23a:Noble

v50.14 · v0.47 · v0.34 · v0.31 · v0.28 · v0.23.130.23a This article is about an older version of DF. More Info · V

Who Are These Purple Dwarves?

Nobles are special dwarves who will immigrate to your fortress when you meet certain requirements. They have far greater requirements for happiness than a common dwarf and will perform almost no labor in the normal sense of the word. They can and will make extremely inconvenient demands of your time and production and are usually well armed and armored, which becomes relevant if you ignore their happiness long enough for them to throw tantrums or go berserk.

Social Complexity

Nobles add to the complexity and depth of the game. They give you entirely new levels of power and control over your dwarves at the cost of requiring you to pay more attention to their happiness. They are introduced into your game gradually, as you meet certain requirements, in order to stagger out the difficulty of accommodating them and to accustom yourself to the new options that open up with their cooperation.

They do some work, after all

When it comes to actual work, nobles are dwarves with all labor options turned off. There are a few tasks that cannot be influenced by that menu, and nobles will perform all of them. For example: flipping switches, caging and chaining animals, carrying goods to the trade depot. They will also harvest plants if the option "all dwarves harvest" is set in the standing orders.

Noble requirements

Nobles have significant requirements that must be fulfilled for them to be happy.

General

Each noble's profile will give the exact details of what he requires. In general, they demand several rooms of a quality dependent on the rank of the noble. Usually, this is an office (built from chairs), a dining room (built from tables) and a bedroom (built from beds). In addition, they will want furniture of certain kinds. The specifics vary, but most nobles like having chests, cabinets, weapon racks, and armor stands in their rooms.

Nobles have an inherent desire to maintain the status quo. Pursuant to this, they will always receive an unhappy thought if they do not have more material possessions and better property than their subordinates. Only Legendary dwarves are exempt from this comparison with nobles. Nobles may also have worries or concerns related to their specific field. The Sheriff, for example, will receive an unhappy thought if you do not have sufficient cages or chains, and the Captain of the Guard will be upset if there are too few fortress guards.

Mandates

Some nobles also issue mandates for production of different items - usually items they like personally - or prohibit exports of a certain products. Nobles become upset if production mandates aren't met at the appointed deadline. These mandates seem to increase in volume as time passes, and they also seem to increase in number if the nobles are living in rooms that are below their standards.

Guild Mandates

Once you have a mayor and one or more guild nobles you may periodically see another type of mandate. If a dwarf spends too much of a season idle or doing tasks outside their profession, they will become unhappy about the amount of work available and will seek out a meeting with their guild representative (if their guild is present). The guild noble will then take their complaints to the Mayor, who will issue a mandate the next season requiring a certain number of profession-specific tasks to be completed. These mandates can be avoided entirely by making sure all dwarves have plenty of work related to their profession; if you have too many immigrants in a profession you don't need, train them in something else until their profession changes or draft them into the military if you want to avoid them taking time off to complain to the guilds.

Demands

Finally, some nobles might demand a certain item in their personal rooms. They can demand a specific type of furniture, material, or both. If they don't get their wish, they will become more and more upset. Regardless of whether you have given them their demanded item or not, nobles will "forget about a demand" after some time.

Encrusting doesn't count for making an item, so the only way to satisfy a gem item demand is to build a window (b-y) out of cut gems.

Consequences of ignoring noble mandates

If a Mandate goes for an extended period of time without being met, and if your fortress has a jail (or restraints that are reserved for justice), a dwarf will be arrested and briefly imprisoned for insubordination. They may also (or instead) be given a beating.

In the case of production mandates, a dwarf with the appropriate labor preference will be punished; so, for example, if a noble asks for some statues to be built, and they are not built, a mason will be imprisoned or beaten.

If you sell an item that a noble has commanded you not to export, all of the dwarves who carried the forbidden item(s) to the trade depot will be punished. If any of the perpetrators are nobles, legendary dwarves, or champions, then they will be listed in the Justice screen as having committed Violation of Export Prohibition crimes, but no actual punishments will be given.

Needless to say, punishments cause a lot of unhappy thoughts, especially in the case of long prison sentences. This can cause an undesirable cycle of tantrums on the part of the "criminal."

