Meadgard how to recruit townsfolk comes down to one chain: clear the villager's quest in the village, and they move in as a trader or a station builder. Their shop or station then supplies the next tier of upgrades, so every recruitment is really the next rung of the progression ladder.

Meadgard how to recruit townsfolk: the order

  1. Take the quest in the village. The tracker in the top right shows the quest name and its objective with a progress counter, and villagers are the ones handing out requests.
  2. Gather what the objective asks for. Usually a specific material rather than a kill count — for Ernst that is scrap, and scrap comes from the crates you smash in the forest.
  3. Turn it in. "NEW QUEST - CHECK LOG" flashes in the village when the next quest opens, so the village is where the hand-ins happen.
  4. The villager moves in. From then on they are part of the tavern: a vendor with a shop panel, or a builder whose station you use.
  5. Use them. Buy their stock, or build with their station, and that is how their contribution turns into more gold and better equipment.

Ernst the Carpenter

His quest is "Find Ernst - The Carpenter" and his payment is a building: "Bring me some Scraps and I'll have the station built before you can say 'splinter!' You should be able to find some loot in the crates out in the forest." The station he raises is what lets you craft, and the chain from there is in the crafting weapons guide.

Sven the Travelling Merchant

Sven's shop panel is labelled "SVEN - Travelling Merchant" and it lists food, materials and a weapon, with the price shown next to your coin total and a PURCHASE button. He is where you spend gold, and his stock includes the weapons and materials the crafting stations need — the shop side of the economy is in the gold guide.

Brokkr

Brokkr is the third named character and he is a rescue objective rather than a vendor: the quest "The Viking Escape" asks you to rescue him from the goblin camp.

The quest tracker in the top right of the Meadgard screen reads The Viking Escape - Rescue Brokkr from Goblin Camp 0 / 1, with the longship waiting at the dock below.
The Viking Escape objective, the rescue of Brokkr.

Staff as well as traders

The tavern can also hire quirky staff, and the upgrade list includes permanent boons that need no replacing. Staff are the answer to a request that comes up constantly: without them, every job falls on one pair of hands. Staff and permanent boons are bought rather than unlocked by a quest, so they sit on the same purchase list as everything else — the tavern upgrades guide covers it.

The order it happens in

The recruitment order follows the quest chain: the first villager's quest opens the crafting station, the station makes the goods, and the goods pay for the next tier. The main story quests guide covers how that chain is written down in the tracker.