Free form building ideas ideas: brownie

[Forest]

Based on: viewtopic.php?p=758908#p758908
I’d like to propose for your consideration the idea of brownies who help hearthlings to perform routine tasks in specialized buildings.

To do this, the building must have one or several pairs of slots in which you can "settle" brownies and give them a tool for a certain task. For example we can put the brownie in one slot and a saw into the tool slot. And then that brownie will saw logs into boards. And in this case the quality of the brownie itself instead of Carpentry skill will softcap the quality of products.

Here are some more possible functions of brownies depending on its tool:
- sawing logs into boards (saw) - special building: sawmill
- chopping logs into blocks (axe) - special building: sawmill
- milking cows (buckets) - special building: Milking house
- butchering animals (butcher's knife) - special building: Butchering house
- smelting ores (smelting tongs) - special building: Smelting house (with few preinstalled slot for smelters inside)
- baking cakes (Chef's Pin) - special building: Oven house (with Ovens inside)
- replanting plants (scythe) - special building: Greenhouse (with first floor for storage and second floor for plants)
- chipping stones (pickaxe) - special building: quarry
- cooking pepper (cauldron) - special building: cooking station.
- more ideas?

Also, you can throw in a little mystery and create a brownie with some mystical (druidic?) ritual on a brownie awakening altar. Awakening costs certain amount of experience points depending on the quality of the brownie. Also perhaps the quality of an altar used should softcap the brownie’s quality?

The quality of the brownie not only does softcap the quality of received products (milk, boards, blocks, etc.) but also their speed of work, for example 10q brownie can milk 4 cows once per in-game day, or saw 4 stockpile of boards or chop 4 stacks of blocks over the same period. 40q is twice faster and so on.

Yes, maybe you will say that this is too OP. But take a look around, all those tasks are boring and monotonous. For each of them I would like to use if not a full client-side bot, then at least clicker that presses "drink water" button while a pepper is being cooked. And almost all large fractions use full-featured client-side bots for these tasks. So I think that "study desk for another tasks" will be fair enough for every hearthling.

[stya]

Ok but with a glas of milk.

[MinionTwo]

dont forget you have to leave gifts for the brownies or they will not work or even reverse work... like milk the cows and give you nothing, or chop the logs and leave no stockpile...

[shubla]

Maybe they could evven kill you and take over your village if you abuse them too much.

[azrid]

African slaves?

[Vassteel]

not the food brownies of colored folk from africa
like house gnomes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownie_(folklore)

[viznew]

not the food brownies of colored folk from africa
like house gnomes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownie_(folklore)

i didnt like it till i read that and now i kinda woulda enjoy them if thay did only basic task mostly kinda do thier own thing cant raise qs and stuff and not easy to get and a single one get unhappy very easy (as thay like to talk but not with humans)

a very mild npc that not easy to obtain sounds fun

[DreadDawson]

Maybe have them be possibly rescued from the eventual troll dungeon.