v0.31:Adventure mode quick start

xTATTEREDx  · +FINE+  · *SUPERIOR*  · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡  · ☼MASTERWORK☼

v50.14 · v0.47 · v0.34 · v0.31.25 · v0.28 · v0.23 This article is about an older version of DF. More Info · V

This guide provides step-by-step instruction for those who have never played Dwarf Fortress in Adventure Mode before. Read the full adventure mode documentation for additional detail.

World Generation

Some custom worlds which are interesting for fortress mode may be annoying for adventure mode for various reasons such as few civilizations, low population, certain races not existing, lack of access to metals, or history being so far advanced that many fortresses and towns have been abandoned.

For your first game it's best to start with a generic world to avoid potential problems. You can come back to an existing world once you have the hang of things.

Character Creation

Race and Civilization

The first step in starting an adventure mode game is to choose the race (and civilization) of your adventurer.

All three races can complete the same quests. Elves are arguably the most challenging since they start with very weak wooden weapons. Starting equipment for dwarves is generally better (the only race which can start with steel weapons), though for now much of the armor and clothing you will find is too large for dwarves as shops only sell human-sized clothing.

Humans are all around the best choice, as they begin with bronze or iron weapons and can use any of the items sold by shopkeepers (who, for the time being, are only found in human towns). "Human outsiders", however, start with almost no equipment and most civilizations are unfriendly to them, so it's suggested that you not pick that "civilization" option until you really get the hang of things and want a challenge.

Status

You can then choose to start as either a Peasant, Hero or Demigod. Each offers progressively more points to spend on attributes and skills. These three options essentially amount to how difficult it is to get started, so to make things easier for your first game you may want to just pick "demigod".

Starting Attributes

These are the attributes you start with. They will go up as your skills increase which means that many of them can be raised in game, sometimes rather easily. Agility, Toughness, and Strength are probably the most important, in that order.

Starting Skills

These are what you start out with for skills, though you can increase them and develop others by doing things in game. The most important in the beginning are a specific melee weapon skill (such as Swordsman), and defensive skills like Shield User, Armor User, and Dodger.

Defensive skills are absolutely critical if you don't want to die instantly. (See Template:L for more info.) Observer is important for avoiding ambushes, which often mean instant death if sleeping, and Swimmer helps to avoid drowning. Others such as Fighter are useful but increase rather easily on their own in game.

Read up on Template:L and Template:L for more information on customizing your character.

Other

Your name and gender don't impact your character's ability, so feel free to do whatever you want with those.

Gameplay

Setting Off

You will usually start your adventure near a peasant hut. You can ask nearby commoners, using the k key, if you may be of any Service. They will then inform you of any problems their locality is suffering from, giving you a quest. In the beginning this usually means killing a nearby bandit.

Fast Travel

So far you've been traveling around at normal scale, but this can be very slow for traveling between geographical regions.

Using T will open the fast-travel screen and enable you to roam the land very quickly. Notice the uppermost bar indicating the position of the sun. Avoid traveling wilderness at night, particularly when you are alone.

Use m to open a zoomed-out overview map to further help you navigate.

Finding Some Muscle

Much of the time, especially at the beginning, you need some companions to watch your back. The best place to find some is at a fortress. When in the fast-travel screen, press m to bring up the region map. Fortresses on the region map appear as small circles (marked as O on the map) and look like large buildings on the fast travel map.

Move next to the entrance of a fortress and hit > to exit fast travel. Now move toward the fortress and you'll soon encounter the wall. You may need to walk around a bit to find the entrance. Once inside, if the fortress is not abandoned, you will find soldiers milling around. Use k to talk to them and ask them to Join you. At first you will only be able to get two followers but this is enough for now.

If the fortress is abandoned, leave and try another one.

Walk some distance away from the fort and go back to the fast travel screen with T.

Getting Some Rest

At this point you may have traveled enough that your character is tired. When your adventurer becomes tired, as indicated by the Drowsy attribute, it's time for some sleep. Move to a settlement of some sort, go into a building, and use the Z key to bring up the sleep menu.

If you are in a private house, you must first ask the owner for permission before you can sleep. If a commoner is blocking you from entering his home, use the s key to crawl under his legs, and then the same key to stand back up.

