple layers of undead.
*CavernFunBonus: Channel the bottom into a cavern and let your zombies hunt [[forgotten beast|the wonderful creatures there]].
**BonusFunBonus: Let them hunt [[Demon|Clowns]] as well.
*ZombieDwarfBonus: Ignore the suggestion above and dump dwarven corpses in anyway.

==Zombie shooting gallery==

In a reanimating biome, build a holding room for your undead, wall it off with fortifications. In the adjacent (accessible) area, build an archery range and order your archery squads to train there. Your marksdwarves will go to their scheduled archery training and whenever a zombie is raised, they'll switch focus from the boring old archery target and instead shoot down the undead. Once the zombies are dead, they'll return to regular shooting practice until the corpses rise again. The raised corpses cannot attack through fortifications and thus cause no unhappy thoughts from seeing them, but will spook haulers trying to collect errant socks from the shooting range.

A viable (if finicky) alternative to a reanimating biome could be a [[necromancer]]. This has the benefit of being more controllable, but comes with the threat of [[intelligent undead]] and their abilities. Most would be relatively harmless or a minor inconvenience, but some are potentially lethal to your dwarves. Whether or not this is a downside depends on how many corpses you have available to restock the gallery.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. The difficulty lies in finding a source of permanent undead, the actual construction is trivial.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. This setup significantly increases the skill gain from bolts used by training dwarves, since every bolt shot at a zombie counts as combat action, giving much more experience. The scheme works without any supervision once set up.

{{Category|Design}}
[[ru:Stupid dwarf trick]]

Stupid dwarf trick

2022-08-25T16:11:21Z

IceWorm: /* Tower of Death-Struction */ change "Goblins" link to "Goblin", corrected "buid" to "build", "it's" to "its" bsically fixed typos

{{Quality|Masterwork|19:26, 25 August 2020 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

{{D for Dwarf}}

A '''stupid dwarf trick''' is any project that requires a large amount of time and/or effort. They may provide a practical benefit, but are frequently done for the sake of doing them; they exist primarily as a [[challenge]] for experienced players. And remember... no wagering. (''Except in quatloos, one might think.'')

==Adventure mode fortress==


Build a fortress specifically for exploring in [[adventure mode]]. You can either make a nasty monster-filled challenge, or a smörgåsbord of masterpiece adamantine weapons and armor. Possibly both. Breaching the [[caverns]] or [[hidden fun stuff]] should ensure the fortress is occupied. Building a fortress is now possible ''inside'' of adventure mode as of DF v0.43.

'''Difficulty:''' The sky's the limit.

'''Usefulness:''' None for fortress mode, but filling it with high-quality equipment can certainly be useful for adventure mode.

==Alarm clock==
Are your soldiers all sound asleep while blood soaks the walls? No need to deconstruct their beds one by one, ''if'' you bought the Dwarf Wakey 3000! Simply a solitary floor tile balanced on a support, one or more can be toppled with the pull of a lever to produce an earth-shaking racket that'll have them leaping for their axes!

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Limited. They'll sleep through <s>'''anything'''</s> the noise. Although they have been known to awaken when drenched in water, possibly due to thinking it's alcohol, making an alarm clock is not impossible, if carefully prepared.

==Alphabet cages==
[[Image:Cage.gif|right]]
Use captured monsters in cages to spell messages.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Vowels are hard to come by.

'''Usefulness:''' Absolutely none whatsoever. (Easy reminders in case you're too lazy to use notes?)

==Altar of Armok==

Build a large altar made out of adamantine, clear glass, magma, and obsidian. The main altar should be hollow adamantine with clear glass "windows." It should have magma inside. The altar should be adorned with large obsidian spikes, as it pleases Armok.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium, raising with the amount (and respective difficulty) of bonuses you add.

'''Usefulness:''' Low to medium. If the chamber containing the altar is consecrated as a [[temple]], dwarves will go there to pray, and may gain additional happy thoughts for admiring the altar's materials and craftsdwarfship.

*Bonus: Guard the altar with a megabeast.
*Bonus: Cover the altar with blood of a Titan.
**MegaBonus: Cover the altar with blood of a denizen of the HFS.
***ArmokBonus: Build the altar in the HFS.
*MegaBonus: Cover the altar in a temporarily lasting strength inducing extract.
*BerserkBonus: Cover the altar in a nausea-inducing extract.
*BloodBonus: Also cover the altar in an extract inducing slow death.
**SychronizationBonus: Make it so that a dwarf that goes into contact with the altar dies the moment the strength runs out.
*SacrificialBonus: Sacrifice a dwarf to the altar every day.
**MegaSacrificialBonus: Sacrifice an elf to the altar every day.
**HistorySacrificialBonus: Sacrifice a human to the altar every day
***MegaArmokBonus: Sacrifice all three species to the altar every day!
*MonarchBonus: Build the altar in the monarch's throne room! Yes, this stacks with the ArmokBonus up above.

==Aqueduct power==
If your river's a long way away from your fortress, building a trans-map axle may be less efficient than building an aqueduct and pump stack driven by waterwheels in the river. The pump stack raises it to the height of your fort, where it flows through the long, long aqueduct and drives waterwheels on the other end. Getting the water pressure just right so it powers your waterwheel without flooding the fort can be [[Fun]]. Diagonal channels make good pressure reducers.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Lots of stone, lots of engineering, lots of dangerous outdoor work, lots of trial-and-error for the receiving waterwheels. Aquifers will absorb any amount of water at any rate. Using an aquifer as drain for the reservoir will nullify the risk of flooding the fortress due to the drain not keeping up with the supply.

'''Usefulness:''' High. As much water and power as you want, wherever you want, whenever you want.

==Aquifer power==
Aquifers can be a resource of immense power. If you have two levels of aquifer, you can generate a continuous flow by draining one level of aquifer into another and plant waterwheels above it. One stream can power a lot of wheels.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Anything to do with draining aquifers is very [[Fun]].

'''Usefulness:''' <s>High.</s> Low. It is now very rare to find a powerful enough aquifer.

==Archaeological excavation==
A Fortress in the Caverns, built by the first dwarf tribes. Build the Fortress however you see fit for those prehistoric Dwarves (i.e. only primitive metals, elaborate tombs for the chieftains with burial objects, cave art, etc.) and abandon it. Then, embark with modern Dwarves, and excavate the ancient Fortress. Sort of like the Adventure Fortress above, only for Reclaim Mode

'''Difficulty:''' As High as you want.

'''Usefulness:''' Variable. Carving a premade fort or building controlled access to caverns can potentially be useful for a Reclaim effort, effectively making the first wave dispoable setup so your would-be archologists to dig up and exploit their new home. The more Fun you leave behind, the harder it will be for your second wave to repurpose the place.

*Bonus: A museum detailing the lives of those early dwarves.
*Bonus: Create a save with your First Tribe fort collapsed/flooded/etc, for other users to explore. Leave them some Fun what-does-this-lever-do problems to solve.
*EncinoDwarfBonus: Some of those early dwarves frozen in a block of ice.
*FunBonus: Breach the HFS.
**MegaBonus: Do a cave in to the HFS after fighting it leaving multiple signs of battle in the fortress, to be dug by your modern dwarves.

==Artificial waterfall==
{{main|Waterfall}}
To keep the waterfall going, you need a [[pump]] stack, preferably powered by a [[windmill]] or [[water wheel]]. Alternatively, an [[aquifer]], or other limitless water source, makes for a waterfall entirely underground.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate (Low if there is an aquifer above pouring down).

'''Usefulness:''' Dwarves love [[waterfall]]s. Putting a waterfall in your [[meeting hall]] will give your dwarves good [[thought]]s, although it can significantly lower frame rate.

*Bonus: Build it in a "Warm" or hotter [[climate]] so it does not freeze.
*DwarfBonus: Build it in a freezing/cold/temperate climate and keep it going entire year!
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use [[magma]]. It does not freeze, even in a freezing climate!
*MegaDwarfBonusEXTREME+: Use magma and water in the same waterfall. The results will enshrine you in dwarf history! Possibly permanently.

==Ballista battery==
{{main|Ballista}}
Overlap a few ballistas to completely cover a narrow corridor. There is an unavoidable risk of your operators wandering into the line of fire.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. If you insist on highly trained operators with high-quality ballistas, it gets harder.

'''Usefulness:''' A complicated and dangerous way to defend a single corridor. Ultimately extremely effective. Sometimes.

==Bastion==
Construct an isolated burrow containing a farmer and some labourers, containing at least an uncontaminated well (an [[aquifer]] is great for this) and some farms. Use whatever elaborate mechanism you wish to seal it off from the rest of the fortress. Congratulations; your bastioned dwarves and their descendants will keep your fortress alive forever until one of them goes nuts.

* Bonus: Build your bastion at least in part in a clay or sand layer, add a little magma, and continue manufacturing useless crap even as the world crumbles around you!
** StonksBonus: Rig a way for your bastion to transfer supplies to the outside world without exposing themselves to danger, so they can be somewhat useful to the rest of your fort before their inevitable downfall. Doubles as a way to restock the bastion with fresh supplies and/or bodies, or a way to let the apocalypse in a little at a time if your survivors get too comfortable.
* Bonus: Build it on top of a tower outside, and then deconstruct the stairs up.
* Bonus: Fill it exclusively with vampires, to avoid having to worry about food, children, and aging.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Hollow out a shell around your bastion, connecting it to the rest of the cavern by a single 1x1 adamantine support, and flood the shell with magma.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' High. If your bastioned dwarves have high enough quality living space and few enough nonbastioned friends, it makes the fortress functionally immortal.

==Bathtub==
Stop dwarves from hauling in tons of exotic, poisonous sludge into your fortress by creating a tub filled with 3/7 water that everyone has to get through to enter the fortress. Include a system to change the water, so that they don't bathe in grime.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate

'''Usefulness:''' Low in most cases. High in some evil areas.

* DwarfBonus: Make it drain and refill itself with clean water automatically once in a year.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Clean it with magma.
* *MegaDwarfBonus*: Have an alternative bathtub-buffered entrance next to the main one, which opens automatically when sanitizing the main one and closes and sanitizes itself when it is no longer needed, so that no jobs are canceled during cleansing cycle.
* ≡MegaDwarfBonus≡ : Make it clean itself with magma automatically once in a year, but make it wait for the moment when it's unused, so that no dwarves or pets are incinerated.
* ☼MegaDwarfBonus☼: All of the above, plus make it detect when there should be no dwarves or pets around, but invaders are in it, so that the cleansing cycle can be started prematurely.

==Boat==
In intermittently freezing biomes, [[ice]] may be used to create actual floating boats, submarines, or other floating objects/forts; as constructions built on top of ice do not collapse when the ice thaws.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Needs an intermittently freezing biome, construction is limited to frozen periods, and there's a substantial risk of flooding, drowning and being encased in ice.

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Forts within boats are protected from invaders while the water is unfrozen, but they're also trapped within the confines of the boat.

Note: You'll probably want to limit your saves to the colder months.

* DwarfBonus: Have the dwarves live on the boat.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Make miscreants/nobles walk the plank.
* *MegaDwarfBonus*: Bury your treasure on shore.
* ≡MegaDwarfBonus≡ : Have a pet [[kea]] for each of your dwarves.
* ☼MegaDwarfBonus☼: Build it on top of an ice tower.

