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[randyshipp]

OK, a few questions as my fort rumbles along:

1) I had the idea (perhaps hare-brained) that I could provide safer fishing for my fisherdwarves if I simply tunneled from inside the mountain to the waters edge, forming a little private lagoon which I hoped river fish would swim into.  First off, will this work?  I'm talking about breaching the riverbank on the same level as the water itself, i.e. when I {k} at the blue tiles on this level, it says "river 7/7" or something like that.  Second, can I install some sort of bars or grate that would allow the little fishies through, but not ickier things like (non-fish) predatory animals or goblins?  I know I'm making a safer (and shorter) walk back and forth to the riverbank for my fisherdwarves, but I also know I'm making another opening in the mountain and would prefer not to have excess !!fun!! leak into my fort without my permission. ;-)
1b) Oh, and I'm stressing a little trying to plan the actual opening of the riverbank.  How can I ensure that my miner, whom I've grown fond of, doesn't drown while still making it possible to install my grate/bars, dig the opening, etc.

2) I caught something in a trap, finally.  A goblin snatcher made it past one row of stone drop traps but got snagged in a cage trap right behind that.  I have no idea what to do with it.  Can I just leave him in there to starve, or must I deal with him lest he escape and make trouble?

Thanks!

[They Got Leader]

1) and 1b) Channels. If you are using [k] and it says 7/7 water, you are on the level which it will flood, meaning that the dwarf will drown. Probably.

2) You can leave him in the cage and strip him of everything he owns. You can place the cage somewhere and he will sit in it until he dies of old age. Plus side is that your dwarves won't get scared of seeing him because he is in a cage. However, once you have a pretty good military started, you can release him and have your dwarves spar on him.

[randyshipp]

1) and 1b) Channels. If you are using [k] and it says 7/7 water, you are on the level which it will flood, meaning that the dwarf will drown. Probably.

I just want to be sure I understand...you're saying I should go up one level and then Channel {d}{h} down and through the riverbank?  I guess each time he channels a square, he'll be able to climb out the ramp he just created?  OK.  What about my security concerns?  Ideally, I'd like a place for my fisherdwarves to stand and cast their nets where non-fish hazards won't affect them.  I have a couple of guys who are decent fisherdwarves but they also have very high levels in some other skills, and I'd hate for one of them to bite the dust to some wandering grue.  I can picture carving out a cave around the lagoon and just having normal doors and fortifications to seal off the tunnel, but that wouldn't protect the fishermen where they stand.

On a related note, what IS the best way to seal a place off.  Are Fortifications porous?  Can stuff get in through the slits?  Can dwarves pass through, or must you also have doors?  Sorry for being such a noob...

[They Got Leader]

The best bet I can say, is that you dig out your pond and the connection tunnel. Then built a series of fortifications because water can flow through fortifications, but creatures can't unless they are pushed. Then! Once this tunnel is complete, go up to the riverbank and channel the edge that will allow water to flow into your tunnel.

[GamerKnight]

I remember these probs. I didn't learn until late that you don't embark without a river. Well, I'd strip the goblin, and release him outside the fortress. Or place him in the lagoon just before you open it up to water, connect a lever to it and pull the lever when the water floods in. There will be drowning. But keep your military dwarves nearby just in case.

[randyshipp]

I need to look up how levers work.

As for sealing off with fortifications, would that prevent fish from getting it to be caught?  That would defeat the purpose.

[randyshipp]

Oh, one other question about the captured gobbo.  Is it possible to just sell him to a passing caravan? ;-)

[thegoatgod_pan]

First, goblins do not die of old age, it is one of the major signs of common ancestry between goblins and elves

Second d-b-d, d-b-c a constructed cage with a goblin to strip it of its gear (make sure to t the cage and cancel the dump order so you don't lose it too).  Then wire a lever to it, or if it is anything but a thief, pit it somewhere where your military can practice on it, war animals can eat it etc. 

Don't try to sell it though, in my experience it just breaks loose and kills people.

[Triaxx2]

Floodgate. Channel out to just behind the river. Be sure not to give it a diagonal to flow through. Now, drop in a floodgate just behind it. And you can then channel out the river tile, and open the gate later. I leave it in place and use it to keep out river creatures, like Alligators.

