Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Burnzy503]

So I've had my most successful fortress yet. I have around 200 dwarves and even a monarch! My military is pretty small but most of them are legendary in their skills so they wipe the floor with goblins. I'm just a tad irritated because a pretty large group of my dwarves didn't go inside when the civilian alert went up and a goblin ambush obliterated all of them...and thus begins a tantrum spiral. Now my dwarves are fighting and not drinking and dying of dehydration and causing more tantrums...how in the world do I quell tantrum spirals?! I hate them because they're ALWAYS how my fortress falls (and I want to die to something a bit more interesting!) any tips??

[UristTheGrey]

So I've had my most successful fortress yet. I have around 200 dwarves and even a monarch! My military is pretty small but most of them are legendary in their skills so they wipe the floor with goblins. I'm just a tad irritated because a pretty large group of my dwarves didn't go inside when the civilian alert went up and a goblin ambush obliterated all of them...and thus begins a tantrum spiral. Now my dwarves are fighting and not drinking and dying of dehydration and causing more tantrums...how in the world do I quell tantrum spirals?! I hate them because they're ALWAYS how my fortress falls (and I want to die to something a bit more interesting!) any tips??

Seeing as how alot of your dwarves have already been tainted by the tantrums, Id reccommend quaranting the happy dwarves and starting over with those. Theres always a dwarf or two that wont be affected by the unhappiness cloud

[thegoatgod_pan]

Causing a vertical flood gives everyone misted by the water a happy thought?

Seriously, though: don't abandon, burn out. Sooner or later you will be left with many many mad dwarves and a handful of sane ones: name those, they are your permanent fort residents who will never lose their mind (barring goblin accidents)

Try to save your queen, consider it your mission. Ignore all the horrible things happening around and focus on isolating the royal family and ensuring their safety, food, booze and distance from the riots. This should be good to focus on during the traumatic deaths of everyone else.

[Randy Gnoman]

This could be a good thing.  The dwarves that survive the tantrum spiral will get used to tragedy.  Identify the worst tantrummers and quarantine them, then start making coffins.  You're going to want a nice big crypt.  Once the tantrummers aren't punching people, things should calm down if you prevent miasma and haunting, and make sure you've got some things cheering up your dwarves.

You might also want to consider a scenario in which your whole military bites it:  how will you deal with sieges?  Can you cut off all outside access to your fortress?

[i2amroy]

Build a mist generator over a main hallway if at all possible. Happy thoughts from mist can outweigh almost all unhappy thoughts other then nakedness given enough time, and can really slow down/stop tantrum spirals for long enough for you to get them under control.

[Naryar]

You haven't been protecting your civilian dwarves right then.

Don't make meeting areas. It makes your dwarves friends, and more prone to tantrum spirals;

[Burnzy503]

I'm not too sure how to create a mist generator, also I've been trying to quarantine the queen off from the raging masses and trying to get some food and drink moved to her. (Luckily I also have her in a room with a plot nearby so if needed I can put a few sane dwarves with her to continue farming and get a little bit of food and drink (a still and kitchen has been built in the room also).

[Burnzy503]

Sorry for the double post...

But there's really nothing I can do...the queen is locked in trying to move stuff to the stockpiles and no matter how much I try and forbid stuff she won't listen...and no one will brew any more drinks so nothing is happening and they're all about to die of dehydration (even though my main stockpile is filled to the brim with food and drink...) I have no choice but to abandon nothing is going on or getting done...

[i2amroy]

If you wait a little while then after a bunch of them die of dehydration things may potentially calm down a little. That or things will get even worse for a time, then calm down. Either way it will calm down in the end, and assuming you've managed to get a few dwarves locked away in safety then you can keep the fortress going.

[burchalka]

May I also suggest reading this thread for inspiration http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=121509.0
The player faced several strong setbacks and won eventually, very inspiring.

[thegoatgod_pan]

I'd just lost your queen in with the main food stockpile, along with some sane dwarves. No better place, really unless it cant be made airtight.

[Sutremaine]

no one will brew any more drinks so nothing is happening and they're all about to die of dehydration (even though my main stockpile is filled to the brim with food and drink...) I have no choice but to abandon nothing is going on or getting done...

How many sane dwarves do you have? Those who are melancholy or running around babbling won't eat or drink, but the ones who are still sane should be heading off to the stockpiles. They are accessible, right?

If you had fewer dwarves I'd suggest going through the unit list and marking either the sane or insane, but with a three-figure population...

I've only dealt with one major tantrum spiral (it was in my first turn in a succession fortress and it took me nine days to start the spiral), and I think the whole thing took 5 months and 50% of the fortress.

1. Set up a mist generator where everyone will pass through it. Enable Mechanics on everyone -- that way if somebody goes insane while working on the generator, there'll be someone else to step in.
2. Build some nice statues and traps and other admirable things where everyone will see them.
3. Stop all hauling except for perishable food.
4. Stop all jobs except for mood enhancers and food and drink production. The last two may not be necessary, but try and make all your edible food prepared meals. Those are always more valuable than raw meat or plants.
5. Get a prison set up with as many chains and ropes as you can find, and place them in the middle of their own 3x3 area. That way, any dwarves who go berserk while in confinement won't be able to get to their neigbours so easily.
6. Get a hospital set up and enable healthcare on everyone, so that dwarves who get dinged during someone else's tantrum can be back to work quickly.

[Hyndis]

My nobles are very well protected by an elite group of battle hardened soldiers. My nobles also even participate on the battlefield in person, though only after getting the absolute best equipment and extensive training beforehand.

A dwarven king with 500 kills to his name and wearing equipment decorated with the bones and melted down weapons and armor of slain enemies, with every piece of his equipment having earned its own unique name, is quite badass indeed.

All of my other dwarves are expendable, though there is a hierarchy system. The elite dwarves are those with useful skills. Those are my thanes. They do not do any hauling, they just specialize in important skills. I have a farmer caste who feed the fortress. They're nothing special, just peasants drafted to go work in the fields. The vast majority of my fortress is peasants, and peasants are entirely expendable. They do all of the hauling and fighting.

The thanes can be replaced, but due to their skills they are very well protected and never leave the heart of the fortress, but they can be replaced.

My nobles are kitted out with full gear at all times, even when off duty. Even when sleeping, they're wearing all artifact grade armor. Its masterwork armor that has been promoted to being artifact through deeds.

[Liber celi]

The only tantrum spirals I survived with more than a handfull of dwarves are the ones I prepared for from day one.
Plan your fortress in a decentralized way which allows you to shut off sections. Give each dwarf a bedroom and dining rooms to the important ones, so they don't befriend haulers and recruits as easily. Build coffins, place them in all sections. Make little food stockpiles in all sections.  When the spiral hits, sort the dwarves by unhappiness and lock them in their specific section. Spread sane military dwarves over all sections. Disarm unhappy ones. Reassign bedrooms if necessary. Wall off when necessary. Use slabs if necessary. I still lost over 50% of my population that way.