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Main Page/Quote/list

2022-05-12T20:18:48Z

Flarn2006:

<noinclude>

{{D for Dwarf}}

This is the list of quotes which appear at the top of the wiki's [[Main Page]]. Many of them are musings from the developer notes, while others are forum posts made by ''DF'' players or simply anonymous game-related statements. Feel free to add any quotes you find particularly amusing or interesting.

To add a quote to this list, place it on its own line above the last line.
#{{#rreplace:</noinclude>
"Didn't you read the manual? He he he he... the manual... ..." --[[Toady One]]
"[B]oats are the enemy of tiles. And tiles are the enemy of boats." --[[Toady One]]
"I went through and fixed a few places where forbidden/on fire weren't being respected for next time. Burning milkable creatures were still a problem for example." --[[Toady One]]
The cyclops I was quested to kill had a thousand year history of badassery, and all of that without the leg it lost in the Year 3 (a dwarf bit it off... I should probably deal with that). --[[Toady One]]
"Stopped people from giving quests to kill themselves." --[[Toady One]]
"Got rid of world gen crash during succession after [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdQ3JDLlmPI death of prolific long-standing position holders with inbred descendants]" --[[Toady One]]
"Sieging humans brought some war polar bears, and one of them started a camp fire. Highly trained!" --[[Toady One]]
"There was a typo in the siegers' campfire code. When the fires went out, so did the game." --[[Toady One]]
"Dwarven children kidnapped and incorporated into goblin society might sh... shave." -- [[Toady One]]
You can't yet strangle people with the exposed guts, though I suppose that's now within reach. -- [[Toady One]]
"I had to leave just before I tested the dwarf with the boiling gold blood." -- [[Toady One|Toady the Great One]]
There was kind of a violent explosion of boiling human blood when I was testing a human vs a magma man in the arena... it was a little weird, but I guess that's okay. -- [[Toady One]]
The zombies in a necromancer's tower became suspicious after the necromancer failed to age -- [[Toady One]]
I'd have to look back to see if it wants the physical or metaphysical id on the corpse. -- [[Toady One]]
I also got started on jumping. My first jump was off by a factor of 100, so I flew against a cliff and blew apart. I'm still working on it. -- [[Toady One]]
The king of my dwarves appointed a visiting merchant's yak as the general of the army while I was trading. -- [[Toady One]]
Most of yesterday I spent trying to be robbed by bandits, but they kept looking away from me and forgetting I was there. -- [[Toady One]]
Today's success was to have a crying mother spit on me and call me a murderer. -- [[Toady One]]
Stopped dwarves from trying to clean their own missing or internal body parts. --[[Toady One]]
Stopped zombies from interrupting your sleep to ask if they can help you with something. -- [[Toady One]]
"Stopped aerial births." -- [[Toady One]]
I had a dwarven hero try to kill a bronze colossus seven times, and each time he lost.... After the third duel, he began worshipping his enemy. -- [[Toady One]]
I also grabbed somebody's exposed guts and did the only thing you can do with them currently, which is pinch them. -- [[Toady One]]
The dabbling surgeon moved between repairing the compound fracture and trying to stop bleeding from malpractice. -- [[Toady One]]
The poor thing died with the message "<name> has condensed." -- [[Toady One]]
In addition, Atheli devoured three cows, four horses, five mules, a donkey, six dogs, two cats, and a rhesus macaque and fox while tormenting the elves. -- [[Toady One]]
The titan was given a position in their pantheon, though it would still show up every few years to kick down somebody's house. -- [[Toady One]]
Large animals can put an unskilled [[gelder]] in the hospital. --[[Toady One]]
I have my little invisible help-wanted ads for [the dwarves] to look through now, followed by a little invisible pick-best-applicants procedure. --[[Toady One]]
It seems I've just delivered you into the arms of crashing and despair. --[[Toady One]]
[[Scamps]] added two lines of code today. They didn't compile. --[[Toady One]]
The crash happened when the night creature tried to come up with things to say to potential shoppers. --[[Toady One]]
Stopped cats from dying of alcohol poisoning after walking over damp tavern floors and cleaning themselves. --[[Toady One]]
I filled my fortress's temple with statues and tantruming dwarves to test out the desecration code. -- [[Toady One]]
These secret agents are overdoing it... "What can you tell me about yourself?" "Me? Who's that? I don't know myself." -- [[Toady One]]
There's a cost to this movement, and the cost is, 'how much do I value my blood? -- [[Toady One]]
It's still a shock. People are playing a text game. That's weird. -- [[Toady One]]
An impressionable child, she inherited the goblin ethics of valuing power over others and her personal dream is to take over the world. I'm sure it'll be fine. -- [[Toady One]]
I've got a fort that has an export industry centered entirely around little commemorative dacite figurines of the starting seven dwarves in different poses. Eventually we'll have to make the merchants more discerning -- [[Toady One]]
"If a sieging army wants to talk, there's an initial petition to arrange a parley, which is not delivered physically -- they hang back outside in relative safety, since you people have a tendency to drop magma on things." -- [[Toady One]]
My imprisoned expedition leader just walked home while still considered a prisoner due to some erroneous travel code exclusive to position holders. -- [[Toady One]]
If your vision of dwarves is less about crafting in the mountains, and more about a lone dwarf descending from the hills to attack a village with a pack of a dozen hounds, your vision is now a reality. That's how I tested it, anyway. Five of the dogs were struck down, but the humans will now think twice about whatever it was they were thinking about, that's for sure. -- [[Toady One]]
Uzol had orders, though, and he followed them to the letter. He broke into the temple and brought me back the relic... now I guess I have a save if I want to test being invaded by angry humans. -- [[Toady One]]
"...go to reclaim artifacts that were either stolen by kobolds or something, or maybe weren't yours to begin with, and you can be bad dwarves. Start some shit." -- [[Toady One]]
Some uncommon situations have become hard to debug with a test adventurer, so world debug mode can now manifest the cursor as an adventurer. Lots of "Hello. My name is Manifestation. Why are you traveling?" today. They don't notice the cursor human is clothing-free yet. -- [[Toady One]]
I used my debug power to manifest as the Manifestation, holding the quest crossbow, which I immediately handed over. When I asked the quester about it, he said "An unknown creature has given an unknown creature <correct artifact name>. I don't care one way or another." -- [[Toady One]]
Animals no longer become distracted from being unable to drink if they've experienced trauma, or from being unable to worship gods they shouldn't have been worshiping in the first place... -- [[Toady One]]
Dropping a boulder on somebody and then leaving my dwarves unattended outside with nothing to do for a year resulted in tantrums, depression and oblivious wandering, so it seems to be working (...) I wasn't aware of their relationship status when the boulder fell; that's just how it turned out, sadly. -- [[Toady One]]
Goblins are meant to die violent deaths. -- [[Toady One]][http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=1104.msg14899#msg14899]
I have some good saves I can look at and so forth, so hopefully I can pick some decent numbers if they are a problem, and if the numbers are fine, focus just on the ridiculous "scary teeth" part of it. Although I guess teeth are scary sometimes, but it takes like a whole horror movie to build up to why, and these are just random troll teeth. -- [[Toady One]]
Insurrections were such a problem in sites that I had to turn them off for your fortress's holdings; we'll get back to that later. It wasn't even the insurrections, really; the dwarves were bailing on the occupation immediately because they were afraid of insurrections. -- [[Toady One]]
After producing three notable poems, Zicab was murdered by a goblin armorer in the pits (who was later devoured by a giant lion, so that has a happy ending.) -- [[Toady One]]
Artuk soon gave up on fighting, and became a poet like her father and grandmother, moving again to the goblin pits, where apparently all poetry in this world is written. -- [[Toady One]]
For instance, a human trading company called the Present Hall was wildly successful trading various leathers and bones for crafting, and eventually had enough clout to open a branch warehouse inside a dwarf fortress for the first time. Can't resist that draltha leather. -- [[Toady One]]
This turned out to be a strategic error, as two short years later, a forgotten beast obliterated the fortress, the warehouse, and killed everyone inside. So, what's the correct response? Close the destroyed branch? No, no, you stimulate the (non-existent) economy by hiring local. Forgotten beast, you're the new (ruined) warehouse administrator, congratulations! -- [[Toady One]]
I've mainly been 'consolidating gains' this week (that is, finding horrible bugs and wondering how anything worked in the first place.) -- [[Toady One]]
He was imprisoned in a dwarf fortress for 20 years. He might have escaped, but a hydra came and ate him and everybody else. -- [[Toady One]]
I did have to fix a bug where the human and dwarven allies also ate the dead if the elves led the attack. -- [[Toady One]]
I'm not actually sure why he didn't try to start a zombie horde of his own instead, but this is okay. -- [[Toady One]]
Necromancers can pet their zombie animals too, and the living can try too if they are foolish. Hmm, I think a necromancer might also be able to pet their zombie humanoids, due to how it does the detection. -- [[Toady One]]
I went to a shrine, rolled a tin icosahedral die and it was a bad roll and I was cursed to be a snowy owl for a week. So I flew up to a nearby rooftop and pondered tangents. -- [[Toady One]]
I intentionally accepted a petition to establish a temple for the ten worshippers from the Cult of Cats, and then ignored it for an entire year. The game announced that the agreement had been abandoned, and one of my fisherdwarves that belonged to the religion cancelled their job in dismay. -- [[Toady One]]
Now-corrected highlights include the game getting confused about who owned the tomb after a mummy came back from the dead, leading to the mummy's zombies sieging themselves, and two dwarven spies diligently maintaining their enemy cover identities even when they came to live in the player's fort, confusing the local soldiers and starting civil wars. -- [[Toady One]]
Fixed crash involving stressed out wilderness creatures wanting to complain to priests. -- [[Toady One]]
Ha ha, MAJOR_CURSE occurs 13 times in the code, and was the first usage hint added. MAJOR_BLESSING does not occur. Poor dwarves. -- [[Toady One]]
There was a brief moment in DF history where armor had hair, swords whistled and elf arrows exploded wooden spikes inside of people. Someday we'll get back there. It's scheduled! -- [[Toady One]]
Giant rats are classic beings, of course. We also have large rats since it felt like there needed to be extra size gradations for ratdom. -- [[Toady One]]
The platypus has poisonous spurs, as in real life, which can cause painful swelling. Perhaps your fortress would benefit by allowing a platypus person adventurer to become a resident monster slayer? -- [[Toady One]]
Generally, the large monsters should be able to do larger things. Just squishing entire bodies, or even groups of dwarves all at once. Squish. -- [[Toady One]]
The were-capybara is only one of the myriad lunatic monsters that terrorize the living. -- [[ThreeToe]]
I want you to visualize the future. Toady and I are in the Bay 12 office somewhere in the woods west of Seattle. I, Threetoe, am poring over our notes, preparing for a presentation I'm giving in a couple days. Toady is slaving away at his computer, stopping every now and then to yell at [[Scamps]] after the little punk scratches his exposed elbow. -- [[ThreeToe]]
If I had to pick a bird to apply to this situation, it wouldn’t be the phoenix, because nothing exploded. -- [[ThreeToe]][http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=179293]
I can't put my finger on it. Something about this [[Fire|‼]]Cat tallow roast[[Fire|‼]] tastes funny.
Toady withdraws from society. Toady has begun a [[Strange mood|mysterious]] [[Dwarf Fortress|construction]]!
Let us never forget the last words of Inod the Stoker, "Aaah! Gorillas!"
[[Children|Newborn]] Zuglar Baldnessgranite prefers to consume Gorilla. A sure sign of his unparalleled strength!
[http://www.somethingawful.com/d/video-game-article/duke-nukem-image.php In an unrelated article] - I had no idea elephants could bounce that high!
[[Toady]] looses a roaring laughter, [[Fey|fell]] and terrible! Toady has butchered a spammer!
The critical question is this: do elf bones yield more crossbow bolts than the average number of bolts necessary to kill an elf?
"''Dwarf Fortress''" ... "Like chess, only with short people that can catch on [[fire]] like [[clothing|rags]] soaked in tar, and lots of [[booze]]." ... "Like chess."
''Dwarf Fortress'' has taught me that all the world's problems would be substantially reduced had our parent civilizations never minted more than four stacks of [[coins]].
[[Booze]] does all the work in forts. Dwarves are just booze exoskeletons.
My unconscious and bleeding [[mayor]] just mandated the construction of some goods.
I can just imagine a [[wagon]] throwing a tantrum and tossing all its contents at people.
Döbesh Udosdeb has been ecstatic lately. He was forced to eat a friend to survive. He enjoyed a truly decadent meal.
Iron [[screw pump]] exercise equipment. Pump iron and get superdwarvenly strong!
The violence, aggression, pain, madness, sadness of the ASCII characters never ceases to amaze me...
Wait, you're MAKING animals? —''Torak'' At this moment, yes, I am smelting cows. —''Spiders Everywhere''
(Compared to real-world years) Dwarven years are shorter. --Sowelu Very fitting to dwarves, I must add. --Sean Mirrsen
[[Magma]] is not a [[water]] source. Dwarves can't drink it or supply it to their wounded. --AlienChickenPie
"You have been processed! Go forth, now, and edit!" --[[User:Savok|Savok]]
"What happened in 1048?" "Jreengus occurred."
Making rock instruments isn't nearly as awesome as it sounds --Shandrunn
[FIREIMMUNE] makes them think that [[magma]] is safe but doesn't actually make them fireproof. This can lead to some rather interesting results.
Endok Cerolneth has begun a mysterious construction! Endok Cerolneth, Planter has given birth to a girl.
"Incendia sunt socia vestra, armaque vestra, fortesque Montis Domi." "Magma is your ally, your weapon, the strength of the Mountain-Home." --Eita
"...And I simply doubt we have a need for 7 fishery workers. On top of that, a second soap maker. The hell IS soap?!" --Zero
"This is a terrible pun. All craftsdwarfship is of the poorest quality." - [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=21449.msg239558#msg239558 Soup_alex]
"The default mental state of a dwarf is madness. Sanity is a temporary condition - a PRIVILEGE you have to EARN!" --[[User:Fedor|Fedor]]
"Why get normal cats? I buy lolcats in the embark screen. Much more fun to engrave about them." --Yanlin
"''Dwarf Fortress'' taught me it was okay to make a suit out of my neighbour's skin, as long as I gave it a name."
"Hey, what does that flashing red and orange text mean? What? Why is there smoke everywhere? Oh god, are those BABIES on fire?" --[[User:StrawberryBunny|StrawberryBunny]]
"It's never 'just a game' when you're losing." --George Carlin (if he played ''Dwarf Fortress'')
Not that building a bridge out of soap makes much sense to begin with anyway.
Note that while you cannot milk larger animals yourself, civilizations can still milk animals "off screen" for your benefit.
Tosid Idenarzes likes tentacle demons for their corrupt intentions. "There! Now we've covered all of the seven deadly sins."
"Litast Idenudesh, baby, is throwing a tantrum! Inod Litastrilem, Mayor, has lost consciousness. Inod Litastrilem, Mayor, has bled to death."
{{bugl|416|cat=nocat}}: Rain kills everything it lands on
Bug 000780: [adventure mode][crime] - town guard becomes a criminal after getting an adventurer's stolen weapon stuck in his body
"Udib Toblumaid, Axedwarf, cancels sparring in Barracks: too insane." Ben jamm1n
Kosoth Cilobonol, Bone Carver cancels Drink: Unconscious.
Sizir the Snail of Bait is a deity of The Fresh Towers. Sizir most often takes the form of a female dwarf and is associated with jealousy.
Sibrek Tanbim likes Limestone, Tin, Smoky Quartz, the color crimson, bolts, scepters, anvils, and rock blocks for their lack of quality levels.
There are 5 articles in category Lore: [[Armok]], [[Cave adaptation]], [[Elephant]], [[Philosopher]], and [[Vomit]].
There is nothing to catch in the magma pipe.
Bug 000563 [dwarf mode][justice] - mayor ordered himself beaten for failing to make crystal glass objects
If cow cheese is made from cow's milk, what is dwarven cheese made of?
Bugs are opportunities to cause unprecedented amounts of destruction. --Zorgn
"You know, Urist, you've got a mind like an +Ash Trap+."--[[User:Destor|Destor]]
'''Zander J:''' "Is there a way to stop immigration without setting the population cap?" '''Yanlin:''' "Magma."
An animal trainer just suddenly stopped working and hid himself in a workshop. He's probably going to make a wardog out of rock and goblin skulls.
Bug 000597 [creatures] - flying creatures give birth in midair, leading to tragedy.
'''Urdim Kutamèrith, Pump Operator, has created Rakusttenshed, a Glumprong blowgun!''' Urdim, you are a freaking idiot.
<Forkez> I don't get the game, but I do get that tunnels flooded with water is a bad thing.
"If you give a dwarf a fire, he will be warm for a night. If you set a dwarf on fire, he will be warm for the rest of his life."
"Since the Elves said they won't let me cut down any trees, I bought 50 of their logs instead."
Do not make a trading race that breathes fire. I REPEAT, DON'T!! EVER!!
''Dwarf Fortress'': Because burning elves are funny.
The carp has drowned.
There's one thing a dwarf needs, and that's stones. And alcohol... and magma... but mainly stones.
"I swear to god once I saw a dwarf who was labeled as being Strong, Very Agile, Very Tough... and ''Clean''. But it was probably just a bad dream."
Bug 000871 [projectiles] - babies fall to death when born on stairs
Bug 001031 [adventure mode][inventory] - a merchant pack animal caught at an old dwarf site during adv mode was wearing a full set of clothes
"[[Magma]] solves everything. [[Fire]] just ruins the [[booze]]." -sonerohi
Look, there are roving clumps of sentient lava outside, ... This isn't going to get better. --PTTG??
...and the only surviving dwarf is a noble who has mandated the construction of crowns and clear glass items to the empty halls. --PTTG??
Adil Idenlocun is conflicted: "When possible he prefers to consume purring maggot, Dwarven ale and Dwarven syrup. He absolutely detests purring maggots."
Urdim Zatinod has been quite content lately. She has lost an annoying friend to tragedy lately.
I added two levers. One opens the magma. The other sets free all the cats. --Someone in Headshoots
"As Manbaspecut, Human Merchant is stricken by melancholy!" "Muskox has gone stark raving mad!" I think something is wrong with the human caravan...
"Somebody needs to build an active volcano inside a fortress inside an active volcano." --Boksi
It has stats. It can be killed.
Bug 000432 [dwarf mode][items] - Bones pop out of coffins.
Thanks. I wish I had known that about three forts ago.
If I ''remembered'' what the damn lever did, I'd ''pull'' it! <...pulls lever anyway...>
Sarvesh Ralrubal likes olivine, olivine and olivine.
"So let me get this straight. We managed to destroy a dwarven civilization while only managing a single town??"
Kara Mase, the Glory of Amusing: Engraved on the wall is an image of a dwarf and an elf. The dwarf is committing a depraved act on the elf.
Once saw a water skin with red beryl spikes. I still wonder how you would drink from that.
Watching a kobold thief be chased by batman is very satisfying.
Kol Tölunimush has been ecstatic lately. He killed somebody by accident while sparring recently. He took joy in slaughter lately. He has lost a lover to tragedy lately. He has witnessed death. He had a satisfying sparring session recently.
Mew? Chop!
"If ''Dwarf Fortress'' geology is to be believed, then the Earth's core is made of microcline and demons."
'They're firing arrows at us! Quickly! Raise the babies!!' -Urdim McSquadLeader, mother of 8
It started raining, then all my dwarves outside started bleeding to death. On inspection their upper bodies were missing.
It seems that a fresh recruit given a crossbow and a quiver with ammo in it will opt to run up to the enemy and bash them with the crossbow.
Bug introduced in the latest version: Fire men can have their flames severed. These flames then just lie around the place.
You stab Iron Man in the right leg from behind with your adamantine short sword, breaking away a piece of the gas and shattering the iron! The Beak Dog is caught in a burst of Iron Man gas! Beak Dog vomits into the Iron Man gas.
Urist McDairy, Milker cancels store item in stockpile: handling dangerous creature
Ildomushat, Fish Cleaner, cancels Clean Self: Could not find path.
Losing is [[Fun]]!!! --The motto of ''Dwarf Fortress''
I hate walking under dwarven archways. You never know how many mechanized crossbows they have hidden underneath those damn things.
"Bibo ergo sum. I drink, therefore I am." -- Dwarven Philosopher
This is a menacing iron spike. This object menaces with spikes of iron.
Kogsak is a deity of The Helpful Diamond. Kogsak most often takes the form of a dwarf and is associated with fortresses.
The Forgotten Beast pushes The Wrestler in the head, bruising the muscle, driving the skull through the brain, and tearing apart the brain! The Wrestler has been struck down!
Goblin Chops at the Diagnostician in the right leg, damaging the muscle! Urist McHouse is Unconscious!
Limul Itebdesis, trader has been Possessed. Limul Itebdesis, trader has created Stodir Isethlolor, a Mortgage-Backed Security!
The heart wound ended up being a guy getting shot in the arm, dropping his crossbow, running over to the opposing line, and jabbing his stack of bolts into somebody's chest.
Giant mole has stolen a preserved prepared giant mole lung! ''"Hey, I want my grandfather back!"''
"You must construct additional barrels!" - [[User:Speed112]]
All I want is a major river next to a volcano with flux, sand and bituminous coal.
Do not taunt magma.
I bury my pets in gold coffins and my nobles in wood coffins. Pets before people, I say.--KingAuggie
[the cavern] is basically like the surface, except underground
The fortress' randomly generated name was "Greatestfailure".
"You stab the Human Thresher in the mouth with your large copper dagger, tearing the left cheek!" "The large copper dagger has lodged firmly in the wound!"
"The best way to determine how dangerous a fortress is, is to make only one dwarf with the burial job, and nothing else: the lower his social skills, the more dangerous the fortress is - [[User:Rhenaya|Rhenaya]]"
"Before retiring in the evening, heed my words and give yourself to volcanos" - Ted Usmokatra, law-giver
Upon coming of age, about 8, Urist McYoung made an artifact, became mayor and promptly mandated the construction of slade goods.
''Dwarf Fortress'': You've already lost.
A sober fortress makes even a mental hospital seem like a pleasant place to live.
A typical Dwarven nightmare consists of running out of booze or getting a beard lopped off in an accident.
There are two ways of dealing with goblins in a tree. One is by marksdwarves. The other is by flooding the world with magma.
Portal and ''Dwarf Fortress'' share a mystical trend. It is !!Science!!.
The only time I ever saw the stupid thing fly, was to cross the aqueduct, to the beer hall. -- Fredd
(On artifacts) I got a flint door, called The Noiseless Odors. -- Nyxalinth
So apparently she became queen before becoming a twilight freak wife. Fascinating. -- Samuel
Got a few barrels of beetle ichor and duck blood, gave some pig cheese in exchange. Made a present of three coffins to the queen.
The Sasquatch corpse has lodged firmly in the wound! The goblin has been struck down!
[22:57:46] <Dik_> How do I wash myself up from blood? [23:06:20] <Dik_> How the fuck do I get out of the river?
No, you're not getting that leg back. In fact, that creature over there is going to pick your leg up and beat you to death with it. You won't respawn.
My refuse pile just woke up and ate my dwarves, who in turn got up themselves and started eating the other dwarves.
{{bugl|2264|cat=nocat}} - Adv. Mode travel (near oceans) teleports player underground and turns them into an underground creature
{{bugl|5921|cat=nocat}} - Biting dwarves in minecarts infinitely increases combat range
Fort flooded. So that's what an aquifer is. -- Exelixi
Axedwarf looks surprised by the ferocity of Spearmasters onslaught. Spearmaster charges at Axedwarf. Spearmaster stabs axedwarf in the left eye with his +Adamantine spear+, lightly tapping the target.
In 4, the Castle of Fortune of the Tombs of Gold constructed the Hell of Taxing in Entrancedcrafts.
Mukca: Seek this place and kill Cenäth Certaindrives the giant. Knowing no mercy, Cenäth stole Fisher berry wine!
We shall build a tower so tall, we will mine the very stars themselves!
Ingish Såkzulbomrek, Miner cancels Report Crime: Dangerous terrain.
You have struck limonite! Oddom Nishdanman, Furnace Operator cancels Smelt Limonite Ore: needs limonite.
{{bugl|4753|cat=nocat}} [Creatures]: Rodent men have no skin
{{bugl|0040|cat=nocat}} [Dwarf Mode -- Jobs, Items]: "Dwarf cancels Make Cloth Item: Needs 10000 plant cloth"
{{bugl|5531|cat=nocat}} [Creatures]: Legless animal men can kick
{{bugl|1588|cat=nocat}} [Creatures]: Creature with 1 eye and 2 eyelids
"This is my reward for not letting us all die. I have to deal with the Nobility." -- Captain Ironblood, the mayor of Nist Akath
I'd like to think they bonded over their sinister ancestors (or the strange childhood coincidence of having younger siblings gobbled up by different werebuffalo in the same year).
They just walk around without a head until they realize that they should suffocate. -- Urist Da Vinci
You monster! Killing too many children at once will make everyone sad. You need to kill them slowly so nobody notices.
Dwarven... "Child Care": It's like regular childcare, except with more dogs, and less care.
You: How have things been? Tulon Tunlikot, Mayor: Well, let's see... we've got the army on the march, beasts, bandits and bone-chilling horror.
{{bugl|6722|cat=nocat}}: Manager climbs a tree instead of going to office when management jobs are assigned
{{bugl|5971|cat=nocat}}: Fat dwarves eating causes lag
{{bugl|6817|cat=nocat}}: "Behold, mortal. I am a diving being."
It was inevitable.
Weresquirrel Ceru Uzushimdo has come! A large Squirrel twisted into humanoid form. It is crazed for blood and flesh. Its eyes glow orange. Its sandy taupe hair is very curly. Now you will know why you fear the night.
I don't think the Elves in my DF game are too happy... I've modded them so that their body temperature causes nearby trees to burst into flames. --Evil One
''Dwarf Fortress'': Teaching methods of genocide against merpeople because their bones are worth 6000{{db}}.
