v0.31 Talk:Strange mood

Fell/Macabre Moods

I never had any of the moods that required dwarves to be depressed in 40d but I have a high master milker in a fey mood asking for body parts. will commit Dorfcide for scienceCpad

SCIENCE!!!--Albedo 01:19, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

man dwarves are hard to shred.killed a bunch of dwarves but the only parts that came off were teeth(Note use more violence next time) and the milker just sat in the craft shop then went berserk. Interestingly a dwarves "z" screen loses all the personality info when they go insaneCpad

For what it's worth, I've seen a couple moods, saved to attempt different methods of reacting to them, and have noticed that Fey and Secretive work exactly as they did in 40d, apart from dwarves now requesting more different kinds of things. Perhaps we can update the 2010 page with some of the stuff from the 40d page at this point? --AzureShadow 02:09, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

according to the bone article bones are now counted as body parts so I'm assuming that's what he was after Cpad 13:15, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

A fey dwarf of mine just grabbed a shell that was laying about. So apparently those count too. (NINJAEDIT: Yes, he was screaming for body parts and not specifically shell)81.225.92.197 13:44, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

Yes, bone and shell as category are gone, they are now 'body parts'. Asking for them is common in a fey mood and you won't have to kill a dwarf for that. In fact, it wont even help you satisfy his needs. --Confused

I think most of my dwarves were unhappy about one of my starting dwarves dying, but I didn't check at the time. I've now got someone in a mood who has collected 3 large roach remains, and 1 firefly remains. She's brooding darkly, and the message is "Leave me. I need things... certain things"--78.151.176.4 15:59, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

It might be worth stating that the personal preferences of the moody dwarf seem to influence the material requirements. I had an armorsmith who had a preference for silver and wouldn't accept any of my ready metal bars. Once I smelted enough silver items she promptly got to work. Currently the page only states that the preferences affect the created item, but since the material requirements are what mostly confuse people it might be worth to spell this out explicitly. --Roblob 09:08, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

From what I've seen 'till now, they only pick from stuff that's already available, but don't care if there's enough available. So if you have, say, 1 bar of silver and 10 of copper, and the dwarf needs 2 bars of silver, he'll still stand there demanding bars. --190.160.169.53 02:38, 12 October 2010 (UTC)

Never Claiming a Workshop?

I have a dwarf hanging out in my dining hall in a secretive mood. He has not claimed ANY workshops, nor moved in nearly a month. He's about to go crazy, but I can't seem to even get him to a shop. Note, all workshops have been created (including fully powered magma forges/glass and non-magma equivalents) and every possible workshop is open and fully accessible. I'm not sure what to do :( His highest skill is in plant processing (13). Any suggestions for if this happens again? ^{00:59, 29 July 2010 69.134.0.97}

Please list all of his skills and the skill levels in them. Plant processing was not a "moodable" skill, one that can be selected as the skill that defines a strange mood, in old 40d, and I doubt that's changed.
Check (t, then cursor over workshops) if any building component (marked with a [B] of any workshop is {forbidden}.
And, if you have any burrows defined, be sure the moody dwarf is not a member of any of them.
—0x517A5D 03:37, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

His only other available skill was stonecrafting at level 1. Otherwise he totally lacked any industrial skills. I triple checked the three craftsdwarf stations I had, none of them were blocked, forbidden or otherwise inaccessible. No burrows had been generated. I scrapped the game or I could have posted the files. I'll see if it happens again, I'd never had the issue before. It is more than likely that I was at fault somehow, but I just couldn't find why. Nubcake 07:16, 29 July 2010

I just had this same issue. v0.31. Guy got fey mood and also happens to be expedition leader. Dabbling grower. Skilled appraiser. Novice Organizer. Talented Record Keeper. He's set as expedition leader, manager, bookkeeper, and broker. Did what 0x517A5D said above, no dice. Hope this helps --w-dueck 04:24, 13 August 2010 (UTC)

Did you have a craftsdwarfs workshop, which is what dwarfs with no moodable skills take?--Kwieland 06:01, 13 August 2010 (UTC)

I have this issue as well. high master armormsith, novice metal crafter, and adept pump operator. Obviously, he could take a metalsmith's forge, but he refuses to take either the conventional, or the magma versions. Just stands around at my well. Psychobones 00:05, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Im just having the same issue. My cook has gone into a fey mood, and is hanging around on a table in my grand meeting hall. Most dwarves just go eat on that table and dont care that theres a crazy fat cook dancing on their table. I dont have a kitchen however, since im quite new to df, and havent done much yet. His skills are: competent lye maker (not active), all hauling skills (active) and hes a grand master cook (active). This should really be listed as a bug imho. --Miauw62 13:15, 1 November 2011 (UTC)

"Cook" is not (nor has it ever been) a moodable skill - he probably wants a Craftsdwarf's workshop. --Quietust 15:44, 1 November 2011 (UTC)

 Thanks for helping out. --Miauw62 08:39, 4 November 2011 (UTC)

I saw something like this, and as it turned out the leatherworks is what he wanted, but for some reason no one wanted to use the leatherworks (sometimes they get buggy and you have to tear them down). After I tore it down, he claimed it and got to work. It may also have been because he was at the required leatherworks level (I said no newbies can use the leatherworks).

Body Parts?

I had a fey dorf scream for 'body parts' while four perfectly good raccoon bones stood nearby in a refuse stockpile. As the poor child was on the cusp of insanity, I slaughtered a mule and two puppies in desperation. Surprisingly, as soon as the puppy bones were made available, Urist McBonescreamer took them over to the Craftdwarf's Workshop without so much as a "how do you do". Why is there this distinction between different kinds of bone? 81.86.135.171 22:34, 5 July 2010 (UTC) quick edit: Mother of God, I've never seen anything like this. The child was only content with - I kid you not - 21 puppy bones in the end. Why so much goddamn bone? Seriously? 22:39, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

Stopping at Nothing

It seems no matter what a dwarf will try to fulfill his mood. Even if his leg (and ribs) are broken he'll jump out of bed and find a workshop.--99.67.238.66 00:19, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Should've checked 40d first as it's confirmed that they do this in that version. I would like to know if the moody dwarves suffer the same effects of non moody dwarves with injuries while trying to find workshops (fainting, vomiting etc.).--99.67.238.66 00:24, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

I think we need to do complete rearrange on mood materials

I got fey mood and dorf kept screaming for "rock bars" and logs. He picked up logs, but not rock blocks. This is either bug, or new stuff I haven't figured out yet. --94.237.66.205 08:16, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

Rock bars means metal bars, I think. That what satisfied my fey dorf.

