Social skill

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v53.16 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

Social skills are primarily important when used by expedition leaders, mayors, and brokers in interactions between the dwarves and other tenants of your fortress and when talking with visiting liaisons, diplomats, and merchants. They're also used by messengers to establish relations between your settlement and a settlement they are sent to. They can be trained at embark, while performing various administrative tasks, while socializing in a tavern, during conversations between two or more idle dwarves, when trading, and during meetings with nobles or visitors.

At the start of a new fortress, the dwarf with the most social skills will almost always become the expedition leader. The holder of this position automatically becomes mayor when conditions are met, so it is recommended when giving social skills to your starting dwarves during embark to consider which ones have preferences that will lead to obnoxious mandates when they become mayor — however, the expedition leader position can also be reassigned freely under normal circumstances.

List of Social Skills

	Social
	Conversationalist Comedian Flatterer Judge of intent Liar Intimidator Persuader Negotiator Consoler Pacifier

Conversations

There are 7 different types of conversations, each with their own skill sets. Creatures will use whichever skills are available to them (based on their personality facets), and if no skills are available they will default to Negotiation. Skills which are especially relevant to a given context have their skill rolls multiplied (by the number of checkmarks shown in the table below), and ones which are less relevant (marked with 'x') are halved.

Task	Converse	Comedy	Flatter	Judge intent	Lie	Intimidate	Persuade	Negotiate	Console	Pacify
Calm Venter	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√		√√√
Vent						√√	√
Discuss Request			x	√√	√	x	√	√√√
Haggle		√	√	√√√	√	√	√√√	√√
Cover for Gaffe		√√	√		√	√	x			√√
Console	x	√	x		√		√	√	√√√
Chat	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√

Skills by Noble Position

The following list is based on the skills listed in the n nobles screen while replacing a noble.

Broker skills

Brokers use (and train) the "haggle" conversation skills to increase the chances of a deal being accepted and to influence the details of a merchants' proposed counteroffers. The Judge of intent skill also allows a broker to read a merchant's current mood. Note that the Appraiser skill, which is not a social skill, is also very important during the trading process because it is required to see the numerical value of sellable items and decides how accurately (with what number of significant figures) their prices are displayed to you.

The "cover for gaffe" skills come into play whenever you screw up offer the Elves an unacceptable item — the higher your broker's skills, the less angry they will become and so the greater your chances are to be able to continue trading with them during that season.

Diplomat skills

The "discuss request" skills are used when negotiating trade agreements to increase the price markup on items they request from you and to decrease the markup on items you request from them. They are also used when negotiating tree-cutting allowances with elven diplomats, allowing you to cut down more trees without angering them.

Mayor skills

While all of the conversational skills are important for a mayoral dwarf seeking reelection (since they will almost certainly repeatedly engage in every kind of conversation during their tenure), dwarves with the Consoler and Pacifier skills tend to be especially valuable as they can reduce the likelihood of tantrums by being complained at or cried on (which creates a happy thought for the other dwarf).

Conditions For Usage

The social skills a creature can employ in an interaction depends on both their beliefs and facets. All facets must always meet their requirements in order to permit the usage of a skill. All beliefs must meet their requirements as well, but this requirement is waived if any facet meets a skill's "override" condition. Any syndrome effects that temporarily modify personality facets (such as inebriation) influence the final value of these checks and can allow or block a skill's usage (i.e. a bashful dwarf can use and train Conversationalist while under the influence of alcohol).

A typical dwarf meets all of the non-override requirements except potentially for low TRUTH, meaning (disregarding any overrides) the average dwarf is able to use all social skills except possibly Liar and Flatterer.

Skill	Belief	Facet	Override
Persuader	ELOQUENCE ≥ -25	ASSERTIVENESS ≥ 25	ASSERTIVENESS > 75
Negotiator	(none)	(none)	N/A
Judge of Intent	(none)	(none)	N/A
Liar	TRUTH ≤ 10	(none)	N/A
Intimidator	POWER ≥ -25 TRANQUILITY ≤ 25 HARMONY ≤ 25	DISCORD ≥ 25 ASSERTIVENESS ≥ 25	DISCORD > 75 ASSERTIVENESS > 75
Conversationalist	ELOQUENCE ≥ 25 HARMONY ≥ 25 LEISURE_TIME ≥ -25 COOPERATION ≥ -25	GREGARIOUSNESS ≥ 25 BASHFUL ≤ 75	GREGARIOUSNESS > 75 BASHFUL < 25
Comedian	MERRIMENT ≥ -25	HUMOR ≥ 25	HUMOR > 75
Flatterer	TRUTH ≤ 25	FRIENDLINESS ≥ 40	FRIENDLINESS > 75
Consoler	STOICISM ≤ 25	DISCORD ≤ 75 CRUELTY ≤ 75 SWAYED_BY_EMOTIONS ≥ 25	DISCORD < 25 CRUELTY < 25 SWAYED_BY_EMOTIONS > 75
Pacifier	PEACE ≥ -25	DISCORD ≤ 75	DISCORD < 25

Beliefs range from -50 to 50. Facets range from 0 to 100.

