Polylithic Villagers

Villagers are the feature that makes Polylithic a village game and the feature that makes Mixed reviews write novels. They carry, they eat, they get stuck in campfires, they ignore gather orders, and several 1.0 players watched them forget how to fight while following, then remember the moment they were parked. This page is the operator manual. For recruiting and happiness, use how to form a tribe. For houses, use settlement.

A villager is worth having. They are not worth worshipping. If you expect RimWorld reliability, you will refund. If you expect a clumsy roommate with a spear, you will laugh and keep playing.

Follow mode versus home mode

On follow, they are backpacks and aggro magnets. Launch reports say combat AI often dies in this mode. They run, they soak, they refuse to swing. At home, or when not glued to your back, they suddenly recall that weapons exist. The workaround is ugly and effective: park them, start the pull yourself, let them act like camp guards. Do not lead a conga line into a bear and call it tactics. Pair this with how to hunt.

Work orders

You can assign tasks. Sometimes they do them. Sometimes they wander, sit in the fire, or stand in a river holding a stone. Unlocking better work wants repetition and time spent traveling together. That is a long investment on a build where basic gather already flakes.

If a gather order fails, do the gather. Use the person as overflow inventory. That still wins. A hide-filled follower is a successful afternoon even if they never chopped the tree you pointed at. Track missing materials on the gathering planner so you are not waiting on a ghost lumberjack.

When someone is stuck, move. Unstuck commands, a walk, a relog. Deep water is a trap. Campfires are a trap. Storage interactions that freeze you are a trap; do not stand a villager on the same tile you are fighting the UI.

Injury, death, and inventories

Happiness drops when people get hit. Death in older notes was permanent, with inventory vanishing. Play like that is still true. Do not use villagers as ablative armor. Knockouts and weird animation bugs exist too — the 45-degree sprint is a real launch complaint. Relog. If the person is still a modern-art installation, park them in a hut and continue the day.

Their pack is useful until it is gone. Empty valuable hide and blades into a station before a fight you do not trust. The grindstone and hide rack on the buildings page are safer than a follower’s pockets.

Assignment quests

Story mode will ask you to assign a clan member to an outpost or a job. If the option is missing, check every fire menu, including the original camp. How to complete the story lists the stall. The villager is rarely the bug. The menu is.

Use people for carry, for berry vacuuming, for standing near home with a bow. Use yourself for the decisions that wipe a save. That split is how a 1.0 tribe stays charming instead of becoming a tech support ticket.