Scenario system

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Default scenario choosing window, with one custom-set scenario.

The scenario system allows you to choose, randomize, and customize special situations to play in. Determine the starting situation, type of community (tribe, colony), permanent map conditions, starting items, animals, health conditions, traits, and change special rules. There are 4 built-in scenarios in the game, one of which is the default experience from versions before A14. In the image on the right, you can see the window for choosing scenarios and the "Open Steam Workshop" button (if you are using the steam version of the game).

Starting tech levels

Three of these four starts crash onto the planet but bring some of their previous technological knowledge with them; these are known as "New Arrivals" or "Industrial" tech starts. The fourth are native to the planet and have long ago forgotten their ancestor's technology; these are known as "New Tribe" or "Tribal" tech starts.

These two different starting technological levels determine which Research your colony starts with, and also how difficult it may be to research "advanced" technologies.

Default Scenarios

These four scenarios are in the base game. Each offers a different set of challenges, and encourages different playstyles to a certain extent. For example: you could start off as a 'rich explorer' who came from a high-tech glitterworld but yearned to explore the universe, or you could also start as a desperate tribe that's on the brink of starvation after fleeing from a devastating group of 'blood machines'. On the other hand, you could be managing a few crashlanded civilians who barely escaped an assaulted passenger liner with their lives.

Here are the four scenarios listed in order as shown in game:

Crashlanded

Summary: Three crashlanded survivors - the classic RimWorld experience.
Description: The three of you awake in your cryptosleep sarcophagi to the sound of sirens and ripping metal. You barely get to the escape pods before the ship is torn apart. Some time later, you land on this unknown rimworld.

• Start with three people, chosen from eight
  • They will be "new arrivals" / Industrial tech
  • Arrive in drop pods
  • 50% chance of having cryptosleep sickness (reduces consciousness, affects motor skills, causes frequent vomiting. Only lasts 3.2 to 4.8 in-game hours)
  • All potential options will have backstories from the "Offworld" category.
• Start with one random pet
  • Has a 100% chance of being bonded with a random colonist
• Start with technology already researched
  • Passive Cooler
  • Stonecutting
  • Complex Clothing
  • Complex Furniture
  • Electricity
  • Air Conditioning
  • Nutrient Paste
• Start with three normal-quality weapons
  • 1 bolt-action rifle
  • 1 revolver
  • 1 plasteel knife
• Start with three pieces of armor (in addition to synthread clothes)
  • 1 plasteel flak helmet
  • 1 flak pants
  • 1 flak vest
• Start with basic supplies
  • 800 silver
  • 50 packaged survival meals (around 6.25 days worth of food)
  • 30 components
  • 30 medicine
• Start near basic building materials
  • 450 steel
  • 300 wood
• Various resources scattered around the map
  • 3 ship chunks
  • 720 steel
  • 7 packaged survival meals

Lost Tribe

Summary: Five lost tribespeople attempt to rebuild. Difficult.
Description: Your tribe was destroyed by the great blood machines sent by the gods. Five of you managed to escape. Now, it's time to build up a new home. Note: Since you'll start poor and research slowly, this is a difficult scenario.

• Start with five people, chosen from eight
  • They will be a "new tribe" / Tribal tech
  • They have a 50% chance of starting with malnutrition
    • Severity ranges from 20% (minor) to 40% (moderate)
  • They have a 100% chance of having a less satisfied 'food' need
    • Satisfaction is set to 0-10%
  • All potential options will have backstories from the "Tribal" category.
• Start with 3 random pets
  • Has a 100% chance of being bonded with random colonists
  • Has a 100% chance of being bonded with the starting colonist
• Start with technology already researched
  • Tree Sowing
  • Recurve Bow
  • Psychoid Brewing
  • Passive Cooler
  • Pemmican
• Start with 6 weapons
  • 2 short bows
  • 1 bundle of pila
  • 1 wooden club
  • 1 steel ikwa
  • 1 Jade knife (unique item to this scenario only)
• Start with basic supplies
  • 200 silver
  • 400 pemmican (slightly more than one day's worth of food, 300 pre-Beta 19)
  • 20 herbal medicine
• Start near basic building materials
  • 500 wood

The Rich Explorer

Summary: One rich explorer out to experience the universe. Extra difficult.
Description: People called you crazy for leaving your glitterworld home, but you always yearned to explore the stars - outside the neurosimulator. Now you're at the end of your long journey in cryptosleep, landing on an unknown rimworld to see what it's like. Note: Since your starting character will lack some skills, this is an especially difficult scenario in the early game.

• Start with one person, chosen from eight
  • They will be "New arrivals" / Industrial tech
  • Arrive in drop pods
  • All potential options will have backstories from the "Offworld" category.
• Start with one random pet
  • Has a 100% chance of being bonded with the starting colonist
• Start with technology already researched
  • Passive Cooler
  • Stonecutting
  • Complex Clothing
  • Smithing
  • Complex Furniture
  • Electricity
  • Air Conditioning
  • Machining
  • Gunsmithing
  • Nutrient Paste
  • Blowback Operation
  • Gun Turrets
• Start with a high-tech weapon
  • 1 charge rifle
• Start with advanced supplies
  • 2,000 silver
  • 40 packaged survival meals (around 20 days worth of food)
  • 30 components
  • 30 glitterworld medicine
  • 30 gold
• Start near basic building materials
  • 450 steel
  • 300 wood

Naked Brutality

Summary: Naked, alone and utterly unprepared. Can you survive?
Description: You went under anesthetic for a minor surgery. Now you've awoken in a drop pod crashing into a distant planet. You're naked, alone and utterly unprepared. Can you survive?

