The Habitué AKA “Creature of Habit”

(pronunciation: /həˈbiCHəˌwā/ huh·bi·chuh·wei)

Intro

Just tell him exactly what to do and then get out of his way. He'll work longer than anyone—and never seems to tire. In fact, he makes it look easy. He gets more done by breakfast than most people do all day. He's not good at making decisions; you'll have to do that for him.

Modus operandi: Trigger => Reward  => Ritual =>  Routine

He’s strongest in his “habitat”, the places he builds:

Strengths & Weaknesses (including a “kryptonite”):

The Habitué makes an excellent servant, but a horrible master. He’s unstoppable. He can only be addressed obliquely. You can’t eliminate his actions, but you can adapt them. We can enlist the other farmhands to reign him in. Some of his actions are hidden. We need to know where he’s going. We track him. We detail what he does.

His kryptonite is new habitats. There, this creature of habit is out of his element. This includes new places (The Rule of St. Benedict suggested a vow of stability: monks commit to a particular place, and not wander from monastery to monastery), but also new projects, tasks, requirements… He’s slow to adapt.

Gadgets/Tech  Favorite--or "go-to" tools: TBD

Power limitations:

"Hand in Hand" w/: (works most / best with other FARMhands)

and the inevitable conflicts!

Backstory / origin story:

Could make him French (or at least Francophone) as habitué comes to English from French.

The Habitué is/was a Benedictine Abbot who wears a … habit! Benedict was famous for his rule (BTW, St. Benedict is the patron saint of farmworkers)

He doesn’t remember how he got the way he is. (he’s very old?/!)

Free will isn’t free. It’s rather expensive. So like special forces or a relief pitcher, depend upon it only sparingly.

He needs considerable help to change: Historian to remember and track, the Heuristician to set alternative when triggered.

Habits driven by basal ganglia (? “Basil Gang Leah”)