Social and Companions Guide

Settlement NPC Network (Services, Timing, and Value)

Settlements are your campaign’s social backbone: part marketplace, part workshop, part recovery node. NPCs are not decorative vendors, they are rotating access points that convert raw inventory into momentum.

Core service lanes:

• Trading: value-for-value barter shaped by trust, mood, and timing pressure
• Crafting services: specialist NPC pipelines that turn materials into capability spikes
• Support services: paid recovery/utility actions that keep route plans from collapsing after attrition

Practical rule:

• route through settlements when you need conversion (materials -> capability), not only when your pack is overflowing
• spend in this order: survival-critical service first, progression-critical service second, convenience last

Reputation and Access Control

Reputation is your settlement clearance level. It decides not only how welcome you feel, but which systems you can actually use when pressure rises.

What reputation controls in practice:

• trade pricing bands (for settlement barter):
• rep >= 50 -> discounted pricing (0.8x band before other modifiers)
• rep <= -10 -> hostile markup (1.5x band before other modifiers)
• service lockouts:
• room rental blocked below neutral (rep < 0)
• bounty board acceptance blocked below neutral (rep < 0)
• high-trust gates:
• specialized information typically needs 20+
• training commonly needs 50+
• companion recruitment at settlements can require very high trust (500+)

Campaign reality:

• when reputation falls, safety infrastructure collapses before threat levels do
• when reputation rises, transaction friction drops and long settlement routes become economically sustainable

Recovery priority if standing drops:

1. recover Neutral access first (rep >= 0) so rooms and boards reopen
2. restore cost efficiency (push toward positive trade bands)
3. return to expansion behavior only after service reliability stabilizes

Mood and Routine Friction

NPC output quality is dynamic. Mood shifts over time, routines affect availability, and both can decide whether an interaction is efficient, costly, or temporarily blocked.

Operational interpretation:

• bad social timing compounds cost (mood multipliers can push prices upward)
• good timing compounds value (stable/good mood windows improve deal quality)
• extreme negative states can hard-stop specific actions (for example, furious-state trade refusal in some flows)
• arriving during poor routine windows lowers reliability even if your reputation is decent

Use a timing-first loop:

1. read mood and availability signals before opening major transactions
2. execute critical actions while the NPC is responsive and calm
3. defer optional spending when routine/mood friction is high
4. return after a time shift instead of brute-forcing expensive or blocked exchanges

Companions and Field Utility

Companions are force multipliers with real constraints, not passive buffs. They are strongest when assigned with intent and rotated around mission pressure.

Use companions to:

• stabilize exploration tempo across risky route phases
• raise action consistency (gather/fish/track/craft style loops)
• patch specific weaknesses through role-specialized bonuses (combat, medicine, bartering, farming, scouting, etc.)

Companion management mindset:

• recruit for role fit, not collection count (MAX_COMPANIONS cap still applies)
• remember companion tenure and flow windows (legacy companion cycle logic includes a 7-day duration pattern)
• keep one active field companion strategy instead of random swaps
• budget companion actions and support costs inside the same economy as trade/crafting
• avoid burning progression-critical materials on low-impact companion convenience

Practical command:

• if a companion is not solving today’s pressure, reassign or dismiss cleanly and preserve resources for the next high-leverage phase.

Companion and Service Payment Strategy

Most social payments are value-resolution problems, not single-item checks. You are usually solving a target cost through a payment mix, and bad payment order can quietly stall your next power spike.

Strong payment discipline:

1. burn low-opportunity clutter first
2. burn renewable surplus second
3. protect a flexible emergency value pool
4. spend rare progression components only when survival or route control is at stake

Before paying, check:

• does this payment delay my next capability spike
• does this purchase reduce near-term failure risk
• does this unlock a service or route I need now (not later)

Field rule:

• if value exits inventory and no meaningful pressure is removed, delay the transaction.

Room Rentals as Risk Control

Room rentals are deliberate reset actions, not comfort spending. You are paying to stabilize timing, condition, and decision quality before a route breaks.

Use rental windows when they prevent chain-failure:

• before high-risk objectives
• after attrition spikes
• when night/weather timing would punish continued movement
• when carrying high-value cargo through uncertain terrain

Hard rules to remember:

• standard rental cost is 25 value
• rental access is blocked when local reputation drops below neutral (rep < 0)

Command rule:

• if rentals are locked, repair trust first; do not push high-variance routes without a recovery fallback

Integrated Social Playbook

Use this as your settlement-entry command sequence:

1. check local reputation band first (access and pricing depend on it)
2. read NPC mood/routine state before opening high-value transactions
3. execute critical actions in order: recovery -> route-critical trade -> progression craft
4. keep an emergency value reserve (do not spend your final flexible payment pool)
5. defer optional spending during poor social windows
6. depart only when next-route risk, condition, and payment buffer are all stable

Common Mistakes

• bleeding value across low-impact interactions until no reserve remains for critical service checks
• entering high-risk route phases with reputation below key access lines (rep < 0 locks rentals/board acceptance)
• brute-forcing trades while mood/routine friction is high (paying markup to save a little time)
• spending progression-critical materials out of habit instead of protecting capability spikes
• treating companions as passive flavor instead of timed, role-specific field assets with real gating and limits

Practical Rule

In social systems, access is power and reputation is the keycard. Keep trust above lockout bands, transact in favorable mood windows, and spend value only when it secures survival now or unlocks your next real capability jump.