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[timmeh]

I haven't been playing much DF lately, and my computer is off being repaired right now, but I went ahead and downloaded it onto my dad's laptop to see if I can have a bit of Fun between programming sessions... it didn't take long.

I figured I'd start with the first Worldgen in the "Worldgen Cookbook" thread, to save the time of genning a bunch of worlds to find a spot I liked.  I ended up in a forested area with a few hills and some magma.  Now, I've used magma before, I've had fortresses built very near to it, but I've always walled it off in the past.  This time though I did a quick check on the creatures list after I started and didn't see any imps or anything, so I just started setting up.

The game was destined from the start to be Fun.  Not five minutes after I started, a miner was killed while digging out some ramps to clean up the edges near the fortress, so I could build a nice stone wall around the entrance... ramps.  No complex channels, not a strange room, a few ramps.  The idiot managed to dig out the only possible set of ramps in the only possible order that could create a cave in, and managed to do so while standing directly under the only floor tile that fell...

I figured I would be fine though, I brought two miners just in case (this happens to me reasonably often, perhaps I should pay more attention to my miners... nah, this is funnier).  I got a little irked, and had to move my temporary "stockpile-of-everything-in-the-wagon" a little further away, cause my cats were ignoring the fire-snakes and I didn't want any exploding beer (fire and death I'm okay with, but not the beer!).  After this I started work on a wall around the fortress (the other miner had finished cleaning up the ramps...) and got my workshops set up, no problem!

Yeah right.  A couple minutes later an imp climbed out of the magma pipe and attacked my mason.  He was fine, cause he had the two dogs I brought next to him, and they killed the imp, but this reminded me that imps can and usually do spawn a little bit after the game starts.  So I immediately stopped all other jobs for my mason and had him start on the wall around the pipe.  I wasn't fast enough.  While everyone was out in the woods gathering resources another imp climbed out, killed the mason (who was still working on the wall) and flung a single fireball off into the woods (I think he was aiming for one of my cats...).  I managed to get the farmer back inside, but everyone else was trapped between the fire and the river.  I now have one, very unhappy farmer, and I have no intention of quitting

I'd completely forgotten why Dwarf Fortress is so much Fun!  Mind you, this all happened before my first summer, so I'm challenging myself to keep the farmer alive until I can get some migrants.  I'm going to have him/her take a pick and dig a path under the river, get the food, drinks and seeds though, and then seal it off.  It's not as safe as the farmer would probably like though, I've noticed a large number of foxes around, and I was warned about cougars in the intro text... 

Anyone else have interesting fire-related stories?  We hear about horrible magma-flood accidents all the time, but now that I think about it, I've only heard of a few fire-accidents... maybe I'm just too far out of the loop

[EDIT]:  A couple screenshots.
The damage:

The fire actually hasn't quite gone out yet, and the other side of the river is just as green and lively as it was when I got here... I started on the wrong side of the river

[Canadark]

I can only think back to my first experiences with fire and having absolutely no idea what to do.

This story is pretty epic. Is the farmer depressed?

[timmeh]

Sad thing is, I knew what to do, I tried to recruit everyone and get them inside, but they weren't fast enough

Unfortunately, yes... he just jumped into the river... didn't even get to drown he got eaten alive so fast.

Reclaim time! 

[EDIT]:  It gave me 56 dwarves to reclaim with... I'm hoping the game is just being nice to me...

[Lord Dakoth]

Ha, I have a nice story about wildfires. Anyways, in one of my past forts, the elven caravans (for some reason not the human or dwarven ones) would always path past the open magma pipe. So, almost every Spring, the plain I was on would be ignited by burning Elves. It was alarming at first, but became quite funny. I began to look forward to the Spring, because there was always a good chance that I'd see Elven torches running past my fortress entrance.

It made for an amusing ritual; for a while, I seriously considered making a steel observation box for my nobles to watch the festivities.

[Quietust]

This time though I did a quick check on the creatures list after I started and didn't see any imps or anything, so I just started setting up.

...

A couple minutes later an imp climbed out of the magma pipe and attacked my mason.  He was fine, cause he had the two dogs I brought next to him, and they killed the imp, but this reminded me that imps can and usually do spawn a little bit after the game starts.