I can confirm this. I had no metal bars and ordered one to be smelted (it was iron bar), mood'd dwarf rushed to pick it up and finished construction. Most likely this is just a typo (rock -> metal) and nothing complicated like import bars etc. (as in comments below) Fuco 02:05, 9 August 2010 (UTC)

Are you sure it's not charcoal (edit: I meant coke) that they want? They could easily be considered 'rock' bars. I'm going to see now, I haven't got either now that he's collected my steel bars, so can check what he wants.--92.29.248.178 15:12, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

My fey dwarf was not satisfied by my massive stockpile of metal bars, or the large amounts of (ore and not-ore) uncut stone, or the stone blocks I demanded produced en masse. I think rock bars are actually what he is looking for, and as they cannot be produced, I was forced to lose a metalsmith in a craftsdwarf's to a berserk rage, followed by two wrestlers and a pack of dogs. Tell him that it's a typo. --Aescula 03:15, 20 April 2010 (UTC)

For me, ordinary metal bars were ignored until I made an adamantine wafer, but ymmv. --zergl

On mine it's just taken an iron bar before the lazy bugger began working on his mysterious construction. --Mrchinchin25 21:23, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

I just had a guy ask for "rock bars" and he took two steel bars from my stocks. Possible thing -- they were imported. Maybe only imported metal bars? --Waladil 02:42, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

I can confirm, Asked for wood, rock blocks, rock bars; took fungiwood, dolomite blocks, and imported steel bars. Haven't had a second mood to try non-imports. --andrei901 21:04, 4 August 2010

I had a guy ask for "rock bars" and he wouldn't do anything until I realized my blocks were in my trade depot. He then took my gold bars. [

In 0.31.06, my metalsmith interprets "rock bars" as rock block, which is rather confusing, because he also asked for "rock blocks". Item asked: Rocks, Rock bars, Rock blocks, Cut gems, Silk cloths, Metal bars. Items taken: Copper bars, Olivine blocks, Red beryls, Dacite, Giant cave spider silk cloth, Tanzanites, Dacite blocks, Wood opals. --Arkatufus 13:44, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

In my case "rock bars" meant iron bar as well, so it suggests metal bars. Boldwyn 22:08, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

I just had a fey dwarf asking for "rock bars". He wouldn't accept: rocks, rock blocks, grates, charcoal, iron bars (non-imported), electrum bars (non-imported), copper bars (bought at embark, marked ingame as imported), pig iron bars. Unfortunately he was "stricken by melancholy" just before I smelted some steel bars. v0.31.12 --91.193.86.67 10:36, 9 August 2010 (UTC)

Shame. Armoursmith only wanted one bar. If anyone else gets a chance, I'd love to see a charcoal / coke armoured wrestler take on a magma man ;P ^{92.29.248.178, 18:39, 11 April 2010}

I had a strange mood (possessed) with 17 dwarves, so the 'at least 20 dwarves' condition should be removed. Also, the dwarf was struck with the mood right after he migrated to my fort. Right after, as in he was still 2 tiles away from the edge of the map. ^{78.23.137.83, 15:32, 20 April 2010}

I can confirm, 20 dwarfs are not needed for a mood.-mhyder

So it does appear that mood trigger conditions have changed. I'll try to do some disassembly and report what I find.
—0x517A5D 20:56, 20 April 2010 (UTC)

(If anyone can find Truth, it's 0x5. He is personally responsible for 75%+ of the 40d info. You da man!)--Albedo 21:05, 20 April 2010 (UTC)

Every time I have one ask for rock bars, coke, charcoal, ash, or any kind of metal bar works. (Though, one time, the dwarf used soap.)(No, I don't know, either.) So, evidently, rocjk bars just means bars of any material.

- When my dwarf asked for Rock Bars I could fix it by making some iron bars.

I'm getting *rock bars* and have everything in my fortress. Is this a confirmed bug? Never imported metal or metal bars in my fortress history and reading the above it may be related to *imported* metal bars or perhaps crafting metal bars from imported metal (which would explain why some can craft a metal bar and have it work, while others are locked to imported..) however can we get to the bottom of this? I'm not losing a man.. uh.. dwarf over the situation..

I just got a dwarf demanding body parts, rock bars, rock blocks, and rock bars in 31.25. I'm not sure whether it's due to all the rearranging of the bar/block section that's been going on, but NOTHING is satisfying the rock bars request. (He has a stack of dog bones collected already.) Tried coke, ash, potash, pearlash, metal bars of all kinds (including an aluminum metal bar and an imported pig iron bar), and at least one block of every kind of rock, metal, and clay I could gather. Nothing works.

Saving & reloading not changing mood type

Thanks to a crash, I had to reload my fortress, saved about a month before a strange mood. It occurred at roughly the same time, with the same dwarf, with the same type of mood. The item was different however.-Studoku 14:06, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

I believe that's expected behavior. The mood type, if I recall, is based on happiness of the dwarf, and thus should be consistent over loads. The type of craft is determined by their highest skill, unless they have no quality-based skill, in which case it's a toss up between useless woodcrafting, near-useless stonecrafting, and sweet sweet bonecarving. --Zombiejustice 14:20, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

Mood types are generally not based on happiness and also not that hardwired to the state of the fort, meaning they are likely to change on reload. There are higher probabilities for some skills to get a mood and that makes it likely the same dwarf is chosen, esp. if the fort is small. There is a chance counter running down, usually resulting in a mood in the same time window on reload. What in fact has changed is that the item produced is determined on completion now, not on start out, allowing for even more exploit tweaking. --92.202.66.218 16:03, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

Body Parts

Just got a fey mood dwarf asking for them. -Studoku 00:22, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

He means bones or turtle shells. Get him some. --Zombiejustice 02:01, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

I think the word here is "or", I have a dwarf shouting for body parts while bones pile high around him, so I'm guessing it really is Bones or shell, not either. -The Anon

I had this happen as well - I had six mussel shells laying around, nothing. Built a Butchery, slaughtered a horse, and he immediately snapped up the 13 bones, kept screaming for body parts and logs. So I sent a poor puppy to its doom for another 4 bones, and he immediately went to work. Debnetig, a enormous horse bone corkscrew! (That just sounds so wrong.)

