Settlement Survival/Trading and factions

First appearing in the Lunar New Year patch (version 0.84.226.858), Factions are various non-player characters that you can interact with. Trading with these factions can increase your reputation with them, yielding specific benefits for each character.

You can trade with NPCs by building a Trading Post. Once you have loaded the trading post with a specific number of items, you can form a caravan with a number of labourers (workers assigned to a building will not be eligible) to travel and trade away your items.

Caravans, however, can encounter difficulties en route. The more labourers assigned to a caravan, the smaller the chance of encountering trouble, but also the slower the caravan moves - eliminating more labourers from your workforce for longer. In the event of the caravan being attacked by bandits, it is possible (with the relevant upgrade) to pay for insurance to mitigate the bandits' effects.

Each faction also has its own Random events.

These are the NPCs you can trade with.

Forming Caravans


To form a caravan, you must first have a trading post (or small trading post) constructed. Small trading posts, by default, can operate with one caravan.

First, you must select which faction the caravan will be sent to using the drop down menu. This may affect its travel time and risk of death.

Choosing whether to have the caravan make loops will put a constant drain on resources, but can automate trading for more valuable materials.

The caravan member field determines the size of the caravan. A larger caravan is less likely to have its members attacked by bandits, but is far slower than a smaller one. Caravan members must not be assigned to an existing building, and must be labourers. If you lack labourers, either remove workers from your existing buildings, or reduce the size of the caravan.

The selling items field will determine which materials the caravan will carry with it to sell to the faction. The value is shown next to "gain"; in this screenshot, the caravan is carrying 426 worth of materials.

The final field lets you buy items from the faction. As long as the value you are buying is less than or equal to the value of the items you're selling, the caravan can make the trade successfully.

Trading in this manner can improve relations to the other factions, various seeds and animals for food, and rare building upgrades.

Antonio
Unlike other merchants, Antonio only offers standard and stable prices for all items. He remains the sole supplier of some seeds and animals, but it is not possible to gain reputation with him.

Miao
Miao's Asian-themed reputation unlocks offer various paper, foodstuffs, and farming bonuses.


 * Level 1: Bamboo, Tsai's Paper Mill
 * Level 2: Private School, Tofu
 * Level 3: Dense Farm, Dense Orchard, Dense Forest Farm
 * Level 4: Siheyuan Theater, Jingju Theater

Lorenzo
Lorenzo's engineering and hunting benefits are powerful and provide additional services to your town.


 * Level 1: Hardwood Nursery, Hardwood Tools
 * Level 2: Barber Shop, Fast Hunting
 * Level 3: Ancient Smeltery, Hardwood Pasture, Small Fishing Port
 * Level 4: Bank, Hardwood Furniture
 * Level 5: Powerful Physique, Greate[sic] Castle

Rania
Rania's Persian theme unlocks religious benefits and processing faciltiies, culminating in trade benefits.


 * Level 1: Dates
 * Level 2: Mosque, Persian Tapestry
 * Level 3: Dyeing Mill, Custom Tailor, Gem Mine
 * Level 4: Exquisite Swords, Grand Bazaar
 * Level 5: Better Trade, Sankore Madrasah

Carlos
Carlos' Central American theme unlocks new foods, mines, and resources.


 * Level 1: Cactus, Cactus Workshop
 * Level 2: Agave Clothes, can utilize Rope to gain Research Points
 * Level 3: Water Nursery, Obsidian Mine, Outdoor Kitchen
 * Level 4: Seed Trade, Chichen Itza
 * Level 5: Great Temple, Mineral Rich