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[Quarque]

I'm glad that you posted about this, because it is a recurring problem in many forts and one of the most interesting logistical challenges in Dwarf Fortress.

One day I want to build a fortress with a minecart / roller system to transport ores down and finished goods back up. I would love to make it as realistic as possible.. not going to just let the cart fall all the way down for example, although the game engine allows that. The smiths will permanently reside in the depths, with their own quarters / lunchroom..

edit: one more workable solution is to build normal forges instead of magma forges. Many maps have so much tree growth that coal isn't really a limiting factor, as long as you manage to protect your lumberjack from werewolves and cave adaptation.

And as another option, if you consistently order and buy Bitumous Coal and Lignite from the trade caravan every year, that also gives you a pretty nice supply of fuel.

[muldrake]

If there's combat on those stairs and one of your dwarves loses consciousness, he'll fall all the way to the bottom---unless you've installed lots of hatches. I did many forts with long staircases. Ramps are better if you find a good design.

I've somehow never had this happen from combat in the stairs themselves, but I recently had a dust explosion from an ill considered bit of channeling knock a dwarf into a stairwell that started from the top of the map all the way down to the semi-molten rock at the bottom of the magma sea.  There was blood all the way down and nothing larger than a finger left.

As for magma I really like surface volcanos.  I jack up the number of volcanos in world generation to increase the likelihood at least one possible embark will have something other than just a volcano to recommend it.

[PatrikLundell]

I personally don't think volcanoes are worth the risk of fire imps and magma crabs, but it's a matter of weighing your pros against your cons, of course.

[Quarque]

I personally don't think volcanoes are worth the risk of fire imps and magma crabs, but it's a matter of weighing your pros against your cons, of course.

As long as the map isn't especially challenging, you can build a roof over the top of the magma pipe with your seven dwarves before the crabs cause much trouble. I've done it before. It helps to split stones into blocks before using them (faster hauling & building), using a small supply stockpile with wheelcarts for the mason workshop. And you can save some more time by covering parts of the magma pipe with large bridges instead of all floor.

[muldrake]

I personally don't think volcanoes are worth the risk of fire imps and magma crabs, but it's a matter of weighing your pros against your cons, of course.

I've had this be a problem with only one volcano embark, other than the occasional issue where I'd carelessly left open a channel while building magma workshops.  It seems in most of them the crabs never climb out the top even though they should be able to, or at least don't climb out until they're easily dealt with.  In the one where it was an issue, they killed me nearly immediately upon embark.

[PatrikLundell]

I personally don't think volcanoes are worth the risk of fire imps and magma crabs, but it's a matter of weighing your pros against your cons, of course.

I've had this be a problem with only one volcano embark, other than the occasional issue where I'd carelessly left open a channel while building magma workshops.  It seems in most of them the crabs never climb out the top even though they should be able to, or at least don't climb out until they're easily dealt with.  In the one where it was an issue, they killed me nearly immediately upon embark.

I've had the issue several times, including the buggers setting the whole surface on fire. However, I've also had embarks where I didn't have any problems with sealing the top with a floor.

[Leonidas]

I've never had problems with magma crabs. Can't you just tap into the pipe with a (drawbridge, fortification, grate, fortification, grate) and be protected?

[PatrikLundell]

I've never had problems with magma crabs. Can't you just tap into the pipe with a (drawbridge, fortification, grate, fortification, grate) and be protected?

A volcano is open at the top...

There are ways to draw magma safely, or at least mostly so, but that assumes there isn't a huge hole at the top when you embark.

[Leonidas]

So the magma crabs can just crawl out the top like ordinary wildlife?

[PatrikLundell]

So the magma crabs can just crawl out the top like ordinary wildlife?

Yes. Haven't you seen any in caverns around magma pools? It's exactly the same logic.

[muldrake]

So the magma crabs can just crawl out the top like ordinary wildlife?

They can but do not always do so.  I'm not sure if this is purely random or if some ways volcanos are formed are more likely to have them climb out of it.  I think open calderas may be more likely to have this happen than mountains with z-layers of stone above the top layer of magma.  Magma crabs don't seem to have climbing skill from the raws.  I'm not sure if they can get it somehow.

They're little more than a nuisance later but they can be really dangerous to untrained un-armored dwarves.

[DerSchlund]

I embarked on a volcano once or twice and always had an eye on those crabs, but there didn't do anything for the longest time and at one point there weren't an issue anymore.

One question oot: Can I get the infos in FM from the embarking screen? Which biom I'm in, the wildernis, temperute and stuff like this?

[Quarque]

The reason I like to block off magma pipes is that I'm worried that something much more dangerous than a crab might eventually crawl out. I'm paranoid like that.

[PatrikLundell]

:
One question oot: Can I get the infos in FM from the embarking screen? Which biom I'm in, the wildernis, temperute and stuff like this?

You need third party tools (such as various DFHack scripts/plugins) for that unless you want to copy your save, abandon/retire, start again to look at the embark screen (note the info down this time), and quit from DF, reload your original save to continue (which is quite possible, just requiring a bit more work).

The reason I like to block off magma pipes is that I'm worried that something much more dangerous than a crab might eventually crawl out. I'm paranoid like that.

Fortresses that take "unlikely" events into consideration tends to fall much less frequently of "freak events"...

[DerSchlund]

You need third party tools (such as various DFHack scripts/plugins) for that unless you want to copy your save, abandon/retire, start again to look at the embark screen (note the info down this time), and quit from DF, reload your original save to continue (which is quite possible, just requiring a bit more work).

How do i find some of these? I know there is a DFHack documentation board but what exactly am I looking for?