As has been previously suggested, the Mountainhome's outpost liaison would be prudent to both enter and leave the map at the same place and time as the merchant caravan--presumably, both parties have other dwarven settlements to visit, and of course most of the time it only makes sense to travel with an armed guard if you have the option to do so. But even making that alteration would do little but change the liaison's schedule from "six months of doing pretty much nothing" to "two months of doing pretty much nothing." Instead of just hanging out in the tavern or temple, I propose fleshing the role out more by adding activities like the following:
* Conduct Meeting with various citizens: the bookkeeper, a militia captain, the chief medical dwarf, a Grower, a Miner, a Priest, and a handful of random passers-by, on every visit. The liaison will ask their opinion about the general welfare of the fortress, and any personal concerns they might have. Upset and unhappy dwarves should make a point of seeking out the liaison specifically to complain, especially if their visits to the mayor have had little effect.
* Perform some Song / Dance / Music in the Tavern, and Play / Play Make believe with some children. The liaison knows that he's more likely to get honest answers from the people he interviews if they can first see that he's approachable. (The outpost liaison releases the grip of The outpost liaison's right hand on the dwarven child's nose.)
* Perform useful work: No dwarf (well, except nobles) eats & drinks for free, and the liaison does have a day job, so why not practice it? The liaison should arrive with a labor (or two) enabled, and have a chance of accepting a fort order to perform that labor. They shouldn't work as much as a citizen, of course, but they could still contribute a couple of times during their stay. What's more, they would be seen to contribute, thus further encouraging the interviewees to be forthcoming.
* Explore some of the fortress's key locations (library, hospital, barracks, temple(s), crypts, a farm plot or two, a tour of various active workshops, animal pastures, etc.), paying particular attention to places that had been built or designated since the liaison's previous visit (or even during the current one).
* Personally assess the fortress's wealth: Not in the sense of doing the bookkeeper's job, but rather by sampling the fort's food & drink, visiting stockpiles to examine the quality produced by the various industries, observing the state of wear on the clothing worn by average folk, worshiping in the temple, reading a library book, poking & mocking any captive goblins, and seeing if a suspiciously large percentage of statues & engravings are in honor of the fort's living nobles--as opposed to historical figures, workers, and of course the civilization's rulers.
* Judge the fort's military readiness: In addition to visiting the barracks & interviewing a member of the militia or two, the liaison could/should demand a full squad review, lining the troops up for an inspection of their gear, and watching a sparring demonstration.
* Attend a wedding / funeral, if one happens to be taking place.
* Sleep, in his own bedroom. Ideally, there should also be a private office and a workshop space (at least 5x5, in case he's a Siege Operator), with all rooms reserved for the liaison's use--assigned to the office of liaison, not to the individual. The liaison automatically has clearance to disassemble any building in his workshop area, and build a new one of his choice in its place.
* Most importantly, the liaison should Conduct two Meetings during each visit--once with the mayor (or exp.leader) upon arrival, and once with the mayor and exp.leader/baron/count/duke just before leaving. (The broker and/or bookkeeper could also be present, at one or both.)
First meeting: The liaison reminds the mayor/broker/Overseer about the previous year's trade agreement, and asks after the status of last year's Directives (more on those in a second). It is then the mayor's/Overseer's turn to make Requests of the Mountainhome. This would open a new menu with categories and items, such as:
Migrants--request more Masons, request more Hammerdwarves, request experienced Animal Trainer, request fewer migrant children, request fewer migrants in general, etc.
Trade--request marble in bulk, request cassiterite in bulk, request live pond turtles, etc.
Military--request siege against [specify nearby site], request mercenary band [specify size] to defend the fort for 1 or more years [specify length of contract], request declaration of war against [specify civilization], request cessation of hostilities, etc.