No one has gone missing or died. The year is still young.
From release notes 0.40.11: Stopped overuse of plant structure tag causing people to say they preferred to eat trees
The game actually has a first-person message about being scuttled, just in case you should happen to be playing as a wagon. --Halfling
Engraved on the wall is a well-designed image of a dwarf and hamsters. The dwarf is surrounded by the hamsters. The dwarf looks terrified.
Spring is coming, oh no, prepare the coffins! --Garath
Welcome to ''Dwarf Fortress''. Where peaceful death of old age is something nobody sees coming. --Sirbug
"I died." "The Weather looks to be fine today." "I heard that I died."
Large mobs of groundhogs can still kill things they wouldn't normally kill.
You punch Human 2 in the right eye from behind with your left hand and the injured part explodes into gore! Human 2: Greetings. My name is Human 2.
Chopping down the tree [is] effective, insofar as you do not care whether the dwarves live or die.
Knowing no mercy, [http://imgur.com/hoGQZoX Nikot] stole a cherry! This vile fiend even murdered Mafi Fanggorge!
Obok Kelzokum is interested near his own fine [[Bed]]. "I was near to my own Bed. How incredibly interesting!"
Wait, wait, wait. Why the hell do you have a raven stockpile? --[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=108371.msg3235825#msg3235825 peskyninja]
You can modify chickens so that, instead of laying eggs, they lay ''live bees''. ''Dwarf Fortress'': crimes against nature simulator. --[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DwarfFortress TVTropes]
Ah well. Who knew the first Dwarf to go to space was a useless [[fisherdwarf]].
I launched 4 dwarves into the air with a bridge and only 3 came down.
If you are working with [[magma|central heating]], make sure the "hot" pipe and the "cold" pipe don't mix, or your heating system will likely not work as intended.
It's no longer called magma when it reaches the surface... and melts a hundred goblins.
Dwarves are like squirrels, but instead of acorns it's booze.
Carp are to be feared, worshipped, and roasted with magma.
It's easier to buy out a caravan than it is to take the time to shop.
I had a fortress where roughly 90% of the engravings were of buckets, buckets surrounded by dwarves, and buckets surrounded by screaming dwarves. --[http://dfstories.com/buckets/ taran]
Led Zanzustash dove into the rapids, and climbed out a day later. He had several injuries, some broken bones, and a missing finger, but he had done it: he saved a barrel of booze that was nearly destroyed (the baby died).
"In a time before time, I killed me." -Human with nothing else to [[Adventurer_mode#Talking|gossip]] about
There is currently a minor problem in that the veteran demons fighting in the corpse factory have failed to die in the 2 year battle and have become legendary unkillable gods of war. I may have misjudged this possible outcome. -- Loud Whispers
Added the Giant Adder to dwarven menu. --TheCrazyHamsteR
"What's the purpose of adding [[feather tree]]s to the game? To make good pillows", I think. --TheCrazyHamsteR
In a time before time, somebody attacked somebody.
''Dwarf Fortress'': [[Undead|Respawning after death]] is even more [[fun]].
"I tried to carve 'god hates this place' into the mountain. Unfortunately, Athlete's footnote got stuck in the 'a' of 'place' and starved to death"
The resulting party killed 20 dwarves, crippled 2 more and the remaining 9 managed to get along and have a nice party.
If your dwarves start melting or slugmen explode whenever it rains, then it's a good indication it's too hot. --UberNube
What you see as an increase in population, the surrounding beasts simply see as a more stable food supply. --Taupe, [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=144852.0/ DoomForests]
That's right, the undead ravens killed the entirety of the hidden fun stuff. --Loud Whispers
"Astesh Savotsazir, Stray Kitten (Tame) has adopted Ingish Rimtaruzol, Siege Engineer."
''Dwarf Fortress'', flinging dwarves into space using a drawbridge since 2006.
Sometimes the best trophy is your own head.
I like to think that the other pole [of the world] was destroyed by a dwarven experiment gone right. --GMDev
Unfortunately for Urist McDeadman, the budget no longer allowed for personal mausoleums for every dwarf, as had previously been standard.
Nil Aliscatten cancels make Charcoal: dangerous terrain.
A Kobold Thief has made off with +Kobold Cage+!
OH GOD I'M BEING EATEN BY A SNAIL, WHAT AN UNEXPECTED AND SORT OF IRONIC TWIST! --Max, [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=144852.0/ DoomForests]
"In the early spring of 500, the rain monster was struck down by the banshee of drought Scrapedrent in The Hellish Marshes."
Deler Kulinkeskal, Weaver is exhilarated after being attacked. "I was attacked. How exhilarating!"
I wonder how the elves can eat these... *licks a leaf*
Well, someone already managed to drink their sword.
How is my dining room possibly this full of badgers? -Skid
I just drafted a Llama into my army and it already killed a [[roc]] by itself. -Ashameron
{{bugl|8977|cat=nocat}} [Diplomacy] -- Merchant caravans get stuck in tree.
Each time a pile of wool becomes alive and attacks my dwarves I think it doesn't want to end as worn clothes. --TheCrazyHamsteR
Erith also gets kudos for killing a demon by eating it to death. --Loud Whispers
I (somehow) wield a marble coffin that I fill with the corpses of all I have slain (to make an already heavy object even heavier) in one hand, and the other holds a book made out of fucking platinum. The book can crush skulls, and the coffin grows ever stronger and now that it has a few dead dragons in it, it sends people flying a mile backwards to explode in a pile of gore. Gore which I then place into the coffin. -- Wwolin
Jump into a deep pit and let your body experience overwhelming kinetic energy. --TheCrazyHamsteR
The Herbalist has become enraged! Kadol Imushothil, Herbalist: "I got into an argument with Kol Kissrazors. I am so angry!"
Stozu Ägusnodub, Goblin Woodcutter (to Dang Kutsmobnozam, Goblin Diagnoser): "Not a half hour ago I attacked me."
Some migrants have arrived, despite the danger.
"Mestthos Savotsazir, baby, has been missing for weeks!" And the babysitter still got paid.
My miner gets scared by a ghost, climbs a tree, the ghost cuts off his arm, he's stuck in the tree, my woodcutter cuts down the tree, and then my miner is crippled for the rest of his life.
Guys seriously, no food in the library! I'm mainly talking to you Urist McDonothingbutdrinkmyboozeandeatmyfood!
Losing is fun they said, it's the whole point they said.
[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=15096.msg6724410#msg6724410 martinuzz] (on the election of his sole elven-citizen to the position of mayor): 'I think I just lost the game. EDIT: wow, just wow. Her only social skill is "Master Intimidator" all other social skills are dabbling. "ELECT ME OR I EAT YOU AND EXCRETE YOUR DIGESTED REMAINS ON MY ANCESTRAL TREE AS FERTILIZER"'
Zebna ámbekat Rashedezif Ethba, Werecoyote: *kills a dwarf* "Death... This is truly horrifying..." *kills another dwarf*
Spearman: Greetings. My name is Kakpoth. This servant of TRANS_NAME] greets you.
"ERMAHGAWD IM SO DRUNK" - Some sober human in my tavern
Human Farmer: Is that a weapon? What's going on?! Human Animal Caretaker (to Human Farmer): Just now Dur Leaderevens was slain by Olum Senserampaged the Fords of Passing.
Where did all of these chinchilla corpses come from?
Are bar brawls typically lethal? 15 dead already. --flabort
The mechanics and logistics of milking a kangaroo sound excruciatingly painful for everyone involved.
The Carpenter 'Jesus Christ' Thikutdesis and The Farmer 'Moses' Ezumethab have married!
In the early summer of 129, Ducim Stafftender married a hen.
OH GOD! THE BABIES ARE DEHYDRATING!
'David' Vabokkubuk felt euphoric due to inebriation.
I visited a town to kill a vampire with 98 kills. Every time I attempted to kill him he would run away and return after about 5 minutes. Every attempt caused locals to attack me and I ended up killing 12 people before getting my head impaled by a sword and died. The vampire was unharmed.
The mayor has made 9 mandates in a row requesting the construction of catapult parts. Now he is prohibiting the export of all catapult parts.
One of the children in my fortress became a legendary wood crafter due to a fey mood. He is also only 2 years old.
"Necromancy is sort of like Jaywalking. It's not illegal, just frowned upon." - [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=136384.1785 Dwarfy]
Urist McWimp, Hunter cancels Return Kill: Interrupted by a chinchilla.
Dear Urist McEngineer, If you become drowsy, please wait to finish constructing your hallway of large serrated disc death BEFORE you take a nap. Your bloody, gibbed corpse will be stowed away in the refuse stockpile. --bigjaredmonkey, in the "[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=63417.msg6961519#msg6961519 Note to Urist]" topic.
I once got sieged by an army of toads lead by a pyromancer. Not toadmen, not giant toads, but toads. The kind cats murder. -- [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=34430.msg6961973#msg6961973 Splint]
Giant cave toads may appear as mounts during a goblin attack, where they will happily swim their way into your fortress via any unprotected waterways. If the underwater path is short enough sometimes their goblin riders even survive the trip.
Is that npc humping a table?
Spill the intestines of your enemy, cut them off and keep as a stinking trophy. The smell makes you feel nausea? You are not even a half as nauseous as your victim is now.
a migrant with skills in surgery, butchery and bonecarving. i can see how thos skills suppliment each other. synergies --Scruffy, [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=116045.msg6027592;topicseen#msg6027592 !!DRUNK FORTRESS!!]
A Goblin Siege? Good, we were starting to run out of clothes.
Prepared food! What do you mean prepared food?! You mean you aren't content with squatting in a dank cavern gnawing on a cold uncooked mushroom?
A book called ''Into the Elf,'' sounds like a rip off of ''Fifty Shades of Gabbro.''
As a necromancer, I realize not many people try cocaine, most of those people reincarnate for that very reason.
{{bugl|9371|cat=nocat}} [Adventure Mode -- Eating/Drinking] The Human Pikeman Necromancer drinks the «≡steel toy hammer≡».
{{bugl|2484|cat=nocat}}: Eight-legged quadruped
{{bugl|9832|cat=nocat}}: Overuse of casesura and reversal in poetic forms
[Bug fix] Made gorlaks able to open doors, stopped desizing of their heads.
{{bugl|4681|cat=nocat}}: A dwarf with a [[Strange mood|fell mood]] grabbed a ghost. It didn't get the required materials, so it grabbed another one.
"You read Misconceptions About Reproduction." The written portion consists of a 69 page manual entitled Misconceptions About Reproduction, authored by Lali Mobblazes. It concerns the reproductive behavior of creatures. The writing is quite self-indulgent. Overall, the prose is not awful, but not very good either. --[https://youtu.be/OYnl4S10MTw?t=33m22s HUMAN ECHOES]
My adventurer found a horse. I knew you couldn't ride horses so I decided to attack it for its meat. {The horse hoof strikes Ehil Casketfrgrance in the head, and the severed part sails off in arc!}
Acik Citudubmith, Werewarthog: I have improved my wrestling. That was very satisfying! (...) The speardwarf stabs the werewarthog in the neck with her ({bismuth bronze spear}) and the severed part sails off in an arc! ~instant karma
Pre-alpha in-dev release. "Nobody on the DFHack team accepts any responsibility for anything that this program causes. It is liable to be very unstable." --japa
It is terrifying.
"Can you tell me where I can find me?" "I don't know, and I don't know anybody that could tell you."
While getting ground and pounded by a ranger, I seize him by the throat and place a chokehold, his response being to frantically punch and scratch me. Then, as we sit in a pool of our own blood frantically trying to kill one another, my opponent then looks me in the eyes and says: "Greetings. My name is Kamven Trustsystem. Let's not hurt anybody."
A horse just grabbed me by the nose with it's front leg and threw me. I wish I knew horse Judo...
Throwing a coat at an enemy tears their leg apart, bruising ligaments and tendons and forcing him to the ground, effectively doing more damage then if I had hacked him with an axe. Eh, seems legit.
Human 2 (to Human 1): I died. It was inevitable.
''Dwarf Fortress'' isn't ''Dwarf Fortress'' unless your Trade Depot is inexplicably covered in vomit
[[Tantrum]]: If you can't stand your life anymore, come for treatment to the elephants. [[Unfortunate accident|They'll gladly understand.]]
Gelu Blossomedstenches the Ripe Sucker of Sacks is a marsh titan. It is the only one of its kind. A great one-eyed six-legged ankylosaurid, it has an austere look about it. Its periwinkle scales are round and close-set. Beware its fire! Gelu is associated with water, plants, nature, muck and animals.
{{bugl|3299|cat=nocat}}: [Animal Populations] Blind cave bears have front toes on both front and rear feet
{{bugl|2790|cat=nocat}}: [Creatures] Alligators needlessly use specific toes
{{bugl|6498|cat=nocat}}: [Adventure Mode -- Conversation] Zombies start conversation with necromancer adventurer who tries to sleep in their house
[http://i.imgur.com/1A5Au.jpg You get used to it. I, I don't even see the ASCII. All I see is dwarf, *floodgate*, plump helmet spawn...]
{{bugl|9763|cat=nocat}} - [Dwarf Mode -- Immigration] Dwarf missing upper body, but still alive.
"I plan on breeding an entire race of subservient animal people, who will comprise the main workforce of my fortress (not to mention the military)." --[http://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/416gqb/eugenics_a_proposal_for_breeding_a_slave_race/ High_king_of_Numenor]
"Whenever I torture someone [in Adventure Mode], I like to 'slug' them. I remove their ears, nose, teeth, and tongue, and break both of their legs. I call it "slugging" because all they can do is crawl around on the floor and cry. Then I like to follow them around and talk to them about the weather." -- [http://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/2zilxr/the_treefondling_hippie_certainly_deserves_it/cpjoxa9/?context=1 paroonshark]
"My dorfs leave this world the way they came into it: naked, screaming, and on fire." -- [http://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/4ci1l8/ive_been_playing_the_best_game_in_the_world_for/d1iqlbg/?context=4 speedster217]
PROTIP: Make sure to melt all the fat off your body so fire-spewing enemies can't hurt you.
"I see no downside towards making your own child execution chamber." -- [http://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/43180m/roomcarnage_the_consequences_of_mourning_spoilers/czesj2t/?context=2 aidantheman18]
"I feel like in DF that beating an elf to death with his own infant is considered polite discussion." -- [http://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/4rlr6y/my_mayor_became_king_of_a_different_civilization/d52qn1s/ loercase]
"My mayor just punched 20 zombies to death" -- [http://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/61zadj/my_mayor_just_punched_20_zombies_to_death_he/ Madrawn]
"What's the easiest way to murder children?" -- [http://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/pveuj/whats_the_easiest_way_to_murder_children/ Russki]
"I like to play with my food, starting with the fingers, toes, lips, ears, teeth, eyes, nose, then just randomly stabbing them until they bleed out" -- [http://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/4b5lw8/bandits_controlling_hillocks/d16qkym/?context=10000 DwarfTower]
Death... I am not upset by this.
"I made a giant statue of a dog entirely out of dog soap. It took nearly 10 years." -- [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163866.msg7431473#msg7431473 Ironfang]
"A mix between Children of Men, City of Ember, and, uh, magma."
"Spearmaster stabs the Troglodyte in the left eyelid from behind with his -bronze spear-, tearing the skin!"
This is a stack of 20 masterfully prepared plump helmet roast. The ingredients are masterfully minced plump helmet, masterfully minced plump helmet, masterfully minced plump helmet and masterfully minced plump helmet.
Once you have entire squads of legendary axedwarves, the game changes. When a forgotten beast attacks your fortress, your first thought is: 'Ooh, we're gonna get some NICE bone bracelets outta this!'
"So I embark. Immediately upon unpausing, the wagon bursts into flames and kills one of my miners." --_Naptune_
{{bugl|9267|cat=nocat}}: Traders bring magma in bags
{{bugl|1701|cat=nocat}}: HFS Critters attempting to clean self
"Those rivers are out to get you. Why do you think you can't fast travel across them? Because it's an ambush!" -- [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=164558.msg7555694#msg7555694 Uzu Bash]
"Ok, so one of the merchants who does nothing in this fortress whatsoever is hunting, that's the one who's hunting, not the 50 hunters I have in the fortress but the useless merchant, of course." -[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaifrB5IrvGNPJmPeVOcqBA Kruggsmash].
"If a site with outcasts hiding in it is conquered, the outcasts are treated like members of the defending site. This can lead to expected things like sewer werebeasts getting crucified. However, it can also make a giant alligator flee the attacking army, wandering the wilderness for a few years before deciding to become a dancer and moving to the city. The giant alligator later remembered itself and went back to attacking villages."[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=145317.msg7472982#msg7472982 -TheFlame52]
"Now, Throw it in the pile and get back to work." [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaifrB5IrvGNPJmPeVOcqBA Kruggsmash]
"Horse is hopping up and down on your mutilated body. you are deceased."
"I went to a human town one day that had one of those open markets, and every one of the merchants there was a dingo man, and they are were all saying "In a time before time I attacked me." to every one around them." -- [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=164791.msg7554631#msg7554631 King Zultan]
“Still, I'm curious about just what exactly drives the cohesion and otherwise lack of dickery. Is a hatred of elves and love of mushrooms really enough? Could this be the foundation for world peace?” — [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=167881.msg7595536#msg7595536 Immortal-D]
apparently some of my children like to play inside the barracks, upon inspection they were all skilled axedwarves.
"And there they go to the capital, with their wagons full of Delersholid's balls" [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaifrB5IrvGNPJmPeVOcqBA -Kruggsmash]
I wish there were tags to follow certain materials so I can mod in that thing from Stranger Things
{{bugl|10350|cat=nocat}}: Horses have objects of worship
Meanwhile, bugs used as melee weapons sustain no wear at all, having tested this by using a live slug to punch a dwarf in the stomach long enough to make him explode. [http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=9920 - Bug Report #0009920]
{{bugl|8779|cat=nocat}}: Adventurer encounters naked, mute, hostile dwarven expedition leader
{{bugl|10485|cat=nocat}}: Dwarf recruit insane for 33 years standing around in the wilderness, formed friendship after insanity
"STEALTH WEREMAMMOTHS??!!" -- [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=141173.0 Dunamisdeos]
High-cheekbones kobold wrestler (to the high-voiced kobold spearman): Identify yourself! High-voiced kobold spearman (to the high-cheekbones kobold wrestler): Identify yourself! High-cheekbones kobold wrestler (to the high-voiced kobold spearman): Identify yourself!
You drink the lye. You feel really full. You drink the lye. It's too much, you might not be able to keep it down! You vomit. You drink the lye.
I have a fort that is now a mountainhome. The king "doesn't really care about the law".
Currently I am being attacked by a giant 3-eyed stick insect and a scaly, winged, blue snail. What an awesome game!
In a siege I stationed my marksdwarves at the top of my wall to fire out of the fortifications. Everything was going great until they decided it would be a good idea to jump OVER the fortifications, off the wall, and into the enemy axedwarves.
In the middle of a fight with a forgotten beast my axelord walked off to "Store Item in Stockpile".
I may or may not have entirely filled the cavern with water. . .
Hey! Why can't I trade right now? Where is my trader? Oh. Unconscious with last thought being "Euphoric after drinking". Hangover?
The dwarven baby has long clean-shaven sideburns and a very long mustache and prefers dwarven beer or ale.
The plum wood logs strikes the woodcutter in the left upper leg and the injured part is smashed into the body, an unrecognizable mess! An artery has been opened in the attack! The woodcutter slams into an obstacle!
No, that's disgusting.
There is a new King of Beasts, and its name is Badger. Tremble before it. -- Unintelligent
An ambush! Curse all friends of nature!
The last fortress I started under conditions this horrible ended with the last survivor going mad after a skeletal mandrill ate his pet kitten and going on a suicide charge into zombie elefants while naked and on fire.
"I got into an argument with a cat. That was very exhilarating!"
It is a blessing as much as it is depressing that you can drink your own tears.
"One time, a horde of Monkeys doomed my Dwarves by stealing their supplies in mass. They died that night."
"So I had my brewer go out to pick some fruits from the nearby trees to use for some quick booze production to kick start my newest fortress, but while he was standing on his stepladder he suddenly became thirsty. / I did whatever I could to try and save him, but he inevitably died of dehydration and then fell face-first into the ground off his stepladder." -Urist commenting on "Ladderbound".
"Dude, anything's possible with enough work, time, and lots of alcohol." -Dummy rambling about multiplayer.
"The saddest part about this game is that it was always inevitable." -Some Nerd
You attack the Obese Dwarven Child in the lower body with your *Iron War Hammer* but the attack glances away! Obese Dwarven Child: I feel so good!
\
Reg Abiriton enjoys carving buckets. He has carved an image of a bucket in hematite, an image of two buckets in obsidian, and an image of three buckets in sulphur.
Segfaults in under 1min. Extermination of Gencesh Anurlem the law-giver prevents it. The mad lad is wearing gabbro blocks x3, sweet pods [4], rotten creepy crawler remains, dimple cups [7] and an exceptional iron pipe section (may vary). [http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=10499 - Bug Report #0010499]
The Wereass Lara Rifayivu Enefilece has come! A Large ass twisted into humanoid form. It is crazed for blood and flesh. Its eyes glow mahogany. Its brown hair is unkempt. Now you will know why you fear the night.
"[…] The dwarf 'Pasal' Hatchedbody led the attack, and the defenders were led by a troll. […] The dwarf 'Pasal' Hatchedbody outmatched a troll with a cunning plan."
"Fucking SLAVES! Get your Beards Back here!" ''-[[Armok]] Upon being Chained and having his Adamantine stolen by dwarves.''
Playing a brown recluse spider man, boogeyman don't attack them. Decided to dance and they danced with me. They [http://imgur.com/a/yP9pdH4 think im a shit story teller]. -- [http://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/bgz7hd/i_found_out_why_there_called_boogeymen/ Sabata11792]
{{bugl|11106|cat=nocat}} [adventure mode][General] Adventurer suddenly turned into a chinchilla
{{bugl|11074|cat=nocat}} Infinitely dripping pets?
{{bugl|11095|cat=nocat}} Statue of Pet Sheep Shows Sheep Owning Dwarf
Related Historical Figures: Rope, object of worship
"We need more fatal beatings!" -Doxazo
"I've been wounded. No, that's not annoying." -Rakust Beradil
"I'm flooding my fortress because I've decided enough is enough. On the plus side, my mist generator is working now." -Doxazo
""I had a bath. I'm very content" (The dwarf who plugged an aquifer (11x11 plug)-- which event displaced so much water so suddenly, that it threw him into the air, had him briefly unconscious and left him stunned and with an injured leg.)"
There is nothing to catch in the volcano.
{{DFtext|A section of the cavern has collapsed!|4:1}} {{DFtext|The miner slams into an obstacle!|6:1}} {{DFtext|The two-legged rhino lizard Remains strikes the miner in the neck and the injured part is smashed into the body, an unrecognizable mass!|4:1}}
{{DFtext|Zasit Dastotamud, Diagnoser cancels Clean: Dangerous terrain|4:1}}
[https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/f2ivul/new_training_regime/ {{DFtext|The Cat is sparring.|3:1}}]
{{bugl|11333|cat=nocat}}: Cats can be interrogated.
This is a Silver Slab. All craftsmanship is of the highest quality. The slab reads: "I am Urist, once of the underworld. By Busla, I bind myself to this place."
"This is a dwarf. The dwarf is dead. The dwarf is also laughing." -Kruggsmash
{{bugl|11470|cat=nocat}}: Slow white stork woman causing mayor to be stuck in office
{{bugl|11481|cat=nocat}}: Dwarf eats mud left from mud man
{{bugl|10519|cat=nocat}}: (Almost) unkillable zombie made when raising corpse of curling hedgehog man
{{bugl|11490|cat=nocat}}: Visitors giving birth during visit leave their baby behind
'Beatitudo est perdere'
"I think bridges are a good murder weapon. Over 20 dead and also not a bad way to dispose of babbling lunatics."
Losing is fun, but frustration is not.
{{bugl|9486|cat=nocat}}: Building Destroyer visitors destroy the tavern
”'''Filth''' is one of the more obscure materials present within the game code. It comes in two varieties: solid brown and liquid yellow filth.” --this wiki on [[filth]], 2020-10-28.
"One thing right off the bat, we discovered immortality and literal reincarnation. Not sure how but cool."
"ya dun stole ma battly axe!"
"In the early spring of 38, The Fondled Demon accepted an offer of peace from the Chaste Skirts."
"This is one of those games that you have to get better at losing before you can get better at winning." [[User:Uzu Bash|Uzu Bash]] ([[User talk:Uzu Bash|talk]])
I had a number of long-term residents, but then a visiting poet turned into a werepanther and ate everybody. Such is life.
Embark with 3000 units of meat. ―{{bugl|4592}}
Dwarf Fortress: Where creatures of the night are nice enough to politely greet you before kicking you in the head and exploding it into gore.
Oh breachnig the volcano msfired completely. HOpe I idnt kill too many there.,... Still don't knww where my miners went. - Drunk Siquo
In the year 12, Afe Lizardsun slew the desert titan Oslo with a peach wood branch.
I think I might have broken something, because my dwarves are wearing gauntlets on their mouths.
The siege is broken! We are victorious!!!!! Also, the exterior of the fortress continues to burn.
I wish you the best of luck in retaining consciousness during the next 45 minutes or so..
I ''maaayyy'' have accidentally switched some tags and made dwarves bleed from the eyelids when they sweat. Oops.
[A]fter a short jog to the nearest monastery, I became a vampire after blaspheming the gods, and ran back to the ocean. [https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/ri48gu/migrur_throl_oceans_deep_the_strange_depths_the/]
I just bought out a chunk of a human caravan with wheelbarrows, and then a peasant gave birth in the mountain spring to a girl.
They may appear as mounts during a siege, though it's difficult to take an invader seriously when mounted upon a giant slug. —this wiki on [[Giant slug]]s
HIT YOU ELF TO PIECES WITH FIST. — ''Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal''

