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Noble
v50.14 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF.Note that some content may still need to be updated. |
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 | Decent Quarters | Decent Dining Room | Decent Office | Tomb | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Bookkeeper | — | — | Meager Office | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Broker | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Captain of the Guard | Quarters | Dining Room | Office | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| Champion | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — |
| Chief medical dwarf | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Count | Great Bedroom | Great Dining Room | Throne Room | Mausoleum | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Diplomat | Great Bedroom | Great Dining Room | Throne Room | — | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | — |
| Duke | Grand Bedroom | Grand Dining Room | Opulent Throne Room | Grand Mausoleum | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Expedition leader | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| General | Quarters | Dining Room | Decent Office | Grave | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — |
| Hammerer | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Manager | — | — | Meager Office | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mayor | Decent Quarters | Decent Dining Room | Decent Office | — | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Militia captain | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Militia commander | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Monarch | Royal Bedroom | Royal Dining Room | Royal Throne Room | Royal Mausoleum | 10 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 5 |
| Outpost liaison | Great Bedroom | Great Dining Room | Throne Room | — | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | — |
| Sheriff | Modest Quarters | Modest Dining Room | Modest Office | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | — |
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.
- 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
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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 
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| Appointed |
Bookkeeper • Broker • Champion • Chief medical dwarf • Dungeon master • Hammerer • Manager • Messenger |
|---|---|
| Military Ranks | |
| Elected | |
| Aristocrats | |
| Other | |
| Unused | |
| Elven | |