==Bolt splitting operation==
One curious property of Dwarven physics is that a bar of metal makes 25 bolts, but if each of those 25 bolts is melted separately, they will become 2.5 bars, generating metal from nothing. Prior to the update that allowed splitting stacks at the [[trade depot]], the difficult part was separating the stacks of bolts into individual bolts without destroying them. EliDupree originally discovered this trick:
{{diagram|spaces=yes|color=#888|\
∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙
∙++++[#05F]☻∙+++++++++
∙+∙∙∙[#0A0]┼∙+++++++++++++[#BBB]╬[#BBB]╬
∙+∙[#F00]g∙[#0A0]┼∙+++++++++++++[#BBB]╬[#FF0]@
∙+∙∙∙[#0A0]┼∙+++++++++++++[#BBB]╬[#BBB]╬
∙+++++∙+++++++++
∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙
}}

The yellow @ at the right is a stack of marksdwarves (all in different squads so that they'll stand on the same tile) equipped with [[adamantine]] bolts, standing on top of a stairway surrounded by [[fortification]]s. The blue ☻ at the left is a single [[Attributes#Agility|Perfectly Agile]] soldier with orders to patrol up and down the line of green doors, with little delays at the top and bottom. (The doors are free-standing; they were built attached to a wall, then the wall was removed.) The "g" at the left is a goblin standing on a pillar (pitted from the z-level above).

When the dwarf at the left runs up or down the line of doors, it opens all of them, and some of the marksdwarves loose their bolts. By the time the bolts get there, the doors have closed, so they hit the doors and fall into the channel, where they can be collected and melted separately. (That distance is exact, by the way. Any less and they sometimes get shots through the doors, which kills your goblin. Also, with less-skilled marksdwarves, some of the bolts will stray and land on the floors, but that isn't enough to worry about even with mere dabblers.) Naturally, this is also an excellent way to train marksdwarves.

Another design resembles a tower where marksdwarves shoot from the top, with the following setup: (click then press '<' and '>' to go through different z-levels)
<diagram>
<frame type="level" level=0>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%203][%203][%205][%187]
[%186]<[%204][%185][#5:1]g[#7:0][%186]
[%200][%205][%202][%202][%205][%188]

< 01
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=1>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%203][%203][%205][%187]
[%186]X[%204][%185][#7:1]O[#7:0][%186]
[%200][%205][%202][%202][%205][%188]

< 02 >
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=2>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%205][%205][%205][%187]
[%186]X+[#3:1]/[#7:0].[%186]
[%200][%205][%205][%205][%205][%188]

< 03 >
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=3>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%203][%205][%187]+
[%186]X[%186].[%186]+
[%200][%205][%202][%205][%188]+

< 04 >
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=4>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%203][%205][%187].
[%186]X[%186].[%186].
[%200][%205][%202][%205][%188].

< 05 >
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=5>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%205][%205][%187]
[%186]>+[#6:1]@[#7:0][%186]
[%200][%205][%205][%205][%188]

06 >
</frame>
</diagram>
The '@' is any number of marksdwarves standing on a down stair. You may want to use a defend burrow order to restrict them to that tile. The 'g' is a goblin or any other creature your marksdwarves will normally fire at upon encounter (pitted from 2 z-levels above). The 'O' is a well, which is suspected to be preventing dwarves from plunging in and starting brawling with the creature. Marksdwarves will be able to see the goblin or whatever creature below and will loose all bolts in their quivers on them. Curiously, nearly all the bolts will fail to cross the bend in the middle and will fall onto the tile '/' where they can be collected. This disregards crossbow and archery skills and the only difference they make is the speed at which the bolts are split. This design has the advantage of taking less space and being easier to set up, however it is reported that sometimes the dwarves will not miss some of the bolts. If you are only stationing one marksdwarf in the tower, stationing another one may help the first one miss all of his bolts, even after the newly added one is then removed. Sometimes dwarves will spam job cancellation on the bolt collection level, and it is also reported that sometimes some dwarves will start firing when they are on the bolt collection level. In such cases you may want to seal the collection level off and open it once in a while to retrieve the bolts.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate. The hardest part is keeping the system running reliably.

'''Usefulness:''' Moderate. While there are certainly [[Exploit#Infinite metal|easier ways to generate adamantine]], this is perhaps the most dwarfy.

*Bonus: Build a [[repeater]] to open and close the doors automatically.

==Break the dam (release the river!)==
Dam a river (or brook) using something non-permanent (floodgates, drawbridges) and build your fortress entrance in the now dry river bed, make sure you can seal it off nicely (floodgates anyone?) then wait till the first Goblin siege, let them get to your entrance floodgates, seal them, open the dam and laugh maniacally.

'''Difficulty:''' Low

'''Usefulness:''' Instantaneous death to all sieges

*DwarfBonus: Use magma.

==Bridge-a-pult==
A bridge that raises under its victims' feet, flinging enemies away.

Bridges don't fling creatures in any specific direction, apart from "up". So it's more of a spring-board than a catapult. If there's a lot of open space above the bridge, creatures can get flung very high - ten z-levels and more - and take appropriate falling damage. Most of them will land atop the bridge, and bringing the same bridge down will simply crush them.

'''Difficulty:''' Fairly easy. Getting the timing right promises to be the biggest challenge.

'''Usefulness:''' There are far more effective ways to defend a fortress, but few are as entertaining.

===Cat-a-pult===
Essentially a Bridge-a-pult with specific ammo.

'''Difficulty''': Very easy, given that you have live cats in your fortress.

'''Usefulness''': Can be used as a way to stop a [[catsplosion]] if used with male cats. [[Unfortunate accident|Cats can also be replaced with elite citizens of your fortress.]] 

==Corpse processing facility==
WARNING: The system can freely jam on any body parts, besides hands and heads, without killing undead.
With the help of a necromancer, corpses your dwarves refuse to butcher can be brought back to life and re-killed to yield bones and skulls for your bonecarvers if they are mushed up enough.

1. The simplest way to do this is with the help of height. A 1x1 pit with a minecart stop that dumps corpses down the chute, and several alternating [[floor hatch]]es that close and open (linked to a repeater) with necromancers behind windows overlooking each layer of hatches to revive the bits of corpses. 2 windows with a mechanism controlled door in between, in front of each necromancer group can be used to control vision; but the system can only be stopped by unlinking the minecart dump to the refuse pile in your routes. Note: when I built this I had 3 hatches with 6 necromancers overlooking each (I had plenty of them since I embarked close to 4 towers). Revived corpses drop to their death and explode onto a tile with unright spikes linked (note that some of them will survive, so you need the spikes with a repeater or lever). The corpses that explode from the impact of height (or from other body parts/undead crashing into them) will hopefully yield bones. You make choose to re-haul up the body parts for another round, but only body parts still attached to a grasping part or the head will be revived, and this system isn't very efficient in the first place, so it may not be worth the trouble. Note that whole corpses usually yield 5-8 bones upon death (avg 6), arms only yield 1-4 (avg 2). You may also use this system with or without necromancers and pit live [[goblin]]s into it, they usually yield 6 bones and some body parts.

2. The second way is much more efficient than the first, but requires 1 or more [[artifact]] [[mechanisms]] to make it work. Instead of using height to kill the corpses, a weapon trap with an artifact mechanism and 10 serrated blades of any material can be used instead (since artifact mechanisms never jam). Only 1 necromancer is needed for this method, and is positioned 3 tiles away from the weapon trap, overlooking it behind 2 glass windows with a mechanism [[door]] in between to control its vision. Your 1x1 pit should still be 5 tiles deep at least though, to prevent dwarves being spooked by the revived corpses. When you're ready, link up the route to the minecart and watch body parts revive and slowly get mowed down. It's recommended you have more than 1 of these small pits set up so you can grind more corpses and clear out 1 pit at a time while the others keep grinding.

Note: To clear out pits, turn off all refuse stockpiles that accept anything other than bones and skulls by turning on "accept from links only" so your dwarves only haul out the bones and not the trash.

Note: Try to use raising bridges as the door for each pit, kobold body parts tend to get mixed into the grinders which can lock-pick its way out of doors and result in doors with "door taken by intruder" and a couple hundred zombie body parts overrunning your fortress from the inside (a.k.a fun).

Note: I didn't try this with many building destroyers, but I'm pretty sure the glass windows are safe. Fortifications are not usable since corpses and body parts tend to get tangled up in them and are hard to get out, and spook dwarves trying to clean out the pits.

*Bonus: Use water to clean out the contents of the pits and wash them onto a 1x1 refuse stockpile.

'''Difficulty:''' Hard

'''Usefulness:''' High, and becomes higher the more corpses you have; especially useful for getting something more out of necromancer sieges than just useless corpses. Can also be used to recycle dead stray animals and your own dwarves that your dwarves refuse to butcher (don't forget slabs).

NOTE: necromancer siege's corpses now drop clothes and gear.

==Crocodile farm==
They're a thing in real life, and you can make them a thing in-game too! Use cage traps to capture multiple breeding pairs of [[alligator]]s, [[cave crocodile]]s or [[saltwater crocodile]]s, [[Animal trainer|train]] them, then create an area to store them with [[nest box]]es. Breed them so you have more crocodilians to keep laying eggs, rinse and repeat.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium, somewhat dependent on RNG - you need to find someplace with available crocs, you want said crocs to actually spawn and you want said crocs to actually get caught in the traps. <s>May</s> Will also lead to an explosive and FPS-shattering [[Catsplosion#Crocsplosion|crocsplosion]] sooner or later.

'''Usefulness:''' Very high, you'll never have to worry about food again simply from cooking the eggs, and that's not counting butchering the crocs when they're adults.

*Bonus: Have alligators, cave crocs and saltwater crocs '''all''' present in the farm.
*SwampBonus: Have your croc farm submerged in anywhere between 1/7 to 3/7 [[water]]. You gotta keep your crocs healthy and wet! But make sure not to submerge the nest boxes!
*SavageBonus: Have [[giant alligator]]s or/and [[giant saltwater crocodile]]s as part of your farm.
*TrainerBonus: Have your dwarves become Expert alligator/cave croc/saltwater croc trainers.
**SteveIrwinBonus: Have your dwarves become Expert trainers of all croc species.
*HungryHungryCrocBonus: Build your farm in such a way that [[siege]]s have to go through it to reach your fortress.
*UltraCrocBonus: Have [[Alligator man|alligator men]] or/and [[Saltwater crocodile man|saltwater crocodile men]] inhabiting your fortress and helping train the croc farm.
**UltraArmokCrocBonus: Have an entire fortress of croc men handling a croc farm. You're dwarves in spirit.

==Dam==
{{main|Dam}}
Build a wall across a riverbed to stop the flow of water. Floodgates optional.

'''Difficulty:''' On a map that freezes in the winter, or an aquifer located below the river, this is easy. Otherwise, very difficult. (See [[dam]], or Moses effect, below. But with the bonuses it gets a bit harder.)

'''Usefulness:''' Depends on how many bonuses you fulfill. The power station is obvious, and with the control room you could build up a nice defense system.

