Schedule I NPC Guide: Every Character’s Trust Trigger, Relationship Stage, and What Unlocks at Max

Every NPC in Schedule I has a role, a trigger, and a specific payoff. Customers connected to a dealer unlock that dealer when you hit Friendly status with them — work the wrong contact first and you’ll wait hours longer to sign Molly or Jane. Suppliers cut you off if you skip a debt payment. The Sewer Goblin steals your Meth. Knowing who does what, and in what order, turns a chaotic grind into a systematic expansion.

This guide covers every character type — customers, dealers, suppliers, shop owners, and the handful of special NPCs most players only find by accident — and tells you exactly what interacting with each one unlocks. If you haven’t started your operation yet, the Schedule I Beginner Guide covers the core loop first.

Verified against Schedule I v0.4.5 (Shrooms Update, April 2026). Early Access game — values change with patches. Confirm critical figures in-game.

Quick Start: 5 Steps to Build Your NPC Network

1. Find Albert Hoover immediately after the tutorial RV sequence — he’s your only seed supplier until Westville opens, and your relationship starts at zero.
2. Offer free samples to Chloe Bowers and Beth Penn in Northtown. They’re Benji Coleman’s unlock contacts. Three to four quality deals each gets you to Friendly and signs your first dealer.
3. Pay every supplier debt on time via the Messages app — missed payments freeze supply immediately with no grace period.
4. Assign no-preference customers to dealers first (Karen Kennedy, Kevin Oakley, Javier Perez accept any product) — this removes mixing complexity while your production line matures.
5. Reserve Uptown customers for personal sales — Tobias Wentworth and Fiona Hancock spend $8,000–$12,000 weekly and you lose 20% of every dollar to Leo Rivers if he handles them.

How the Trust System Works

Every NPC relationship starts at zero. Converting a stranger into a customer requires one thing first: a free sample matching at least one of their preferred effects. Without it, they won’t interact with you as a buyer at all. Once they accept, they appear in your Contacts app, which tracks both their preferred effects and how far the relationship has progressed.

From there, relationship depth builds through transaction frequency and product quality. Selling someone their favourite effects consistently — at or below their price standard — advances the bonding meter. The mechanism here is important: your dealers count too. A customer assigned to Benji still builds a relationship with you even though you’re not handling the deal personally. The one exception is the initial free sample — that has to come from you directly.

The milestone that matters most is Friendly status. This is the relationship level that unlocks the dealer connected to that customer and opens supplier access in the same region. Past Friendly, continued dealing pushes customers toward Loyal status, at which point they order the maximum number of times per week — double or triple the baseline depending on whether they’re also addicted.

Two things tank relationships: overcharging and skipped supplier debt. Overcharging customers is tracked in the Contacts app and reduces repeat orders. Skipped supplier debt shuts down communications entirely until the outstanding amount is paid.

The 6 Dealers — Unlock Chain and Locations

Dealers are the backbone of hands-off distribution. They walk their territory, meet assigned customers, and deposit earnings into your account — you collect by visiting them in person. Each takes a flat 20% cut regardless of product value or how premium your mix is. Crucially, dealers cannot be arrested, which makes them safer distribution vectors than personal delivery in heat-heavy districts.

Current cap is 10 customers per dealer (raised from 8 in v0.4.3). Across all six dealers that’s 60 customer slots total. The unlock path for each dealer has two requirements: hitting the relevant player rank and reaching Friendly status with at least one of their connected contacts.

Assignment strategy matters here. Customers geographically close to their dealer get more deals per day than those across districts — a dealer covering a tight local route turns inventory faster. For full profit-maximising setups and which customers pair best with each dealer’s location, see our Schedule I Dealer Guide.

The 4 Suppliers — Products, Unlock Requirements, and Relationship Stages

Suppliers control your production inputs. Each covers a different drug type and sits behind a different region and relationship gate. The mechanic that most players miss: only dead drop orders — placed through the Messages app — build supplier relationship. Buying from a supplier in person during a meetup doesn’t advance your standing with them. If you’ve been restocking exclusively through meetups, your relationship hasn’t moved at all.

Community testing indicates three supplier relationship stages: Dead Drop Only (starting position, all orders through Messages) → an intermediate access stage where meetups become available → Direct Delivery at Loyal/maxed status, where the supplier delivers to you directly. The prerequisite to each stage is consistent dead drop ordering with no missed debt payments.

Salvador Moreno has the strictest gate — both Mac Cooper and Javier Perez need to be at Friendly before he becomes accessible. Mac Cooper is at the Fish Warehouse in the Docks and also visits the Butter Box and Bus Station during the day. Javier Perez works the Central Gas Mart night shift (6pm–7am), making him easier to catch for early free samples.

All Customers by District — Key Contacts and Strategic Notes

There are 64 confirmed customers across six districts in Hyland Point, each logged in your Contacts app with preferred effects and current relationship status. Eight customers have no effect preference — Karen Kennedy, Kevin Oakley, Javier Perez, Randy Caulfield, Alison Knight, Jackie Stevenson, Ray Hoffman, and Lily Turner — meaning any product that meets their quality standard gets the job done. These are your lowest-friction assignments for early dealer slots.

Northtown (15 customers) — The starting district and your highest customer count. Preferences run toward Calming, Energizing, and Munchies effects, achievable with basic weed mixes. The key contacts here are Chloe Bowers and Beth Penn for the Benji unlock, plus Peter File, Peggy Myers, and Ludwig Meyer for consistent early revenue. Note that Beth Penn’s preferences — Schizophrenic, Seizure-Inducing, and Lethal — are some of the most dangerous effect combos in the game, which matters if you’re selling to her at high relationship and she’s also addicted.

