One of the most enjoyable aspects of Dwarf Fortress is seeing your dwarves be creative and express themselves fully on their own. It’s unlike anything else in gaming. However, some kinds of expression will necessitate the use of specific materials. Unsurprisingly, these minerals frequently need sophisticated techniques to get. This is especially true of writing supplies, which can be found in any library and are required if your dwarfs want to write any books.
How to Make Writing Supplies
There are many various forms of writing material you may create, but scrolls are often the simplest to get. It’s worth noting that they may be the simplest to obtain through trade, especially if you’re early in a run and don’t yet have many of the essential buildings for paper manufacture. If you don’t have papyrus on your map, the simplest way to obtain scrolls is to use plant fibers, which should be plentiful virtually wherever.
Once you’ve gathered an abundance of plant fibers, you’ll need a quern, which you may make in a stoneworker’s workshop. Then, using your quern, crush the plants into a slurry. The mash will next be pressed into paper sheets using a screw press. It is important to note that manufacturing a screw press necessitates the use of two mechanisms, regardless of their kind. Add a job (or work order) to “press plant sludge onto paper sheet” once you have a screw press. Finally, scroll rollers will be required to convert these sheets into scrolls. Scroll rollers can be made from a variety of materials, including glass, metal, and wood. Make at least two of the scroll rollers of your choosing from the work order menu (o). Once you have your paper sheets and scroll rollers, you may use the craftsdwarf’s workshop to make scrolls.
How to Use Writing Supplies
The secret to getting your dwarves to actually write on your scrolls isn’t easy, but there are a few things you can do to speed things up. First, create a library. This, like every other room, necessitates the creation of a new zone under the zone menu (z.) Because a library is a subset of a meeting space, put it first before assigning it as a library. Your best chance from here is to assign a scribe to the library, use the “set details” item in the zones menu, and provide plenty of tables and chairs for work and gathering. Furthermore, it appears that dwarves will be more inclined to write if they have books to read, so acquire them from any traders that pass through before constructing bookshelves in the library to put them in.
