This is the Dwarven Hive mod. It should be compatible with most other mods, with only minor tweaking (e.g. altering Dwarves to lack Civ_Controllable).


First, thanks to those who contributed to the brainstorming, and especially to TomiTapio and Deon for their assistance. I'dve never gotten a few things nailed down without their help.

I'd love comments, suggestions and any help you might be able to offer, as I kinda don't think I'm really good at this.

I recently picked up Dwarf Fortress Advanced, Genesis, and Fort Defense, and over the past couple weeks I mashed 'em together for maximum Fun. The dwarven Castes of the first two mods were particularly interesting to me, and I wound up thinking of creating my own mod.


The object of this mod is to create a hive of dwarven society that has been converted into an insectoid swarm following a magical accident. They must contend with not only the regular threats of dwarven fortresses, but also the problem of rival hives and the savage Spider-Elves.


Most of the castes have a speed rating assigned to them, based off the statement that a normal dwarf's speed is 900.

The castes as they currently are:

Drone - [speed:50], [noemotions], very small size and no skill learning rate except for brewing. They're the basic worker and hauler, good only for jobs that are merely instinct to the species. They have, however, developed a blazing speed. Most common caste, and most severely stricken by the transformation; they're entirely insectoid. Note that their tissues are all vascular; they bleed to death from the tiniest cut.

Rock - [speed:2000], body material is gypsum, no nerves, no ranged weapon skill. They're less than half as fast as regular dwarves but physically very tough. They'd be excellent miners except for their speed; as it is, they learn stonecrafting, masonry and engraving quickly, producing high-quality results at a plodding rate. Fearless, and favoring blunt weaponry.

Flesh - [speed:400] Soft-bodied but quick dwarves with a bent towards duty, these dwarves are extremely strange. Their touch inflicts a syndrome that causes numbness (not in - contact-based syndromes don't work) - which rarely sees use in battle, as the caste is physically frail and doesn't learn combat skills. However, considering their ability, they make excellent doctors. In addition to having innate medical knowledge, they make good butchers, tanners, leatherworkers and bone crafters.

Wood - [speed:1200] Dwarves who are excellent with anything related to plants (or similar). They don't bleed, get tired, or eat, deriving nutrients from the stone beneath their feet and the booze they liberally sprinkle into their prodigious beards. Skilled with axes, but like most Hive castes, not so much with armor or shield use; also good at carpentry, clothesmaking, and any and all plant-based crafts and farming. (If I could make them only eat elves, I would...)

Magma - [speed:2000] These dwarves are immune to heat and do not breathe. They are excellent at working on metals, but like the Rock caste, are slow. I've been trying to give them a very hot fluid that they inject on a bite, but it doesn't actually work. Magma dwarves are always female.

Blood - With two arms and two pincers, the Blood caste is ridiculously good at mining and fighting. They're not good for much else, though, and are very short-tempered. (No patience, no empathy - we'll see how that works out.) One of only three female castes; this is important because you don't get more than two waves of migrants.

Stinger - Stinger dwarves are an advanced form of drone, slower and more of a mix of dwarf and bug. They're better in the military but still tend to die easily.

Soil - A rare caste that is nearly required in the dwarven hive, the Soil caste is nearly the only one that is free-thinking enough to be social with other races. Because of this, the rest of the hive is beneath this caste - hence the name of soil. In addition to social skills, the soil caste is better at glassmaking, pottery, and some forms of farming.

Beast - [speed:600] Strong, fast, and nearly feral, the Beast caste specializes in getting close to enemies and tearing them to shreds with sharp weaponry. They're also hunters, trackers, and butchers. They can learn to wear armor, but prefer not to, leading to a frequently short lifespan in battle.

Royal - Clearly the most versatile caste, they're able to perform any job. To us, however, they're almost completely normal, vanilla dwarves (albeit with great attributes and learning rate). Very rare, and the last females of the hive.

NOTE: Military commanders and captains HAVE to be female - that means blood, magma and royal dwarves only. All captains and commanders require awesome rooms to keep them happy. This may require some tweaking.

You can install this by copying the files in the .zip into any raw folder; they should work with nearly any mod, as-is, but you may wish to alter CIV_CONTROLLABLE to make sure you only get to play as the species you want to play as.