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[theodrixx]

No, not that kind.

I'm not sure if this idea (in its exact form) has been suggested before, although I have found a similar suggestion in a "dwarf recruiter" system (in that it changes the way immigration works).

The idea is to solve the problem, or at least what I perceive to be the problem, with immigration. The way it works now (as far as I'm aware), you have to wait and cross your fingers for dwarves skilled in specific areas that you currently need. The wiki does say that the skills of immigrants are, to some degree, tailored to the needs of your fortress. This is fine, but what if you decide that you need more soldiers/smiths/etc. than the game decides you need? Or what if you're unsatisfied with the level of proficiency in the immigrants?

My new "aggressive recruitment" system could help. The basic idea is to send a dwarf out to seek for dwarves skilled to a specific degree in specific areas. It's a tradeoff -- you lose one dwarf for a certain amount of time (or potentially forever, as I will explain), for the possible promise of one or more skilled, specialized dwarves. Of course, this wouldn't be foolproof (otherwise it wouldn't be !!FUN!!): your envoy could become lost or be killed, or they could come back with clever dwarves that bluffed their way into a comfy room in an upstart fortress, or they could come back entirely empty-handed. To prevent these outcomes, you would have to choose dwarves with combat skills (to improve their survivability), points in the Judge of Intent skill (to improve the quality of yield), and/or points in Persuasion (to improve the quantity of yield).

A side effect of this new system would be that it would give your normally useless dwarves something to do. You could send dwarves that you feel are a drain on your fortress on these missions and, given that they probably have no combat skills to speak of, you would expect to never see them again. Of course, if they do return, it could be with even more useless dwarves.

What do you guys think? I realize that some of you will consider the current immigration system to be just another element of challenge in the game -- you have to work with what you've got -- but my new system would A) be optional and B) have its own set of challenges.

[CaptainLambcake]

i like this, but i'd also like a zone where the immigrants stand at, like customs, and you approve each one, because if you don't like them, you should be able to send them off.

[theodrixx]

Interesting thought, although that would take away part of the risk of sending out the recruiter -- namely, that they might return with substandard migrants. I think it would be too much of a freebie if you could just turn migrants away at will.

[Tevish Szat]

Perhaps if you're under pop cap, you should be able to request skills from the outpost liaison, making it more likely (but not assured) for a dwarf with at least novice in the selected skill to appear, depending on priority weighted (like requesting trade goods).  Once and only assuming that the liaison leaves the map happy and alive, of course.  Requesting skills would make it less likely for dwarves withOUT some requested skill to appear at all, reducing the overall size of migrant waves.  Some players, of course, would consider this a good thing and always request a few skills at max priority.  Others would note their forts "attracting no migrants" problematically often when the liaison wasn't able to find proper dwarves, and not request much because it limits dwarfpower.

[weenog]

I don't think getting mismatched migrants is a problem.  With sufficient training time (and possibly time at the gym), any dwarf can do pretty much anything, and be better at it than you could ever really need.

However, I do like this idea.  It would give the player some influence, but not control, over what kind of migrants arrive, it would involve some risk, and it could be put to alternative uses as has already been mentioned.  I think that skills and availability should not be the only determining factors, however.

I feel this improvement would be enriched by sending something along with the headhunter when he goes.  Call it tribute, retainer, bribe, whatever.  The item or items sent would be lost regardless of the expedition outcome, but could have an influence on quality and quantity of migrants attracted by overall value, and might optionally hook on migrant personalities (e.g. a wagon full of copper warhammers would be more likely to attract dwarves whose preferences include copper, warhammers, or both).  As the overall value of the offering rises, it could also increase the chance of the headhunter being attacked by bandits, at a similar rate to the improvement in the returns.  I think this modification to the suggestion would make the headhunting expedition feel more like an investment in the future of the fortress, one with a Fun strategic element.

Do I send a modest payday and attract adequate, mediocre dwarves?  Or do I send riches in hopes of gaining the attention of the masters, and risk attracting half the brigands between here and the Mountainhome?

