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[ProtDock]

Hi i've been playing dwarf fortress for a while now, and starting to get a hang of it, BUT i find myself playing a world for a bit, then trying a new starting dwarf skill set. soo if anyone could give me any ideas on any skill sets, for example a set of dwarfs that i could leave running in the background and they can still keep themselves fed etc. thanks alot

ProtDock

[Girlinhat]

For real background dwarves?  Hunting is pretty fair, depending on your location.  Groundhogs are easy prey; Skeletal Giant Eagles, less so.  Farming is pretty awesome as well.

I generally embark with a miner, a woodcutter+carpenter, a metalsmith+metalcrafter (if I have any dwarves who like platinum), an armorsmith+weaponsmith (if anyone likes steel or bronze or especially special blue stuff), a herbalist+planter, a mason+engraver (especially if they like obsidian), and then usually a soldier and doctor or something like that.  I mainly tailor those based on their likes, because if a dwarf likes platinum, he'll make higher quality platinum statues and goblets, which makes more valuable dining rooms and trade goods.  Same with masterwork quality steel armor.  Obsidian I will always have a lot of, due to casting.

The herbalist+farmer is very important though.  A level 5 herbalist will get a good number of plants from every bush, so I often don't embark with any food, and just harvest some on the spot, and then plant some strawberries.  They grow year-round and have a good value.  My embark points get spent on iron ore and flux, or tin, copper, and bismuth ore, which gets turned into equipment for soldiers.  My first migrants become my manager/broker/stockkeepper and the rest become soldiers.

[Sarda]

No haulers?

[Girlinhat]

Everyone hauls.  I usually don't have that much to haul initially, and by the time I do have stuff worth hauling, my off-duty soldiers do a lot of it.  It's not the most streamlined embark, but it does very well for an embark.  It's what you do in year 2 that seems to make the biggest difference.  Failure to farm or build a wall by year 2 is pretty much always lethal.

[EBannion]

I used to make sure I had a wide selection of skills on my starting dwarves, and obsessed about trying to use all 10 skill points each dwarf has available.

Then I got lazy one time, and embarked with two lv 5 Miners and the rest totally untrained. I noticed almost no difference in the process of establishing my fortress.

Now, I start with one 5 Axedwarf 5 Armor User dwarf, two 5 Miner dwarfs, and that's it. The rest of them do whatever is necessary well enough to get by until I get some migrants, and it's inevitable that either the starters will get enough skill to be worthwhile by the time I need it, or a migrant will show up with the skill I want.

[Immacolata]

Everyone hauls.  I usually don't have that much to haul initially, and by the time I do have stuff worth hauling, my off-duty soldiers do a lot of it.  It's not the most streamlined embark, but it does very well for an embark.  It's what you do in year 2 that seems to make the biggest difference.  Failure to farm or build a wall by year 2 is pretty much always lethal.

Oh yes, wall! I found out that the FUN way. After grazing entered I find it a bit harder to define my first inner wall layout, but indeed, get that impenetrable enclosure thrown up by summer 2 latest, and line the door with traps.

Also, I found out about the farmer-herbalist thing fairly quick. Self-sustaining food production is pretty important, enough to warrant some skill point invested.

Ill try your embark advice next time, didn't really care for the "likes..." description before tbh.

[Girlinhat]

Likes only give a small boost, especially to room value.  If your baron likes steel, you can put in one steel statue and they'll perceive it as 1.5x more expensive, or something.  The exact numbers are unknown.  If they're working with something they like, there's a higher chance of higher quality.  My level 5 metalsmith can produce a set of 2 masterwork and 1 exceptional mugs within the first year, which is more than enough to buy out the first and second dwarven caravans and buy out much of the elven seeds and exotic animals.  I've been attempting to breed giant badgers, with the hopes that they can push back sieges for me.  Buy more platinum from the caravans, and you can go like this very very easily.

