motivating line of the section: Yous have my sword. And you have my bow. And my axe!

Expert question! There is then much that tin be done now I don't even know where to begin. Actually I practise. We're going to requite our miners something to do. Nosotros're going to dig down and observe some stones so we can use our bricklayer's workshop.

This may be i of the most important sections of Dwarf Fortress, because doing this wrong tin kill your dwarfs; I'll tell you why in a second.

9.1 – Earthworks Down

We've dug all across our current plane, but we haven't dug to another z-level yet. Digging up and downward works past digging or edifice staircases. There are iii types of staircases: downward, upwards, and upwards/down.

Mind CAREFULLY – the number ane killer of Dwarf Fortress beginners is staircases. My first fortress fell due to staircases. This is why.

A Down STAIRCASE will provide a staircase for a dwarf to go downwards to the next z-level, but not support. I don't know exactly how they exercise this, mayhap they build half of the stairs, or perhaps they brand a slip 'northward slide, merely if a dwarf goes downward a downward staircase, he/she will not be able to become up. Aforementioned with an upwards staircase, just he/she volition not be able to become down.

To make certain a dwarf can become up and downward staircases willingly, you lot must do i of three things.

  1. Dig an upward/downwards stairway into a wall. This is the easiest and most applied method, though you cannot dig this into the footing, Just into a wall.
  2. Dig a downwards staircase into the ground, and and then dig an up staircase into the earth on the next z-level.
  3. Dig a down staircase into the ground, dig out the world below it, and BUILD (non designate) an upward staircase.

So what we're going to do, is dig 2 upwards/down staircases into a wall side by side to the workshops similar so.

When the miners finish that, look at the side by side z-level below. You will notice that you can now see the world directly below the stairs. This means miners can access it and dig more than stairways on it. That's just what nosotros're going to do. Designate another up/down stairway to exist built below the previous ones. Now keep doing this for a few levels, until…

…y'all strike stone! It should exist on level 119. Now, this will be one of our earthworks floors where we will just dig effectually to get rock that we tin employ for building. There is no rhyme or reason to excavation here, just don't dig i large giant area without any supports because information technology will collapse. Become alee and designate some area to exist dug by the miners.

ix.two – Making More Stuff

And so we have stone, so we can now use our bricklayer's workshop. You can build just about anything in your mason'south workshop that you lot can in your carpenter's workshop, and rock is easier to come by, and so go alee and designate some things to be built by your bricklayer (any you desire! That's right!).

Now, and so far, nosotros've simply used our carpenter and mason workshops, and we've but built stuff that volition do good US. We need to commencement preparing for when the traders come, and need to make certain we'll take some stuff to sell to them.

9.3 –  Craftsdwarf's Workshop

A craftsdwarf'southward workshop has more often than not options to build trinkets and things that really have no practically use other than to sell.

Dig out another ii workshop rooms. While you look, you should build some barrels ("v") and bins ("due north") at the carpenter'southward workshop. Food and potable is stored in barrels, and many other things are stored in bins.

You should find, the dwarfs won't dig nether a body of water because that will flood your fortress. Nosotros'll bargain with that lake afterward. For at present, build a craftsdwarf'south workshop in one of the workshop rooms. Our expedition leader has the stonecrafting labor preference, but if things are working out for you like they are for me, he's being a d-bag and keeps gathering plants instead of building the craftsdwarf's workshop. Yous may have to disable plant gathering in his labor preferences.

Once you have the workshop built, simply select the "rock" category, and then select "make rock crafts". We want more one rock craft, though, and we want more than than 10, fifty-fifty. Nosotros desire a dwarf to keep on making rock crafts, so we will press "r" for repeat on the building's "make stone crafts" chore. Y'all will and then see a bluish "R" appear next to that task. You can select any item in any workshop to be repeated.

Correct now we don't have a crafts stockpile, then nosotros have to make one. Nether the stockpile list, information technology is called "finished goods" ("k"). Place the stockpile in the area below the workshop for a temporary stockpile. We'll make a bigger stockpile soon enough.

Peachy! Now we volition presently take enough goods to sell, but we won't have anywhere to sell them. Every fortress needs a Merchandise Depot for a merchant caravan to get to and unload their appurtenances. Nosotros're going to build ours outside, preferably hither. (dig the area out)

Then press "b" for build, then "D" (CAPITAL D, DF IS Case SENSITIVE!) for merchandise depot. Move it into the area we dug out and place it. A trade depot needs the architecture labor preference, so give whatever dwarf you want (preferably one who isn't doing annihilation) that preference.

When the depot is built, that's all. The merchants will come and set up at that depot. But trading is a little more complicated.

proceed on to ten.0 – Trading and Storing