Ok, so I decided to see if I could learn this. I'm using the Phoebus tileset (because, seriously, I hate ASCII), and I'm on my second fortress with it. I abandoned my first fort once I learned the ropes.
So...how are things going? Well, I have 30-40 dwarves, and most of them are ecstatically happy. That's the good side. The bad sides...well, I decided - after getting hit by child-napper after child-napper - to completely seal my base from the surface. (I have iron and plenty of wood by this point.) So, about 10-20 minutes after I do that, a Goblin army shows up. Ok, good timing, I think. Then a forgotten beast shows up, and it's made of
fire. He immediately burns down almost every tree left outside. Then he burns up the Goblin army. I'm afraid to go out.
Then my dwarves started getting really thirsty, because for some reason my "repeat task" on the stills canceled. So I opened up access to an underground reservoir, and then accidentally trapped most of my dwarves in the mud.
Fortunately, I got to them in time. Oh, and I'm pretty sure there's a vampire somewhere in my fort.
And yet, my dwarves are still ecstatically happy. My theory is that the fungus growing on the floor of my fort is drugging them. Or maybe its my penchant for statues and tons of food. In any case, we cannot get out, so we're going deeper.