| “ | Someone McUnlucky, Butcher has transformed into a weregorilla! | „ |
| ~ Example of a report of an unlucky, now cursed individial. |
The Werebeasts are major antagonists in the indie construction and management simulation game Dwarf Fortress. While they are a very dangerous enemy in the game's "Fortress Mode", it is possible to play as an individual with the werebeast curse in "Adventure Mode", as well as slay them in that mode. They are one of the night creatures.
Werebeasts can take on the form of many types of animals that exist in the game, but will obviously appear as a more intimidating and beastly version of that animal. What type of werebeasts that unfortunate cursed individuals become depends on the curse they have and the severity of it.
These creatures are among the most agile, strong and dangerous in the game, and pose an extremely large threat to a player's dwarf fortress. The number of werebeast curse types is dependent on world generation, as well as the player's customized settings before generating a world. They are also one - if not the most angry and berserk type of beings in the game.
These beasts are always connected to malevolent deities with the following spheres: animal, moon, chaos and night. Angering a deity can cause individuals to be given the werebeast curse.
Biography[]
History[]
Before the events of the game, former worshipers of certain deities had disrespected and profaned their once-followed god's temple, causing that god to curse the ex-follower with the werebeast curse. The curse can also be passed to others (through bites) based on how history is generated before starting the game.
These moments of history can also be seen in dwarf-made statues, figurines and engravings.
Gameplay[]
In the original version of the game, or if classic ASCII graphics are enabled in the premium version, werebeasts are represented by a brown "Ñ" in gameplay. In the premium version, they'll have a sprite matching the type of werebeast they are.
There will be a specific amount of werebeasts roaming the lands depending on the world's settings before being generated. These werebeasts can take the form of any animal, from werelizards to werebuffalos. There are just above sixty types of werebeast choices the game can produce. The most prominent trait of werebeasts are their berserk state of minds, mindlessly killing anything they see and easily destroying any buildings in their way. Whether in their standard form, or in werebeast form, any cursed individual will have either form completely unaware of the other, retaining no memories between forms.
Werebeast transformations only occur at full moons, and once this happens, its presence is announced by the game itself. For example, text such as "Name McPerson, Macedwarf has transformed into a werelizard!" appears. The beast will not transform back into its original form until the duration of the full moon has ended. Once a werebeast transforms (regardless if it's person-to-beast or beast-to-person), any injuries it had, and any thirst or hunger it felt will all be removed or repaired in full. Even previously missing limbs will grow back.
One of many possible werebeast sprites in v50 of the game.
The capabilities, strength, agility and speed of the werebeast are very high. In were form, the beast will possess a "talented" rank (which is six on a scale of fifteen) in the following skills: wrestling, biting, fighting, striking, kicking, dodging and observing. It will also receive the highest rank in the ambushing skill. On top of this, werebeasts feel no pain, no exhaustion, no need to eat or drink, can't be stunned in any way, are immune to traps and can also breathe underwater. A werebeast can brutally murder a high number of the player's dwarves in a matter of seconds, unless well-trained dwarves are set up to deal with the creature properly. Or if a fortress is set up to not be invaded so easily.
Though the berserk nature of werebeasts are more or less the same, the description of its appearance and its method of attacking depend on the animal form the creature takes, and the nature of the curse. Once infected, there is no cure. If the werebeast has hands, it can wield a weapon. Werebeasts also possess a resistance to certain metals, which halves the damage of most weapons used against it. However, the game randomly chooses one metal it is ten times weaker to, though the game never reveals what it is. Despite common folklore, silver is not always chosen as the "weak to" metal. In Adventure Mode, a werebeast's weakness may be mentioned in a rumor.
The curse of the beast can be passed to others, but only through bites. Adding even more danger to a fortress. Those who turn back from being a beast are - more often than not - frightened and horrified of what they become, and will almost always flee from their peers. Werebeasts can also be spawned in the "Object Testing Arena" by simply setting the effect of a creature to "Werebeast" before spawning them, though the mechanics and AI are slightly different. This is due to this mode not automatically setting the "teams" of creatures, since that is left to be customized by the player.
Once a werebeast is killed, a necromancer can revive them, which means the undead werebeast will have added strength and resistance that all undead receive once they're reanimated. They can also be given the traits of an intelligent undead, which is meant to be a unique type of undead that will still retain its soul, and therefore the personality and traits of the deceased individual.
