40d:Captured creatures

You can capture creatures in a variety of ways, including animal traps for vermin, cage traps for wild animals and hostiles (like goblins), forcibly caging tame animals (see below), and you can also buy caged animals from traders. Caged animals do not require food or nourishment^{v0.27.176.38c}. The only case when a caged creature is fed is during its taming.

Below is a collection of some things you can do with creatures in cages or other holding devices.

Training and taming

A dwarf with the animal training labor enabled can tame wild animals (including vermin) at a kennel. A tame animal has the tag (Tame) after its name and is safe to be released into the fortress. They will not attack your dwarves, and do not set off your traps.

Beware, creatures that have killed dwarves (or other friendly creatures ^[Verify]) before being tamed are "un-tamable". Despite appearing tame, such a creature will go dwarf-killing as soon as it is released, with the added bonus of being immune to traps.

Elven merchants often sell caged animals, even some that can't normally be trained. According to a forum post, a tamed tiger purchased from the elves will act as a guard, attacking hostile creatures. This is supposedly also true for other animals.

Dragons and other megabeasts may also be tamed, but this requires a Dungeon master. Specifically, any vermin or creature with the [PET_EXOTIC] flag requires a dungeon master.

Tamed vermin and animals may be adopted as pets by the dwarves, and animals may also be slaughtered for food. A colony of Muskoxen or some other peaceful animal can be used as a food source, by allowing them to breed, waiting for them to grow and then cutting down some of them in a Butchery.

Holding

You can restrain creatures by fitting them in chains or ropes, putting them in cages, or throwing them in pits or ponds to reduce lag or prevent adoption as pets (so they remain slaughterable without tantruming owners).

• Cages: An indefinite number of animals might be locked into one single cage. If you wish to fit your own tame animals into cages, you can do this by building a cage, and assigning some animals to it via the Building properties window (accessible by q). "Large animal caging" jobs will then be created, and dwarves will lock the hapless animals into the cage. Any offspring they give birth to is also born in the cage (But is not assigned to the cage, so your dwarves will free it if you don't stop them.). There is some doubt whether animals do breed in cages, but an already pregnant animal will definitly give birth while in a cage.

Caveat — When an animal is captured via a cage trap and then assigned to an existing cage, the dwarf moving the animal will tend to let it go. This can be avoided by building the cage the animal is in.^{v0.27.176.38c}

• Chains/ropes: Build chains as buildings and assign animals to them. They'll be able to move one tile in any direction (including up/down) but will not be able to leave.

• Pits/ponds: You can designate an area as pit or pond by creating an activity zone, designating it as pit/pond and setting its properties by pressing P. The pit or pond area has to have some level tiles, and some tiles that are one or more Z-levels below. Ponds will be filled with water by your dwarves, using buckets. Beware that land animals generally do not like to remain in a dark pit instead of your magnificent fortress, so they'll break free at the earliest opportunity.

Zoo

Zoo areas may be defined from cages via the q menu for the enjoyment of your dwarves. Be aware that dwarves will receive unhappy thoughts from seeing an animal they dislike in a zoo, but will also gain happy thoughts if they can go to view a loved animal. Owning the cage containing a loved animal is even better.

Execution

Imaginative methods have been discovered for the abuse of caged creatures.

• Execution tower: One method is the execution tower; the caged critter is brought on top of a very tall (~10 Z-levels) tower or to the edge of a chasm; the the edge of the tower (some of the tower and some of the abyss) is designated as a Pit/Pond; the animal in the cage is assigned to be in the pit/pond and unassigned from the cage. A dwarf will run up to the tower, pull the creature out of its cage and throw it down into the depth.

• Death chambers: A cage can be opened remotely by attaching a lever to it. This allows for some horrible traps, such as the drowning chamber or magma death chamber. A room is set up next to a water or magma pool, separated from it by a floodgate; a cage is put into the room, and a lever is attached to it; doors leading into the chamber are locked down; the cage and the floodgate are opened remotely. The creatures will then drown or burn. (The cage must be opened for this to work, as animals in cages do not drown. I don't currently know whether magma will melt non-magma-resistant cages along with it's owner.^[Verify])

• Arenas: Remote cage opening can also be used to set up arenas; a tame animal such as a tiger or dogs is locked into the arena; a cage containing a hostile animal, such as a goblin (presumably stripped of its weapons and armor) is also brought in the arena; doors are locked down and the cage is opened. The animals will shred the goblin (or in a worse case, the creatures will kill off your animals - therefore it is wise to assign some guards to the doorways to put down any breakout attempts).

• "Gangplank": Goblins and other non-flying creatures do not like heights or magma. You can combine both by creating a hanging platform. When you want to execute the goblins on the platform, simply release them from their cages and disconnect the platform. Watch as the helpless little buggers fly down several Z levels and are incinerated in your magma pool. One way of doing so is by using a retractable bridge to support the platform, and simply retract the bridge to dump the prisoners. This is also a good way to use all ten thousand units of your stone for something useful.

Other uses

• Confiscating prisoner items: You can strip a captured critter of its equipment by accessing the Stocks screen, finding its possessions, and ordering them dumped from there. Items on goblins are easily identifiable by looking for currently worn narrow/small clothing and weaponry. If you're in doubt whether an item you chose is indeed on your prisoners, zoom on it and you should be pointed to the cage. After you ordered the items dumped, dwarves will come and force the items off your captives.

• Usage as executor: Instead of executing the trapped creature, one could execute a noble by placing a caged megabeast in its quarters and release the beast. Remember to also install a cage trap to recapture the beast afterward.