Villager mechanics

Loyalty levels

After recruiting someone to the tribe the work is not yet done. They may be willing to help you with small tasks from time to time but you can't expect them to drop everything for your sake. This is where loyalty levels come in.
After being recruited, a villager starts at loyalty level 1 out of 5.
By increasing their loyalty towards you, you gain a better understanding of them and they'll be willing to do more for you. For each character you may gain roughly the same benefits per level though the details will vary based on their personality and skills.

Perks

Level 1: At level 1 they see you as an ally and are willing to perform small tasks. Such tasks are often easy to perform and benefit them as well, such as gathering dry wood for a fire.
Level 2: The 2nd level allows you to look at the character's stats in order to assign them an appropriate role within the tribe. You may ask them to be a hunter, a cook, a blacksmith etc. but they also have a prefered job.
You may change their role whenever you want but they may get annoyed if it is done too frequently.
Level 3: At level 3 you can assign characters to low-risk missions outside the village that would benefit the tribe. An example would be to send them on a trading mission to a friendly tribe or scout nearby land.
Level 4: Person specific reward.
Level 5: Person specific reward.

Leveling up

Unlike a PC's level, a villager's loyalty level won't increase through experience. As the name suggests, you have to make them like you.
On a mechanical level, each loyalty level takes 10 points to reach which the DM will keep track of. You can just ask them to show you the progress whenever you want.
There are three main methods to do this.

• Giving them gifts they like (+1)

• Fulfill one of their requests (+2)

• Do a quest related to their personal storyline (+3)

Giving a villager gifts helps with improving their impression of you but only if they actually like the gift. It is up to you to get to know the character in order to figure out their preferences.
A villager's request is often just a thing they would like but can't get easily, resolving disputes between two of them or helping them improve their skills. These quests require you to go a bit out of your way to fulfill them.
And then some characters will have storyline quests. They may have personal issues they need help solving or simply be searching for a thing. Not all storylines have the same difficulty or even amount of story beats. These quests may also directly improve a character's skills.
Note: assigning a character to their preferred job counts as fulfilling a request.

Allies

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Villagers

0