<noinclude>|(\n)|$1#}}</noinclude>

Template:DF2014 skills

2022-05-12T00:19:22Z

Flarn2006: Moved Alchemist to Unused

{{Navbox
| name = DF2014 skills
| title = [[Skill]]s
| state = {{{state|}}}
| basestyle = background-color: #d3e3e9;

| group1 = Miner {{Dwarf|7:0}}
| list1 = [[Miner]]

| group2 = [[Woodworker]] {{Dwarf|6:1}}
| list2 = [[Bowyer]]{{*}} [[Carpenter]]{{*}} [[Wood cutter]]

| group3 = [[Stoneworker]] {{Dwarf|7:1}}
| list3 = [[Engraver]]{{*}} [[Mason]]

| group4 = [[Ranger]] {{Dwarf|2:0}}
| list4 = [[Ambusher]]{{*}} [[Animal caretaker]]{{*}} [[Animal dissector]]{{*}} [[Animal trainer]]{{*}} [[Trapper]]

| group5 = [[Doctor]] {{Dwarf|5:0}}
| list5 = [[Bone doctor]]{{*}} [[Diagnostician]]{{*}} [[Surgeon]]{{*}} [[Suturer]]{{*}} [[Wound dresser]]

| group6 = [[Farmer]] {{Dwarf|6:0}}
| list6 = [[Beekeeper]]{{*}} [[Brewer]]{{*}} [[Butcher]]{{*}} [[Cheese maker]]{{*}} [[Cook]]{{*}} [[Dyer]]{{*}} [[Gelder]]{{*}} [[Grower]]{{*}} [[Herbalist]]{{*}} [[Lye maker]]{{*}} [[Milker]]{{*}} [[Miller]]{{*}} [[Potash maker]]{{*}} [[Presser]]{{*}} [[Shearer]]{{*}} [[Soaper]]{{*}} [[Spinner]]{{*}} [[Tanner]]{{*}} [[Thresher]]{{*}} [[Wood burner]]

| group7 = [[Fishery worker]] {{Dwarf|1:0}}
| list7 = [[Fish cleaner]]{{*}} [[Fish dissector]]{{*}} [[Fisherdwarf]]

| group8 = [[Metalsmith]] {{Dwarf|0:1}}
| list8 = [[Armorsmith]]{{*}} [[Furnace operator]]{{*}} [[Metal crafter]]{{*}} [[Blacksmith]]{{*}} [[Weaponsmith]]

| group9 = [[Jeweler]] {{Dwarf|2:1}}
| list9 = [[Gem cutter]]{{*}} [[Gem setter]]

| group10 = [[Craftsdwarf]] {{Dwarf|1:1}}
| list10 = [[Bookbinder]]{{*}} [[Bone carver]]{{*}} [[Clothier]]{{*}} [[Glassmaker]]{{*}} [[Glazer]]{{*}} [[Leatherworker]]{{*}} [[Papermaker]]{{*}} [[Potter]]{{*}} [[Stone crafter]]{{*}} [[Strand extractor]]{{*}} [[Wax worker]]{{*}} [[Weaver]]{{*}} [[Wood crafter]]

| group11 = [[Engineer]] {{Dwarf|4:1}}
| list11 = [[Mechanic]]{{*}} [[Pump operator]]{{*}} [[Siege engineer]]{{*}} [[Siege operator]]

| list12 = <hr>

| group13 = [[Administrator]] {{Dwarf|5:0}}
| list13 = [[Appraiser]]{{*}} [[Building designer]]{{*}} [[Organizer]]{{*}} [[Record keeper]]

| group14 = [[Military]] {{Dwarf|7:0|type=m}}
| list14 = {{Navbox|child
| basestyle = background-color: #d3e3e9;
| group1 = General
| list1 = [[Archery|Archer]]{{*}} [[Armor user]]{{*}} [[Biter]]{{*}} [[Dodger]]{{*}} [[Fighter]]{{*}} [[Kicker]]{{*}} [[Shield user]]{{*}} [[Striker]]{{*}} [[Wrestler]]

| group2 = Weapon
| list2 = [[Axeman]]{{*}} [[Blowgunner]]{{*}} [[Bowman]]{{*}} [[Crossbowman]]{{*}} [[Hammerman]]{{*}} [[Knife user]]{{*}} [[Lasher]]{{*}} [[Maceman]]{{*}} [[Misc. object user]]{{*}} [[Pikeman]]{{*}} [[Spearman]]{{*}} [[Swordsman]]{{*}} [[Thrower]]

| group3 = Other
| list3 = [[Discipline]]{{*}} [[Leader]]{{*}} [[Military tactics]]{{*}} [[Observer]]{{*}} [[Student]]{{*}} [[Teacher]]
}}

| group15 = [[Social skill|Social]] {{Dwarf|5:1}}
| list15 = {{Navbox|child
| basestyle = background-color: #d3e3e9;
| group1 = Broker
| list1 = [[Comedian]]{{*}} [[Conversationalist]]{{*}} [[Flatterer]]{{*}} [[Intimidator]]{{*}} [[Judge of intent]]{{*}} [[Liar]]{{*}} [[Negotiator]]{{*}} [[Persuader]]

| group2 = Other
| list2 = [[Concentration]]{{*}} [[Consoler]]{{*}} [[Pacifier]]
}}

| group16 = [[Performer|Performance]] {{Dwarf|5:0}}
| list16 = {{Navbox|child
| basestyle = background-color: #d3e3e9;
| group1 = Music
| list1 = [[Keyboardist]]{{*}} [[Musician]]{{*}} [[Percussionist]]{{*}} [[Singer]]{{*}} [[Stringed instrumentalist]]{{*}} [[Wind instrumentalist]]

| group2 = Poetry
| list2 = [[Poet]]

| group3 = Dance
| list3 = [[Dancer]]

| group4 = Storytelling
| list4 = [[Speaker]]
}}

| group17 = [[Scholar]] {{Dwarf|5:0}}
| list17 = [[Critical thinker]]{{*}} [[Logician]]{{*}} [[Mathematician]]{{*}} [[Astronomer]]{{*}} [[Chemist]]{{*}} [[Geographer]]{{*}} [[Optics engineer]]{{*}} [[Fluid engineer]]{{*}} [[Wordsmith]]{{*}} [[Writer]]

| list18 = <hr>

| group19 = Other/[[Peasant]] {{Dwarf|3:0}}
| list19 = [[Climber]]{{*}} [[Crutch-walker]]{{*}} [[Knapper]]{{*}} [[Reader]]{{*}} [[Rider]]{{*}} [[Schemer]]{{*}} [[Swimmer]]{{*}} [[Tracker]]

| group20 = Unused
| list20 = [[Alchemist]]{{*}} [[Balance]]{{*}} [[Coordination]]{{*}} [[Druid]]
}}<includeonly>{{Category|Skills}}{{interwiki|{{PAGENAME}}}}</includeonly><noinclude>[[Category:Navigation templates]]</noinclude>

DF2014:Kobolds

2022-05-11T01:15:15Z

Flarn2006: Redirected page to DF2014:Kobold

#REDIRECT [[DF2014:Kobold]]

Preferences

2022-05-07T00:59:00Z

Flarn2006: /* Value Considerations */ You can avoid it if you specify the image.

{{Quality|Superior|00:38, 8 May 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

[[File:preference_preview.png|thumb|450px|right|Thoughts and preferences of Kadôl Istbarmonom, a herbalist.]]
'''Preferences''' are [[material]]s, [[creature]]s, or objects described as being liked by a dwarf in their '[[thoughts and preferences]]' tab, accessible for example with {{k|u}}-{{k|v}}-{{k|enter}}.

== Possible objects of Affection or Revulsion ==
A given dwarf may display many, a few, or (theoretically) even none of these preferences.

