v0.34:Thought

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v50.14 · v0.47 · v0.34.11 · v0.31 · v0.28 · v0.23 This article is about an older version of DF. More Info · V

Thoughts are the reported observations and sentiments of dwarves in Fortress mode, visible on the thoughts and preferences subscreen of their profile. 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.

A dwarf's Thoughts are scored according to their severity and recentness (the exact formula is not known), and added together. The resulting total happiness score indicates the dwarf's emotional state:

Number	Happiness
150 or more	ecstatic
125 to 149	happy
75 to 124	quite content
51 to 74	fine
26 to 50	unhappy
1 to 25	very unhappy
0	miserable

The change in status that triggers bad thoughts about thirst, hunger, and fatigue can slow the speed at which a dwarf works and moves. A dwarf's level of happiness will also affect the type of strange mood he can undergo. If you wish to avoid Bad Thoughts, try to keep your dwarves happy.

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.

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 or a building that requires architecture 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 (mother/father/a child/a sibling) lately	Idling in the same room as the dwarf's own kin
Made a friend recently	Self-explanatory
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 recently	No one around to carry out the dwarf's punishment.
Was glad to have punishment reduced recently	No jails were available, so the punishment was "reduced" to a beating.
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 (activated military only)
Adopted a new pet recently	Self-explanatory
Formed a bond with an animal training partner recently	Performed animal training
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.
Had a (fine/truly decadent/legendary) meal lately	Dwarf ate food they have a preference for.
Beat somebody recently	Administering Justice
Is happy to be free	Was jailed or snatched, and was released recently.
Was rescued recently	Was snatched and rescued.
Had a satisfying sparring session recently	military dwarf sparring for training

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.
Tired of drinking the same old booze lately	Drinking the same type of alcohol repeatedly
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. Extreme tiredness will lead to insanity.
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 unhappy that his room isn't better than a lower-ranked dwarf's room.
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.
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 sentenced to jail time or hammerstrikes was downgraded to a beating due to lack of justice facilities.
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. Also occurs when a dwarf is assaulted by undead.
Attacked/Haunted by a dead (spouse/lover/sibling/and still annoying acquaintance) lately	Dwarf was frightened or injured by an acquainted ghost, twice as bad as 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 a table next to the chair it sat on while eating.
Depressed about being confined	Dwarf is in a cage (jailed or trapped), or has been abducted by a goblin snatcher.
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. Hunters are used to bad weather and don't get this thought, and dwarves who like working outdoors won't get unhappy from this.
Has been caught in freakish weather	Dwarf was outside during a rain of blood or slime, usually on an Evil surrounding.
(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.
Had a miscarriage recently	Pregnant dwarves that lose their baby before birth due to extreme stress (being Starving or Dehydrated) or injury.
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)	The corpse of the dwarf's companion, loved one, or rival is rotting on the ground rather than being properly entombed within a coffin.
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.
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	Self-explanatory
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). Severity of the thought depends on the number of masterworks the dwarf has produced. Can include mining through an engraved wall, allowing a masterful meal to rot away, or firing at an enemy with a masterwork bolt that sticks in the wound followed by the creature leaving the map.
Complained about the draft lately	Civilian dwarf with no combat skills enters military duty and becomes a Recruit during times of peace. Does not happen if the fortress is currently under siege.
Upset about being relieved from duty	Military dwarf with no civilian skills is removed from active duty and becomes a Peasant.
(Complained about/Enraged by/Depressed by) long patrol duty	Military dwarf has active order for more than one month (one for complaining, two for depressed, three for enraged). Soldiers stop getting this thought upon becoming Heroes. Due to a bug, training currently counts as patrol duty.Bug:3190
Was upset to be wearing (old/tattered) clothing lately	Old/tattered clothing (presumably tattered is stronger?)
Was very upset to have worn clothes rot away lately	See wear.
Was very embarrassed to be uncovered lately	Dwarf needs pants, badly!
Was embarrassed to have no (shirt/shoes) lately	Missing specific clothing
Was worried by the scarcity of cages and chains lately	The justice system isn't set up properly (for example, not enough cages and chains in use).
Was outraged at the bizarre conviction against all reason of the victim of a crime recently.	This one will happen only when you accidentally or purposefully convict a crime's victim as the same crime's perpetrator. For example, convicting the dwarf who has had his blood drained of draining his own blood.