Noble

xTATTEREDx  · +FINE+  · *SUPERIOR*  · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡  · ☼MASTERWORK☼

v50.14 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

Nobles, such as Brokers, Managers, Bookkeepers, Chief medical dwarves, and Militia commanders, are elevated dwarves which can perform a specific task or duty unique to their position, such as managing work orders and trading with merchants. These nobles, which we'll conjecturally term as utility nobles, can be irreplaceable stalwarts of the fortress, dutifully serving its citizens until the end of its days.

But when players talk about "nobles", they're often referring to the types of nobles who think they're irreplaceable stalwarts of the fortress, and they are soundly described below.

Nobles are snotty, good-for-nothing parasites dwarves elevated to a position to "rule" over your fortress. They provide a critical happiness bonus to unhappy and stressed dwarves, who yell at or cry on the nobles, providing a safety valve for your most stressed dwarves. They are also responsible for interacting with outpost liaisons. Some nobles may be player-appointable, like Mayors, but they're often chosen by factors beyond the player's control, and sometimes select heirs for their positions.

Some of them can make demands and set mandates, which, if not met, will upset the noble and result in punishments for your dwarves if the fortress has a sheriff or captain of the guard. They are also aware of their social status and want expensive, well-furnished rooms and other personal goodies such as cabinets and armor stands (unlike their counterparts, utility nobles are generally very humble and don't bother with such frivilites). Some of them are also envivious bastards and do not want a lesser dwarf to have a better room. If the noble is too much of a problem and cannot be fired, it is possible to arrange an unfortunate accident for them. Be careful though, the death of a noble, especially a popular one like a Mayor, may cause unhappy thoughts and stress among the general populace, and the replacement noble may be even worse.

It is possible for some of your dwarves to hold noble titles over other parts of the dwarven kingdom. These dwarves are still capable of issuing mandates in your fort, however, and demand the same sort of privileged treatment as any other non-utility noble.

Humans, elves and goblins have nobles of their own, with some of the positions of their civilizations being exclusive to them, such as human law-makers and elven druids. While civilized, kobolds and subterranean animal people have no nobles.

Triggers

Landholding nobles have triggers defined in the "entity_default.txt" raws. Prior to v0.44.11, these triggers would activate the associated nobles directly; in the current version, these triggers allow the foundation of new holdings and the number of holdings activates the nobles instead.

• Population - Minimum population required for this position to become available.
• Created Wealth - Minimum created wealth for this position to become available.
• Exported Wealth - Minimum exported wealth for this position to become available.
• Holdings - Minimum number of fortress holdings for this position to become available.^v0.44.11

Land Holder	Population	Created Wealth	Exported Wealth	Holdingsv0.44.11
Baron	20	100k	10k	1
Count	20	200k	20k	4
Duke	20	300k	30k	9

Needs

Below are the room demands made by each position. For details on room values see: Room. It also lists the number of chests, cabinets, weapon racks, and armor stands they demand. Finally, it shows the maximum number of demands and mandates they can issue at any given point.

Position	Quarters	Dining Room	Office	Tomb	Chests	Cabinets	Racks	Stands	Demands	Mandates
Baron	4Decent Quarters	4Decent Dining Room	4Decent Office	4Tomb	2	1	1	1	2	1
Bookkeeper	0—	0—	1Meager Office	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—
Broker	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—
Captain of the Guard	3Quarters	3Dining Room	3Office	0—	1	1	1	1	0—	0—
Champion	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	1	0—
Chief medical dwarf	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—
Count	6Great Bedroom	6Great Dining Room	6Throne Room	6Mausoleum	3	2	2	2	3	2
Diplomat	6Great Bedroom	6Great Dining Room	6Throne Room	0—	3	2	2	2	3	0—
Duke	7Grand Bedroom	7Grand Dining Room	7Opulent Throne Room	7Grand Mausoleum	5	3	3	3	5	3
Dungeon master	3Quarters	3Dining Room	3Office	0—	1	1	1	1	0—	0—
Expedition leader	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—
General	3Quarters	3Dining Room	4Decent Office	1Grave	2	1	3	3	2	0—
Hammerer	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—
Manager	0—	0—	1Meager Office	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—
Mayor	4Decent Quarters	4Decent Dining Room	4Decent Office	0—	2	1	1	1	2	1
Militia captain	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—
Militia commander	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—	0—
Monarch	8Royal Bedroom	8Royal Dining Room	8Royal Throne Room	8Royal Mausoleum	910	5	5	5	910	5
Outpost liaison	6Great Bedroom	6Great Dining Room	6Throne Room	0—	3	2	2	2	3	0—
Sheriff	2Modest Quarters	2Modest Dining Room	2Modest Office	0—	1	1	1	1	0—	0—

Notes

This shows various notes for each position taken from the raws.

• # - lists whether one or more dwarves can have this position. Duke/Count/Baron don't have a number listed, but each fortress can only have one.
• Squad - Lists the number and type of dwarf that this position leads
• Spouse - The noble's spouse is also considered a noble, being called "[noble] consort". No privileges are attached to them, except of course the fact that they share the rooms with their spouse.
• Heir - Is this individual replaced by an heir when they die?
• Appointed By - Which position appoints this person initially? Note that the player actually controls all appointments via the noble screen; this is, in effect, only which dwarf is necessary before the player can make the appointment. Barons aren't directly appointed but elevated (presumably by the mountainhome) upon recommendation of the player. They cannot be replaced via the 'n'obles screen. Once a baron/countess/duke dies, no new nobles can be created, either.
• Replaced By - What position replaces this one?
• Pop Req - Minimum population required for this position to become available.
• Wealth Req - Minimum created & exported wealth (respectively) for this position to become available.
• Elected - Is this dwarf elected?
• Lazy - Such nobles won't do any regular labors aside from pulling levers, deconstructing walls, and some other things. Currently non-functional, so "lazy" nobles can still be assigned to perform any labor.
• Immunity - Immune dwarves aren't punished for any crimes.
• Econ Exempt - These dwarves don't need money to pay for goods or rooms after the economy arrives. Due to the economy currently being disabled, this privilege goes unused for now.
• Military Screen Only - This position is only listed on the military screen.
• Jealous - These dwarves will become upset if their rooms are not better than those of "lesser" dwarves. They don't have to see the rooms to become upset, since they somehow just know such rooms exist.