*Bonus: Excavate a reservoir and a lower river valley. 
*Bonus: Build a control center to control the water flow. 
*Bonus: Draw your entire energy from a power station within. 
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use screw pumps and another dam to replace the water with magma.

==Danger room==
{{main|Danger room}}
A room full of upright spear traps linked to a lever or pressure plate. Teach your dwarves to dodge the pointy sticks!

'''Difficulty''': Low to Medium, depending on how you activate the traps.

'''Usefulness''': Low. While this used to be a very effecting training method in past versions, the combat changes in 0.43.04 has made them much more deadly, even for militia dwarves. They also wear down your dwarves' armor and shields quickly, making them harmful for your long term survival even if your militia dwarves manage to survive the room itself.

'''Downside''': Civilians and pets that wander into the danger room will inevitably get killed, even if you use low quality training spears.

*MegaDwarfBonus: Menacing spikes greatly increase the danger, and may help train your medical team (and/or your coffin construction crew).
*UltraDwarfBonus: Use [[adamantine]] spikes! On the plus side, you have a thriving coffin industry going now.

==Day care==
A room where you put all your dwarf children so they cannot be kidnapped by snatchers. Make a room with beds and tables and stuff, then turn it into a burrow, then add all your children to it. Remember to include a food chute to quantum stockpile a huge amount of food and alcohol on a 1x1 stockpile (so it doesn't rot) in the room. High quality food, furniture, and socializing should keep them happy. Note that the children will no longer be able to perform certain useful tasks like crop harvesting and deconstruction, and will not level up their skill in various professions like an otherwise vulnerable child, but this is a small trade-off if they usually get kidnapped before maturing anyway. This is probably obvious, but make sure this room is guarded, otherwise it will turn into a Dwarf Orphanage (Dorfanage) (with Goblins and Minotaurs welcome!)

'''Difficulty:''' Low. With the invention of burrows, you can designate the Day Care to contain all children, so it is unnecessary to use suicide-booth-micromanagement to contain the children.

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Think of the children, they will grow up and enter adult Dwarf life completely unprepared for the [[Fun|things]] [[Dragon|that]] [[Hell|await]] them, having spent their entire lives coddled in a safe room. They might make good nobles however.

*Bonus: Add dogs and/or other creatures on lashes to constantly bite and scratch the children, so their attributes will raise due to constant fighting and dodging. When they come of ages, you will have incredibly tough, strong and agile dwarves, but covered in scars and psychologically traumatized.
*DwarfBonus: Add a small amount of magma mist to mentioned above, that'll burn the fat and make them fireproof.
*ArmokBonus: Combine this with danger room.

==Doberman bomb==
Whenever a dog or cat gives birth, stuff all the kittens and puppies in one cage in your entryway. Link this cage to a pressure plate beside it. Should your last lines of defense be breached, goblins will step on it and in the next instant be torn apart by dozens of goblin-seeking hostiles and distracted by dozens of surplus targets. The trap actually going off will probably be very bad for your frame rate.

'''Difficulty:''' Low to high, depending on the animal you use

'''Usefulness:''' Medium to very high, potentially fortress-saving

*Bonus: Train the dogs inside as war dogs
**DwarfBonus: Use [[giant badger]]s, [[tiger]]s, [[alligator]]s, bears, or anything big and aggressive when tamed
***MegaDwarfBonus: Use [[giant cave spider]]s, [[cave dragon]]s, [[blind cave ogre]]s, crossbow-wielding [[giant desert scorpion]]s, [[jabberer]]s or something really dangerous and rare.
****UltraMagmaArmokBonus: Use one (or more!) of the following list: [[dragon]](s), a [[bronze colossus]](es), a [[forgotten beast]](s) (bonus points for flesh-melting secretions), an [[undead]] [[giant sponge]], or [[Hidden Fun Stuff|Clowns of Hidden Funland]].

==Drophole==
Imagine an execution tower, for rocks and pants. It's nothing but a very deep 1x1 up-down staircase for express service to the depths. Designate a garbage dump beside the top and dwarves will pitch anything marked for [[Dumping]] into it.

'''Difficulty:''' Harder than it sounds, there's always snags along the way. Surprise caverns can cost you miners and tools. Hitting water can be vexing. Dumping and reclaiming things can be a chore. It may serve as an unintended highway for Fun of any liquid or airborne variety

'''Usefulness:''' It's '''far''' easier to drop ore 100 z-levels to the magma sea than carry it. You can use this to transfer items between burrows.

*Bonus: Minecarts can make this semi-automatic, fed from a stockpile.

==Drowning chamber==
{{main|Drowning chamber}}
'''Difficulty:''' Moderate.

'''Usefulness:''' You can kill prisoners, useless peasants, irate nobles, hammerers, untamable animals, or anything else. Just be ready for something that knows how to swim. Also useful for catching fishies.

*Bonus: Utilize lava.
*Bonus: Utilize trained fish.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Edit the raws and do both.

==Dwarfputer complex==
{{main|Computing}}
A big mess of [[fluid logic|fluid]], [[machine logic|machine]], and/or [[creature logic|creature]] logic full of hatches, floodgates, gears, pumps, etc. and powered by waterwheels, windmills, or useless idle dwarves. Hook it up to doors, bridges, and traps.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium to high, depending on what you want to build. You'll want to build for very high water flow if you have more than a few fluid gates.

'''Usefulness:''' Your mechanics and architects will level up very fast. Manual pumps give something for your haulers to do. Try and make a clock to trigger different mechanisms in different seasons. See if enemies actually blunder into your intricate traps. Watch all hell break loose as water freezes and building destroyers enter your computer.
*Bonus: Use lava.
**Doombonus: Use lava ''and'' build it so that building destroyers that enter the complex get killed by the mechanisms they destroy.
***SelfRepairingbonus: Use both lava and water and implement the building destroyer killing system, but modify it so it's self-repairing, filling up broken spaces with obsidian.

==Dwarven apartment complex==
Essentially, one of the many possible [[megaprojects]] dedicated to providing dwarves with rooms so high above the ground they get vertigo. Every floor must have plenty of rooms of at least 2x3 squares, with walls and a door surrounding this. Oh, and it has to go up as many Z-levels as possible. For extra credit, decide on what the top story will be (i.e. as many levels up as you deem possible, minus one so you can build a roof) and turn this into a Royal bedroom for a [[noble]], complete with gem windows, artifact/masterwork components, and untold numbers of armour stands and weapon racks. And then build some shorter but wider apartment buildings nearby to turn your fortress into essentially a giant fist with extended middle finger. Extra points for adding extra useless things for luxury, such as a magma-based heating system, fireplaces in rooms, and a lock-down lever in case of goblin attack. (or a self-destruct lever connected to the main supports, in case your dwarfish tenants are unsatisfied with your ☼5-star service☼).

'''Difficulty:''' Low, although the walls around the rooms can be a bit fiddly due to the impossibility of building walls on constructed floors (yes, an extra credit challenge is to do this without using Remove Construction).

'''Usefulness:''' Limited, because you could just dig the things underground and save yourself the hassle. However it is much harder to flood a tower than a cave, in case you're prone to [[Losing|fun]] by water. Additionally, if you have the time and resources to train a sizable force of marksdwarves, placing a few "security rooms" (with barracks, ammunition store, ration cache, armory, etc.) at appropriate floors, complete with fortified balconies, will allow you to take advantage of the higher vantage point.

*MegaDwarfBonus: Extend the tower to have levels below ground as well as above.
*MegaOrwellBonus: Make the whole construction out of clear glass. (privacy? Whatever for?)

==Dwarven courtyards==
Dig large shafts [first dig the staircase to the desired depth, digging out the size you want the shaft to be on all layers. Channel the outer later, then install supports on the base floor. Link the support to a trigger, clear everyone out, destroy the remaining staircase and pull the trigger] then cover them in glass, creating an indoor but light area that will keep dwarves from being irritated and nauseated by the sun, also improving general happiness and allowing close proximity to caverns and magma.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium, make sure not to mess up or you will lose your miners

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. creates vertical circulation and brings light to lower levels.

*Bonus: Punch a large shaft through a multi-level aquifer (hint: punch through the aquifer from below).
*MegaDwarfBonus: Create a network of self-sufficient communities per shaft, allowing them to be sectioned off in case of disaster. (I plan on colonizing HFS eventually on this paradigm, creating a mining team of soldiers to extract, manufacture and ultimately use adamantine products without being connected to the main colony in order to take on the [[Demon|clowns]] while keeping the rest of the burrow safe.)

==Dwarven disco ball==
Why waste all those cut gems on things that only some selfish noble will enjoy? Create as large a wall-less sphere as you can, then cover it in Gem Windows of 3 different-colored gems to make it shine! The bigger, and more valuable gems involved (e.g., [[ruby|rubies]], [[sapphire]]s, and [[emerald]]s, or colored diamonds if you're really masochistic), the dwarfier.

'''Difficulty:''' Constructing a sphere is very hard, especially the larger you make one. Gathering enough differently colored gems can also be very hard, depending on stone layers. Trading helps a lot.

'''Usefulness:''' Negative. More value can be created by encrusting furniture, and Gem Windows lack quality.

*Bonus: Alternating [[alunite]] and [[obsidian]] tiles to make a 'dance floor'.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use lava contained in glass for illumination.
*UltraDwarfBonus: Caged "[[Elf|dancers]]".

==Dwarven labor camp (aka Dwalag)==
Create an aboveground walled fortress in a freezing climate with guard towers, barracks, housing, and armories. Dig a long ramp downward and add a large mining network below the surface. Make some small military squads to guard the camp. Designate the lower levels as workshops, and when migrants arrive, assign them to the mines. Give the workers minimal food and only water (no booze, booze is for the hypocritical decadence of Dwarkuta's leaders). Have them haul the stone and metal they mine back to the surface and ship the raw materials off to the Motherland. Import only food, booze, weapons, fuel, and other necessities.

*Bonus: Build the giant digging machines. They don't actually have to dig anything.
*Bonus: Go into the raws and rename the beverage of your choice to "Dwarven Vodka", and drink to the glory of the Motherland!
*MegaBonus: Escape. Wait for a goblin siege, then get everyone underground and block the entrance. Let the goblins in. Wait a few months. The goblins are now the guards you must kill.

Step 1. Secure the keys: Make improvised weapons. If you have obsidian at your disposal, make rock short swords.

Step 2. Ascend from darkness: Get your dwarves out of the mines and into the camp.

Step 3. Rain fire: Use your imagination. Try using magma, if possible.

Step 4. Unleash the horde: Attack!

Step 5. Skewer the winged beast: If the goblins brought a giant bat or other flying creature, kill it.

*Bonus: Use a ballista.

Step 6. Wield a fist of iron: Break open the armory and equip your rebels with armor and weapons.

Step 7. Raise hell: Exactly what it says on the tin.

Step 8. Freedom!

*MegaDwarfBonus: In Adventure mode, try (and probably fail) to lead the prisoners to freedom.

