Immortality

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Immortality in Dwarf Fortress refers to any creature that will not die by the result of old age. Immortality can be inherent to a species, or acquired via a variety of different methods. Note that immortal creatures can still be killed by traditional methods.

Inherent immortality

The following creatures are inherently immortal, and thus will never die of old age in an unmodded game:

• Elves
• Goblins
• Semi-megabeasts, like minotaurs or ettins
• Megabeasts, including dragons and hydras
• All randomized titans and forgotten beasts
• Some other fantasy creatures, like nightwings and satyrs

All of these creatures lack the [MAXAGE:#:#] tag in their species file, granting them their immortality.

Acquired immortality

Dwarf Fortress has several methods by which a creature might acquire immortality. Each of these has accompanying effects (that may or may not be desirable), and multiple can effect the same creature. These are:

• Becoming undead, via mist. This is slightly different from other methods, and includes a non-optional hostility to all things living
• Becoming a vampire
• Becoming a werebeast
• Becoming a necromancer

These conditions each have their own limitations, which can be found on their respective pages.

Fortress mode

Immortality, as it applies to Fortress mode, is far from necessary. After all, it is a very small percentage of fortresses that last long enough for death by age to become an issue, and your fortress will be most concerned with removing the undying condition of most immortals it will encounter. Still, it can be useful to acquire immortals for your fortress for one purpose or another.

The easiest method, by far, is to receive a vampire in a migrant wave. After you've successfully discerned and separated your vampire, you may now have an immortal meat shield watchdwarf, lever puller, or super-soldier.

Acquiring a werebeast for your fortress is more difficult, and less sustainable, but still with its uses. Werebeasts of the same species will not attack each other, and the condition increases your soldiers' survivability dramatically - all wounds are healed fully upon transformation. Infecting a permanently crippled dwarf may be similarly beneficial. As long as you're careful to keep the infected separate from the rest of your fortress, they can make an excellent asset.

Currently, undead are not a practical choice due to their unending hatred of the living, and necromancers will not join your fortress.

Adventure mode

Acquiring immortality in Adventure mode is a more straightforward task than in Fortress Mode, and can ensure your character's survival in legends long beyond their [MAXAGE:#:#].

• To acquire vampirism, one needs simply drink the blood of a (preferably recently-deceased) vampire.
• To become a necromancer, you must steal and read something containing the "secrets of life and death" from a necromancer's tower. Their slab is a guarantee, but there's probably books with the secrets lying around as well. You need at least Novice Reader.
• To become a werebeast, one must be bitten by said werebeast. The bite must come into contact with your flesh and you won't turn on the night you were infected.
• To become a mist zombie/husk/thrall (same thing), you must walk into a cloud of contaminating fog/dust/mist that induces huskifcation. Probably wise to expose a companion to a cloud first in order to make sure it doesn't give you something else.

It is very much worth noting that these can stack in several ways. One can be both a vampire and necromancer, or werebeast and necromancer, but not both a vampire and werebeast. Finally, a vampire, werebeast, necromancer, or acceptable combination thereof can become a mist zombie, but a mist zombie cannot become a vampire or werebeast.

Notes

• Somewhat counterintuitively, ghosts of deceased dwarves can and will die of old age, and thus are not immortal

"Immortality" in other Languages Dwarven: azoth Elvish: liwere Goblin: buspmu Human: camu