If you didn't see the fire imps in the Creatures list when you embarked, then you probably weren't looking closely enough - feature creatures (i.e. magma creatures, underground pool/river creatures, and chasm/bottomless pit creatures) are all present the instant you embark and, in version 40d at least, never respawn. The only creature that might be invisible would be a giant cave spider, as they start out in ambush mode.

[roger123275]

It gave me 56 dwarves to reclaim with... I'm hoping the game is just being nice to me...

Sig'd

[slink]

I had a fortress built into a mountain next to a large meadow.  In the far corner of the meadow was a magma pipe.  Every time the normal wildlife respawned, the imps would emerge and set the grass on fire.  I thought I would harness this to rid myself of some caged goblins.  I put the cages outdoors, and waited for the next grass fire.  It worked, as far as killing the goblins.  However, I had failed to consider the materials of the cages.  The ones built of metals, which had low melting points, melted.  I was treated with the sight of burning goblins fleeing puddles of molten metal.  That was the only time I was ever amused by imps setting the world on fire, though.  I eventually got tired of seeing immigrants and caravans burning up on various fortress sites, and I now won't play a map with the magma completely exposed that way.  I am okay with a broken caldera which I can possibly hope to patch before the imps rise, but not with one that is completely accessible on all sides.

On a side note, the first time I saw fire burning, which was when a dragon attacked one of my early fortresses, I was thrilled by the ASCII rendition.  It is quite realistic, at least when compared to uppercase and lowercase letters.   

[100killer9]

On a side note, the first time I saw fire burning, which was when a dragon attacked one of my early fortresses, I was thrilled by the ASCII rendition.

These shiny new ASCII graphics are ruining games. It should be about gameplay like tic-tac-toe is.

[silhouette]

We only need X's and O's and lines!
None of these fancy other letters or semi-colons!

[shadowsofwhite]

On a couple of fortresses I tried making, I never had a chance. As soon as I embarked, the fire man from the open magma pit (ironically, on both fortresses) promptly walked out onto the grass, and burned all of my residents and food and booze. The same thing happened on the re-embark for both of them. I had to embark elsewhere!

[SkyRender]

I thought for sure this was going to be a Dwarven carol.

Oh the biome outside is Frightening,
But inside it is enlightening,
As the engineers test the magma trap,
Let it burn!
Let it burn!
Let it burn!

The lava trap is flowing nicely,
And the Goblin siege is dicey,
But the Dwarves know how to end it fast,
Let it burn!
Let it burn!
Let it burn!

When the Elves finally come to trade,
They'll be met with firey delight,
As the Dwarves pour out liquid hate,
And prove their nation's might!

The lava is slowly hard'ning,
And the !!Elf Corpses!! make delightful gard'ning,
What a delightful hellhole we own,
Let it burn!
Let it burn!
Let it burn!

[Retro]

On a couple of fortresses I tried making, I never had a chance. As soon as I embarked, the fire man from the open magma pit (ironically, on both fortresses) promptly walked out onto the grass, and burned all of my residents and food and booze. The same thing happened on the re-embark for both of them. I had to embark elsewhere!

Fun fact: You embark in the cente of the last biome you were examining - if there's one farther from the magma pipe, you can just do that next time.

[quinnr]

And the water is sooo delightful...

Let it burn, let it burn, let it burn!

Anyway, I don't have any...yet!

[wagawaga]

Fun fact: You embark in the cente of the last biome you were examining - if there's one farther from the magma pipe, you can just do that next time.

Oh god thanks! This is much more than a fun fact; I always waste half a year hauling everything into my fort.

[shadowsofwhite]

On a couple of fortresses I tried making, I never had a chance. As soon as I embarked, the fire man from the open magma pit (ironically, on both fortresses) promptly walked out onto the grass, and burned all of my residents and food and booze. The same thing happened on the re-embark for both of them. I had to embark elsewhere!

Fun fact: You embark in the cente of the last biome you were examining - if there's one farther from the magma pipe, you can just do that next time.

Wow, this is much more than a fun fact! This is crucial for doing certain things appropriately for survial in certain locations!

Either way, though, it was that the fire man was out standing on the grass, which would then burn across the map and destroy everything.