Each unit's preferences consist of the following:

* Various materials:
** a random type of [[stone]]
** a random type of [[metal]]
** a random type of [[gem]]
** 1/5 chance of a random type of [[wood]]
** 1/7 chance of a random type of [[glass]] - green, clear, or crystal
** 1/3 chance of a random type of [[leather]]
** 1/7 chance of a random type of [[horn]]
** 1/7 chance of a random type of [[pearl]] (though this never actually occurs — see article for details)
** 1/7 chance of a random type of [[ivory]]
** 1/15 chance of a random decorative material - [[coral]] or [[amber]]
** 1/7 chance of a random type of [[bone]]
** 1/14 chance of a random type of [[shell]]
** 1/14 chance of a random type of [[silk]]
** 1/14 chance of a random type of [[yarn]]
** 1/7 chance of a random type of plant [[cloth]]
** 1/7 chance of a random type of [[paper]] or [[parchment]]
* 1/2 chance of a random [[color]]
* 1/5 chance of a random [[shape]]
* Various types of items:
** 1/3 chance of a random [[weapon]] (4/5) or [[ammo]] (1/5) (1% exotic)
** 1/3 chance of a random [[armor piece|piece of armor]] (1% exotic)
** 1/7 chance of a random piece of [[clothing]] (including [[backpack]]s or [[quiver]]s) (1% exotic)
** 1/3 chance of a random type of [[furniture]] - [[door]]s, [[floodgate]]s, [[bed]]s, [[chair]]s, [[window]]s, [[cage]]s, [[barrel]]s, [[table]]s, [[coffin]]s, [[statue]]s, [[box]]es, [[armor stand]]s, [[weapon rack]]s, [[cabinet]]s, [[bin]]s, [[hatch cover]]s, [[grate]]s, [[quern]]s, [[millstone]]s, [[traction bench]]es, or [[slab]]s
** 1/3 chance of a random craft - [[figurine]]s, [[Finished goods|amulets, scepters, crowns, rings, earrings, bracelets]], or large [[gem]]s
** 1/3 chance of a random miscellaneous item - [[catapult part]]s, [[ballista part]]s, a type of [[siege ammo]] (1% exotic), a [[trap component]] (1% exotic), [[coin]]s, [[anvil]]s, [[totem]]s (20% chance), [[chain]]s, [[flask]]s, [[goblet]]s, [[bucket]]s, [[animal trap]]s, an [[instrument]] (1% exotic), a [[toy]] (1% exotic), [[splint]]s, [[crutch]]es, or a [[tool]] (1% exotic)
* Various types of [[food]]:
** 1/2 chance of a random type of [[meat]]
** 1/3 chance of a random type of [[fish]]
** 1/10 chance of a random type of [[cheese]]
** 1/7 chance of a random type of edible [[plant]]
** a random type of [[alcohol]]
** 1/7 chance of a random cookable plant/creature [[extract]]
** 1/5 chance of a random cookable mill powder
** 1/7 chance of a random cookable plant [[seed]]
** 1/7 chance of a random cookable plant [[quarry bush|leaf]]
* Various [[creature]]s:
** 1/2 chance of a random [[domestic animal]]
** 1/2 chance of a random non-domestic [[creature]] with a {{token|PREFSTRING}} (excluding one's own race, [[wagon]]s, [[werebeast]]s, [[forgotten beast]]s, [[titan]]s, [[angel]]s, [[experiment]]s and unique [[demon]]s)
* detesting a random type of [[hateable]] vermin (which isn't already explicitly liked)
* 1/50 chance of a random type of [[tree]]
* 1/10 chance of a random type of [[plant]]
* 1/2 chance of a random [[poetic form]]
* 1/2 chance of a random [[musical form]]
* 1/2 chance of a random [[dance form]]

==Food/Work/Benefits to productivity==
{{old|v=0.47.05}}
Every dwarf will like at least one type of booze, and may like none to several food ingredients. Dwarves get happy thoughts from eating food and drinking booze they [[Preference|like]]; the meal's value can improve only those thoughts. There are 76 types of booze and hundreds, if not thousands, of types of food preferences. The difficulty in obtaining all types of booze or food means that it is practically impossible to satisfy the [[need]] to eat a good meal. {{bug|10262}} Note that it is possible to obtain all types of booze, especially if modding is used.

A dwarf's preferences (and disliked vermin) tend to feature in any artwork the dwarf makes, more often than subjects not listed in their profile. For example, a mason that likes [[cow]]s for their haunting moos and absolutely detests [[bat]]s, will make statues of both, presumably out of love for cows and horrified fascination for bats.

A dwarf working with a material they like - or creating items they like out of that material - will produce higher-[[quality]] goods. For example, a [[mechanic]] that likes olivine generally makes better [[olivine]] than [[granite]] mechanisms. This is most important during [[embark]], when individual personality profiles and skills can be best matched up according to your specifications. For example, make the dwarf that likes [[bed]]s your [[carpenter]] and the dwarf that likes gold your [[blacksmith]]. [[armorsmith|Urist McLikesbreastplates]] would be a good candidate for Armorsmith. This works less well later on with immigrants, as it is usually more advantageous to train up the great armorsmith than the novice armorsmith who likes steel.

The game is perfectly happy to give a creature a bad thought from not eating a favored food, even when said creature doesn't actually like anything.

==Value Considerations==
It has been noted that preferences have an effect on how dwarves perceive the value of a [[room]] and its [[furniture]], though the exact details are not yet known.

E.G: A mason who likes horses will often make statues of one or two horses, or even statues of themselves admiring horses. This can be great if the mason is chronically depressed: surround their bed with images they like, and they will be happier.

If your [[monarch]] absolutely detests large roaches, a ☼[[platinum]] [[statue]] of a [[large roach]]☼ in their [[bedroom]] will not count fully towards the noble's room value requirement (although they'll still admire it without complaining about the subject matter).{{cite rev|212039}} This problem can be avoided by carefully selecting the statue that is going to be built by e{{k|x}}panding the material selection menu.

Since images will feature both objects the worker likes and dislikes, engravings and other images featuring various vermin can only be avoided entirely by manually specifying images, but they're generally not frequent enough to cause notable problems.

==Nobles==

Nobles only give [[mandate]]s and [[demand]]s that accord with their preferences. For this reason, a good way to ameliorate the annoying effects of nobles is to nominate a [[baron]] who has no preferences for anything craftable. This baron won't issue any mandates or demands!

{{Category|Thoughts}}
[[ru:Preferences]]

DF2014 Talk:Adamantine

2022-05-06T16:16:06Z

Flarn2006: /* "Color Misconceptions" section */ new section

==Outdated Lore==

The lore regarding adamantine and semi-molten rock is very outdated. Vaults have not been a thing since v.0.34.11, and gods are actually implicit in the demons' escape. Anyone want to fix it? I'd do it, but I'm not good at lore alteration. [[User:Jwoodward48|Jwoodward48]] ([[User talk:Jwoodward48|talk]]) 21:17, 16 May 2016 (UTC)

== Why is it called candy? ==

Does anyone know why adamantine is referred to as 'candy'? I am guessing it is both because of the vivid color and to jive with the phrases 'circus', 'clown', etc.

In the ancient days of dwarf fortress people wanted to discuss adamantine and demons without having everyone who don't want to see them get the end game spoiled. [[Special:Contributions/173.69.6.151|173.69.6.151]] 02:12, 10 February 2019 (UTC)

== "Color Misconceptions" section ==

Am I correct in assuming this is a reference to Terraria? (even though the material in Terraria is called "adamanti'''t'''e") [[User:Flarn2006|Flarn2006]] ([[User talk:Flarn2006|talk]]) 16:16, 6 May 2022 (UTC)

Ice

2022-05-03T23:53:09Z

Flarn2006:

{{Quality|Exceptional|10:03, 8 May 2015 (UTC)}}
{{Mineral|name=Ice|tile=█|icon=•|color=3:0:1
|uses=
* [[Construction]]
* [[jeweler's workshop|Jewelry]]
|location=
* [[Glacier]]
* Frozen bodies of [[water]]
|properties={{Stonelookup/aux2|{{raw|DF2014:hardcoded_materials.txt|MATERIAL|WATER}}}}}}
{{av}}

'''Ice''' is frozen [[water]]. It appears as a light blue stone which can be found by mining through an ice wall (such as that created when a river freezes). Ice boulders and objects made of ice will melt after some time when exposed to warmer temperatures (such as [[Subterranean|below ground]]), giving it rather limited use; ice boulders can even melt while being carried by your dwarves, causing them to drop the item and resulting in a smear of water on the floor beneath them.

It is possible to build [[construction|constructions]] out of ice, even underground (provided your dwarves move quickly enough to finish construction before the ice melts). These constructions are then stable even as temperature rises. Pillars of ice walls can even be built within rooms that are later flooded with [[magma]] (though the walls become "warm", they will not melt).

Attempts to build underground [[workshop|workshops]], paved roads, or other non-construction [[building|buildings]] out of ice will usually result in the ice melting immediately, the message "The dwarves were unable to complete the [workshop_name]", and the workshop construction being canceled completely. Ice buildings can be constructed aboveground during freezing weather, though they will melt during the spring/summer thaw, or if their central tile is warmed (e.g. by fresh homeotherm [[corpse]]s in an ice [[butcher's shop]]).

Ice cannot be used to craft, nor is it possible to create [[door]]s, [[hatch]]es, and other crafts from it.

The game refers to ice boulders as "water". It does not appear in any stockpile options or the manager, so it cannot be moved by designating a stockpile, but rather by [[dump]]ing it. When an ice boulder melts underground, it becomes an item named "water" that differs from regular water in such fashion: it has no liquid level, does not leave mud when it evaporates, is cyan rather than blue, and dwarves eventually remove it with a "clean" job. Melted ice boulders cannot be used as a water source.

A boulder of ice is worth 3☼ if traded, and weighs 92Γ.

== Casting ice ==
[[File:ice_cubes.jpeg|thumb|250px|right|Stay cool.]]
[[Image:Icebridge.png|right|thumb|An ice bridge cast in place across a chasm.]]
Only one fill pond job will be created for each pond zone, so multiple pond zones will speed up casting. These additional zones can simply overlap each other, or you can separate them into distinct areas, such as a series of 10x1 zones. Once any pond zone is completely cast, you will start getting cancellation notifications that they cannot fill the pond. At that point, you can just delete the zone and the fill pond job goes away on its own.

The first layer of cast ice requires two buckets of water per tile: the first bucket makes an ice floor on the layer below, while the second bucket makes an ice wall on the lower layer and an ice floor on the level above. Subsequent layers require only one bucket per tile (since the ice floor already exists).

Make your water source as close as possible to the construction site. It needs to be underground so it doesn't freeze, but closer means things get cast from ice more quickly.

Water in buckets will last for a surprisingly long time before freezing in the bucket as a chunk of ice-it's really not an issue unless the bucket is dropped and left outside. If the bucketful of water does freeze, just order the ice to be dumped, and the chunks of ice will be taken to your garbage zone. Note that this is affected by the temperature — for example, water in buckets in a glacier [[biome]] will freeze much more quickly than if the same water and buckets are in a cold temperate biome.

Put your bucket stockpile right next to the water source, and produce a large number of buckets to ensure there is always another bucket to be filled.

You can cast ice over a ledge. First the ice floor, and then the ice wall, is cast at the Z-level right below the pond zone. This means if you're dumping buckets of water off of a 2 Z-level high wall, you will be forming a solid ice roof and the area underneath will be completely ice free, and even safe to walk over as the ice is being cast over their heads.

Cast ice may "float" entirely unsupported for an extended length of time, however, it will eventually [[cave-in]] when support is checked.

You can cast ice walls on the edge of the map, however the edge tiles can only be cleared of ice by melting. The effects on creatures spawning there are unknown.

== Thawing and drowning ==
In fortress mode, if a frozen [[murky pool]] thaws, it will do so instantly. Any dwarf standing on the ice will plunge into the water and drown (unless they have Adequate or better [[swimming]] skill, the fall will [[status icon|stun]] them). To reduce the chance of this happening, you can use [[traffic]] designations: mark the ice as restricted, and put a high traffic ring around the perimeter of the pool. Or, if you don't need to [[fish]] from it, you can [[construction|construct]] a [[wall]] around it or a [[floor]] over it.

Running magma under unmined ice will melt it. This appears to be the best way to turn large amounts of ice into water to use as a water source, when all you have is ice and magma.

Creatures that are extremely hot, such as [[Magma man|magma men]], will melt unmined ice around them, which can potentially lead to [[fun]].

== Constructing around ice ==
Using the smooth stone and carve fortification designations work as normal with ice. However, if an [[aquifer]] or other source of water is present next to your new fortification, it will immediately freeze into an ice wall when the water flows into it.

The freezing/thawing of ice deconstructs anything occupying the same space as the block of ice, including floor hatches, grates, wells and supports built in the z-level above it (because the frozen ice wall below creates an implied frozen ice floor above). It also has the potential to trap dwarves in ice, instantly killing them. Extreme care must be taken when releasing water from behind ice blocks.

== Adventurer mode ==
As in fortress mode, an adventurer standing in a water tile as it freezes will be killed. However, it is possible to walk across frozen oceans to reach islands and continents that otherwise would be inaccessible.

=== Drinking ice ===
Water carried in any container carried by an adventurer will freeze, if brought to a cold enough area. Frozen water cannot (obviously enough) be drunk to fulfill thirst needs, so it is necessary to thaw it.
# Press {{k|g}} and select "Make Campfire"
# {{k|I}}nteract with either the ice in your inventory, or a container with ice inside
# Select the option to "Heat ice near campfire"
# The ice will melt into drinkable water, which may be {{k|e}}aten

You can also obtain a drinkable water supply from melting snow like this.

== Bugs ==
If a structure is supported by ice which then melts seasonally, the game does not check to see if the structure should collapse, resulting in a building hovering over the now-melted ice.{{bug|227}}

Removing an ice ramp can create "void" tiles.{{bug|1981}} Casting ice in the tile and then channeling the tile can remove the "void" status.

== See also ==
*[[Glacier]]

{{Translation
| dwarven = ushil
| elvish = ocima
| goblin = uslang
| human = isdi
}}

{{gamedata|{{raw|DF2014:hardcoded_materials.txt|MATERIAL|WATER}}}}
{{materials}}

{{Category|Materials}}
{{Category|Map tiles}}
[[ru:Ice]]

Adamantine

2022-04-27T00:29:10Z

Flarn2006: /* Application */ DF is a singleplayer game, so the use of exploits is a matter of personal preference and not one of ethics.

{{Quality|Masterwork|23:22, 27 April 2013 (UTC)}}
{{Metal|name=Adamantine|color=3:3:1
|ore=
* [[Raw adamantine]]
|properties=
* [[Material value]] 300
{{firemagmasafe|yes|yes}}
* [[Melting point]] {{ct|25000}}
* [[Boiling point]] {{ct|50000}}
* [[Ignition point]] none
* [[Solid density]] 200
* Liquid [[density]] 2600
* [[Specific heat]] 7500
|uses=
* [[Weapon|Melee Weapons]]
* [[Crossbow]]s
* [[Bolt]]s
* [[Pick]]s
* [[Armor]]
* [[Anvil]]s
* [[Metalsmith's forge|Metal crafting]]
* [[Clothing]]
|wiki=Adamant}}
{{av}}{{Minorspoiler}}

'''Adamantine''' is a rare, high-value [[metal]] which is impossibly lightweight, strong, and sharp. Adamantine is refined from [[raw adamantine]], and can be woven into [[cloth]] or [[smelter|smelted]] into wafers, useful for making almost any item in the game. [[Armor]] and edged [[weapon]]s made from adamantine are absurdly valuable and wonderfully effective.

== Processing ==
[[File:adamantine_axe.jpg|thumb|280px|right|A dwarf with an adamantine axe. ''Art by Kobb'']]
Unlike what a player would expect, one does not simply make adamantine wafers directly from raw adamantine. You must first extract adamantine strands from the raw adamantine, and those are then processed into wafers or cloth.

Adamantine strands are extracted from [[raw adamantine]] at a [[craftsdwarf's workshop]] by a [[strand extractor]]. Strand extraction is an extremely long process for an unskilled laborer, making it potentially worthwhile to focus extraction experience on one or two individual dwarves. Extracted strands are considered a special metallic form of [[thread]], and after extraction each strand can either be woven into adamantine cloth at a [[loom]] or smelted into an adamantine [[bar|wafer]] at a [[smelter]] (removing any dye); thankfully these tasks are performed just as quickly as other weaving and smelting jobs.

Given this extra step of extraction before the smelting phase, most players will want to build additional craftsdwarves' workshops and stockpiles near the smelters and forges. Note that the strands of adamantine are stored in cloth/thread stockpiles. When processing adamantine, it is a good idea to smelt the strands into wafers as fast as possible, as your medical dwarves may use the valuable adamantine strands for [[suturing]] wounds, since, to them, it's just another type of thread.

Adamantine cloth is used to make ultra high-value clothing, but it is no more resistant to [[wear]] than less exotic materials. Adamantine wafers are functionally identical to metal bars and can be used to forge the full range of metal goods, but are far smaller in size, requiring about three times as many units of material per unit as regular metal bars:
* [[weapon token|Weapons]], [[armor token|armor/clothing]], and [[trap component token|trap components]] require the item's MATERIAL_SIZE in wafers/units of cloth
* Most types of furniture ([[door]], [[floodgate]], [[throne]], [[coffin]], [[table]], [[chest]], [[bin]], [[armor stand]], [[weapon rack]], [[cabinet]], [[statue]], [[anvil]], [[barrel]], [[pipe section]], [[hatch cover]], [[grate]], [[quern]], [[millstone]], and [[slab]]) require 9 wafers.
* [[Cage]]s, [[minecart]]s and [[wheelbarrow]]s require 6 wafers.
* [[Block]]s, [[chain]]s, and [[Siege engine|ballista]] arrowheads require 4 wafers.
* [[Animal trap]]s, [[bucket]]s, [[mechanism]]s, and [[crutch]]es require 3 wafers.
* [[Backpack]]s and [[quiver]]s require 2 units of cloth, and [[splint]]s require 2 wafers.
* All other items require 1 wafer.
* [[Strange mood]]s require 1 wafer, regardless of the end product.

Raw adamantine, along with adamantine-made objects, cannot be spawned in the [[object testing arena]] nor during [[embark|embarking]], presumably for balance reasons.

== Application ==
{{Translation
| dwarven = ebsas
| elvish = lire
| goblin = kumo
| human = medi
}}
Adamantine has extreme [[material science|material properties]]: it is nigh-weightless (weighing about as much as [[wikipedia:Cork (material)|cork]]), extremely strong, and razor-sharp. These properties make it ideal for edged [[weapon]]s and [[armor]], but unfortunately, likewise, make it near-useless for blunt weapons, which will simply bounce off of foes: considering the lethality of [[hammerer]] and [[fortress guard]] beatings, this may be the point. [[Armor]] made of adamantine provides unmatched protection against slashing and piercing attacks, but blunt attacks and ranged weapons have high armor penetration capacity, so a full kit of adamantine armor is nonetheless not a recipe for combat invulnerability. Mail armor is especially lacking, as the incredible protective qualities of adamantine are overridden with the flexibility of chain.

Because the metal's material properties are irrelevant in other applications and because it's so rare and hard to produce, using adamantine for other things is generally a waste. Adamantine statues are ten times as valuable as [[gold]] ones, but are prohibitively expensive to produce, requiring nine wafers per statue. Some of the highest values per wafer for a normal adamantine product can be realised by forging adamantine [[flask]]s or [[trap component|large serrated discs]]. However, by the time you have adamantine available, you're likely not to be in serious need of such valuable export products. By far the most [[wealth]] can be generated simply by adding adamantine to [[artifact]]s – a single stone, wafer, block or bolt of cloth can add hundreds of thousands of dwarfbucks in value, making your fortress the envy of all the [[forgotten beast|neighbors]].

One significant application of adamantine is through [[Exploit#Infinite metal|metal duplication]]. However, this is generally considered an exploit, so depending on your preferences, you may not want to do this.

{{gamedata}}
{{metals}}

{{spoiler}}

<s>Un</s>fortunately, breaching any of the tubular veins leads to the [[HFS]], for lots of [[Losing|Fun]].

==Origins of Adamantine and Slade==
{{D for Dwarf}}
Back in the mists of time, the Gods decided to create the World. To do so they had to find a way to heat it in the cold voids of space. Demonkind had already forged their own world out of the vile substance [[Slade]], a stone anathema to all creation and only able to be worked through the vile rituals they had created, for slade was truly "dead" stone, with no life in it at all.

Deciding both to imprison their greatest enemies and to create a home for their creations, the Gods poured into the skies of the Demons' world "living" stone (known to mortals as [[semi-molten rock]] - rock burning hot with the fresh life of Creation). The Gods knew that if it were not constantly heated, this living rock would cool, and yet the Demons, fools that they were, constantly attacked the living rock, not realizing that their attacks simply heated the rock again and again, keeping it alive. Unfortunately, as the Gods began to pour more and more of the rock onto their creation, they found it quickly lost its life when removed too far from the Demons. It would only remelt once it touched the living rock, creating vast seas of magma that heated the tunnels above. Worse, the living rock itself had been disturbed by this process, creating gaping holes through which the Demons escaped, killing and maiming the first creations of the Gods, warping those they could find into the terrible Forgotten Beasts, leaving the [[Titan]]s safe on the surface.

Knowing this state of affairs could not last if their weaker creations, the first mortals, were to survive, the Gods created a new substance, imbued with their power: Adamantine. The beautiful aqua-colored ore was poured into the holes, sealing the entrances that the living rock could no longer seal, preventing the Demons from escaping, for its power totally repelled Demonkind.

Unfortunately, as time passed and the first mortals began to carve their civilization from both the surface and the underworld, they discovered the vast shafts of this amazing substance and began to mine it, instantly realizing its divine potency. In doing so, they removed the great barriers the gods had placed in order to keep the Demons sealed. The Demons rose up, slaughtering thousands and escaping into the World, often rising to lead mortal civilizations, such as that of the Goblins. Upon these sites they raised towers carved from the vile Slade that only they could work. Brave adventurers and champions of the Gods forged special swords made from the divine Adamantine and ventured into these dark places to seal the Demons within hell once more. Leaving their swords buried in these places, those who survived swore to defend them for all eternity, binding themselves with oaths of such might that they surpassed death itself. They remain, even today, as zombies and skeletons, driven by their undying thought "none must take the sword!" and nothing more. These undead are totally obsessed with their duty to defend the ancient demonic structures from all interlopers and have been the death of many an unwary explorer.

