40d:Human

Humans are intelligent humanoid creatures that live in cities on the plains. They are a one of the races playable in Adventure Mode. Their buildings are made entirely of wood, and usually include several houses and shops, and a tavern. They are primarily interested in trade, and generally send large caravans in summer. They will siege any fortress that lets harm come to their caravans.^{v0.23.130.23a}

Humans in Fortress Mode

The first human caravan will arrive in the summer of your second year, provided a human civilization has access to your site. The caravan will have wagons, which are slow but carry lots of goods.

Humans may also send a Representative, and having more skilled trading nobles will upgrade him to a Merchant Baron or Merchant Prince, who have larger caravans. The Representative will set up Trade agreements with your trading noble, which lets you order the goods you want the next caravan to bring. Humans value weapons, and will usually negotiate to pay more for them in their trade agreements.

If enough humans are killed while visiting your area, their civilization will invade and try very hard to obliterate your fortress. This can be viewed as either something to avoid, or a chance to test your network of fortress defenses. This can be especially tricky if a human noble has been to your fortress. All traps that she observed while walking inside will be essentially inactive for any invading humans.

If you succeed in defeating a human siege, they may send a diplomat to make an offer of peace, which you can accept or reject.

Living among them

Creating a settlement underneath a human town confers a number advantages. The human soldiers and guards, in the process of protecting their town, also protect your fortress. In addition, all the objects present in the town are assumed to be your property, which provides your fortress with a huge starting value boost. You may also reclaim the items present inside the various buildings, giving you a nice early cache of weapons, trade objects and furniture. Finally, the wood from the buildings may be acquired by deconstructing them, or undermining the structure.

Humans in Adventure Mode

Human towns usually have many different shops. They typically have swordsmen and plenty of drunks to recruit. The leader and quest giver of a city is called the mayor, who can generally be found in the tavern in the center of town.

Humans characters are, in every way, the middle road between dwarves and elves. Their starting equipment is metal, but the type of metal depends on how advanced that particular Human civilization is. Humans might have copper, bronze, or iron equipment. Humans may start with skill in any weapon (as opposed to the more limited lists that elves and dwarves use). Humans have no natural armor bonus or penalty, but they are one size category larger than dwarves, which makes them hit harder and absorb more damage. Another downside for humans is that they have a life expectancy of 60-120 years, which is a lot shorter than dwarves and especially elves, this is unlikely to affect anyone except a serious Fortress Mode addict.

They may buy both armor and weapons at human towns, and may scavenge dwarven weapons from abandoned fortresses. Masterpiece armor is extremely rare in human shops, but exceptional equipment is common, and temples contain abundant loot, so a human adventurer can easily pick up a set of exceptional gear.