Payroll & wages
Status: Draft. Live in the sandbox campaign. Every number on this page is TEMP: they are first guesses that are still being tuned.
Your outfit pays two bills every day, in cash: soldiers' wages and character wages. Neither has its own screen. Both show as lines in the outfit's cash ledger, and they come off net cash a day. Hiring is paid in Respect, not cash, so cash pays only for keeping men, not for getting them.
How you use it
- Hover Cash on the top bar, or open the outfit card, to see the Wages and Character wages lines.
- Before you hire a soldier, check his class: a Gunman costs three times what a Thug does to keep.
- Build or upgrade Factories to cut what your soldiers cost a day.
- Don't let cash hit zero. A broke outfit's soldiers start walking.
How it works
Soldiers' wages
| Rule | Live |
|---|---|
| Who is paid | Every soldier in your outfit, in a squad or not |
| Wage per man a day | 1% of his class's base price: a base of $50 × his class wage multiplier |
| Gear | His gear is his own; a soldier's kit adds nothing to the daily bill |
| Stood down | A following whose leader is off the board (hurt, travelling, or tied to a post) pays 30% |
| Wounded | Still paid in full |
| Factory | Cuts the whole soldier bill (see below) |
| Town Guard | Draws no wage |
Class wages
| Class | Multiplier | Wage a day |
|---|---|---|
| Thug | ×1.0 | $0.50 |
| Thief, Crook, Hustler | ×1.2 | $0.60 |
| Gangster | ×1.4 | $0.70 |
| Hoe | ×1.5 | $0.75 |
| Heavy, Robber | ×2.0 | $1.00 |
| Doctor | ×2.5 | $1.25 |
| Gunman | ×3.0 | $1.50 |
| Ninja | ×3.5 | $1.75 |
These are before any Factory cut.
Character wages
Every adult member of your outfit (your named people, not soldiers) costs a flat $0.10 a day. It shows as its own ledger line.
When you can't pay
If your cash is at zero or below and you have a wage bill, soldiers desert: about 5% of your soldiers a day, at least one. Men in towns you hold go first. A squad man who deserts leaves the outfit alive, and his gear goes with him. The log says "Soldiers drift away - no wages to pay them."
The Factory cut
A Factory makes no supply. It makes your soldiers cheaper to keep instead: every Factory you hold cuts the whole soldier bill by 3% per level, plus 1% per Muscle point above 5 of the town's manager, × level. The total cut is capped at 50%.
Numbers (all TEMP)
| Number | Value | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Soldier base price | $50 | settlement_economy.war_recruit_cost_per_soldier |
| Daily wage share of that price | 1% | settlement_economy.upkeep_of_recruit_pct |
| Class wage multipliers | Thug 1.0 · Thief, Crook, Hustler 1.2 · Gangster 1.4 · Hoe 1.5 · Heavy, Robber 2.0 · Doctor 2.5 · Gunman 3.0 · Ninja 3.5 | crew type wage_mult |
| Stood-down wage | ×0.3 | wage_stood_down_mult |
| Character wage | $0.10 a day per adult member | settlement_economy.member_wage |
| Desertion when broke | 5% of soldiers a day, at least 1 | war_desertion_pct_per_day |
| Factory cut | 3% per level, +1% per Muscle point above 5 × level, cap 50% | foundation.factory_army_cut, factory_army_cut_per_muscle_above, factory_army_cut_cap |
See also
- Economy: where the cash comes from
- Outfit & seats: the roster and the outfit card
- Battles: what your soldiers are for
- Mechanics
Locked vs leftover
| Locked (document this) | Leftover / do not claim |
|---|---|
| One class wage a day per soldier | $5 a soldier a day; a per-crew payroll |
| Hiring paid in Respect; wages paid in cash | Hiring paid in cash; a recruit queue on the wage bill |
| A soldier's gear is his own; no kit upkeep | Kit upkeep in supply; unpaid kit degrading gear |
| Character wages at $0.10 a member | Capo stipends or a civilian payroll |
| Factories cut the soldier bill | Factories making supply |
| Broke means desertion | Over-cap desertion in the sandbox; DARK buildings for unpaid upkeep |
Sources
src/systems/squads.gd (class wages), src/systems/soldier_designs.gd (the daily bill), src/systems/turf_war.gd (wages, desertion), src/systems/frontier_council.gd (Factory cut), src/systems/development.gd (character wages), src/systems/economy.gd (the ledger), data/config.json (settlement_economy, foundation)