Barracks

Sumia and Lissa in the Barracks. Five two-person conversation bonuses are waiting to be activated by listening in, including Sumia and Lissa's.

The Barracks (みんなの部屋 Everyone's Room) is a gameplay mechanic exclusive to Fire Emblem Awakening, accessed from the world map and first accessible after completing Chapter 4. This mechanic takes advantage of the Nintendo 3DS console's built-in clock and uses it to reward random bonuses to units.

Barracks mechanics

Every two hours of gameplay time, a new bonus will be unlocked, up to a maximum of five. The type of bonus given is determined by which icons appear on the left side of the top screen when the Barracks are accessed to trigger the bonuses. Icons can be of either one or two people, and two-person icons may or may not have an additional icon to its right; the presence of an additional icon to the right of a two-person icon indicates a support bonus. The bonuses themselves begin applying once the "Listen In" option is selected.

Only the 49 core characters participate in the Barracks mechanics; each of these characters have a unique line tied to each of the one-person icon events. Bonus units do not participate in the Barracks.

In addition to the "Listen In" option that triggers the random bonuses, the Barracks also allows the player to view character profiles via the "Roster" option, as well as to look around the room with the "Look" option.

Types of bonuses

Two-person conversation

A bonus with a two-person icon will involve a conversation between two randomly-chosen characters. If the two-person icon is not accompanied by another icon, the two characters are incapable of support with each other, and no effect is applied. If the two-person icon is accompanied by another icon, then the pair is capable of a support bonus, boosted by a random amount; exactly which second icon appears depends on certain factors involving the characters:

• If the icon is a heart, the characters are an opposite-gender pairing capable of marriage and either of the pair are not already married, making use of the standard bank of lines. The heart icon also represents couples already married, with special lines reserved for this purpose.
• If the icon resembles a wig, the characters are a parent-child pairing. Special lines are reserved for this purpose.
• If the icon is a handshake, the characters are capable of supporting but do not meet the criteria for either of the two other icons. All non-parent/child pairings capable of reaching only an A rank for support get this icon, as do a pair capable of marriage but both already married to other characters. The lines are mostly taken from the standard bank.

Self conversation

A one-person icon can trigger without applying any bonus whatsoever. If this happens, the character mentions a specific line, then simply leaves the room without anything else happening.

Experience points

Main article: Experience

A character that gets this bonus will be given a random amount of experience points between 10 and 30. This bonus cannot be used to gain a level--should a unit be chosen for this bonus and be given enough points to otherwise level up, the bonus will instead be truncated to leave them at 99 experience within their current level. The bonus can also be wasted if the chosen character already has 99 experience points within a level, or is already at the maximum level for their class.

Random item

A unit getting this bonus will be given a random item placed into their convoy. Using a different set of currently-unknown percentage ratios, one of the following items will be randomly obtained when this bonus appears:

