Creature token

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v50.14 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

The [OBJECT:CREATURE] token begins the definition of a Dwarf Fortress creature raw file. Each creature definition that follows begins with the [CREATURE:creature ID] token, and the creature's exact properties and behavior are then specified by the use of further creature tokens. All known creature tokens are listed below.

Vanilla creature definitions can be found in <Dwarf Fortress>\data\vanilla\vanilla_creatures\. Creature ID is also used with graphics tokens to make customizable graphics sets.

The caste tokens allow defining sub-species within the broader creature definition, including true biological castes and lesser variations, such as sexes. Creature tokens can either be 'Creature' or 'CASTE-only' type which can only be applied to creature or cast respectively, or 'CASTE' which can be applied to both. In the table bellow, creature type distinguish tokens that can be applied to creature only, cast only and both ('creature', 'CASTE-only', and 'CASTE' respectively)

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A

Token	Type	Arguments	Description
ADOPTS_OWNER	Caste		Prevents tamed creature from being made available for adoption, instead allowing it to automatically adopt whoever it wants. The basic requirements for adoption are intact, and the creature will only adopt individuals who have a preference for their species. Used by cats in the vanilla game. When viewing a tame creature with this token, the message "This animal isn't interested in your wishes" will appear instead of "This [adorable] animal can't work" or "This animal is waiting to be trained".
ALCOHOL_DEPENDENT	Caste		Makes the creature need alcohol to get through the working day; it will choose to drink booze instead of water if possible. Going sober for too long reduces speed.
ALL_ACTIVE	Caste		When set, the creature will appear at any time of day. Overrides [DIURNAL], [NOCTURNAL], [CREPUSCULAR], [MATUTINAL], and [VESPERTINE].
ALTTILE	Creature	'character' or tile number	If set, the creature will blink between its [TILE] and its ALTTILE.
AMBUSHPREDATOR	Caste		Found on [LARGE_PREDATOR]s who ambush their prey. Instead of charging relentlessly at prey, the predator will wait till the prey is within a few squares before charging. May or may not work on other creatures.[Verify]
AMPHIBIOUS	Caste		Allows a creature to breathe both in and out of water (unlike [AQUATIC]) - does not prevent drowning in magma.
APP_MOD_DESC_RANGE	Appearance Modifier	Range (6 values, low to high)	Based on info from Wannabehero on the forums: When used with an appearance modifier token (BP_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER or BODY_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER), tells the game what numeric ranges to map to which descriptors. The game uses 7 descriptor levels for each modifier, with the center one generally being to omit the thing from the creature description entirely. The six values in APP_MOD_DESC_RANGE define the boundaries between each described range. If this is not specified it uses the numbers 10:50:95:105:150:190.
APP_MOD_GENETIC_MODEL	Appearance Modifier	Model (Accepts DOMINANT_MORE, DOMINANT_LESS, and MIX)	Defines a genetic model for the relevant appearance modifier(s). May or may not do anything significant at present.
APP_MOD_IMPORTANCE	Appearance Modifier	number	Determines how important the appearance modifier is, for determining whether it shows up in the creature description.[Verify]
APP_MOD_NOUN	Appearance Modifier	noun SINGULAR or PLURAL	Creates a noun for the appearance, and whether it is singular or plural.
APP_MOD_RATE	Appearance Modifier	Rate (integer) Scale (DAILY, YEARLY) min (growth) max (growth) start year start day end year end day	Setting the growth rate of the modifier. The last two tokens can be replaced by NO_END to have growth continue indefinitely.
APPLY_CREATURE_VARIATION	Caste	creature variation ID (optional) any amount of arbitrary arguments	Applies the specified creature variation. See Creature_variation_token#Arguments_and_conditional_tokens for how the subsequent arguments may be used.
APPLY_CURRENT_CREATURE_VARIATION	Special		Applies the effects of all pending [CV_ADD_TAG] and [CV_REMOVE_TAG] tokens that have been defined in the current creature.
AQUATIC	Caste		Enables the creature to breathe in water, but causes it to air-drown on dry land.
ARENA_RESTRICTED	Caste		Causes the creature to be excluded from the object testing arena's creature spawning list. Typically applied to spoileriffic creatures.
ARTIFICIAL_HIVEABLE	Creature		Enables the creature to be kept in artificial hives by beekeepers.
AT_PEACE_WITH_WILDLIFE	Caste		Prevents the creature from attacking or frightening creatures with the [NATURAL] tag.
ATTACK	Caste	token selection criteria (it's complicated)	Defines the attack name, and the body part used. See below for valid subtokens Example: [ATTACK:GORE:BODYPART:BY_CATEGORY:HORN] GORE = name of the attack BODYPART:BY_CATEGORY:HORN = the horn is used to attack (presuming the creature has one)
ATTACK_TRIGGER	Caste	population exported wealth created wealth	Specifies when a megabeast or semi-megabeast will attack the fortress. The attacks will start occurring when all of the requirements are met. Setting a value to 0 disables the trigger.