==Dwarven refrigerator==
Dig down to the 3rd cavern layer and harvest as many [[nether-cap]]s as you can. Make them all into barrels! Nether caps have the unique property of being 10000° Urist, which is 32°F or 0°C. Now your dwarves can enjoy their favorite alcohol, cheese, and plump helmets chilled to perfection! If you've set your population cap very low in the INIT files, caverns aren't extremely dangerous, but you should still be on the lookout for nasties down there. Remember to wall off your entrance to the cavern once you're finished.

'''Difficulty:''' Low to Medium

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Booze stored inside will not perish due to heat if say, [[magma]] is dumped on it.

Bonus: Also use nether-cap wood to build the walls, floor, ceiling, and door.

Bonus: While we are at it make all your coffins out of it. 'Cryogenically' freeze those corpses!

==Dwarven machine gun==
Build a high fire rate, minecart firing machine gun. Must be fully automatic, capable of reloading itself, and should not jam due to minecarts being disrupted by collisions or derailments.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium to high, depending on fire rate, reload downtime, and whether or not minecarts are filled with [[magma]].

'''Usefulness:''' High. A sophisticated minecart trap can keep out even the most persistent invaders.

*Bonus: Automatically reload minecarts with [[magma]].
*MegaDwarfBonus: Integrate the trap with a dwarfputer so that it can automatically send minecarts to where they are needed most.

==Emergency destruct stairs==
A tall column of stairs plunging all the way down into the underdark, with a one-tile wide area of thin destructible floor all around it. In case of subterranean invasion, a thrown switch drops a stone O straight down, ringing the staircase and neatly severing all inter-level connections at a blow. Does with one lever and one support what would take dozens of bridges or hundreds of retracting grates.

'''Difficulty:''' Harder than it sounds.

'''Usefulness:''' Sometimes... sometimes they fly.

==Execution tower==
Just a tall tower to chuck your captives to their deaths.

'''Difficulty:''' Easy.

'''Usefulness:''' Lets you dispose of prisoners, and claim expensive silk, meltable iron, and (eventually) useful bones. Also highly amusing.

*MegaDwarfBonus: Send prisoners straight to hell. May make retrieving items difficult, however.

==Flak==
If flying enemies circumventing your walls and causing mayhem inside your fortress is a problem, don't use marksdwarves, just make some flak! Simply cover a series of drawbridges in rocks, and when fliers come by pull the lever.

'''Difficulty:''' Easy

'''Usefulness:''' Low, contrary to the description, marksdwarves are more accurate, versatile, and just better. However, if you manage to hit something with this there's a large chance of it getting stunned and crashing to the ground.

*Bonus: Use minecarts and pressure plates to make it fully automatic.
*SuperBonus: Make it closer to real world flak by using burning lignite bins.
*EfficiencyBonus: Use goblins as ammo
*AlternateBonus: Instead of drawbridges and stone, use jets of water to stun flyers, and then release the dogs. Alternatively, burn them in midair with lava.
*FunBonus: Use the above method with lava, except use the lava as a propellent to throw the circus at the local crow population.
*AmokBonus: Use all of the above to emulate what happens when you drift into American airspace.

==Flamethrower bunker==
If your fortress happens to be visited by a [[dragon]], capture it in a [[cage trap]], then release it into a sealed bunker with [[fortification]]s around the edge. When invaders arrive, watch them get roasted.

'''Difficulty:''' Low, but requires a fair bit of luck - a dragon (or fire-breathing forgotten beast) needs to survive worldgen, then it needs to attack your fortress (instead of a giant/minotaur/ettin/cyclops or other megabeast), and finally it needs to make it to your cage trap without being killed by something else.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. [[Dragonfire]] can kill almost anything, but will be blocked by a [[shield]] greater than 99% of the time. Adding a combustible floor (such as a paved [[lignite]] [[road]]) will significantly increase lethality for shield-toting targets. Also, any protective bridges in front of the fortifications may melt under sustained fire, leaving you with a bunker that ''nobody'' can safely approach; ensuring the bridge center tile isn't near the fire, or building the bridges (and mechanisms) from [[ash]], dragon [[soap]], [[divine metal|divine]]{{version|0.43.03}} [[metal]] (or [[slade]]) will make them immune to the fire. Additionally, a skilled enemy archer can easily kill your dragon with a lucky shot, if line-of-sight access is available.

*Bonus: Capture a fire-breathing [[titan]] or [[forgotten beast]] and use it.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Release the denizens of the hidden fun stuff and use them.

==Flood the world==
'''Difficulty:''' High danger. Will kill your frame rate unless you sink the world below water level (river or ocean).

'''Usefulness:''' Will prevent any sieges, at least. Or anything else, save for the occasional invasion of sociopathic [[giant sponge]].

*Bonus: Use magma, just like [[Main:Boatmurdered|Boatmurdered]].
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use trained fish to kill off all creatures not of your colony.
*MegaArmokBonus: Mod the game and do both.

==Gladiator arena==
{{main|Live training}}
Station some soldiers at the bottom of a shallow [[Activity_zone#Pit/Pond|pit]] and dump your captives in. You can also use dangerous animals instead of soldiers. For extra points, put the prisoners in cages connected to ramps underneath the arena floor. One lever will open both the cage and a hatch above the ramp. Variant: build prisoner cages inside the arena, link to a lever outside the arena, lock the soldiers in, and then open the cages. Keep in mind that you can't actually make your dwarves "watch" the battles like an actual gladiator arena, as civilians will flee in fear at the sight of non-restrained hostile creatures, even if they're in a pit and not actively attacking them.

'''Difficulty:''' Low, but time consuming. Some danger depending on the relative skill of your soldiers and the danger of the captive. (If the prisoners have weapons, you can remove them by using {{k|d}}-{{k|b}}-{{k|d}} to dump the cage and its contents, then looking at and undumping the cages themselves with {{k|k}}-{{k|d}}).

'''Usefulness:''' Low to High, depending on how long your soldiers can draw out the execution. Equipping your soldiers with wooden training weapons can greatly increase the fun (and/or [[Fun]] if their armor isn't as good as you thought).

*Bonus: Losers get incinerated by Magma.
*DwarfBonus: Winners also get incinerated by Magma.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use your arena as a "trial by fire" for migrants.

==Grazer reanimation facility==
Just as stables, but without grass, and on a reanimating biome. Pasture every grazer in a separate box, and build [[cage trap]]s to recapture the animal after it joins [[undead|the Dark Side]]. Make sure to forbid the area after you finish setting things up, because you don't want your dwarves getting <s>killed</s> caught instead.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. You always get some grazing animals to start with.

'''Usefulness:''' You get a decent supply of zombies to use in your [[trap design|cunning traps]]. Depending on your style of play, this may prove to be worth the effort.

* DwarfBonus: Use war [[elephant]]s, or any other giant [[:Category:DF2014:Grazer|grazing animal]] you <s>bought</s> seized from elves.
** MegaDwarfBonus: Use [[giant elephant]]s.
*** BoatMurderedBonus: Release them all simultaneously to challenge your militia/play out a [[fun|!fun!]] scenario for your fort.
* MenagerieBonus: Create a zoo using only undead grazers.
** DwarvenMenagerieBonus: Combine this with the [[DF2014:Stupid_dwarf_trick#Zombie_thunderdome|Zombie Thunderdome]] and have a rotation of undead cows fighting in the arena only to be re-caged when they try to leave.
*** ChampionBonus: Give each grazer rooming in the zoo according to their kills, with the champion having the most luxurious room.
**** AltarBonus: Turn the champion's room into an [[DF2014:Stupid_dwarf_trick#Altar_of_Armok|Altar of Armok]].
**** FreedomBonus: Let the champion and higher-ranking zombies roam freely in their rooms, having to be re-captured for each battle.
***** !FreedomBonus!: Release the champion into your fort.
* HolyGrailBonus: Use white [[bunny|bunnies]].

==Greenhouse==
A [[farming|greenhouse]] is just a farm with the ceiling channeled out from above. This lets you grow outdoor plants without venturing above ground. For maximum style, build the greenhouse above ground and cover it with a glass roof to keep your farmers safe.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Surface plants can be grown at any time of the year, and some are more useful than those available underground - for example, [[sun berry|sun berries]] can be brewed into valuable [[Sunshine]], and [[whip vine]]s can be milled into superior quality flour. Having greater food and booze diversity can also keep your dwarves happier.

*Bonus: Give it a glass floor to allow surface plants even lower down.
**DwarfBonus: Utilize [[obsidian|volcanic glass]].

==Hammer of [[main:armok|Armok]]==
A gigantic hammer made out of pure steel and/or valuables looming over your fortress entrance ready to smite those foolish enough to lay a siege on you. Also gives you a psychological advantage over the traders who unload their goods under it. Attach to a lever-linked support for quick-smiting.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. Depends on size and materials, though. Make it a gold hammer menacing with adamantine spikes, if you're going for high quality.

'''Usefulness:''' Low-medium. 10x10 size is minimum for practical effectiveness. 30x30 attached to a handle extending from your entrance actually works against sieges.

* Bonus: Cover it with blood.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Make it hollow and fill it with Magma
* ArmoksMachineHammerBonus: Set up an automated system that allows you to reset it quickly. Obsidianizers and the magma sea will be your friends here.

==Human Fortress==
Instead of digging a fortress, build above-ground houses. Create walls to keep the nasties out. The only thing you may have underground are mines and stockpiles. Create a huge stone fort for your nobles.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Building stuff will cost you resources instead of gaining them and flyers can be a real pain. Keep several Marksdwarfs handy!

'''Usefulness:''' N/A. (No cave adaptation)

*Bonus: Pave the roads between houses.
*HumanBonus: Dig a moat around your castle.
*MegaHumanBonus: Fill the moat with lava.
*MegaHumanBonusPlus: Designate multiple dumping spots into the lava moat.
*SurfaceDwellerBonus: Get the stone for your constructions entirely from open-pit quarries, i.e. by c[h]annelling instead of [d]igging.
*MegaSurfaceDwellerBonus: Never use picks at all, all stone and metal must come from caravans or embark.
*WhereTheBeardedLadiesAtBonus: Enforce as many <s>pointless</s> quaint human quirks as feasible, for instance: nominating officials per wealth/popularity/relationships instead of merit and suitedness, coddling Nobles, burrowing farmers, miners, brewers, craftsdwarves and other backbones of society into the most tattered ridings, enforcing a specific religion upon the populace, and so forth.

==Ice tower==

Building a huge tower is easy. To make things more [[fun]], make one out of some exotic material, like [[glass]], [[ice]], [[gold]], or [[soap]].

'''Difficulty:''' Low. You need to be on a freezing map to pull off an ice tower.

'''Usefulness:''' Depends entirely on you.

* BabelBonus: Use [[DFHack]]'s <code>infiniteSky</code> and build to the heavens themselves.

==Journey to the Center of the Earth==

Construct a sturdy vessel hanging over the top of a magma pipe or volcano, outfitted with everything your intrepid crew might need for their journey of exploration - food, booze, sleeping quarters and a bridge are a must, but depending on the amount of effort it can include other items such as a recreation deck, water reservoir and trade depot for dealing with the natives. When all is ready, lock the explorers inside and send them on their way. Bonus points if you can detach it from inside so you can use it in Adventure mode later.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate to High, depending on the size of the ship. For bonus points, carve the entire thing out of existing rock overhanging a magma pipe and engrave it with messages. Burrows help to get the whole crew inside at the same time.

