Q: I’ve been perusing the rules and came across “Dance” and “Art”. I’ve no idea what these are for. I saw a reference to using dance as a cultural trade but that didn’t really clear things up for me. I was thinking of making some drums for the dancing but not sure if this actually does anything. Is it connected to morale by any chance?
A: Cultural activities are used to generate silver during the fairs held on turns 4 & 10. They may also benefit a tribes morale.
I’ll do some reading on the fair. I’m not participating in this one but will probably do so in the next. Obviously the level of Dance or Art skill will make a difference and I’ll see if the number or type of musical instruments will as well. Do I need to assign people to Dance for Morale effect or do I get the effect just by having the skill?
My experience with morale is different. I get a 0.01 boost to morale for a tribe that gains a level in a cultural skill. This happens whether or not I have people assigned to an activity using that skill. There may be a limit to this but I haven’t found it.
Check out the fair section of the spreadsheet and plug in some hypothetical numbers under Art and Dance to see how much money you will earn by selling the activities at fair. Raising skills in cultural activities does have a positive effect on morale, as well.