Westville (10 customers) — Home to Shirley Watts (Pseudo supplier) and Molly Presley. Cartel activity in early Westville makes Molly’s deliveries vulnerable to robbery — don’t load her with expensive inventory until regional influence stabilises. George Greene, Charles Rowland, and Jerry Montero are the contacts that unlock Molly.

Downtown (10 customers) — Brad Crosby’s territory. Mid-tier spenders with diverse preferences. Randy Caulfield (no preference, runs Bait & Tackle) is the easiest Downtown contact to satisfy and also one of the three that unlocks Brad. Eugene Buckley (HAM Legal Services employee) and Greg Figgle (Stash & Dash worker, also frequents Bud’s Bar) are the other Brad triggers.

Docks (9 customers) — Jane Lucero’s anchor and the district where cocaine distribution becomes profitable. Melissa Wood and Billy Kramer unlock Jane. The Docks crowd has eclectic preferences — Genghis Barn wants Gingeritis, Athletic, and Electrifying effects, while Cranky Frank wants Tropic Thunder, Toxic, and Laxative. Match the mix to the customer rather than running a single product line.

Suburbia (10 customers) and Uptown (9 customers) — Both districts flag “high standards” across the board, meaning low-quality product gets rejected regardless of effects. Suburbia unlocks Wei Long via Jackie Stevenson, Jeremy Wilkinson, or Harold Colt. Uptown’s customers — Tobias Wentworth (the Mayor), Fiona Hancock, Michael Boog, and Pearl Moore — are the highest spenders in the game. Keep them for personal sales. The 20% you’d pay Leo Rivers on a $10,000 order is $2,000 per transaction.

Wanted level escalation when a deal goes wrong is handled separately — our Schedule I Police & Wanted System guide covers every trigger by deal type and district heat level.

Shop Owners and Special NPCs

Several NPCs pull double duty as purchasable businesses and customer contacts. Four are worth tracking by schedule:

• Herbert Bleuball (Uptown) — owns Bleuball’s Boutique next to Ray’s Realty; sells art, antiques, and jewellery 6am–6pm. Also a customer with Foggy, Explosive, and Slippery effect preferences. High standards district means only quality product closes a deal with him.
• Randy Caulfield (Docks) — operates Randy’s Bait & Tackle; no effect preference as a customer, making him one of the easiest Docks contacts to maintain. One of three contacts that unlocks Brad Crosby.
• Hank Stevenson (Suburbia) — runs Handy Hank’s Hardware 6am–8pm; customer with Schizophrenic, Sneaky, and Toxic preferences. Found at the white house before the private drive at night.
• Mrs. Ming (Northtown) — runs Fat Dragon Chinese Restaurant; customer with Shrinking, Gingeritis, and Electrifying preferences. Access via the back entrance below the sweatshop apartment.

Three special NPCs exist outside the standard contact system:

• Jen Heard (Uptown, Town Hall) — sells the Sewer Key for $1,000. Without it, all eight sewer entry points stay locked. She’s also a customer with Disorienting, Sneaky, and Energizing preferences.
• Sewer King — hostile NPC in the Maintenance Office below the city. Not a contact; defeating him lets you loot his crown. No dealing interaction.
• Sewer Goblin — hostile, spawns at random sewer locations. Steals exactly 1 Meth from your inventory if you’re carrying any. There’s no negotiating with it.

Two operational NPCs run the support layer: Manny at the Warehouse handles employee hiring — visit him in person, pay the signing fee, and assign staff to your properties. Uncle Nelson drives the early quest chain that introduces Benji’s unlock pathway and the basic customer acquisition loop.

NPC Priority by Player Type

Frequently Asked Questions

Which customers should I prioritise unlocking first?

Start with the two Northtown contacts connected to Benji — Chloe Bowers and Beth Penn. Give them three or four quality deals at a fair price before moving on. Getting Benji signed within your first two hours separates structured operations from hand-delivering every bag yourself indefinitely.

Do I need to deal personally, or can dealers build my relationship levels for me?

Dealers count. Your bonding level with a customer grows even when Benji handles the transaction — the relationship is tied to your account, not who physically makes the drop. The one step that has to come from you is the initial free sample. After that, assign and automate freely.

My supplier went silent — what broke the relationship?

Almost certainly a missed debt payment. After each dead drop order, suppliers message you with a payment request. Miss the window and they stop responding until the debt is cleared. Go to Messages, pay the outstanding amount, and they’ll resume contact. Going forward, check Messages after every order — there’s no in-game reminder beyond the message itself.

Why are Suburbia and Uptown customers rejecting my product?

Both districts enforce a quality standard floor that overrides effect matching. Even if you’ve nailed Tobias Wentworth’s preferred effects, a low-quality mix still gets rejected. Upgrade your production setup — better equipment and higher-grade ingredients — before pushing into these districts seriously.

Sources

• All NPC Schedules & Locations In Schedule 1 — Screen Rant
• All customer locations, favorite drugs & IDs in Schedule 1 — Dexerto
• How to get customers & increase relationships in Schedule 1 — Dexerto
• Schedule 1 dealers: the best customers and products to pair with each supplier — PC Gamer
• Schedule 1 dealer list and all locations — PCGamesN
• Schedule 1 Best Dealer Setup: All 6 Dealers, Customer Assignments & Profit Optimization — TechsNGames
• Schedule 1: All Suppliers And How To Unlock Them — The Gamer
• How to reach Friendly status with a buyer in Schedule 1 — Destructoid
• All Schedule 1 Customer IDs and Favorite Effects — Clawsome Gamer (clawsomegamer.com)
• NPCs, Customers, Suppliers, Shop Owners — Schedule 1 Wiki (schedule-1.fandom.com)