Thralls or followers...

[Jase]

I really find the concept of thralls a bit creepy. I know that the ♥♥♥ is iconic and Conan was made upon it, but sicophantic, zombiesque minions are just deamining and tarnish the soul.

I suggest adding a "Charisma" component to the game so that instead of breaking the spirit and turning npcs into mindless minions we can inspire them to follow us with charisma and leadership. We gain stature and prowess, which encourages them to follow us with loyalty based on respect and leadership by example rather than the zombie parade.

Granted coming up with a new game mechanic will be a challenge, but I think you are up for the task, inspire us!

[Eternie]

With feeding Thralls is that just putting food into a feeding through within range of the thrall? Or actually letting them get food?

I guess what I'm getting at is thralls should ideally have a daily routine where they can go to the kitchen and get food, have a patrol they can do at various times, some sleep during the day others at night such that it's as real or immersive as possible. without having thralls just standing in one place all their lives.

I know from building having a single width staircase that would block all thralls as they cannot walk past each other. Just like they cannot open doors and some had difficulties getting through some door frames (though that mod has fixed their issues) Imagine having a camp where the thralls are like a group of players with some apparent amount of independance. Much like Thralls in the thrall camps do at the moment. Sure some stand in the same spot indefinately but others patrol around. So it is possible.

[᠌ ᠌᠌ ᠌ ᠌ ᠌ ᠌ ᠌]

Since the system is pretty automated it does lack a sense of interactivity, which is precisely some of the problem here. Its not the whole of the problem, but its at least some of it. The food just 'magically' delivers itself to those in range and then of course you just have to utilize your creativity to fill in the blanks. The cook, and its station could have achieved something similar without setting down a feeding trough and having the thralls feed from it the way dogs and miscellaneous animals would. Sure that works in the current system with how thralls are knocked over the head like animals and dragged over just the same, but maybe it doesn't fit the other route so much.

We should certainly have a level of immersion in what they do and how they manage themselves during different hours, but maybe not to the extent that they're just idly performing actions to suit a very particular mindset. They should certainly act, but not without reason. There should be a level of function, utility and PURPOSE to what it is they're doing in relationship to their exile leader.

What I propose is more or less different ways of either upgrading thrall functions in camp as a whole, streamlining their work and doing so with the potential to create balance (diminishing returns). Of course thrall AI and how they react to their surrounding world is paramount to having any future interactivity flourish and grow, but there are other ways thralls can interact with their fellow exiles and bring immersion. I know that the pet preferred food system also opened up avenues for thralls and how they perform when they eat something they enjoy. Thats just a step forward, but there's still room for improvement.

Staying in line with the OP's suggestions and my previous suggestions I see two possible routes for a system of this nature. These are just examples:

The Liberator
Your pursuit of establishing humble sanctuary to fellow exiles and providing for them has yielded boons. These exiles were not taken by force, but rallied by your good name.

• Provider: Providing your thralls with food in a timely fashion has bolstered their health. Their health is now [%] more hearty because of your efforts.
  
• Shelterer: Placing your exiles in stations away from weather hazards has yielded greater resistance to weathering. Their armor is now [%] stronger.
  
• Entertainer: Pleasing your thralls with dance and song has lifted their spirits. Thralls are now fight to the beat of your drum with a [%] increase in damage.

Addressing miscellaneous thrall behavior for liberator: Thralls should be willing to carry conversation more frequently amongst themselves while working or sitting at placeables. When they see you they should make friendly remarks and comments either passing idle comments about mundane things or simply thanking you for your kindness or complimenting you. On occasion a thrall could run up to the player and greet them with some dialogue.

The Subjugator
You've battered, bruised and subdued your fellow exiles by force. They fight because they fear you and dare not question your cause.

• Oppressor: The very sound of your bootheel instils fear in your thralls. Thralls now produce resources [%] faster than usual.
  
• Humiliator: Exposing your thralls to the harshness of their environment has forced them to exercise greater caution. Thralls now move and attack [%] faster.
  
• Suppressor: You've deprived your thralls of even the simplest acts of kindness. Their depravity now reflects itself with an added [%] armor penetration in combat and
  they now feed themselves utilizing the dropped goods of their foes.

Addressing miscellaneous thrall behavior for the subjugator: When thralls work they should seldom ever look at you (This is already the case). They should remain at their station (stationary thralls always do anyhow). On occasion they could grunt and maybe pass a snide remark and quickly dismiss their comment with a, "What? Oh! I didn't say anything.." A thrall on occasion might run up to you and behave like a bootlicker, congratulating you for no apparent reason other than because you've returned. Their voice might carry a hint of shakeyness & fear in it when speaking. Punishing a thrall by setting them on a placeable such as a cross or some other humiliating device might instill fear when thralls pass by the placeable. "I sure as hell don't want to end up like that.."

These are just a few placeholder ideas. The above could probably present itself in any number of ways in relationship to how the player manages his or her NPC environment.

[Eternie]

Great layout of ideas 137 Parsecs Away

I'd like to see some additions to that where the subjugator also has negativity his thralls if left unattended and if in a larger grouping will want to rebell and possibly sabotage him.

Same for the Liberator if he abandons his thralls .. well his trust would begin to plummet and his thralls may get reduced support. As a trust system would be harder to start it should be more easy to maintain whereas the Subjugator should have rebellious thralls more often

[Pembroke]

Originally posted by Jase:

I really find the concept of thralls a bit creepy.

I can understand that but it *is* fitting to both the Conan lore as well as for the real ancient world. We're modern people and find slavery abhorring, and let's not mince words here because it is abhorring, no matter how you look at it, but it's still us projecting our values to something where they don't fit.

Even if we ignore the fact that it's a fictional setting created purposefully for dramatic effect by an author that lived in the early 1900s, and only think of the real historical ancient world, we won't get past the fact that slavery was a fact of life. Granted, the ancients themselves definitely were aware of the evils of slavery but there it was, and there's no denying the attractiveness of capturing your enemies to do work for you to solve two problems at once in a world without machines.

OTOH it is a game and we play games to have fun. Yet, to deny the setting is an injustice to the world of Conan and smacks a bit of "whitewashing" of the real world history.

Therefore, I suggest the following: Keep the slavery system but also allow hiring the NPCs for extra effort and cost, and then let players make their choices how they approach the issue, whether roleplaying or not. However, and this is important, do *not* make hiring them a more advantageous option in terms of labor and efficiency, because that's not how the world worked, whether fictional Hyborian Age or our ancient real world. To decline taking slaves should be the worse option in terms of pure game mechanics. However, it would give you, as a player, a moral choice, which is what matters here.