Skullspike

Skullspike

A spike mounted upright for the purpose of piercing and displaying a human skull. To some, displayed skulls are a symbol of power. To others, they represent barbaric evil. Skullspikes are an especially brutal and effective way to terrorize slaves.

Base Stats

Type

Building – Ideology (Buildings)

Mass

15 kg

Beauty

0

HP

150

Flammability

0%

Path Cost

30 (30%)

Building

Size

1 × 1

Minifiable

True

Placeable

True

Passability

pass through only

Cover Effectiveness

50%

Blocks Wind

True

Terrain Affordance

Medium

Creation

Skill Required

Construction 4

Work To Make

1,600 ticks (26.67 secs)

Stuff Tags

Woody, Metallic

Resources to make

25 + 1

Deconstruct yield

12 - 13 + 0 - 1

Destroy yield

6 - 7 + 0 - 1

Technical

thingCategories

BuildingsMisc

A Skullspike is a decoration added by the Ideology DLC. It inflicts terror on slaves and gives a mood buff or debuff to other pawns depending on their ideology.

Acquisition

Skullspikes can be constructed, each requiring  25 Stuff (Woody/Metallic, 250 for SVMs),  1 Skull, 1,600 ticks (26.67 secs) of work modified by the construction speed of the builder and the work to build factor and offset of the material, and a construction skill of 4. They can be created regardless of ideoligion.

They can also be found in the faction bases of factions with the Skullspike: Desired precept as part of their ideoligion.

Summary

The radius from which the skullspike is visible to pawns. Any pawn on a steel tile will be able to see the skullspike, and will gain the appropriate moodlet.

Skullspikes give a mood buff or malus depending on the Skullspike precept, though the Masochist trait negates these mood effects. Non-mashochist pawns with the 'Skullspikes: Desired' precept gain a +1 moodlet for being within 11 tiles of 1-3 of them, +2 mood for being near 4-8, and +3 mood for being near 9 or more. Pawns with the 'Skullspikes: Disapproved' precept get −1 to −3 mood at the same thresholds.

Skullspikes project 25% terror to slaves in a 4 tile radius. Terror decreases suppression loss in nearby slaves.

Skullspikes will display the name of the pawn from whom the skull used to construct it was extracted.

Analysis

Skullspikes are a rather cheap way to get up to +3 mood for suitable ideoligions, simply by being near them. Install them in dining/recreation rooms, so that all your pawns will see them. There is no functional reason to not have the Skullspikes: Desired precept; this precept can be put on any ideoligion, it does not penalize you for not having skulls around, and the Skullspikes: Disapproved precept offers no benefit.

Terror versus slave apparel

Terror as a method of slave control has a number of key flaws that make it all but untenable outside of a few, very niche uses. Terror sources are inherently static, the radii of their effects are small, and as soon as slaves leave the area, or fall asleep, suppression begins to decay. Meanwhile, slave apparel - slave collars and body straps, are sufficient to eliminate suppression loss by themselves but have none of these downsides. So long as they are worn and no further apparel that causes further suppression loss is used, slaves can be kept at 100% suppression indefinitely.

The only exceptions are where are other apparel needs interfere with wearing the items. The slave collar is almost unique in its coverage, and has it can be added to almost any outfit, but the slave body strap's use of the outer layer places in direct competition with both insulative and protective options such as the parka, duster, and power armors. Instances where this is true are rare however - flak vests are compatible and offer sufficient protection in most instances, while tribalwear, shadecones, tuques, corsets/formal vests (the penalty of which is also canceled out with both straps and collar), temperature genes, can all improve temperature resistance and make it possible to survive in relatively extreme environments. As such, slave apparel is almost always the preferred method.

Stats table

Skullspike	Beauty	Work to Build	HP	Flamma­bility	Market Value
Material
Bioferrite	0	004,000 ticks (1.11 mins)	300	0%	38
Gold	20	001,440 ticks (24 secs)	90	0%	2,510
Plasteel	0	003,520 ticks (58.67 secs)	420	0%	245
Silver	6	001,600 ticks (26.67 secs)	105	0%	260
Steel	0	001,600 ticks (26.67 secs)	150	0%	58
Uranium	0	003,040 ticks (50.67 secs)	375	0%	166
Wood	0	001,120 ticks (18.67 secs)	98	0%	39

Version history

• Ideology DLC Release - Added.
• 1.3.3101 - Can now be walked through.
• 1.3.3117 - Now displays whose skull is contained inside on their inspect pane. Path cost 0 -> 30.
• 1.4.3523 - Moved from Misc to new Ideology architect tab.

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Architect

Ideology

Altar (Small, Medium, Large, Grand) • Burnbong • Cannibal platter • Christmas tree • Drum • Effigy • Gibbet cage • Ideogram • Incense shrine • Kneel pillow • Kneel sheet • Lectern • Pew • Pyre • Reliquary • Ritual spot • Sacrificial flag • Skullspike • Styling station

(research)

Autobong • Biosculpter pod • Lightball • Loudspeaker • Neural supercharger • Sleep accelerator