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[orbcontrolled]

A trance also apparently allows blind dwarves to see., so yeah, jedi.

[EvilFuzzy9]

It's where the dorf's brain switches from analytical thinking to experiential thinking - not going berserk, but going into the zone. Like using the sharingan, except not nearly as cheap.

[Girlinhat]

I wanna add trances to goblins.  That should make my training gladiator pits a lot more fun!

[malimbar04]

Just have to say this because I'm weird like that... drunken styles of fighting are not actually performed drunk. They just mimic the actions of a drunk person.

I'm sure everyone knew that already. I had to say it anyway. I apologize.

However, Jackie Chan got better at it when he was drunk. I think that was one of the main themes of the movie actually .

Though, to be fair, he got hurt a lot as well.

[Girlinhat]

Also, to be fair, it's Jackie Chan.

[Durin Stronginthearm]

Marital trance? It's what male dwarves go into to let them concentrate on something more interesting when their wife is talking to them without getting brained by an **iron frying pan**. Recognisable by glazed expression, repetition of phrases like "yes dear" and "that's nice" and ability to recite the last 10 seconds of what she said without actually paying any attention.

[Akura]

Just have to say this because I'm weird like that... drunken styles of fighting are not actually performed drunk. They just mimic the actions of a drunk person.

I'm sure everyone knew that already. I had to say it anyway. I apologize.

However, Jackie Chan got better at it when he was drunk. I think that was one of the main themes of the movie actually .

Though, to be fair, he got hurt a lot as well.

Spoiler: Unfortunately he also (click to show/hide)

...got severe brain damage at the end, from drinking what appeared to be industrial moonshine(at least, his character did). They cut that out of the American version, though.

[thegoatgod_pan]

So if I got this correctly; concensus on triggering trances seems to be an encounter with multiple enemies--as such couldn't one set up a militia staging area with a kind of reverse-puppy bomb--say dumping 50 untamed mole rats into a single tile, a few windows away from the militia?  X5 combat multiplier is pretty damn good, and I like the idea of a dwarven *2-minutes of hate chamber* a la "1984".

[NW_Kohaku]

I often get martial trances from unarmed commoners who are getting swarmed by something that isn't large enough to kill them in one hit, especially just playing around in arena mode.  They tend to trigger most when the dwarf is already on his/her knees, and bleeding out, and the jackels are moving in for the kill.  Oftentimes they trigger just a couple turns before they pass out from pain or something, making it pretty much pointless.

Basically, they can be pretty useless to a dwarf that wasn't already well-armored and capable of fighting multiple enemies at once.  It's only when it triggers on a dwarf that already stood a good chance of surviving a dogpile that it turns them into bearded blenders set to "frappe". 

It's because of this that I don't pay too much attention to martial trances - they generally only happen when the battle has already been decided, anyway, and it's generally easier to rely upon less random means of removing enemies from your doorstep, like magma.

[Corwyn]

In a mod I've made, I've given dogs the [trances] tag, and lions the trainable/domestic/[VERMINHUNTER] tags... 

The two guard dogs at the front trip into trance at every ambush since one of the dogs will wander off to the meeting area for a drink at the well I suppose, leaving one behind.
The lions suddenly act like cats do after adding verminhunter.
This includes roaming the map looking for critters (understood and intended) adopting dwarves (odd and useful when they adopt the woodcutter or miner or legendary armorsmith) and screwing up ambushes (as this flag stays with trained warlions too).

Ubercat has arrived.  Leave all normal cats at the edge of the zone please.

[assimilateur]

Given that trancing gives huge combat bonuses (in 40d, from this thread, it removes basically all negative statuses and multiplies all skills by 5 [emphasis added]), that's often enough to even the odds.

That sounds like units (fire teams?) of 2 to 4 should actually be more effective at getting rid of ambushes and sieges than full squads, provided you can supply them with full suits of high-quality steel armor.

[Girlinhat]

Assuming they actually trance, perhaps.  If they fail to trance, then, they're pretty much guaranteed to be dead.  However, even one super-legendary soldier can probably take out an ambush or small siege if they trance.  Assuming Legendary+5 in all related combat skills, as well as max agility, toughness, etc (but mostly agility) you've got one fairly unstoppable warrior.

I'm also debating how to artificially induce trancing, for situations such as Hydra attacks.  Current idea is to essentially trigger a cageful of random wild critters on top of the soldier(s) on their way to the battle, so that they'll fight the various crundles and crap, trance, and then fight the megabeast immediately following.  Actually getting them to be lined up that quickly may require the use of a Stupid Dwarven Trick.

[thegoatgod_pan]

Would they really need to engage the trance-inducing wildlife though? Couldn't the wildlife appear behind glass? I'm going to try with chimpanzees and report. It might take a few days.

[Girlinhat]

I think they only attempt to fight if they can path it, though I have zero evidence for this.  Although if you're right, you could have a corridor of pitted goblins that would scare civilians back inside, and induce trancing for the military who runs through.  Somehow though, I'm thinking that trancing only happens while in, or very close to, actual combat.