'''Usefulness:''' [[Cave-in|Negative]]. For some reason, no explorers have returned. Of course, if you select only the [[Nobles|Best and Brightest]] for the ship's crew...

*Bonus: Drop the vessel into a deep cavern
*SuperBonus: Make the outer walls, roof and ground floor completely out of glass, so that the explorers can watch everything around them.
*VampireBonus: Send a vampire with the crew!
*MegaDwarfBonus: Drop the vessel into a halfway-empty adamantine vein
*YouHorribleEvilDwarfBonus: Drop the vessel into the [[Hidden Fun Stuff]]!
*YouHorribleInsaneDwarfBonus: Drop the vessel into a glowing chasm.
*OhMyArmokBonus: When you arrive to the bottom of the magma sea, excavate and then create a new community under it!
**OhMyF****ingArmokBonus: Send supplies every year!
**IsThatEvenPossibleBonus: Send a piece of an aquifer down there to provide water! (Mine around a water-producing tile, build the ship around it, then send it!)
**≡MegaDwarfBonus≡: create a high enough tower and drop it into the magma sea to connect the surface and the undersea community!
***☼MegaDwarfBonus☼: create ''two'' towers and use one to send water down there!

==Single-lever emergency lockdown (LEL)==

The only real requirement is that you need a fort based around a central stairwell. All you need to do is leave space for and eventually build the same number of bridges (that raise!) as your stairway is tall on each side of your stairwell on every level, and then link them all to the same lever. Friends get through all your best traps and champions? Simply pull the lever, and they're trapped in the central stairwell forever! Remember to roof off the entrance if your fort is situated on flat land otherwise the bonuses become much less useful. Also important is to ensure that you either wall off access or include sealable bridges or doors (linked to the same lever of course) for any inter-level paths that bypass the main stairwell, like vertical axles running out of centralised power generators.

3*3 stairwell setup:

{{diagram|1=
O[#6ff]╞[#6ff]═[#6ff]╡O
[#6ff]╥XXX[#6ff]╥
[#6ff]║XXX[#6ff]║
[#6ff]╨XXX[#6ff]╨
O[#6ff]╞[#6ff]═[#6ff]╡O
}}

'''Difficulty:''' Medium to High, depending on whether you use the MegaDwarfBonus below or not and how much you spread your fortress over the layers - although more spread means more usefulness. Extremely time-consuming, and requires architects, masons, and mechanics, as well as a lot of mechanisms (2 per bridge, ~4 bridges per level)

'''Usefulness:''' Medium to High, also depending on whether you use the Bonuses. With all bonuses applied it becomes a guaranteed last resort way of destroying the toughest enemies with minimal dwarven casualties; without the bonuses it's still a damn sight better than letting temporarily victorious enemies run freely about your fortress.

*DwarfBonus: Connect your cistern to the stairwell (remember to put a floodgate in too). Once the impossible-to-defeat enemies are safely trapped inside, Pull lever number 2 and watch them slowly, slowly, drown (VERY IMPORTANT: have the level of the cistern input at at least the same height as the level of the stairwell, else there won't be enough pressure to properly flood the stairwell, meaning nasties WILL survive).
*MegaDwarfBonus: Connect your MAGMA cistern to the stairwell. Laugh maniacally. (Remember to build your bridges and floodgates out of magma-safe material or a lot of !!FUN!! will be had)
*MegaArmokEntombmentBonus: Do both and cast your enemies in obsidian and boil the survivors in steam as a semi-permanent testament to their foolhardiness. This also means that you will have stairs cut out of lovely obsidian once your miners are finished making your stairwell usable again.
*MegaArmokEntombmentEXTREME+Bonus: "Forget" to pull the lockdown lever before you pull lever number 2.
*MegaArmokEntombment<s>'''Bait&Switch'''</s>Diplomatic+Bonus: Set the highest level up on another switch, with a particularly <s>'''demanding and annoying noble'''</s> skilled diplomatic representative is waiting at the very bottom to <s>'''lure'''</s> invite them all down for a nice meal on <s>'''his flesh'''</s> the stockpile of food and booze that's keep him ever so happy. Then you can wait for the entire army to flow into the stairwell before flipping the switches. Don't forget to carve a statue out of the block of the noble! What noble doesn't want their grand <s>'''sacrificial defense'''</s> grand diplomatic skills to be immortalized in volcanic glass!!!
**UltraArmokBonus: Defeat all your invasions this way, and build a temple to Armok full of the once noble, now obsidian statues, only the highest of quality (and value) memorial slabs.

==Magma Lock System==
This system is a little more complicated than the LEL system described above, and requires that you space out all of your floors so that there's a 'plumbing floor' between each level. From there you set up tons and tons of magma proof floodgates and hatches. Each 'area' you wish to be self-contained from one another needs at least a 3x2 hallway separating it from the other areas. 4 of these will contain flood gates, and the other two must remain bare. Above one of the two bare points you need to have a hollowed out space, and connecting into it from one side you need to have a hatch leading to your water plumbing system, to the other, a hatch to your lava plumbing system. You need two levers for controlling this, one lever is connected to all of the lower floodgates, the other to the upper floodgates. Pull the first hatch to lock in the flood gates just in case, the second to the upper flood gates to begin pouring in water and magma and have them make obsidian filling the entire hallway, sterilizing it of literally anything that could have contaminated it. You do this instead of hatches so they'll drop in properly and mix with no risk of only one side or the other of the hallway turning to obsidian and resulting in a dangerous leak. Throw the first switch again to open up the floodgates and begin mining to access the old chambers again. Whatever was invading your fortress, whether plague, necromancer, clowns, or forgotten beast, will be safely locked away, and unable to break back out whether or not it possesses building destroyer or not. Then you just have to wait for your miners to dig their way out. You can simply avoid the chambers that still have FUN inside, and any the purity of magma and obsidian will have utterly obliterated any traces of contaminants between containment zones.

'''Difficulty''': Medium to High. While not dealing with anything overtly hostile, this process more or less demands that you plan your fortress from the start for this specific system and deal with lots and lots of moving parts, mechanisms, and similar, plus the power necessary to pump magma and water into this network in a timely manner.. If you screw up part of it then it's very easy to end up with your entire fortress flooded with water or magma. Build it on small and give it a test run then expand it once you've gotten the process working for a single chamber, such as the chamber leading to your cavern layer.

'''Usefulness''': High. Depending on how you prepare things (See the bonuses below) the necessary set up for all of this will result in a network of magma and water pipes in every single level of your fortress, powering forges, wells, baths, showers, and defenses of all sorts. Then when things are at their worst, throw a switch and barring one or two (or many depending on how many dwarves are transitioning between containment areas) horribly swift deaths, your entire fortress is safe from any possible threats. You can also prepare chambers ahead of time for other activities and use this to trap enemies in them for later usage.

*DwarfBonus: Put a stockpile of food, drink, and pickaxes in each containment area.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Put a lever in every zone connected just to their own, so your dwarves can heroically seal off an entire section by themselves if necessary.
*UltraDwarfBonus: Extend the hallways, and make the water half of them use grates and constant water falls to give good thoughts while traversing between zones. Change up your levers to shut off the water for when digging begins again.

==Maze==

A maze of twisty little passages, all alike. [[Trap]]s and dangerous animals are essential. You can have a retracting bridge drop invaders in, or just have a labyrinth as a back door.

'''Difficulty:''' It's a lot of mining. Having a bridge drop invaders inside is more difficult, but more useful. You can also use the free maze-generating program Daedalus, available [http://www.astrolog.org/labyrnth/daedalus.htm here] if you're too lazy to come up with your own.

'''Usefulness:''' It makes a nice element of fortress defense, and you can dump your prisoners inside it. Also makes a great place to explore in [[adventure mode]].

*Bonus: Generate a world with large mountain [[cave]]s. Instead of using the labyrinth as your backdoor, use it as your fortress.
*Filodorima: Release a live caged [[minotaur]] into the maze.
*MegaBonus: Make it three-dimensional and [http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/maze/design/index.htm#uni unicursal].
*MemorialBonus: Capture the Goblin King and make him fight the Minotaur.

==Magma chamber==
'''Difficulty:''' Dangerous as any magma project.

'''Usefulness:''' It's like a drowning chamber, but any non-iron items carried by the victim will be destroyed. Depending on your style of play, this may be a good thing.

==Magma cannon==
[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=33837 It can be done!] It uses a row of pumps to pressurize the magma in a chamber with only one exit. When the floodgate opens, the magma flies out a short distance.

'''Difficulty:''' Very high. You need [[metal]] (or [[glass]]) [[screw pump]]s to make it work, [[magma-safe]] floodgates and mechanisms, plus a big above-ground construction.

'''Usefulness:''' Marginal. But very cool.

==Magma access early==
ASAP from embark, dig down to the magma 
make 2 magma proof pumps 
make a small (5x5?) room that you can pump magma into and out of 
make a stockpile for only iron & steel minecarts in the room 
make enough minecarts to fill the room 
Once room is full of minecarts, seal room and pump full of magma 
then pump magma out 
delete stockpile 
make a new stockpile near your forge/smelt/glass/kiln area 
haul minecarts by hand (or magma proof wheelbarrow) 
use tracks and stops to dump 4 deep magma into shallow pits 
2 minecart loads per pit 

'''Difficulty:''' Low. 
'''Usefulness:''' Very High. 
*Bonus: !!Magma Economy By Autumn!!

==Magma highway==
Magma moves across the map annoyingly slowly, due to its thickness and lack of pressure. But a tunnel several Z-levels high, with magma entering at the top, will flow much faster because the magma's '''falling''' in, not flowing in, and can expand on either Z-level before falling down.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Not hard to make, but cutting open a multi-Z magmafall is [[fun]].

'''Usefulness:''' Medium.

==Magma mausoleum==
This trick involves dripping water on to the middle of a magma pool until you have a column of obsidian, then channeling down into the obsidian ''more than'' one Z level, and putting a burial receptacle there. This probably won't work in magma tubes or Volcanos since the created obsidian would fall into the bottomless pit. The trick is getting the water to fall onto the magma in a controlled manner.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Requires certain resources from the start, plus lots of setup. And your dwarves tend to erupt into dwarf steam occasionally.

'''Usefulness:''' None, since an obsidian lined room with exactly the same furniture somewhere else will please your nobles just as much.

*Bonus: Put the coffin at least 20 floors down.
*MegaBonus: Build it in a volcano if possible, and put the coffin at the very bottom of the map

==Magma sea colony==

If you cast obsidian around the edges of the magma sea, it is possible to pump out the magma and build a colony in the empty space. Once the colony is built, you can destroy the obsidian walls and refill the magma sea. Note: you cannot cast obsidian on the bottom layer of the magma sea, so building a colony on this layer is nearly, but not quite, impossible (see below).

'''Difficulty:''' High. You need to get water down to each edge of the magma sea, and you need a pump stack to get rid of the magma.

'''Usefulness:''' None.