Finding Your Target

Use Q to bring up the quest screen. Using the + and - keys, you can scroll through the quests displayed on the right. Pressing z will zoom in on the current quest target, showing you the quickest path to reach it. The quest menu can also be used to pinpoint the location of many other useful sites and entities.

Fast travel toward the location where your target is. When you get close, go back to the quest screen, hit z and you should get a more detailed map of exactly where to go. Once you are in the right spot, hit > to exit fast travel mode.

In the upper-left corner of the screen you will now see a box with a list of icons and an abbreviation for a direction such as NNE (north northeast). One of these will be marked with TSK and that is your target. Continue to move in the indicated direction until you find the target that you're supposed to kill.

Fighting

To fight, simply use the directional key to move your character as if to collide with your target. You can also press A when directly adjacent to a target in order to target specific body parts, or attack non-hostile targets.

For your first fight, you may want to let your companions take the lead as you won't have any decent armor yet. Press . to skip turns if you want to wait in one spot and let your friends do the fighting or let your target come to you. If one of your companions dies, no big deal. You can just take his stuff by pressing g then get another follower later.

Once your target is dead, take his stuff using the g key. Immediately use w to wear any armor or clothing you gain. You won't need his corpse or body parts.

When walking around, use the g key to pick up any equipment or item lying on the ground. These will then be added to your inventory i. Items may be sold later on to a shop at a nearby town (not hamlet).

Completing Quests

Once you complete your first quest, you can talk to any hamlet, town or fortress dweller to spread the news of your success. Though your quest log will direct you there, it is not necessary to return to the individual who gave you the quest to report your success.

Once your fame has risen, more mighty warriors may want to join you on your way to glory. They can be recruited at fortresses or among the common peasants. Your companions will greatly increase your chances of survival and adventurers who care about such things should drop by the nearest fortress as quickly as possible. When fast-traveling, make sure that all of your companions are near you or some may be left behind.

Moving On

At any time, use the z key to display your status. This can be used to look for any scratches, bruises or missing limbs.

To check on the status of your companions, use the c key to get a list of them (specifically, the ones within visual range) and a summary of their conditions, then press the key corresponding to the one you want to view up close. Alternatively, you can use the l key, which can also be used to look at any other item or creature within your range of vision.

You may equip any items that you find or buy using the w key. Existing items must first be removed using the r key. To swap equipment you should drop it first, or put it in your backpack, then pick up or remove the new weapon, etc.

Trading

Next you will probably want to sell some junk you don't need. To do this you'll need to find a shop.

You can tell at a glance which towns have shops by looking for ■ (yellow, rather than the white ■ of houses) on the travel map.

To find shops, go stand on a yellow tile on the fast travel screen then press {k|>}. Walk around a bit and you should find some huts with signs outside. These are shops. You can walk inside and talk to the residents just like anyone else, except that residents in shops will be willing to Trade with you.

What Next

The next thing you should do is work on getting a full set of armor. You may want to go tromping around in the woods looking for animals to kill. Killing animals can be profitable because you can butcher their corpses with x and sell the products. Butcher and sell all animal corpses until you've managed to obtain a full set of metal armor. Meat is surprisingly valuable.

After you've armored up a bit, it's probably safe to go on the next quest. Get as many companions as you can and set off for your next target. You can also ask commoners about Surroundings which can reveal lairs and other hidden sites on the map, but you should probably avoid any non-quest monster sites in the beginning as lairs and such can have creatures that you won't be able to handle at this point.

Tips

• To help increase your survivability, immediately go to the closest fortress and recruit two soldiers to join you. (At first your lack of fame will limit you to two.)
• Pick companions with good equipment so you can "inherit" it when they get killed.
• Metal armor is rather important so get a full suit as soon as possible. You can kill random animals and sell their meat, or if you don't mind causing an entire civilization to be hostile to you (preventing trade, et al, with that civ):
  • It's also relatively easy to obtain some armor by killing a sleeping soldier in a fort and taking his stuff.
  • Most villagers are pretty easy to kill and while their stuff isn't usually too valuable it is worth something. Instead of killing animals you can go around killing villagers and taking their stuff, then travel to another civilization that doesn't know (or maybe care) how evil you are in order to trade.
  • Don't try this in the beginning if the next civilization over is more than a day or so away.
• Once you've finished a quest, your companion limit will increase. Go recruit more and stay with the max number of companions for a while.