Confirmed: had ample bones and no shell. Processed some turtles into shells, and the fey dwarf made a dash for them and began a construction. Edit the "Strange mood" page to represent this? --Ritesign 02:56, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Possible Bug

I'm having an issue where occasionally a dwarf won't collect items I'm 100% sure I have available, i.e. he'll get leather and then ask for more even when more is clearly there, he'll ask for bones/wood when there's a stockpile right next to him, etc. I've tried just about everything including manually dumping the needed supplies on the Craftdwarf's workshop. Nothing seems to work and since it's happened to me many times, I'm thinking bug.--69.149.72.106 05:45, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

Dwarves in moods will continue to ask for the same list they started out asking for, regardless of which items they've already collected. They also collect them in order. So if he asks for:

• leather
• body parts
• plant cloth
• rough gems
• leather

and he already has leather, bones, and plant cloth, he'll keep repeating the same list until rough gems are available, then go get them, then get more leather, then begin a mysterious construction.--Zombiejustice 12:19, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

I may be seeing the same issue as above. I have a dwarf in a possessed mood locked in a workshop looking for:

• rough...colour
• stone...rock (has bauxite)
• gems...shining (has indigo tourmalines)
• tree...life (has palm logs)
• bones...yes (has mule bones. I liked that mule)

I'm unsure of the order they originally came up in, but of course I have uncut gems lying all over the place (including a store pile of cut and uncut gems about ten tiles away.)

I'm also very new to DF, so I could be missing something. I'm going to save a copy of it as it is currently. Eddy the lip 19:25, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

He may want rough glass, instead of normal gems. Dwarves can be picky. --Zombiejustice 19:27, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

If he wanted raw glass, he should've been mumbling "raw... [green/clear/crystal]". It was only in the old 2D version where "rough gems" (and its secretive/possessed equivalents) could occasionally mean "raw glass". --Quietust 19:54, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, rough glass didn't do it. I suppose there's the possibility that he requires a specific kind of rough gem. He has a preference for moss opals (I only have jelly opals.) If I can find some, and that works, I'll post back. Otherwise, I'll have to get work on the catacombs! Eddy the lip 20:18, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

Burrows also affect moody dwarves. If you have only a rock stockpile designated for the poor guy, he's trying to find bones and gems from within that burrow (stockpile).

Magma Workshops

So, I just a had a Glassmaker be possessed and be unwilling (unable?) to claim a Magma glass furnace. When I built a regular furnace, he claimed it just fine and went on about his business. Not sure if this applies to all other magma disciplines, but if you're having this problem, try building a regular one (then deconstruct it afterwards, I guess). Rodya mirov

A magma forge worked for me. Just make sure it doesn't get unpowered after it has been claimed because the dwarf immediately ran amok when this happened. 84.46.87.224 11:45, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

I just had the same problem with a Magma forge; I used the same anvil to build a Metalsmith's forge below the old site and the dwarf happily claimed the MS F.76.29.33.118 18:35, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

I had the same problem with magma glass furnaces. Only normal glass furnaces will work.--24.8.192.250 21:36, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

Obsidian Farming SCIENCE

Someone needs to figure out definitely whether obsidian farming allows more moods.

Number of moods is no longer limited by revealed squares. Maybe on a different version of this page?98.203.173.56 07:15, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Have you confirmed that against a disassembly? I've compared 0.31 to 40d, though I can't find the revealed tiles check in 40d to determine whether it's also present in 0.31 (though I do see the "number of items" check, which looks very similar to what was in 23a). --Quietust 15:41, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Not confirmed by hacking-- that's beyond me. Rather it's by the fact that I've got 67 artifacts, not counting named items; vast majority of that are before even bothering to map out the caverns, with no hiccup in the rate of moods. Unmodded, unedited, etc. (Is there a utility to count revealed squares?) If there is a limit based on revealed squares, it is vastly changed from previous versions, but there's always the possibility that there's some meaningless restriction like 1 artifact per 10 revealed squares. Can't say about created items, except that I haven't been going out of my way to make stuff, and it hasn't seemed to be a limiting factor yet (at 67 artifacts!) Certainly, if my dwarves ever stop making artifacts, and it's not just for running out of moodable dwarves, I'll update this talk section; if you think it's unintended behavior, or doesn't jive with your experience, let me know, and I'll file a bug report and save.98.203.173.56 20:00, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

'Nother Possible Bug

Today I was tending the fortress when my bookkeeper went into a secretive mood while on break in the dining hall. He did not claim a workshop, he did not sketch anything. He just sat there, slowly losing his mind until he finally went insane. I'm not sure what I did wrong. Right now the game is paused with the still-insane dwarf just sitting amongst all the others. I'm afraid to unpause it because I really don't want to see what's going to happen to the little bastard. PurelyAtomic

Maybe you didn't have the workshop he needed? The symptoms seem to match. --Speed112 01:01, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

Later that year a different dwarf, a Stonecrafter, was possessed. He holed himself up in his workshop and made a Claystone scepter called the Stin Shadmal. It's worth a ridiculous amount. PurelyAtomic 00:57, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

Yet another possible bug

My leatherworker was possessed, claimed a leather works, then wanted leather and cut gems. I tan a hide, cut about 7 or 8 gems, then about 20 minutes later, I see "Degel Zefonusan has begun a mysterious construction!". I go over, look at the items in the workshop, and find out he took 3 units of donkey leather. I think there should be some way of finding out how many of a certain thing he needs. This caused a lot of confusion for me.--Joejr50 20:18, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

You can estimate the number of items by duration of each scream/sketch/muttering. If some particular material request shows longer than other, it means crafter needs several items of that type. But I never got requests of more than 3 items of one type. --Peregarrett 12:12, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

And another bug...

I've now had two dwarfs produce bone items from strange moods. In both cases, bone was requested (dwarfs had no skill) as well as various other goods - gems, cloth, leather, and rock - but the final artifact was a bone artifact with zero decoration. One dwarf was possessed, the other was a mysterious mood.

