DF2014:Adventure mode quick start

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This article is about the current version of DF.

This guide provides step-by-step instruction for those who have never played Dwarf Fortress in Adventure Mode before. It assumes that you have already installed the game and can navigate the menus on your own, but no significant knowledge of how to play adventure mode is required. Read the full adventure mode documentation for additional detail.

Common UI concepts[edit]

About key symbols


Cursor movement, menu selection, and navigation

Esc Go back to the previous screen/menu
Change active menu option or move cursor
- + Alternate menu selection keys
Enter Select menu option



World generation[edit]

Some custom worlds which are interesting for fortress mode, may be annoying for adventure mode for various reasons, such as: few civilizations, low population, certain races not existing, lack of access to metals, or history being so far advanced that many fortresses and towns have been abandoned.

For your first game, it's best to start with a generic world (e.g; the box below setup) to avoid potential problems. You can come back to an existing world once you have the hang of things.

See World generation if you need help with world generation.

For your first game...

Generate a world using Create New World! with:

  • World Size is Medium
  • History is Short
  • Number of Civilizations is High
  • Number of Sites is High
  • Number of Beasts is Medium
  • Natural Savagery is Medium
  • Mineral Occurrence is Frequent


Character creation[edit]

Race and civilization[edit]

For your first game...

Humans and Human-sized characters beginning in human civilizations are the easiest to fully equip.


  • Civilized Humans begin with bronze, iron, or silver items and can use any of the items sold by shopkeepers (who, for the time being, are only found in human towns, and only sell human-sized clothing/armor). Human settlements are by far the easiest to acquire beginning goods and supplies in. Specifically, the mead hall of a human hamlet (normally represented as a rectangle detached from main group of houses) almost always has some goodies stored in the back.
  • Human Outsiders start out with a vastly limited item selection compared to Civilized Humans. If starting in a human settlement their poverty quickly becomes moot, as they benefit from available goods as easily as any other race.
  • Dwarves have the advantage of being able to go into a martial trance when fighting multiple foes at once and possess perfect vision in low light conditions, which is extremely useful at night and for exploring subterranean sites. They are the only race which can start with steel weapons. Dwarves can equip equipment sized for goblins and elves but are unable to wear human-sized clothing and armor. Their best starting sources for armor and weapons are in a fortress market or warehouse. Good-quality leather clothing can be found by rummaging through dwarven apartments in fortresses and residences in hillocks. Better equipment can later be found on veteran soldiers and fortress guards, possibly in dark fortresses, and in bandit camps close to these sites.
  • Goblins are an option to play as, if they come from a non-goblin civilization, which in most cases is a human civilization. It is recommended to start in a dwarven site if possible, so that fitting armor is easier to find. Goblins do not need to eat or drink, have slightly better vision in darkness than humans, and have higher average Endurance and Willpower which allows them to withstand more damage during combat before they pass out. Despite being a fellow goblin, you will still get attacked in dark pits and dark fortresses by members of the goblin civilization.


For your first game...

A Demigod begins with the greatest potential survivability.



Key Reference


Background doesn't matter too much, allowing you to select what site you start at, as well as starting occupation and religious beliefs. However, if you're a Hearthperson, you can immediately take orders from the lord or lady in the mead hall or keep in the hamlet or town where you start out. Doctor and Ranger can also be smart choices, as Doctors start with skill in reading and Rangers have some combat related skills.




Starting attributes[edit]

The ranking descriptions of Attributes are based on your racial averages, which for humans and animal people are all 1000. All of these can be increased over the course of adventuring, though some have fewer opportunities to increase (and some opportunities are unimplemented). Maximum attributes will be 1000 plus your starting value for Average or lower initial values, and double your initial value for attributes higher than Average. You are also able to decrease attributes below the starting amount, however there isn't much reason to do this as you get very few points from it.

Physical attributes[edit]
Attribute Description
Strength: Damage dealt, encumbrance limits, and mass, which increases total blood but slows Gaits.
Recuperation: Rate at which lost blood is restored, recovery from Bleeding and Winded conditions.
Disease Resistance: Resistance to syndromes, curses from vampire blood, or a werebeast bite, resistance to infections and rate at which infection spreads.
Mental attributes[edit]
Attribute Description
Analytical Ability: important for Tracking, useful for Knapping
Focus: all ranged attacks, Observation
Willpower: Fighter and Swimmer skills, resistance to pain and unconsciousness, rate of recovery from unconsciousness
Intuition: Most important for Observation, also used in Social interactions.
Spatial Sense: All combat skills, Ambusher and Observer, Knapping, Swimming, Crutch-Walking
Kinesthetic Sense: All movement skills, most combat skills
Linguistic Ability: All social and literary skills. Good Speaking ability makes others enjoy your company, and more likely to trust you
Social Awareness: Determines number of companions willing to join, applied to other Social actions.

For your first game...

Recommended starting attributes:

  • High Strength
  • Above Average Focus, Willpower, Intuition
  • High Spatial Sense
  • High Kinesthetic Sense

These are the most frequently employed attributes for combat. The suggested amounts may be further increased by reducing other, less combat-oriented attributes, but this naturally narrows the character's competency in combat-oriented actions in exchange for increased might and durability.