Position	#	Squad	Spouse	Heir	Appointed By	Replaced By	Pop Req	Wealth Req	Elected	Lazy	Immunity	Econ Exempt	Military Screen Only	Jealous
Baron	-	-	Yes	Yes	Monarch	Count	20	100k / 10k	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	-	Yes
Bookkeeper	1	-	-	-	Exp.Leader/Mayor	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Broker	1	-	-	-	Exp.Leader/Mayor	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Captain of the Guard	1	10:Fortress Guard	-	-	Exp.Leader/Mayor	-	50	-	-	-	-	Yes	-	-
Champion	1	-	-	-	Duke/Count/Baron	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	-	-
Chief Medical Dwarf	1	-	-	-	Exp.Leader/Mayor	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Count	-	-	Yes	Yes	Monarch	Duke	20	200k / 20k	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	-	Yes
Diplomat	1	-	-	-	Monarch	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	-	Yes
Duke	-	-	Yes	Yes	Monarch	-	20	300k / 30k	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	-	Yes
Expedition Leader	1	-	-	-	-	Mayor	-	-	-	-	-	Yes	-	-
General	1	10:Soldier	-	-	Monarch	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	-	Yes
Hammerer	1	-	-	-	Exp.Leader/Mayor	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	-	-
Manager	1	-	-	-	Exp.Leader/Mayor	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Mayor	1	-	-	-	-	-	50	-	Yes	-	-	Yes	-	-
Militia Captain	1+	10:Militia-dwarf	-	-	Militia Commander	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Yes	-
Militia Commander	1	10:Militia-dwarf	-	-	Exp.Leader/Mayor	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Monarch	1	-	Yes	Yes	Armok himself	-	140	It's complicated	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	-	Yes
Outpost Liaison	1	-	-	-	Monarch	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	-	Yes
Sheriff	1	-	-	-	Exp.Leader/Mayor	Captain of the Guard	-	-	-	-	-	Yes	-	-

Appointed noble selection

Appointed nobles are chosen by the player via the (n)oble menu (though technically, in-universe they are being appointed by higher-ranking nobles; see below). There are certain social skills that are relevant for each appointed noble's job, and not all dwarves will gain experience in the given skill; some dwarves will never gain experience in certain skills, this is determined by each dwarf's personal traits, and it is therefore important to select the dwarf with the appropriate set of traits for each position.

When choosing a dwarf to assign to a noble position, the list of choices is sorted by the skill relevant to the job. This is especially important when appointing utility nobles.

• Military leaders (Captains of the guard, Militia commanders, and Militia captains) use the Leader and Military tactics skills, among others.

• Managers use the Organizer skill.

• Chief medical dwarves are usually appointed based on their qualifications as a Diagnostician, though of course you need more than just diagnosis for a functional hospital.

• Brokers most critically use the Judge of intent and Appraiser skill, among other Social skills.

• Bookkeepers have their very own Record keeper skill.

In-universe, when you appoint a noble, the new orders don't just descend from on high. Instead, a higher-ranking noble will actually appoint someone to the position. All appointed noble positions aside from the Militia captain are appointed by the Expedition leader, or the Mayor that replaces them when your fort's population reaches a certain point. Militia captain positions are instead appointed by the Militia commander. If your fort doesn't have the relevant higher-ranking noble for some reason, you can't appoint certain positions until they are replaced.

Bugs

Nobles may have impossible demands, like cardinal leather items or metal beds. ^Bug:944 (Feel free to arrange an unfortunate accident for the idiot in question) While no dwarves will get punished for not producing these items, it may enrage the noble.

Since at least 0.34.01, if your fort is unable to find a replacement for a noble, that noble will never be reappointed. ^Bug:5299 As of 0.42, new mayors and expedition leaders will be elected / "appointed by the monarch" after some time... but it might take a while, and in the meantime, you won't be able to appoint certain nobles. (not really a bug?) ^Bug:8129

Selecting Squads which contain Nobles

Here's a link to the DF forum, where some SCIENCE on Nobles in Squads has been conducted. http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=113639.msg3467517#msg3467517

This article or section has been rated D for Dwarf. It may include witty humour, not-so-witty humour, bad humour, in-jokes, pop culture references, and references to the Bay12 forums. Don't believe everything you read, and if you miss some of the references, don't worry. It was inevitable.

Although many all players often constantly get angry murderously mad at nobles, wiser players simply thank their lucky stars that Armok never created congressdwarves.

"Noble" in other Languages Dwarven: rîthol Elven: ramu Goblin: dösta Human: hal

V · T · E Nobles and Administrators
Appointed	Bookkeeper • Broker • Champion • Chief medical dwarf • Dungeon master • Hammerer • Manager • Messenger
Military Ranks	Militia captain • Militia commander • Sheriff • Captain of the guard
Elected	Expedition leader • Mayor
Aristocrats	Baron • Count • Duke • Monarch
Other	Consort • General • Outpost liaison
Unused	Captain • Diplomat • Lieutenant
Elven	Druid • Acolyte • Ranger captain