I just downloaded the current MW 1.31 (44.12) and am attempting to start a hermit mode.
A random embark, I build the hermit workshop, start reaction, assign a name, race (dwarf) and gender, and then a dwarf approaches the workshop to execute the task. The last thing I see before CTD is that the 7 dwarves have indeed died, but that's about it, game over.
In the MW settings the only change I did was to enable Hermit in Civs to Active.
Am I supposed to do something else? I doubt the Hermit mode itself is broken as noone else seems to be reporting this...
EDIT: After disabling Dwarves as playable (if that's what active means in the Civs menu), the reaction runs fully, everyone dies and I get a standard game over - settlement has crumbled into dust. Hermit never spawned.
EDIT2: Unexpectedly, whether the game crashes or exits via game over seems related to whether I choose a name for the hermit or not (before running the reaction). In any case, the whole thing is broken for me and I have no clue how to fix it.