Rituals

Rituals are primarily options for ideoligions , with a handful available through other DLC . They allow pawns to participate, with a variety of props, in the hope of eliciting some outcome. These outcomes range from simple but significant mood boosts to attracting new recruits to the colony.

Mechanics

Every ritual has a Quality, expressed as a percentage, associated with it, influenced by a set of factors unique to each ritual type. Quality determines the chance of positive and negative outcomes, with some ritual effects scaling to the outcome tier and others applying only at specific tiers.

Note that percentage is not the chance of success. 100% Quality only means that the chance of success cannot be improved further.

The exact relationship between quality and success chance is not known, however the following approximation has been created through testing.

Quality expressed as a number between 0 and 1; so 100%=1; 50%=0.5;

• Terrible: 1/(4+(16×Q))
• Boring: 3/(4+(16×Q))
• Fun: 3×Q/(1+(4×Q))
• Unforgettable: Q/(1+(4×Q))

Ritual roles

Every ritual has one or more roles for pawns to fill - some are required for the ritual to occur, such as the gladiators in the gladiator duel, others are optional and either increase the quality of the ritual, apply the potential bonuses to the attending pawns, or both. Some ritual roles can be filled by multiple pawns at the same time, while others are limited to one pawn.

Some ritual roles have additional requirements, such as the pawn being of the correct ideoligion, being the correct ideoligious role, not being downed, or having sufficient capacity.

Pawns can spectate any ritual, regardless of whether their ideoligion matches that of the ritual itself.

Ideoligious ritual additional rewards

When creating a ritual for an ideoligion, you have the option of adding a custom additional reward. If the ritual achieves either of the two positive outcomes (fun or unforgettable, or their equivalents), the bonus reward will trigger in addition to the ritual-specific rewards.

None of the additional rewards can be applied to the funeral ritual. ^[Verify]

Reward	Description	Required Meme
None	Adding an additional reward is optional.	Any
Psyfocus recharge	The psyfocus of all participants will be recharged to full. The psyfocus of all participants with a psylink, regardless of role, is set to 100%. There is no effect on pawns without psylink.	Any
Nearby faction goodwill	You will gain goodwill from the nearest faction base. Gain goodwill from the faction[Non-hostile?] that owns the nearest faction base[Verify] to the site of the ritual.[Verify]. The amount of goodwill gained depends on the quality of the ritual - +10 for Fun and +20 for Unforgettable.[Verify Numbers]	Any
Random recruit	50% chance of random recruit of the same ideoligion joining your colony. A 50% chance that a pawn of your ideoligion will join from the map edge.[Detail needed]	Any
Discover ancient complex	You will discover the location of an ancient complex nearby. Grants an ancient complex quest. Won't trigger if you already know the location of any type of unexplored complex.[All types?] The ritual window will warn you if that is the case.	Any
Farm animals wander in	A group of farm animals will be attracted and join the colony. A group[How many?] of tamed farm animals[Which animals?] will join from the map edge.	Rancher Animal personhood Nature primacy
Gauranlen pod sprout	A Gauranlen pod will sprout at a random location on the map, if it can. Cannot spawn in extreme biomes.[Detail Needed]	Tree connection Nature primacy
Insect jelly	Insect jelly deposits will be deposited from underground. The amount of insect jelly received depends on the quality of the ritual - 26 for Fun and 40 for Unforgettable.[Verify Numbers] [Detail Needed] Note: The Insectoid faction must be enabled.	Tunneler

