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Difference between revisions of "23a:Strange mood"

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Periodically, individual dwarves are struck with an idea for a {{L|legendary artifact}} and enter a '''strange mood'''. Dwarves which enter a strange mood will stop whatever they are doing and pursue the construction of this artifact to the exclusion of all else.  This will be based on a particular {{L|skill}} that creates a finished end product that can have a {{L|quality}}, rather than intermediary material such as bars of metal or raw food.  They will not stop to eat, drink, sleep, or even run away from dangerous creatures. If they do not manage to begin construction of the artifact within a handful of months, they will go {{L|Strange mood#Failure|insane}} and die soon afterward.  
 
Periodically, individual dwarves are struck with an idea for a {{L|legendary artifact}} and enter a '''strange mood'''. Dwarves which enter a strange mood will stop whatever they are doing and pursue the construction of this artifact to the exclusion of all else.  This will be based on a particular {{L|skill}} that creates a finished end product that can have a {{L|quality}}, rather than intermediary material such as bars of metal or raw food.  They will not stop to eat, drink, sleep, or even run away from dangerous creatures. If they do not manage to begin construction of the artifact within a handful of months, they will go {{L|Strange mood#Failure|insane}} and die soon afterward.  
  

Revision as of 16:24, 27 April 2011

This article is about an older version of DF.

Periodically, individual dwarves are struck with an idea for a Template:L and enter a strange mood. Dwarves which enter a strange mood will stop whatever they are doing and pursue the construction of this artifact to the exclusion of all else. This will be based on a particular Template:L that creates a finished end product that can have a Template:L, rather than intermediary material such as bars of metal or raw food. They will not stop to eat, drink, sleep, or even run away from dangerous creatures. If they do not manage to begin construction of the artifact within a handful of months, they will go Template:L and die soon afterward.

A dwarf will only be struck by a mood once in their lifetime. Upon completion of their artifact they will usually become Template:L in that skill, and will then return to their normal life in the fortress with their newfound skill. A fortress can have at most one dwarf in a strange mood at any one time.

Overview

The entire process can be summarized as follows:

  1. Strange moods can only occur when the below necessary conditions are met. Template:L and activated Template:Ls with military skills cannot enter moods, nor can Template:Ls, but any other dwarf can, including Template:Lren.
  2. The game will pause, center on a dwarf, and announce that the dwarf has entered one of five different types of strange moods. The types of moods are listed below. While in a mood, a dwarf will display a blinking exclamation point (see Template:L).
  3. For the duration of the mood, the dwarf will claim a workshop related to the skill that the mood affects (not all skills are eligible), kick out any dwarf who was using it, and render it otherwise unusable until the mood has been resolved. If a moody dwarf does not claim a workshop, it is because the appropriate workshop does not exist. (See skills and workshops below to determine which workshop(s) might be required.) A moody dwarf will not be available to build a needed workshop; another dwarf with the appropriate Template:L designation must do so for them, if one is necessary.
  4. After claiming a workshop, the dwarf will set about collecting the required materials for their artifact. If the dwarf remains idle inside the workshop, it's because they cannot find the right material. Reference the demands section to determine what may be required.
  5. Once all materials have been gathered, the game will once again pause and center, and the moody dwarf will begin construction. Upon completion the dwarf will create a semi-random artifact related to the skill affected and gain Template:L (or higher) status in that skill (unless the mood type is possessed). See the skills and workshops for information on which skills can be gained, or the artifacts created section for more details on the artifacts themselves.

Types of moods

For each of the following types of moods, the first message is how the mood is Template:L; the second message appears in the dwarf's profile when he or she is viewed with the v key. All moody dwarves will have "Strange Mood" listed as their active task.

Fey

  • <dwarf> is taken by a fey mood!
Has the aspect of one fey!

This is the most basic strange mood. Fey dwarves will clearly state their demands when the workshop they are in is examined.

Secretive

  • <dwarf> withdraws from society...
Peculiarly secretive...

