What do you do with extra prisoners?

ITypedThis · February 26, 2015, 01:13:51 AM

It seems to me that everybody does things just a little bit differently than everybody else, and I am quite curious as to how everyone runs their prisons.

Okay, here's the scenario: you just survived a raid, and two or three of them didn't have the good fortune to die in the fight. After being treated, one of them lost both of their legs, and the other(s) has/have all of their limbs still attached and are up and walking. For whatever reason, you can't or won't recruit them, and have no intention of ever doing so. Food may or may not be a concern.

You are far into the late game, and as such don't even know slave traders still exist, so they can't be sold. You also do not wish to make peace with their faction, so you cannot release them. And in case I've missed something, you can't do that either.

What do you do with them?

Personally, if they're bedridden I use them as fodder for the warden(s) to train their social skill(s). If not, have my soldiers beat them to the floor --or to death, whichever comes first.-- to train their melee skills, and have them patched up by my doctors to train their medical skills. The dead are burned.

REMworlder · February 26, 2015, 01:36:40 AM

QuoteI use them as fodder for the warden(s) to train their social skill(s)

Mostly this right here. Prisoners are just a great way to get social skills high and keep them there!

electrichobo · February 26, 2015, 02:49:36 AM

Selling slaves isn't an option? Screw morale, if you're useless or won't join up, off with you. Either aboard a slave ship or into the cremation chamber. When the weak-minded colonists go berserk from being unable to deal with it, that just leaves the strong-willed to capture and sell them too.

Though it's kind of hard to enforce when you've got two colonists left, both with nervous or neurotic traits... One of my colonies was regularly purged by a single psychopathic and sanguine colonist. That was a jolly soldier.

TheSilencedScream · February 26, 2015, 02:52:56 AM

If you're physically capable and don't have the "Dumb Labor" restriction, you're in.
If you're not physically capable or have the "Dumb Labor" restriction, your organs are mine.

If a slaver arrives before you're recruited, and I'm not impressed with your stats, you're sold.

ITypedThis · February 26, 2015, 02:58:33 AM

Quote from: REMworlder on February 26, 2015, 01:36:40 AM
QuoteI use them as fodder for the warden(s) to train their social skill(s)
Mostly this right here. Prisoners are just a great way to get social skills high and keep them there!

No better way to do it!

ITypedThis · February 26, 2015, 02:59:38 AM

Quote from: electrichobo on February 26, 2015, 02:49:36 AM
Selling slaves isn't an option? Screw morale, if you're useless or won't join up, off with you. Either aboard a slave ship or into the cremation chamber. When the weak-minded colonists go berserk from being unable to deal with it, that just leaves the strong-willed to capture and sell them too.

Though it's kind of hard to enforce when you've got two colonists left, both with nervous or neurotic traits... One of my colonies went through several "purgings" by a single psychopathic and sanguine colonist. That was a jolly soldier.

It's not that it's a moral or mood issue, it's that slave traders never come by anymore once you reach a certain population. If we left the decisions up to the colonists, they'd all lose it because they had to fight over the last packaged survival meal...

Sometimes a forest needs to burn before new trees can grow.

ITypedThis · February 26, 2015, 03:03:29 AM

Quote from: TheSilencedScream on February 26, 2015, 02:52:56 AM
If you're physically capable and don't have the "Dumb Labor" restriction, you're in.
If you're not physically capable or have the "Dumb Labor" restriction, your organs are mine.

If a slaver arrives before you're recruited, and I'm not impressed with your stats, you're sold.

Just like that? If you've got legs and you're willing to use them?

If only they new what was waiting for them when they said "no." >:)

christhekiller · February 26, 2015, 04:07:08 AM

Depends

Well. If their faction can be made friendly I'll release them
If not then I'll either:
1. Harvest any organs I made need for my colonists. And once for roleplaying purposes I harvest hearts for sacrifice.
2. Just euthanize them.
3. Release them one at a time and have hunting parties go wipe them out. In the case of sir Legolas there I definitely would do this

lusername · February 26, 2015, 04:41:14 AM

You've had two or three prisoners ALL survive? I'm fortunate if one of them manages to survive the killbox and live long enough to make it to sickbay and receive treatment. I should probably stop using turrets as IEDs...except I can't think of a faster way to kill 30 or 40 guys all at once except to force them into a winding corridor without lines of sight in which they have to fight a turret face to face. They have no problems killing the turret with so many of them and only one turret with no firing room, but the explosion...

Anyway, if I were to somehow end up with a prisoner that was not worth recruiting, I would do the following, in order of preference:
1. Let Hannibal the Cannibal harvest their organs and eat them. There are perks to having Hannibal Lecter as the colony doctor.
2. Leave 'em on the field. I'm usually more concerned with saving the choice weapons from damage and keeping them alive will cost me medical supplies.
3. In combination with one of the above, let the psycho butcher them for meat and skins, which are the dominant source of colony income. It seems for some reason there is never a shortage of human meat to unload, even for the pittance it goes for.

Aenir · February 26, 2015, 05:22:24 PM

I keep them until a slave ship comes along and harvest organs as needed should any of my colonists require them.

CodyRex123 · February 26, 2015, 07:51:45 PM

You don't let me release them? Damn, the people i fight need all the soilders they can get, even if i do go to peace with them, i would declare war when the chance arrives.

ITypedThis · February 26, 2015, 08:23:57 PM

Quote from: CodyRex123 on February 26, 2015, 07:51:45 PM
You don't let me release them? Damn, the people i fight need all the soilders they can get, even if i do go to peace with them, i would declare war when the chance arrives.

But can you always risk fending off a mechaniod raid before you can start another war?

And what if you're trying to get more prisoners that you can/will try to recruit?

CodyRex123 · February 26, 2015, 09:58:10 PM

Am normally at war WITH everyone, and you can't release one prisoner and they instantly at peace with you, atleast, i haven't had that happen, Mecs aren't much to my colony, and i play on randy...

Vonholtz · February 26, 2015, 10:34:15 PM

If they have no good skills I sell them but seeing how slavers never show up when I have any prisoners. When I get sick of taking care of them and waiting I let them go and after this is done a few times the faction will no long hate us. Right up in till they visit the next time as friends and some one else attacks and they get in the middle of the cross fire and then they will hate us again.

The tricky ones are the ones who have no good skills and no faction I just sit on them and hope a slaver ship comes more then one time a game.

ITypedThis · February 26, 2015, 11:14:52 PM

Quote from: CodyRex123 on February 26, 2015, 09:58:10 PM
Am normally at war WITH everyone, and you can't release one prisoner and they instantly at peace with you, atleast, i haven't had that happen, Mecs aren't much to my colony, and i play on randy...

But you can only release so many prisoners before you no longer have the choice!

Mechs are kind of a hit and miss. A handful of scythers isn't necessarily game over, but a handful of centipedes... Something's gonna go wrong.