  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| “ | Identify yourself! | „ |
| ~ A common phrase among bandits spotting the player. |
Bandits (also known as simply Outlaws) are minor antagonists in the indie construction and management simulation video game Dwarf Fortress. They can also be protagonist villains if the player chooses to align themselves with them. Bandits are well-known criminal outlaws that perform organized crime throughout the game's world.
Although the members of bandit groups are random between games, their mechanics are always the same. They can be encountered in both "Fortress Mode" and "Adventure Mode", but the second gamemode allows more in-depths interactions with bandits, which includes quests where the player can either make actions against them, be a bandit from the start, or find a way to join them.
Due to the procedural generation of the world and civilizations in the game, coupled with the fact that many elements can be customized by the player, the strength, placement, members and size of bandit groups vary greatly. Bandits will be made up of mostly humans, goblins (the main antagonists of the game) and kobolds. Dwarves can also rarely be aligned with them.
Bandits - as expected - are formed by many outcasts that could not integrate themselves into civilized society for one reason or another. Bandits have a caste system, involving bosses and lieutenants.
Biography[]
History[]
Unlike most creatures and groups having a mysterious, ambiguous and a completely unmentioned origin, the beginnings of bandit formations is specifically setup by the game. As mentioned before, bandits are formed by societal outcasts banding together. They can be one of two types of bandits: ones that constantly travel with no permanent choice of headquarters known as nomadic bandits, and ones that form a stationary headquarters known as fort bandits.
Roughly every town in the game will have a criminal organization established in it, while bandits will always be established just outside a civilized area, or somewhere in a cave. Regardless of the type of criminal group, there will always be a boss, and sometimes a lieutenant.
Gameplay[]
A group of human bandits in Adventure Mode. The light blue character is the player.
When playing in "Fortress Mode", interactions with bandits are somewhat limited to "Adventure Mode", due to the player's dwarven fortress being in a fixed location for the entirety of the game, whereas in Adventure Mode, the player can go wherever they choose. In Fortress Mode, bandits may randomly appear as visitors under a disguise with a false job title.
These visiting criminals that show up may be bandits, or from another criminal organization, but either way, they may not always necessarily have bad intentions in your fortress, as sometimes, they just want to socialize and drink at a tavern. However, some of them may plot to steal expensive artifacts in a player's fortress, and can even be spotted by others if they're caught sneaking around. If the player has established a justice system with a dungeon, these citizens can be punished by serving jail time. Bandits can siege a player's fortress if they embark close enough to one of their camps.
If a civilization (that is pre-generated, not created by the player) has the [BANDITRY] token, that token will have a percentage number associated with it, with that number dictating how much of a location's population will be bandits, and that location may have another token, [LOCAL_BANDITRY], which has that location send out bandit patrols to attack unfortunate travelers. This includes traveling merchants, the same ones that periodically visit a player's fortress to barter.
In Adventure Mode, there is much more interactivity with bandits, as well as seeing their actions, as well as stopping them if the player so chooses. Due to the overwhelmingly negative reputation they leave with law-abiding citizens. The reputation of bandits is so low, that it's actually worse than other types of criminals. The player can deal with bandits by taking on quests, or just searching for and dealing with them anyway. Killing bandits will always have nearby townsfolk praise the player, even giving him a title of "protector of the weak".
Nomadic bandits may found in the middle of forests, established camps, or the buildings of abandoned sites. Due to being nomads, they'll have little to no additional buildings, but will have a campfire and a pile of stolen goods. Fort bandits are far more organized, as the name would imply, they have made the effort to build their own fort, with different bandits holding different occupations within that fort. Every civilization and race has their own established ethics, including groups of bandits, which will obviously be vastly different from standard civilizations with laws.
Conversely, gaining a malevolent, negative reputation can make you hated in civilized areas, but admired by bandits. With this type of reputation, the player can visit a bandit settlement in Adventure Mode and ask a bandit leader to join them, and will be given the chance to do quests for them if these choices are taken. Before Adventure Mode has begun, the player can choose to play as an outsider and give themselves the kind of setup that would make them suitable for being a bandit from the start.
Personality[]
Thieving, murderous, and wrathful, bandits are seen as some of the lowest forms of life in the lore of the game, only to be rivaled by goblins. Despite this, some bandits are more forgiving than others, and may be more self-defensive than truly villainous. This means that some bandits can be closer to anti-villains. Nearly all bandits will have a background of being rejected in society, and having nowhere else to go in life other than joining a bandit faction.
Since bandits are almost always made of humans, goblins and kobolds, it is no surprise that bandits have villainous intent. The disgustingly murderous and power-hungry nature of goblins, mixed with the intelligence of humans and the naturally thieving nature of kobolds culminates into a dangerous group of criminals. Humans are normally good-natured and civilized, but can still be evil depending on how the game generates some of them.
Some bandits are simply trying to live their lives, as some can perform normal jobs within groups, rather than being the ones to perform crimes. These individuals only commit crimes if they are pressured into it. Certain bandit groups don't put much emphasis on hurting or killing others, which is seen directly when the player's Adventure Mode characters approach a bandit camp, as bandits might not even care if someone gets near them, and will even openly have conversations. This can also be the case even if the player is standing close to their ill-gotten goods.
Trivia[]
- In Adventure Mode, if one or more of the player's characters has an exceptionally high level of heroic fame, bandits attempting to ambush those characters may say "Ha-ha-halt!" instead of their standard announcement message. This is because bandits are stuttering in fear, being in the presence of such a strong, famous hero. This won't be the case if the bandit speaking has the
[NOFEAR].
Gallery[]
External Links[]
 Villains 
| ||
|
Enemies Immortal & Undead Night Creatures Other | ||