Anyone experience similar?--Nimblewright 17:42, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

Yes - in fact, it was reported 3 weeks ago on the bug tracker: ^Bug:2806 --Quietust 18:32, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

Fell mood murder

I think it requires some clarification. Does the moody dwarf attack their victim, drag them to workshop and insta-kill them or insta-kill them on the place and then drag the corpse? --Someone-else 20:22, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

In 40d, the moody dwarf would insta-kill his victim wherever he/she was standing (without the victim even being able to defend itself, much like slaughtering), then drag the corpse to the workshop. --Quietust 20:45, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

I also had a fell mood murder in v0.31. It seems like it uses the same game mechanics as slaughtering (instant-kill without combat mechanics). --18:46, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

I just had a Fell mood in 31.12. The Dwarf who undertook the mood first claimed a Tanner's shop then stalked the (corpse-strewn, gradually flooding) halls of my fortress for quite a while. Eventually, he grabbed an alread-dead Dwarf's corpse and hauled it back to the Tannery. And now... I have a lovely Dwarf Bone Cage which sadly will be lost soon when my fortress finishes self-destructing in an orgy of tantrums and doomsday-level flooding. 71.232.137.20 04:59, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Interesting, very interesting. I thought fell moods always involved a murder. Is there any chance that the dead dwarf was alive when the mood started?
—0x517A5D 12:16, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

I can not rule it out; at the time, Dwarves were dropping from starvation (as the food stockpile was cut off from the upper levels by flooded intermediate levels), so the "material" might have expired after the mood started. Its noteworthy that the Dwarf with the mood spent a lot of time first sitting on the workshop (as if he was missing a material), then wandering seemingly randomly through the fort. 71.232.137.20 17:26, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

In 31.11 my Fell mood dwarf claimed a magma forge, he proceeded to mull around the area and at a whim proceeded to murder my dwarf operating a magma furnace. He dragged the corpse to my magma forge and produced a dwarf bone short sword. So as far as I can tell, he kills them on site, not at the place they intend to process the dwarf. --Knossos 08:10, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

Skills affected by artifact creation

My miner got a fey mood, claimed mason workshop and created hematite table, decorated with giant toad bone and tube agate. Before getting mood he had miner, carpenter and bowyer labor skills, and now he is a legendary MINER! Making stone furniture now counts as digging experience?! --Peregarrett 12:46, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Oops. my fault. I always thought miner is not-moodable skill, but it was moodable even at 40d --Peregarrett 13:48, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Possessed Mood Causes

Do we know for sure what causes Possessed moods? A few seconds after crushing twenty or so dwarves and various livestock beneath a drawbridge (great fun, lemme tell ya) a dwarf woke from his sleep due to a Possessed mood, and made an Aventurine scepter. Also, "On the item is an image of Zefon Stopchamber the dwarf in aventurine. Zefon Stopchamber is cringing. The artwork relates to the crushing of the dwarf Zefon Stopchamber under a drawbridge in Helmsball in the midautumn of 202." So, maybe Possessed moods are caused by recent deaths, or deceased friends? Just guessing here, maybe it was just coincidence, but interesting all the same. 174.31.104.180 00:02, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

Coincidence - as far as anybody knows, they're entirely random. The only moods that result from recent deaths or deceased friends are Fell/Macabre moods, and only because they happen when an unhappy dwarf enters a strange mood. --Quietust 00:18, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

You might be on to something: I recall Toady mentioning ghosts a while ago. My newest fort also succumbed to thirst (2 miners survived) and I got 2 possessions for next two moods after migration (but due to rock bars problem it kinda didn't work out for them as I had sold my anvil for). 90.191.16.52 10:39, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm aware of the next comment (about disassembly) and do believe it - yet I got another possession in the same damn castle; 3 out of 4. Is it possible that code is compiled yet never used? Still, chance works like this too. 90.191.16.52 11:43, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Nope. A short glance at DF .08 with a disassembler that tracks code flow shows only one path that reaches the message " has been possessed!" and it comes directly from the 0..2 random number test mentioned below. It's random, you've had slightly bad luck, but your experience is well within statistically expected results. You've essentially rolled a die four times, and gotten a 1 or 2 on three of the rolls. You might want to read about the Gambler's fallacy a.k.a. the so-called law of averages and the fallacy of hasty generalization.
—0x517A5D 03:41, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

It's all a coincidence. I just disassembled the bit of the 0.31.08 strange mood that chooses mood type. It hasn't changed since the .40d days, except for excessive optimization by the compiler.

• First, a random number between 0 and 49 is generated.
• If that number is higher than the dwarf's current happiness scalar,
  • then a random number between 0 and 1 is generated.
  • 0 results in a fell mood.
  • 1 results in a macabre mood.
• Otherwise,
  • a random number between 0 and 2 is generated.
  • 0 results in a fey mood.
  • 1 results in a secretive mood.
  • 2 results in a possessed mood.

Purely random. Disassembly available on request.
—0x517A5D 04:19, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

i have read and understood the above, but i'm not exactly sure that the '0/1/2' number is generated COMPLETELY at random. i think one of the factors at work is the dwarf's skills once they're selected for a 'strange mood' - if he has a 'moodable' skill, even 'dabbling'(prob.) or 'novice', then the dwarf will go to the corresponding workshop and increase that skill (quite possibly to legendary) with the +20,000 skillpoints on completion of the artifact. however, if the dwarf has no 'moodable' skill (i.e. only military skills, social skills or administrative skills), then they become 'possessed'. i'm basing this on the fact that i have had only ONE non-possessed mood, out of about 12; a clothier (who's now legendary). the rest have all, incredibly disappointingly, been 'possessed' (and yeah, i'm aware of the law of averages/etc). the reason my dwarves dont have any other skills is because they were all specialised from embark or migration, or military/haulers. thus, i only have 18 dwarves actively training a 'moodable' profession, out of 150+. the rest have probably lost their 'moodable' skills over the years from the 'rusting' effect, or simply not been selected. thoughts?--DJ Devil 16:36, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

It's all a coincidence. Purely random. Disassembly available on request.
—0x517A5D 14:57, 14 May 2011 (UTC)

I just had my first Possessed Dwarf and it was a bonecrafter with no workshop. Didn't take much to work out what I needed to build but could the lack of a workshop related to their profession be a factor in the equation? I know as a fact that death isn't needed for one to happen as it's the 1st mood of a new fort and not even a tame stray has died yet. --124.180.132.157 06:07, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

i do not think having a workshop (or not) affects which type of mood is selected. i think it's more like... 'happiness > skills > random number'. in effect; if your dwarf is happy, it will not be a 'fell' or 'macabre' mood. if your dwarf does NOT have a 'moodable' skill, then he'll be 'possessed'. if he DOES have a 'moodable' skill, it's a random number out of 3 for 'fey', 'secretive' or 'possessed'. and i would also like to confirm that 'dabbling' is enough to be counted as good enough for a mood - i had a dabbling mechanic (with no other 'moodable' skills) claim a mechanic's workshop, and surprisingly make a mechanism... and he wasnt 'possessed' like the others, he was 'fey'.--DJ Devil

The availability of moodable skills has no effect at all on the type of mood - a completely unskilled Peasant is perfectly capable of going Fey or Secretive. --Quietust 21:38, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

