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[UristMcDwarf]

Once my population rises above 20~, I find myself really overwhelmed. How do I get over this?

[utunnels]

How? I just ignore most of them.
Unless you want to read everyone's thoughts and preferences.

[NW_Kohaku]

Init.txt -> Pop cap of 20 or so.

Personally, I prefer a smaller fortress, too.  I LOATHE the newish migration waves where you get 70 dwarves on your second Spring, such that it overtly encourages you to kill your dwarves off. 

I like to set population limits that only creep up 3-4 per migration wave to help me get used to every dwarf.

And yes, I don't do anything with a dwarf until they are named.  I don't name them until I go over their personalities, and give them a name appropriate to their personalities.  Large migration waves take me days to complete. 

[Baffler]

I prefer a larger population, myself. Not a huge one, much more than 100 dwarves is pretty much a barely controlled vortex of lag, booze, and vomit as far as I'm concerned, but a healthy ~80 ->90 dwarves gives a decent workforce (and goblin attention) without becoming unmanageable.

[Witty]

Huh. I like it when my forts finally reach that 150 - 200 milestone. You've got plenty of bodies to get everything possible done - it's pretty nice. Lag is generally the biggest hinderance for this, of course, so I tend to cap it off at 140.

[StagnantSoul]

High numbers? Hell, I find one dwarf to be stressful.

[Thisfox]

It depends on what I'm doing: Lots of dwarves is great if I have a new plan to dig a super fort with a huge dining hall and tombs 200z's below ground level. Lots of dwarves is less great if I'm trying to work out a new way of piercing 10 aquifer levels.... Nothing worse than a huge migration wave when you haven't an underground z-level you can build beds on...

Generally I cap at ~50-60 dwarves for most of my forts, and I might well cap lower at first, then slowly scale up, but usually it's just 60 dwarves and yay that's done, now I'm off to dig an interim camp, while the carpenters get to work with wooden pipes and corkscrews...

[NW_Kohaku]

Well, I think Toady really screws the game up with migrant floods. 

He took the time to put all these detailed personalities into the dwarves, and nobody bothers to read or care about anyone but the Starting Seven.  The Starting Seven are the dwarves you're closest to, they're usually the best-trained, and most valuable and powerful. 

Dwarves that have been there nearly as long are nearly as important and powerful and the focus of a player's fondness.

The more time you have to get to know the ins and outs of a dwarf, the more you appreciate them.  Further, if you aren't expecting reinforcements, you're much more careful with ensuring your dwarves' survival. 

Because of this, I tend to set the pop cap to something low-ish, like 30 or 40, then let them grow by childbirth as much as possible, with the cap only rising 2-3 per year. 

[utunnels]

Problem is you don't get sieges with a too low population cap.

[NW_Kohaku]

Problem is you don't get sieges with a too low population cap.

Ambushes can be at least as entertaining, especially with low populations. 

Besides, it's basically just slow-walking the growth of the fort.  Sieges occur when you get up to that population (which is only 20, anyway, right?) and lower pops give you more time to train an elite core or else build more elaborate trap systems. 

[utunnels]

Without modding you need at least 80 dwarves. Though you can edit the raws to lower the limit to 20.

[Broseph Stalin]

I wouldn't call it stressful but I do enjoy smaller forts. It gives you a chance to get familiar with your dwarfs and for more of the little stories to come to the surface.

[Loud Whispers]

I love my massive Forts, means I get to have much more leeway with high-mortality projects. You get to know the survivors pretty well too.

[synyster31]

I don't mind large populations. But as has been said, I really dislike huge migrant waves that almost double an already decent population.

[Naryar]

I can hardly play over 80 dwarves as well. At one point there's just too much.