A merchant caravan winding through golden hills at dusk, one of the agents that moves through the Titan Saga: Idle living world

Caravans, migrants, refugees, pilgrims, patrols

The world that moves while you're not looking.

From Chapter 2, travellers walk between your regions on the world map. A few of them stop and ask for a decision. Here is what each one wants, and what each answer costs.

5traveller typesCh 2first appear3ask for a choice

What this means for you

In your first two chapters, skip this page. Nothing spawns until you have a second region.
When a traveller is waiting for you, a Visitors chip appears on the world map. Tap it (or tap the traveller) to decide.
Quick rules: welcome refugees (free), buy one unit from every caravan (the bonus gold pays for it), accept migrants when you can afford them. Pilgrims and patrols need nothing from you.
Every prompt has a timer. Letting it run out counts as saying no (for migrants and refugees, that costs a little NPC Trust).

When does this start?

Travellers only walk between regions you have unlocked, and a new region unlocks with each story chapter (your home region at Chapter 1, the second at Chapter 2, and so on).

Chapters 0 and 1

Only your home region is unlocked. No travellers spawn at all, so there is nothing to miss.

Chapter 2 (2 regions)

Migrants (once a region has Housing with room), refugees (after a severe world event) and pilgrims (once you consecrate a shrine) can start.

Chapter 3 (3 regions)

Caravans and faction patrols join in. From here the world map gets busy.

While you are offline: travellers keep walking, but when you come back (after 5 minutes or more) the game only catches up the last 12 hours of travel and rolls for at most 5 new travellers, so a long absence never floods you. Decision timers keep running while you are away, so short-lived visitors (a caravan's 30 minutes, refugees' 2 hours) often leave before you return.

What "NPC Trust" is

Each region keeps an NPC Trust score, shown on that region's city screen. You mostly earn it by finishing noble quests there. At 3, 8 and 15 trust you get 5%, 10% and 15% off NPC prices in that city. Travellers nudge it up or down by 1 to 5 points, and it never drops below zero, so an early mistake is cheap and easy to earn back.

The five travellers

Caravans

Traders carrying one region's specialty resource to another.

Do this:When a caravan arrives, buy at least one unit. Any purchase also pays you the caravan's bonus gold, which is usually worth more than what you spent.

What it is: A named trader loads 40 to 120 units of its home region's specialty (wood from Forest, crops from Plains, ore from Mountains, and so on) plus a gold bonus worth a quarter of the cargo's value, roughly 50 to 150 gold, and walks to another of your unlocked regions. Long trips stop at a waypoint on the way.
Starts appearing: You have 3 unlocked regions (Chapter 3). At most 6 caravans travel at once, and each region sends one at most every 4 hours.
Your choices: Trade: Buy any amount of the cargo at 10% under market price. The first purchase also pays out the bonus gold. The caravan then heads home.
Dismiss: No cost and no penalty. The caravan leaves and you get nothing.
Intercept (while it is still travelling): Tap a moving caravan, then Intercept, and send 1 to 3 free members to rob it. You get 100%, 75% or 40% of the cargo and bonus gold depending on how well the fight goes, or nothing if you lose. Members can come back injured, and it always costs 5 NPC Trust in the caravan's home region, win or lose. Limited to 3 a day.
If you ignore it: The trade window is 30 minutes after arrival. After that the caravan leaves as if dismissed.

Migrants

A family looking for a busier, better-housed city.

Do this:Accept if you have the gold, especially when the card says a recruit travels with them. Declining costs a little NPC Trust and gains you nothing.

What it is: A family walking from one of your quiet regions (Pulse under 40) to a thriving one (Pulse over 60) that has a Housing building with room to spare. Accepting adds +1 population capacity to that region for good. About 30% of families also bring a recruit: a level 1 member who already has an archetype and a working trade (Farmer, Miner, Lumberer, Hunter, Harvester, Mason, Cook or Merchant).
Starts appearing: You have 2 unlocked regions (Chapter 2), one of them has Housing with spare capacity, and the Pulse gap exists. At most 3 families travel at once, and each destination region takes one per 24 hours.
Your choices: Accept: Costs 250 gold plus 25 gold for each member on your roster (half the Tavern's surcharge), so 350 gold with a roster of 4. Grants +1 population capacity in that region, plus the recruit if there is one. If a recruit is bundled and your roster is full, you cannot accept until you free a seat.
Decline: Free, but costs 1 NPC Trust in the destination region.
If you ignore it: The family waits 24 hours, then leaves. That counts as a decline: -1 NPC Trust.

Refugees

Survivors fleeing a disaster in one of your regions.

Do this:Welcome them. It is free, you receive what they carry, and it builds trust.

What it is: When a severe world event hits one of your unlocked regions, a group sets off for the nearest safe unlocked region (up to 3 groups per event, 2 hours apart). They carry gold (about 50 to 200, more for worse disasters) and a small bundle of resources.
Starts appearing: You have 2 unlocked regions (Chapter 2) and a severe world event lands in one of them.
Your choices: Welcome: Costs nothing. You receive their gold and resources, and gain 2 NPC Trust in the region they fled.
Turn away: You get nothing and lose 1 NPC Trust in the region they were heading to.
If you ignore it: They wait only 2 hours, then move on. That counts as turning them away: -1 NPC Trust.

Pilgrims

The faithful walking to a shrine you have consecrated.

Do this:Nothing to do. Pilgrims are a reward for consecrating a shrine, and they deliver on their own.

What it is: Each consecrated shrine draws a pilgrim from another of your regions every 6 hours. On arrival the pilgrim deposits devotion (5 to 50) into the shrine and gives its patron a small loyalty nudge (+0.5) in that region. Pilgrims heading to a shrine with water access can arrive as Tidal Pilgrims, who stay and ask you to choose.
Starts appearing: You have 2 unlocked regions (Chapter 2) and at least one consecrated shrine.
Your choices: Bless (Tidal Pilgrims only): The normal result: devotion goes into the shrine and the patron gains a little loyalty.
Trade (Tidal Pilgrims only): Take hide instead (2 per point of devotion). The shrine gets no devotion this time.
If you ignore it: A Tidal Pilgrim waits 24 hours, then blesses the shrine automatically. You lose nothing by ignoring one.

Faction patrols

Soldiers of a patron faith touring the regions it holds.

Do this:Nothing to do. Patrols are not a decision; they show you which faith is strong where.

What it is: A patrol sets out from a faith's stronghold (its highest-loyalty region, at 40 loyalty or more) and visits 2 or 3 of your other regions before returning. Each stop gives that faith +2 loyalty in the region and makes its loyalty drift 1.5x faster there for 24 hours.
Starts appearing: You have 3 unlocked regions (Chapter 3) and some faith has 40+ loyalty in one of them. One patrol per faith at a time, at least 8 hours apart, 5 in total.
If you ignore it: No prompt, no timer, no cost.

Patrols and pilgrims move patron-faith loyalty, covered on Faction loyalty. Migrants add population capacity, explained on Population & Housing.