Later you may find that you want to start with different attributes, but these are a good, safe starting point.


Starting skills[edit]

Starting skill selection is dependent on your character's civilization. Starting skill rating doesn't influence potential maximum skill, because there is no maximum. The highest rating description is "Legendary", but your skill rating can develop to many times over that.

All skills can be developed in adventuring, even from no skill (with a few exceptions, such as Reading.) But some are so necessary to success that you may fail unless you get a head start in their advancement.



A good offense is the best defense, but (as Miyamoto Musashi says) you should not overspecialize in a weapon at the start, but be willing to develop skills opportunistically as the best attack for the situation presents itself. Investing in Fighter skill will start you with a broad competency in every martial form. With enough skill in this you can comfortably train other attack skills from nothing, and take advantage of the best quality weapon you come across.

Wrestling holds are always available to you, and to your enemies. Skill in Wrestling improves your defense against Wrestling, and is the easiest form to exercise all Physical Attributes. There are less risky methods of developing Wrestling, but you may not get the opportunity to use them if you face a deadlier opponent first.




For your first game...

Recommended starting skills:

  • Talented Fighter
  • Proficient Observer
  • Novice Swimmer (except Animal Person characters)
  • Adequate Shield User
  • Proficient Armor User
  • Adequate Dodger
  • Adequate Wrestler
  • Novice Reader

With high Fighter, you have a great range of combat tactics. High Observer, Shield User and Dodger can be best developed through active use. Armor User can only be improved passively, which will be painful both in encumbrance costs of your armor, and the beatings you will have to soak up with it. Wrestler can be improved from no skill, but some skill provides a buffer from unexpected challenges.


(Read up on Skills for more information.)

Appearance and Personality[edit]

While your appearance has no effect in-game, your personality traits influence your needs. As long as your needs are satisfied, your adventurer will stay focused. Have a too-extreme personality, and your adventurer craves for his urges to be satisfied more easily - an adventurer that values nature highly will become unsatisfied when he doesn't see animals often enough.


Be sure to avoid needs that cannot currently be satisfied. The conditions for "Eat good meal" (high Immoderation, low Self-Control value) "Make romance" (high Love Propensity, high Romance value) and "Be with family/Be with friends" (high Family and Friendship values) aren't confirmed to be implemented for Adventurer modev0.42.01 The means to satisfy "Take it easy" (low Activity Level, high Leisure value) is uncertain, although possible. The conditions to satisfy "Help someone" (high Altruism, high Sacrifice value) are extremely narrow and fraught with error (it's doable, but not feasible to keep up regularly.)


As of version 47.01, you are able to select the equipment your adventurer starts out with. By default, your equipment includes a weapon, carving knife, clothes, a backpack, 5 meat items, a waterskin, and pouch. It is recommended to give yourself metal armor using the n key and typing out the name of the armor pieces you need. A few extra waterskins or a quiver may also prove useful to prevent you from dying to dehydration.

Party Members[edit]

At any time during character creation you can add new members to your party by pressing N. You can swap between customizing different party members at will. You can have characters start with items they don't need themselves to give to other party members from different civs afterwards.



Setting off[edit]

Talking to someone.


  • Beasts are any kind of creature that may be harassing people. The type of beasts range from vampires living amongst the inhabitants of a site, all the way up to titans and other mythical creatures. Avoid these at first. A hydra, for example, presents a massive challenge even to the most experienced adventurer.
  • Bandits are groups of people who menace people in nearby sites, out of the reach of civilization. They usually hang out in camps (shown by a on the map). Killing bandits is a great way to raise your reputation, as nobody cares what happens to them.
  • Criminals are similar to bandits, except they operate right under the nose of authorities -- sites ruled by civilizations. You will find these outcasts hiding in abandoned houses and underground cells. Unlike bandits, criminals are often considered productive members of society. If you start a fight with some on a whim you may find that you're now an enemy of a criminal empire comparable to (or more powerful than) your home civilization.


Fast travel[edit]

Alone in the dark...






Finding some muscle[edit]

Much of the time, especially at the beginning, you need some companions to watch your back. The best place to find some is at a fortress, keep, tavernv0.42.01, or mead hall. Fortresses will be marked by a Ω on the region and world maps. On the site-level map, the fortress entrance will be marked by an 8 or ∞ in the outer wall. Keeps are in towns, and are a 3×3 building with a path leading from the entrance, usually surround by a large, encircling wall. Mead halls are found in hamlets, and are usually in a 3×3 yellow/brown square by themselves, although sometimes they're integrated with the main housing area (in any case, the mead hall will be evidenced by a bright magenta name in the list of notable buildings). Drunks are a good source of early companions, as while they're not necessarily the strongest fighters they make very poor decisions and will happily join up with you if your party isn't too full.

No companion left behind...

When fast-traveling, make sure that all of your companions are near you, or some may be left behind. If you've left behind companions, an asterisk will appear on the map where you previously were, and may even try to join up with you.