Training

Fortress Mode

Dwarves train their social skills when idling in meeting areas and they are standing near another dwarf. When trained in this manner, skills are trained at the same rate (usually 1 exp. per social one-on-one interaction) except possibly Conversationalist depending on personality.

Dwarves also train certain social skills — and at a much faster rate — when attending or conducting meetings, but only social skills related to the nature of the meeting are trained based on the type of conversation it is (i.e. when a dwarf is complaining, the attendee gains experiencing in the Intimidator and Persuader skills while the conductor gains experience in the Intimidator, Persuader, Consoler, and Pacifier skills, meaning neither dwarf gains experience in the Conversationalist, Negotiator, Judge of intent, or Comedian skills). Social skills trained in this way are not necessarily raised at the same rate with each other.

Furthermore, applicable skills can be trained by a dwarf when trading at a trade depot. Specifically, this applies to every "broker" skill except for the conversationalist skill.

Adventure Mode

Adventure mode characters can train some social skills by having conversations. (Oddly, Conversationalist is not one of them.^Bug:10874) It is currently unknown if personality facets have any effect.

Judge of Intent and Persuader are trained whenever you argue a value (even if it is not your value) or press the argument. Responding with flattery trains Flatterer, responding with dismissal trains Intimidator, and responding passively trains Pacifier. The flatter, calm, and joke options train Flatterer, Pacifier, and Comedian, respectively. The interrogation menu options can train Persuader or Intimidator.

Social skills are important in Adventure mode as they can let you persuade pretty much anyone into doing anything when high enough. This includes changing NPCs' values, persuading position holders to give up their title, enlisting you into the army, and so on.

V · T · E Skills
Miner	Miner
Woodworker	Bowyer · Carpenter · Wood cutter
Stoneworker	Engraver · Stonecutter · Stone carver · Mason
Ranger	Ambusher · Animal caretaker · Animal dissector · Animal trainer · Trapper
Doctor	Bone doctor · Diagnostician · Surgeon · Suturer · Wound dresser
Farmer	Beekeeper · Brewer · Butcher · Cheese maker · Cook · Dyer · Gelder · Planter · Herbalist · Lye maker · Milker · Miller · Potash maker · Presser · Shearer · Soaper · Spinner · Tanner · Thresher · Wood burner
Fishery worker	Fish cleaner · Fish dissector · Fisherdwarf
Metalsmith	Armorsmith · Furnace operator · Metal crafter · Blacksmith · Weaponsmith
Jeweler	Gem cutter · Gem setter
Craftsdwarf	Bookbinder · Bone carver · Clothier · Glassmaker · Glazer · Leatherworker · Papermaker · Potter · Stone crafter · Strand extractor · Wax worker · Weaver · Wood crafter
Engineer	Mechanic · Pump operator · Siege engineer · Siege operator
Administrator	Appraiser · Organizer · Record keeper
Military	General Archer · Armor user · Biter · Dodger · Fighter · Kicker · Shield user · Striker · Wrestler Weapon Axeman · Blowgunner · Bowman · Crossbowman · Hammerman · Knife user · Lasher · Maceman · Misc. object user · Pikeman · Spearman · Swordsman · Thrower Other Discipline · Leader · Military tactics · Observer · Student · Teacher
Social	Broker Comedian · Conversationalist · Flatterer · Intimidator · Judge of intent · Liar · Negotiator · Persuader Other Concentration · Consoler · Pacifier
Performance	Music Keyboardist · Musician · Percussionist · Singer · Stringed instrumentalist · Wind instrumentalist Spoken Poet · Dancer · Speaker
Scholar	Critical thinker · Logician · Mathematician · Astronomer · Chemist · Geographer · Optics engineer · Fluid engineer · Wordsmith · Writer
Other/Peasant	Climber · Crutch-walker · Knapper · Reader · Rider · Schemer · Swimmer · Tracker
Unused	Balance · Coordination · Druid · Mod skills