Managing your nobles

On the Noble screen (n), there is a colour-coded list of nobles and some basic information about their current mandates and demands. If a noble's name is white, that means that they are satisfied with their living arrangements. If it is yellow, that means that they have everything they need but one or more rooms are of lower quality than they expect. (For example, a noble who demands a Modest bedroom will appear in yellow on the list if all she has is a Meager bedroom.) If the name is in red, then something is missing: either a room (such as an Office) or an item (such as a Chest).

Mandates and demands are also colour-coded. Export restrictions always appear in white. Build orders and Demands first appear in brown, then move through yellow and red the longer they are ignored.

So Why Not Just Drown the Snooty Buggers?

Despite their downsides, nobles usually provide you with significant advantages as well. As examples, the Broker will allow you to see the cash value of the goods you trade in the trade interface and the Manager will allow you to place large-scale production orders for any item in the game rather than locating individual workshops and queueing up the jobs one at a time. Additionally, though most nobles "will not work" (according to the v menu), this merely means they will not do any job from the official "jobs list." They will, however, harvest food, move items to the trade depot, pull levers, and, in some cases, move caged animals/monsters.

Right now, killing a noble is only slightly worse than killing a normal dwarf: deaths cause your immigration to be lower, and noble deaths have a larger impact on immigration. However, Toady has made it clear that he intends on making the death of a noble a very serious problem for a fortress in future patches.

Nobles that die are replaced in a later immigration season. If a Noble with a consort dies, the arrival of their replacement will result in multiple consorts. (Yes, they are multiplying. Be very afraid.)

Types of nobles

The nobles available to a fortress include the following. Requirements for each noble are in italics.

Assorted

• The Manager (20 dwarves, perform "diverse tasks") - Activates mass orders, allows workshops to require a particular skill range, needed for dwarven economy along with the Bookkeeper
  • The Sheriff (20 dwarves) - Activates Dwarven Justice, comes with Manager
• The Captain of the guard (50 dwarves; promoted from Sheriff)
• The Mayor (50 dwarves) - Activates Fortress guard, enables Sieges.
• The Governor (80 Dwarves, perform "diverse tasks")
• The Philosopher (100 dwarves)

Economy & trade

• The Broker (Export enough goods) - Attracts Human Representative, Activates Trade Agreements
• The Trade minister (Export enough goods (3000?)) - Attracts Human Merchant Baron, enables Sieges.
• The Guildmaster (Export enough goods (10000?)) - Attracts Human Merchant Prince
• The Bookkeeper (Wealth + 2500 coins) - Activates Dwarven economy when combined with a manager
• The Treasurer (Wealth + 15000 (mixed) coins)
• The Hoardmaster (Wealth + 50000 coins)
• The Dungeon master (Dig deep (to chasm/magma flow?) + 25000 coins) - Make electrum, tame exotics

Guild representatives

• The House Ber (Berite) representative. (Active farming)
• The House Fer (Ferite) representative. (Active animal-related work)
• The House Råsh (Råshid) representative. (Have many dead dwarves) - House of Death
• The Mason's guild representative.
• The Miner's guild representative.
• The Craftsdwarves guild representative.
• The Carpenter's guild representative.
• The Metalsmith's guild representative.
• The Alchemist (Extracts & Make soap)

Military order representatives

• The Order of the axe representative. (Forge 50 axes)
• The Order of the crossbow representative. (Forge 50 crossbows)
• The Order of the hammer representative. (Forge 50 hammers)
• The Order of the mace representative. (Forge 50 maces)
• The Order of the spear representative. (Forge 50 spears)
• The Order of the sword representative. (Forge 50 swords)

True nobility

• The Baron and Baron consort. (Manager, Broker, Bookkeeper) - Attracts Human and Elf Diplomats
  • The Tax collector (Comes with Baron)
  • The Hammerer (Comes with Baron)
• The Count and Count consort (Mayor, Trade Minister, Treasurer)
• The Duke and Duke consort (Governor, Guildmaster, Hoardmaster)
• The King and King consort (Adamantine found or Duke and others)
  • The Advisor (Comes with King/Queen)