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B

Token	Type	Arguments	Description
BABY	Caste	integer	Age at which creature is considered a child, the default is zero. One can think of this as the duration of the baby stage.
BABYNAME	Caste	singular plural	Defines a new name for a creature in baby state at the caste level. For non-caste-specific baby names, see [GENERAL_BABY_NAME].
BEACH_FREQUENCY	Caste	integer	Creature may be subject to beaching, becoming stranded on shores, where they will eventually air-drown. The number indicates the frequency of the occurrence. Presumably requires the creature to be [AQUATIC]. Used by orcas, sperm whales and sea nettle jellyfish in the vanilla game.
BENIGN	Caste		The creature is non-aggressive by default, and will never automatically be engaged by companions or soldiers, running away from any creatures that are not friendly to it, and will only defend itself if it becomes enraged. Can be thought of as the counterpoint of the [LARGE_PREDATOR] tag. When tamed, animals with this tag will be useless for fortress defense. This and [TRADE_CAPACITY] are required for [PACK_ANIMAL] to function properly, if an animal contains the aforementioned requirements without this tag: items loaded by the merchants will be dropped upon departure.
BIOME	Creature	biome token	Select a biome the creature may appear in.
BLOOD	Caste	<material token> <material state>	Specifies what the creature's blood is made of.
BLOODSUCKER	Caste		Causes vampire-like behaviour; the creature will suck the blood of unconscious victims when its thirst for blood grows sufficiently large. When controlling the creature in adventure mode, this can be done at will. Seems to be required to make the creature denouncable (in-world) as a creature of the night.
BODY	Caste	body parts	Draws body parts from OBJECT:BODY files (such as body_default.txt) Example: [BODY:BODY_WITH_HEAD_FLAG:HEART:GUTS:BRAIN:MOUTH] This is the body from a purring maggot. It creates a body with head, a heart, some guts, a brain, and a mouth. That's all a maggot needs. The body parts need to be listed in an order such that any parent part appears before its connected children. For example [BODY:HEART:BODY_WITH_HEAD_FLAG] produces a "Body Token Recognized But Could Not Connect: HEART" error because HEART can't find any UPPERBODY(s) to connect to. Switching the order to [BODY:BODY_WITH_HEAD_FLAG:HEART] fixes the problem because now the UPPERBODY is created before the HEART tries to connect to it. If the body is left undefined, the creature (or caste) will be tagged as [DOES_NOT_EXIST].[Verify]
