RimWorld: Every Way to Recruit New Colonists

Trying to survive RimWorld with a single pawn is a recipe for an early grave. Walls don't build themselves, fields don't get sown by wishful thinking, and that one colonist of yours definitely cannot mine steel, cook meals, treat infections and shoot back at raiders all at the same time. Sooner or later, you need more bodies on the ground. This guide walks through every method the game offers for filling out your roster.

Why Skills Matter More Than Numbers

Before you start dragging unconscious strangers into your base, take a second to think about who you actually want around. Every colonist rolls with a randomized set of skills, traits and backstories, and a colony of seven pawns who all hate cooking and refuse to do manual labor will collapse faster than a tribal hut in a solar flare.

Aim for variety. A good rule of thumb is to cover the basics first: someone who can shoot straight, someone who can build, a competent crafter, a doctor who won't accidentally amputate the wrong leg, and at least one pawn willing to do dumb labor without complaining. Once those slots are filled, you can start being picky.

Hostile Recruitment

Life on the rim is not exactly polite, so neither are most of your recruitment options. Several of the fastest ways to grow your colony involve violence, captivity, or a transaction that you might not feel great about. None of them are technically wrong. Survival is the priority.

Capturing Raiders

When a raid hits and you have the upper hand, killing every attacker is rarely the optimal play. Downed raiders can be arrested, hauled to a prison cell, and slowly talked into joining your side. The trick is to make sure they get knocked out instead of finished off. Trap corridors, EMP grenades against mechanoids, and well-placed melee fighters all help.

Once a captive is locked up, assign a warden with decent Social skill and start recruitment attempts. The process is not instant, but converting yesterday's would-be murderer into tomorrow's tailor is one of the most satisfying loops in the game.

Raiding Caravans

If you do not want to wait for raiders to show up at your door, go find some yourself. Traveling caravans and visiting traders are usually peaceful, which means they are wildly unprepared for a sudden ambush. Knock them out, drag them home, and run the same prisoner recruitment process.

The downside is reputation. Attacking a faction's caravan tanks your relationship with that faction, which can shut off trade routes and turn future encounters hostile. Useful, but pick your targets carefully.

Buying Slaves

With the Ideology DLC installed, you can purchase enslaved pawns directly from Pirate Merchant Ships using an Orbital Trade Beacon. Slaves do not require recruitment, but they do require a warden to keep morale in check and stop the occasional escape attempt. Prices are steep, and the ethical question is yours to answer. If you would rather skip the slavery system entirely, you can also imprison purchased pawns and recruit them the normal way.

Peaceful Recruitment

Not every path to a bigger colony involves a body count. Some of the more reliable methods come from quests, lucky encounters, and simple biology.

Quests and Faction Tasks

The quest log is full of opportunities: rescuing prisoners from enemy camps, sheltering refugees during raids, escorting strangers to allied settlements. Many quest rewards include a fresh recruit, and even the ones that do not still pay out goods, silver, or faction goodwill. Worth checking regularly.

Escape Pods and Wanderers

Keep an eye out for crash events. Escape pods periodically drop from orbit, and the survivor inside might be a stranded researcher, a fleeing prisoner, or a random wanderer. Rescue them, patch them up in your medical bed, and they will often join immediately. If the pod's occupant belongs to a hostile faction, treat them like any other captive and use the prison route.

Having Children

The Biotech DLC unlocks the slowest but most controlled recruitment method: making your own colonists. Two compatible pawns in a committed relationship can produce children naturally, or you can use IVF to plan things out and pick parents based on the skills and genes you want.

Kids are a long-term investment. They need safe shelter, a steady food supply, schooling time, and a parent who is not constantly on the front line. Done right, you end up with high-skill colonists who grew up loyal to your colony from day one. Done wrong, you end up with another mouth to feed during a famine. Plan accordingly.