Overview table

Image	Ritual	Factors	Outcomes	Notes
	Funeral	Participant count (10): +70% Moral guide present: +30%	5% Terrible: -3 15% Lackluster: -1 60% Good: +5 20% Heartwarming: +8	If there is no corpse in the grave or sarcophagus, the ritual quality is only increased by 20% by the presence of the moral guide, and only by 60% by a full participant count.
	Social festival	Participant count (10): +25% Leader present: +25% Started at altar: +20% Lectern used: +20% Seats for everyone: +20%	5% Terrible: -3 15% Boring: -1 60% Fun: +5 20% Unforgettable: +8
	Dance party	Participant count (10): +30% Started at lightball: +20% Active loudspeakers (6): +30% Room Impressiveness (120): +20%	5% Terrible: -3 15% Boring: -1 60% Fun: +8 20% Unforgettable: +16	If the party is fun or unforgettable, there is a chance[Probability?] that all participants will get +20% Global Work Speed for 24h. Only available to non-tribals.
	Drum party	Participant count (10): +30% Started at campfire: 20% Drums (6): +30% Room Impressiveness (120): +20%	5% Terrible: -3 15% Boring: -1 60% Fun: +8 20% Unforgettable: +16	If the party is fun or unforgettable, there is a chance[Probability?] that all participants will get +20% Global Work Speed for 24h. Only available to tribals.
	Skylantern festival	Participant count (10): +100%	5% Terrible: -3 15% Unimpressive: -1 60% Beautiful: +6 20% Unforgettable: +10	Each participant makes a skylantern out of 4 wood. If the festival is beautiful or unforgettable, friendly visitors might see them and arrive with a gift.[Probability?]
	Christmas tree Symbol burning Smokeleaf circle Cannibal feast	Participant count (10): +80% Room Impressiveness (120): +20%	5% Terrible: -3 15% Boring: -1 60% Fun: +5 20% Unforgettable: +8	Destroys the ritual target.
	Scarification	Participant count (10): +25% Moral guide present: +20% Started at altar: +20% Lectern used: +15% Seats for everyone: +20%	5% Terrible: -2 15% Boring: -1 60% Satisfying: +1 20% Spectacular: +3	Scarifies the subject. Only available with the Pain is Virtue meme.
	Blinding ceremony	Participant count (10): +25% Moral guide present: +20% Started at altar: +20% Lectern used: +15% Seats for everyone: +20%	5% Terrible: -2 15% Boring: -1 60% Satisfying: +1 20% Spectacular: +3	Blinds the subject. If the ceremony is satisfying or spectacular, the blinded person may get a psylink upgrade or unlock a new psychic power.[Probability?] Only available with the Blindsight meme.
	Animal sacrifice	Participant count (10): +25% Moral guide present: +25% Started at altar: +20% Lectern used: +15% Seats for everyone: +15%	5% Terrible: -3 15% Boring: -1 60% Satisfying: +5 20% Spectacular: +8	If the sacrifice is satisfying or spectacular, there is a 5% (satisfying) or 10% (spectacular) chance that a random participant gains an inspiration. Only available with the Human Primacy meme.
	Gladiator duel	Participant count (10): +20% Leader present: +20% Duelist dies: +100% Weapon used: +60%	5% Terrible: -3 15% Boring: -1 60% Good: +5 20% Unforgettable: +8	The two necessary escorts count towards the participant count. Spectators gain 1000 melee experience, gain a mood boost[Separate from the usual mood boost?], and fill their recreation bars.[Verify] The duelists also gain the mood effect from ritual quality. Duelists must be capable of violence. Only available with the Pain is Virtue, Cannibal, Supremacist, or Raider memes.
	Prisoner execution	Participant count (10): +80% Started at altar: +20%	15% Awkward: -1 65% Satisfying: +6 20% Spectacular: +8	Participating slaves are fully suppressed. Can be performed by all ideologions.
	Leader speech	Participant count (10): +40% Room impressiveness (120): +20 Leader's Social Impact (150%): +40%	5% Terrible: -8 15% Uninspiring: -4 60% Encouraging: +5 20% Inspirational: +8	The speech quality will also affect the listeners' opinions of the leader, with a terrible speech resulting in a -30 opinion, an uninspiring speech resulting in a -15 opinion, an encouraging speech in a +20 opinion, and an inspirational speech in a +40 opinion.
	Trial	Participant count (20): +60% Leader's Negotiation Ability * 0.25 Defendant's Negotiation Ability * -0.25	50% Exonerated 50% Convicted	If the defendant is convicted, they are considered guilty for 15 days for the purpose of arrest, banishment, and executions. If the defendant has a mental break during the trial, their Negotiation Ability is effectively set to 0.
	Conversion ritual	Participant count (10): +40% Room impressiveness (120): +20% Moral guide's Social Impact (150%): +30% Convertee's Expectations (Very Low): +10%, (Sky High): -30%	5% Terrible 15% Ineffective 60% Effective: +3 20% Masterful: +6	The convertee's certainty is offset by an amount depending on ritual quality: terrible: +20%; ineffective: +12%; effective: -30%; masterful: -100%.
	Tree connection	Participant count (10): +100%		The connector will start with 25-45% connection strength, depending on ritual quality.
	Bestowing Ceremony	Participant count (24): +60% Room Impressiveness (170): +40%	Bonus mood for 6 days: 5% Terrible: -3 15% Unimpressive: -1 60% Honorable: +3 20% Grandiose: +6	Bonus honor based on number of gathered spectators and room impressiveness. The bonus does not depend on outcome. Provides 1 honor above 30% ritual quality, 2 above 60% and 3 above 90% quality. Requires New title's ceremony quest to start.
	Throne Speech	Participant count (10): +40% Organizer's social impact(150%): +40%[Verify] Room Impressiveness (120): +20%	Bonus mood for 8 days: 5% Terrible: -8 15% Uninspiring: -4 60% Encouraging: +5 20% Inspirational: +10	If the speech is inspiring, participants may acquire Inspirations The speech quality will also affect the listeners' opinions of the speaker in the same way as a leader speech, up to +40 opinion at inspirational. 10 days cooldown on Begin Throne Speech ability. Expected ritual duration: 2 hours
	Child birth	Loved one present: +5% Mother's age (peaks at 20-30): +50% Doctor's medicine skill (20): +25% Indoors: +5% Room cleanliness (0.6): +10% Bed health effects (5): +5%	2.5% Stillborn 7.5% Sick 90% Healthy	There is a chance the mother will die during birth: 20% at 0% quality, 5% at 20% quality and 0% above 90% quality. This is independent of the stillbirth chance. A successful birth gives the mother a +8 [name] was born healthy thought for 15 days, while a stillbirth gives her a −15 Stillbirth thought for 10 days. See Reproduction#Quality and Reproduction#Outcomes for detail

Analysis

Funeral

This is the only ritual involving the (possible) non-player caused death. It is generally considered the worst ritual, as it requires the death of a pawn - an expensive cost when other rituals are available with the same effects.