*☼MegaDwarfBonus☼: Build your colony on the floor of the magma sea. This will require draining the sea to the next-to-bottom layer as described above, then dumping enormous amounts of water into the bottom layer to crowd out the magma while simultaneously draining the magma from holes poked in the magma sea floor. Constructions can be built at the border between the water and the magma. See [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=128226.0 This forum post] for full, detailed instructions.
* Bonus: Obsidianize the entire magma sea, leaving a single spot to use as a source for pumps. Then proceed to carve your new fortress subsection out of this bounty.

'''Difficulty:''' Insane. The project will take at least ten years of dwarf time and claim many lives.

'''Usefulness:''' Low. You can finally get the last bit of adamantine when you drain the magma sea, and the magma sea floor has a cool twinkly effect.

==<s>Magma</s> Lava sprinkler==
Build a twisting <s>magma</s> lava aqueduct above the entrance to your fortress. Leave a few thin (diagonal) holes in it, so that lava can seep out of it. When invaders arrive, pump magma into the sprinkler. Diagonal holes will limit the rate at which the fluid flows out of them, ensuring a nice steady lava rain rather than a big wave.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Similar to magma canon, except with a bit more engineering, but less pumps and smaller reservoir needed (due to less magma being required for the same effect).

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Like magma cannon it can obliterate a siege, but this time you can have a bit more control over how it happens. Lava rain doesn't depend on ground structure (your entrance doesn't need to be in a valley for it to work well) and leaves less magma to evaporate.

*Bonus: Cover the holes with floodgates or hatches and keep the lavaduct filled with lava rather than filling it only when using it.
*Bonus+1: Build the lavaduct in such a way that it starts raining on the outermost part of the area first, then goes inwards, to ensure that invaders who start burning can't escape.

==Mass cage recycling system==
{{main|Mass pitting}}
Build a [[mass pitting]] system to recycle your cage trap cages quickly.

'''Difficulty:''' Very easy. Requires basic digging and very little time.

'''Usefulness:''' Very. Keeps you from having to build cages before releasing monsters from them. With six hatches you can safely empty out 48 cages very quickly. You can build lots of cage traps without having to worry about emptying each cage individually.

*Bonus: Cover the floor of your pit with cage traps, creating a neverending cycle and giving your dwarves something to do during the long harsh summer when going outside is overly taxing on their stomachs.
*ConcentrationCampBonus: Combine with Pit of Doom below.

==Mega/Water drowning trap-thing==
{{main|Drowning chamber}}
This is basically a channel above some pressurized water with a short tunnel leading to a door. The door needs to be connected to a lever somewhere in a safe part of the fortress. Position the door facing the main stairs into your fortress (for multiple stairs use multiple traps). When enemies come down the stairs, pull the lever and make them drown. (It helps to seal off the rooms).

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Needs flowing water under pressure and levers.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Depends on the size of your fortress/defences/amount of attackers. Works well with fire creatures to create a sauna.

==Monumental statue==
'''Difficulty:''' Depends on how big you want the statue to be. If you are feeling really masochistic, cast it out of obsidian using magma and water.

'''Usefulness:''' None.

*Bonus: Make the statue hollow and have dwarves live inside it.
*BestWayToGetRidOfStoneBonus: Make one for every dead dwarf.
**UberTombBonus: Use the statue as a tomb and put their coffins in it.
*Dwarfbonus: Give the statue magma eyes.
**HellNo,DwarfsYesBonus: Combine the magma eyes idea with the magma cannon idea above and place the statue just behind (and above) the entrance to your fortress.

==Moses effect==
With enough pumps, you can pull water out of a square faster than it flows in. This can create a reverse waterfall, or a dry spot in the middle of a flowing river. The effect is like Moses parting the Red Sea.

'''Difficulty:''' Surprisingly easy.

'''Usefulness:''' You can use this trick to create a waterfall or drowning chamber. It is also important if you want to pass through an [[Aquifer]], although that is far more difficult. The same trick can be used in lieu of a drawbridge, although its practicality as compared to the drawbridge is highly questionable.

*Bonus: Use the Moses effect to make doors from water, which are opened/closed using a lever.
*TechBonus: Automatize the doors so that they open (only!) when a dwarf is near.

==Never-ending shower==
{{main|Waterfall}}
Don't you get angry when your dwarves carry enough grime on them to dirty the entire fortress? And how they get infected because of that griminess? Suffer no more! With the Never Ending Shower (NES for short), dwarves will be able to stay (relatively) clean without having to take the time to run for a bath or dirtying your drinking water!

It is easy to understand: use the same instructions as in the Artificial Waterfall, but make it so that the waterfall is somewhere where the dwarves will be going through almost daily--a central stairway works well. It cleans them and gives them happy [[thought]]s for the same price!

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate to high. You do have to make sure that dwarves don't try anything funny, and create a drain to draw the dirty water out.

'''Usefulness:''' Incredibly high. Reduces risk of infection and keeps your dwarves happy.

*Bonus: Use an aquifer to get clean water AND drain dirty water.
*Bonus: Use levers to control the NES.
*SuperBonus: Make it work as a trap!
*SuperDuperBonus: Make it work as a trap AND as a recovery system!
*ArmokBonus: Make it so that magma can be poured down, too!

==Nuclear Fallout Bunker==
Build a mini fortress with everything your dwarves could need deep underground. Stock it with enough food, drinks, and materials to last your small band of survivors for years or alternatively make it self-sufficient with its own food production. Lastly, add a bridge that allows you to seal off the bunker from the rest of the world.

'''Difficulty:''' Easy-Medium depending on the relative luxury of the bunker and how many dwarves you intend to shelter from the apocalypse.

'''Usefulness:''' High. If your fort is threatened by some particularly nasty disaster (be it zombie goblin horde or Bronze Colossus) simply rush your best and brightest dwarves down to the Nuclear Fallout Bunker and raise the bridge, sealing it off from the rest of the world.
*MutallyAssuredDestructionBonus: Have a self-destruct lever in the bunker that is pulled once everyone is safely inside.

==Obsidian factory==
{{main|Obsidian farming}}
You need one reservoir of water, and one of magma. Mix, cool, mine, and repeat as necessary.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium.

'''Usefulness:''' Obsidian is 50% more valuable than [[flux]] and 3 times as valuable as ordinary stone, making it ideal for your [[mason]]s and [[stone crafter]]s. Done properly, it can also serve as a magma chamber, a drowning chamber and even an obsidianizing chamber that can kill any creature that gets in (except [[ghost]]s and possibly [[vermin]]).

* MegaDwarfBonus: Make the system fully automated using [[computing]] principles.

==Pit o' doom==
Combine with an Execution Tower for maximum z-level executions! Traps which menace with spikes are a must.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. You want it nice and deep though.

'''Usefulness:''' Dispose of prisoners, execute nobles, gruesome fatal injuries, laugh maniacally. If high enough, you may be able to recover [[bone]]s from creatures your dwarves refuse to [[butcher]].

* Bonus: Link the spikes to a lever so you can proceed to make swiss cheese of whatever didn't die from the fall.

==Pixel art stockpiles==
Arrange several stockpiles of similar items of different colors (gems work well for this) so the different colors make some sort of picture. Don't forget to set "max bins" to 0 on all the stockpiles so you can actually see the items!

It's probably also a good idea to forbid the items once they're in place, to prevent them from being moved later (and allow you to remove the stockpiles if you want.)

'''Difficulty:''' Medium; only tricky parts are (potentially) finding enough items of different colors, and keeping track of which colors are where before the hauling is done.

'''Usefulness:''' Negative

==Pressure washer==
A huge tower with floodgates at the bottom on one side. When opened, the pressurized water fires out and pushes anything in the way of the flow away. Depending on size, can be surprisingly powerful. You can see an example tower [http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-7485-griffonwind here.]

'''Difficulty:''' Medium, construction technique takes some consideration.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium-High. Tested in version 0.28.181.40d with 50 recruits standing in front of it when the floodgates opened, killed 46 of them, including ones not pushed into the pit.

* Bonus: Fill it with Magma instead (though Magma doesn't pressurize).

==Quantum Blizzard Cannon==

Do you need to kill something? Is atom-smashing no longer a viable option? Do you wish to bring glory to Armok? Do not fear, the QBC is here! By creating individual stops to fill minecarts with projectiles of your choosing, then loading up to 12 filled minecarts into a final “Launcher” minecart (using a stop designated to fill the "launcher" with minecarts), you can effectively fire as many items as you would like at your foe using a standard minecart shotgun. It is also possible to fill this with fluids, to great effect (and risk of crashing the game). This can often have interesting effects because hitting a goblin with 996 bars of lead at extreme speeds is not good for the squishy bits. The cannon gains its name from its creator.

''' Difficulty:''' excessive, lots of time in menus and loading per shot, but really ((Fun))

''' Usefulness:''' medium to low. The same trick can be used to move large amounts of items via minecart, but ultimately the QBC is excessive for even the HFS.

==Redesign the fortress==
And when we say "redesign", we mean completely replanning and rebuilding the entire fortress, from scratch. Ever thought about a cool thing that you could add to your fortress, but can't because a critical area(such as the dining room, general-purpose stockpile, central workshop area etc.) are in the way? Did you start the fortress by building the most critical areas in the first available spot? Well, now is a good time to get rid of that! For added effects, put the sleeping areas especially close to the booze stockpile so that dwarves are always happy!

'''Difficulty:''' Varies depending on the size of the fortress.

'''Usefulness:''' Varies depending on how you carry it out, a.k.a. the efficiency of the new organization.

==Rehabilitation centre==
Had any problems with dwarves charging brainlessly towards the enemy, getting slaughtered, and then starting a tantrum spiral that will destroy your fortress? Turn your prison into a luxurious room full of things that make dwarves happy. Add artifact furniture, beds, a booze stockpile, chains made of gold (or anything valuable,) a waterfall, creatures in cages, etc. Hopefully they will return to society as a happy, productive dwarf.

'''Difficulty:''' Low-Medium. Acquiring valuable items and setting up the waterfall can be annoying sometimes. Also you need guards to actually put them in jail. And it can be a real pain when those ungrateful sobs destroy the nice furniture you give them.

'''Usefulness:''' High. A tantrum spiral can quickly turn a productive fort of 200+ dwarves into a rioting fortress inhabited by a bunch of insane, miserable dwarves who spend their time punching people and breaking furniture. Don't let it happen to you.

* MegaDwarfBonus: Points for making every other dwarf drink water and sleep on cheap beds.

==Road of the damned==
Create a giant channel filled with spike traps, 10 tiles wide and going all the way from your fort to the map edge. Pave it over with crystal glass so traders can get that foreboding feeling that'll make them seal the deal without bargaining too hard!

'''Difficulty:''' Low-mid, depending on the rarity of crystal glass.

'''Usefulness:'''Low. The same as a normal road.

* Bonus: Spike a goblin on every trap!
* Megabonus: Spike traders who annoy you on the traps!

==Roof of the world==
Sick of having your dwarves vomit all the time when they go out to retrieve loot or lumber? Despair no more! Build an almost-infinitely tall tower, and then put a floor on the highest level, spanning the entire map. For extra kicks, make a mechanism that will crash the entire thing upon the heads of the one goblin horde that manages to get through all your other deathtraps.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Very grueling.