• Start with one person, chosen from eight
  • They will be "New Arrivals" / Industrial tech
  • All potential options will have backstories from the "Offworld" category.
• Start with no items (except for 1 to 2 metal slag chunks from the drop pod)
• Colonist arrives naked
• Start with technology already researched
  • Passive Cooler
  • Stonecutting
  • Complex Clothing
  • Complex Furniture
  • Electricity
  • Air Conditioning
  • Nutrient Paste

"New Tribe" vs. "New Arrivals"

The "Lost Tribe" scenario, often referred to as "Tribal" or "New Tribe" colonies, has some significant differences from the "Crashlanded"/"Rich Explorer"/"Naked Brutality" scenarios, which are often referred to separately and collectively as "Industrial" or "New Arrivals" colonies.

• Tribals begin with a different (lower tech) set of technology already researched (as described above).
• Tribals have higher research costs for most technologies compared to all other scenarios. Note that a great majority of techs on the research tree are classified as Industrial or better.

Project tech level	Research cost multiplier
Neolithic	100%
Medieval	150%
Industrial	200%
Spacer	200%

• Industrial colonies can research Neolithic and Medieval discoveries at no penalty, and suffer a penalty only for "Spacer" tech level research, 200%, same as Tribal.

• Tribals forage 170% more food while traveling. More info about how this affects nutrition can be found on the Caravan page.
• For basic recreation, tribals craft the hoopstone ring and Game-of-Ur board, rather than the more advanced horseshoes pin and chess table that Industrial colonies craft. The hoopstone ring and chess table require more materials and work to create than their alternate equivalents, and also provide marginally weaker benefits. Colonies can trade with tribes or outlanders (settlements or caravans) to purchase recreation items that they are unable to craft themselves.
• Tribals can craft tribal headdresses and war masks at a crafting spot, headgear that no other scenarios are able to craft. The masks are easy to craft early on and provide a greater increased pain threshold benefit to colonists. Industrial colonies will have to trade with tribes or take these items from fallen foes if they wish to obtain them.
• Tribals have an easier time recruiting captives from other tribal factions, but a harder time recruiting pirates and outlanders.

• This relationship is switched for Industrial colonies, who have an easier time with pirates and outlanders, and more difficulty recruiting tribals.

• Tribals will all have backstories from the "Tribal" category, meaning they can mediate at the Anima tree . Industrial pawns will have more urban/space-faring backstories, which are unavailable to pawns starting with a Lost Tribe.

Scenario editor

Scenario edit mode

The scenario editor looks somewhat like the default scenario choosing window except for the left side of the page has changed, there are now three buttons: Load, which you can use to load your previously saved custom scenarios. Save, which is used to save your custom scenarios. And randomize seed, which is used to randomize the scenario. Under these buttons is the Edit mode, which you can toggle to open a window like the one on the bottom-right.

Edit mode

In this mode, you can change a scenario however you want. Each of the parts on the right of the window is explained below, including the possible inputs.

Mandatory parts

Part name	Description	Possible inputs
Title	The title for the scenario.	Text
Summary	A short version of the description for the scenario.	Text
Description	The description for the scenario.	Text
Player faction	The type of faction you will run. (changes what research you have and don't have)	Colony Tribe
Starting people	The number of people you will start with.	Number (max 10)
Arrival method	How your colonists will arrive.	Standing Drop pods

Voluntary parts

Part name	Description	Possible inputs
Allowed age range	The biological age range of your colonists.	Number slider (min 15, max 120)
Characters explode on death	Self explanatory.	Number (max 1000000000) and type of explosion (bomb or flame)
Create incident	Creating of an incident for the colony, with the option to repeat every X days.	Number (max 1000000000) Repeat checkbox
Disable incident	Disabling of an incident for the colony.	Every incident
Disallow building	Disallows a building from being built.	Every building
Forced health condition	Forces the characters specified to have a specific health condition.	Type of health condition Severity of the condition Chance for having the condition Who will have the condition
Forced trait	Forces the characters specified to have a specific trait.	Trait Chance for having the trait Who will have the trait
Game start dialog	Text shown at the start of the game	Text
Naked	Chance of colonists or planet inhabitants being naked	Chance of nudity Who will be naked
Permanent game condition	Forces the world to have a constant planetary effect	Game condition
Permanent map condition	Forces the map to have the specified map condition permanently on	Map condition
Planetkiller weapon incoming	Makes the game end after a specified amount of days	Number (max 1000000000)
Scattered randomly	Makes the game scatter the specified items randomly around the map.	Item Number (max 100000000000)
Set need level	Sets the starting level of need until the characters can restore themselves.	Need Severity of need Chance Who the need is applied to
Start near	Makes the game spawn the specified items near your starting location.	Item Number (max 100000000000)
Start with	Makes the game drop the specified items to your starting location.	Item Number (max 100000000000)
Start with animal(s)	Makes the game start you with the specified animals as pets.	Number (max 100000000000) Animal
Start with research	Makes the game start you with the specified research.	Research
Stat multiplier	The multiplier for Stats	Number (max 10000)

These parts are self explanatory and require no input: Cannot mine, cannot sow, cannot tame and cannot hunt.

Version history

• 0.12.906 - Colonies now start with a pet.
• ? - Crashlanded scenario's starting packaged survival meals increased from 44 to 50.