Catching thieves?

[MintiM]

Apparently I only ever get the notification about them when they're already leaving the map, I never detect them earlier. I think an artifact just disappeared from my fort, so I'm getting kinda salty. I've got traps set up, but thieves don't trigger them. Would patrol routes solve this? Or are there other solutions?

[Floyyd]

Build a restraint and assign a dog there near entrances. I believe they can move two blocks out from the restraint.

[76561188078797539]

Originally posted by MintiM:

Or are there other solutions?

Animals leashed to spots in front of your fortress' gate/tunnel entrance.

Three tile wide entrance, animals on both sides. Possibly with a cage full of kittens linked to an emergency lever elsewhere to smother a potential thief with cuddlesome ball of CLAWS on release.

Originally posted by Floyyd:

Build a restraint and assign a dog there near entrances.

At one point in classic, I had two rhinoceros on my gate. Which also was at the end of a narrow drawbridge over a magma moat.

Any undesired attempt at entry mostly resulted in extremely ignominious welcome from the rhinos, followed by a very brief and very hot moment of reflection at the folly of such an endeavor. Bonus points, no cleanup required. Burn, baby, burn.

I also modded rhinos to be cavalry mounts for my dwarves, but that's another set of stories full of pure awesome.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by Sheepify:

...At one point in classic, I had two rhinoceros on my gate. Which also was at the end of a narrow drawbridge over a magma moat.
..

Question on that: I assume that Dwarves feed them by hand? IOW - For "grazers," you don't also have to have a pasture there for them to graze from if they're Chained? (My dogs seem fine, but they don't graze I don't think....)

PS: Oh, dang - Hi Sheep! :) Placeholderlord not holding up? ;)

[76561188078797539]

Originally posted by Morkonan:

Question on that: I assume that Dwarves feed them by hand? IOW - For "grazers," you don't also have to have a pasture there for them to graze from if they're Chained?

I did remove their grazer tag, since it was at the time where tamed rhinos would first eliminate all traces of grass on the map, then die :(

I think it's possible to see them as traded animals since, but no idea if their feeding values have been toned down.

Originally posted by Morkonan:

PS: Oh, dang - Hi Sheep! :) Placeholderlord not holding up? ;)

No time for that, Urist McLemming is doing his thing again.

[Turkish Hair Graft]

Settings menu has a thing to set the grazer value now, makes it a lot easier.

[NimrodX]

Chain up guard dogs

[Perplexed]

I usually just have my military train in front of the fort entrance. That's enough to catch most thieves on their way in and if somebody does manage to slip by they are more than capable of dealing with anyone on their way out.

Another thing to help with security is to make sure your artifacts are either in or behind heavily-trafficked areas. If somebody wanting to steal your fancy artifact from a guildhall has to pass through sleeping quarters and taverns and workshops, odds are somebody is going to notice them.

[ONE SWANKY ASS CAT]

You guys don't have dwarves constantly running around outside? Picking up logs and gathering plants? I spot most thieves before they even get within 30 tiles from my entrance without using any sort of assigned guards or dogs. You guys have multiple ways into your fortress that they're slipping into or what?

[GankHammer]

I have a patrol route ready that does a loop through my fort. The instant thieves alert shows up I activate my Archers on that patrol. They usually catch & kill the thieves.

Haven't learned how to prevent them showing up, but driving them away or catching them is easy.

[76561188078797539]

Originally posted by Glow-Up Gollum:

Settings menu has a thing to set the grazer value now, makes it a lot easier.

Thank you, good to know! Haven't really poked around the new UI all that much.

Originally posted by ONE SWANKY ASS CAT:

You guys don't have dwarves constantly running around outside?

Considering the kind of embark sites I usually pick?

No, not really. Unless it's a noble insisting on some unreasonable mandate...

[Commisar Jon Fuklaw]

For low-tech defense outside of reanimating biomes, I typically use a two entrance approach:

The first, a long corridor filled with traps and flanked by murderholes near the end for the application of bolts and guard animals to the face. It's blocked off with a drawbridge until a siege occurs and is left closed in the event of a Titanic™ amount of !!FUN!!.

The second is a shorter corridor and two guardhouses, with the outer one occupied by an expendable animal or military dorf or two. Several doors are present to provide an emergency seal in the event that something slips by. The entrance is blocked by another drawbridge that's kept open except in the event of any attack. That way spies visitors don't ruin the traps and Goblinite veins can be mined at maximum efficiency.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by ONE SWANKY ASS CAT:

You guys don't have dwarves constantly running around outside? Picking up logs and gathering plants? I spot most thieves before they even get within 30 tiles from my entrance without using any sort of assigned guards or dogs. You guys have multiple ways into your fortress that they're slipping into or what?

I don't plant gather past the early game unless i need a quick boost for drinks (some wines, I think?) I never set up a "gather zone" as it seems... wonky.

Wood, maybe. But, I don't normally embark on anything but "sparse" woodlands at the best.

I do use Hunters and that's who normally spots any Gobbie Kidnappers and I have dogs on chains at my single-gate entrance to spot them and other disreputable types.

Kids... They go outside, too. I might ocassaionally do a big "Gather" to keep Dwarves from getting cavern acclimated/whatever it is. Dunno how successful that is.

I don't min/max in that way to avoid danger.... To me, knowing a game well enough to allow some forms of danger that are acceptable FUN is... fun. I LIKE having a few non-catastrophic vulnerabilities in any game that I play. It keeps me on my toes.

And, keep in mind, you only spot the Thieves you see...

PS: Goblin sieges almost always have a few kidnappers with them.

[MintiM]

Hey, thanks for all the great replies. My friend gifted DF to me for christmas and now he's *DEMANDING* that I weaponise kittens, so I guess that's on you. For some reason I never realised you can put animals on restraints, that's a must.

And no, I usually don't have dorfs outside because they hate rain, usually there's just one fisherdwarf or so.

[76561188078797539]

Originally posted by MintiM:

My friend gifted DF to me for christmas and now he's *DEMANDING* that I weaponise kittens, so I guess that's on you.

"It was inevitable."