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[Haytrid]

I had a very successful fortress, dug down to the first cavern layer as I usually do but this time (first time) I ended up digging into the roof of a 4 z-level cavern, I didn't really know how to wall it off and wasn't too worried about FB's climbing the walls so I left it.  We'll, an FB came along years later and squatted at the bottom of the cavern directly below the steps in line of sight of my entire main stair-well.  Even though he must have been (guessing) 20 or more z-levels away from my actual fortress but all of my dwarves were paralyzed with fear on the stair well and then starved or dehydrated to death.  I tried to get them to dig alternate routes down on the 1st level of my fortress so I could wall off the entire stair well but they absolutely refused to do anything at that point.  Was I supposed to dig a floor grate or something like that? 

How could I have prevented this and what could I have done to fix it once it happened?

Thanks!

[Girlinhat]

Construct a floor on the bottom-most stair tile.  Essentially, you want to patch the ceiling of the caverns.  As noted, this can't be done while you're being watched.  Having backup plans is important for exactly this reason.

Also of note: if you assign dwarves to a military squad, they'll walk by the stairwell and ignore the FB.  Since they can't path down to attack it, they just ignore it.

[Eric Blank]

I don't think I've ever heard of a FB employing that tactic to destroy a fortress before.

You should probably use up-stairs to seal the openings into the cavern, though, for the sake of being able to use that last z-level of stairs.

Also, spiral rampways (without a gaping hole in the middle) are a better option precisely because they don't offer LOS to creatures using them. Having many different routes to each level of the fortress is also a good idea.

[Haytrid]

I was stared to death, apparently all FB's are equipped with a petrifying gaze.

I never know when I'm going to break into a cavern while I'm building the stair-well, can I convert the up/down stairs into up stairs?

I don't think I've ever tried to build a spiral ramp-way before, I'll experiment with that tonight, what's the basic layout for that?

I don't think I've ever heard of a FB employing that tactic to destroy a fortress before.

You should probably use up-stairs to seal the openings into the cavern, though, for the sake of being able to use that last z-level of stairs.

Also, spiral rampways (without a gaping hole in the middle) are a better option precisely because they don't offer LOS to creatures using them. Having many different routes to each level of the fortress is also a good idea.

[Haytrid]

Probably could have saved my fort with this, I should have saved and made this post instead of watching them die.

Also of note: if you assign dwarves to a military squad, they'll walk by the stairwell and ignore the FB.  Since they can't path down to attack it, they just ignore it.

[Eric Blank]

I was stared to death, apparently all FB's are equipped with a petrifying gaze.

I never know when I'm going to break into a cavern while I'm building the stair-well, can I convert the up/down stairs into up stairs?

I don't think I've ever tried to build a spiral ramp-way before, I'll experiment with that tonight, what's the basic layout for that?

-snip-

You can easily build constructed up stairs right over the up/down stairs, and they'll cancel out the natural excavation.

The main thing to keep in midn with ramps is that they demand a wall behind them in the direction dwarves are supposed to walk.

Code: [Select]

> shows direction of movement, ^ is ramp, _ is floor, # is wall

    ____>
__>^#

Spiral rampways don't come with a standard design. You don't even need to make a spiral. Just keep in mind how much space you have, where you want to place exits from the rampways into other sections, and the golden rule of walls described above. I often use a 11x11 space with ramps in a spiral like so:

Code: [Select]

Top-down view, level by level.
# is wall, + is floor, v is downward ramp, ^ is upward ramp, D is door
######D######
#+++++++^#++#
#+++++++^#++#
#+++++++^#++#
#vvv++++++++#
#+++++++++++#
D+++++++++++D
#+++++++++++#
#+++++++++++#
#+++++++++++#
#+++++++++++#
#+++++++++++#
######D######

The next level down would look like this;

######D######
#+++++++++++#
#+++++++++++#
####++++++++#
#^^^++++++++#
#+++++++++++#
D+++++++++++D
#+++++++++++#
#+++++++++++#
#+++v+++++++#
#+++v+++++++#
#+++v+++++++#
######D######

And it flows counter-clockwise like that as long as I want in either direction. Bridges may be preferable to doors for defense against building destroyers but would demand levers be linked and pulled for locking down sections of the fort.

It provides plenty of room for accessways off the rampway or for a double-helix configuration

[khearn]

The first thing I have my mason shop build is 3 rock hatches. Whenever I break into the top of a cavern, I immediately dig a tile sideways from the bottom stairs and build a hatch, then lock it (q - select hatch - l). You have to dig a tile sideways so there is room for a dwarf to stand to install the hatch. This prevent this kind of LOS and also stops flyers from coming up.

[Nil Eyeglazed]

When using a long central staircase, a fairly simple way to handle this is to build a few hatch covers at intervals along its length.  This lets you lock a non-BD creature between floors, lets you constrain a BD to no higher than the floor under the next highest hatch, and allows you to work in case of something that interrupts dwarves, like your problem. If you have a few hatches, you lock the two that isolate the problem area, then designate a new passage to be dug around the problem-- just as if you had a cave-in.

[thegoatgod_pan]

You could have prevented it totally by putting a few hatches along your stairs--even if you don't get them locked in time for a flying F.B. they will block line-of-sight (preventing your particular sort of doom.)

Failing that you could have ordered all your dwarves to a surface proximate burrow, then dug down to somewhere near the f.b., but not open to the main staircase and wired a couple of cave-in traps.  Those are dependable and cheap (if difficult to deploy) means of defense.

Finally marksdwarves are your friends here and, imho, the best line of defense against f.b.s e.g. "the *forgotten beast bone bolt" strikes the forgotten beast in the heard, piercing the skull and tearing the brain. The forgotten beast is struck down!",

[Multiplicity]

The easiest way to this problem, I found, is by building an upward staircase on top of the carved out up/down staircase. I never had an issue with things coming up into my fortress this way. I think it's a far easier solution than making a spiral staircase.

[AWdeV]

The dwarfiest way to tackle (try to) this problem is by DRAFTING EVERY DWARF AND CHARGING UNARMED AND UNARMOURED. LET ARMOK DECIDE WHO DESERVES THE FORTRESS!

[Garath]

or magma

[Haytrid]

I would have done this had they been able to path to the beast.  I blame myself for denying them the glorious dwarfy death they deserved.  Instead I forced them to die as cowards of hunger and thirst.

The dwarfiest way to tackle (try to) this problem is by DRAFTING EVERY DWARF AND CHARGING UNARMED AND UNARMOURED. LET ARMOK DECIDE WHO DESERVES THE FORTRESS!

[slothen]

you could have found your miner, who was likely hiding in a place where he could not see the FB, and started digging a new route from there.