Megaproject--request road be built between [specify nearby site] and [specify point on map edge]
Relax Directives: This is the default request option (for newbie convenience), and does nothing except ask that the Mountainhome's demands (both current and immediate-future) on your fortress be lowered by 20-50%.
The outpost gives no answer, yea or nay, to these requests at this time--although if the mayor (or especially broker, if present) has the Judge of Intent skill, they will get an impression of how the liaison generally feels about the number/magnitude of the requests.
Second meeting: This meeting is the deadline for the fortress to have met last year's Directives. (If they had already been satisfied by the first meeting, this will please the liaison.) The Mountainhome's Directives are procedurally generated (and greatly influenced by the starting scenario), but follow the same general pattern as the Requests:
Migrants--The fort will accept, feed, and clothe all migrants without question, etc.
Trade--The fort will tribute [procedurally generated quantity] bars of bronze or bismuth bronze per year, the fort will try to establish friendly contact/trade relations with [nearby civilization], the fort will tribute [price] dwarfbucks' worth of cut gems, etc.
Military--the fort will equip, train, & conscript 5 Adequate Speardwarves to go join the Mountainhome's army, etc.
Project--build/designate a new area (temple to a specific god, a 2nd tavern open to guests to encourage visitors, a suite for the liaison to stay/work in, etc), or make improvements to an existing one (usually by expanding it, or adding expensive furniture).
Public Relations--if multiple citizens are complaining about the same problems, the Mountainhome will very likely expect the mayor to have solved those problems within the year.
Megaproject--the fort will build a road from [specified point on map edge] to the Trade Depot, the fort will build a wall or other obstacle [procedurally chosen # of tiles to construct in the coming year] that seals out invaders coming from the [chosen direction], etc.
There is also the option to Request a Directive: This is a plea to reduce the Mountainhome's chosen Directive (stacks with the "Relax Directives" option in the first meeting, if applicable, but cannot remove it entirely), in exchange for also completing some other directive chosen by the Overseer. This will be a common choice for players who wish to be generally freed from distractions while working on a megaproject of their own design.
First, the outpost outlines what sort of profit margins the fort can expect when trading to next year's caravan. As he's seen the stockpiles & examined the quality of the goods produced by both the Bowyer and the Jeweler (as well as being personally familiar with the Mountainhome's needs), he can advise the fort on whether they should be trying to sell crossbows or bracelets next time. Next, he opens the floor to the usual Trade requests, allowing the mayor to ask for certain materials from the caravan--now that the Overseer knows that jewelry is going to be at a premium next year, they might as well ask for a few bars of gold in addition to their usual requests.
Finally, and most importantly, the outpost liaison reviews how well the fortress has been performing (completion of last year's Directives, healthy industrial performance, good citizen satisfaction, a strong military, good average profit margin for the Mountainhome caravan, etc), and weighs that against the balance of the fortress's Requests vs. the Mountainhome's Directives. The liaison then decides, and announces, what Directives he will expect to have been met by his next visit: If the fortress is doing well and has only modest requests of the Mountainhome, then the liaison will govern with a light touch, agreeing to satisfy the requests (note: This does not guarantee that they will be met) and generally imposing only the minimum Directives (although he may ask for more if he believes the fort can handle the strain). But if the fortress is slacking off, and making requests far out of proportion to its net worth to the civilization, then he will laugh at any Requests made, and impose stiff Directives. Continued failure to satisfy the liaison will likely result in the Mountainhome sending an officer to outright depose and replace the current mayor and/or noble.
These changes, if implemented, would not only make the business of dealing with visiting diplomats far more realistic, and of course make the Outpost Liaison a very important and dynamic figure, but also give the player much more in-game interaction with the Mountainhome, as well as with other nearby sites. It goes hand-in-hand with the Embark Scenarios plan, and by the possibility of gradually ramping up the intensity of various Directives, it introduces a new way to increase the challenges of the late game, which IMO is sorely needed.
Author
Topic: Expanded outpost liaison interactions (Read 868 times)