I don't want to create an argument, just to clear it up. You claim that a Peasant can go Fey or Secretive, but is there evidence of it? If even a single dwarf were to enter a Fey or Secretive mood, who did not have any moodable skills prior (even at dabbling), this would disprove DJ Devil's hypothesis. Present a case where this has happened, and he should be satisfied. I would also like to see this evidence, as the only Possessed dwarves I've had were those without moodable skills - and those with had all (if I remember correctly) Fey or Secretive. --Drake1500 00:48, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

Humans are really good as spotting patterns. We're so good at it that sometimes we see patterns where none actually exist.
Mix in something as important to the game and as rare as strange moods, well, it's understandable that a player would want to know how to control them.
But the reality is, moods are purely random. There are only two inputs into mood type selection, exactly as I said a year ago in this very section. The only control you have to prevent a possessed mood is to keep your dwarfs unhappy enough that all moods are fell or macabre.
Here's the proof. This is part of the disassembly of the current version^v0.31.25's mood selection code. I have shown all of the calculations for "good" moods, but skipped the choice between the two "bad" moods. Also, I have shown only one of the five pieces of code that set the mood type. They all work the same.

Disassembly of mood choice code

; This is the test that determines whether the dwarf will get a fell or ; macabre mood, or one of the happier moods. ; This HORRIBLE piece of code derives a random number in the inclusive ; range [0..49] decimal. It is so awful because it was compiled using ; full optimization (on a piece of code that runs once per hour at best. ; The whole binary is like this.) ; I am not going to work through all the math here, but I did run a ; test on this snippet. For all possible inputs, the output is in ; [0..49]. I assume it is normally distributed in the statistical sense. call MT_RAND ; MT_RAND is the well-known Mersenne ; Twister random number generator. mov ecx, eax mov eax, 3 mul ecx mov eax, ecx sub eax, edx shr eax, 1 add eax, edx shr eax, 1Eh imul eax, 80000001h add ecx, eax mov eax, 0C7FFFFFDh mul ecx mov ecx, a_creature_vector.Start ; This is one of the creature vectors. ; It is not the one that Dwarf Therapist uses, ; so it's probably not "main_creature_vector". ; This vector might contain only dwarfs. mov eax, [ecx+edi*4] ; EDI is an index into that vector, so this ; selects the dwarf that is going to get a mood. shr edx, 19h ; EDX now contains a random number in [0..49]. ; !!!!!! THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PART !!!!!! cmp edx, [eax+710h] ; 710 is the offset of the happiness scalar of ; the dwarf. (Verified with Dwarf Therapist.) jge @@do_unhappy_mood ; We compared the random number with the dwarf's ; happiness. This chooses between good and bad ; moods. ; If we get here, we're doing a good mood. ; Now we generate a second random number, this time in [0..2]. ; Again, I have verified that for all possible inputs, the output is in [0..2]. call MT_RAND mov ecx, eax mov eax, 3 mul ecx mov eax, ecx sub eax, edx shr eax, 1 add eax, edx shr eax, 1Eh imul eax, 80000001h add ecx, eax mov eax, 0BFFFFFFFh mul ecx shr edx, 1Dh ; EDX now contains a random number in [0..2]. ; !!!!!! THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PART !!!!!! ; We have generated a random number that is 0, 1, or 2. Now we figure out ; which of those possibilities it actually was, and branch accordingly. sub edx, ZERO ; The ZERO is actually the EBX register, which ; was zeroed at the beginning of the routine ; and remains zero throughout. jz @@fey_mood dec edx jz short @@secretive_mood dec edx jnz @@end_of_mood_setup ; This jump would skip the case statement if ; the tested value was not in [0..2]. ; Above, we have seen that that can't happen. @@possessed_mood: mov ecx, a_creature_vector.Start mov edx, [ecx+edi*4] mov eax, 2 ; 2 is possessed mood. mov [edx+210h], ax ; 210 is the offset for mood type. mov ecx, a_creature_vector.Start mov ecx, [ecx+edi*4] push ZERO lea edx, [esp+1F0h+a_message_string] call prep_string_var push 14h mov eax, offset HasBeenPossessed ; " has been possessed!" lea ecx, [esp+1F0h+a_message_string] call fixedlength_ascii_to_string mov edx, 5 mov word ptr [esp+1ECh+var_1BC+2], dx mov byte ptr [esp+1ECh+var_1B8], 1 jmp @@end_of_mood_setup

The takeaway here is that the branches in the code that choose moods (that's the instructions that start with 'j') depend solely on random numbers. There is nothing to tweak that will change this random outcome.
Training doesn't affect it. Skill rust doesn't affect it. Availability of a workshop doesn't affect it. Whether the dwarf is wearing lucky socks doesn't affect it.
—0x517A5D 20:20, 23 June 2011 (UTC)
Edited to hide disassembly 0x517A5D 18:15, 2 July 2011 (UTC)

Shells

Mussel shells count as shells along with turtle shells and cave lobster shells. Should change the page to include them .

Cave lobsters don't produce shells anymore. Only turtle, oyster and mussel do - see shell page.Peregarrett 06:50, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Materials in hospitals

What I have found is that materials a dwarf need that that only exist in containers in hospitals will not be claimed until the container is removed and the material is liberated. Need a second check on this then it might be worth putting on this page. ^{05:34, 17 June 2010 Bungler}

That kind of makes sense, similar to how trader's goods can't be used. Did you try setting the level of material required by the hospital to 0?
Incidentally, four tildes ~~~~ signs your talk page posts.
—0x517A5D 10:21, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

Metal working dwarves and magma workshops...

I doubt that this is a bug, but i think it needs further confirmation, i had a possessed metalsmith, who claimed a magma forge the moment the channel under it filled to workable status, but due to the fact that it wasn't completely full and lava was moving, the workshop momentarily lost "power". The dwarf immediately canceled the mood and went berserk. Now, i doubt that every moody metalsmith would do that, but more just do the general insanity thing and go any of the possible moods. Can anyone confirm this with their dorfs? v31.08 here, just for reference - Vrga 06:51, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

• It's always been this way, even in 40d. --Quietust 14:46, 3 July 2010 (UTC)
  • didn't know that, as its not stated anywhere at all... - Vrga 11:38, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Possessed Mood and Experience

So far under v31 I've had a handful of dorfs get possessed and build themselves an artifact. The wiki still says that Possessed dwarfs don't gain xp, but mine have all ended up Legendary in whatever skill they used at completion.

