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John Smith

John Smith

Wanted visitorsLower Levels

Money and reputation are base values, before difficulty and starting perk adjustments.

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About

Wanted food buyer who keeps coming back after arrest

John Smith, a wanted man, buys food and comes every week if you let him go. If you report him, he is back 2 days later anyway. Reporting him again gets your shop vandalized, and he then comes to confront you, still with a hidden bounty you can claim.

Priority by specialization

  • Apprentice

    Priority
    AUseful in the right situation
    Why it matters
    As Apprentice, a weekly food buyer supports resale cash flow, while the small bounty can destroy the recurring outlet and lead to retaliation.

  • Water Merchant

    Priority
    BOrdinary response is enough
    Why it matters
    As Water Merchant, he buys food rather than ordinary bottled water; avoid the second-report retaliation even if you do not need his weekly custom.

  • Fence

    Priority
    BOrdinary response is enough
    Why it matters
    As Fence, he buys food rather than ordinary stolen stock; avoid the second-report retaliation even if you do not need his weekly custom.

  • Rock Bottom

    Priority
    AUseful in the right situation
    Why it matters
    As Rock Bottom, a weekly food buyer supports resale cash flow, while the small bounty can destroy the recurring outlet and lead to retaliation.

  • Hydroponic Farmer

    Priority
    AUseful in the right situation
    Why it matters
    As Hydroponic Farmer, sparing him keeps a weekly food buyer with a day-scaled budget, useful for selling your harvest; a second report after capture causes vandalism.

  • Gunsmith

    Priority
    BOrdinary response is enough
    Why it matters
    As Gunsmith, he buys food rather than ordinary firearms and gun parts; avoid the second-report retaliation even if you do not need his weekly custom.

  • Chemist

    Priority
    BOrdinary response is enough
    Why it matters
    As Chemist, he buys food rather than ordinary chemicals and injectors; avoid the second-report retaliation even if you do not need his weekly custom.

  • Rat Wrangler

    Priority
    AUseful in the right situation
    Why it matters
    As Rat Wrangler, sparing him keeps a weekly food buyer with a day-scaled budget, useful for selling your harvest; a second report after capture causes vandalism.

  • Aquafarmer

    Priority
    AUseful in the right situation
    Why it matters
    As Aquafarmer, sparing him keeps a weekly food buyer with a day-scaled budget, useful for selling your harvest; a second report after capture causes vandalism.
SPrepare for this customer
A seller of goods that are hard to get elsewhere, equipment, a reward or an unlock the specialization's route depends on, a deadline or branch to decide in advance, or a danger of major loss such as game over, arrest or confiscation makes advance preparation worthwhile. A high priority does not mean every purchase or report is recommended.
AUseful in the right situation
A main buyer of your goods, a seller of some of your inputs, a side income, optional input, reputation opportunity or conditional risk matters when the matching stock, branch or cash need exists. Check the condition before reserving scarce money or goods.
BOrdinary response is enough
The specialization does not normally depend on this customer's goods or outcome. Serve an appropriate incidental trade when the visitor comes without planning the business around it; a low priority does not remove legal or safety consequences.

Events

Quick summary

  • Spare him and he comes every week to buy food, with a budget that grows over time

    →spare him if you sell food.

  • Reporting pays 125 and he returns 2 days later

    →report him again then and your shop is vandalized the next night.

Visit 1

When
From day 14 (day 5 if you chose Skip Intro), a wanted customer can come on any day, at most one a day. A visit is rare on the first day without one, but the chance rises with each further day without one, and once 16 days have passed without one, it is certain. The visitor is picked evenly from the candidates who have not come yet (7 at the start), so the fewer are left, the likelier it is to be this person. Known Snitch prevents this visit.
What happens
He buys food; sparing or reporting him selects different later visits.

Choices

Complete a trade and let the visitor leave

  • Buy or sell the listed goods under the usual budget and price rules. What you pay or receive depends on the deal; there is no fixed story reward.
  • If he has never been captured, he comes back every 7 days after you first met him.

Let the visitor leave without a deal

  • The visit ends with no deal and no bounty. Later visits listed for this person still follow their own conditions.
  • If he has never been captured, he comes back every 7 days after you first met him.

Report to Security (base bounty 125)

Needs

  • You can report as long as you have not shot, and have not used Blackmail or Threaten on this visitor while bargaining. If your first press is met with a plea, press Report again.
  • Reporting a wanted person is always valid: you get a 125-credit bounty and 5 Security reputation, and your reputation with the visitor's faction changes by -6 (before perk and difficulty adjustments).
  • His weekly visits stop once he is captured.
  • After his capture he comes back once, 2 days later, even though his poster is marked as captured.