If the location is abandoned, leave and try another one. Walk some distance away from the fort (or walk on the path out of the keep until the path changes in material, or don't bother getting out if you're in a mead hall) and go back to the fast travel screen with T.

Obtaining food and drink[edit]

Thirsty in the rain


You will get hungry or thirsty after some time, indicated by the Hungry or Thirsty attributes respectively. As you should know, when this appears, it's time for a snack. To eat or drink, press e and locate some food - it can be anything, as long as it's actually food. You can "eat" something like a sword, but it will say "You lick the sword", and you will not get less hungry or thirsty.

Where can I find food?[edit]

There are many ways of obtaining food:

  • Meat - probably the easiest to come by. Find an animal in the wilds, kill it and butcher the corpse with a sharp tool. Some animals are too small to butcher and cannot be eaten.
  • Certain leaf-bearing plants are edible, and grow year-round.
  • Exploring human and dwarf sites - there are bags of food stored in the houses. Some Shaping Trees in forest retreats may have fruits and vegetables in or out of season, or you can buy some in city-sized human, dwarven and elven settlements.

and if you search for something to quench your thirst:

  • Drink fresh water directly from a river, or fill your waterskin (or any other container; a backpack, for example, can hold 50 units of water, though a quiver stores a more reasonable [i.e., lighter] amount) with it.
  • Hamlets and cities can have wells if they have developed enough. The building interact key (default u) can draw a bucket of water (or ice) from it, which can be drunk or filled from.
  • You can drink blood, even when you aren't a vampire. Wound a creature to make it bleed and then drink some blood from the pool that forms.
  • If you prefer to drink alcohol, search for barrels of booze inside dwarven fortresses, or order a drink at a tavern.

Getting some rest[edit]

Going bump in the night...




Finding your target[edit]




If you still cannot find your target, try asking around. If that doesn't do anything, you can use k to start telling a story about the current site. The story menu often contains information not available anywhere else, and by browsing through events you may find clues like your target operating under a false name, that your target was part of an occupying force that was recently kicked out, or other facts that might have changed from when you first heard the rumor.




If you attempt to kill the target(s) of your first quest with neither companions nor armor, then you are very likely to die. Therefore, before proceeding, make sure you have friends with you. If you do, you shouldn't need armor if you let them do most of the fighting.


Movement and positioning[edit]






Attacking effectively[edit]

Don't expect it to be easy...





Strangling the throat is a very effective way of killing single targets, or to even the odds when you find yourself outnumbered. To begin, carefully Attack the enemy, then after choosing your target hit b to start wrestling. It's advisable to choose an empty hand as the body part you use to wrestle with (although limbs can work too), as well as not attempting this against anything much larger than you. Scroll through the list of targets and select the throat, then grab it. After doing this press , to wait for one tick (or start some other action then cancel it) and a combat notification should pop up, hopefully saying you grabbed your opponent by the throat. Now do the same thing, but this time a new option to "wrestle with" your hand should be in the wrestling menu. Choose that and pick the option to choke the throat. Now repeat all this one more time, except this time the option will say "strangle throat". You may have to strangle a few times, but your opponent will very quickly fall unconscious, letting you murder them at your leisure or ignore them to focus on other threats. The greatest strength of this technique is that every action after grabbing the enemy the first time is very fast compared to normal attacks, making strangulation one of the safest ways to deal with multiple armored foes. The downside, ironically, is that it's too efficient. Enemies tend to go down very quickly, and attacks on unconscious enemies don't raise any skills, so you get very little experience. As such, early on it's probably best to save strangling for when you're outnumbered, heavily armored enemies, or anyone who seems particularly dangerous.







Completing quests[edit]

Once you complete your first quest, you can talk to any hamlet, town or fortress dweller to spread the news of your success. Brag about your past violent acts isn't as effective as Bring up specific incident or rumor (new menu). It is not necessary to return to the individual who told you about the trouble to report your success. Telling the story in the form of a performance is also very effective, as performing forces everyone around you to pay attention to what you're saying.

Small army...



Checking things out[edit]








What next?[edit]






Preparing for longer journeys[edit]


Planning your route[edit]

Traveling in Quick Travel mode is very fast, so you want to maximize the time you spend there. Most importantly, you cannot cross rivers and mountain ranges while quick traveling. You can leave the quick travel screen and jump over or swim through them, but companions won't do that. Reentering the quick travel screen will make them follow you, but that might not always work. If you can avoid it, move around rivers. Note that brooks (lighter color) can be crossed in quick travel. While getting past rivers is relatively fast, crossing a large mountain range can take a while. Ideally, you plan your route so you walk most of the time in roughly the middle of a landmass so rivers originate left and right of you and drain into the oceans away from you. If there are settlements along a small river, they will have bridges you can use to cross without leaving quick travel. Bigger rivers will not have bridges across them except at points where they narrow, such as at a fork. Look for settlements that straddle both sides of a river to cross it. You may also go through cold biomes, where the river will probably be frozen, especially if you're willing to travel at night. Avoid mountain ranges altogether, unless they're narrow and going around would take longer.

Securing more supplies[edit]


After that?[edit]

More Tips





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