v50 Steam/Premium information for editors
  • v50 information can now be added to pages in the main namespace. v0.47 information can still be found in the DF2014 namespace. See here for more details on the new versioning policy.
  • Use this page to report any issues related to the migration.
This notice may be cached—the current version can be found here.

Tower

From Dwarf Fortress Wiki
Revision as of 19:23, 7 September 2014 by Loci (talk | contribs) (update)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This article is about the current version of DF.
Note that some content may still need to be updated.

A tower is any vertical structure consisting of multiple levels of a similar shape stacked on top of each other, usually connected by stairs.

Necromancer towers are special structures built by necromancers during world generation. The number of necromancer towers is influenced by human populations (which require low savagery and large tracts of neutral land) and the number of secrets in world generation. Necromancer towers can be a source of fun in both adventure mode and fortress mode.

Adventure Mode

In Adventure Mode, necromancers are most commonly found in towers (I). The towers generally have a few necromancers and a lot of zombies. Becoming a necromancer yourself requires reading about the secrets of life and death, which are either found on a slab or in a book. If you decide to attack the tower, you might want to become a night creature first by drinking a vampire's blood or being bitten by a werebeast. Zombies and other undead will not bother you if you yourself are undead. Once you learn the secrets of necromancy, all remaining undead in the tower will no longer be hostile toward you, so simply making a mad dash for the slab may also be a viable tactic.

Fortress Mode

"Tower" listed as a neighbor on the embark screen indicates the presence of a necromancer tower nearby. The necromancer will regularly send undead to attack you.

Crossroads Inc.'s Roadtruss tower megaproject

As a player construction, a large tower can serve the same role as a below-ground fortress, but without the drawbacks of cave adaptation: all of its tiles being Light Above Ground, so the dwarves will always be exposed to sunlight. However, it takes a large amount of resources (usually stone or wood) to construct a tower; while a source of clay or green glass can alleviate this, it is still much less efficient than carving out a fortress entirely beneath the earth.

Usually, a tower is built from constructed walls, floors, and stairs, although on some levels (such as those being used for the barracks) walls may be carved into or replaced by fortifications. With sufficient planning, a tower can also be cast from obsidian.