In retrospect, all this could probably have been avoided if the Gods had bothered to make their all-powerful metal capable of withstanding the swing of a copper pick.

==The Great Adamantine Space Elevator==
{{D for Dwarf}}
[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=61507.0 Source]

In a great fluke, a new world was created in the midst of Armok shaving. No one quite understands why this happened, but the whisker of the holy one landed vertically. The material can only be described as a super adamantine. It is over 2000 z-levels high. And the map continues on.

Year after year, the dwarves of [SUBJECT CIVILIZATION HERE] send an expedition out into the world in order to ascertain the fate of last year's expedition. It has long-since been forgotten exactly when this series of fruitless expeditions started, but the dwarves are a sort that demand an answer.

It happens year after year, when they head northeast to the ominous shrubland that has been known only in name: "The Hill of Spit." The hill lies beyond a ruined elven settlement, a stone's throw away from a brook that has come to be known as "Troublemysteries." By the time they arrive, it is already too late.

They embark year after year, and there they stand, awe-struck with their implements of dwarven duty left undisturbed at their feet. All about them are the decrepit wagons and bleached bones of those who heralded their grim arrival -- barrels filled with rot and worm, picks covered in rust and dust. There they stand with their eyes open wide and jaws agape, and they stare upward into the dome of the heavens. What they see is beyond the ken of mortal beard. It reaches from the ground higher than any bird has flown; higher than any cloud has drifted; higher than any man, dwarf, beast or monster has ever or will ever ascend, twisting and writhing upward in ways that can only transfix the gaze of unwary observers in their fundamentally impossible geometries -- a spiraling needle of pure adamantine, ascending beyond the vanishing-point into the sky.

They stand there, motionless and breathless, and wait only for time to wear them down into the dust of the earth from whence they came, leaving that siren spire standing amidst a graveyard of wagons and barrels to call more of their bearded kind to an emaciated doom.

Another year, another expedition unheard of, another question unanswered, another expedition prepared.

==Color Misconceptions==
{{D for Dwarf}}
Some people, upon hearing of the legendary metal known as Adamantine, imagine a blood red, crimson metal, befitting of the God of Blood Armok... They may have been playing some other Dwarvideo games, or just confused, but for some reason, those unacquainted with Adamantine always seem to think it is red.

== Trivia ==
* Adamantine's origins are tied to Greek mythology, though in the mythos, biblical stories and other works, the material is referred to as "adamant". The word's meaning is "unbreakable, unconquerable and untameable", representing the material's nature and hardness.

Magma mist

2022-04-19T18:40:05Z

Flarn2006: /* Preventative Measures */

{{Quality|Superior|11:17, 18 May 2015 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

[[File:magma_mist.png|thumb|210px|right|May not feel so good on the skin.]]
'''Magma mist''' is the [[Fire|!!]][[Fun]][[Fire|!!]] yellow mist created in three cases :
* when debris from a [[cave-in]] splashes into [[magma]]
* when a fast-moving item or creature skips across magma
* when you drop a sufficiently large item into magma

Unlike normal [[mist]], magma mist is '''not''' created when magma falls down a Z-level. It sets fire to all non-fire-resistant creatures that share a tile with it.

Magma mist tends to be around longer than cave-in dust, and is created in quantities proportional to what you drop into magma.

When it appears outdoors, it is called ''lava'' mist instead but is otherwise identical.

Magma mist is '''not''' to be confused with being "caught in a cloud of boiling magma", a bug involving messages displayed when caught in [[cave-in]] dust. This is not something to worry about.

== Preventative Measures ==

If you are <s>a sissy who hates fun</s> being careful around magma, it isn't very likely that you'll run into magma mist at all, let alone have to worry about your dwarves breathing it in. The simplest thing you can do to prevent it is to watch out when dealing with mining above magma, or channeling above magma in particular.

If you plan on using a magma-based garbage disposal system, have sufficient z-levels between the dumping point and the magma/lava. Mass dumping a whole siege worth of corpses, body parts and assorted trash may generate magma mist clouds 3 z-levels high and wide or higher. A single large corpse (e.g. a troll) is enough to cause a small magma mist cloud, potentially fatal if the magma's surface is just 1 z-level below the dumping point.

{| style="border-spacing:0; float:left; margin-right:10px;"
|-
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|{{RT0|░|#FF0}}
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|-
|{{000}}
|{{RT0|░|#FF0}}
|{{RT0|▒|#FF0}}
|{{RT0|░|#FF0}}
|{{000}}
|-
|{{RT0|≈|#F00}}
|{{RT0|≈|#F00}}
|{{RT0|≈|#F00}}
|{{CCC}}
|{{CCC}}
|-
|{{RT0|≈|#F00}}
|{{RT0|≈|#F00}}
|{{RT0|≈|#F00}}
|{{CCC}}
|{{CCC}}
|-
|{{RT0|≈|#F00}}
|{{RT0|≈|#F00}}
|{{RT0|≈|#F00}}
|{{CCC}}
|{{CCC}}
|-
|{{RT0|≈|#F00}}
|{{RT0|≈|#F00}}
|{{RT0|≈|#F00}}
|{{CCC}}
|{{CCC}}
|}

{| style="border-spacing:0; float:left; margin-right:10px;"
|-
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|-
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|-
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|{{CCC}}
|{{CCC}}
|-
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|{{RT0|░|#FF0}}
|{{CCC}}
|{{CCC}}
|-
|{{000}}
|{{RT0|░|#FF0}}
|{{RT0|▒|#FF0}}
|{{CCC}}
|{{CCC}}
|-
|{{RT0|≈|#F00}}
|{{RT0|≈|#F00}}
|{{RT0|≈|#F00}}
|{{CCC}}
|{{CCC}}
|}

'''Side View.''' ''Fun (left) and completely safe (right) magma garbage disposal points showing typical magma mist clouds after dumping a few corpses.''

 

== Weaponization ==

Magma mist can be used as an [[Fire|ignition device]] on [[Elf|various]] [[Goblin|targets]] if you do not want to use magma itself and wait until it evaporates.

Channel a moat right next to your main fortress. Fill it with magma. Drop one (or several) large, unneeded items in the magma from a few higher Z-levels when an enemy walks on the path. It can also double as a waste disposal system.

Of course, since it sets targets on fire, be sure that it does not permit the burning target to reach your dwarves (or booze stockpile), and be sure that the invaders are not fire-immune (like a dragon or bronze colossus). Magma mist can cause the fat to melt off random body parts of creatures, producing between "Minor Melting" and "Moderate Melting". Potentially-fatal "Heavy bleeding" also ensues.

===Designs===
Here is an example of a powerless [[minecart]] skipping magma mist generator.

This design has a tick cycle of 30 steps with 5/7 magma and 33 steps with 6/7 magma and a max delay of 6. Carts must not collide, or it'll fail. However, it's compact, and lot of mist is produced on the z-level above with multiple carts. This design requires metal minecarts because wooden minecarts are not heavy enough to make magma mist. The initial minecart input is at the bottom. The ramp accelerating to the left is needed due to the [[minecart#Checkpoint_Effect|checkpoint effect]], and the floor and empty space combination cause a small minecart jump.
{|style="border: 1px solid #0b0; background: #dfd"
|- style="font-family: monospace; font-weight: bold; font-size: 135%"
|style="padding: 0"|╔
|style="padding: 0"|╗
|- style="font-family: monospace; font-weight: bold; font-size: 135%"
|style="padding: 0"|+
|style="padding: 0"|▲
|style="padding: 0"|↑
|- style="font-family: monospace; font-weight: bold; font-size: 135%"
|style="padding: 0"|.
|style="padding: 0"|║
|- style="font-family: monospace; font-weight: bold; font-size: 135%"
|style="padding: 0"|+
|style="padding: 0"|▲
|style="padding: 0"|←
|- style="font-family: monospace; font-weight: bold; font-size: 135%"
|style="padding: 0"|~
|style="padding: 0"|▲
|style="padding: 0"|↑
|- style="font-family: monospace; font-weight: bold; font-size: 135%"
|style="padding: 0"|▲
|style="padding: 0"|╝
|style="padding: 0"|→
|- style="font-family: monospace; font-weight: bold; font-size: 135%"
|style="padding: 0"|
|style="padding: 0"|║
|}
'''Key:'''
'''╔ ╗ ║ ╝''' = '''Track'''
'''▲''' = '''Track Ramp'''
'''↑ ← →''' = '''Ramp acceleration direction'''
'''+''' = '''Floor'''
'''.''' = '''Empty Space'''
'''~''' = '''Empty space with 5/7 or 6/7 magma below'''

{{Category|Physics}}
{{Category|World}}
[[ru:Magma mist]]

Instrument

2015-12-08T02:43:09Z

Flarn2006: /* Components */ Bells can be made of wood.

{{Quality|Fine|01:53, 7 March 2015 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
{{old}}
An '''instrument''' {{Tile|¿|7:1}} is a new kind of procedurally generated good.

Instruments come in two types. Some instruments are built by individual components which must be assembled, and some are made in a single step, like how instruments were made in previous versions or like other craft goods. Instruments that are assembled can be further subdivided into "big" and "small". "Big" instruments can then be placed like [[furniture]] with {{k|b}}-{{k|I}} command. "Small" instruments can be carried around by dwarves or placed in [[coffer]]s in [[tavern]]s or [[temple]]s. Instruments made in a single step are always "small".

Instruments or their components are made out of a variety of materials, including [[wood]], [[bone]], [[stone]], [[silk]] [[thread]], [[plant fiber]] [[thread]], [[glass]], [[ceramic]]s, [[metal]], or [[leather]]. Out of those, [[thread]] can only used for Instrument parts, not for a full instrument. Most of instruments/components are made in [[craftsdwarf's workshop]]s, except [[ceramic]] ones are made at [[kiln]], [[leather]] ones at [[leather works]], [[glass]] ones at [[glass furnace]] and [[metal]] ones at [[metalsmith's forge]]. In the case of metal, there's currently no way to define what kind of metal is to be used; a dwarf will pick up the closest metal bar to make the component, unlike how other goods are made at the [[forge]]. Assembling the instrument after all the components are finished is also performed in craftsdwarf's workshops.

Types of instruments, their names and the kinds of components they are built of are generated at [[world generation]] and are usually specific for each [[civilization]]. Traders may bring instrument components, but your civilization may not be able to assemble the instrument out of them, depending on what instruments your dwarves know how to make.

==Components==
Below is a very incomplete table of what kind of parts can an instrument have and what materials they may require (please update)
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|Component name
|Materials
|-
|Body
|ceramic
|-
|Neck
|glass
|-
|Blowpipe
|wood
|-
|Bag
|leather
|-
|Drone pipes
|metal
|-
|Melody pipe
|glass
|-
|Strings
|thread, metal
|-
|Plectum
|wood, stone, metal
|-
|Chimes
|bone
|-
|Stand
|wood, stone, bone, metal
|-
|Mallet
|wood
|-
|Keyboard
|wood, bone
|-
|Case
|stone, ceramic
|-
|Bells
|wood, stone, metal
|-
|Drums
|wood
|-
|Heads
|leather
|-
|Block
|glass
|-
|Sticks
|ceramic, wood
|}

Stupid dwarf trick

2015-06-05T06:23:15Z

Flarn2006: /* Pixel art stockpiles */

{{Quality|Superior|22:52, 11 September 2013 (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.

==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.

'''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:''' Little to none, except for having a cool altar that you can use to WOW other players.

*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:''' High. The lowly windmill pales in utility compared to a waterwheel.

==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:''' Not applicable.

*Bonus: A Museum detailing the lives of those early dwarves.
*DwarfBonus: 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]]==
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==
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!
* 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 sludges 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 cauterizing the main one and closes and cauterizes 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.

==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 dwarfs 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_Adamantine_.2F_Metals|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 manically

'''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.

'''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.]] 

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

==Corpse processing facility==
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).

==[[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|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''': High. Trains combat skills very quickly, assuming you don't kill anyone.

'''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).
*MegaDwarfBonus: 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 (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 the denizens of the [[Hidden Fun Stuff]].

==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 deptha. 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]]==
'''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.

==[[Computing|Dwarfputer]] Complex==
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<s> and makes them stronger</s> (in 31.25 only military work increases stats, I was really disappointed after 4 years of nonstop pumping only to see weak in urist description). 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 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.
*MegaDwarfBonus: 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 demons 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 Dwarkuta)==
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.

==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.

==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; building the bridges (and mechanisms) from [[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.

==[[Live training|Gladiator Arena]]==
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.

'''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.

==Glass Ceiling==
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 glass 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)

*PoliticallyIncorrectDwarfBonus: Make it a metaphorical [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_ceiling glass ceiling] and give migrants and women less pay and poorer rooms.

==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 Marksmen 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.
*SurfaceDwellerBonus: get the stone for your constructions entirely from open-pit quarries, i.e. by channelling instead of mining.

==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.

==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:''' 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 1*(length of your stairwell) bridges (that raise!) 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.

==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.
*Bonus: 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].

==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.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=33837.0 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 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 pitting|Mass Cage Recycling System]]==

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.

==[[Drowning chamber|Mega/Water Drowning Trap-Thing]]==
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.

==[[Waterfall|Never Ending Shower]]==
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!

==[[Obsidian farming|Obsidian Factory]]==
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]].

==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:''' Low

==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).

==Redesign the Fortress==
And when we says "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!

==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.

==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.

==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|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]].

==[[Swimming]] pool==
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.
[[Image:Swim track 0.png|thumb|right|250px|A large swimming track]]
==[[Swimming#Minecart_training|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.

==[[Tree farming|Underground Forest]]==
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 than 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.

==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.

==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.

'''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}}

Stupid dwarf trick

2015-06-05T06:16:22Z

Flarn2006: /* Pixel art stockpiles */ Added difficulty and usefulness

{{Quality|Superior|22:52, 11 September 2013 (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.

==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.

'''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:''' Little to none, except for having a cool altar that you can use to WOW other players.

*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:''' High. The lowly windmill pales in utility compared to a waterwheel.

==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:''' Not applicable.

*Bonus: A Museum detailing the lives of those early dwarves.
*DwarfBonus: 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]]==
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==
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!
* 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 sludges 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 cauterizing the main one and closes and cauterizes 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.

==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 dwarfs 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_Adamantine_.2F_Metals|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 manically

'''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.

'''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.]] 

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

==Corpse processing facility==
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).

==[[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|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''': High. Trains combat skills very quickly, assuming you don't kill anyone.

'''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).
*MegaDwarfBonus: 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 (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 the denizens of the [[Hidden Fun Stuff]].

==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 deptha. 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]]==
'''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.

==[[Computing|Dwarfputer]] Complex==
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<s> and makes them stronger</s> (in 31.25 only military work increases stats, I was really disappointed after 4 years of nonstop pumping only to see weak in urist description). 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 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.
*MegaDwarfBonus: 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 demons 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 Dwarkuta)==
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.

==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.

==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; building the bridges (and mechanisms) from [[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.

==[[Live training|Gladiator Arena]]==
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.

'''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.

==Glass Ceiling==
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 glass 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)

*PoliticallyIncorrectDwarfBonus: Make it a metaphorical [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_ceiling glass ceiling] and give migrants and women less pay and poorer rooms.

==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 Marksmen 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.
*SurfaceDwellerBonus: get the stone for your constructions entirely from open-pit quarries, i.e. by channelling instead of mining.

==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.

==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:''' 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 1*(length of your stairwell) bridges (that raise!) 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.

==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.
*Bonus: 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].

==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.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=33837.0 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 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 pitting|Mass Cage Recycling System]]==

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.

==[[Drowning chamber|Mega/Water Drowning Trap-Thing]]==
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.

==[[Waterfall|Never Ending Shower]]==
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!

==[[Obsidian farming|Obsidian Factory]]==
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]].

==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!

'''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:''' Low

==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).

==Redesign the Fortress==
And when we says "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!

==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.

==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.

==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|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]].

==[[Swimming]] pool==
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.
[[Image:Swim track 0.png|thumb|right|250px|A large swimming track]]
==[[Swimming#Minecart_training|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.

==[[Tree farming|Underground Forest]]==
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 than 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.

==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.

==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.

'''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}}

Stupid dwarf trick

2015-06-05T06:14:10Z

Flarn2006: Added "Pixel art stockpiles"

{{Quality|Superior|22:52, 11 September 2013 (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.

==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.

'''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:''' Little to none, except for having a cool altar that you can use to WOW other players.

*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:''' High. The lowly windmill pales in utility compared to a waterwheel.

==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:''' Not applicable.

*Bonus: A Museum detailing the lives of those early dwarves.
*DwarfBonus: 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]]==
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==
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!
* 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 sludges 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 cauterizing the main one and closes and cauterizes 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.

==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 dwarfs 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_Adamantine_.2F_Metals|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 manically

'''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.

'''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.]] 

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

==Corpse processing facility==
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).

==[[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|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''': High. Trains combat skills very quickly, assuming you don't kill anyone.

'''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).
*MegaDwarfBonus: 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 (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 the denizens of the [[Hidden Fun Stuff]].

==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 deptha. 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]]==
'''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.

==[[Computing|Dwarfputer]] Complex==
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<s> and makes them stronger</s> (in 31.25 only military work increases stats, I was really disappointed after 4 years of nonstop pumping only to see weak in urist description). 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 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.
*MegaDwarfBonus: 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 demons 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 Dwarkuta)==
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.

==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.

==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; building the bridges (and mechanisms) from [[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.

==[[Live training|Gladiator Arena]]==
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.

'''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.

==Glass Ceiling==
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 glass 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)

*PoliticallyIncorrectDwarfBonus: Make it a metaphorical [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_ceiling glass ceiling] and give migrants and women less pay and poorer rooms.

==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 Marksmen 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.
*SurfaceDwellerBonus: get the stone for your constructions entirely from open-pit quarries, i.e. by channelling instead of mining.

==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.

==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:''' 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 1*(length of your stairwell) bridges (that raise!) 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.

==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.
*Bonus: 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].

==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.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=33837.0 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 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 pitting|Mass Cage Recycling System]]==

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.

==[[Drowning chamber|Mega/Water Drowning Trap-Thing]]==
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.

==[[Waterfall|Never Ending Shower]]==
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!

==[[Obsidian farming|Obsidian Factory]]==
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]].

==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!

==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).

==Redesign the Fortress==
And when we says "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!

==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.

==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.

==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|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]].

==[[Swimming]] pool==
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.
[[Image:Swim track 0.png|thumb|right|250px|A large swimming track]]
==[[Swimming#Minecart_training|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.

==[[Tree farming|Underground Forest]]==
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 than 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.

==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.

==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.

'''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}}

Tilesets

2015-06-03T04:11:37Z

Flarn2006: Added additional meanings of digits 1-7

{{Quality|Exceptional}}{{av}}
:''(For an overview of graphics in DF, see [[Graphics|Graphics]])''
:''(For a chart with the default ASCII characters, see [[Main:Character table|Character table]].)''
:''(For user-created creature tilesets, see [[Main:Tileset repository|Tileset repository]].)''
:''(For information about Graphic sets, see [[Graphic set|Graphic set]])''

----

'''Tilesets''' are images the game uses to display its graphics; each tile is used to show text and represent things. Users create custom tilesets for a number of reasons, including increased visibility, aesthetics, or small size. Tilesets come in two flavors: "'''character sets'''" (or simply "tilesets") and "'''graphics sets'''". This article is only about tilesets.

== Overview and installation ==

A character set is an image in BMP or PNG format that contains the 256 different tiles, corresponding to the [[Main:Character table|IBM Code Page 437]] (sometimes called Extended ASCII), which are used to display the main graphics. [[Main:Tileset repository|Here is the list]] of user-made standard tilesets. To install any of these tilesets, follow these steps:

# Download the tileset via right-click-save-as on the tileset. The tileset is just an image, so there's no separate download link. (The list is [[Main:Tileset repository|here]])
# Convert it into a 24-bit BMP fileV0.28.181.40d file or PNG filev0.31.06. Do NOT just change the extension to .bmp; you must use a program like MS paint to save it as a .bmp.
# Put it in the data/art directory of your Dwarf Fortress installation.
# Open data/init/init.txt
# If you want to use the tileset in fullscreen mode, locate and modify the [FULLSCREENX:800], [FULLSCREENY:600], and [FULLFONT:curses_800x600.bmp] configuration lines to match the specifications from the tileset list. The FULLFONT directive should match the filename of the tileset you downloaded. If you want to use the tileset in windowed mode, search for the [WINDOWEDX:640], [WINDOWEDY:300], and [FONT:curses_640x300.bmp] lines instead, and change them to the correct values.
# It is also recommended you keep [BLACK_SPACE:YES] to prevent stretching of the graphics.
# Save the .txt file, then you're ready to play!