Bonus points if you invest in a jewel setter who likes diamonds.  You can very easily produce hundreds of thousands of dwarfbucks a year by buying one bar (or ore) of platinum and a full list of jewels, and spend the year forging goblets and then encrusting them.  If you're using a display case mod, all the better!

[iyaerP]

I like to always make sure that I have a future army commander with 5 points in some weapon skill, and 5 points in Organizer, so that his training sessions don't take forever to happen.

I am also fond of having at least one of the dorfs (usually my mason) have 5 ranks in architechture.

[Syrup Roast]

Bonus points if you invest in a jewel setter who likes diamonds.  You can very easily produce hundreds of thousands of dwarfbucks a year by buying one bar (or ore) of platinum and a full list of jewels, and spend the year forging goblets and then encrusting them.  If you're using a display case mod, all the better!

Does item preference affect how often crafters make masterworks using said items?

[Girlinhat]

Yes, in a similar fashion.  Anyone who like addy must be trained into a smith!  If they like steel and shields, train them too!  I once got a mason who liked obsidian and statues.  My casting room couldn't cast obsidian fast enough to supply his overwhelming statue-lust!

[Ganondwarf]

I'm just gonna post what I use. It gets the job done.

Miner
Miner
Carpenter+Mason
Grower+Brewer
Mechanic
Herbalist/Axe/Nothing (is also an unskilled wood cutter)

5 skills in each

[SirAaronIII]

Don't put mining too high. Mining is one of the easiest skills to train. Bring a novice stonecrafter/skilled or + bone carver. Bone stuff is good enough to sell to the 1st caravan, and stonecrafting goes up pretty fast when you spam pots.

[Azated]

I generally get 2 miners, a carpenter, a mason, a farmer, a brewer and a bookkeeper/manager/leader-of-all.

[knaveofstaves]

I use:

three miners at lvl5
two woodcutters at lvl2
two masons at lvl3 or 4
manager (organizer, consoler, pacifier) 1 each for 3 total
broker/CMD (JOI-appraiser-diagnostician) 1 each for 3 total, generally make this dorf bookkeeper too
grower at lvl5
brewer at lvl3 or 4
carpenter at lvl3 or 4
mechanic at lvl3 or 4
cook at lvl3 or 4
bonecarver at lvl3 or 4
thresher at lvl3 or 4

that's about 55 pts, so the last 15 depending on dwarvenly talents:
2nd carpenter?
2nd brewer?
2nd mechanic?
2nd cook?
furnace operator?
stone crafter?

yes, my lack of forgeworkers or military dwarves can present a problem. but you can survive the first year on traps alone, and after the big wave of the second spring I generally have enough dwarves to do whatever needs doing.

Don't put mining too high. Mining is one of the easiest skills to train. Bring a novice stonecrafter/skilled or + bone carver. Bone stuff is good enough to sell to the 1st caravan, and stonecrafting goes up pretty fast when you spam pots.

I disagree, the higher your miner's skill, the more likely a stone will drop when the miner digs, and you want as many as possible when you hit that hematite vein...

[Mechatronic]

I think about what skills are involved in a particular industry, and try to have the skills required for a few industries that cover basic needs (food and booze), defence (weapons, armour, traps) and trade goods. For example you can produce quarry bush roasts as a trade good and main source of food, which requires a grower, thresher and cook, add a brewer for obligatory booze, and a armorsmith, weaponsmith and mechanic. You'll also usually want a miner too. That's already more than seven jobs, so you usually need to double up on skills on most dwarves, and you might want some other useful skills. I pair up skills that are used a lot with skills that are used occasionally. You might not be be using weaponsmithing, armorsmithing or mechanics all that often, so you could have say,

Miner/Stonecrafter
Cook/Weaponsmith
Brewer/Armoursmith
Grower/Mechanic
Thresher/Metalsmith
---then maybe a pair of soldiers to get the military started.