Skills and Education

In FreeCol, your colonists come from all walks of life. Some are unskilled Petty Criminals, who are deported to the colonies. Others are Indentured Servants, or Free Colonists with moderate skills. Still others are masters of their craft, experts at their trade or profession, who were educated at the Royal College in Europe. If you have enough gold, you can recruit units directly from the Royal College.

Not all skills, however, can be learned in Europe. Sugar, Cotton and Tobacco, as well as Furs are apparently unknown in Europe. Thus, Master Sugar Planters, Master Cotton Planters, Master Tobacco Planters, as well as the Expert Fur Trappers, can not be recruited in Europe.

At the beginning of the game, these skills can only be learned at Indian Settlements, or through experience. If you put a Free Colonist to work outside of the colony for a long time without changing his work assignment, he may learn the necessary skill and become an expert. This does not work for the more complicated jobs within the colony, however.

The Schoolhouse and its upgrades, the College and the University, allow you to train your units yourself by placing a skilled unit in one of these buildings. If a suitable student exists in the colony it will automatically appear below the teacher in the building, as well as continuing to perform its current task. Note that the Master Sugar Planter, the Master Cotton Planter, the Master Tobacco Planter, the Expert Fur Trapper, the Master Distiller, the Master Weaver, the Master Tobacconist, the Master Blacksmith and the Master Gunsmith all require at least a College, while the Elder Statesman, the Firebrand Preacher and the Jesuit Missionary even require a University to teach their profession.

A Free Colonist can learn any skill or profession in this manner, but Petty Criminals and Indentured Servants can not. However, a Petty Criminal may become an Indentured Servant, and an Indentured Servant may become a Free Colonist through education. Any colonist placed in a schoolhouse, college or university is able to provide this kind of education.

Petty Criminals may also become Indentured Servants, and Indentured Servants may also become Free Colonists by winning a battle and being promoted. Free Colonists can be promoted to Veteran Soldiers, and after the Declaration of Independence, these may be promoted to Colonial Regulars.

Indian units are more productive than free colonists when working outside of the colony, and less productive when working inside a building. Indian units can not become free colonists through education, but all Indian units become free colonists as soon as Bartolomé de las Casas joins the Continental Congress.

Scouts can explore the New World and enter Indian Settlements in order to speak with the tribal chiefs. A scout entering an Indian Settlement may become a Seasoned Scout through experience. A colonist investigating a Lost City Rumours may also be upgraded to a Seasoned Scout, unless that unit already has another skill.