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Author Topic: Goblin Thief a friend of nature?  (Read 1410 times)

Urist McMontros

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Goblin Thief a friend of nature?
« on: December 30, 2012, 03:33:55 pm »

I made a thread a few days ago about what to do with the Trolls I captured in cage traps. I decided that I would make a pit to throw my prisoner goblins and kobolds in, as a sort of hellish arena.

Turns out that Goblin thieves are buddy-buddy with wild animals, and won't attack them (or vice-versa). That means my pit of 26 Troglodytes, a Troll, a Blind Cave Ogre, a Reacher, and a Voracious Cave Crawler have gone to waste.

Is this a bug, or is it intentional? I was honestly looking forward to a bloodbath for Armok, and I'm disappointed.
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Jacob/Lee

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Re: Goblin Thief a friend of nature?
« Reply #1 on: December 30, 2012, 03:44:44 pm »

I can't say I've ever tried to actually use goblin thieves. I just station my soldiers in the animal stockpile and cut them down when they escape the grasp of the dwarf trying to pull them somewhere. Catch some goblin soldiers and try them instead; for bonus points, strip them first.

WealthyRadish

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Re: Goblin Thief a friend of nature?
« Reply #2 on: December 30, 2012, 04:27:11 pm »

Yup, it seems that most (all?) released hostiles end up buddies. Gobbos won't attack human guards that get caged, captured wild animals, captured elves, etc. Zombies might be an exception, but I haven't tested it.

It's a bit of a bummer if you're looking to have some gladiatorial fun.
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Urist McMontros

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Re: Goblin Thief a friend of nature?
« Reply #3 on: December 30, 2012, 04:32:26 pm »

Yup, it seems that most (all?) released hostiles end up buddies. Gobbos won't attack human guards that get caged, captured wild animals, captured elves, etc. Zombies might be an exception, but I haven't tested it.

It's a bit of a bummer if you're looking to have some gladiatorial fun.

Well that's a joy-killer. I really wanted some blood.

I guess I'll just flood the whole pit and drown the bastards. I'll test the soldiers and some tame animals first though, to see if there's a difference.
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WealthyRadish

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Re: Goblin Thief a friend of nature?
« Reply #4 on: December 30, 2012, 04:33:11 pm »

Dumping tons of nanny goats in can still be pretty satisfying.
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Skid

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Re: Goblin Thief a friend of nature?
« Reply #5 on: December 30, 2012, 04:59:36 pm »

Prisoners generally lose all their aggressive behavior and revert to just trying to constantly flee the map. 
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thegoatgod_pan

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Re: Goblin Thief a friend of nature?
« Reply #6 on: December 30, 2012, 05:14:35 pm »

it isn't the goblin or the pit i have certainly disposed of goblins in such pits before. Maybe the animals are the problem?  Wild animals are almost never hostile to outsiders (or every kea flying over your fort would detect goblin ambushes and engage them). tame the animals first and they will slaughter the thieves
« Last Edit: December 30, 2012, 05:16:16 pm by thegoatgod_pan »
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Urist McRas

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Re: Goblin Thief a friend of nature?
« Reply #7 on: December 30, 2012, 05:37:47 pm »

That means my pit of 26 Troglodytes, a Troll, a Blind Cave Ogre, a Reacher, and a Voracious Cave Crawler have gone to waste.

Use it for training marksdwarfs. There will be plenty of blood.
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Tirion

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Re: Goblin Thief a friend of nature?
« Reply #8 on: December 30, 2012, 06:01:31 pm »

it isn't the goblin or the pit i have certainly disposed of goblins in such pits before. Maybe the animals are the problem?  Wild animals are almost never hostile to outsiders (or every kea flying over your fort would detect goblin ambushes and engage them). tame the animals first and they will slaughter the thieves

This. Wild animals are only attacked by people with [OPPOSED_TO_LIFE] token, which in vanilla games means only undead and husks. Titans, megabeasts and invaders ignore them.

Now, if you pit a titan, megabeast or forgotten beast in with the goblins, that'll do the trick.

Or just tame the animals, but be aware that only war-trained animals, and ones with [LIKES_FIGHTING] token will attack the thieves, the rest will flee unless cornered. The same is mostly true for caged and released invaders, so it won't be much of a fight. And even war animals fare poorly against large daggers, let alone armed and armored goblin soldiers.
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Re: Goblin Thief a friend of nature?
« Reply #9 on: December 31, 2012, 03:36:21 pm »

You sure these just aren't [BENIGN] creatures?

krenshala

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Re: Goblin Thief a friend of nature?
« Reply #10 on: December 31, 2012, 04:33:33 pm »

You throw enough stuff in and they will start to fight eventually.  Once it get crowded enough.

Much simpler, and more useful, to use them for target practice.
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SharkForce

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Re: Goblin Thief a friend of nature?
« Reply #11 on: January 01, 2013, 11:42:04 pm »

You throw enough stuff in and they will start to fight eventually.  Once it get crowded enough.

Much simpler, and more useful, to use them for target practice.

yup. clearly the problem is that you need more stuff. bomb them with 49 female turkeys worth of poults all hatching at the same time or something :)
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Nirreln

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Re: Goblin Thief a friend of nature?
« Reply #12 on: January 02, 2013, 01:18:24 am »

This reminds me of an old dwarven saying, "When in doubt add magma."
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