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[Xen0n]

A question about kobolds:

Are they a myth?

In all of my games of Dwarf Fortress through several versions, for over a year, I have never, ever, seen a kobold.  Back in 31.25 I did the [NOEAT] [NODRINK] mod to supposedly prevent them from starving in worldgen.  Recently I stopped doing that because I heard it was no longer necessary.  At any rate, I have never seen a Kobold civilization listed alongside the Human, Elf, and Goblin civilizations when choosing an embark site, and never seen one in my fort. 

Am I missing something?  How do I get kobolds to exist in my world?

[Tirion]

A question about kobolds:

Are they a myth?

In all of my games of Dwarf Fortress through several versions, for over a year, I have never, ever, seen a kobold.  Back in 31.25 I did the [NOEAT] [NODRINK] mod to supposedly prevent them from starving in worldgen.  Recently I stopped doing that because I heard it was no longer necessary.  At any rate, I have never seen a Kobold civilization listed alongside the Human, Elf, and Goblin civilizations when choosing an embark site, and never seen one in my fort. 

Am I missing something?  How do I get kobolds to exist in my world?

You will only see them in the civilizations screen, they aren't visible on the embark screen. If you leave the stuff of dead guys outside and turtle up in your fort, you'll probably miss them as they stealthily steal stuff from outside... and after a few years send ambush squads if the catch is good.

[Garath]

I just had 3 kobolds trying to sneak in in the middle of a goblin siege massacre. They exist

[Xen0n]

I just had 3 kobolds trying to sneak in in the middle of a goblin siege massacre. They exist

I want to believe.

Heh, but ok, it sounds like the consensus with Tirion is that they are just ninjas.  So I should be able to check whether I have any once I've embarked by going to the civ screen, though?  I don't often look there; I may have been missing them.  Plus not much stays outdoors past the first winter.

[Garath]

kobolds stay stealth untill they can sneak in trying to steal something and even then you only know they are there when they are spotted. You'll get a message "a thief! Protect the hoard!" and the kobold will run.

[Dorfimedes]

Hey all. I haven't played since 40d and I had a question: Military dwarves used to get a personality trait in their bio that said something to the effects of "is used to seeing death," and I never completely figured out what it did. I suppose it reduced unhappy thoughts from friends dying, but can anyone confirm this? Does it still exist in DF2012?

I just had 3 kobolds trying to sneak in in the middle of a goblin siege massacre. They exist

I want to believe.

Heh, but ok, it sounds like the consensus with Tirion is that they are just ninjas.  So I should be able to check whether I have any once I've embarked by going to the civ screen, though?  I don't often look there; I may have been missing them.  Plus not much stays outdoors past the first winter.

Watch animals, man. Just tie any old animal that has eyesight to a built restraint in the countryside and if you'll get a message if a kobold stumbles near it. Grazers might starve without enough grass so creatures like dogs tend to work best. Cages should work too and might be less laggy.

If you're hoping to capture them, keep in mind that they'll flee as soon as they're spotted, so it would be better to spam cage traps. I don't think you get a message when they're captured, so you should check your traps every now and then.

[Xen0n]

Hey all. I haven't played since 40d and I had a question: Military dwarves used to get a personality trait in their bio that said something to the effects of "is used to seeing death," and I never completely figured out what it did. I suppose it reduced unhappy thoughts from friends dying, but can anyone confirm this? Does it still exist in DF2012?

I just had 3 kobolds trying to sneak in in the middle of a goblin siege massacre. They exist

I want to believe.

Heh, but ok, it sounds like the consensus with Tirion is that they are just ninjas.  So I should be able to check whether I have any once I've embarked by going to the civ screen, though?  I don't often look there; I may have been missing them.  Plus not much stays outdoors past the first winter.

Watch animals, man. Just tie any old animal that has eyesight to a built restraint in the countryside and if you'll get a message if a kobold stumbles near it. Grazers might starve without enough grass so creatures like dogs tend to work best. Cages should work too and might be less laggy.

If you're hoping to capture them, keep in mind that they'll flee as soon as they're spotted, so it would be better to spam cage traps. I don't think you get a message when they're captured, so you should check your traps every now and then.

I believe that 'death thought' thing is now called "doesn't care about anything anymore", as the maximum state of their 'combat hardness.'  I think just the more your expose them to death, eventually the less upset they get by it.  Some people recommend regularly dropping goblins/puppies splattering onto your dining room to desensitize your dwarfs, so they won't get upset and tantrum when they see deaths in battle.

Thanks for the Kobold-hunting tips!

Now I have to ask:  Where is the source for your positively marvelous avatar?

[Dorfimedes]

Where is the source for your positively marvelous avatar?

I really wish I knew, it was posted in a gif thread on /v/. Thanks for the wiki link, that was exactly what I was looking for.

[ab9rf]

Kobolds are TRAPAVOID so you won't cage them unless you knock them out first.

Two war dogs will beat a kobold more often than not.  I usually pasture at least three war dogs near every surface entrance (and I usually only have surface entrance that is normally open) so any kobold trying to sneak in has to deal with the poochies.  The dogs will either kill it or chase it off.  Once in a while the thief will disable or kill one of the dogs, but they breed quickly, and the others will still chase it off before it steals anything.

[+!!scientist!!+]

random question:

what does it mean when I have an item that looks like {item}. It isn't parentheses like when the item is imported.

[revo]

What weapons should i use to kill and ice forgotten beast with poison vapors?

also, both elf and human merchants have died at my fort by goblin ambushes. will they come to siege me now?

Lastly i generally suffer 3-4 casualties during these ambushes...is this normal?

[Telgin]

3-4 casualties for an ambush is a bit high, but if they're fresh recruits it might be more reasonable.  Killing or having merchants be killed has a pretty small effect on the chances of war.  Diplomats are what you need to worry about.  Merchant deaths seem to mostly impact the size of the caravan next year.

I'm not too sure about the ice forgotten beast, but since it has deadly vapors my first instinct is to say that you shouldn't get into melee with it if at all possible.  I'm not 100% sure, but ice should be a weapon material so even poor quality bolts should do damage.  Whether or not you could shoot it enough to stop it with that alone I can't say.

If you have to get into melee with it, axes are probably your best bet.  Anything metal should be able to defeat the material properties of ice.

[Daenyth]

random question:

what does it mean when I have an item that looks like {item}. It isn't parentheses like when the item is imported.

It's forbidden.


---

Will the clowns melt copper spikes in an upright spike trap?

[greycat]

I noticed that out of stacks of bones and teeth, there is sometimes one left in the craftdwarves workshop, cluttering it up and not being used. What is that, a new bug?

Alas, not a new one.  Bug #5816.

[+!!scientist!!+]

random question:

what does it mean when I have an item that looks like {item}. It isn't parentheses like when the item is imported.

It's forbidden.

But then why was my militia dwarf still using it? (it was an *oaken shield*) That and I have never forbidden anything.