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[Neowulf]

Now that dwarves can come back as ghosts, the possessed strange mood could be changed around a bit to take advantage of that.

When a dwarf dies before creating an artifact, it has a chance of coming back as a restless spirit, whether their remains have been buried or not. A restless spirit will haunt around workshops tied to it's highest skill in life (causing a slight bad thought in dwarves who see it), and will eventually possess a dwarf who uses the workshop, triggering the possessed strange mood.
No restless spirits, no possessed strange moods. But these moods are not on a timer or anything, if you lose a dozen dwarves to a siege and they all decide to come back to finish their masterpiece, prepare for a dozen strange moods...

[IT 000]

Well my two cents is to limit it to one dwarf a year or so. This way you don't get a dozen artifacts because you tied a dozen dwarves outside to make it rain adamantine artifacts of one unfortunate and unforeseeable siege. Perhaps only legendary dwarves will come back. These two combination would make the player think twice about 'accidentally leaving the gate open' when the goblins are right over the hill.

[Neowulf]

You'd have to sacrifice a dozen dwarves that have weaponsmithing as their highest skill, all of them not having had their moods yet, for a chance of each of getting giving a possessed mood.
Frankly I'd just sit and wait for them to get their own moods, saves a coffin...

[IT 000]

Coffins are cheap, dwarves are plenty, artifacts are rare 

On one hand, waiting gives you a legendary dwarf, while slaughtering useless migrants who have nothing but novice carpenters and masons is a quick and easy way to get a cool door, and a chance to get rid of useless migrants.

We're in a game where you kill cats and nobles more then you kill cattle. Some people just atom-smash migrants once they reach a certain population for the sake of FPS. I read somewhere of one guy that sent five children against an orc for the heck of it. And back in the days when mermaids had a huge value multiplier there was an entire topic on how to kill them just for their bones http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=25967.0. This will just give them a reason to send dwarves outside when the first ambush arrives.

This is a good idea (not original if my memory still serves, but still a good idea) but you'd need to add some sort of incentive against slaughtering novice migrants like animals to get artifacts.

[612DwarfAvenue]

Didn't realize DF players needed incentives to slaughter novice migrants like animals.

[Pilsu]

I think the idea was that dwarves that fail to make an artifact after they have an idea are the ones that qualify for such haunting, not every last dwarf that never made one.

[Lord Zack]

This might happen occasionally, but most possessions should still be done by "unknown forces".

[Granite26]

I think the idea was that dwarves that fail to make an artifact after they have an idea are the ones that qualify for such haunting, not every last dwarf that never made one.

I like this, but if you failed to make it the first time because you don't have shells, won't you just fail again?

[Uristocrat]

I think the idea was that dwarves that fail to make an artifact after they have an idea are the ones that qualify for such haunting, not every last dwarf that never made one.

I like this, but if you failed to make it the first time because you don't have shells, won't you just fail again?

It just gives you an incentive to get some shells, I'd think

I posted the same suggestion when ghosts first went in, so as you might imagine, I support the idea.

[JohnLukeG]

I think possession as a mood type should basically be a punishment for letting a dwarf with a strange mood die.  It'd be some incentive to actually prevent that useless soap maker in the crafts workshop from going insane if the next strange mood would be a possession should you fail to protect him.

[Granite26]

But then, you're doubling up the punishment.

If you don't have something on your map, and no reliable way to get it, it's already a crap shoot whether any mood dwarf is going to bite it.  With a dwarf coming back, it's worse, because you can't even check for wonky preferences.  The next dwarf to mood is going to die.

[NW_Kohaku]

Yes, that sort of thing where the possessing dwarf is a repeat of the last artifact should be held back at least until you can guarantee that the game has some sanity checks on material requests or mandates so that we don't need to supply them with rose gold in a game where you have no access to gold metal thanks to 31.19's lack of materials.

Otherwise, if you get a mood that has something that is impossible for you to fullfil the demands, you'll either have to savescum to before that mood occured, or you will never get an artifact again as your dwarves are picked off one by one by the possessing ghost just because you can't supply them with whatever random crap they are asking for.

[zwei]

Why should materials be based on ghost preferences? Ghosts could have varied levels of influence:

1) Just trigger mood, let possessed dwarf determine skill, item type and materials.
2) Trigger  mood and determine used skill OR result item type.
3) Both item type and skill.
4) Item type, skill, base material based on prefs
5) Item type, skill, base material and decoration materials based on ghost prefs.

5 would be "mood redux" while 1 would be basically just ghost inspired mood.

[Granite26]

Otherwise, if you get a mood that has something that is impossible for you to fullfil the demands, you'll either have to savescum to before that mood occured, or you will never get an artifact again as your dwarves are picked off one by one by the possessing ghost just because you can't supply them with whatever random crap they are asking for.

Well, when you put it that way, it sounds perfectly dwarfy.

[Neowulf]

Otherwise, if you get a mood that has something that is impossible for you to fullfil the demands, you'll either have to savescum to before that mood occured, or you will never get an artifact again as your dwarves are picked off one by one by the possessing ghost just because you can't supply them with whatever random crap they are asking for.

Makes for a rather sinister ghost then, doesn't it?
Urist McGhosty: "My... work... MUST... BE... COMPLETED!"