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😊 Mood System
🧠 How Mood Works
Mood is a 0–100% scale. Below 35% risks mental breaks; above 50% can trigger inspirations. Every positive and negative life event feeds into this number.
| Mood Range | Effect |
|---|---|
| 80–100% | High chance of inspiration—creative, work frenzy, shoot frenzy, etc. |
| 50–79% | Normal range, occasional inspiration |
| 35–49% | Warning zone—minor breaks possible (sad wandering, binge eating, insulting) |
| 20–34% | Danger zone—major breaks possible (tantrum, drug binge, slaughterer) |
| 0–19% | Critical—extreme breaks possible (berserk, murderous rage, give up) |
Core insight: Mental breaks are almost never caused by one thing. −3 ate without table + −5 ugly environment + −4 slept in the cold + −10 rejected proposal = cumulative break. Fix five small things, not one big thing.
🏠 Room Impressiveness—The Underrated Mood Engine
Dining rooms, rec rooms, and bedrooms have an "Impressiveness" score calculated from Wealth, Beauty, Space, and Cleanliness. Critical mechanic: the lowest stat gets ~51% weight. A golden room covered in filth = still awful.
| Score | Mood Bonus |
|---|---|
| Awful (<20) | −4 |
| Mediocre (30–39) | −2 |
| Decent (40–49) | +2 |
| Slightly Impressive (50–64) | +3 |
| Very Impressive (85–119) | +5 |
| Extremely Impressive (120–169) | +6 |
| Unbelievably Impressive (170–239) | +7 |
| Wondrously Impressive (≥240) | +8 |
Best trick—The Great Hall: Combine dining + rec into one large room. Pawns get the dining buff after eating AND the rec room buff after recreation—one room, two mood bonuses, up to +12 to +16 total.
- 8×8 to 12×12, centrally located
- 1–2 high-quality large sculptures (art is the best mood investment)
- Stone tile floors, armchairs (not stools) at tables
- Keep it clean! One pile of filth drops 1–2 impressiveness tiers
🛏️ Bedrooms
- Size: 5×5 internal (25 tiles) optimal. 4×5 can reach "decent"
- Furnishings: Best bed + dresser + end table + lamp + at least one sculpture or plant pot
- Special traits: Greedy pawns need "slightly impressive"; Jealous pawns need the best bedroom; Ascetics hate nice rooms
🍽️ Food & Comfort—Most Reliable Daily Buffs
| Source | Buff | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Fine Meal | +5 | Meat + veg, just needs a stove and cook |
| Lavish Meal | +12 | More ingredients, late-game standard |
| Psychite Tea | +12 | Every 2 days, near-zero addiction risk |
| Beer | +10 | 1/day safe, multiple risks addiction |
| Luxuriant Comfort (armchair) | +10 | Armchairs at all workstations + dining tables |
🎮 Recreation Management
- Variety is mandatory: One horseshoe pin = slow rec gain. At least 3 different recreation types
- Types: Horseshoes (dexterity), chess (cerebral), billiards (dexterity + social), TV (social), telescope (cerebral), poker (social)
- Schedule: 2–3 hours daily, after waking and mid-afternoon
- Recreation tolerance: Same activity loses effectiveness over time—rotate activities
💊 Drug Mood Policy—Automated Safety Net
| Drug | Effect | Safe Interval | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychite Tea | +12 mood, −10% sleep need | Every 2 days | Near-zero |
| Beer | +10 mood | 1/day | Low |
| Ambrosia | Mood boost | Daily | Low addiction |
| Smokeleaf | +13 mood | — | −30% consciousness, cancer risk |
| Yayo | +35 | — | 1% addiction per dose, extreme danger |
🎭 Mental Break Types
| Severity | Type | Consequence | Response |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minor | Sad Wandering | Roams aimlessly, exposure danger | Let it pass → Catharsis +40 |
| Minor | Binge Eating | Consumes all accessible food | Control food stockpiles |
| Minor | Insulting Spree | Insults colonists, may trigger fights | Isolate target |
| Major | Tantrum | Destroys 500 silver worth of items | Arrest or beat down |
| Major | Slaughterer | Kills tamed animals | Arrest immediately |
| Extreme | Berserk | Attacks everyone nearby | Full colony melee takedown |
| Extreme | Murderous Rage | Hunts specific colonist to death | Arrest or beat down; Word of Serenity |
| Extreme | Give Up | Leaves colony permanently | Arrest is the only option |
The Catharsis trade-off: Letting minor breaks run their course grants +40 Catharsis for 2.5 days. Arresting prevents the break but denies the buff and adds "Was imprisoned" (−6). For minor breaks, letting them happen is usually better.
📈 Expectations—Richer = Harder to Please
| Expectation Level | Mood Modifier | At ~Wealth |
|---|---|---|
| Extremely Low | +30 | <15k—free mood |
| Low | +18 | 15k–50k |
| Moderate | +12 | ~50k–100k |
| High | +6 | ~100k–200k |
| Sky-High | 0 | ~200k–308k+ |
| Nobles/Role-holders | Two levels worse | Up to −22 penalty |
That free +30 you get at the start? It's a tutorial buff. By 200k wealth you must replace it with better rooms, food, art, and recreation. Wealth management matters because rising expectations outpace comfort if you climb too fast.
✅ Mood Management Checklist
- Combine dining + rec into one great hall with 2 large sculptures
- 5×5 bedrooms with bed + dresser + end table + lamp + plant pot
- Armchairs everywhere—workstations and dining tables (+10 comfort)
- Fine meals minimum, lavish when affordable (+5 to +12)
- Psychite tea auto-policy: mood <40%, every 2 days max
- At least 3 recreation types, 2 hours scheduled daily
- Sculptures everywhere—workshops, labs, hallways. Best beauty-to-wealth ratio
- Keep it clean—filth is the #1 impressiveness killer
- Hide corpses—isolate battlefields and graves from living areas
- Let minor breaks slide—Catharsis +40 beats arresting every time