Decorations
Decorations are fancy embellishments of your goods that usually greatly add to their value for trade and other purposes by adding another material to the base item. It's not possible to decorate twice with the same material (including the material of the item itself). Otherwise, the number of decorations on a single item is limited only by the number of different materials you have.
Most decorations have quality levels, separate from the item itself. When an item is decorated, it is shown with double angle brackets - for example, a decorated +steel battle axe+ becomes a «+steel battle axe+». Decoration quality is shown outside the brackets, the item quality remains within the brackets. So a *«+steel battle axe+»* means a +steel battle axe+ with *decorations* on it. When an item has more than one decoration the quality level of the best one is shown.
Different civilizations have different tastes when it comes to decorations and when trading may price an item differently than its value shown on the item information screen. Elves dislike spikes and will not adorn their own items with them, and will also refuse to offer anything for the decoration. On the other hand, they will estimate a decoration depicting a tree at twice its normal value, because elves like trees so much. These modifiers only affect the value of the decorations themselves, not of the base item.
Types of decorations
Bone, Hoof, Ivory or tooth, Pearl, Shell - At a craftsdwarf's workshop, objects can be decorated with bone, hoof, ivory or tooth, pearl, and shell. Requires bone carving. You cannot choose what kind of object to decorate.
Gem - At a jeweler's workshop, objects can be encrusted with cut gems (including cut glass or cut stones). You may specify whether to decorate furniture, finished goods or ammo. Requires gem setting.
Metal studs - At a metalsmith's forge, objects can be studded with various metals. Requires metalcrafting, but does not require fuel. The type of metal is chosen by the player, but the type of object is not.
Cloth - At a clothier's shop, cloth images (plant fiber, silk and yarn) can be sewn onto cloth and leather items, notably including leather armor, bags, ropes, and cloth and leather crafts. Requires clothesmaking.
Leather - At a leather works, leather images can be sewn onto cloth and leather items, with the same options and restrictions as the sewing of cloth images. Requires leatherworking.
Note on cloth and leather decorations: Only one image can be sewn onto an item. You cannot sew leather images onto items which already bear a cloth image and vice versa, and you cannot sew multiple images made of different leather or cloth types onto the same item.
| Furniture | Crafts | Clothing | Armor | Weapons | Ammo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bone, etc. | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Gem | Y | Y | Y | N | N | Y |
| Metal studs | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Cloth | Y (bags) | Y1 | Y | Y (leather) | N | N |
| Leather | Y (bags) | Y1 | Y | Y (leather) | N | N |
1 only finished goods made from cloth and leather are acceptable. These are ropes, quivers, waterskins, backpacks and cloth and leather crafts.