Recruitment

Recruitment is how a microglial resident becomes a companion who can join the Ranger on outings. The user ruled on 2 November: "Recruiting/inviting/whatever it calls in the plot, goes through quests."

How it works#

• A quest outcome only. A companion joins when you complete the recruitment step of its side story. That step's receipt (quest:step) is the only one the roster accepts. No menu, button, shop or podium action recruits.
• The three companions (by role):

• One companion per outing. The user made this cap permanent on 31 October. Two recruits plus an astrocyte would trivialise paired fronts.
• The first recruit unlocks the Coordinator. Any class can bring a companion and give contact orders.
• The Hearth podium only arranges companions already won: a Next outing slot and a Companions row. Unrecruited companions are greyed.
• Recruitment pays 0 Supply, so a companion is never an income source.

In a room#

A companion is a unit with its own turn: 5 movement (Fen 6), one action, no bonus action and 2 Composure. It may Tend or Care at half strength. It has 3 jobs a room (Fen 2); after that it only moves and can still Huddle. It never Links, Inspects or diagnoses. Hits raise its Companion stress.

Home cover#

Whoever comes along leaves their home duty. The allocator finds cover from the residents who stay, or the duty becomes a visible gap (see Home duties). A gap never costs Supply.

Rejected: the free generic helper#

Earlier hosts created a generic companion on departure, without any roster. The lead's audit found this in the published alpha and listed it among the conflicts to retire. The reconciled integration removed the free generic helper from the alpha entry.

Development#

• 31 Oct: recruits were keyed by role, with placements from plan v0.5. The user kept the Coordinator locked until the first recruit, and allowed one supervised Direct-style try with Mote in II3.
• 2 Nov: Claude B made recruitment a quest outcome (recruits: role on the step; recruit-earned event).
• Alpha: Coordinator and companions are gated by actual recruitment. The main story after II1 is not yet staged, so no companion can be earned in a normal alpha playthrough, and none is granted early.

See also#

Coordinator · Home duties · Companion stress · Imprints · Hearth podium

Sources#

1. b89f778c2:src/main-game/alpha/public/encounter/src/services/sidequests/catalog.jscopy
2. 215bfbf88:docs/game-balance/28-recruits-rest-stops-economy.mdcopy
3. 215bfbf88:docs/game-balance/31-turn-based-encounters.mdcopy
4. b89f778c2:docs/ops/agent-messages/2026-11-02-lead-reconciled-game-integration.mdcopy
5. docs/ops/agent-messages/2026-11-02-lead-full-project-reconciliation-audit.md (working copy, not in Git)