02: Embarkation, part 1

Are you sure you want to embark here? This is your only warning!


Choosing an area isn't too difficult, nor is it really that relevant, so long as you know what you're in for. For more Fun, turn the savagery up.

I like to have lots of trees, though if you can manage to start near a volcano this is less necessary. Still, you're going to need some wood, eventually. You'll also want shallow metals and deep metals, and soil or clay in some amount. A river is not required, but is nice and handy, and so far as I can tell it is impossible to ascertain whether sand is present, though you can bet that in a temperate or warm climate, you'll find some near a river. Be sure to check that you have neighbors other than dwarves; sometimes there aren't any, and without external Fun, it's not really Dwarf Fortress.

Otherwise, I aim for a self-sufficient fortress; one that can create its own food, drink, weapons and armor, defenses, clothes, etc. Rarely is it necessary to trade for anything until later, when you need raw materials you can't get in your area (like sand or aluminum).

It all really depends on what your opening plan will be, regarding dwarves' skills.

I like to assign skills that require a lot of raw materials to build up, like smithing, and build the rest through practice.


You'll want to decide what is important enough that you can't just make it at your new fortress instead of spending points on it. For example, I discard almost everything. I keep all food, seeds, and drink, an anvil, a single pick, three bars of coke, and six of copper. These are for building a couple of workshops, at first, then a couple of weapons once the miner has given us a few stones to work with. With everything else discarded, I'll have about 600 or so points to put into skills and starting animals.

I fill my dwarves' skills slots, so that each dwarf is as skilled as is possible. My dwarves' skill loadout looks thusly:
6 Citizens:
- Miner/Armorsmith
- Miner/Weaponsmith
- Trader (negotiator, judge of intent, appraiser,)
- Smith (metal crafting and metal smithing)
- Mason/Woodcrafter
- Mechanic/Siege Engineer
1 Soldier:
- Axedwarf, Fighter, Observer, Teacher

You may be thinking, "this is not enough for a fort to survive" and indeed it isn't, or would not be, without Dwarf Therapist. We'll get to that.

With the leftover points, buy two MALE cats, two untrained dogs (one of each sex), and any animals you'd like to start a meat/cloth/leather/milk/cheese factory with. I recommend a ratio of one male to three or four females. I've been using sheep, the most recent new forts; they produce milk, wool, and in an emergency, meat. Any leftover points should go into extra alcohol and food.


Strike the Earth!