Coincidence. Remember that the moodable skill with the highest experience level is the one chosen; it just happened that your possessed dwarves were already legendary. I just checked my disassembly of 0.31.06. All successful moods except possession gain 20,000 experience points; possessions go not gain anything. This is the same as its always been.
—0x517A5D 02:37, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Mining exp?

A couple times my dwarves made artifacts (not possessed) at a mason's workshop, to become legendary miners. They do not appear to have gained skill in masonry or anything else like that. --Peglegpenguin 20:11, 12 August 2010 (UTC) Yes mining is a moodable skill.It does not have a workshop so you must think of it like they made it with their picks. If I'm correct they will take either a masonry or crafsworkshop and make their artifact there.

Population of 20+

According to Tarn in Dwarf Talk 7, in order for a fey mood to occur you must have a population of 20 or more for the mood to occur. So I really think we should have this in the article. Sadron 19:00, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

That was specifically removed from the article because two people, Anonymous-78.23.137.83 and mhyder, have reported moods with less than 20 dwarves.
—0x517A5D 22:27, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

I see, however were they able to provide evidence for it? Sadron 01:51, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

The claims are on this page, about halfway down. No evidence was presented, nor requested.
—0x517A5D 18:29, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

I have had one with 11 dwarfs. (I had had twenty, nine were slaughtered by goblins, (And zombies) and before more came, one went into a fey mood.)

Could it be that you need to BREAK a pop of 20 for one to be able to trigger? Perhaps even as specific as when the mood is brewing (before your notified) you have to have more then 20 but that stop it in the case of say a goblin slaughter...

--124.180.132.157 06:11, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

No, that is not the case. I've just played two quick forts, and my first mood happened very quickly after the first of the two scripted immigration waves both games. I started with 14 dwarves both games.

The first game was 14 + 7 = 21 Dwarves before the mood happened, 2 days after the immigrants arrived.

The second game was 14 + 3 = 17 Dwarves before the mood happened, 8 days after the immigrants arrived.

Could be coincidence, but I'm guessing the new trigger is either between 15 and 17 dwarves, or not related to the number of dwarves. --Naros 07:23, 10 April 2011 (UTC)

Other requests

Right now i'm having a dorf (metal crafter) who is in a fey mood and asks for "adamantine wafers", exactly. Of course, he got it, just stopped on "body parts", which i have 200 at hand, no burrows. He's just a little bitch. Oh, sorry, DF 31.10, 78.140.48.35 08:12, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

It happens fairly often (and even back in 40d) that a moody metalsmith will insist on a very specific metal. In most cases, that metal would be the dwarf's favorite metal, but I always observed that once I had struck raw adamantine, all moody metalsmiths would insist on using adamantine wafers. --Quietust 12:53, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

Have been looking into this. My experience is entirely with weaponsmiths. If I have adamantine wafers in the fort, they will insist on using adamantine. They will insist even if all adamantine wafers have been forbidden from before the mood ever started. If I have no adamantine, they will either use whatever, or insist on a favorite metal. Presence of raw adamantine or adamantine strands has no effect, only the presence of adamantine wafers. If you use all adamantine wafers before the mood, the next mood will use whatever. No idea about built wafers (upright bars, e.g.). Going to give some time for anyone to provide counterexamples before I update the page.98.203.173.56 07:15, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Strange problem with moods

I was wondering if anyone else had this problem. I've already had 2 dwarves go insane because they couldn't get materials for an artifact. Everything they ask for is in my fort, and there are no burrow restrictions or anything forbidden. It seems to only happen when they take over a clothier's workshop (which has no restrictions on it, BTW) and ask for cloth - even though there is a huge stockpile of cloth right next to the workshop. I have a third dwarf currently doing the same thing and I actually want to save his life for once. 98.228.196.111 21:39, 7 September 2010 (UTC)

Do you have both silk and plant cloth? Both are requested as "stacked cloth" but aren't equivalent for secretive moody dwarf. Same for posessed one.Peregarrett 06:55, 8 September 2010 (UTC)

Also, it's possible that he wants a piece of cloth which is stored in a hospital. He can't take it out of there and so he'll go insane waiting to get it. My solution was to de-zone the hospital and unbuild all the chests inside it, allowing him to grab the cloth that he wants.--208.81.12.34 12:57, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

Woodcrafter mood?

I had a woodcrafter get a secretive mood. He claimed a mechanics shop. Clearly he should have claimed a craftsdwarf shop. I checked his stats and sure enough, both woodcrafting and mechanics were proficient, among other mood skills. I don't use any other DF tools, so I couldn't see the exact experience levels. My hypothesis is one of two things. First, perhaps the skill had rusted, but that the change doesn't get reflected in their professions? Second, perhaps both were exactly the same skill level. Moods pick a random one, or pick one different from the one the title uses? Anyone seen something like this?--Kwieland 12:10, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

Were both skills equal? Perhaps he migrated in as a proficient woodcrafter and mechanic? It may be that it only regards the level of their proficiency rather than their EXP value for it. --Eurytus 20:21, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

In the previous major release, the skill with the most experience points was used; the level was not considered. I don't see any reason for that to have changed. I would suspect rust. Savegame?
—0x517A5D 21:24, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

Old, but for posterity - dwarf profession only changes when the old profession is *outleveled* by the new profession. So its perfectly possible your Woodcrafter had more xp in Mechanics, just not enough to put him a level of mechanics over his woodcrafter level and thus change his profession to Mechanic. --Squirrelloid 05:26, 24 April 2011 (UTC)

Magma Forge vs. Normal Forge

I had a Dwarf who got the Fey mood and didnt want to claim a Workshop. I built any possible Workshop, except a Forge, since I had a Magma Forge. The Dwarf didnt accept the Magma Forge but when i disassemled it and built a Normal Metlsmiths Forge he claimed it immediately. So it seems for moody dwarfs thats not the same. -- Blue Crake 30.10.10

Yes, this sometimes happens. Reported above, item #9. Also reported several times on the 40d Talk Strange Mood page. I'm glad you figured out the workaround.
—0x517A5D 22:40, 30 September 2010 (UTC)

I wrote that to tell, that this is the case for the forge too, not only the glassmaker. I can`t find anything about this in the mainpage of v0.31 Moods. Shouldn`t it be here as well, as long as this bug (is it a bug or rather a caveat?) exists? Needing a normal forge is kinda counterintuitive, as moody dwarfs dont use fuel anyway. Also do moody dwarfs always take nonmagma-buildings or just sometimes? --Blue Crake 10:42, 1 October 2010 (UTC)