'''Usefulness:''' Low, but potentially fortress-saving. (see above)

==Sectorized world==
Divide the world edges into multiple sectors and then gate access to each one separately. This allows you to protect your fortress from sieges whilst keeping access to most of the outside world and allowing most traders into and out of the fortress (those unfortunate enough to enter the world from the same direction as the siegers may be screwed, of course). For bonus points, build separate gateable access routes for each sector. For further bonus points, design your fortress so that you can simultaneously allow access to traders ''at the same time'' as siegers are exposed to your defensive mechanisms.

'''Difficulty:''' Low, unless you allow separate access routes for each sector in which case high.

'''Usefulness:''' Moderate, increasing with each bonus you fill. Mostly for those who want to build the best possible defenses. Can also double as a means of easily trapping wild animals.

==Self-contained vampire-based factory==
Take advantage of the independence of vampires by building a self-contained factory. The best industries are those that require no special raw materials-- a factory containing both a magma glass furnace and a sand tile, for instance, would work well, as would a clay industry, but if you're feeling ambitious, consider building a vampire into your [[giant cave spider|GCS]] [[silk farm]]-- if you happen to have scored an [[undead]] GCS, your vampire won't even spook! You can treat your factory as a piggy bank to be broken into as needed, or for perfect fire-and-forget action, build a dropping [[User:Vasiln/Undump|undump]] into the factory, and the vampire will deliver the output to your front door.

'''Difficulty:''' The only hard part is getting yourself a [[vampire]].

'''Usefulness:''' Depends on how many green glass blocks you plan on using.

==Sapient zoo==
Start by creating a [[zoo]] containing at least one of every [INTELLIGENT] and [CAN_SPEAK] creature
including [[humans]], [[elves]], [[goblin]]s and [[kobold]]s.

*Bonus: include a berserk dwarf in cage

'''Difficulty:''' Easy for some, Hard for others

'''Usefulness:''' None, really, a place for dwarves to throw a [[party]].

==Self-destruct lever==
A mechanism that, for example, could flood your fort with magma, or release a trapped megabeast. For bonus points, build the whole fort on a single [[support]].

'''Difficulty:''' Very high. Extremely fun.

'''Usefulness:''' Could serve as kind of a last revenge on a goblin siege, but also highly amusing. If done properly it can make reclaim easier.

* DorfBonus: Make it have a timer before your fortress self-destructs. You can do this with a water channel, or if you're particularly technical, make a [[Computing|seven segment display]].
** For bonus Dwarfy-ness, make the timer be the depth number of the magma or water that will actually trigger your fortress' destruction.
* Bonus: Build your fortress high above ground, connect the fortress to a roof through just one support and have the system, when activated, drop the whole construction into the magma sea, destroying the whole thing permanently.
* FunBonus: use the lever to drop the fortress off a pillar while simultaneously opening the [[hidden fun stuff]], preferably in a whole lot of places.
*ExtraFunBonus: do as may of these bonuses as you please (as long as they still function together) AND unleash a whole lot of dwarves throwing tantrums near the lever when you wish to set the fun things off.

==Shark catcher==
Capture of [[Bull shark|sharks]] or [[Carp|other]], [[Sturgeon|dangerous fish]] achieved by making an artificial bay, filling it with [[Cage trap|cage traps]], opening the floodgate to the sea or river and some sort of drainage system, likely pumps and/or floodgates.

'''Difficulty''': Low to Medium as drowning while setting up is very possible with bad planning.

'''Usefulness''': Low, purely aesthetic, but very cool to have a shark infested moat (Potentially kills invaders).

==Silk farming==
{{main|Silk farming}}
Capture a web-slinger (generally a [[giant cave spider]]) and build a farm to efficiently harvest its [[silk]].

'''Difficulty''': Low to Medium; the hardest part is generally catching the web-spinner.

'''Usefulness''': Medium to High. Provides an endless supply of potentially-valuable [[silk]] cloth and rapidly [[cross-training|cross-trains]] [[weaver]]s.

==Steamed vegetables==
Make a pot and drop <s>elves</s> vegetables in from about three levels up. This makes it so the vegetables do not <s>run</s> get overcooked. Proceed to bask the vegetables in [[steam]].

'''Difficulty''': Medium. Can be annoying to boil some water.

'''Usefulness''': Great way to make friends with the merchants.

*MegaDwarfBonus: Add <s>goblins</s> seasoning.
*ArmokDoubleBonus: Use [[magma mist]].
*DwarfBonus: feed any vegetables you did not steam to your dear friends, the [[Demon|clowns]].

==Swimming pool==
{{main|Swimming#Learning/Teaching swimming|l1=Swimming § Learning/Teaching swimming}}
It's a reservoir that fills to 4/7 exactly. Station soldiers inside, lock them in, and fill. This way they gain [[swimming]] skill.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. It's just a pair of reservoirs.

'''Usefulness:''' The swimming skill is only slightly useful. This is most useful if the entrance to your fort has narrow walkways/moats surrounded by water, and you station your soldiers there. It does help gain attributes though. Though if you utilize a '''H'''ydraulic '''E'''levation and '''L'''owering '''P'''latform, this is a priceless necessity.

==Swimming track==
{{main|Swimming#Minecart_training|l1=Swimming § Minecart_training}}

[[Image:Swim track 0.png|thumb|right|250px|A large swimming track]]

A [[minecart]] ride that trains [[swimming]] safely and automatically.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Minecart tracks can be fiddly, and adding a non-traversable depth of water makes any mistakes more difficult to fix.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. The swimming skill is only slightly useful, but it does provide [[cross-training]] for attribute gains.

==Tower of Death-Struction==

Have you ever wondered, "What would it take to make my [[Siege|friends]] all [[Gravity|fall]] at once into a pit of [[Trap|fun times]] while also not risking failure?" Elementary, my aspiring architect -- [[Fun|THE TOWER OF DEATH-STRUCTION]]!

Step 1: Build a tower with a [[bridge]], to allow for non-lethal access to the fortress. Build the tower roughly 25-30 blocks high, though higher towers tend to result in roughly equivalent amounts of [[Fun]]. The access bridge should be linked to a lever, to close it like a standard gate.

Step 2: Build a thinner tower 20 blocks away, for maximum bridge length. Any number of middle towers can be constructed, though one is recommended.

Step 3: Build another tower, one that can be ascended by [[Goblin|curious friends]]. Fill it with cage traps, to thin out the number of [[Troll|friends]] to take up space on the bridge.

Step 4: Build two bridges on either side of the skybridge, to trap attackers on the skybridge.

Step 5: Hook up the skybridges to one lever, and the trap bridge to another.

Once this is done, just wait for a [[Siege|surprise party]] to be thrown for you. Close the access bridge, forcing the [[Goblin|visitors]] to path onto it. Trap them, and when the time looks right...

'''Pull the lever, Kronk!'''

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate to hard. If all of your dwarves have cave adaptation, the construction might take a lot longer to complete. As well, the cost of floors and traps alone will mean that just acquiring the materials will need its own [[Stupid Dwarf Trick|Stupid Dwarf Trick]].

'''Usefulness:''' Low to high, depending on how well you use it. If you forget to open the access gate, you might find your dwarves trapped inside the tower, or even worse, they may run up to the bridge to fight and meet a [[Gravity|bad time]]. Also, the goblin corpses piling up in the spike pit might cause extra [[Miasma|fun]] depending on how regularly you take care of it. If done correctly, this tower might become the most efficient and effective defense against all problems that one could possibly ask for.

*Bonus: Build enough middle towers to build a bridge path long enough to trap an entire siege and drop them onto spikes below.
*SuperBonus: Build the towers above a river.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Build the towers above a lava pit.
*SuperMegaDwarfBonus: Build the towers above a ticket straight to[[HFS|the circus]].
*ArmokBonus: Build the towers out of [[Slade]] (Note: This should be impossible, so if you do it...))
*SuperMegaUltraHardcoreDwarvenMasterpieceArtifactBonus: Build the fortress at the top of the tower that the goblins have to try to get to.

==Underground forest==
{{main|Tree farming}}
Break into an underground cavern, make some muddy floors over a big area and wait.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium - need to dig out a suitably large area, then find a way of introducing water to the area and subsequently draining or evaporating it.

'''Usefulness:''' Depends on size (bigger is better) as well as proximity to wood stockpiles. A tree farm outside the caverns can grow trees from all 3 layers, and you'll never have to worry about hostile creatures threatening your wood cutters.

==Underground perpetual motion power plant==
Combine with a use for the power and you either have an awesome setup, or a ticking time bomb.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Maintaining the correct water level is annoying difficult at times. Note: Incredibly easy with an aquifer.

'''Usefulness:''' Depends on size of plant and what it's connected to. Also useful as a puzzle for adventurers.

==Underwater statue room==
A simple room filled with statues that just also happens to be flooded. Simply dig a room near to a water source smooth and engrave the walls and floors then fill with statues. Dig a tunnel to the water source and a separate escape route. seal both off with floodgates pull the levers in the right order and bam! underwater statue room. For added effect make the meeting room a room directly above with a glass floor.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Absolutely positively none.

*Bonus: Build it on area with trees and shrubs; make walls from ice or use windows; fill it with fish and merfolk; now you'll get a big aquarium
*Note: It doesn't count if you accidentally flood your fortress and wind up with one of these. It does count if one of your nobles has an unfortunate accident in their sculpture garden.

==U.R.I.S.T. artificial intelligence==
Basically, a dwarf in a bunker that controls your fortress. Being that there are no supercomputers in DF at the moment, we'll have to use the closest substitute, a dwarf. Seal your dwarf in a room full of levers that activate various floodgates, bridges, doors, hatch covers, traps, etc. Make sure this room has no exits or entrances, but it needs a luxurious bedroom and dining area, and you must include a chute for dropping in <s>food</s> biomass and <s>alcohol</s> coolant fluid. Profile the levers so that they can only be used by the A.I. dwarf.

It would be a good idea to make the system into two rooms. The food/drink/bed room and the lever room. Should you need to add more levers, you can lock the A.I. dwarf outside the lever room and have your mechanics set up more levers without interacting with or releasing the A.I.

You can make the lodging room suited for the particular dwarf by adding furniture made from their favorite materials, and smoothing and engraving everything. Use quantum stockpiling to give them 10+ years of food and drink. Make sure the A.I. is unable to communicate with other dwarves. His/her mood must not be affected by the deaths of the walking meat-bags who tried to befriend him/her.

In order to ensure that your A.I. doesn't find sleep interfering with crucial lever pulling, you might consider incorporating an alarm clock. If a goblin siege turns up on your doorstep, a single external lever to dump 7/7 of water on the sleeping A.I. might well save your fortress (and is so much cooler than having backup levers in your meeting hall).

