Yes, it's been mentioned before, but only twice, and never in much detail. So here I go.
The player can appoint a matchmaker once they have a mayor, with the relevant skills being Observer, Conversationalist, and Persuader. If they choose not to appoint one, then after 5 years or so (shorter if the fort has a high proportion of unmarried dwarves, and what fort doesn't), a matchmaker might appoint herself, prompted by her own traits (high Empathy, Altruism, & Social Awareness, but low Bashful), attributes (high Family, Tradition, & Self-Control, but maybe low Romance), and personal circumstances (weighted in favor of dwarves who have been married, and those who worship a god of marriage / family / love / etc). Also, the matchmaker cannot be (or become) the mayor. If dismissed from the role, a self-appointed matchmaker will not do so again, but can be reinstated, and other dwarves may also unilaterally assume the part. A matchmaker requires a Modest Office.
Why would I want a matchmaker?
In general, allowing your fort's child needs to be met by just 4 or 5 married couples would quickly lead to (if DF used real genetics) a dangerously shallow gene pool and (if DF had family names) everybody in the fort having the same name. Besides, 15 families of 4 kids each is a lot more realistic than 4 families of 15 kids each. But in particular, a matchmaker allows you to encourage specific pairings (in a much more plausible way than just locking the couple in a room for a year), making it much easier to, say, use your best athletes as breeding stock, or pair off your favorite dwarf with the unmarried King. It's also the fastest way to raise population in an extinct civ (that isn't going to be sending you any migrants). And it's great for roleplaying flavor, letting you feel involved in the private lives of your dwarves, allowing you to literally outlaw any sort of hanky-panky from that no-good Hauler who keeps hanging around the mayor's oldest girl. Last but not least, the matchmaker knows her clients' sexual orientations, and won't spend several months trying to get 2 dwarves in the mood only to later discover that one (or both) of them just doesn't swing that way.
Why might I not want a matchmaker?
If you use her too aggressively, you could cause your fort to explode with babies more rapidly than you'd like, and all arranged marriages carry the risk that the spouses might end up not loving--or indeed, even outright disliking--each other, which could have various fun consequences. (Then again, if we're being realistic here, those consequences should occur almost as often in self-arranged love-matches, too.)
If I have a matchmaker, what should I expect to see / what would I be expected to do?
1. Occasionally (3-4 times a year?), parents of eligible children (who may or may not still be actual children, different civs may have different ethics standards on this) will Conduct Meeting with the matchmaker in her office, and ask to arrange a courtship between their offspring and a specific other dwarf. They will present her with a small gift, as payment for this service. The matchmaker will then have a meeting with the parent(s) of the intended, and see if they are amenable to the match. If so, courting (described below) can begin. This process can also be initiated by the young dwarf him/herself (rather than a parent/guardian), and/or speak directly to the intended object of affection (instead of their parents), but if the matchmaker has to go behind anyone's back, she will usually "charge" a higher fee.
2. Once a year (probably the anniversary of when the matchmaker took the job, or some holy day important to the god of marriage/etc), she will go Conduct Meeting with the mayor, and apprise him of pending/potential romances in the fort. This is merely a formality, as all the visit does is open up the Matchmaker screen, which is available all year long (provided that you have a matchmaker) just like the Manager's, Stocks, and Medical screens. There are two sides to the matchmaker screen. The first lists the matches that she has already been asked to arrange, while the second lists all other potential matches: If two dwarves are the right gender, the right age, and the matchmaker thinks there's at least a decent chance that they'll like each other*, that pairing will appear in the list. On both sides, the mayor/overseer is able to view the details of any individual dwarf listed, each pairing has the matchmaker's rating of how successful she thinks that relationship is going to be*, and you may choose to [Forbid / Discourage / Neutral / Encourage / Mandate] any particular couple (Access to the Forbid & Mandate options might be dependent on the ethics of your civ).
* The matchmaker can definitely be wrong in her assessments; her accuracy depends on her Observer & Conversationalist skills, and how well she knows both dwarves in question.
What does courtship look like?
