Is it OK for an expert in a topic to post about unrelated topics?
@evan strong yes because I don’t want to only be able to post about playing Dwarf Fortress all day
@foo There's a lot of wisdom out there about how to choose a decent embark, but when you're customizing, I recommend getting several large birds, which can give you eggs and meat, and you don't need to feed them. Geese are really great because they have a lot of fat. Get one or two males and several females and if you forbid their eggs when they lay, or lock the room their nest boxes are in, usually they'll hatch and breed fairly quickly.
@foo When you first embark, assuming you started somewhere with a river or brook, if the weather gets too hot or cold it might dry up or freeze seasonally, which is bad. Dig a cistern right away that's protected underground before the seasons change. I like to put floodgates to be able to turn off flow into the cistern, and fortifications to keep debris from floating in, but both of those things will slow your progress and could put the cistern in peril.
@foo I try to build enough structures above ground where it's light, otherwise the dwarves will become too accustomed to the dark and will get sick when they go outside. So as soon as I build a nice healthy perimeter wall, I line the inside of them with bedrooms. I also build a tavern above ground where they can eat and drink comfortably.
Don't forget to put a moat around the walls, at least 5 squares wide, and build the wall up 2 levels, then overhang a platform one square out to stop climbers
@foo Aside from all that, also focus on getting an underground farm plot built quickly, and set it to grow plump helmets year-round. Forbid your kitchens from cooking them (for now) and just let your breweries take them. Dwarves have to be drunk to be happy, and most of them prefer dwarven drinks made from underground crops, so keep that alcohol supply flowing.
I also like to start right away with kitchens. Prepared meals are my trade item of choice. They can be worth a lot at the depot.
@foo The last bit of early defense you should have after a drawbridge and a moat are marksdwarves. You can build crossbows and bolts from wood (for now), and quivers, backpacks, waterskins, and armor from leather you trade for at the depot, since it's cheap.
Build an archery range with a ditch behind the targets (missed bolts fall into the ditch for reuse) and make four squads with one dwarf in each. Take the time to set up a schedule so squads practice and patrol on alternate months
@foo Oh, and I forgot cage traps. You should be cranking out mechanisms at a mechanic's workshop like crazy, and build cage traps all around the edge of your moat, along your roads, etc.. Enemies will become caged, and you can put the cage somewhere safe like an elevated platform with a drawbridge, and a lever to open the cage. Put your marksdwarves where they can shoot at the prisoner when the cage opens, and they get valuable combat experience. I build a special room for this underground.