Secretive moods are the same as fey moods, except a secretive dwarf will sketch pictures of their required materials instead of clearly stating their demands if they cannot find what they need. Descriptions of all these Template:L can be seen only by viewing the workshop that the moody dwarf has claimed, with q, and then only while the dwarf is waiting inside it. More than one "picture" is likely; these will cycle through the entire list automatically if any one is not available. (Since materials are gathered in order, it's quite possible that only one of a long list is needed to allow the moody dwarf to continue on their project. If the dwarf has gathered some of the materials (seen as "tasked" when looking at the workshop with t), then the next in the list is what they are looking for.)

Possessed

  • <dwarf> has been possessed!
Possessed by unknown forces!

Possessed dwarves have cryptic material requests, and have the unfortunate distinction of not receiving any experience upon successful construction of an artifact. It is unknown if controllable circumstances lead to a possessed mood instead of one of the more desirable fey or secretive moods. Possessed dwarves will mutter the name of the artifact they are working on once they have all the materials they need.

A possession is the only mood that does not result in a jump in Template:L.

Fell

  • <dwarf> looses a roaring laughter, fell and terrible!
Has a horrible fell look!

A dwarf that goes into a fell mood will always take over a Template:L or a Template:L. If neither are available, any other workshop will be used instead. The dwarf will then murder the nearest dwarf, drag the corpse into the shop and make some sort of object out of dwarf Template:L or Template:L. Once the artifact is completed, the fell dwarf will become a legendary Template:L or Template:L. Strangely, none of the other dwarves seem to mind the murder. Only unhappy dwarves may enter a fell mood.

Aside from the potential loss of an important dwarf in the wrong place at the wrong time, there doesn't seem to be any downside to a fell mood. The end result is always an artifact and a legendary craftsdwarf. Since the only ingredient used (a dwarf) is available in abundance, a fell mood will only fail if the fell dwarf is completely isolated from other dwarves, or if the proper workshop does not exist.

Macabre

  • <dwarf> begins to stalk and brood...
Brooding darkly...

Macabre moods are similar to fell moods, but the dwarf will not murder a fellow dwarf. A macabre dwarf may require bones, skulls, and chunks/remains; if you do not happen to have any, you will have to "make" some, or let the moody dwarf go insane. Like fell moods, only unhappy dwarves can enter macabre moods.

Spoiler2010.png This article contains massive spoilers. If you do not wish to have your game experience spoiled, do not scroll down!

Demands

Once a workshop is claimed, the dwarf will begin collecting materials. Each artifact will require between one and ten materials to complete. If the moody dwarf remains idle, then the necessary materials are not available. Press q and highlight the workshop to receive a series of clues about what the dwarf needs. Hints that stay active for longer than 2 seconds mean that multiple pieces of that material will be required; each single demand will be displayed for 2 seconds, so if it says "gems... shining" for 6 seconds, 3 gems are demanded. Materials will always be fetched in order, so if at least one item has already been retrieved (the items will show up with "TSK" ("task") next to them when the workshop is viewed with the t context menu), it will usually be possible to tell what item is required next.

Note though that if a dwarf has a demand for a specific item, such as a Template:L, raw Template:L, or Template:L, then that item type will be required. For this reason, it is usually a good idea to keep an example of each item type on hand, particularly cut and raw gems, shells, bones, leather, raw glass of every type, both silk and plant cloth.

Frequently, a dwarf with a personality preference for a specific material will demand exactly that specific sub-type of material. For this reason, it is a good idea to keep as many types of material on hand as possible, including the three different kinds of glass. Check your dwarves' Template:Ls if you care.

The various demands are translated here:

Material Fey Secretive Possessed
<dwarf> screams "I must have <demand>!" <dwarf> sketches pictures of <demand>. <dwarf> mutters "<artifact> needs <demand>..."
Template:L wood a forest tree... life
Template:L the correct ore an ore mine ore... particular ore
Template:Ls (raw) rough gems rough gems rough... color
Template:L the right stone a quarry stone... rock
Metal Template:L metal bars shining bars of metal bars... metal
Template:Ls (cut) gems cut gems gems... shining
Stone Template:L the proper surface to work on square blocks blocks... bricks...
Template:L bones skeletons bones... yes
Template:L a shell a shell a shell...
Template:L leather stacked leather leather... skin
Template:L cloth stacked cloth cloth... thread

Unlike in later versions, dwarves who want raw glass will simply ask for "rough gems", and any stone blocks used will not become part of the finished artifact.