You must also make a snazzy/lame acronym name for your AI, here are some examples:
*A.R.M.O.K. - '''A'''ll-'''R'''eaching '''M'''achine '''O'''f '''K'''illing
*A.S.S. - '''A'''lmost-autonomous '''S'''ystems '''S'''elector
*C.A.T. - '''C'''reepy '''A'''utonomous '''T'''echnology
*D.E.E.P.E.R. - '''D'''warf of '''E'''ngineering the '''E'''ldritch and '''P'''ractical '''E'''xploitation of '''R'''esources''
*D.I.E.D. - '''D'''edicated '''I'''rrigation and '''E'''verything else '''D'''warf(s)
*D.O.M.E.S. - '''D'''warf '''O'''perated '''M'''echanics and '''E'''ngineering '''S'''ystem
*D.O.R.F. - '''D'''oes '''O'''rders '''R'''ather '''F'''ast
*D.O.S. - '''D'''warf '''O'''perating '''S'''ystem
*D.W.A.R.F. - '''D'''rains '''W'''ater '''A'''nd '''R'''ecruits '''F'''armers
*G.L.A.D.O.S. - '''G'''enetic '''L'''ifeform '''A'''nd '''D'''warf '''O'''perating '''S'''ystem
*H.A.L. - '''H'''airy '''A'''lternate '''L'''ifeform
*M.A.G.M.A. - '''M'''assively '''A'''lcoholic '''G'''ear-'''M'''achine '''A'''ssembly
*N.O.B.L.E. - '''N'''arcissistic '''O'''bnoxious '''B'''oastful '''L'''aughable '''E'''xcrement
*P.O.T.A.T.O. - '''P'''ossibly '''O'''rganic '''T'''echnically '''A'''live '''T'''rash '''O'''mitted
*U.R.I.S.T. - '''U'''nderground '''R'''easonably '''I'''ntelligent '''S'''ettlement '''T'''echnologist
*V.A.C.A.T.E.D. - '''V'''ampire '''A'''ssisted '''C'''omputerized '''A'''ssembly '''T'''errorizes '''E'''xtra-'''D'''warves
*V.O.D.A.P.H.O.N.E. - '''V'''ampire '''O'''perated '''D'''efence '''A'''pparatus, '''P'''erpetrating '''H'''arm '''O'''f '''N'''efarious '''E'''ntities (See Bonus for more information)


'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Setting up all the levers and lodgings can be a micromanagement hassle. Further research is required as to how well the A.I. will fit into a dwarven economy.

'''Usefulness:''' High. Having a dwarf dedicated to pulling levers will ensure that they are pulled on time. Additionally, you will have a constantly-ecstatic dwarf who is virtually invulnerable to all threats. Should your fortress be slaughtered by invaders or drowned by flooding or tantrum spiraled, your fortress will be preserved until more migrants arrive, or the AI runs out of food.

Bonus: Make the A.I. dwarf a vampire. Vampires don't need food, alcohol, or sleep and cannot age, which makes them perfect for the job. As an added bonus, keeping a vampire in this way will make your fortress completely indestructible, as sealing him in will prevent the possibility of the vampire of being killed in combat or from a syndrome, while keeping the vampire from making friends he will inevitably outlive will prevent him from going insane. (It also ensures that the bloodsucker won't use any of your dwarves as a midnight snack.) NOTE: Vampires may still go insane without any blood. Might be worth considering adding on a 3rd "feeding chamber" where you assign an unfortunate victim to sleep whenever the vampire gets hungry.

===D.O.S.T.N.G.O.S.P.===

Dwarven Organic Switch Toggle, Neutered Gastrectomied Overpersistent Sober Prisoner. Goblins have several advantages over dwarves in the lever pulling department: they live forever, do not breed or tantrum, and need not eat, drink, or sleep. Seal one or more goblins in your supercomputer complex, and use their predictable pathing in combination with instantly lockable doors and pressure plates to make dwarven lever pulling a thing of an older, less advanced era.

Also known by several product names:
*G.O.B.L.I.N.A.T.O.R. - '''G'''oblin '''O'''perated '''B'''astion of '''L'''ogic to '''I'''nfalliably '''N'''eutralize '''A'''ntiquated '''T'''ypes of '''O'''perational '''R'''egimes
*N.G.O.K.A.N.G. - '''N'''efarious '''G'''oblin '''O'''f '''K'''illing '''A'''nd '''N'''eedless '''G'''riping
*S.T.O.Z.U. - '''S'''ecret '''T'''echnological '''O'''perative who '''Z'''aps '''U'''nruly Nobles

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. While goblin pressure plate runners require more space than dwarven lever pullers, once their room is set up, it's done, and easily copied for the next one. With only one goblin, you'll need a pressure plate for every possible combination of lever states, but it's easy to add more goblins instead.

'''Usefulness:''' High. Instant response time (<50 ticks is possible) can make lever worries a thing of the past. The D.O.S.T.N.G.O.S.P. requires absolutely no maintenance once set up. Unlike with the U.R.I.S.Ts of the previous generation, modern POW-based computing is never held hostage to eating, drinking, or breaks. Stay tuned for the next-generation C.A.C.A.M.E.!

==Vomitorium==
[[Image:Vomit_Trail.png‎|thumb|right|Vomitoria: preventing cave adaptation since [[23a:Vomit|23a]].]]

Prevents [[cave adaptation]]. It's like the greenhouse, only instead of a farm, it's a [[meeting hall]] or [[barracks]]. Since you can't build [[table]]s or [[bed]]s outside, build the room and [[channel]] down to it. Variant: above-ground statue garden or zoo.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Make sure to wall the pit in, or it will become very [[fun]] once [[goblin]] archers become involved.

Bonus: Make an ACTUAL Vomitorium for this - Build a [[meeting hall]] with a [[grate]]d floor. Let [[cave adaptation]] set in, then open the place up for the most extravagant and lavish of parties every 3~4 years! Those will be some Armok grade hangovers though....

==Water tower==
This functions much like real life: Lifting water above ground level creates pressure, allowing buried pipes to deliver water to any elevation below the top of the tower. This is smarter, faster, and cheaper than a map-spanning raised aqueduct. A pump stack at the river, raising water into a sealed, pressurized U-bend, can deliver large volumes of water to whatever level you want, very quickly.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. No harder than any other pump stack to design, but high pressure can amplify minor errors into abandon-worthy disasters. You could conceivably divert the river into your fort. Be sure to make an off-switch.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Once the pump stack is operating, you no longer need to be anywhere near your water source.

==Watervator==
By creating a vertical "'''H'''ydraulic '''E'''levation and '''L'''owering '''P'''latform" chamber, or HELP (so named for the cries of the passenger dwarf) with lever controlled water levels, you can move a dwarf up several z-levels without any stairs. All it takes is the dwarf's ability to swim up to the surface of the water to breathe.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Moderate possibility of Fun by way of flooding your fortress. Any dwarves that can't swim will instead experience Fun when using the Watervator. The actual construction time and resource usage is very low. Using the Watervator often leads to unhappy thoughts about drowning

'''Usefulness:''' Low to Medium. The Watervator requires manual micromanaging, while stairs do not. On the other hand, it can be used to create a pathway that most <s>Dwarves</s> enemies will simply be unable to use. Those that can would still be doing so at great risk of drowning or falling to their death. It is recommend that with the exception of the entrance you use stairs.

*Bonus: Utilize vampires (who can't drown).
*MegaDwarfBonus: Utilize trained fish.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Engineer it so that it performs a full cycle on one activation of a pressure plate and include that pressure plate as a part of the patrol route, then create a reverse Watervator and also include it as a part of same patrol route, so that your militia automatically uses it to get in and out the fortress.

==Werewolf clock==
The changing of the werewolf is the most reliable indicator of the passing of seasons. For precisely one day per full moon, he will go berserk and trigger standard pressure plates.

'''Difficulty:''' You will get a were sooner or later. Getting him pitted in the right spot without havoc is the hard part.

'''Usefulness:''' Low.

*Bonus: Make the werewolf do most of the work himself.

==Zombie thunderdome==
Embark in a [[surroundings#Evil|reanimating]] biome in the current version (preferably savage as well), find or dig a deep pit, and dump any unused (non-dorf) corpses and butchery products into it. They will animate and begin to walk around, providing you with the endless entertainment afforded by watching horse hair walk. Make sure the pit is deep enough not to scare your dwarves!

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Keeping your fort safe from the threat of animated beak dog beaks is worth any price. However, [[DF2012:Defense guide|there may be better things]] [[DF2012:Mega construction|to do with your time]].

*Bonus: Set up a series of [[bridge|defenses]] that drop invaders into the pit.
*DwarfBonus: Set up a series of bridges and walls that flings invaders into the pit.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Drop a Megabeast into the pit and watch it do battle with multiple layers of undead.
*CavernFunBonus: Channel the bottom into a cavern and let your zombies hunt [[forgotten beast|the wonderful creatures there]].
**BonusFunBonus: Let them hunt [[Demon|Clowns]] as well.
*ZombieDwarfBonus: Ignore the suggestion above and dump dwarven corpses in anyway.

==Zombie shooting gallery==

In a reanimating biome, build a holding room for your undead, wall it off with fortifications. In the adjacent (accessible) area, build an archery range and order your archery squads to train there. Your marksdwarves will go to their scheduled archery training and whenever a zombie is raised, they'll switch focus from the boring old archery target and instead shoot down the undead. Once the zombies are dead, they'll return to regular shooting practice until the corpses rise again. The raised corpses cannot attack through fortifications and thus cause no unhappy thoughts from seeing them, but will spook haulers trying to collect errant socks from the shooting range.

A viable (if finicky) alternative to a reanimating biome could be a [[necromancer]]. This has the benefit of being more controllable, but comes with the threat of [[intelligent undead]] and their abilities. Most would be relatively harmless or a minor inconvenience, but some are potentially lethal to your dwarves. Whether or not this is a downside depends on how many corpses you have available to restock the gallery.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. The difficulty lies in finding a source of permanent undead, the actual construction is trivial.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. This setup significantly increases the skill gain from bolts used by training dwarves, since every bolt shot at a zombie counts as combat action, giving much more experience. The scheme works without any supervision once set up.

{{Category|Design}}
[[ru:Stupid dwarf trick]]

Jumping spider man

2022-06-27T17:53:59Z

IceWorm: Clarified the number of arms the creature has and removed copyrighted image that alsopresents the creature in a potentially misleading way by showing 2 pairs of arms rather than 3

{{Quality|Superior|05:02, 17 May 2015 (UTC)}}
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'''Jumping spider men''' are [[animal people]] variants of the common [[jumping spider]], who can inhabit most [[savage]] [[biome]]s. They spawn in groups of 1-3 individuals and are generally content to keep to themselves, but may pick fights if provoked. In terms of size, they are a little over half the weight of the average [[dwarf]].

Like other savage animal people, jumping spider men can join [[civilization]]s, become [[historical figure]]s, appear as [[visitor]]s and be playable in [[adventurer mode]]. They feel no fear or [[No Pain|pain]] and [[No Stun|can't be stunned]], and their three pairs of arms allow them to carry multiple [[weapon]]s and [[shield]]s at once.

Some dwarves [[Preferences|like]] jumping spider men for their ''striking appearance'' and their ''ability to leap''.

{{D for Dwarf}}
Why don't YOU guess what goes here? Guess. Just guess.

Incidentally, the ASCII character 'j' looks like a person jumping forwards!

It is currently unknown whether jumping spider women throw tea parties or hold bake sales, and no known dwarf knows whether they have pusspuss.

{{Translation| dwarven = mâtzang sethal udos | elvish = efami thepani onino | goblin = stoxus utes ngorûg | human = itni azoc abo}}

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