Summary of Requirements

Noble	Bedroom	Dining Room	Office	Tomb	Cabinets	Containers	Weapon Racks	Armor Stands
Manager	Modest Quarters	Modest Dining Room	Modest Office	—	1	1	1	1
Sheriff	Modest Quarters	Modest Dining Room	Modest Office	—	1	1	1	1
Captain of the Guard	Quarters	Dining Room	Office	—	1	1	1	1
Mayor	Decent Quarters	Decent Dining Room	Decent Office	—	1	2	1	1
Governor	Fine Quarters	Fine Dining Room	Splendid Office	—	2	3	2	2
Philosopher	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Broker	Meager Quarters	Meager Dining Room	Meager Office	—	1	1	1	1
Trade Minister	Quarters	Dining Room	Office	—	1	2	1	1
Guildmaster	Decent Quarters	Decent Dining Room	Decent Office	—	2	3	2	2
Bookkeeper	Meager Quarters	Meager Dining Room	Meager Office	—	1	1	1	1
Treasurer	Quarters	Dining Room	Office	—	1	2	1	1
Hoardmaster	Decent Quarters	Decent Dining Room	Decent Office	—	2	3	2	2
Dungeon Master	Quarters	Dining Room	Office	Burial Chamber	1	1	1	1
House Ber	Decent Quarters	Decent Dining Room	—	—	1	1	1	1
House Fer	Decent Quarters	Decent Dining Room	—	—	1	1	1	1
House Råsh	Decent Quarters	Decent Dining Room	Decent Office	Burial Chamber	1	1	1	1
Mason's Guild	Decent Quarters	Decent Dining Room	Decent Office	—	1	1	1	1
Miner's Guild	Decent Quarters	Decent Dining Room	Decent Office	—	1	1	1	1
Craftsdwarves Guild	Decent Quarters	Decent Dining Room	Decent Office	—	1	1	1	1
Carpenter's Guild	Decent Quarters	Decent Dining Room	Decent Office	—	1	1	1	1
Metalsmith's Guild	Decent Quarters	Decent Dining Room	Decent Office	—	1	1	1	1
Alchemist	Meager Quarters	Meager Dining Room	Meager Office	—	1	1	1	1
Order of the Axe	Quarters	Dining Room	Office	—	1	1	3	1
Order of the Crossbow	Quarters	Dining Room	Office	—	1	1	3	1
Order of the Hammer	Quarters	Dining Room	Office	—	1	1	3	1
Order of the Mace	Quarters	Dining Room	Office	—	1	1	3	1
Order of the Spear	Quarters	Dining Room	Office	—	1	1	3	1
Order of the Sword	Quarters	Dining Room	Office	—	1	1	3	1
Baron	Decent Quarters	Decent Dining Room	Decent Office	Tomb	1	2	1	1
Baron Consort	Decent Quarters	Decent Dining Room	—	Tomb	1	2	1	1
Tax Collector	Modest Quarters	Modest Dining Room	Office	—	1	2	1	1
Hammerer	Modest Quarters	Dining Room	—	—	1	2	1	1
Count	Great Bedroom	Great Dining Room	Throne Room	Mausoleum	2	3	2	2
Count Consort	Great Bedroom	Great Dining Room	—	Mausoleum	2	3	2	2
Duke	Grand Bedroom	Grand Dining Room	Opulent Throne Room	Grand Mausoleum	3	5	3	3
Duke Consort	Grand Bedroom	Grand Dining Room	—	Grand Mausoleum	3	5	3	3
King	Royal Bedroom	Royal Dining Room	Royal Throne Room	Royal Mausoleum	5	10	5	5
King Consort	Royal Bedroom	Royal Dining Room	—	Royal Mausoleum	5	10	5	5
Advisor	Great Bedroom	Great Dining Room	Throne Room	—	2	3	2	2
TOTALS:	3/4/10/13/1/3/2/2 (38)	3/3/11/13/1/3/2/2 (38)	3/2/11/11/1/2/1/1 (32)	0/0/2/2/0/2/2/2 (10)	56	83	68	56