Beginner Guide — Your First Seven Days

You arrive in Besmirch as the latest farmhand. The town is starving. The Baron is watching. The demons wake at sundown. Here’s how to survive the first week without losing the farm, the trust of Father Aldred, or your skin.

Day 1: Inventory and a short walk

You start with a rusty pitchfork, a hoe, a watering can, and a lantern that holds 1 oil unit. Don’t spend gold on day one — you don’t have much, and the shop’s markup is real.

• Walk the perimeter of your farm. Note the soil’s three colors: the ashen patches are cursed, but they still take seed.
• Head into town. Buy turnip seeds at Old Pell’s general store. Buy nothing else; you’re not ready for a fight, and Father Aldred prefers a calm first impression.
• Walk home before dusk. Day 1 night is short, but Cave 1’s beasts roam farther than you’d think when nobody’s around to scare them off.

Days 2-3: Plant, meet two NPCs

• Plant your turnip seeds across the unmarked rows. Cursed soil takes them; the yield will be slightly lower, but the seeds were cheaper.
• Day 2 is Sunday in-game. Attend Father Aldred’s morning service. Don’t speak; just sit. Trust with the priest begins.
• Walk to the inn. Margit will tell you about the bandit problem before anyone else does. Buy a bowl of stew if you can afford it — she remembers.

Days 4-5: First harvest + first cave

• Harvest your turnips. You’ll have a small pile.
• Decide: sell for gold, or feed the town for trust. Recommended week 1: feed half, sell half.
  • Hoarding everything hurts priest and innkeeper trust by the end of autumn.
  • Selling everything makes Old Pell briefly fond of you but locks you out of the priest’s later quests.
• If you have a weapon you actually trust, walk to Cave 1 in mid-morning. Don’t stay past 6 PM. Iron ore at the entrance is worth more to Cale the blacksmith than any other early loot.

Days 6-7: Save your sleep

• Buy a second lantern oil on day 6. The shop charges more than it should; the doctor sometimes gives you one for delivering carrots. Either way, get it.
• Skip the Baron’s mansion this week. He will not be subtle about resenting your presence. Visit only when you have at least one weapon upgrade and three lantern oil.
• End of week: visit Mira the widow. Bring parsnips if you have any. Don’t push her to talk — she will, when she’s ready.

What’s next

• Open the Day/Night Planner to schedule your week 2 around your remaining lantern oil and travel budget.
• Read Night Survival before your first forced night fight.
• Track choices in the Trust Tracker so you don’t lose track of which NPC remembers what.
• See Crops for what to plant next; Items for what to save up for.

Frequently asked

What should I plant first? Turnip. Cheapest seed, fastest harvest, counts as town ration.

Should I feed the town or hoard? Mixed — feed half, sell half through week 1. Hoarding everything hurts priest and innkeeper trust.

When can I enter the Baron’s mansion? After your first weapon upgrade and at least three lantern oil. Not in week 1.

Is multiplayer in 0.7? No. It’s planned but not in Early Access 0.7 — see About.