Forum: gaming.stackexchange.com
Tags: <dwarf-fortress>
Title: Should I keep caged prisoners?
Question: I've captured goblins with caged traps. I've already stolen all their stuff like explained  here , but now I don't know what to do with them.  Maybe my Dwarfs are happy seeing caged prisoners, but I'm not sure.  If I have to kill them, how do I do it?

Answers:
sents: text: Gladiatorial Games
text: There are a ton of different options, depending on your sense of fairness and the blood thirstiness of your dwarves, but the basic premise is the same, build a stadium, with a cage connected to a lever in the stadium (or 2+ cages for pitting goblins vs. monsters you've captured).
text: Make sure the stadium can be made inaccessible.
text: Pull the lever(s) and let out the creatures.
text: Some options: Archery gallery
text: so your Marksdwarves can practice their aim.
text: Not very sporting .
text: Leave the Goblin some (or all) of it's equipment when you put it up against a fearsome foe.
text: Possibly sporting "trap" new Nobles, and make them survive a trial by combat before they're allowed to govern.
text: This might require a bit more effort (EG a bedroom w/ limitable access in both directions.
text: Danger Course.
text: Make a path lined with traps.
text: If you're feeling particularly generous, this could even lead outside of your fort.
text: For added variety, make the stadium floodable with Lava, Water or both.
answer_details: author: gaming.stackexchange.com/users/1804/aslum
score: 26
sents: text: There is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping a Goblin and Kobold Zoo.
text: It's possible for dwarves to have a preference for goblins ("Urist likes Goblins for their Terrible Features"), and since Goblins (any non- friendly or tame unit, actually) don't need to be fed, they will (un)happily remain in cages indefinitely.
text: Just make sure to build a cage via the b uild menu, and voila!
text: Instant goblin petting zoo.
answer_details: author: gaming.stackexchange.com/users/336/Raven Dreamer
score: 19
sents: text: If you do want to kill them, you can use i to make a p it over a cliff with spikes at the bottom and then use P to assign them to it.
text: Then your dwarves will take them and throw them off the cliff.
text: This won't work for goblin kidnappers and thieves(which
text: all kobolds are I think) though as they'll slip away from your dwarves and try to fight/escape.
text: You'll have to manually release them , and have your military dwarves kill them/flood the room(with magma!).
answer_details: author: gaming.stackexchange.com/users/118/Ullallulloo
score: 3
sents: text: I always put them in a room where my archers can shoot at them but they can't get out.
text: Then I give my archers wooden arrows and just let them go at him.
text: Instant training pit.
answer_details: author: gaming.stackexchange.com/users/9835/TrewTzu
score: 2
sents: text: I always create a room for caged creatures with hatch-covered holes in the floor leading into 3x3 fighting rooms below.
text: Each hatch is then marked as a pit using 'i' and creatures can be easily dropped into a room with a dwarf warrior-in-training waiting to try out some killing.
text: By keeping the cages near the pit designations, my dwarves don't have to move the cages far.
text: Note that there's nothing stopping you from making the fighting rooms several Z levels lower than the storage to make sure larger creatures have broken legs before the fight.
answer_details: author: gaming.stackexchange.com/users/22621/mikebabcock
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
You can keep a Goblin zoo. You can also hold gladiatorial games, a danger course lined with traps or let your dwarves practise their aim.
It is apparent that caging prisoners is allowed, although there are several ways to kill them.