== Custom tileset design ==

The default (and minimum) gameplay viewport is 80 characters wide, and 25 characters tall. Therefore, a tileset's target resolution will be TILE_X_LENGTH * 80 by TILE_Y_LENGTH * 25. Since the tileset is arranged into a 16x16 grid of tiles (256 tiles total), the tileset image size will be TILE_X_LENGTH * 16 by TILE_Y_LENGTH * 16. Here are some common tile sizes:

* A tileset with 10x12 tiles will be 160x192 pixels large, and the target resolution will be 800x300.
* A tileset with 16x16 tiles will be 256x256 pixels large, and the target resolution will be 1280x400.

When creating a custom tileset, it's often easiest to start with an existing one, and edit it to your liking. Tilesets generally fall into three categories: rectangular tilesets, square tilesets, and 16x16 square tilesets. Rectangular tilesets have tiles that are taller than they are wide. The text in these tilesets is generally easier to read, but the map appears squished horizontally. Square tilesets usually provide more attractive graphics, but are slightly less readable. The 16x16 square tilesets are just a sub-set, which are grouped together because most [[graphics set|object tilesets]] use 16x16 tiles. The graphics in Dwarf Fortress can be somewhat diversified and enhanced through the use of graphics sets.

Many tiles are used by the game in multiple ways, and this makes customizing the graphics difficult. The same icon is used for chairs and the north end of one-tile-wide vertical bridges. Ashes and broken arrows look the same, and many game entities (such as levers, floodgates, bags, and bins) share characters that are also used in Dwarven names or other bits of text in the interface.



== What tiles are used for what ==

* Items marked with * can have their tile changed in the [[modding|raw data]] files.
* Items marked with # can have their tile replaced by a [[graphic set]] image, in addition to having their tile changed in the raw data.
* Items marked with $ can be changed in the [[d_init.txt]] file.

For a graphical table, go to the [[Main:Character Table|Character Table]].

====Row 01 (000-015)====
{|
|-
|000 {{TST| }}
| Used for background tiles in the intro CMV and background tiles of interface screens
|-
|001 {{TST|☺}}
| Civilian dwarves#, [[Status icon|various status indicators]]
|-
|002 {{TST|☻}}
| [[Military]] dwarves#
|-
|003 {{TST|♥}}
| [[Dimple cup]]s*
|-
|004 {{TST|♦}}
| [[gem|Cut gem]]s, large [[gem]]s
|-
|005 {{TST|♣}}
| [[Quarry bush]] leaves*, blossoms*, [[Tilesets#Trees_on_map|various forest trees]]*
|-
|006 {{TST|♠}}
| [[Forest|Broadleaf Forest]], [[Tilesets#Trees_on_map|various forest trees]]*, various leaf items*, [[Plump helmet]]s*
|-
|007 {{TST|•}}
| Mined out [[stone]]*, solid [[workshop]] tile for several workshops like the [[magma smelter]], [[river]] sources in main map, [[cave]]s in main map, moon on travel map, flower buds*
|-
|008 {{TST|◘}}
| Solid workshop tile for several other workshops like the [[magma forge]], [[tanner's shop]], [[catapult]] cup, fortress keeps on travel map, [[nest box]] tool*, [[nest box]] building, [[book]]
|-
|009 {{TST|○}}
| [[Well]], [[vermin]] colony, [[millstone]], [[quern]], vertical [[axle]], fortress walls on travel map, sun behind clouds on travel map, fortresses on world map, [[creeping eye]] out of view (adventure mode)*, [[staring eyeball]]*, [[bubble bulb]]*
|-
|010 {{TST|◙}}
| trunk interior$
|-
|011 {{TST|♂}}
| [[Gender|Male]] sign, [[bag]]s, [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various Cephalopods]]#
|-
|012 {{TST|♀}}
| [[Gender|Female]] sign, [[Finished goods#Crafts|amulet]]
|-
|013 {{TST|♪}}
| [[Tool|Ladle]]s*
|-
|014 {{TST|♫}}
| [[Armor stand]]s
|-
|015 {{TST|☼}}
| Unmined [[Gem]] Cluster*, Rough [[Gem]]s and Raw [[Glass]], unmined [[bituminous coal]]*, mined [[bituminous coal]]*, [[currency]] symbol, masterpiece [[Item quality|quality]] symbol, spider [[web]]s, [[pond turtle]]*, sun, [[gear assembly|gear assemblies]], paralyzed [[Status icon|indicator]], fireballs, bandit camps on travel map, towns on world map, night creature senses, artifact gem [[door]]s
|-
|}

====Row 02 (016-031)====
{|
|-
|016 {{TST|►}}
| Head of [[Ballista arrow]] facing east, [[manta ray]]#
|-
|017 {{TST|◄}}
| Head of [[Ballista arrow]] facing west
|-
|018 {{TST|↕}}
|
|-
|019 {{TST|‼}}
| [[Cage]]s, on-[[fire]] tags, vertical [[bars]]
|-
|020 {{TST|¶}}
| [[Finished_goods#Goblets|Mug]]s, largest forest retreats, cumulonimbus clouds on travel map, [[Highwood]] forests*
|-
|021 {{TST|§}}
| [[Restraint]]s, [[whip vine]]*
|-
|022 {{TST|▬}}
| [[Log]]s, [[hive]] tool*, [[hive]] building
|-
|023 {{TST|↨}}
| [[Cedar]] forest*
|-
|024 {{TST|↑}}
| Interface text ([[bridge]] direction), conifer forests, [[Tilesets#Trees_on_map|various forest trees]]*
|-
|025 {{TST|↓}}
| [[Status icon|Various status indicators]], Interface text (bridge direction)
|-
|026 {{TST|→}}
| Interface text (bridge direction)
|-
|027 {{TST|←}}
| Interface text (bridge direction)
|-
|028 {{TST|∟}}
|
|-
|029 {{TST|↔}}
|
|-
|030 {{TST|▲}}
| Head of [[Ballista arrow]] facing north, ramp up, track ramp up$, mountain on world map
|-
|031 {{TST|▼}}
| Head of [[Ballista arrow]] facing south, ramp down, track ramp down$
|-
|}

====Row 03 (032-047)====
{|
|-
|032 {{TST| }}
| Unexplored underground, spaces in text messages, black background on the title screen and interface menu
|-
|033 {{TST|!}}
| [[Status icon|various status icons]], text, sound indicator in sneaking mode, tracks (footprints) in sneaking mode
|-
|034 {{TST|"}}
| [[Shrub]]*, quotation marks, Carpenter's workshop tile, [[kobold]] out of view*, [[goblin]] out of view*, [[blizzard man]] out of view*, fallen leaves{{verify}}, tracks (bent vegetation) in sneaking mode, [[Tilesets#Stones|various stones]]*, savanna, swamp, shrubland, marsh
|-
|035 {{TST|#}}
| [[Grate#Floor_Grate|floor grates]], [[Tilesets#Stones|various stones]]*, smoothed branches in elven forest retreats, labyrinths on travel map, text
|-
|036 {{TST|$}}
| [[Coin]]s
|-
|037 {{TST|%}}
| [[Prepared meal]], unexplored underground, [[screw pump]] in action, footprints in sneaking mode, various fruits*, various buds*, [[Tilesets#Stones|various stones]]*, [[Bismuthinite]]*, [[Floating guts]]#
|-
|038 {{TST|&}}
| [[Demon]]s#
|-
|039 {{TST|'}}
| Rough [[floor]]s, unexplored underground, [[Tilesets#Stones|various stones]], one eyed creatures with GLOWTILE " (kobold, goblins, and blizzard in vanilla), various [[grass|grasses]]*
|-
|040 {{TST|(}}
| Foreign object opening tag, tile in [[bowyer's workshop]], waxing moon on travel map, text
|-
|041 {{TST|)}}
| Foreign object closing tag, waning moon on travel map, text
|-
|042 {{TST|*}}
| Unmined [[ore]]*, [[Hell|glowing pits]], superior [[Item quality|quality]] tags, key reference, working [[gear assembly]], [[gem]] [[floodgate]], [[Tilesets#Stones|various stones]]*, chestnut fruit*, other fruits and flowers*, moving armies on quick travel map
|-
|043 {{TST|+}}
| Smooth/constructed [[floor]]s, finely-crafted [[Item quality|quality]] tags, text, [[block]]/[[bar]] [[bridge]] or [[road]], [[Bauxite]]*, [[wound|injury]] [[Status icon|indicator]], towns on world map
|-
|044 {{TST|,}}
| Rough [[floor]]s, [[Claystone]]*, unexplored underground, text, various [[grass|grasses]]*
|-
|045 {{TST|-}}
| [[Finished_goods#Crafts|Scepters]], [[arrow]]s in flight, well-crafted [[Item quality|quality]] tags, keyboard reference, [[Tilesets#Stones|various stones]]*, [[Status icon|overlapping creatures animation]]
|-
|046 {{TST|.}}
| Rough [[floor]]s, [[Tilesets#Stones|various stones]]*, text, unexplored underground, various [[grass|grasses]]*
|-
|047 {{TST|/}}
| [[Weapon]]s, [[bolt]]s, [[Ballista]] tile, text, [[Status icon|overlapping creatures animation]]
|-
|}

====Row 04 (048-063)====
{|
|-
|048 {{TST|0}}
| [[Coffin]]s, tombs on world map, text
|-
|049 {{TST|1}}
|Text, designation priorities, adventurer mode conversation targets, fluids if [[Technical_tricks#Tiles|SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS]] is YES in d_init.txt
|-
|050 {{TST|2}}
|Text, designation priorities, adventurer mode conversation targets, fluids if SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS is YES in d_init.txt
|-
|051 {{TST|3}}
|Text, designation priorities, adventurer mode conversation targets, fluids if SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS is YES in d_init.txt
|-
|052 {{TST|4}}
|Text, designation priorities, adventurer mode conversation targets, fluids if SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS is YES in d_init.txt
|-
|053 {{TST|5}}
|Text, designation priorities, adventurer mode conversation targets, fluids if SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS is YES in d_init.txt
|-
|054 {{TST|6}}
|Text, designation priorities, adventurer mode conversation targets, fluids if SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS is YES in d_init.txt
|-
|055 {{TST|7}}
|Text, designation priorities, adventurer mode conversation targets, fluids if SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS is YES in d_init.txt
|-
|056 {{TST|8}}
|Fortress gates on travel map, text
|-
|057 {{TST|9}}
|Text
|-
|058 {{TST|:}}
| [[strawberry]]*, [[prickle berry]]*, [[fisher berry]]*, [[sun berry]]*, snowstorms, underground shrubs*, command menu text
|-
|059 {{TST|;}}
| [[Mason's workshop]], [[Kitchen]], [[Selenite]]*, command menu text ([[CMV|Movies]] key), twigs$
|-
|060 {{TST|<}}
| [[Stairs]] up, brackets around squad names, "Less than 1 unit weight" on Trading screen.
|-
|061 {{TST|=}}
| Empty [[Stockpile]]s, hamlets on world map, [[Tilesets#Stones|various stones]]*, middle-left tile of [[Furnace|Furnaces]], up-right tile of [[Carpenter's workshop]]
|-
|062 {{TST|>}}
| [[Stairs]] down, brackets around squad names.
|-
|063 {{TST|?}}
| [[Status icon|various status icons]]
|-
|}

====Row 05 (064-079)====
{|
|-
|064 {{TST|@}}
| berserk dwarf#, adventurer#, dwarven [[merchant]]s#, dwarven [[caravan]] guards#, dwarven [[diplomat]]#, adventurer's location on map
|-
|065 {{TST|A}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, Tile in Farm Workshop, text
|-
|066 {{TST|B}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|067 {{TST|C}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|068 {{TST|D}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, Depot Access Display, text
|-
|069 {{TST|E}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|070 {{TST|F}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|071 {{TST|G}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|072 {{TST|H}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|073 {{TST|I}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, [[support]], [[tower|Necromancer's tower]] on world map, text
|-
|074 {{TST|J}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|075 {{TST|K}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|076 {{TST|L}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|077 {{TST|M}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|078 {{TST|N}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|079 {{TST|O}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, [[trade depot]] post, glass portal, Tile in Farm Workshop, column$, wall construction, full moon on travel map and dwarf mode, text, trunk$, [[staring eyeball]]*, [[bubble bulb]]*
|-
|}

====Row 06 (080-095)====
{|
|-
|080 {{TST|P}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|081 {{TST|Q}}
| Text
|-
|082 {{TST|R}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|083 {{TST|S}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|084 {{TST|T}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|085 {{TST|U}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|086 {{TST|V}}
| Badlands on map, Text
|-
|087 {{TST|W}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text, Depot Access Display
|-
|088 {{TST|X}}
|[[Bin]], [[floodgate]], shop post, building footprint, Depot Access Display, text, up/down stairs, Tile in Ashery, keyboard cursor, [[Archery target]], [[Status icon|various status indicators]]
|-
|089 {{TST|Y}}
| Text, [[Yak]]#, [[Yeti]]#
|-
|090 {{TST|Z}}
| Sleep [[Status icon|indicator]], text
|-
|091 {{TST|[}}
| [[Clothing]], [[armor]], item stack opening tag, moon on travel map, text, tracks (bootprints) in sneaking mode
|-
|092 {{TST|\}}
| [[Status icon|Overlapping creatures animation]], [[Ballista]] tile
|-
|093 {{TST|]}}
| Floor tile in [[workshop]]s and [[furnace]]s, item stack closing tag, text
|-
|094 {{TST|^}}
| [[Trap]], [[Alabaster]]*, [[Aluminum]]*, [[Volcano]] on world map
|-
|095 {{TST|_}}
| [[Channel]] [[designation]], text
|-
|}

====Row 07 (096-111)====
{|
|-
| 096 {{TST|`}}
| Rough floors, unexplored underground*, [[Tilesets#Stones|various stones]]*, various [[grass|grasses]]*
|-
| 097 {{TST|a}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
| 098 {{TST|b}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
| 099 {{TST|c}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|100 {{TST|d}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|101 {{TST|e}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|102 {{TST|f}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|103 {{TST|g}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|104 {{TST|h}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|105 {{TST|i}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|106 {{TST|j}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|107 {{TST|k}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|108 {{TST|l}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|109 {{TST|m}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|110 {{TST|n}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text, [[Hills]] on map
|-
|111 {{TST|o}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text, [[Graphite]]*, well construction, bridge construction, [[millstone]] in action, vertical axle in action, floor tile in magma [[furnace]]s, [[staring eyeball]]*, [[bubble bulb]]*, [[winter melon]]*, [[watermelon]]*
|-
|}

====Row 08 (112-127)====
{|
|-
|112 {{TST|p}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|113 {{TST|q}}
| Text
|-
|114 {{TST|r}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|115 {{TST|s}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|116 {{TST|t}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|117 {{TST|u}}
| Text
|-
|118 {{TST|v}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text, [[Tilesets#Stones|various stones]]*,
|-
|119 {{TST|w}}
| [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|120 {{TST|x}}
| [[Saltpeter]]*, text
|-
|121 {{TST|y}}
| Text
|-
|122 {{TST|z}}
| Text
|-
|123 {{TST|{}}
| Forbidden opening tag, tile in [[Jeweler's workshop]], vermin, [[purring maggot]]#
|-
|124 {{TST||}}
| [[Talc]]*, pipe sections, [[Status icon|overlapping creatures animation]]
|-
|125 {{TST|}}}
| Forbidden closing tag, vermin, [[purring maggot]] alternate*
|-
|126 {{TST|~}}
| Unfinished rough stone [[road]], flowing [[water]], dirt [[road]], [[Farming|farm plot]] under construction, [[sand]], furrowed soil, [[blood]] smear, guts, [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, [[Magnetite]]*
|-
|127 {{TST|⌂}}
| [[Animal trap]], low [[mountain]]s on world map, part of [[mechanic's workshop]], trunk$
|-
|}

====Row 09 (128-143)====
{|
|-
|128 {{TST|Ç}}
| [[Mechanism]]s, text
|-
|129 {{TST|ü}}
| Text
|-
|130 {{TST|é}}
| Text
|-
|131 {{TST|â}}
| Text
|-
|132 {{TST|ä}}
| Text
|-
|133 {{TST|à}}
| Text
|-
|134 {{TST|å}}
| Text
|-
|135 {{TST|ç}}
| [[Finished_goods#Totems|Totem]]s
|-
|136 {{TST|ê}}
| Text
|-
|137 {{TST|ë}}
| Text, military elves
|-
|138 {{TST|è}}
| Text
|-
|139 {{TST|ï}}
| Text
|-
|140 {{TST|î}}
| Elven forest retreat
|-
|141 {{TST|ì}}
| Text
|-
|142 {{TST|Ä}}
| Deities, [[Angel]]s
|-
|143 {{TST|Å}}
| [[Figurine]]s, shrines on travel map, text
|-
|}

====Row 10 (144-159)====
{|
|-
|144 {{TST|É}}
| Text
|-
|145 {{TST|æ}}
| [[Finished_goods#Toys|Toy]]s, hamlets on world map
|-
|146 {{TST|Æ}}
| [[Container#Cabinets_and_.22chests.22|Coffer]]s, [[quiver]]s, [[backpack]]s, hamlets on world map
|-
|147 {{TST|ô}}
| Cauldrons*
|-
|148 {{TST|ö}}
| [[Jewelry|Ring]]s
|-
|149 {{TST|ò}}
| Unactivated [[lever]]s, [[Tilesets#Creatures|Various creatures]]#, text
|-
|150 {{TST|û}}
| [[Bucket]], text
|-
|151 {{TST|ù}}
| Text
|-
|152 {{TST|ÿ}}
| [[Valley herb]]*, text
|
|-
|153 {{TST|Ö}}
| [[Jewelry|Bracelet]]s, [[Wheelbarrow|wheelbarrows]]*
|-
|154 {{TST|Ü}}
| Military Humans
|-
|155 {{TST|¢}}
| [[hatch cover]]s
|-
|156 {{TST|£}}
| [[Tilesets#Stones|various stones]]*, [[Tilesets#Ores|most unmined ores]]*,
|-
|157 {{TST|¥}}
| [[Cave lobster]]*
|-
|158 {{TST|₧}}
| [[Stepladder]]*
|-
|159 {{TST|ƒ}}
| [[Rope reed]]*, [[Health_care#Splints|splint]]s, [[arrow bamboo]]*, [[golden bamboo]]*, [[hedge bamboo]]*
|
|-
|}

====Row 11 (160-175)====
{|
|-
|160 {{TST|á}}
| Text
|-
|161 {{TST|í}}
| Text
|-
|162 {{TST|ó}}
| Activated [[lever]]s, text
|-
|163 {{TST|ú}}
| Text
|-
|164 {{TST|ñ}}
| [[Bogeyman]]
|-
|165 {{TST|Ñ}}
| [[Night creature]]s
|-
|166 {{TST|ª}}
| [[Goblin]] settlements on world map
|-
|167 {{TST|º}}
| [[Cloth]], [[dark pit]]
|-
|168 {{TST|¿}}
| [[Finished_goods#Instruments|Instrument]]
|-
|169 {{TST|⌐}}
| Withered [[plant]]s*, [[wormy tendril]]*
|-
|170 {{TST|¬}}
| [[wormy tendril]]*
|-
|171 {{TST|½}}
|
|-
|172 {{TST|¼}}
| [[Roc]] nests, roots$, branches$
|-
|173 {{TST|¡}}
| [[Flask]], [[Flask|waterskin]]
|-
|174 {{TST|«}}
| Tail of [[Ballista arrow]] facing west, item with [[decoration]] tag
|-
|175 {{TST|»}}
| Tail of [[Ballista arrow]] facing east, item with [[decoration]] tag
|-
|}