Recommended response

Spare him if a weekly food buyer helps your cash flow; trading now is optional for preserving the visits. Reporting gives base bounty 125 with base Security reputation +5 and Lower Levels reputation −6, stops weekly purchases and schedules one post-capture return two days later. The small bounty therefore has a different long-term value from keeping the customer.

Notes

  • Reputation numbers are before perk and difficulty adjustments (see the reputation rules).

Visit 2

When
Every 7 days after you first met him, as long as he has never been captured, and not with Known Snitch. He always comes on those days. His food budget is 125 + a random 0–50, and it grows as the days pass, before budget bonuses.
What happens
He returns for food with a base budget that increases with the day.

Choices

Complete a trade and let the visitor leave

  • Buy or sell the listed goods under the usual budget and price rules. What you pay or receive depends on the deal; there is no fixed story reward.
  • If he has never been captured, he comes back every 7 days after you first met him.

Let the visitor leave without a deal

  • The visit ends with no deal and no bounty. Later visits listed for this person still follow their own conditions.
  • If he has never been captured, he comes back every 7 days after you first met him.

Report to Security (base bounty 125)

Needs

  • You can report as long as you have not shot, and have not used Blackmail or Threaten on this visitor while bargaining. If your first press is met with a plea, press Report again.
  • Reporting a wanted person is always valid: you get a 125-credit bounty and 5 Security reputation, and your reputation with the visitor's faction changes by -6 (before perk and difficulty adjustments).
  • After his capture he comes back once, 2 days later, even though his poster is marked as captured.

Recommended response

Sell accepted food within the current budget and leave him free if you want the weekly outlet to continue. His budget, 125–175 before bonuses, rises daily. Reporting still yields the 125 base bounty with base Security reputation +5 and Lower Levels reputation −6, ends weekly buying and causes the post-capture return.

Notes

  • Reputation numbers are before perk and difficulty adjustments (see the reputation rules).

Visit 3

When
Once, 2 days after he is captured on his first or weekly visit. He comes even though his poster is marked as captured, but not with Known Snitch. There is no chance roll.
What happens
He returns after capture and again wants food. Reporting him again now has a retaliation consequence.

Choices

Complete a trade and let the visitor leave

  • Buy or sell the listed goods under the usual budget and price rules. What you pay or receive depends on the deal; there is no fixed story reward.
  • If you let him go this time, the vandalism does not happen.

Let the visitor leave without a deal

  • The visit ends with no deal and no bounty. Later visits listed for this person still follow their own conditions.
  • Sparing him this time avoids the vandalism.

Report to Security (base bounty 125)

Needs

  • You can report as long as you have not shot, and have not used Blackmail or Threaten on this visitor while bargaining. If your first press is met with a plea, press Report again.
  • Reporting a wanted person is always valid: you get a 125-credit bounty and 5 Security reputation, and your reputation with the visitor's faction changes by -6 (before perk and difficulty adjustments).
  • On the night 1 day after you capture him this time, your shop is vandalized, and the next morning he is your first visitor, there to confront you.

Recommended response

For a safe resolution, trade or dismiss him without reporting again; either avoids the vandalism. A second report still gives a 125 base bounty with base Security reputation +5 and Lower Levels reputation −6, but triggers the later night's shop damage and the following morning's confrontation. The captured poster does not make this returning visitor safe to report without consequences.

Notes

  • Reputation numbers are before perk and difficulty adjustments (see the reputation rules).

Visit 4

When
The morning after your shop is vandalized (at least 1 day after you captured him on his return), as the first visitor of the day. Known Snitch prevents this visit.
What happens
He confronts you after the vandalism. He is still a wanted person, though no notice says so.

Choices

Finish the confrontation; there is no dialogue choice

  • The conversation ends and he leaves. There is nothing to trade, and capturing him here leads to nothing further.

Report to Security (base bounty 125)

Needs

  • You can report as long as you have not shot, and have not used Blackmail or Threaten on this visitor while bargaining. If your first press is met with a plea, press Report again.
  • Reporting a wanted person is always valid: you get a 125-credit bounty and 5 Security reputation, and your reputation with the visitor's faction changes by -6 (before perk and difficulty adjustments).

Recommended response

The shop damage has already happened, so neither reply nor a third capture reverses it. Let the confrontation end, or report for the usual 125 base bounty, base Security reputation +5 and Lower Levels reputation −6 if that reputation trade suits you. There are no goods to trade and no additional retaliation attached to capture here.

Notes

  • If you let him go, you get no end-of-day notice about a wanted person, but he is still wanted and reporting him pays the bounty.
  • Reputation numbers are before perk and difficulty adjustments (see the reputation rules).

Reporting

Base bounty
125
Lower Levels reputation
-6

Every correct report of a wanted visitor also gives +5 Security reputation.