* one of the female starting dwarfs is "me" getting mayor and bookkeeper and miner and engraver and woodcutter and hunter and ... ... ... and superdwarfenly awesome multiple legandary :> if she dies, i abbdon the fortress
if some other dwarfs get the mayor title, he dies in an accident like drawbridge crushing or falling some z levels
* every fortress needs a sewer system (floorgrates on the hallways and stuff), despite it looks good, its dwarfenly architecture and prevents fortress flooding by accident
* no magma useage without the magmaduct(tm), even if i just pump it on surface, and let it fall below again, magmaducts are dwarfenly!
* wild strawberry farms, just because i like them
* no trap hallways, only less markman or any other way of an easy defence: a real dwarf dont run from the danger, he force it away with the axe!
* only use one color stone (light or dark gray normaly), other will get digged out and replaced with a wall, except floors and rooms with engraving (royals)
* if a dwarf dies, he dies, no save scums
* only male cats are allowed outside the cages to hunt vermin, its not chauvinism, its breeding control
* i am to lazy for micromanaging some masterfully crafted items, so i just use it as the worshops spit them out. most legendary smiths get hammered anyway
* the fortress entrance cant be sealed of and leads in a 3-7 wide hallway into the heart of the fortress with the trade depot, it guarded with some chained animals. i prefer grizzlys if i can get them
* the dining room get waterfall, springwell and wells. lots of dwarfen mechanic, and a use for the sewer system
* a beautiful city is of higher priority than a efficent one, so i never build something just because its efficent like irregular fractal bedrooms, the living quarters are jut plain 2x2-4x4 rooms one next to another
* every dwarf get a chest and a bed, even military
example of a fortress of mine:
http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-4162-axeauraofangels