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[WCG]

This is my first fortress with vampires, so I'm wondering how this works. At the beginning of my second year, with only 15 adult dwarves, I got a big migrant wave which apparently contained three vampires (going by the fact that their names are different in Dwarf Therapist).

I'm trying to ignore the fact that I already know who these vampires are, and apparently how many they are, too. We've had our first fatality, one of my original dwarves found dead in his bedroom, completely drained of blood. Thinking it reasonable that my remaining dwarves might find that a bit scary, I'm removing all the doors to the bedrooms. (Dwarves apparently aren't smart enough to LOCK their doors before going to sleep.)

But my nobles sleep elsewhere, and there's not much traffic there. (My new mayor is, in fact, one of the vampires.) So I was thinking about putting a war dog in their bedrooms, either on a rope or just pastured there. My question is, will war dogs attack a vampire if he enters a room and tries to suck the blood from a sleeping victim? Would this actually work as, if not a deterrent, at least an effective alarm system?

I don't have nearly enough dogs to do that for everyone, not even if I used puppies. But it would seem to make sense for the nobility, wouldn't it? But would it really work as far as the game mechanics go?

Thanks

[GreatWyrmGold]

I dunno. Burrow a noble and a vampire into one room, pasture a few war dogs in the same rooms, and tell us what happens!

[Mr. Palau]

I dunno. Burrow a noble and a vampire into one room, pasture a few war dogs in the same rooms, and tell us what happens!

such a worthless thing as a noble is a fine sacrifice for this noble cause.

[Loud Whispers]

-snip-

Won't work

[WCG]

Won't work

No? What, war dogs won't recognize a vampire attack as an enemy action? So I don't suppose that giving a vampire a war dog as a pet will work, either. 

This is my first experience with vampires, so I don't actually know what happens if another dwarf sees them. But considering that I've already got three vampires in a very young fort, I don't suppose we'll last long. (They've sucked the blood out of two of my dwarves in just a couple of weeks.)

I don't have enough war dogs to try this yet, but I might when the puppies grow up. Provided we last that long. 

[Mr. Palau]

Don't you just need one war dog to stand there and watch your dwarf die? What are all your war dogs doing?

[WCG]

Don't you just need one war dog to stand there and watch your dwarf die? What are all your war dogs doing?

It's a young fort, so I don't have many war dogs. (I've got some puppies, though, so I might have some later.) I've also got limited defenses, so far, and I need to keep a couple of war dogs near my bridges.

But I'm also trying to play the game as if I didn't know who the vampires are - or even how many there are. I only know about them because of how Dwarf Therapist handles vampires. I'd prefer not to know that, but since I do, I'm trying to behave as if I didn't.

As I said, I removed the doors to the bedrooms, and I'm trying to get my tiny military to patrol the residential halls. But my nobles sleep elsewhere. There aren't many of them, so it would seem reasonable to station war dogs with them, once my puppies grow up. However, if that wouldn't work because of game mechanics, I'm not sure I want to do it just for role-playing. I'll have to see.

Thanks for the reply.

[NTJedi]

I'm pretty sure war dogs won't do anything

[Rex_Nex]

War Dogs should have an "attachment" variable that increases with the time it is attached to an owner, as well as increasing more quickly with actions (such as fighting together). It would be nice if at a certain attachment level, it would protect its owner from vampires, drowning, and other sorts of things.

Unfortunately thats not the case though, so I dont think it will do anything.

[Loud Whispers]

Don't you just need one war dog to stand there and watch your dwarf die? What are all your war dogs doing?

Dogs won't report the death ;/

[Biopass]

~snip because wrong thread~

[Biopass]

I did indeed post in the wrong thread, and was wondering why my post wasn't showing in the right thread.

Pah! And they said multi-tab browsing was superior...

[Jacob/Lee]

Actually, you can run a vampire-only fort when all the living dwarves get killed. Vampires are still technically citizens, so if all the dwarves get their blood sucked out then you have a race of superior dwarves living in your fortress.

[WCG]

Actually, you can run a vampire-only fort when all the living dwarves get killed. Vampires are still technically citizens, so if all the dwarves get their blood sucked out then you have a race of superior dwarves living in your fortress.

What do they feed on, if there's no one left? I mean, it might work, but it makes no sense. If I wanted, I could just kill the vampires immediately, since they're identified in Dwarf Therapist. But what's fun about Dwarf Fortress for me (that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the game your own way, of course) is the narrative. I create my own storyline as I play the game.

In this case, a vampire-only fort doesn't seem to make sense. What would be the point? I think I'd rather just cheat and get rid of the vampires, myself.

... Although, actually, I could get rid of the vampires without really "cheating." The vast majority of my migrants come with family members, and of the remainder, some are very young. When my dwarves begin to panic, I could very reasonably see them deciding to kill or restrain the four or five dwarves who are the most logical suspects.

I haven't had time to play lately, but that's probably what I'll do. If no one catches a vampire in the act, I'll probably just murder or lock up the few adult dwarves who don't have family with them. That would solve the problem, admittedly with some collateral damage. 

[NTJedi]

What do they feed on, if there's no one left? I mean, it might work, but it makes no sense.

I believe the game is following one of the legends where vampires can survive dozens of years without drinking... honestly I don't think the game currently has any penalty for them not drinking blood, but technically no drinking of blood should make them gradually weaker and weaker.  Vampires seem to last forever without food or drink which make them perfect as scouts walled up outside.  That's turning an obstacle into an advantage.