This thread will alow us to explore how a dwarfs attributes, soul attributes and personality could affect their use of skills, (or general actions) in a daily dwarf fortress setting.
There's alot to discuss. At first I thought it'd be best to debate one skill or action in relation to an attribute per day, but then I realised that doing it that way would take over 4900 days.
So instead we're doing it this way: We have one day to discuss each skill or action a creature can take inside the fortress and how that can be affected or affect by any or all of his attributes and personality traits. It's still over a hundred days of discussion.
Actions and Skills
SKILLS
* Dabbling
* Novice
* Adequate
* Competent
* Skilled
* Proficient
* Talented
* Adept
* Expert
* Professional
* Accomplished
* Great
* Master
* High Master
* Grand Master
* Legendary
Miner
Bowyer
Carpentry
Wood Cutter
Engraver
Mason
Ambusher
Animal caretaker
Animal dissector
Animal trainer
Trapper
Bone doctor
Crutch walker
Diagnostician
Surgeon
Sutrer
Wound dresser
Brewer
Butcher
Cheese maker
Cook
Dyer
Grower
Herbalist
Lye maker
Milker
Miller
Potash maker
Soaper
Tanner
Thresher
Wood burner
Fish cleaner
Fish dissector
Fisherdwarf
Armorsmith
Furnace operator
Metal crafter
Metalsmith
Weaponsmith
Gem cutter
Gem setter
Bone carver
Clothier
Glassmaker
Leatherworker
Stone crafter
Weaver
Wood crafter
Strand extractor
Mechanic
Pump perator
Siege engineer
Siege operator
Alchemist
Cleaning
Appraiser
Building designer
Organizer
Record keeper
Archer
Armor user
Axeman
Biter
Crossbowdwarf
Dodger
Fighter
Hammerdwarf
Kicker
Macedwarf
Shield user
Speardwarf
Striker
Sworddwarf
Wrestler
Comedian
Conversationalist
Flatterer
Intimidator
Judge of intent
Liar
Negotiator
Persuader
Concentration
Consoler
Observer
Pacifier
Student
Teacher
ACTIONS
I'm probably missing a few actions a dwarf can take, remind me what they are.
Idle
On break
Sleeping
Eating
Drinking
Cleaning
Hauling
Partying
Tantruming
Attributes and Personality Traits
ATTRIBUTES
A creature has numerous attributes which impact its performance at various tasks. These attributes are split into physical factors associated with the body and mental factors associated with a creature's soul.
Attributes are located in the Thoughts and Preferences screen. Body attributes are listed just above prefstrings, and soul attributes are listed immediately thereafter. Positive attributes are dark green and negative attributes are red.
Attributes are now associated with skills, so that shield use will raise endurance as an attribute, but not attributes like memory. Attribute gain and rust rates, along with skill gain and rust rates, are moddable in the raws as Creature_Tokens.
Attributes can be viewed for individual dwarfs by selecting view dwarves, z, enter or by going to the units menu, view, then enter.
Strength
* unbelievably strong
* mighty
* very strong
* strong
* weak
* very weak
* unquestionably weak
* unfathomably weak
Agility
* amazingly agile
* extremely agile
* very agile
* agile
* clumsy
* quite clumsy
* totally clumsy
* abysmally clumsy
Toughness
* basically unbreakable
* incredibly tough
* quite durable
* tough
* flimsy
* very flimsy
* remarkably flimsy
* shockingly fragile
Endurance
* absolutely inexhaustible
* indefatigable
* very slow to tire
* slow to tire
* quick to tire
* very quick to tire
* extremely quick to tire
* truly quick to tire
Disease resistance
* virtually never sick
* almost never sick
* very rarely sick
* rarely sick
* susceptible to disease
* quite susceptible to disease
* really susceptible to disease
* stunningly susceptible to disease
Recuperation
* possessed of amazing recuperative powers
* incredibly quick to heal
* quite quick to heal
* quick to heal
* slow to heal
* very slow to heal
* really slow to heal
* shockingly slow to heal
SOUL ATTRIBUTES
With respect to skills: most of these attributes only effect duration, when that is the only available skill effect to begin with, but they are factored into outcomes when it applies.