This seems like a bug to me, why does normal vs. magma matter? It really shouldn't. Just want to make sure this is noted as bug. – unsigned comment by Pathaugen

It's not a bug, it's a feature. Maybe the dwarf doesn't like worrying about having his shiny artifact, or the components thereof, falling into a pool of magma through a careless elbow. Maybe the dwarf prefers working in a cooler environment. Or maybe the decision software merely selects the first type of workshop that can handle the strange mood, and it would be annoying to the developer to make it select magma workshops if you have only them, and non-magma workshops if you have only those. --DeMatt 21:38, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

Being alpha, it's important to note intended vs. 'for now' interworkings so there is a nice wish list of how the game can improve in the future. Sure that's how it may work because of the programming, but with that mindset, the game is done and nothing else needs to change? I just think it's healthy having discussion instead of just putting all ideas off as nonsense because that's the way it is and always should be. Pathaugen 05:22, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

I thoroughly agree with DeMatt here. This wiki is about how the game does operate, not how it should operate. There's no point in putting future-development wish-lists here - those belong on the bay12games forums. 202.156.10.234 02:30, 22 November 2010 (UTC)

Not his point, it should be listed as a known bug if it is such. As you said it is the alpha so we can expect changes, especially the removal of bugs. That way as a wiki we can keep readers informed of likely version changes. :P

--124.180.132.157 06:15, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Highest experience skill not chosen

I just had a dwarf have a fey mood who had 3180 xp in metalcrafting and 3000 in all the other metalworking skills. I was expecting to get a legendary blacksmith out of the deal, which I really could have used, but instead she ended up making a crossbow and being a legendary weapon smith (which I already had...) So apparently they don't always take the highest xp, perhaps its actually just picked at random amongst the highest talent level, since by level all 4 moodable skills were equal. Barbarossa6969 15:26, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

multiple items not always displayed longer

Regarding the "2 seconds per item needed" rule, I've found that it doesn't always apply. I've seen certain materials displayed for the same 2 seconds as everything else, but sometimes (not always) multiples of the material are collected. I've seen it happen with (at least) wood, bone, and cloth, and usually (always?) in threes. I think it also tends to be the primary material (1st thing gathered, and the thing the artifact is eventually listed as being made from), but I'm not as sure about that. It's an important point, and might be the cause of many of the complaints of "he said he needed X, and I had plenty of X around!" (i.e. he actually needed more X-1) 202.156.10.234 01:54, 22 November 2010 (UTC)

Just had this happen again, this time with rough gems as the primary material. "rough gems" displayed the normal two seconds, two rough gems gathered, (not three). The same artifact also required 2 logs (as secondary materials, not primary) and "wood logs" was displayed the expected 4 seconds, which seems to confirm it's the primary material that does it. I'll add it to the page with a verify tag.

I just had a child take over a craftshop for a fey mood. She demanded "body parts" and "rocks", both displayed for two seconds each. When she finally started working on her artifact it was only after grabbing two different stacks of bones. The artifact was a deer bone short sword with hanging rings of badger bone and spikes of mudstone. I'm running v0.31.25. Krenshala

Random mood crafting.

One of my dwarves got a possessed mood during a stage where I'm still setting up my various workshops. The only moodable skill he had was Tanning, so I built a leatherworks and tanner's shop, but he still just hung around the meeting area. I decided to ignore him and set up a craftsdwarf workshop for another reason, and suddenly this dwarf goes and claims it. Is it possible that moods, possibly just possessed moods, can choose skills that the dwarf does not have in the slightest? will update when the item is finished --Twilightdusk 02:58, 23 November 2010 (UTC)

I'm thinking he's using the craftdwarf's workshop because of its "Make leather crafts" option. --Peglegpenguin 03:36, 25 November 2010 (UTC)

I have a possessed bonecrafter and I made the 'incredible' guess of what workshop (a craftdwarf's workshop) i needed to build to get the lazy sod out of bed. I'm confident it's atleast highly probable they will pick a skill they have, probability increasing with exp in that (or those) skills.

--124.180.132.157 06:18, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Rock Blocks in Strange Mood

One of my clothesmaker dwarves decided to get a strange mood, so I afforded him all his needed materials, except for one thing: rock blocks. He most certainly asked for them, and I decided to make metal blocks, just to see if he would take them. I made an electrum block and he took it right away and began to work. I suggest stone blocks be changed to stone/metal blocks in the demands section. --173.48.59.215 23:45, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Farmer + Strange Mood = Legendary Weaponsmith

Not complaining, but I just had a High Master Grower / Adequate Herbalist "withdraw from society...", I examined her skills to see what was coming, and not seeing any moodable skills, fully expected her to claim a craftdwarf's workshop, but was pleasantly surprised to find she had claimed a metalsmith's forge and created a golden crossbow, elevating her to legendary weaponsmith! There was nothing in her personality to explain this odd occurrence (she does however, like chestnuts for their chestnuts). This is of course contrary to what the Strange Mood page states. Perhaps the rules have changed. --Uninvited Guest 21:07, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps she arrived with some Weaponsmith skill that completely rusted away while you had her do farming instead? --Quietust 00:46, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

I thought about that as well, but I didn't realize that skills actually disappeared. The Skills page does not state that but looking closer in the talk page, it appears to be true. All things considered, your theory is quite likely. Thanks. --Uninvited Guest 01:28, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

Starvation/Dehydration

Can a dwarf die from either while in a mood?

No, AFAIK it's like when they Trance in combat. All need for food / water / sleep vanishes for the duration. Could be wrong. May require !!science!!.

Dwarf not using available materials?

Do the materials that a dwarf in a mood wants have to be on the same z-level/in a stockpile/nearby? I had one in a fey mood who appeared to be asking for jet (at least, that's what it said when I viewed the workshop he was using with the q key), and I had ridiculous amounts of jet two levels down, but he never moved to get it and eventually just went insane. (I tried to get the other dwarves to move some up to where he was, but they didn't do anything. ><)--118.208.147.173 09:39, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

Dwarves don't demand specific types of stones - if he didn't gather the material, you probably didn't have it at all. What exactly was the dwarf asking for (and what had the dwarf gathered so far)? --Quietust 13:48, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

He asked for two things: rock and body parts. He'd already got the body parts. I had plenty of other kinds of stone as well, so maybe I missed a line or something? --118.208.147.173 10:34, 22 December 2010 (UTC)

"The type of artifact created will depend on the dwarf's highest skill." - what with soaper?