BODY_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER	Caste	ATTRIBUTE lowest lower low median high higher highest	These body modifiers give individual creatures different characteristics. In the case of HEIGHT, BROADNESS and LENGTH, the modifier is also a percentage change to the BODY_SIZE of the individual creature. The seven numbers afterward give a distribution of ranges. Each interval has an equal chance of occurring. Example: [BODY_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER:HEIGHT:90:95:98:100:102:105:110] HEIGHT : marks the height to be changed 90:95:98:100:102:105:110 : sets the range from the shortest (90% of the average height) to the tallest (110% of the average height) creature variation.
BODY_DETAIL_PLAN	Caste	PlanName Arguments	Loads a plan from listed OBJECT:BODY_DETAIL_PLAN files, such as b_detail_plan_default.txt. Mass applies USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE, mass alters RELSIZE, alters body part positions, and will allow tissue layers to be defined. Tissue layers are defined in order of skin to bone here. Example: [BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:VERTEBRATE_TISSUE_LAYERS:SKIN:FAT:MUSCLE:BONE:CARTILAGE] This creates the detailed body of a fox, the skin, fat, muscle, bones and cartilage out of the vertebrate tissues. A maggot would only need: [BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:EXOSKELETON_TISSUE_LAYERS:SKIN:FAT:MUSCLE]
BODY_SIZE	Caste	years days size	Sets size at a given age. Size is in cubic centimeters, and for normal body materials, is roughly equal to the creature's average weight in grams. Example: [BODY_SIZE:0:0:10000] [BODY_SIZE:1:168:50000] [BODY_SIZE:12:0:220000] This describes the size of a minotaur. Its birth size would be 10,000 cm3 (~10 kg). At 1 year and 168 days old it would be 50,000 cm3 (~50 kg). And as an adult (at 12 years old) it would be 220,000 cm3 and weigh roughly 220 kg.
BODYGLOSS	Caste	gloss	Substitutes body part text with replacement text. Draws gloss information from OBJECT:BODY files (such as body_default.txt)
BONECARN	Caste		Creature eats bones. Implies [CARNIVORE]. Adventurers with this token are currently unable to eat bones.Bug:11069
BP_ADD_TYPE	Caste		Adds a type to a body part - used with [SET_BP_GROUP]. In vanilla DF, this is used for adding the type 'GELDABLE' to the lower body of certain creatures.
BP_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER	Caste	QUALITY lowest lower low median high higher highest	Sets up the breadth of possibilities for appearance qualities for a selected BP group. EG. Eyes (CLOSE_SET, DEEP_SET, ROUND_VS_NARROW, LARGE_IRIS),Lips (THICKNESS), Nose (BROADNESS, LENGTH, UPTURNED, CONVEX), Ear (SPLAYED_OUT, HANGING_LOBES, BROADNESS, HEIGHT), Tooth (GAPS), Skull (HIGH_CHEEKBONES, BROAD_CHIN, JUTTING CHIN, SQUARE_CHIN), Neck (DEEP_VOICE, RASPY_VOICE), Head (BROADNESS, HEIGHT)
BP_REMOVE_TYPE	Caste		Removes a type from a body part. Used with [SET_BP_GROUP].
BUILDINGDESTROYER	Caste	1 or 2	Allows a creature to destroy furniture and buildings. Value [1] targets mostly doors, hatches, furniture and the like. Value [2] targets anything not made with the b + C commands.

