Editing 23a:Tantrum

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A '''tantrum''' describes the actions of a dwarf who momentarily goes out of control, throwing things, breaking things, punching nearby dwarves, and generally causing trouble.  In unlucky cases, this can cause the loss of valued items, or the injury or death of bystanders.  [[Justice]] will often fall upon a dwarf who has caused damage to body or property.

Dwarves will tantrum if they are at the "very unhappy" level of happiness or worse. This can be due to a long series of substandard food, drink, shelter, and general living conditions, or a sudden and acute change brought on by the death of a [[friend]], [[spouse|family]] member, or favourite [[pet]], the loss of a [[masterpiece]], or other extreme, negative experience. Viewing a dwarf's [[Personality trait|profile]] ( {{k|v}}, {{k|p}}, {{k|z}}, {{k|Enter}} ), their [[thought]]s will usually spell out their grievances in the form of good/bad thoughts.

==Mechanics==
Tantrums only occur when a dwarf is "Miserable", the lowest possible state of happiness. In this state, a dwarf has a 1/1000 chance each frame (about 70% chance per in-game day) of throwing a tantrum (unless it is already in the middle of a tantrum). Each time a dwarf throws a tantrum, each previous tantrum provides a 1% chance of instead driving the dwarf [[insane]]. Once a dwarf becomes happy again (at least to be no longer Miserable), it has a 1/1000 chance each frame of forgetting one of its previous tantrums, making it less likely to go insane.

==Tantrum Spiral==
A tantrum from one dwarf can often trigger tantrums in others -- this is known as a '''tantrum chain''', or, especially if it grows out of control and threatens the fortress as a whole, a '''tantrum spiral'''.  If any dwarf throws a tantrum that cannot be explained by a personal loss, '''it should be taken as a warning.''' When this happens, it often signifies that the ''other'' dwarves are unhappy -- and if they aren't already, they probably/possibly will be soon.

In more mature fortresses, tantrums have been known to have particularly nasty results. In [[Main:Boatmurdered|extreme cases]], a chain of tantrums can bring a fortress to its metaphorical knees. Chains don't occur particularly often, but when they do, they are extraordinarily hard to stop.

They generally play out something like this:

:Dwarf A throws a tantrum, and punches Dwarf B.
:A recovers happily, but B throws a tantrum and smashes the butcher's workshop to bits.
:The butcher, C, tantrums and destroys the table of the closest noble, D.
:D tantrums, starting fights with three other dwarves--A, C, and E.
:All of ''them'' tantrum, and C is taken into custody.
:E gets busy and smacks B. Meanwhile, C is arrested and executed by the [[hammerer]].
:C's friends, F, G, H, I, J, ''and K,'' all tantrum and do other nasty things.
:Everybody eventually tantrums and the fortress production grinds to a halt.
:Everybody starves, throws themselves into the magma river, or otherwise dies.

:* [[What's the easiest way to check dwarves happiness|Ways to check a dwarf's happiness]]

Beware that it is very much possible for a tantruming dwarf to destroy the [[bridge]] he is standing on, potentially causing him to [[Swimmer#Drowning|drown]], [[Magma|burn up]], or fall into the [[chasm]].  Loss of close [[friend]]s can, naturally, lead to more tantrums in any who knew them.

{{Category|Dwarves}}
{{Category|Thoughts}}