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v0.34:Animal person
| This article is about an older version of DF. |
Animal people are indigenous tribes of half-man, half-beast creatures with various animal-like traits (such as flying, thievery,and poisons), inherited from their base animal. The original animal people were based on creatures classes, while more recently discovered animal people are based on variations of species instead. They may appear either wandering above ground in savage environments or in the caverns; these two populations form distinct groups. Animal people generally have significantly longer lifespans than their base animals, as well as the ability to learn.
Subterranean animal people are often equipped with primitive weaponry such as wooden spears and blowguns (they are also the only known source of blowdarts, which they will not willingly relinquish). While not interested in formal negotiations with dwarves, these animal people are usually not hostile; some will choose to band together against a common threat. Animal people are not trapavoid and will often blunder into your cage traps, serving as live bait for larger game and uninvited guests.
History
Present from the very first release of the game, in the early two-dimensional releases animal people did not exist as a class but were instead part of a small group of subterranean creatures (so called "river monsters") that would emerge from the cave river to harass your dwarves (the frogman, now amphibian man; the lizardman, now reptile man; and the snakeman, now serpent man). With the release of 40d and three dimensions these creatures had their properties and names redefined and were moved to frock near underground rivers and pools.
In the version .31 release these underground water features were expanded into the current-version caverns, and the original animal people were renamed to their current forms and moved there. Their behavior was redefined as well to make them more interesting, as they would now linger around "camps" and use poison-tipped weapons. .31 also introduced a small number of other underground creatures, these named after and based on specific animals: the antman, bat man, cave fish man, cave swallow man, olm man, and rodent man.
The 2012 release added hundreds more animal people species, all of which appear exclusively above-ground in savage environs; these creatures are more or less distinct from the earlier, subterranean ones. They differ from subterranean species in that their behavior is much simpler: they simply wander around the map like any other wild creature would, and do not form camps or wield poisoned weapons.
Examples
Original animal men:
Species added in version .31: