v0.31:Thought

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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

Thoughts are the reported observations and sentiments of the Dwarves in Fortress Mode. Over the course of play, a dwarf will experience things that make them more or less happy, with each experience recorded and displayed as a Thought. The rate at which a dwarf gains certain thoughts is controlled by personality.

Dwarven psychology is relatively simple. There are Good Thoughts and Bad Thoughts. Lots of Good Thoughts will make your dwarves ecstatic party animals who have lots of children. Too many Bad Thoughts and your dwarves will throw tantrums. Too many tantrums and the Bad Thoughts will spread. If you wish to avoid Bad Thoughts, please consult ways of keeping your dwarves happy.

The change in status that triggers bad thoughts about thirst, hunger, and fatigue can also slow the speed at which a dwarf works and moves. To view a dwarf's recent thoughts and current happiness level, press k, move the cursor to the dwarf, and press enter twice. (Or v, move to the dwarf, then z and enter.) Now you will see a page describing the dwarf's feelings and thoughts, physical description, and a set of phrases describing personality traits. A dwarf's level of happiness will affect the type of strange mood they fall into should they be chosen for one.

Below are thoughts your dwarves may experience over the course of a game. For a full list of the game's programmed thoughts (whether or not they appear in gameplay), please see the List of Dwarven Thoughts.

Happy Thoughts

Thought	Triggered by
Slept in a (good quality) bedroom recently	Self-explanatory - note that it does not need to be the dwarf's assigned quarters
Dined in a (good quality) dining room lately	Self-explanatory
Admired a (good quality) (object) lately	Passed right next to or over a constructed piece of furniture and noticed it. Influenced by value, not quality as implied by the thought (what are the chances of noticing an object?)
Talked with a spouse lately	Married dwarves idling in the same room
Talked with a friend lately	Idling in the same room with a friend
Talked with a child recently	When talking to the dwarf's own son or daughter (whether a child or adult)
Made a friend recently	Idling in the same room with a dwarf who prefers socializing
Had a nice bath recently	Usually from Clean Patient
Had a wonderful soapy bath recently	Dwarf cleaned contaminants from self using soap
Was comforted by a lovely waterfall lately	Sprayed by mist from a waterfall.
Was comforted by a wonderful creature in a cage recently	Passed near a caged favorite creature.
Was glad to have punishment (delayed/reduced) recently	No one around to execute the dwarf's punishment
Satisfied at work lately	When the dwarf works with materials, items or animals he/she likes.
Took someone to bed recently	Moved an unconscious (usually injured) dwarf to a bed.
Enjoyed throwing something recently	Threw an item during a tantrum
Enjoyed smashing a building recently	Destroyed a building or piece of furniture during a tantrum
Enjoyed starting a fist fight recently	Attacked another dwarf during a tantrum
Is quite pleased with making an artifact	Crafted an artifact
Took joy in slaughter lately	Have killed another creature
Adopted a new pet recently	self-explaining
Was pleased to have been able to give somebody (food/water) lately	When a dwarf with a kind personality feeds or gives water to another.
Gave somebody (food/water) lately	When a dwarf feeds or gives water to another.
Was able to rest and recuperate lately	Self-explanatory
Had a (fine/truly decadent/legendary) drink lately	Dwarf drank alcohol they have a preference for. The thought is happier if the booze is home-brewed.
Had a (fine/truly decadent/legendary) meal lately	Dwarf ate food they have a preference for. The thought is happier if the meal is homemade.
Beat somebody recently	Administering Justice
Is happy to be free	Was jailed, and was released recently

