Kenshi recruits: where to find them and what joining needs

A named recruit is met in one of two ways: living in one place, or riding with a squad the game seats in a bar. Joining is a conversation. Some recruits ask nothing for it, some name a price, and one has no conversation that ends in joining. Where a town changes with the fate of its rulers, a bar squad may sit there only while a named character lives, or only after one dies.

A recruit who lives in one place

AgnuSoldierbotOpen in the recruit finder

Joining: One conversation route asks for no money.
Where to meet: Tower of AbuseLives here

Agnu lives in Tower of Abuse and nowhere else. Reaching the place is the whole search; the conversation there needs no money.

Recruits who travel with a bar squad

BeepHive Worker DroneOpen in the recruit finder

Joining: One conversation route asks for no money.
Where to meet: MongrelIn a faction's bar squad

Beep rides with a faction's bar squad that the game seats in Mongrel. A bar squad is a group, not a resident: the place says where the game puts it, not that it stands there on the day you walk in.

When a place depends on who is alive

RukaShekOpen in the recruit finder

Joining: One conversation route asks for no money.
Where to meet: Holy MinesIn a faction's bar squad: while Esata is alive, unless holy phoenix okay, unless Seta is aliveHoly FarmIn a faction's bar squad: while Esata is alive, unless holy phoenix okay, unless Seta is aliveSquinIn a bar squad: while Flying Bull is alive, unless Esata is alive, unless Mukai is aliveAdmagIn a faction's bar squadShek RuinsIn a faction's bar squadOld FrontlinesIn a faction's bar squadThe Great FortressIn a faction's bar squad

Some towns exist in more than one state, decided by who rules them and who has died. Each conditional entry above holds only in its own state: a line reading "while" needs that state to hold, a line reading "unless" needs it not to. Ruka's entries under Holy Mines and Squin hold under different rulers, so the same recruit is looked for in different bars as the world changes.

Recruits who name a price

GriffinGreenlanderOpen in the recruit finder

Joining: Joining costs 9,000 c.
Where to meet: DrinIn a faction's bar squad: unless Inaba is alive, unless Tengu is alive, while Valtena is aliveOkran's ShieldIn a faction's bar squad: unless Tengu is alive, unless Valtena is aliveBlister HillIn a faction's bar squad: unless holy phoenix okayIn a bar squad: while Moll is ok, unless holy phoenix okay, unless Seta is alive, unless Valtena is aliveHoly Military BaseIn a faction's bar squadIn a faction's bar squad: unless holy phoenix okayBad TeethIn a faction's bar squadIn a bar squad: unless holy phoenix okay, while Seta is aliveIn a faction's bar squad: unless Flying Bull is alive, unless Esata is alive, unless holy phoenix okay, unless Seta is aliveStackIn a faction's bar squadIn a faction's bar squad: unless Flying Bull is alive, unless Esata is alive, unless holy phoenix okay, unless Seta is aliveHoly MinesIn a faction's bar squadIn a faction's bar squad: unless holy phoenix okay, unless Seta is aliveHoly FarmIn a faction's bar squad: unless holy phoenix okay, unless Seta is aliveRebirthIn a faction's bar squadTiny SettlementIn a faction's bar squadRuined Holy OutpostIn a faction's bar squadHoly Mine RuinIn a faction's bar squadOkran's FistIn a faction's bar squadNarko's TrapIn a faction's bar squadWatchtowerIn a faction's bar squadFarm RuinsIn a faction's bar squadRuined FarmIn a faction's bar squad

Griffin joins on a route that debits money. The finder lists every amount a joining route takes, and a route that takes nothing separately, so a recruit with both is never shown as only one of them.

A recruit with no joining conversation

BurnSkeletonOpen in the recruit finder

Joining: No conversation leads to joining.
Where to meet: Burn's TowerLives here

The records hold no conversation that ends with Burn joining. He is listed as such rather than as free.