[Sphalerite]

As for sealing off with fortifications, would that prevent fish from getting it to be caught?  That would defeat the purpose.

The fish which your fisherdwarf is trying to catch teleport around between water sources, so fortifications won't stop them.  Unfortunately fortifications won't stop anything else, either.  Due to a bug in DF, fortifications which are submerged in water (or magma) offer no resistance whatsoever to creatures passing through them, so fortifications in your water channel won't stop creatures from getting in.

Furthermore, your plan to make a private fishing ground by channeling water from the river probably won't work.  When a dwarf fishes, what kind of fish he catches and whether he catches any at all is determined by where he is fishing.  If he is safely inside a mountain, the game will look at the mountain biome fish population to see if he catches anything.  Result will be zero fish, even though he's fishing from a body of water connected to the river.  To catch river fish, he needs to be fishing from the actual river, not a body of water channeled from the river.

[AdeleneDawner]

Furthermore, your plan to make a private fishing ground by channeling water from the river probably won't work.  When a dwarf fishes, what kind of fish he catches and whether he catches any at all is determined by where he is fishing.  If he is safely inside a mountain, the game will look at the mountain biome fish population to see if he catches anything.  Result will be zero fish, even though he's fishing from a body of water connected to the river.  To catch river fish, he needs to be fishing from the actual river, not a body of water channeled from the river.

Well... not exactly. The biome that the river's in covers more tiles than just the river, and also covers all the tiles above and below it. The OP could, with some care, make an underground lake that's a few z-levels below the river, but near it or under it from an x/y standpoint, and that should work fine, just so long as it's not so far down as to be in the cavern's biome.

[psychologicalshock]

If you want to fish safely fish in a cave, there's practically no monsters that will ambush in a cave so you'll see threats coming especially if you wall off a few entrances (cheap I know but I don't wall off every entrance and flying monsters can still get in so I think it's fair).

[randyshipp]

I know I'm being terribly dense and I apologize...I'm starting to take after these stunties!

Here's a quick look at my river and the two levels above it:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

As you can see, the river itself is down inside a sheer-faced canyon, which seems ideal for my idea...only things coming in from the river would have access to the fishing area.  I've halted all excavation until I can be sure I don't screw anything up!

Furthermore, your plan to make a private fishing ground by channeling water from the river probably won't work.  When a dwarf fishes, what kind of fish he catches and whether he catches any at all is determined by where he is fishing.  If he is safely inside a mountain, the game will look at the mountain biome fish population to see if he catches anything.  Result will be zero fish, even though he's fishing from a body of water connected to the river.  To catch river fish, he needs to be fishing from the actual river, not a body of water channeled from the river.

Well... not exactly. The biome that the river's in covers more tiles than just the river, and also covers all the tiles above and below it. The OP could, with some care, make an underground lake that's a few z-levels below the river, but near it or under it from an x/y standpoint, and that should work fine, just so long as it's not so far down as to be in the cavern's biome.

Do you think it extends even four or five tiles from the riverbank to allow for my little lagoon?  Is there an in-game way to check the biome of a tile?

First, goblins do not die of old age, it is one of the major signs of common ancestry between goblins and elves

Second d-b-d, d-b-c a constructed cage with a goblin to strip it of its gear (make sure to t the cage and cancel the dump order so you don't lose it too).  Then wire a lever to it, or if it is anything but a thief, pit it somewhere where your military can practice on it, war animals can eat it etc. 

Don't try to sell it though, in my experience it just breaks loose and kills people.

Yeah, I tried taking him to the trade depot.  My screen went crazy with announcements of people abandoning their tasks because, "Oh shit, a goblin!" ;-)  The next thing I know -- within seconds -- there's blood everywhere...like in six or seven tiles!  And somehow, a dead gobbo.  I never saw any announcements about my guys fighting him...is it possible the merchant or his animals killed the sorry sucker?

Anyway, I have to read up on how levers and such work.

[Ubiq]

One way to prevent your miner from drowning is to put a door two spaces away from the end of the tunnel. When you carve out the wall seperating the tunnel from the river, the miner only has to move one tile underwater before walking through the door.

After the miner uses it to escape the waters, just connect the door to a lever and use it as a floodgate from then on.

[Oliolli]

For killing the goblin, here is a nice thread giving hints as to how to kill it:

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=81412.0