Recruitment Vendor is a vendor NPC in Windrose who sells hireable NPC workers. Base workers (Rosalinda Mercer the Alchemist, Jasper Crowe the Tailor, Black Axel the Cook, and Mortar Joe the Powderman) each cost 500 Piastres; the Farming Contractor is the exception and costs 10 gold coins paid at the vendor. It is distinct from the Provisioner NPC type, which sells plans and gear for Piastres.
Location
The Recruitment Vendor is found in Tortuga, typically in a dedicated stall or corner of the main market. Its exact positioning depends on the current map rotation; community guides describe it as a single-stall shop near the waterfront rather than inside the main faction Provisioner clusters.
What They Sell
The Recruitment Vendor's inventory is limited to hireable specialist NPCs:
Jasper Crowe (Tailor and Armorer). 500 Piastres. Works the Armor and Clothing Workshop and refunds a share of the materials spent upgrading gear through the Thrifty Tailor perk.
Rosalinda Mercer (Master Bottle Maker). 500 Piastres. Doubles Clay Bottle output and adds an extra-elixir chance at the Alchemy Table.
Black Axel (Cook Helper). 500 Piastres. Adds a chance for an extra meal per craft at the cooking fire.
Mortar Joe (Powderman). 500 Piastres, hired at the Brethren of the Coast main base rather than at Tortuga. Improves Gunpowder output at the Millstones.
Farming Contractor. 10 gold coins. Places at the base farming bench and automates crop production while the player is away.
Additional contractor archetypes may appear in later patches; the current build documents the five workers above as the confirmed roster.
Currencies Used
The four base workers each cost 500 Piastres, the standard currency you earn from bounties, selling loot, and quests. The Farming Contractor is the exception: it is paid for with gold coins, a separate currency earned through faction quests and select quest rewards. Whether gold coins can be exchanged for other currencies in the launch build has not been confirmed; treat them as quest-earned until an official exchange is documented.
See Also
Farming Contractor primary Recruitment Vendor offering
Tortuga vendor hub location
NPC Crew broader crew recruitment system
Provisioner distinct faction vendor type
What Recruits Actually Do for You
The Recruitment Vendor is not just a hiring counter for a farming automation NPC. The broader recruit system that the vendor feeds into is one of the strongest material-cost multipliers in the game. Launch-build creator guides describe recruits as giving you a passive percentage bonus on every craft performed at their assigned station, and that bonus compounds across a play session.
33% extra-craft chance on alchemy. A recruit assigned to the Alchemy Table has a roughly 33 percent chance of producing an additional copy of the crafted item at no extra ingredient cost. Over a pre-boarding elixir prep run, that averages out to a free extra batch every third craft.
Free-material chance on workbenches. A recruit assigned to a Workbench or similar crafting station has a chance to produce the crafted item without consuming any of its materials. This is the single strongest perk the system offers, because it applies to expensive-to-produce items like cannons, armor, and upgrade kits.
Station-specific perks for other workers. Different recruits give different effects depending on their specialty. Cooks buff meal output, tailors refund materials spent on gear upgrades, bottle makers double clay bottle throughput, and so on. The in-vendor tooltip names each recruit's specialty and percentage.
Is the Fee Worth It
Creator guides describe the fees as "a little bit expensive, but worth it." The 500-piastres flat fee for base workers and the 10-gold-coin cost for the Farming Contractor look steep to a new player who just arrived at Tortuga, but both pay back within a handful of crafting sessions. Jasper Crowe (salvage specialist) typically refunds his own hire cost the first time you run a full armor upgrade pass; Rosalinda Mercer's double-bottle output repays fastest because bottles are a chronic alchemy bottleneck; the Farming Contractor's 50-seed return plus the harvest covers the 20-silver job cost many times over.
The practical guidance from the launch-week creator coverage is to hire at least one recruit on the first Tortuga visit once the fee is affordable, and add more as piastres and gold coins accumulate. Skipping recruits entirely leaves real progression gains on the table.
Confirmed Worker Roster
The current launch build exposes the following hireable workers through the Recruitment Vendor and nearby NPC vendors at Tortuga. All four base workers cost 500 piastres each and are assigned via the Workers tab at your Bonfire after hiring:
Jasper Crowe (Tailor and Armorer): assign to the Armor and Clothing Workshop. His Thrifty Tailor perk gives a 30 percent chance to refund materials spent on upgrading gear (most reliable on armor). Usually the first hire.
Rosalinda Mercer (Master Bottle Maker): assign to the Alchemy Table or alchemist station. Doubles Clay Bottle production and applies a 30 percent chance to craft an extra elixir.
Black Axel (Cook Helper): assign to the cooking fire. 30 percent chance to produce an extra meal per craft. Best value for co-op groups that burn through food buffs.
Mortar Joe (Powderman): assign to the Millstones for Gunpowder production. 500 piastres, hired at the Brethren of the Coast main base rather than at Tortuga. Improves Gunpowder output for firearm-heavy builds. Considered a later pickup because the Brethren base typically comes after the first Tortuga shopping pass.
Farming Contractor: 10 gold coins, paid at the Recruitment Vendor itself. Automates crop production via the base farming bench. Each job costs 50 seeds plus 20 silver, runs 8 hours passively (including offline), and returns the 50 seeds plus harvested resources. Does not interfere with personal Seedbed crops.
Recruit vs Crew: Which System is This
The recruits sold by the Recruitment Vendor are base workers, not ship crew. They run your camp economy: they do not wander the camp, they do not board enemy ships, and they do not affect boarding combat. The ship crew that operates your main combat vessel is acquired separately through the Rescuing the Crew quest line on the third island, not from the Recruitment Vendor. Both systems contribute to the broader NPC Crew framework, but they are bought, paid, and assigned through different interfaces.
What to Bring on Your First Visit
Piastres: 500 per base worker. A single insignia-turn-in session at Bounty Agents usually covers one or two hires.
Gold coins: 10 for the Farming Contractor. Gold is earned through faction side quests rather than bought, so this is the slower currency.
A plan for station assignment: decide before you buy which station each worker will cover. Moving a worker later works, but thinking it through first avoids buyer's remorse.
Follow-up quest attention: many recruit unlocks are quietly seeded in Tortuga dialogue. Read every conversation prompt on the first visit; the follow-up quests open more hiring options down the line.