Yes, talented soaper. 213.134.175.225 22:04, 25 December 2010 (UTC)

Fun fact

Clothier dorf can pick a clothier's workshop, go pick up adamantine cloth (not normally workable at a clothier's), attempt to make a rope out of it (because you can do that at a clothier's), and wind up making an adamantine chain. —Chaos 21:20, 27 December 2010 (UTC)

Indeed - I've had that happen at least once back in 40d. --Quietust 22:01, 27 December 2010 (UTC)

Yet Another Bone Carving Bug

I had a possessed bone carver claim a Craftdwarf's workshop, immediately run off and grab a bone, start a mysterious construction, sit in the workshop for months, then go insane. I honestly have no idea what to think about that. —Exploratory Mushroom 22:44, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

Just speculation, but was the workshop cluttered? Some animals leave huge stacks of bone (e.g Jabberer can be >200), and certain animal skulls (e.g. Jabberer, again) can make a workshop **CLT** all by itself. With the length of time some artifacts take to construct, I can imagine a maximally cluttered workshop might stretch the creation time out for months 202.156.10.234 22:48, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Clothier won't take materials

I have a possessed clothier who needs cloth and silk. I have both, but she just sits at the workshop and will go insane unless I figure out why she won't take the materials. They are both giant cave spider materials right next to each other up the staircase right by the workshop. I also have rope reed thread somewhere that I bought from an elven caravan, but she won't take that either. What's going on?

There are two versions of "cloth... thread" that "possessed" Dwarves could be asking for. What they are saying is a little misleading; rather than them wanting actual thread, they are only asking for cloth. It is likely that the affected Dwarf wants plant fiber cloth, not silk cloth or plant fiber thread. If you have some plant fiber cloth thread, as you said, make it into cloth and it should work. For future reference, this is a talk page about the Strange mood article, not a discussion forum. Please ask questions like this on the Official Dwarf Fortress Forums, /r/dwarffortress at reddit.com,or the other Dwarf Fortress community of your choice. --Gzalzi 14:45, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

Oh, thanks. I asked this here because every other topic seems to be discussion, but okay... OrangePikmin 19:47, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, they are all discussions, but they're not supposed to be. --Gzalzi 21:13, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

Fell Moods with different workshops?

Just played a round of DF and my little fortress got besieged, several dwarfes died. One dwarf then got a Fell mood and went to CARPENTER Workshop. He claimed it and went off to kill the nearest dwarf. Is it possible that the fell moods only prefer butcher- and tanner workshops, but they will work with other workshops as well? Seemed a little bit odd to me that he used a carpentry workshop...

Do Dwarves Steal

I had a dwarf refusing to do anything but demand rock. Which is weird in itself, as rocks are plentiful underground. Then, just as I gave her up for lost, I saw her grab a hunk of galena from the trade depot. It was in ( ), and I certainly didn't trade for it, as I have galena in the fortress. Did she grab it off a merchant? 68.197.174.59 19:16, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

I think starving dwarves will steal food from traders. So I'm not too surprised that a moody dwarf would take something that is technically fortress property.
—0x517A5D 23:49, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

I've observed Dwarves stealing from caravans for moods on more than one occasion. It doesn't appear to happen with every mood where they're missing something, so it might have to do with the type of mood or the personality of the moody dwarf. --SethCreiyd 17:31, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

cloth... thread...

i think i can confirm this also means 'cloth(yarn)' for possessed dwarves, based on having both silk and plant fibre cloth AND thread available, in stockpiles nearby, but my possessed dwarf not going for either. there were also a number of other items on his list, but he'd found them all, and had them 'TSK'ed in the workshop. unfortunately, i'd left him to it too long (thinking he had all the items at his disposal, and would get going with it unsupervised) before i'd recognised he wasnt interested in the cloth available, and wanted some of the new yarn. he'd gone insane before i could sheer any animals, and weave it into cloth.--DJ Devil 16:50, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

I had all three available and my possessed dorf went mad and died anyway (while doing the cloth... thread... thing), so that might not be certain. It could be he wanted a specific kind of cloth, like zebra wool or something. -- killfalcon 194.63.116.72 12:18, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Infinite logs loop?

This might possibly be because my dwarf likes mahogany logs and only has one of them, but it seems that all of the TSK'd items (more than 30 already) are logs and there are still things that my dwarf needs. Like metal bars, thread, etc. I had to set burrows to get my dwarf out of the workshop to get more items as well. 07:57, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

See Planepacked. --Quietust 14:58, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

New skills not moodable

I haven't checked the entirety of the FOTF forum thread, but has anything been said about the new craftsdwarf skills like Potter and Waxworker becoming moodable. I like having a full complement of legendary craftsdwarves... because I'm anal retentive like that. 199.67.140.44 00:46, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

I've checked against a disassembly, and I can't find evidence that any of the new skills are moodable - there's a big table that maps moodable skills to the actual Strange Mood job selected (i.e. which workshop they claim and what kind of item they produce), and that table only goes up to the "Mechanic" skill. --Quietust 03:01, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Profession != Highest skill

Just thought I should point this out. The article states: "The deciding factor for eligibility is a dwarf's actual profession." however, evidence here suggests that it is the highest skill of the dwarf that matters. In most cases these are the same thing, but not always. AFAIK a peasant needs to reach novice skill before changing profession, so would a peasant with dabbling weaponsmith skill entering a mood choose to make a weapon, or enter an 'unskilled' mood? --213.121.247.101 13:01, 27 June 2011 (UTC)

The profession check is for whether a dwarf can enter a mood at all - Soldiers (excluding Recruits) and Babies can never enter a strange mood (and neither can some special ones that you can't get anyways, such as Merchant or Drunk), but all others are eligible. Note that the profession is also what determines a dwarf's likelihood of entering a strange mood - armorers, blacksmiths, etc. are 4 times as likely to get mood as than engravers or miners (see the "Chance" table). Once the dwarf is chosen to enter a mood, then it checks for their highest moodable skill - a Peasant with Dabbling skill in Weaponsmithing (and no other moodable skills) will claim a metalsmith's forge and produce an artifact weapon. --Quietust 13:10, 27 June 2011 (UTC)

So what you're saying is making all my peasants into dabbling weaponsmiths will not increase their chance of being selected for a mood (as their profession is still "Peasant") but will cause them to produce an artifact weapon if they are selected (because their highest skill is "Weaponsmith"). Thanks for clarifying! --213.121.247.101 11:00, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Exactly. --Quietust 13:27, 4 August 2011 (UTC)