Dance party

This is tied with "drum party" for the most "success bonuses" and shortest cooldown.

Drum party

This is tied with "dance party" for the most "success bonuses" and shortest cooldown.

Smokeleaf circle

The ritual indirectly results in your colonists getting the stoned on smokeleaf condition, which applies to them for approximately 18 hours. This results in a -30% consciousness debuff, making participants slow and ineffective workers or combatants. An unforgettable festival gives only a +8 mood buff (plus a short-lived mood buff from Stoned on Smokeleaf), so it is less effective for mood than dance or drum festivals. Furthermore, costing 150, the Burnbong is the equivalent of 37.5 smokeleaf joints.

Scarification

Is a ritual that will add scarification to a random part of the person who will get the scarification will get a mood buff of 'Got scarified' depending on what intensity of scarification in the ideology.

Blinding ceremony

This ritual causes significant pain, enough to incapacitate a Wimp. If the target gets incapacitated by the painshock, the ritual will be canceled. Giving a Wimp target go-juice before the ritual will prevent painshock and allow the ritual to proceed.

Animal sacrifice

Animal sacrifice does not cause the violent death penalty for butchering, and is thus an alternative to slaughtering.

Gladiator duel

This ritual always has 100% quality if one of the fighters dies. There are a number of ways to maximize the chances of that happening:

• Give the fighters go-juice or yayo. Getting downed by pain shock will end the ritual with a lower score. A war mask, veil, or cultist mask would also help. You can also use Painblock.
• Place a single melee weapon in the ring. One of the duelists will have an advantage and there will be a +20% Weapon used quality bonus even if nobody dies. Note that duelists must have a manipulation capacity greater than 0% to pick up a weapon. Body part weapons do not count for this bonus.
• Choose one fighter with a high and the other with a low Melee skill to give the first one an advantage.
• Remove one of the weaker fighter's hands. Do not remove both as pawns with 0% Manipulation cannot participate in the ritual.

You can also minimize the chance of that happening:

• You'll want to increase the pain level and lower the pain shock threshold. Give the fighters a torture crown or a mindscrew. Maybe some scars. Send a couple wimps to fight. Send a couple people that are already close to being downed, with no injuries to critical organs or the head.
• If you do give them weapons, give them something blunt with low maximum damage, like a wood club.
• Give them some serious armor.

Strip both gladiators before battle to prevent any clothes becoming tainted when they die. You can also pre-equip them with tainted clothes so that's not a problem.

As adding the Raider or Supremacist memes to an ideoligion automatically adds the Gladiator Duel ritual, it can be used to exceed the normal limit of 6 rituals. Simply have 6 non-gladiator duel rituals already enabled, and add the relevant meme either at creation or using a fluid ideoligion. Note that if you remove a ritual at any time, you will have to restart the process as it will still attempt to impose the 6 ritual limit.

Wild men cannot be used in gladiator duels, even if imprisoned.

Child slaves cannot be used, nor can child prisoners.

Prisoner execution

Execute a prisoner. Increases the suppression of slaves

Conversion ritual

Reduce a pawns certainty, or outright convert a pawn to your ideoligion.

Version history

• 1.3.3066 - Throne speeches have been re-tooled into rituals.
• 1.3.3067 - Fix: After a gladiator duel, the downed prisoner will be carried back to their bed but they won't actually be put in the bed, they will remain downed on top of the bed instead. Fix: Typo on anima tree linking ritual.
• 1.3.3101 - Fix: Wild person can be used in gladiator duels, causes manhunter revenge. Wild man prisoners are no longer allowed to be used as duelists. Fix: Duelists can pick up weapons during the duel even if they have no manipulation capacity.
• 1.3.3117 - Ritual setup dialog now says what ideoligion the ritual comes from. Fix: Ritual timings are 1 day off. Pawns of any ideo can now spectate any ritual, even if it's not of their own ideo.
• 1.3.3200 - Fix: Blood from scarification is from cutter, not cuttee. Fix: Psyfocus ritual reward does not recharge psyfocus to max.
• 1.4.3523 - Fix: Ritual spectators will stand on beds or in doorways.
• 1.4.3555 - Fix: Prisoners can refuse to attend their own execution due to temperature in the ritual area.
• 1.4.3580 - Fix: Duels continue indefinitely if the duelists don't have beds.
• 1.5.4062 - Fix: Pawns can be rescued in rituals. Fix: Required roles can leave rituals.