Analytical Ability
Animal caretaker Trapper Cheese maker Cook Furnace operator Strand extractor Gem cutter Siege engineer Siege operator Mechanic Architecture Diagnostician Appraiser Organizer Record keeper Knowledge Acquisition Knapping
* awesome intellectual powers
* great analytical abilities
* a sharp intellect
* a good intellect
* poor analytical abilities
* very bad analytical abilities
* a lousy intellect
* a stunning lack of analytical ability
Memory
Animal caretaker Herbalist Diagnostician Appraiser Record keeper Knowledge Acquisition
* an astonishing memory
* an amazing memory
* a great memory
* a good memory
* an iffy memory
* a poor memory
* a really bad memory
* little memory to speak of
Creativity
Bone carver Clothier Glassmaker Leatherworker Stone crafter Weaver Wood crafter Trapper Cheese maker Cook Architecture Organizer Liar Comedian
* a boundless creative imagination
* great creativity
* very good creativity
* good creativity
* meager creativity
* poor creativity
* lousy creativity
* next to no creative talent
Intuition
Animal trainer Judge of intent Appraiser Observer Diagnostician
* uncanny intuition
* great intuition
* very good intuition
* good intuition
* bad intuition
* very bad intuition
* lousy intuition
* horrible intuition
Focus
Fisherdwarf Ranged Combat Siege operator Sneak Surgeon Bone doctor Suturer Record keeper Knowledge Acquisition Concentration Observer
* unbreakable focus
* a great ability to focus
* very good focus
* the ability to focus
* poor focus
* quite poor focus
* really poor focus
* the absolute inability to focus
Willpower
Miner Wood cutter Melee Combat Crutch-walker Pump operator Swimmer Concentration Resists exertion/pain effects
* an unbreakable will
* an iron will
* a lot of willpower
* willpower
* little willpower
* a large deficit of willpower
* next to no willpower
* absolutely no willpower
Patience
Animal trainer Fisherdwarf Concentration Some non-skill tasks
* absolutely boundless patience
* a deep well of patience
* a great deal of patience
* a sum of patience
* a shortage of patience
* little patience
* very little patience
* no patience at all
Spatial Sense
Miner Wood cutter Bone carver Clothier Glassmaker Leatherworker Stone crafter Weaver Wood crafter Trapper Combat Skills Siege operator Sneak Architecture Wound dresser Surgeon Bone doctor Suturer Crutch-walker Swimmer Observer Knapping
* a stunning feel for spatial relationships
* an amazing spatial sense
* a great feel for the surrounding space
* a good spatial sense
* a questionable spatial sense
* poor spatial senses
* an atrocious spatial sense
* no sense for spatial relationships
Kineshetic Sense
Most skills involving any movement at all (lots of them), non-skilled tasks as well
* an astounding feel for the position of own body
* a great kinesthetic sense
* a very good sense of the position of own body
* a good kinesthetic sense
* a meager kinesthetic sense
* a poor kinesthetic sense
* a very clumsy kinesthetic sense
* an unbelievably atrocious sense of the position of own body
Linguistic Ability
Persuader Negotiator Liar Intimidator Conversationalist Comedian Flatterer Consoler Pacifier Leader Teacher
* an astonishing ability with languages and words
* a great affinity for language
* a natural inclination toward language
* a way with words
* a little difficulty with words
* little linguistic ability
* very little linguistic ability
* difficulty with words and language
Musicality
Nothing yet
* an astonishing knack for music
* a great musical sense
* a natural ability with music
* a feel for music
* an iffy sense for music
* little natural inclination toward music
* next to no natural musical ability
* absolutely no feel for music at all
Empathy
Animal trainer Animal caretaker Wound dresser Persuader Negotiator Judge of intent Conversationalist Flatterer Consoler Pacifier Leader Teacher
* an absolutely remarkable sense of others' emotions
* a great sense of empathy
* a very good sense of empathy
* an ability to read emotions fairly well
* poor empathy
* a very bad sense of empathy
* next to no empathy
* the utter inability to judge others' emotions
Social Awareness
Persuader Negotiator Judge of intent Organizer Liar Conversationalist Flatterer Consoler Pacifier Leader Teacher
* a shockingly profound feel for social relationships
* a great feel for social relationships
* a very good feel for social relationships
* a good feel for social relationships
* a meager ability with social relationships
* a poor ability to manage or understand social relationships
* a lack of understanding of social relationships
* an absolute inability to understand social relationships
PERSONALITY TRAITS
Dwarven personalities are determined by a set of traits. They are different than, but similar to Attributes.
Personality traits are shown in the dwarf's "thoughts and preferences" description page.
They can affect which social skills a dwarf trains during conversation.
Perhaps they affect positive/negative thoughts from social interactions (including "give food" and "give water" nursing tasks), and whether they choose to socialize. Perhaps also how quickly they get frustrated from not being able to do things.
ACHIEVEMENT_STRIVING
ACTIVITY_LEVEL
ADVENTUROUSNESS
ALTRUISM
ANGER
ANXIETY
ARTISTIC_INTEREST
ASSERTIVENESS
CAUTIOUSNESS
CHEERFULNESS
COOPERATION
DEPRESSION
DUTIFULNESS
EMOTIONALITY
EXCITEMENT_SEEKING
FRIENDLINESS
GREGARIOUSNESS
IMAGINATION
IMMODERATION
INTELLECTUAL_CURIOSITY
LIBERALISM
MODESTY
ORDERLINESS
SELF_CONSCIOUSNESS
SELF_DISCIPLINE
SELF_EFFICACY
STRAIGHTFORWARDNESS
SYMPATHY
TRUST
VULNERABILITY
Source for all of the above: Magma wiki.
Our debate starts with Mining. On core attributes, it should be highly dependant on strength, toughness and endurance while at the same time increasing them. However, it should decrease disease resistance from the amount of dust inhaled. Agility, would probably not be affected, unless there was a cave in the dwarf had to dodge. Recuperation, also need not be affected by mining.
A mixture of "a stunning lack of analytical ability" "no patience at all" and "no sense for spatial relationships" should have the ability to cause 1 tile cave in's over the dwarf if he's mining. While a high CAUTIOUSNESS should defend against that.