40d:Insanity

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v50.14 · v0.47 · v0.34 · v0.31 · v0.28.181.40d · v0.23 This article is about an older version of DF. More Info · V

Insanity causes a dwarf to immediately stop what they were doing and go mad, rendering them useless as they refuse to follow orders or perform any job. They also stop eating, drinking and even sleeping. Insanity comes in three flavors: melancholy, stark raving mad and berserk.

The effect is permanent and there is no current way to cure them. Insanity always ends in the death of the afflicted dwarf, whether by suicide or homicide, which will upset their friends and family. This can lead to a vicious circle of depression and tantrums. Make sure to build coffins to avoid compounded unhappiness from their friends decaying on open air.

Even children and babies can be afflicted by insanity. And yes, that is awesome.

Causes

The following events/conditions can drive a creature insane:

• A strange mood job is cancelled for some reason (e.g. the claimed workshop is destroyed)
• A Diplomat fails to leave your fortress within 25 days of completing its meeting.
• A Merchant fails to leave your fortress within 25 days of finishing trading.
• A dwarf is forced to stay awake for over 6 months ("Very Drowsy" for a month and a half).
• A dwarf throws too many tantrums during a short period of time (1% chance per tantrum). Dwarves who have completed a strange mood and created an artifact cannot go insane this way.
• A dwarf enters a strange mood but is waiting inside the claimed workshop for the next item (or hasn't yet claimed a workshop) for a month and a half.
• A Diplomat or merchant is trapped inside a cage.

Types

There are three types of insanity that can occur naturally, but a dwarf may only be afflicted by one at a time (one is enough). The personality of the dwarf influences the type of insanity.

• Stark raving mad

<dwarf> has gone stark raving mad!

Running around babbling! / Crawling around babbling!

The afflicted will strip naked and drop each of their items one by one. They will then wander your halls aimlessly (or sometimes stick to their room), babbling incoherently until they eventually die of dehydration or starvation. They do not actively seek out their own deaths, but death does a pretty good job at finding them anyway, as they ignore any and all hazards they encounter while milling about.

Dwarves with high anxiety are more likely to go stark raving mad.

• Melancholy

<dwarf> is stricken by melancholy!

Stricken by melancholy...

The afflicted is overcome by depression and will seek out ways to end their life, considerably slowing their movement in the process. If they cannot find a cliff to jump off of or water/magma to drown/burn up in, they will simply starve themselves to death. Be warned that a melancholy mother may take her baby's life with her own if she still carries it.

Dwarves with high depression are more likely to be stricken by melancholy.

• Berserk

<dwarf> has gone berserk!

In a berserk rage!

The afflicted attacks friend and foe alike in a blind rage. This can be dangerous if it happens to an experienced dwarf (especially one carrying an artifact weapon). Luckily, war dogs can quickly bring down an unskilled dwarf.

The dwarf in question becomes an enemy to your civilization, meaning it will set off traps and engage your military.

Dwarves with high anger are more likely to go berserk.

There is one additional type of insanity which does not occur naturally:

• Catatonic (special)

Staring off into space...

The afflicted has experienced things so vile and unspeakable that its mind has completely shut down. Only hidden fun stuff is capable of producing this type of insanity.

Dealing with insanity

As stated, there is no cure for the insane. But there are ways you can deal with dwarf quickly and efficiently which can have little impact on your fort's health. Of course, that isn't always as fun.

• Lock the door or otherwise seal them in

Insane dwarves - even the berserk kind - cannot get by a locked door. If your insane or soon-to-be-insane dwarf is in a lockable room, just lock the door; you can then wait for them to starve themselves to death. Even if your workshops aren't in rooms on their own, you'll have a month or two while your dwarf stands in their workshop waiting for the items they need. You can use that time to build a wall around the workshop and seal the dwarf in. (Indeed, it may be a good idea to start doing this instinctively as soon as a dwarf claims a workshop, or dig 3x3 squares with only one way in for your workshops so you can build a door in the gap and lock it as soon as the dwarf goes mad.)

• Station your military around them

If you suspect a dwarf is about to go insane, whether from misery or a failed mood, you can station a squad of soldiers by them

This is a decisive solution to dealing with a berserk dwarf. Better they charge into an axe than an unlucky mason walking along.

• Make sure you have a cliff and that the bottom is accessible

As cruel as it might sound, making sure your melancholy dwarves have a place to jump off of provides a quick and easy death instead of waiting for them to eventually starve. If you're able to access the bottom of the cliff you can more quickly bury the corpse and recover the deceased's items.

• Assign wardogs to a potential case, or to those around them

Similar to military, wardogs will recognize the insane as an enemy, and rip them apart the moment they become a danger. This tends to only work with the more violent types. One or two is enough for a non-wrestler, and has the advantage of following the dwarf wherever they go.

• Post cage traps

Posting a cage trap near a dwarf thats about to go berserk will imprison him in a cage and prevent a needless death. he can be kept alive in this cage indefinitely and it will keep your other dwarves from having a bad thought relation to the would-be death of their friend/husband/whatever.

Insanity in Adventure Mode

In Adventure Mode, it is possible to have your adventurer become melancholic, this can be caused by extreme drowsiness. When this happens, your adventurer will be able to fall off cliffs without using the ALT-key, and possibly won't be able to swim during this state. Other than that, nothing really else happens, and the effect goes away when you travel on the world map.