====Row 12 (176-191)====
{|
|-
|176 {{TST|░}}
| Partially dug rock, various flows ([[miasma]], [[cave-in]] dust, [[steam]], smoke, etc.), [[Fishery]], fog on travel map, [[Semi-molten_rock|Semi-molten Rock]], [[Tilesets#Stones|various stones]]*, [[Tilesets#Soil|various soils]]*, fallen leaves
|-
|177 {{TST|▒}}
| Partially dug rock, various flows ([[miasma]], [[cave-in]] dust, [[steam]], smoke, etc.), side tiles for catapult, [[window]], fog on travel map, Workshops (craftdwarf's, bowyer's, mason's, mechanic's, jeweler's, clothier's, [[kitchen]], and leather works), [[Tilesets#Stones|various stones]]*, [[Tilesets#Soil|various kinds of soil]]*, fallen leaves, vermin swarm
|-
|178 {{TST|▓}}
| Partially dug rock, various flows ([[miasma]], [[cave-in]] dust, [[steam]], smoke, etc.), floor tile for ice, [[tanner's shop]], [[butcher's shop]], [[Wagon]] body, fog on travel map, [[Tilesets#Stones|various kinds of soil]]*, [[Tilesets#Soil|various kinds of soil]]*, sky$, fallen leaves
|-
|179 {{TST|│}}
| Overworld [[river]]s, [[well]] [[Restraint|chain/rope]], rotating horizontal [[axle]]s, branches$
|-
|180 {{TST|┤}}
| Overworld [[river]]s, top-right tile for [[Loom]], branches$, [[Glumprong]] forests*
|-
|181 {{TST|╡}}
| [[Blood thorn]] trees*, [[bridge]]s, [[catapult]] tile, tracks$
|-
|182 {{TST|╢}}
| Branches$
|-
|183 {{TST|╖}}
| Ends of smooth walls
|-
|184 {{TST|╕}}
| Ends of smooth walls
|-
|185 {{TST|╣}}
| Smooth/constructed walls, tracks$, trunk$
|-
|186 {{TST|║}}
| Smooth/constructed walls, [[bridge]]s, wooden [[door]]s, center [[catapult]] tile, center [[Ballista]] tile, [[axle]]s, tracks$, fortress walls on travel map, trunk$
|-
|187 {{TST|╗}}
| Smooth/constructed walls, bridges, tracks$, trunk$
|-
|188 {{TST|╝}}
| Smooth/constructed walls, bridges, tracks$, trunk$
|-
|189 {{TST|╜}}
| Ends of smooth walls
|-
|190 {{TST|╛}}
| Ends of smooth walls
|-
|191 {{TST|┐}}
| Overworld [[river]]s, branches$
|-
|}

====Row 13 (192-207)====
{|
|-
|192 {{TST|└}}
| Overworld rivers/Roads, branches$
|-
|193 {{TST|┴}}
| Overworld rivers/Roads, branches$
|-
|194 {{TST|┬}}
| Overworld rivers/Roads, [[crutch]]es, branches$
|-
|195 {{TST|├}}
| Overworld rivers/Roads, top-left tile for [[Loom]], branches$
|-
|196 {{TST|─}}
| Overworld rivers/Roads, rotating [[axle]]s, branches$
|-
|197 {{TST|┼}}
| [[Door]]s, overworld rivers/Roads, floor [[Stone detailing|detailing]]/[[engraving]] in progress, branches$
|-
|198 {{TST|╞}}
| Bridges, trees in winter, (un)dead trees*, [[Saguaro]]*, [[catapult]] tile, tracks$, branches$
|-
|199 {{TST|╟}}
| branches$
|-
|200 {{TST|╚}}
| Smooth/constructed walls, bridges, tracks$, fortress walls on travel map, trunk$
|-
|201 {{TST|╔}}
| Smooth/constructed walls, bridges, tracks$, fortress walls on travel map, trunk$
|-
|202 {{TST|╩}}
| Smooth/constructed walls, tracks$, trunk$
|-
|203 {{TST|╦}}
| Smooth/constructed walls, tracks$, fortress walls on travel map, trunk$
|-
|204 {{TST|╠}}
| Smooth/constructed walls, tracks$, trunk$
|-
|205 {{TST|═}}
| Smooth/constructed walls, bridges, planted [[crop]]s, center [[catapult]] tile, center [[Ballista]] tile, [[axle]]s, tracks$, fortress walls on travel map, trunk$
|-
|206 {{TST|╬}}
| Smooth/constructed walls, bridges, [[fortification]]s, (flashing) wall [[Stone detailing|detailing]]/[[engraving]]/fortifying in progress, tracks$, trunk$
|-
|207 {{TST|╧}}
| Tail of [[Ballista arrow]] facing north, [[screw press]] building, branches$
|-
|}

====Row 14 (208-223)====
{|
|-
|208 {{TST|╨}}
| Bridges, [[catapult]] tile, tracks$
|-
|209 {{TST|╤}}
| [[Table]], tail of [[Ballista arrow]] facing south, branches$
|-
|210 {{TST|╥}}
| [[Chair]]s, bridges, [[catapult]] tile, farmer's workshop bottom-middle tile, tracks$
|-
|211 {{TST|╙}}
| Ends of smooth walls
|-
|212 {{TST|╘}}
| Ends of smooth walls
|-
|213 {{TST|╒}}
| Ends of smooth walls
|-
|214 {{TST|╓}}
| Ends of smooth walls
|-
|215 {{TST|╫}}
| Wooden floodgates, bone floodgates, wall grates
|-
|216 {{TST|╪}}
| Door designation
|-
|217 {{TST|┘}}
| Overworld [[river]]s, branches$
|-
|218 {{TST|┌}}
| Overworld rivers, branches$
|-
|219 {{TST|█}}
| Interface window border, trade depot tile, ice wall and dig-designated tiles, [[Mist]]
|-
|220 {{TST|▄}}
| [[Siege engine]] parts, [[Ballista]] tile
|-
|221 {{TST|▌}}
| [[Ballista]] tile
|-
|222 {{TST|▐}}
| [[Ballista]] tile
|-
|223 {{TST|▀}}
| [[Ballista]] tile
|-
|}

====Row 15 (224-239)====
{|
|-
|224 {{TST|α}}
| Various [[fish]]#, top-center [[fishery]] tile, [[meat]], altocumulus clouds on travel map
|-
|225 {{TST|ß}}
| [[Leather]], cumulus clouds on travel map
|-
|226 {{TST|Γ}}
| [[Weight]] symbol, [[Tilesets#Trees_on_map|various forest trees]], [[forest|tropical forests]]
|-
|227 {{TST|π}}
| [[Cabinet]], [[goblin|dark fortress]]es
|-
|228 {{TST|Σ}}
| [[Trap component]]
|-
|229 {{TST|σ}}
| [[Anvil]], metalsmith's and magma forge bottom-middle tile, [[jug]]s*
|-
|230 {{TST|µ}}
| [[Finished_goods#Crafts|Crown]], [[ruin]]s on world map
|-
|231 {{TST|τ}}
| [[Tree]] sapling*, [[pig tail]]*, [[cave wheat]]*, [[Longland grass]]*, [[rat weed]]*, [[hide root]]*, [[muck root]]*, [[blade weed]]*, [[sliver barb]]*, [[shrubland]], [[arrow bamboo]]*, [[golden bamboo]]*, [[hedge bamboo]]*
|-
|232 {{TST|Φ}}
| [[Sweet pod]]*, [[bloated tuber]]*, [[kobold bulb]]*, [[Health_care#Traction_Benches|traction benches]], [[pot]]s*
|-
|233 {{TST|Θ}}
| [[Bed]]s, [[Puddingstone]]*
|-
|234 {{TST|Ω}}
| [[Statue]]s, dwarven cities on map, [[sea nettle jellyfish]]*
|-
|235 {{TST|δ}}
| [[Finished_goods#Crafts|Earring]]s, [[kennel]] tile
|-
|236 {{TST|∞}}
| [[Boulder]], dry [[brook]], middle-right [[butcher's shop]] tile, [[Tilesets#Stones|various stones]]*, sea foam, images of clouds, fortress gates on travel map, [[honeycomb]]*
|-
|237 {{TST|φ}}
| [[Thread]], [[loom]] bottom left tile, farmer's workshop bottom right tile
|-
|238 {{TST|ε}}
| Large Pots, [[Bowyer's workshop]] middle-right tile
|-
|239 {{TST|∩}}
| [[Hills]] on world map, [[slab]] building
|-
|}

====Row 16 (240-255)====
{|
|-
|240 {{TST|≡}}
| [[Bar]]s, exceptional [[Item quality|quality]] symbol, [[activity zone]]s, metal [[door]]s, floor [[bars]], track stops, cirrus clouds on travel map, hamlets on world map
|-
|241 {{TST|±}}
| Unfinished [[road]]
|-
|242 {{TST|≥}}
| Debris (spent ammo, ballista bolts, and catapult stones), [[fire#Origins|ashes]], [[wormy tendril]]*
|-
|243 {{TST|≤}}
| Debris (spent ammo, ballista bolts, and catapult stones), [[fire#Origins|ashes]], [[wormy tendril]]*
|-
|244 {{TST|⌠}}
| swamps on world map, [[Willow]] forest/swamp*
|-
|245 {{TST|⌡}}
|
|-
|246 {{TST|÷}}
| [[Barrel]], [[screw pump]], upper left tile of [[still]] (works well as barrel)
|-
|247 {{TST|≈}}
| Rough stone [[road]] or [[bridge]], [[water]], [[magma]], snow, glob ([[fat]]/[[tallow]]), [[Farming|farm plot]], furrowed soil, [[vomit]], [[blood]] pools, sea foam, sand, [[Tilesets#Stones|various stones]]*
|-
|248 {{TST|°}}
| Sea foam, [[egg]]s, [[staring eyeball]]*, [[bubble bulb]]*
|-
|249 {{TST|∙}}
| [[Vermin]]*, Boulders at lower elevation, trees at lower elevation, tundra on world map
|-
|250 {{TST|·}}
| [[Seed]]s, micro-vermin, open space, terrain at lower elevation, plants at lower elevation, tundra on world map
|-
|251 {{TST|√}}
| [[Weapon rack]]s, [[Desert#Badlands|badlands]] in main map, check mark (selecting production materials, confirmed items on manager window)
|-
|252 {{TST|ⁿ}}
| [[Savanna]], [[marsh]], [[grassland]], [[Desert#Badlands|badlands]]
|-
|253 {{TST|²}}
| Body parts, vermin remains
|-
|254 {{TST|■}}
| [[Block]]s, [[minecart]]s*, human houses/shops on travel map, progress bars
|-
|255 {{TST| }}
|
|}

== Detailed use list by type ==
=== Creatures ===
==== Main creature tiles ====
This is a list of tiles used by [[creature]]s. In all cases the tile can be changed in the raws, and a graphic can be assigned.

001 {{TST|☺}}
(Civilian) [[dwarves]]

011 {{TST|♂}}
[[Cuttlefish]] [[Nautilus]], [[Squid]]

015 {{TST|☼}}
[[Pond turtle]]

016 {{TST|►}}
[[manta ray]]

037 {{TST|%}}
[[Floating guts]]

042 {{TST|*}}
[[Creepy crawler]]

064 {{TST|@}}
berserk dwarf, adventurer, dwarven [[merchant]]s, dwarven [[caravan]] guards, dwarven [[diplomat]]

065 {{TST|A}}
[[Alligator]], [[Anaconda]], [[Anaconda man]], [[Giant aardvark]], [[Giant adder]], [[Giant anaconda]], [[Giant armadillo]], [[Giant aye-aye]], [[Giant albatross]], [[Giant axolotl]]

066 {{TST|B}}
[[Beak dog]], [[Black bear]], [[Blind cave bear]], [[Giant badger]], [[Giant barn owl]], [[Giant bat]], [[Giant beaver]], [[Giant bobcat]], [[Giant bushtit]], [[Giant sloth bear]], [[Giant wild boar]], [[Great barracuda]], [[Grizzly bear]], [[Polar bear]], [[Sloth bear man]], [[Sloth bear]], [[Wild boar man]], [[Wild boar]]

067 {{TST|C}}
[[Cave crocodile]], [[Cougar]], [[Cow]], [[Giant capuchin]], [[Giant capybara]], [[Giant cassowary]], [[Giant cave swallow]], [[Giant cheetah]], [[Giant chinchilla]], [[Giant coati]], [[Giant cockatiel]], [[Giant coyote]], [[Giant crab]], [[Giant crow]], [[Giant cuttlefish]], [[Giant horseshoe crab]], [[Magma crab]], [[One-humped camel]], [[Saltwater crocodile]], [[Two-humped camel]], [[Voracious cave crawler]]

068 {{TST|D}}
[[Cave dragon]], [[Donkey]], [[Draltha]], [[Giant damselfly]], [[Giant dingo]]

069 {{TST|E}}
[[Elephant]], [[Elk bird]], [[Elk]], [[Emu man]], [[Emu]], [[Giant eagle]], [[Giant echidna]], [[Giant emu]]

070 {{TST|F}}
[[Giant green tree frog]]

071 {{TST|G}}
[[Giant gila monster]], [[Giant grasshopper]], [[Giant grouper]], [[Giant leopard gecko]], [[Giraffe]], [[Gorilla]], [[Green devourer]]

072 {{TST|H}}
[[Giant hamster]], [[Giant hare]], [[Giant harp seal]], [[Giant hedgehog]], [[Giant hornbill]], [[Giant hyena]], [[Harp seal]], [[Hippo]], [[Horse]]

073 {{TST|I}}
[[Giant ibex]], [[Giant impala]]

074 {{TST|J}}
[[Giant jackal]], [[Giant jaguar]], [[Giant jumping spider]], [[Jabberer]], [[Jaguar]]

075 {{TST|K}}
[[Giant kakapo]], [[Giant kangaroo]], [[Giant kea]], [[Giant kestrel]], [[Giant king cobra]], [[Giant kingsnake]], [[Giant kiwi]], [[Giant koala]], [[Kangaroo man]], [[Kangaroo]]

076 {{TST|L}}
[[Giant gray langur]], [[Giant leech]], [[Giant leopard seal]], [[Giant leopard]], [[Giant lion tamarin]], [[Giant lion]], [[Giant loon]], [[Giant lorikeet]], [[Giant louse]], [[Giant lynx]], [[Giant masked lovebird]], [[Giant peach-faced lovebird]], [[Leopard seal man]], [[Leopard seal]], [[Leopard]], [[Lion]], [[Llama]]

077 {{TST|M}}
[[Amethyst man]], [[Blizzard man]], [[Blood man]], [[Fire man]], [[Gabbro man]], [[Giant magpie]], [[Giant mantis]], [[Giant mink]], [[Giant mongoose]], [[Giant monitor lizard]], [[Giant moose]], [[Giant mosquito]], [[Giant moth]], [[Giant spider monkey]], [[Iron man]], [[Magma man]], [[Merperson]], [[Molemarian]], [[Monitor lizard man]], [[Monitor lizard]], [[Moose man]], [[Moose]], [[Mud man]], [[Mule]], [[Muskox]], [[Sea monster]]

078 {{TST|N}}
[[Giant narwhal]], [[Giant nautilus]], [[Narwhal man]], [[Narwhal]], [[Nightwing]]

079 {{TST|O}}
[[Blind cave ogre]], [[Giant great horned owl]], [[Giant ocelot]], [[Giant octopus]], [[Giant olm]], [[Giant opossum]], [[Giant orca]], [[Giant osprey]], [[Giant ostrich]], [[Giant otter]], [[Giant snowy owl]], [[Ogre]], [[Orangutan]], [[Orca man]], [[Orca]], [[Ostrich man]], [[Ostrich]]

080 {{TST|P}}
[[Giant grey parrot]], [[Giant pangolin]], [[Giant parakeet]], [[Giant penguin]], [[Giant peregrine falcon]], [[Giant platypus]], [[Giant porcupine]], [[Giant puffin]], [[Giant red panda]], [[Gigantic panda]], [[Panda man]], [[Panda]]

082 {{TST|R}}
[[Giant rat]], [[Giant raven]], [[Reacher]], [[Reindeer]], [[Rhinoceros]], [[Rutherer]]

083 {{TST|S}}
[[Basking shark]], [[Blacktip reef shark]], [[Blue shark]], [[Bull shark]], [[Elephant seal man]], [[Elephant seal]], [[Giant bark scorpion]], [[Giant black mamba]], [[Giant brown recluse spider]], [[Giant bushmaster]], [[Giant cave spider]], [[Giant copperhead snake]], [[Giant desert scorpion]], [[Giant elephant seal]], [[Giant flying squirrel]], [[Giant moon snail]], [[Giant python]], [[Giant rattlesnake]], [[Giant skunk]], [[Giant sloth]], [[Giant slug]], [[Giant snail]], [[Giant sparrow]], [[Giant sponge]], [[Giant stoat]], [[Giant swan]], [[Giant white stork]], [[Gigantic squid]], [[Great white shark]], [[Hammerhead shark]], [[Longfin mako shark]], [[Nurse shark]], [[Python man]], [[Python]], [[Sasquatch]], [[Sea serpent]], [[Shortfin mako shark]], [[Spotted wobbegong]], [[Tiger shark]], [[Whitetip reef shark]]

084 {{TST|T}}
[[Alligator snapping turtle]], [[Giant desert tortoise]], [[Giant pond turtle]], [[Giant snapping turtle]], [[Giant tapir]], [[Giant thrips]], [[Giant tick]], [[Giant tiger]], [[Giant toad]], [[Giant tortoise man]], [[Giant tortoise]], [[Gigantic tortoise]], [[Tapir man]], [[Tapir]], [[Tiger]], [[Tigerman]], [[Troll]]

085 {{TST|U}}
[[Human]], [[Unicorn]]

087 {{TST|W}}
[[Giant earthworm]], [[Giant sperm whale]], [[Giant weasel]], [[Giant wolverine]], [[Giant wombat]], [[Giant wren]], [[Sperm whale man]], [[Sperm whale]], [[Wagon]], [[Walrus]], [[Water buffalo]], [[Whale shark]]

089 {{TST|Y}}
[[Yak]], [[Yeti]]

097 {{TST|a}}
[[Aardvark man]], [[Aardvark]], [[Adder man]], [[Adder]], [[Albatross man]], [[Albatross]], [[Alpaca]], [[Amphibian man]], [[Antman]], [[Armadillo man]], [[Armadillo]], [[Axolotl man]], [[Aye-aye man]], [[Aye-aye]]

098 {{TST|b}}
[[Badger man]], [[Badger]], [[Barn owl man]], [[Barn owl]], [[Bat man]], [[Beaver man]], [[Beaver]], [[Bobcat man]], [[Bobcat]], [[Bonobo]], [[Bugbat]], [[Bushtit man]], [[Buzzard]], [[Foul blendec]], [[Honey badger]]

099 {{TST|c}}
[[Capuchin man]], [[Capuchin]], [[Capybara man]], [[Capybara]], [[Cassowary man]], [[Cassowary]], [[Cat]], [[Cavy]], [[Cheetah]], [[Chicken]], [[Chimpanzee]], [[Chinchilla man]], [[Chinchilla]], [[Coati man]], [[Coati]], [[Cockatiel man]], [[Coelacanth]], [[Coyote man]], [[Coyote]], [[Crab man]], [[Crab]], [[Crow man]], [[Crundle]], [[Cuttlefish man]], [[Horseshoe crab man]], [[Horseshoe crab]]

100 {{TST|d}}
[[Damselfly man]], [[Deer]], [[Dingo man]], [[Dingo]], [[Dog]], [[Drunian]], [[Duck]], [[Duck]], [[Duck]]

101 {{TST|e}}
[[Elf]], [[Creeping eye]], [[Eagle man]], [[Eagle]], [[Echidna man]], [[Echidna]]

102 {{TST|f}}
[[Cave fish man]], [[Cave floater]], [[Fox]], [[Green tree frog man]]

103 {{TST|g}}
[[Goblin]], [[Bilou]], [[Black-crested gibbon]], [[Black-handed gibbon]], [[Dark gnome]], [[Gazelle]], [[Gila monster man]], [[Gila monster]], [[Goat]], [[Goose]], [[Gorlak]], [[Grasshopper man]], [[Gray gibbon]], [[Gremlin]], [[Grimeling]], [[Groundhog]], [[Guineafowl]], [[Leopard gecko man]], [[Longnose gar]], [[Mountain gnome]], [[Mountain goat]], [[Pileated gibbon]], [[Silvery gibbon]], [[White-handed gibbon]]

104 {{TST|h}}
[[Hamster man]], [[Hare man]], [[Hare]], [[Harp seal man]], [[Harpy]], [[Hedgehog man]], [[Hornbill man]], [[Hornbill]], [[Hungry head]], [[Hyena man]], [[Hyena]]