The matchmaker has a one-on-one meeting with each of the dwarves in question to get a feel for their likes & dislikes, and then meets with each one again to give counsel on successful wooing, such as trying (or pretending) to like the other dwarf's preferences and/or religious beliefs. (Personal traits, especially Closeminded and Disdain_Advice, may have a positive or negative modifier on how effective this is.) She will suggest a series of "dates": Depending on the couple's personal tastes, these dates could take place in a statue garden, artifact museum, mushroom grove, tavern, temple, library, etc., and there's only one per month, so both partners have plenty of time for their other duties. Now, because the matchmaker is a professional and isn't in the business of pimping casual flings, the couple will remain in the dating period for more than one full year--long enough for her to have met with the mayor twice after starting the job. After the second annual meeting, if the couple are still only Acquaintances, the match is called off. But if they have progressed to Friends (or ideally even Lovers), then a betrothal ceremony is held, and the matchmaker collects a second fee, from the wealthier of the two families. After another full year of betrothal (and another meeting with the mayor), the two are married, and the matchmaker receives her third & final payment. Note: If the matchmaker does not keep encouraging the match during the betrothal phase, the couple might stop dating, possibly causing their relationship status to drop. You might see weddings where the "happy" couple are merely Long-term Acquaintances.
What sort of influence does the overseer/mayor have on courtship?
If a match is declared Forbidden, any meaningful contact between the parties will be considered a civil crime, and subject to punishment accordingly. Depending on the availability of militia members with nothing better to do, one or more may choose to tail one of the would-be lovers (the one from the wealthier family if that dynamic is in place, otherwise they'll follow the female, & if it's a same-sex couple they'll shadow the younger one). Dwarves who witness any kind of meeting between the pair (even a conversation in a meeting area) will likely report it & may verbally chastise the couple, and militia members can also physically apprehend one or both of the profligates. These dwarves can expect a small reward for their civic diligence (ideally from the richer family, otherwise from the mayor), although depending on circumstances like multiple witnesses, maybe they could be bribed to keep their silence. Dwarves charged with violating their restraining order can expect to be sentenced to simple public humiliation at first, progressing to things like flogging after repeat offenses, and perhaps even execution if the social status of the other partner warrants it.
If a match is Discouraged, it behaves much like a Forbidden one, but with the following differences: Dwarves who witness the pair meeting are just as likely to scold them, but they won't report it as a crime unless the couple are in a "date" location, or eating together. Militiadwarves are very unlikely to follow either partner (unless one family is much richer than the other), and will only interrupt "dates". Punishments for repeat offenders are capped at banishment.
If a match is Encouraged, the matchmaker will collect fees from the mayor, even if she's already being paid by one of the families. If your fort has a clergy of a god of Marriage/etc., he will occasionally visit both dwarves to preach his evangel. The matchmaker will urge the couple to take up a relatively new skill, so they can learn together (this can result in both dwarves spontaneously being allowed to perform a labor that was previously turned off for them)--the particular labor chosen is weighted in favor of one that the matchmaker or priest can teach them. Every month, the matchmaker will visit both dwarves, reminding them of their scheduled date, and the Manager (assuming you have one, which of course you do) will assign the couple no duties for a couple of days at this time. Other dwarves who see the couple on a date won't interrupt them, although they may decide to discreetly play music, especially love songs; they will expect some small payment for this service. If either member of the couple fails to attend a date, this causes strong resentment at being stood up--this negative feeling can be erased with subsequent successful dates, but multiple skipped dates can quickly lead to a Grudge, which will end the courtship, and the guilty party may be sentenced to public humiliation. If the full courtship period progresses as normal, however, a relationship status of Long-Term Acquaintance or better will result in legal betrothal. Unlike a regular courtship, an Encouraged match continues to receive the matchmaker's support throughout the betrothal phase as well, and will fail only if a Grudge develops.
Finally, a Mandated match is much like Encouraged, except instead of simply being allowed a new labor, both dwarves are formally apprenticed to a third, who will oversee them & get them working as a team. They will be worked hard, to make them lean on each other--this can backfire if one has significantly better stats than the other, as they'll resent the other's weakness. They will get few breaks apart from their monthly date--which will be attended by a militiadwarf (if one is available) to enforce participation. Multiple missed dates by the same dwarf will probably result in a public beating, then flogging. Betrothal, and even marriage, will occur even if the relationship status has descended to Grudge--although two dwarves being forced to marry someone they hate will naturally complain to their friends . . . meaning that a mayor who forces a wedding under such conditions might be asking for an actual riot, on top of a family atmosphere of frequent (and likely fatal) domestic violence.
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Topic: Minor noble: Matchmaker (Read 1108 times)