Settler (Fallout 4)

A settler is any person who decides to join a settlement. They can be found all around the Commonwealth, especially near settlements.

Background
Settlers are the common people of the Commonwealth. They can include wanderers, former residents of Diamond City or Goodneighbor, scavengers, former raiders or Gunners, synths covertly working for the Institute, or rescued by the Railroad. Even wastelanders trying to scrape out a living, and other people, will sometimes give up their solitary life as a wanderer and move to a soon-to-be-thriving settlement, usually under the protection of the Commonwealth Minutemen. Some work on guard duty, or grow crops for a living. A few safety-concerned settlers might give up their set-back life as a farmer and join the Minutemen in favor of protecting their fellow citizens.

Other interactions

 * Able to trade equipment.
 * Able to equip gear, including weapons, armor and grenades.
 * Assume a trade role when assigned as such.
 * The leader of a settlement can give the player character radiant quests, which commonly involve exterminating nearby ghouls, raiders or super mutants, or dealing with a kidnapping.
 * Can pointlessly sell traded items back to the player.
 * Killing or injuring one will turn the entire settlement hostile if not done covertly.
 * However, if you have an arena (Wasteland Workshop add-on), settlers can be killed there with no repercussions other than a happiness drop.

Settlers in allied settlements
Speaking to a settler from one of your settlements will allow you to access their inventory and select their equipment much like you would a companion. They can be armed with better weaponry than their default pipe pistols, but don't consume ammunition provided they have at least one unit of the correct ammunition for their weapon. The same holds true with grenades. The only exceptions are the missile launcher or Fat Man, as these are tagged with "NPCs Consume Ammo".

Settlers assigned as shopkeepers have additional dialogue options when spoken to, similar to other merchants. Select "trade" from the dialog tree to access their inventory. Speaking to a shopkeeper settler outside of their operating hours will go straight to their personal inventory as normal. Doctors seem to be an exception: A settler assigned to a Clinic stand will not have a trade dialogue option when spoken to during business hours. To access their inventory, either wait for the shop to close or unassign and reassign them from/to their shop.

Settlers assigned to a guard post will man that post as well as up to two other unmanned guard posts. They will walk in a patrol circuit between such posts, making it pragmatic to place groups of three in relatively close proximity. They rarely leave these posts, to the extent that they do not sleep when the player is visiting (like any settlement resident, they still require a bed).

Unassigned settlers default to gathering any unassigned crops. Assuming the player is present, during daylight hours these settlers, as well as those assigned to a Scavenging station, will patrol the settlement when not working, and if chairs are present will periodically stop to sit and eat. At night, settlers will gravitate towards the most well-lit parts of town, particularly around a food stall, if built, regardless if occupied or not. Thus, strategic placement of chairs and lights can allow these settlers to assist in monitoring a settlement's perimeter for intruders or, conversely, herd them towards a settlement's center.

Appearances
Settlers appear only in Fallout 4.

Bugs

 * If the player attempts to equip a settler with clothing they already have equipped, the game may crash. Weapons, armor and hats don't seem to cause this.
 * Settlers may spontaneously stop working. They can be reassigned to resources temporarily but they will revert back to their unassigned state after a short time.
 * Reassigning the settlers to their resources after leaving the area and returning to it later appears to fix this.