The Setup: (a bit tl;dr)
I like my fortresses a bit better if I have more personal connection with the individual dwarves, or at least a couple of starts among my original 7. With this game, I shopped around until I found a young, promising fellow with a good name, Likot Hoistpick (nice, I was planning on making him a miner anyway), and set him up to be the übermayor: I hacked him to be super-friendly and super-sociable, plus all of the charismatic attributes to help him level up those social skills faster. I planned to make him expedition leader cum mayor, plus broker, manager, and bookkeeper, and I put him above average in the attributes for those tasks as well, so he could administrate like a boss while rubbing shoulders with his adoring constituents.
The first hint of the Curse came soon after Embark, when the game auto-appointed the expedition leader--not my darling boy, but rather some 80-year-old Herbalist. Checking their Relationships, I saw that she had 4 friends, while he only had 3. "Okay, no biggie," I thought. "She just happened to be standing closer more people while we were hanging around waiting for our picks & axes to get made. It'll pass." I appointed Likot to the Leader post, and went on with my plans. Not much changed during our first year--everyone was so busy that there was hardly any time for Likot to chat up his fellows.
Jump to Early Spring of 252, one year after our arrival. Population is 23, and we've just finished clearing all the rubble from a new floor, so the haulers are taking a rest. I scan the loafers: "Hey guys, what'cha all doin?"
Urist: "On Break."
Zon: "On Break."
Ducim: "No Job."
Me: "Okay, not bad, not bad . . . hey, where's Likot?"
Units screen, find him, zoom . . . "Likot! What are you doing just standing around in your rooms?"
Likot: "I love my artifact bed! It is so beautiful! I could just stare at it all day!"
Me: "Dude, I turned off your Hauling for a reason. Now get upstairs and schmooze."
Likot: "Don't want to."
Me: "BURROW."
Likot: "Okay."
Likot heads for the nearest staircase. Me (aside): "Psst, hey Litast. Dismantle Likot's artifact bed and replace it with a normal one."
Litast: "Will do."
The Curse:
Likot pokes his hairy head topside, and busts out a hearty greeting to everyone hanging around the Trade Depot/meeting area. "A good morning to you, my fellows! Share with me some stories from your day's labors!"
Urist: "Sorry, suddenly I have to Store Item in Stockpile!"
Zon: "Sorry, suddenly I have to Store Item in Stockpile!"
Ducim: "Sorry, suddenly I have to Store Item in Bag!"
And as one,
all 6 or 7 idlers immediately rush to a staircase (the one on the
opposite side of the meeting area from the one that Likot just popped out of) and hustle downstairs & out of sight, leaving Likot standing there alone, his mouth flapping in the breeze.
WTF just happened? Was it
a) A bunch of jobs requiring haulers just happened to crop up at the
exact same time that my extra-chummy dwarf arrived on the scene?
b) The rank-and-file dwarves acknowledge Likot's obvious superiority & authority, and respect his opinion so much that they don't want him to catch them slacking off?
c) Likot's enhanced stats are so egregious that they inspire outright
jealousy from the other dwarves, so that even though there aren't any actual Grudges (I checked), they would still rather not be around that supercilious s.o.b?
d) other?
Author
Topic: The Curse of the Sexiest Man Alive (Read 2147 times)