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Author Topic: Can werebeasts be caged?  (Read 2387 times)

comicraider

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Can werebeasts be caged?
« on: May 21, 2017, 01:42:13 pm »

I have a wee bit of a problem, guys.

This world I generated seems to have werebeasts all over the shop, and the fortress I run has been wiped out by them each and every time I resettle. My last attempt managed to seal a load of them in the hospital before they turned, and when I resettled the fort one of them was still in there, unable to kill anyone but still a little worrying. My plan is to set up a load of cage traps and try to lock it up (I have no military yet and haven't found enough metal to make armor), will this work?
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Insert_Gnome_Here

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Re: Can werebeasts be caged?
« Reply #1 on: May 21, 2017, 02:42:35 pm »

I think werebeasts are immune to most traps, on the basis they're still citizens. On the other hand, you can always draft it and station the dwarf where you want them to go so long as it's not a full moon.
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Quote from: Max™ on December 06, 2015, 04:09:21 am
Also, if you ever figure out why poets/bards/dancers just randomly start butchering people/getting butchered, please don't fix it, I love never knowing when a dance party will turn into a slaughter.

PatrikLundell

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Re: Can werebeasts be caged?
« Reply #2 on: May 21, 2017, 02:52:11 pm »

It depends...

Weres are trap avoiders, so when turned into were form they won't be caught by walking over traps. However, once they revert back their powers returns to those of the creatures the are originally, so unless they're kobolds or gremlins, they can be caught in traps by walking over them (I typically catch weres by raising both the drawbridges on my entrance tunnel and lock a door at the inner end to have the wear trying to destroy it. This delays the were sufficiently to make it turn back, at which time I lower the outer drawbridge, so the were will flee, getting caught in the cage traps it passed on the way in).

But: The weres you're after are probably citizens, and citizens do not trigger traps.

However: Citizens can trigger pressure plates if they're set up to do so (the pressure plates, not the citizens), and stunned creatures that end up on cage traps can be caught by the traps (unless they're NOSTUN, which I suspect active weres are). Thus, you can have them cross a pressure plate that cause them to drop when crossing a retractable drawbridge, to fall onto cage traps. If they're citizens you can just order them to do work (such as pulling a lever set to only be usable by those citizens) to get them to go where you want them to go. Just make sure you've got ample time before the next full moon.
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comicraider

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Re: Can werebeasts be caged?
« Reply #3 on: May 21, 2017, 02:53:04 pm »

This one doesn't come up as a citizen (shows up in the same list as merchants and invaders etc), so despite being a dwarf would it be trappable when not transformed?
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PatrikLundell

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Re: Can werebeasts be caged?
« Reply #4 on: May 21, 2017, 03:07:23 pm »

No. Merchants and visitors completely fail to trigger both traps and pressure plates.
The easiest way to handle the were is probably to keep it locked up or digging down from above and pouring down magma (through a magma safe grate, to keep the were from climbing out and setting everything on fire).

More complicated setups involve doors and fluids to act on pressure plates as the were opens the door. It ought to be possible to use the were's building destroyer tendencies to trap it in a rather complicated setup:
- Build a door the were can go to when you remove the wall to its cell. This door should have a drawbridge that extends to tiles in front of it, so the were has to stand on the bridge when destroying the door. Lock the door as the dorf that removes the cell wall pass through it, so the were can't follow.
- Below the drawbridge you make a two tile room with another drawbridge as its floor, and below that yet another room with two cage traps. Smooth the walls on both the upper and lower room with drawbridge floors to avoid climbing.
- When the were starts to destroy the bait door, pull the lever to drop it down into the room below.
- Wait until the were reverts back to its base form.
- Pull the lever to drop it onto the cage traps. It should be stunned and caught.
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comicraider

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Re: Can werebeasts be caged?
« Reply #5 on: May 21, 2017, 03:29:08 pm »

Not even if they're hostile?  :'( Looks like I'd better build another hospital, he's gonna be there a while. I'm still on my original seven dwarves and for some reason have yet to get a migrant wave or liaison visit so I'm gonna be shorthanded for a while
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Insert_Gnome_Here

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Re: Can werebeasts be caged?
« Reply #6 on: May 21, 2017, 05:27:39 pm »

Oh. is it the original werebeast instead of a dwarf that got bitten? In that case, they'll run away whenever they're not transformed.   
They can be caged.  Your best bet is probably to cage them, then set up a way to release them outside in case of a siege or something.
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Quote from: Max™ on December 06, 2015, 04:09:21 am
Also, if you ever figure out why poets/bards/dancers just randomly start butchering people/getting butchered, please don't fix it, I love never knowing when a dance party will turn into a slaughter.

comicraider

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Re: Can werebeasts be caged?
« Reply #7 on: May 21, 2017, 05:51:24 pm »

I have no idea if it's the original. I sealed a few in when I was running the fortress previously and after abandoning and reclaiming it this guy was still alive.
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comicraider

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Re: Can werebeasts be caged?
« Reply #8 on: May 21, 2017, 11:10:15 pm »

Update: I got bored and let it out, the trap got him. Just contemplating wether or not to seal him inside a wall, put him in an arena or just use it as an elaborate method of executing nobles.
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anewaname

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Re: Can werebeasts be caged?
« Reply #9 on: May 22, 2017, 01:14:16 am »

Update: I got bored and let it out, the trap got him. Just contemplating wether or not to seal him inside a wall, put him in an arena or just use it as an elaborate method of executing nobles.
All of the above!!
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Dunamisdeos

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Re: Can werebeasts be caged?
« Reply #10 on: May 22, 2017, 02:19:16 pm »

Put him in a zoo.
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Snafu

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Re: Can werebeasts be caged?
« Reply #11 on: May 22, 2017, 06:45:51 pm »

All non-embark dwarves in a reclaimed were-infested site are likely to be weres. They'll run away unless transformed,  but may well come back & apply for citizenship if you have a suitable tavern built - keep an eye on those names!

Full moon times are predictable: see the Wiki page for details

Citizen weres, like vamps, can have occasional uses as lever-pullers, brokers or similar as they don't require food/drink & auto-heal every full moon. If you don't want to atomsmash or arena them simply wall them into a suitable area using burrows or similar (you may want to set up an atomsmasher failsafe just in case)

Someone recently spotted a were dying of thirst while confined, but that's not been my experience with 43.05
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