[theodrixx]

Perhaps if you're under pop cap, you should be able to request skills from the outpost liaison, making it more likely (but not assured) for a dwarf with at least novice in the selected skill to appear, depending on priority weighted (like requesting trade goods).  Once and only assuming that the liaison leaves the map happy and alive, of course.  Requesting skills would make it less likely for dwarves withOUT some requested skill to appear at all, reducing the overall size of migrant waves.  Some players, of course, would consider this a good thing and always request a few skills at max priority.  Others would note their forts "attracting no migrants" problematically often when the liaison wasn't able to find proper dwarves, and not request much because it limits dwarfpower.

Interesting variation. I especially like that it makes the tradeoff more direct and obvious -- you can get a few dwarves skilled in areas that you really need, or you can get a lot of dwarves with varied but lower proficiency.

I feel this improvement would be enriched by sending something along with the headhunter when he goes.  Call it tribute, retainer, bribe, whatever.  The item or items sent would be lost regardless of the expedition outcome, but could have an influence on quality and quantity of migrants attracted by overall value, and might optionally hook on migrant personalities (e.g. a wagon full of copper warhammers would be more likely to attract dwarves whose preferences include copper, warhammers, or both).  As the overall value of the offering rises, it could also increase the chance of the headhunter being attacked by bandits, at a similar rate to the improvement in the returns.  I think this modification to the suggestion would make the headhunting expedition feel more like an investment in the future of the fortress, one with a Fun strategic element.

Do I send a modest payday and attract adequate, mediocre dwarves?  Or do I send riches in hopes of gaining the attention of the masters, and risk attracting half the brigands between here and the Mountainhome?

This is good, too. It would give the player more of a reason to accrue riches than just for the purposes of trading and the vague goal of increasing the fortress's prestige. It even sounds like the beginnings of an economy in the game, in that the player would have to think in terms of profit and loss beyond the usual opportunity costs.

[Di]

So to sum up we'd want to send not only military expeditions but recruiting parties as well, be it a couple of barkers supplied with bins of stone mugs to litter around and a couple of statues of labouring dwarfs to inspire awe in village folk, or a band of sneaky guys crafty with their ropes to "persuade" the legendary weaponsmith out of rival fortress.
As for liaison I think his presence should be dependent on starting scenario since it means that someone of power is interested in your expedition, which isn't always the case.

[weenog]

or a band of sneaky guys crafty with their ropes to "persuade" the legendary weaponsmith out of rival fortress

Sounds like a good addition for when goblins are playable.

[Owlbread]

I was quietly hoping that this suggestion would involve tribal Dwarves with war masks and spears and blowguns.

[CaptainLambcake]

how cool would it be to discover a group of dwarves who've lived in the jungles for hundreds of years, and are exactly like what owl said?

[Owlbread]

how cool would it be to discover a group of dwarves who've lived in the jungles for hundreds of years, and are exactly like what owl said?

Or perhaps caves.

[theodrixx]

Has anyone actually seen a natural cave in this game? I don't think worldgen makes any caves other than entirely internal ones (i.e. ones without an entrance).

[NW_Kohaku]

Turn on the ability to see caves on the world map in the worldgen options, and they will appear as the same icon as boulders do in Fortress Mode on the local and regional maps. 

Embark over them, and you get a cave that will probably have a night creature inside in your embark, and a path down to the caverns.

See also the wiki page on caves for details.

Likewise, Caverns are the giant underground features, which are different from caves (and which can be reduced in worldgen options).  And Passages are what connect them.

[Aseaheru]

This looks good.

[theodrixx]

Turn on the ability to see caves on the world map in the worldgen options, and they will appear as the same icon as boulders do in Fortress Mode on the local and regional maps. 

Embark over them, and you get a cave that will probably have a night creature inside in your embark, and a path down to the caverns.

Dang, I never knew that. Sounds like a good way to keep the game interesting once I've figured out the basics.

This looks good.

Thanks. It seemed like a simple enough idea that would add another dimension to job management.