To help ward off werebeasts, it would be in the player's best interest to understand the dates of full moons. Since the game has a top-down view, there is no way to directly see the moon. However, the game's HUD provides the date and image of the moon phase, although the moon icon may change if the weather changes. Like the real life Gregorian calendar, Dwarf Fortress contains twelve months, but thirteen full moons exist within a year, due to the last month containing two full moon cycles. The following in-game dates will contain a full moon:
- Granite 25th
- Slate 23rd
- Felsite 21st
- Hematite 19th
- Malachite 17th
- Galena 15th
- Limestone 13th
- Sandstone 11th
- Timber 8th
- Moonstone 6th
- Opal 4th
- Obsidian 2nd
- Obsidian 28th
Adventure Mode[]
For a player character to become a werebeast, they must obviously get bitten by another werebeast without being killed outright, or anger a deity by disrespecting one. Note that the deity must be connected to what the playable character's religion is, otherwise the deity will give no response. Having specific areas not covered by armor can make it easier to be cursed by a werebeast's bite, but not be outright killed. However, this can - in the case of limbs - create the risk of having a body part completely bitten off, therefore having infection of the bite not reaching the bloodstream.
A much easier way of acquiring the curse is by damaging the statue of a deity, but the curse inflicted upon the player may be that of vampirism instead. Another easy way of obtaining the curse is to roll divination dice to the point of angering deities. Doing so will give the player a message that urges them not to tempt fate, and again, doing this may grant a different kind of curse than that of being a werebeast.
The player transforming into a werebeast is proportional to the character's body size, and any stat changes may be completely independent from the stats one already has. The enlarging nature of werebeast transformations make armor too small to wear, although weapons and shields that were dropped prior transforming can be picked up and used. Hauled items are dropped upon fast traveling as a werebeast.
Much like the werebeasts of Fortress Mode, a cursed player will not know which metal they are weak to unless they die by a weapon made by it. The only way to keep playing after knowing this is to simply restart a save file. Much like other forms of beasts that gain a negative reputation in society, there can be quests in Adventure Mode where the player can be tasked with killing a werebeast. Due to the nature of the werebeast condition, citizens with the werebeast curse will understandably be living far from civilization, usually in small lairs, likely after being banned from society and/or the cursed citizen not wanting to hurt anyone. They are, of course, easier to kill as long as they are not fought on the very night of a full moon.
Defense[]
Due to the random nature of a werebeast invading your fortress, it would be in the player's best interest to prepare for them as soon as possible in any way they can.
Despite the aggressive and capable nature of the beasts, a small army of dwarves with decent military training should be able to bring them down. The armor on dwarves provide proper protection against werebeast bites. Fortresses can also be built carefully so that intruders will have virtually no chance of entering, such as having a moat with drawbridges. Cursed individuals can also be imprisoned or simply given their own space where they can't escape once another full moon comes. This can be done by making the cursed individual be part of a military group, then made to train in a room that is inescapable.
Though extremely risky to pull off, werebeasts can be used to help your fortress by viciously attacking enemies. Werebeasts part of a military training schedule may still train normally without being destructive, but only if no other living creatures are nearby.
Appearance[]
In the premium version of the game, a werebeast can have a sprite assigned to it. Unlike other most other creatures in the game that have a dedicated sprite to it, the sprite for a werebeast is different depending on its randomly chosen species. There are 72 possible sprites a werebeast can have.
Judging by the design of the sprites, all werebeast forms have a humanoid appearance, which is another detail that matches common depictions of werebeasts in other types of media.
Trivia[]
- The berserk state of a werebeast is so intense that it will attack other werebeasts, even if they are the same species, or even the exact same animal prior to being cursed.
- A werebeast can have the added ability to be venomous, if the base animal of the beast had a venomous attack, making the already-threatening beasts even more of a threat.
- In earlier versions of the game, werebeasts would appear far too early, so the player's fortress would not be developed enough to defend itself in any way. The only way to deal with this issue would be to simply restart the game, create a world through the "advanced world generation" and edit the amount of werebeast curses, or to kill the werebeast by the use of a third-party program.
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Werebeast - Dwarf Fortress Wiki
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 Villains 
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Enemies Immortal & Undead Night Creatures Other | ||