105 {{TST|i}}
[[Fire imp]], [[Ibex man]], [[Ibex]], [[Impala man]], [[Impala]]

106 {{TST|j}}
[[Jackal man]], [[Jackal]], [[Jumping spider man]]

107 {{TST|k}}
[[Kobold]], [[Kakapo man]], [[Kakapo]], [[Kea man]], [[Kea]], [[Kestrel man]], [[Kestrel]], [[King cobra man]], [[King cobra]], [[Kingsnake man]], [[Kingsnake]], [[Kiwi man]], [[Kiwi]], [[Koala man]], [[Koala]]

108 {{TST|l}}
[[Gray langur man]], [[Gray langur]], [[Leech man]], [[Lion tamarin man]], [[Loon man]], [[Loon]], [[Lorikeet man]], [[Louse man]], [[Lynx man]], [[Lynx]], [[Masked lovebird man]], [[Peach-faced lovebird man]]

109 {{TST|m}}
[[Giant mole]], [[Hoary marmot]], [[Magpie man]], [[Mandrill]], [[Manera]], [[Mantis man]], [[Mink man]], [[Mink]], [[Mongoose man]], [[Mongoose]], [[Mosquito man]], [[Moth man]], [[Plump helmet man]], [[Rhesus macaque]], [[Spider monkey man]], [[Spider monkey]]

110 {{TST|n}}
[[Naked mole dog]], [[Nautilus man]]

111 {{TST|o}}
[[Cave blob]], [[Flesh ball]], [[Great horned owl man]], [[Great horned owl]], [[Ocelot man]], [[Ocelot]], [[Octopus man]], [[Octopus]], [[Olm man]], [[Opossum man]], [[Opossum]], [[Osprey man]], [[Osprey]], [[Otter man]], [[River otter]], [[Sea otter]], [[Snowy owl man]], [[Snowy owl]]

112 {{TST|p}}
[[Blue peafowl]], [[Emperor penguin]], [[Grey parrot man]], [[Grey parrot]], [[Little penguin]], [[Pangolin man]], [[Pangolin]], [[Parakeet man]], [[Penguin man]], [[Penguin]], [[Peregrine falcon man]], [[Peregrine falcon]], [[Pig]], [[Platypus man]], [[Platypus]], [[Pond grabber]], [[Porcupine man]], [[Porcupine]], [[Puffin man]], [[Puffin]], [[Red panda man]], [[Red panda]]

114 {{TST|r}}
[[Large rat]], [[Rabbit]], [[Raccoon]], [[Raven man]], [[Raven]], [[Reptile man]], [[Rodent man]]

115 {{TST|s}}
[[Angelshark]], [[Bark scorpion man]], [[Black mamba man]], [[Black mamba]], [[Brown recluse spider man]], [[Bushmaster man]], [[Bushmaster]], [[Cave swallow man]], [[Copperhead snake man]], [[Copperhead snake]], [[Flying squirrel man]], [[Frill shark]], [[Helmet snake]], [[Moon snail man]], [[Rattlesnake man]], [[Rattlesnake]], [[Satyr]], [[Serpent man]], [[Sheep]], [[Siamang]], [[Skunk man]], [[Skunk]], [[Sloth man]], [[Sloth]], [[Slug man]], [[Snail man]], [[Sparrow man]], [[Spiny dogfish]], [[Sponge man]], [[Sponge]], [[Stoat man]], [[Stoat]], [[Strangler]], [[Swan man]], [[Swan]], [[White stork man]], [[White stork]]

116 {{TST|t}}
[[Common snapping turtle]], [[Desert tortoise man]], [[Desert tortoise]], [[Pond turtle man]], [[Snapping turtle man]], [[Thrips man]], [[Tick man]], [[Troglodyte]], [[Turkey]]

118 {{TST|v}}
[[Vulture]]

119 {{TST|w}}
[[Ice wolf]], [[Warthog]], [[Weasel man]], [[Weasel]], [[Wolf]], [[Wolverine man]], [[Wolverine]], [[Wombat man]], [[Wombat]], [[Wren man]]

123 {{TST|{}}
[[Purring maggot]]

126 {{TST|~}}
[[Conger eel]], [[Sea lamprey]], [[worm]]

157 {{TST|¥}}
[[Cave lobster]]

149 {{TST|ò}}
[[Stingray]], [[Common skate]]

224 {{TST|α}}
[[Yellow bullhead]], [[Bluefin tuna]], [[Bluefish]], [[Carp]], [[Cod]], [[Halibut]], [[Marlin]], [[Milkfish]], [[Ocean sunfish]], [[Opah]], [[Pike (fish)|Pike]], [[Sturgeon]], [[Swordfish]], [[Tigerfish]]

234 {{TST|Ω}}
[[sea nettle jellyfish]]

==== Additional Tiles Used by Creatures ====
Some creature raw specify secondary tiles. They are listed here
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Tile !! Usage !! Change Properties
|-
|002 {{TST|☻}}
|Military [[dwarves]]
|can be removed, reassigned, or overridden by graphics
|-
|009 {{TST|○}}
|[[creeping eye]] glowing eye
|can be reassigned
|-
|034 {{TST|"}}
|[[kobold]], [[goblin]], and [[blizzard man]] glowing eyes
|cannot be removed or reassigned without changing behavior
|-
|039 {{TST|'}}
|one eyed creatures with GLOWTILE " ([[kobold]], [[goblin]]s, and [[blizzard man|blizzard men]])
|tile cannot be changed
|-
|125 {{TST|}}}
|[[purring maggot]] alternate
|can be removed or reassigned
|-
|137 {{TST|ë}}
|military [[elf|elves]]
|can be removed, reassigned, or overridden by graphics
|-
|154 {{TST|Ü}}
| Military Humans
|can be removed, reassigned, or overridden by graphics
|}

=== Plants ===
==== Trees on map ====
The tiles can all be changed in the raws.

005 {{TST|♣}}
[[Acacia]], [[Alder]], [[Apple]], [[Apricot]], [[Birch]], [[Cherry]], [[Feather tree]], [[Mangrove]], [[Maple]], [[Peach]], [[Pear]], [[Tea]], [[Sand pear]], [[Plum]]

006 {{TST|♠}}
[[Almond]], [[Hazel]], [[Oak]], [[Mahogany]], [[Chestnut]], [[Ash_(tree)|Ash]], [[Kumquat]], [[Custard-apple]], [[Orange]], [[Desert lime]], [[Finger lime]], [[Round lime]], [[Walnut]], [[Pomelo]], [[Citron]], [[Olive]] , [[Macadamia]], [[Coffee]], [[Bayberry]], [[Bitter orange]], [[Lime]], [[Lychee]], [[Pecan]], [[Persimmon]]

020 {{TST|¶}}
[[Highwood]]

023 {{TST|↨}}
[[Cedar]]

024 {{TST|↑}}
[[Pine]], [[Ginkgo]], [[Larch]]

180 {{TST|┤}}
[[Glumprong]]

181 {{TST|╡}}
[[Blood thorn]]

226 {{TST|Γ}}
[[abaca]], [[candlenut]], [[mango tree]], [[rubber tree]], [[cacao tree]], [[Coconut palm]], [[kapok]], [[Avocado]], [[Banana]], [[Carambola]], [[Cashew]], [[Date palm]], [[Durian]], [[Guava]], [[Papaya]], [[Paradise nut]], [[Pomegranate]], [[Rambutan]]

244 {{TST|⌠}}
[[Willow]]

198 {{TST|╞}}
[[Saguaro]]

==== Trees in game ====
{|
|-
|035 {{TST|#}}
| smoothed branches in elven forest retreats
|-
|037 {{TST|%}}
| various fruits, various buds
|-
|042 {{TST|*}}
| chestnut fruit, catkins
|-
|059 {{TST|;}}
| twigs
|-
|127 {{TST|⌂}}
| trunk cap
|-
|172 {{TST|¼}}
| roots, branches with leaves
|-
|231 {{TST|τ}}
| [[Tree]] sapling
|-
|}
{|
|-
|trunk
|010 {{TST|◙}}
|079 {{TST|O}}
|185 {{TST|╣}}
|186 {{TST|║}}
|187 {{TST|╗}}
|188 {{TST|╝}}
|200 {{TST|╚}}
|201 {{TST|╔}}
|202 {{TST|╩}}
|203 {{TST|╦}}
|204 {{TST|╠}}
|205 {{TST|═}}
|206 {{TST|╬}}
|-
|branches
|179 {{TST|│}}
|180 {{TST|┤}}
|182 {{TST|╢}}
|191 {{TST|┐}}
|192 {{TST|└}}
|193 {{TST|┴}}
|194 {{TST|┬}}
|195 {{TST|├}}
|196 {{TST|─}}
|197 {{TST|┼}}
|198 {{TST|╞}}
|199 {{TST|╟}}
|207 {{TST|╧}}
|209 {{TST|╤}}
|217 {{TST|┘}}
|218 {{TST|┌}}
|-
|}

==== crops ====
{|
|-
|003 {{TST|♥}}
| [[Dimple cup]]s
|-
|005 {{TST|♣}}
| [[Quarry bush]]es
|-
|006 {{TST|♠}}
| [[Plump helmet]]s,
|-
|058 {{TST|:}}
| [[strawberry]], [[prickle berry]], [[fisher berry]], [[sun berry]]
|-
|152 {{TST|ÿ}}
| [[Valley herb]]
|-
|159 {{TST|ƒ}}
| [[Rope reed]]
|-
|231 {{TST|τ}}
| [[pig tail]], [[cave wheat]], [[Longland grass]], [[rat weed]], [[hide root]], [[muck root]], [[blade weed]], [[sliver barb]]
|-
|232 {{TST|Φ}}
| [[Sweet pod]], [[bloated tuber]], [[kobold bulb]]
|-
|}

==== Garden plants ====
{|
|-
|005 {{TST|♣}}
| blossoms
|-
|006 {{TST|♠}}
| leaves
|-
|037 {{TST|%}}
| [[crop|all kinds of berries]]
|-
|058 {{TST|:}}
| [[crop|all kinds of berries]]
|-
|111 {{TST|o}}
| [[winter melon]], [[watermelon]]
|-
|}

==== Grasses ====
Grass tiles can be changed in the plant raws. Most grasses have 4 tiles that are alternatively used.

{|
|-
|005 {{TST|♣}}
| flowers on [[baby toes succulent]], [[cloudberry]], [[cottongrass]], [[marsh thistle]], [[meadowsweet]]. [[mountain avens]], [[pebble plant]], and [[rush]].
|-
|009 {{TST|○}}
|[[staring eyeball]], [[bubble bulb]]
|-
|039 {{TST|'}}
| all other [[grass|grasses]]
|-
|044 {{TST|,}}
| all other [[grass|grasses]]
|-
|046 {{TST|.}}
| all other [[grass|grasses]]
|-
|079 {{TST|O}}
| [[bubble bulb]], [[staring eyeball]]
|-
| 096 {{TST|`}}
| all other [[grass|grasses]]
|-
|111 {{TST|o}}
| [[bubble bulb]], [[staring eyeball]]
|-
|159 {{TST|ƒ}}
| [[arrow bamboo]], [[golden bamboo]], [[hedge bamboo]]
|-
|169 {{TST|⌐}}
|[[wormy tendril]]
|-
|170 {{TST|¬}}
|[[wormy tendril]]
|-
|231 {{TST|τ}}
| [[arrow bamboo]], [[golden bamboo]], [[hedge bamboo]]
|-
|242 {{TST|≥}}
| [[wormy tendril]]
|-
|243 {{TST|≤}}
|[[wormy tendril]]
|-
|248 {{TST|°}}
|[[staring eyeball]], [[bubble bulb]]
|-
|}

=== Unmined inorganic material ===
The tiles can all be changed in the raws.
==== Stones ====
{|
|-
|015 {{TST|☼}}
| [[bituminous coal]]
|-
|034 {{TST|"}}
|[[Calcite]], [[Hornblende]]
|-
|035 {{TST|#}}
| [[Sandstone]], [[Rock salt]], [[Basalt]], [[Gypsum]]
|-
|037 {{TST|%}}
| [[Siltstone]], [[Slate]], [[Brimstone]], [[Kimberlite]], [[Bismuthinite]], [[Realgar]], [[Stibnite]], [[Marcasite]], [[Olivine]], [[Orthoclase]], [[Microcline]], [[Petrified wood]], [[Brimstone]], [[Pyrolusite]]
|-
|039 {{TST|'}}
| [[Claystone]], [[Rhyolite]], [[Periclase]]
|-
|042 {{TST|*}}
| [[Lignite]], [[Pitchblende]]
|-
|043 {{TST|+}}
| [[Bauxite]]
|-
|045 {{TST|-}}
| [[Cryolite]], [[Orpiment]], [[Satinspar]], [[Phyllite]], [[Quartzite]]
|-
|046 {{TST|.}}
| [[Dacite]], [[Ilmenite]], [[Shale]]
|-
|059 {{TST|;}}
| [[Selenite]]
|-
|061 {{TST|=}}
| [[Chert]], [[Gneiss]], [[Sylvite]], [[Chromite]], [[Kaolinite]]
|-
|094 {{TST|^}}
| [[Alabaster]]
|-
| 096 {{TST|`}}
| [[Dolomite]], [[Schist]], [[Alunite]], [[Rutile]], [[Borax]]
|-
|111 {{TST|o}}
| [[Graphite]]
|-
|118 {{TST|v}}
| [[Anhydrite]], [[Mica]]
|-
|120 {{TST|x}}
| [[Saltpeter]]
|-
|124 {{TST||}}
| [[Talc]]
|-
|156 {{TST|£}}
| [[Cinnabar]], [[Cobaltite]]
|-
|176 {{TST|░}}
| [[Jet]], [[Chalk]], [[Diorite]]
|-
|177 {{TST|▒}}
| [[Gabbro]], [[Obsidian]]
|-
|178 {{TST|▓}}
| [[Marble]], [[Limestone]], [[Granite]]
|-
|233 {{TST|Θ}}
| [[Puddingstone]]
|-
|236 {{TST|∞}}
| [[Andesite]], [[Conglomerate]]
|-
|247 {{TST|≈}}
| [[Mudstone]], [[Serpentine]]
|-
|}

==== Ores ====
{|
|-
|037 {{TST|%}}
| [[Bismuthinite]]
|-
|094 {{TST|^}}
| [[Aluminum]]
|-
|126 {{TST|~}}
| [[Magnetite]]
|-
|156 {{TST|£}}
| [[Adamantine]], [[Cassiterite]], [[Copper]], [[Galena]], [[Gold]], [[Hematite]], [[Horn silver]], [[Limonite]], [[Malachite]], [[Platinum]], [[Silver]], [[Sphalerite]], [[Tetrahedrite]]
|-
|}

==== Gems ====
015 {{TST|☼}} is used by all [[gem]]s

====Soil ====
{|
|-
|176 {{TST|░}}
| [[Loam]], [[Peat]], [[Sandy clay loam]], [[Sandy loam]], [[Silty clay loam]], [[Pelagic clay]], [[Red sand]], [[Sand (tan)]]
|-
|177 {{TST|▒}}
| [[Loamy sand]], [[Silt loam]], [[Siliceous ooze]], [[Calcareous ooze]], [[Clay loam]], [[Sandy clay]]
|-
|178 {{TST|▓}}
| [[Silt]], [[Black sand]], [[White sand]], [[Yellow sand]], [[Clay]], [[Silty clay]], [[Fire clay]]
|-
|}

== List of characters used in text and interface ==
Changes to these may make text look strange or be difficult to understand, unless you are using the TrueType font feature.

* " ! _ + , - . 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 /
* A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
* 32 (Space); 219█; 254■; ↑ ↓ → ← [Bridge direction indicators]; ♂ ♀ ☼ Γ √;
* [[Item quality|Quality]]: - + ≡ * ☼ « »
* Brackets: ( ) < > { } [ ]

=== Alphabets ===
Accented characters are used for names.

Dwarvish: íèîïéóúûôöùòêìëàáåäâabcdefghiklmnorstuvz

Elvish: íèéóúÿùòìçabcdefghiklmnopqrstuvwyz

Human: ñáabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Goblin: ûôöêëäåâabdeghklmnoprstuxz

== No known use ==
These are ideal for using to change tiles in the raw data or init.txt.

↕ ∟ ↔ ½ ⌡ 255



{{Game Interface FAQ}}

{{Category|Modding}}
{{Category|Interface}}

v0.34:Brown recluse spider man

2013-01-07T03:21:38Z

Flarn2006:

{{quality|Fine|19:46, 20 September 2012 (UTC)}}
{{Creaturelookup/0}}
{{av}}
{{creaturedesc}}
No relation to the superhero with a similar name.

{{gamedata}}
{{Creatures}}

v0.34:Memorial

2013-01-05T05:16:32Z

Flarn2006: clarified

{{quality|Fine|19:11, 12 November 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

{{furniture|name=Memorial
|tile=∩
|stone=n
|metal=n
|glass=n
|slab=y
|rooms=
* [[memorial hall|Memorial Hall]]
}}

'''Memorials''' are buildings which can be built from the {{k|b}}uild menu under {{k|Alt}}+{{k|s}}. To create one, you first need to order a blank [[slab]] at a [[mason's workshop]] ({{k|a}}, {{k|Alt}}+{{k|s}}), then order an [[Engraver]] to make the unengraved slab into a memorial at a [[craftsdwarf's workshop]] ({{k|a}}, {{k|Alt}}+{{k|s}}). When placing the memorial (listed under 'slab' in the build menu), hitting 'x' on the materials menu will expand the list and let you pick which specific memorial you want. Once engraved, they can be built as an alternative to [[coffin]]s - failure to memorialize or entomb a deceased dwarf may lead to [[ghost|unexpected consequences]]. If you're having trouble finding which slab you want to place, use {{k|x}} to expand the list and find named or blank slabs.

You can create a [[memorial hall]] from a memorial's {{k|q}}uery menu. Memorial halls appear to serve as additional [[meeting hall]]s: free dwarves will congregate in the area and receive happy [[thought]]s from the decorations.

Oddly, it is also possible to engrave memorials to [[goblin|invaders]], [[forgotten beast]]s, and even ''merchant wagons'' (not just the merchants, but the wagon itself!). This can be used to create trophy halls full of goblin skeletons and weapons, or to memorialize a deceased warrior's kill list inside of his tomb.

Memorials work inconsistently for merchants' escorts--some deceased caravan guards are not included in the list of potential memorial subjects. This behavior is presumably a bug, but you can avoid problems by placing dead caravan guards into coffins whenever possible.

{{Buildings}}
{{Category|Furniture}}

v0.34:Memorial

2013-01-05T05:15:48Z

Flarn2006: You can engrave slabs for wagons.

{{quality|Fine|19:11, 12 November 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

{{furniture|name=Memorial
|tile=∩
|stone=n
|metal=n
|glass=n
|slab=y
|rooms=
* [[memorial hall|Memorial Hall]]
}}

'''Memorials''' are buildings which can be built from the {{k|b}}uild menu under {{k|Alt}}+{{k|s}}. To create one, you first need to order a blank [[slab]] at a [[mason's workshop]] ({{k|a}}, {{k|Alt}}+{{k|s}}), then order an [[Engraver]] to make the unengraved slab into a memorial at a [[craftsdwarf's workshop]] ({{k|a}}, {{k|Alt}}+{{k|s}}). When placing the memorial (listed under 'slab' in the build menu), hitting 'x' on the materials menu will expand the list and let you pick which specific memorial you want. Once engraved, they can be built as an alternative to [[coffin]]s - failure to memorialize or entomb a deceased dwarf may lead to [[ghost|unexpected consequences]]. If you're having trouble finding which slab you want to place, use {{k|x}} to expand the list and find named or blank slabs.

You can create a [[memorial hall]] from a memorial's {{k|q}}uery menu. Memorial halls appear to serve as additional [[meeting hall]]s: free dwarves will congregate in the area and receive happy [[thought]]s from the decorations.

Oddly, it is also possible to engrave memorials to [[goblin|invaders]], [[forgotten beast]]s, and even ''merchant wagons''. This can be used to create trophy halls full of goblin skeletons and weapons, or to memorialize a deceased warrior's kill list inside of his tomb.

Memorials work inconsistently for merchants' escorts--some deceased caravan guards are not included in the list of potential memorial subjects. This behavior is presumably a bug, but you can avoid problems by placing dead caravan guards into coffins whenever possible.

{{Buildings}}
{{Category|Furniture}}