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C

Token	Type	Arguments	Description
CAN_DO_INTERACTION	Caste	interaction token	The creature can perform an interaction. See interaction token.
CAN_LEARN	Caste		The creature gains skills and can have professions. If a member of a civilization (even a pet) has this token, it'll need to eat, drink and sleep. Note that this token makes the creature unable to be eaten by an adventurer, so it is not recommended for uncivilized monsters. Adventurers lacking this token can allocate but not increase attributes and skills. Skills allocated will disappear on start. A creature with at least this token or the [CAN_SPEAK] token will be able to have values and dreams.
CAN_SPEAK	Caste		Can talk. Note that this is not necessary for a creature to gain social skills. A creature with at least this token or the [CAN_LEARN] token will be able to have values and dreams.
CANNOT_CLIMB	Caste		Creature cannot climb, even if it has free grasp parts.
CANNOT_JUMP	Caste		Creature cannot jump.
CANNOT_UNDEAD	Caste		Acts like [NOT_LIVING], except that [OPPOSED_TO_LIFE] creatures will attack them.
CANOPENDOORS	Caste		Allows the creature to open doors that are set to be unpassable for pets. In adventure mode, creatures lacking this token will be unable to pass through door tiles except whilst these are occupied by other creatures. Not currently useful in Fortress mode as doors can no longer be set unpassable for pets.v50.03
CARNIVORE	Caste		Creature only eats meat. If the creature goes on rampages in worldgen, it will often devour the people/animals it kills. Does not seem to affect the diet of the adventurer in adventure mode.
CASTE	Creature	name	Defines a caste.
CASTE_ALTTILE	Caste	tile number or "letter"	Caste-specific [ALTTILE]. Requires [CASTE_TILE].
CASTE_COLOR	Caste	fg bg brightness	Caste-specific [COLOR].
CASTE_GLOWCOLOR	Caste	fg bg brightness	Caste-specific [GLOWCOLOR].
CASTE_GLOWTILE	Caste	tile value or "letter"	Caste-specific [GLOWTILE].
CASTE_NAME	Caste	singular plural adjective	While [NAME] describes the name of the species, [CASTE_NAME] names individuals of the species. Unlike other caste-specific descriptions, this token is required, even for creatures without separate castes. If left undefined, the creature will not show up in the arena and members of the species will be labeled as "nothing".
CASTE_PROFESSION_NAME	Caste	Unit type token (Profession) singular plural	Caste-specific [PROFESSION_NAME].
CASTE_SOLDIER_ALTTILE	Caste	'character' or tile number	Caste-specific [SOLDIER_ALTTILE]. Requires [CASTE_SOLDIER_TILE].
CASTE_SOLDIER_TILE	Caste	'character' or tile number	Caste-specific [CREATURE_SOLDIER_TILE].
CASTE_TILE	Caste	tile number or "letter"	Caste-specific [CREATURE_TILE].
CAVE_ADAPT	Caste		Causes cave adaptation. Allows for creature's race to be involved in jokes that end in "And the [race] saw the sun and vomited on the spot!"
CDI	Caste	Varies	Specifies interaction details following a [CAN_DO_INTERACTION] token. See interaction token.
CHANGE_BODY_SIZE_PERC	Caste	integer	Multiplies body size by a factor of (integer)%. 50 halves size, 200 doubles.
CHANGE_FREQUENCY_PERC	Creature	integer	Multiplies frequency by a factor of (integer)%.
CHILD	Caste	integer	Age at which creature is considered an adult - one can think of this as the duration of the child stage. Allows the creature's offspring to be rendered fully tame if trained during their childhood.
CHILDNAME	Caste	singular plural	Defines a new name for a creature in the child state at the caste level. For non-caste-specific child names, see [GENERAL_CHILD_NAME].
CLUSTER_NUMBER	Creature	min max	The minimum/maximum numbers of how many creatures per spawned cluster. Vermin fish with this token in combination with temperate ocean and river biome tokens will perform seasonal migrations. Defaults to 1:1 if not specified.
CLUTCH_SIZE	Caste	min max	Number of eggs laid in one sitting.
COLONY_EXTERNAL	Caste		Caste hovers around colony.
COLOR	Creature	foreground background brightness	Color of the creature's tile. See Color for usage.
COMMON_DOMESTIC	Caste		When combined with any of [PET], [PACK_ANIMAL], [WAGON_PULLER] and/or [MOUNT], the creature is guaranteed to be domesticated by any civilization with [COMMON_DOMESTIC_PET], [COMMON_DOMESTIC_PACK], [COMMON_DOMESTIC_PULL] and/or [COMMON_DOMESTIC_MOUNT] respectively. Such civilizations will always have access to the creature, even in the absence of wild populations. This token is invalid on [FANCIFUL] creatures.
