I'm just starting out on my first fortress and trying to choose a location. One of the big things I'm looking to avoid is proximity to goblins, but I can't find a way to interpret the proximity screen. The current area I'm looking at looks a bit like this:
Dwarves
Elves
Goblins ______
Humans
What does this mean?
Best Answer
Goblins are a fact of dwarven life. Trying to avoid proximity to goblins is like trying to avoid proximity to air: pointless, and counterproductive if you succeed. For many fortresses, goblin attacks are a primary source of iron ore, so finding somewhere they don't happen may cripple your steel industry. You would have to make do with lame bronze weapons, like filthy above-ground-dwelling humans, and that's just undwarven.
This particular screen is telling you that there are nearby civilizations of all four races, and only the goblin civilization is at war with you. (Goblins are almost always at war with everyone.) Sometimes you'll find that nearby elves or, more rarely, humans are also at war with you, in which case they'll send invading armies instead of trade caravans during the appropriate season; alternately, sometimes one or more races will be absent entirely. This screen is telling you that this isn't the case for this location. Therefore, your fortress will normally receive trade caravans year-round (elves in spring, humans in summer, dwarves in autumn) and will likely suffer goblin attacks, which can happen in any season. Because a dwarven civilization exists nearby, you will also receive immigrants normally; with no dwarves nearby, only the first two waves of immigrants will show up, and then you'll be cut off from additional dwarfpower.