Unhappy Thoughts

Thought	Triggered by
Complained of (hunger/thirst) lately	Got hungry/thirsty and didn't eat or drink soon enough (actual time unmeasured).
Has been (starving/dehydrated) recently	Has not had food or drink for a long time and will soon die.
Forced to eat vermin to survive lately	Dwarf hunted vermin for food due to starvation. Will still die soon without real food.
Complained about the nasty water lately	Got thirsty and had to drink from open water because no alcohol or at least a well was available
Was forced to drink vomit lately	A tainted water source causes this little gem.
Disgusted by a miasma recently	Dwarf was exposed to miasma
Accidentally killed somebody in a fit of rage lately	Killed a dwarf or someone's pet during a tantrum
Has been (tired/exhausted) lately	Became sleepy but wasn't able to sleep because a task had to be completed. Exhaustion is extreme tiredness and may come from over-exertion.
Was (put off/flustered/upset/very upset/greatly upset/angered/enraged/shattered/traumatized/utterly traumatized) by a lesser's pretentious (office/sleeping/dining/burial) arrangements recently	Noble dwarf is jealous of a lower-ranked dwarf's room and will soon go insane.
Slept in a (poor/very poor/awful/horrible/horribly substandard) bedroom recently	Noble dwarf has slept in an unsatisfactory bedroom. Increasing levels of badness.
Conducted a meeting in a (poor/very poor/awful/horrible/horribly substandard) setting recently	Noble dwarf hates the office provided them for meetings.
Dined in a (poor/very poor/awful/horrible/horribly substandard) dining room recently	Stupid noble wants a better dining room.
Worried greatly about not having a tomb after gaining another year	Noble dwarf is upset about lacking a tomb on their birthday.
Worried about having a (poor/very poor/awful/horrible/horribly substandard) tomb after gaining another year	As above, but the dwarf has a tomb, just one that isn't good enough
Was (very/greatly) angered at the state of demands recently	Noble dwarf demanded something that wasn't provided.
Upset by having a mandate ignored lately	Noble issued a mandate that went unfulfilled.
Upset that a criminal could not be properly punished	A dwarf became a criminal without an established Justice system present.
Upset by not having enough (chests/cabinets/weapon racks/armor stands) lately	Noble doesn't have enough of their position's furniture requirements.
Attacked/Haunted by the dead lately	Dwarf was frightened or injured by an unacquainted ghost. Hauntings aren't as bad as attacks for the dwarven psyche.
Attacked/Haunted by a dead (spouse/lover/sibling/and still annoying acquaintance) lately	Dwarf was frightened or injured by an acquainted ghost, somewhat worse than the above thought.
Attacked/Haunted by own dead (mother/father/child) lately	Dwarf was frightened or injured by a closely-related ghost. This is a very bad thought.
Yelled at somebody in charge lately (but only got angrier)	Dwarf yelled at a Leader/Mayor and felt worse afterward.
Cried on somebody in charge lately (but only felt more depressed)	Like above, but for dwarves less prone to anger/more prone to depression.
Complained of the lack of chairs lately	Was eating and couldn't find an unoccupied chair.
Complained of the crowded tables lately	Tried to eat at a table someone else was already eating at.
Complained of the lack of dining tables lately	Was eating and couldn't find an unused table next to the chair it sat on while eating.
Depressed about being confined	Dwarf is in prison.
Slept uneasily due to noise lately	Was sleeping in the zone of influence of a noise source.
Woken by noise while sleeping recently	As above, but a worse thought from being closer to noise.
Slept without a proper room recently	Was sleeping and couldn't find a bed designated as a bedroom not assigned to someone else.
Slept in the (mud/dirt/grass/rocks/ice/a ('rough stone') floor) recently	Could not find any bed for sleeping, or Dwarf is a Hunter. The thought may be worse with certain terrain.
Slept on rocks/pebbles/ice/a floor/a pile of driftwood) recently	Like above. May or may not be a slightly better thought.
Caught in the rain recently	Went outside while it was raining
(Irritated/Nauseated) by the sun lately	Is suffering from cave adaptation and went outside. Nausea indicates a more serious case.
Annoyed by flies	Shared a tile with flies.
Accosted by terrible vermin	Exposed to vermin that the dwarf particularly hates.
Saw something unpleasant in a cage recently	Dwarf examined a cage containing hated vermin
Killed somebody by accident while sparring recently	Sparring dwarf accidentally(?) kills another. Defunct now that sparring is now totally safe, whatever weapons are used.
Had a miscarriage recently	Pregnant dwarves that lose their baby before birth (like female military getting too much damage to the lower body)
Attacked recently	Dwarf was assaulted by a hostile creature.
Witnessed death	Present while another dwarf died.
Lost a (friend/pet) to tragedy recently	A dwarf with relationship status "Friend" or a pet died.
Lost a (family member) to tragedy recently	Someone related to the dwarf has died. Worse thought than above.
Forced to endure the decay of a (friend/pet/family member/annoying acquaintance)	Dwarf was exposed to the rotten corpse of a companion, loved one or rival.
Unable to find somebody in charge to cry on lately	Dwarf couldn't complain to the Expedition Leader/Mayor, either because they are inaccessible or busy. This may also include other nobles.
Upset that a criminal could not be properly punished	Crimes always have an "injured" party (the noble who assigns the mandate), and a "criminal" party (the dwarf who breaks the mandate). The injured party gets this thought if the criminal goes unpunished.
Was (very) embarrassed to have to conduct an official meeting in a (dining room/bedroom)	Noble dwarf had to meet a diplomat without an office (or any dining room, if the bedroom was used).
Incredibly embarrassed not to have any rooms lately	Noble dwarf went without any kind of room to conduct a meeting in.
Beaten recently	Justice served.
(Irritated at/Unhappy at/Suffered the pain of) having to haul somebody to bed lately	Selfish dwarves will be annoyed at needing to help others.
(Irritated at/Unhappy at/Suffered the pain of) having to give somebody (food/water) lately	As above, with bringing food or drink to others.
Sustained (minor/major) injuries recently	Dwarf recently suffered torn arteries and/or broken bones.
Knocked out during a cave-in lately	Being caught in a cave-in. May or may not be coupled with the above thought.
Choked on smoke/dust underground lately	Dwarf was exposed to either smoke from a fire or dust from a cave-in.
Suffered the travesty of art defacement	Loss of a masterpiece, (usually destroyed or stolen). This is a pretty major hit. Can include mining through an engraved wall or allowing a masterful meal to rot away.
Complained about the draft lately	Civilian dwarf enters military duty and becomes a Recruit.
Upset about being relieved from duty	Military dwarf is removed from active duty and becomes a Peasant.
(Complained about/Enraged by/Depressed by) long patrol duty	Military dwarf has active order (or training) for more than one month (one for complaining, two for growing enraged/depressed if the dwarf is slow to anger). Soldiers stop getting this thought upon becoming Heroes.

Negative Thought Modifiers

• "is quick to tire"

Effects of Thoughts

A positive thought improves a dwarfs mood. A negative thought lowers a dwarfs mood.

The mechanics of thoughts

A dwarf's emotional state is quantified in a single number which is influenced by recent thoughts in an unknown manner.

Number	Happiness
151 or more	ecstatic
126 to 150	happy
76 to 125	quite content
51 to 75	fine
26 to 50	unhappy
1 to 25	very unhappy
0	miserable