CONVERTED_SPOUSE	Caste		Creatures of this caste's species with the [SPOUSE_CONVERTER] and [NIGHT_CREATURE_HUNTER] tokens will kidnap [SPOUSE_CONVERSION_TARGET]s of an appropriate sex and convert them into castes with CONVERTED_SPOUSE.
COOKABLE_LIVE	Caste		Set this to allow the creature to be cooked in meals without first being butchered/cleaned. Used by some water-dwelling vermin such as mussels, nautiluses and oysters.
CRAZED	Caste		Creature is 'berserk' and will attack all other creatures, except members of its own species that also have the CRAZED tag. It will show Berserk in the unit list. Berserk creatures go on rampages during worldgen much more frequently than non-berserk ones.
COPY_TAGS_FROM	Special	creature ID	Copies another specified creature. This will override any definitions made before it; essentially, it makes this creature identical to the other one, which can then be modified. Often used in combination with [APPLY_CREATURE_VARIATION] to import standard variations from a file. The vanilla giant animals and animal peoples are examples of this token combination.
CREATURE	Creature	creature ID	A unique, arbitrary identifier that begins the definition of each new creature, and is used to reference the creature in other tokens and raws.
CREATURE_CLASS	Caste	classname	An arbitrary creature classification. Can be set to anything, but the only vanilla uses are GENERAL_POISON (used in syndromes), EDIBLE_GROUND_BUG (used as targets for [GOBBLE_VERMIN_CLASS]), MAMMAL, and POISONOUS (both used for kobold pet eligibility). A single creature can have multiple classes. The full list of tokens that use creature classes is: Creature tokens: [GOBBLE_VERMIN_CLASS], [GOBBLE_VERMIN_CLASS] Interaction tokens: [IT_AFFECTED_CLASS], [IT_IMMUNE_CLASS] Animal definition (Entity) tokens: [ANIMAL_CLASS], [ANIMAL_FORBIDDEN_CLASS] Position (Entity) token: [ALLOWED_CLASS] Syndrome tokens: [SYN_AFFECTED_CLASS], [SYN_IMMUNE_CLASS], [CE_SENSE_CREATURE_CLASS]
CREATURE_SOLDIER_TILE	Creature	'character' or tile number	Creatures active in their civilization's military will use this tile instead.
CREATURE_TILE	Creature	'character' or tile number	The symbol of the creature in ASCII mode.
CREPUSCULAR	Caste		When set, the creature will appear at dawn (between 4:30 AM and 6:00 AM) and in the evening (between 8:00 PM and 10:05 PM) in Adventurer mode.
CURIOUSBEAST_EATER	Caste		Allows a creature to steal and eat edible items from a site. It will attempt to grab a food item and immediately make its way to the map's edge, where it will disappear with it. If the creature goes on rampages during worldgen, it will often steal food instead of attacking. Trained and tame instances of the creature will no longer display this behavior.
CURIOUSBEAST_GUZZLER	Caste		Allows a creature to (very quickly) drink your alcohol. Or spill the barrel to the ground. Also affects undead versions of the creature. Unlike food or item thieves, drink thieves will consume your alcohol on the spot rather than run away with one piece of it. Trained and tame instances of the creature will no longer display this behavior.
CURIOUSBEAST_ITEM	Caste		Allows a creature to steal things (apparently, of the highest value it can find). It will attempt to grab an item of value and immediately make its way to the map's edge, where it will disappear with it. If a creature with any of the CURIOUSBEAST tokens carries anything off the map, even if it is a caravan's pack animal, it will be reported as stealing everything it carries. If the creature goes on rampages in worldgen, it will often steal items instead of attacking - kea birds are infamous for this. Trained and tame instances of the creature will no longer display this behavior. Also, makes the creature unable to drop hauled items until it enters combat.
CV_ADD_TAG	Special	TAG NAME	Adds a tag. Used in conjunction with creature variation templates.
CV_REMOVE_TAG	Special	TAG NAME	Removes a tag. Used in conjunction with creature variation templates.

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D

Token	Type	Arguments	Description
DEMON	Caste		Found on generated demons. Marks the caste to be used in the initial wave after breaking into the underworld, and by the demon civilizations created during world-gen breachings[Verify].
DESCRIPTION	Caste	text	A brief description of the creature type, as displayed when viewing the creature's description/thoughts & preferences screen.
DIE_WHEN_VERMIN_BITE	Caste		Causes the creature to die upon attacking. Used by honey bees to simulate them dying after using their stingers.
DIFFICULTY	Caste	integer	Increases experience gain during adventure mode. Creatures with a difficulty of 11 or higher are not assigned for quests in adventure mode.