The mechanics of moods

Frequency

When a fortress is started, an internal counter is set to 1000. Around 11 or 12 times per day, this counter is decremented by 1, running down to zero in about 3 months. When the counter would ordinarily be decremented when it has already reached zero, there is a 1 in 500 chance that a strange mood will strike. This means that, once all conditions are met and the clock is ticking, while there is approximately a 2.4% chance of a strange mood per day, or very approximately a 50% chance of a strange mood per month, there is no guarantee when a mood will strike - might be sooner, might be (almost) never.

Conditions

In order for a dwarf to be struck with a strange mood, three conditions must be met:

  • There is no currently active strange mood,
  • The maximum number of artifacts is not met,
  • There are at least 20 eligible dwarves (see below).

If all three of these conditions are true, the game may trigger a strange mood according to the frequency.


Eligibility

The deciding factor for eligibility is a dwarf's actual Template:L. (Note that "Template:L" have no effect on this!) Thus, dwarves may enter strange moods regardless of what skills they have or don't have, so long as they are of an acceptable profession. Dwarves who have already created an artifact are not eligible to create another, and since every mood ends in either an artifact or death, every dwarf may enter at most one mood. Dwarves who have obtained one or more legendary skills without creating artifacts may enter strange moods.

Only dwarves with the profession Miner, Carpenter, Mason, Trapper, Metalsmith, Jeweler, Craftsdwarf, Fisherdwarf, Farmer, Mechanic, Recruit, Peasant, or Child may enter a strange mood. Template:Ls, trained Template:Ls (other than Recruit), and babies are not eligible for moods.

Chance

When determining who will have a strange mood, each eligible dwarf is put into a weighted lottery. The odds are assigned a higher or lower weight based on the dwarf's Template:L. The default weight is 1, but some professions are more likely to enter a strange mood than others.

Weighting Professions
16 Metalsmith, Jeweler, Craftsdwarf
6 Carpenter, Mason
1 Miner, Mechanic, and all other Template:Ls
Example: What this means is: if you had 21 dwarves, made up of 20 eligible farmers, furnace operators, miners, woodcutters etc. (with 1 chance each) plus one Armorer (with 16 chances), that one Armorer would have a 16 in 36 chance (20 dwarves x 1 chances each = 20 + 16 chances more = 36 total) of the mood striking them. That's 4 in 9, while the other 20 have a 1 in 36 chance each. The odds are still against the armorer, but much better than for any other single dwarf.

Note that not every profession is from a moodable skill. A Fisherdwarf or Trapper can be taken by a mood, but that will not make those skills legendary.

NOTE: If your game was saved shortly before one of you dwarves acquired a mood, reloading that game will most likely cause the chances to be completely re-figured, resulting in a different mood at a different time for a different dwarf with different materials. This is true for most all random events and results in Dwarf Fortress.

Skills and workshops

Artifact Skill Rewards
Highest skill Workshop used
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L or Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L or Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L or Template:L
Template:L Template:L or Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L or Template:L
Template:L Template:L
Template:L Template:L

A dwarf will claim a workshop according to their highest applicable skill, and upon completion of the artifact, gain 20,000 Template:L in that skill (excepting Template:L dwarves). This will give the dwarf a legendary-level Template:L (specifically, "legendary+1" or higher, depending on the dwarf's initial skill level) and a number of Template:L gains. The table to the right describes all applicable skills and their potential workshop requirements - there are only 20 skills that determine the workshop and that can be affected by a mood (sometimes referred to as moodable skills.) If a dwarf does not possess at least one of the moodable skills listed to the right, they will take over a Template:L and gain one of Template:L, Template:L, or Template:L skills, producing an artifact Template:L.

If a dwarf has the same experience points in two skills (as opposed to same experience title), the first listed for that dwarf will be the one affected by the mood (the exact experience can only be made visible with 3rd party Template:L).

