User:Shades

The Numbers Game

• 4 sweet pod seeds - costs 4
• 1 Proficient Grower will average 3 pods per seed, so 12 pods
• 1 Thresher turns 3 pods into 15 syrup, so 60 syrup in 4 barrels worth a total of 1200
• 1 Proficient Cook takes 4 barrels and makes, on average, a single superior stack of meals worth somewhere in the region of 10000

So from 4 points (plus the grower and cook skills I tend to take anyway) I've created 10000 in worth. Scaling up to around 50 seeds (which seems to be what the grower can plant before the first seeds grow and provide more) means you end up 125k of worth in the first season. It's possible to get 4 harvests in spring and summer so half a million by the time the caravan arrives.

Now imagine if you start with 5 growers instead of one, and you train up your cook with easy meals while waiting for the first pods to grow so it can handle the output. I wonder what the upper limit for migrations is.

ASCII Art Rewards

29 October 2007

 @@+,@\D/.+@

 Fire seared the sky as the dragon circled, driven by madness and the
 promise of gold held deep within the dwarven tunnels.  Standing on the
 battlements of the stone façade built over the entrance to the
 fortress, Danrik the marksdwarf took aim at the evil target, his heart
 thumping slow and steady.  He waited two more beats and pulled the
 trigger.  An instant later a dozen marksdwarves let fly and a hail
 bolts pierced the smoky air.
 
 Most of the bolts bounced harmlessly away, but Danrik's well-aimed
 missile found the monsters skull, shattering the brain.  The dwarves
 cheered as the beast fell from the sky.  The smile fell from Danrik's
 face as the great corpse fell closer -- it was coming right at them!
 Dwarves climbed over each other, making for the stairs.  Other risked
 jumping from the wall, breaking their arms and legs as they landed.
 Danrik stood fast.
 
 As the dead dragon slammed into the fortress's stone wall the dwarves
 were flung into the air.  As Danrik flew, he damned the dragon with
 all his might, his foul words ripped away by the wind.  With a sudden
 crash, all went dark.

24 July 2008

 @@@++@+@@@@@@@@@@+,.%%%%|

 "He's awoken," came the cry.  "He has awoken!"
 
 Pain came as Danrik opened his eyes.  A crowd of gaudily-dressed
 dwarves danced and sang in celebration of their hero.  It had been a
 week since Danrik had fallen.  His comrades slapped him on the
 shoulders.  One brought him a chalice of wine.  The dragon was dead.
 Every day since had been a celebration, but with the awakening of
 Danrik, the party had really begun.
 
 The mighty warrior made his way out of the bedroom, supported by two
 lusty dwarf women.  The masons were hard at work restoring the wall
 that the dead dragon had crashed through.  The dwarf led Danrik to the
 courtyard.
 
 "Speech!" cried the dwarves, "Speech!"
 
 "Oh," said Danrik, "Well…"
 
 A dark shape appeared in the gap between the walls, large and
 menacing.  The dwarves grew silent as it cast its glowing red eyes on
 the dwarf hero.
 
 "Yes," said the creature, "tell us how you slew the dragon, mighty
 dwarf, how you saved the day!"

Current Build (so out of date it hurts)

Starting Skills	Other starting jobs
Negotiator, Persuader, Appraiser, Judge of intent, Conversationalist	Mining
Organizer, Record Keeper	Mining
Carpenter, Building designer	Mining
Mechanic, Siege engineer	Mining
Mason, Building designer	Mining
Grower, Potash maker	Wood Cutter
Cook, Herbalist	Animal Trainer

What am I thinking?

Other than the leader all the dwarves start with two skills, both of these are at proficient level which gives a nice basis for agility/strength/toughness. The first dwarf will take on Leader and Broker roles and the second dwarf will forfil the needs of the book keeper and manager, the others all have a major skill which they will specialise, and a minor skill that I probably won't need but what the hell. The exception to this is the two minor building designers but I figure between the two of them they'll have it covered.

Five of the dwarves are set to miner as soon as I start, they make short work of the major areas of the fortress and leave little stone, but the they they are replaced most will be adept or higher but that just helps with their agility/strength/toughness. The first to be removed will probably be the mason as I'll have a need for a lot of stone items, the carpenter can make his beds while mining. The record keeper will be switched mid summer or so to get cracking on those records, but this time I expect most of the fort to be mined out. The broker will be pulled off mining when the caravan arrives to get to work there.

I expect to get at least one set of migrants in the first year at that point all the rest my miners will switch over to dedicated miners among the new, even if I have to draft peasants, probably just two or three miners, any more is a waste. These will start at a lower level than the ones I took off duty but that just means less rock. By the time I'm needing ore they'll be legendary anyway.

The farmer will cut some initial wood to make beds and clear a path to the entrance, for wagons, then switch off woodcutting when the farms are ready to place. Note that I also have on 'only farmers harvest' so he'll be dealing with growing exclusively from this point, and maybe potash if I decide to fertilise the fields.

The cook will train up the dogs I bring with me to give me some defence, but other than that will perform hauler duties until there is something to cook, probably early summer.

The five miners with copper picks only cost 100 points, and as there is no anvil needed here there is plenty to spare. The lack of a brewer means I'll take more alcohol but brewing is a quick task and so it won't be long for one of the migrants to pick that up. Depending on the location I might switch the carpenter out for a Brewer/Wood Burner, to match the potash, as I don't really need a carpenter but to be honest without doing a two miner/two grower build I had trouble filling the slots up.