If Red51 manages to get to this stage it'll be interesting fun to be had. The whole bit of adding NPC Traders (Creative side), traveling merchants (survival side), as well as raiders, pirates, bandits, among others. Even the whole hostile cabin log dwellers who have severe cases of 'cabin fever'.
I wonder if Witch above is spoiled by the likes of both Skyrim & that 'Kingdoms' game of finding a spouse to merry. Even 'Stardew Valley'. Curious if mods would cover the marriage side of things to have a spouse & kid going. I wouldn't be against it as it would open up another set of paths to customize what the child looks like to then have them gradually (very slowly) grow. It would add more 'survival' type attachments to the game with more world personalizations. No sex scenes; no +18 content people would get insanely offended about because that would kill them like a bad allergy for some foreign reason. I guess after much traveling, dungeon exploring, having them ringed & such would trigger a rare spawn of a baby after a while with the baby spawning triggered by the opposite sex (or same sex, if that floats your boat). You would then have to protect them from the threats of bandits & such by adding guards, having a mini kingdom going, and such. It be interesting in and outside of itself of 'marriage'.
I'd be more excited for NPC professions in the manner of 'Timber & Stone' for they could be tasked with farming, logging (cutting trees), cooking, fishing, among other helpful things. We would have traveling merchants, yet I'd be happy with having those basic NPCs to start off with.
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That, and I'd been wishing for (a long time) in having a 'bodyguard' type NPC follower. Just someone you can customize, follows you, does combat when needed, and can chill at home. Basically what's in Skyrim, but simplified in Red51's & Rising World's case. I however get carried away by desires that I would enjoy it if they kept an eye out for items you're seeking that they would go after it, if it's in their line of sight. They would go after cotton, potatoes, among other things, if told. Thinking about mining, they would follow you underground to then mine out any ore they see in eye sight (exposed). Take them to a mining area then see them dig like crazy.
Bonus Addition:
This is if Red51 wants to challenge himself in having 'Timber & Stone' type leveling tree that the more they do in a certain job the better they get at it. The quicker they will be, more efficient, and etc. If they chop trees they would get faster at doing such, yield more, be less tardy & etc. It might be difficult in Rising World's case, yet you could probably have a fake 'hit' & 'miss' going on covertly in the resource harvesting code for them. Similar with fishing, and etc. Farming would be far more efficient by seeing scattered crops at first, then neater ones later on. You'd eventually see bigger fish being caught in the fishing profession, and etc.
[Recruiting NPCs in survival should be done by rescuing them from bandits, as well as in the wild. They should randomly spawn in & out when you haven't rescued them to get a chance at recruiting them. Maybe befriending 'bored' bandits, raiders, & pirates. Anything.]
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If Red51 hates me & us posting this stuff then he can blame 'Timber & Stone', Skyrim, Rimworld, Black & White, Minecraft's 'Little Maids Mod', among other for spoiling me & others. I'm always going to drop in an NPC thread because I want to fiddle with them highly. 