When multiple workshops are listed, the dwarf may require one or the other, so ensure that both are available, if possible. If you have one, and the dwarf is not interested, then build the other, right away. (i.e. If you have only Template:Ls, you may have to build a standard Template:L for the moody dwarf).

Below is a list of all non-moodable skills; if all of a dwarfs skills are found on this list and none from the table to the right, then they have no moodable skills and will construct their artifact at a Template:L, producing an appropriate craft as described above:

This fact can be utilized to maximize the possibility of getting a dwarf with the specific legendary skill you want: since non-moodable skills are ignored, when ever possible make sure that each dwarf's highest moodable skill is one of those you want*. Have all your peasants, Template:Ls, non-professional military and other dwarves without any moodable skills do a tiny bit of work in the skill(s) you most want; if a "Template:L" skill is the highest moodable skill they have, that is the skill that will be used.

(* Template:L, Template:L, Template:L and Template:L are possibly the most-desired legendary skills, but much depends on your fortress, your current mix of skills, and your play style.)
(Note that Template:L is a moodable skill, the only Template:L category skill that is moodable.)

Artifacts created

The type of artifact created will depend on the dwarf's highest skill. Masons will always create some kind of stone object, usually furniture; bone Carvers, a bone or shell object; carpenters, a wood object, etc. Miners will usually turn out a piece of stone furniture; engravers will make a stone craft; metalworkers, metal crafts, weapons, or armor (depending on the type of metalworker); weavers, an article of clothing; tanners, a leather armor or object. If a dwarf has no moodable skills, they will take over a Template:L and create a bone, stone or wood craft of some type. The precise type of craft created is usually somewhat random but if a dwarf has a personality preference for a particular thing, such as gauntlets or floodgates or crowns, and that thing is an available choice given the dwarf's profession, they will generally create an object of that type.

The first object grabbed by the dwarf will be the "primary" substance; all other materials will be used to decorate the artifact. If a dwarf grabs a piece of Template:L and makes a statue, for instance, it will be a "chalk statue", but an artifact can potentially be composed of bone, cloth, gems, leather, metal, shell, stone, and wood all at once. In some cases, a moody dwarf will produce an item which normally cannot be made from that material, leading to such odd constructions as an Template:L Template:L, Template:L Template:L, or turtle Template:L Template:L.

Once created, the dwarf will carry around the Template:L in his inventory for a long time. If the dwarf is killed, the artifact becomes available for general use. Artifact furniture is useful for high value Template:L rooms. Template:Ls and Template:L will only be used by heroes and champions. Artifact weapons in Template:L can also boost a room's value considerably, as in the case of artifact trap components.

Failure

If you can't provide the desired workshop and all the required component materials within a couple of months, the dwarf will go Template:L, which cancels the mood and the artifact. As if that's not bad enough, any dwarf who goes insane will soon die, one way or another.

A dwarf who is stark raving mad or melancholy is harmless to others (until they die and start a Template:L spiral), but a berserk dwarf will attack other dwarfs and possibly pull levers at random. You may want to station a squad nearby or assign a few war dogs to the dwarf on the chance that they will lash out. If you build your workshops inside enclosed rooms with doors you can also lock the moody dwarf in the room until he or she starves. In extreme cases, building a wall around an open workshop is the best precaution.

Most events that would ordinarily interrupt a dwarf will not deter a moody dwarf - for example, while passing out from pain will cancel most tasks, a moody dwarf will continue working as soon as he wakes up. Giving birth while in a strange mood does not interrupt the dwarf either; the new mother will ignore the baby until her mood is resolved and it will happily wander off in the meantime.

Severe distractions such as hostile creatures, however, can interrupt a strange mood, resulting in immediate insanity; similar results will happen if the workshop suddenly becomes unavailable, whether from being destroyed (by a cave-in or a dwarf throwing a tantrum) or from losing power (in the case of magma workshops). Note that the insanity can happen even when the dwarf is not deadlocked on an item; there have been observed instances where a dwarf goes insane while in the process of carrying a required item back to the commandeered workshop.


See also