colspan="2" style="Template:Roundtl; border:none; background-color:#222222;" | Item	Item		colspan="2" style="Template:Roundtr; border:none; background-color:#222222;" | Item
File:Is 3ds tree branch.png	Tree Branch	File:Is 3ds glass sword.png	Glass Sword	File:Is 3ds soothing sword.png	Soothing Sword
File:Is 3ds superior edge.png	Superior Edge	File:Is 3ds leif's blade.png	Leif's Blade	File:Is 3ds roy's blade.png	Roy's Blade
File:Is 3ds eliwood's blade.png	Eliwood's Blade	File:Is 3ds eirika's blade.png	Eirika's Blade	File:Is 3ds seliph's blade.png	Seliph's Blade
File:Is 3ds alm's blade.png	Alm's Blade	File:Is 3ds log.png	Log	File:Is 3ds glass lance.png	Glass Lance
File:Is 3ds miniature lance.png	Miniature Lance	File:Is 3ds shockstick.png	Shockstick	File:Is 3ds superior lance.png	Superior Lance
File:Is 3ds finn's lance.png	Finn's Lance	File:Is 3ds ephraim's lnce.png	Ephraim's Lnce	File:Is 3ds sigurd's lance.png	Sigurd's Lance
File:Is 3ds ladle.png	Ladle	File:Is 3ds glass axe.png	Glass Axe	File:Is 3ds imposing axe.png	Imposing Axe
File:Is 3ds volant axe.png	Volant Axe	File:Is 3ds superior axe.png	Superior Axe	File:Is 3ds orsin's hatchet.png	Orsin's Hatchet
File:Is 3ds titania's axe.png	Titania's Axe	File:Is 3ds hector's axe.png	Hector's Axe	File:Is 3ds slack bow.png	Slack Bow
File:Is 3ds glass bow.png	Glass Bow	File:Is 3ds towering bow.png	Towering Bow	File:Is 3ds superior bow.png	Superior Bow
File:Is 3ds wolt's bow.png	Wolt's Bow	File:Is 3ds innes' bow.png	Innes' Bow	File:Is 3ds dying blaze.png	Dying Blaze
File:Is 3ds micaiah's pyre.png	Micaiah's Pyre	File:Is 3ds superior jolt.png	Superior Jolt	File:Is 3ds katarina's bolt.png	Katarina's Bolt
File:Is 3ds wilderwind.png	Wilderwind	File:Is 3ds celica's gale.png	Celica's Gale	File:Is 3ds aversa's night.png	Aversa's Night
File:Is 3ds kneader.png	Kneader	File:Is 3ds balmwood staff.png	Balmwood Staff	File:Is 3ds catharsis.png	Catharsis
File:Is 3ds sweet tincture.png	Sweet Tincture	File:Is 3ds gaius's confect.png	Gaius's Confect	File:Is 3ds kris's confect.png	Kris's Confect
File:Is 3ds tiki's tear.png	Tiki's Tear	File:Is 3ds seed of trust.png	Seed of Trust	File:Is 3ds reeking box.png	Reeking Box
style="Template:Roundbl; border:none; background-color:#222222;" | File:Is 3ds rift door.png	Rift Door	colspan="4" style="Template:Roundbr; border:none; background-color:#232855;" |

This is the same list that is also used for event tiles.

With the exception of the Glass weapons (which debuted in the previous game in the series), all of these items are unique to Awakening.

Surge

A character getting this bonus will be given a temporary +4 bonus to two randomly-chosen stats to be applied in the next chapter or skirmish. These boosts stack with other non-permanent stat boosts; for example, if a character gets Strength and Magic for their surge and has the Strength +2 and Tomefaire skills and a tome equipped, the character's bonuses will be represented as +6 Strength and +9 Magic.

Should a character who had gotten this bonus get this bonus again before going into a chapter or skirmish, the previous bonus will be replaced by the new one; for example, if a unit had previously gotten Defense and Resistance boosts, but gets chosen for this bonus again before entering a chapter and gets a surge in Skill and Luck, the +4 boosts to Defense and Skill will disappear and be replaced by +4 boosts in Skill and Luck.

Birthday event

Each of Awakening's 49 core characters has a birthday. The first time the Barracks are accessed on a date that matches a character's birthday, that character will be given the first bonus of that day, represented by a one-person icon with a red background and a birthday present icon next to it. That character will then be given all three of a surge, a random item, and an experience point boost. The Avatar's birthday is set by the player; the other 48 points this event can happen on are as follows:

style="Template:Roundtl; border:none; background-color:#222222;" | Character	Birthday	Character	Birthday	Character	style="Template:Roundtr; border:none; background-color:#222222;" | Birthday
Gaius	January 2	Say'ri	January 11	Severa	January 21
Gregor	January 27	Priam	February 9	Miriel	February 12
Brady	February 22	Tiki	February 28	Lissa	March 6
Yarne	March 14	Gangrel	March 16	Nah	March 29
Tharja	April 2	Maribelle	April 14	Lucina	April 20
Laurent	April 25	Morgan	May 5	Cynthia	May 14
Ricken	May 23	Chrom	May 27	Donnel	June 4
Anna	June 11	Stahl	June 16	Kellam	June 24
Libra	July 1	Cordelia	July 7	Owain	July 15
Yen'fay	July 23	Inigo	August 7	Basilio	August 13
Olivia	August 20	Frederick	August 26	Gerome	September 1
Walhart	September 14	Nowi	September 21	Kjelle	September 29
Noire	October 7	Lon'qu	October 10	Cherche	October 17
Flavia	October 28	Aversa	November 3	Henry	November 13
Panne	November 18	Sumia	November 24	Sully	December 5
style="Template:Roundbl; border:none; background-color:#222222;" | Virion	December 10	Emmeryn	December 23	Vaike	style="Template:Roundbr; border:none; background-color:#222222;" | December 26

Decorations

As more characters join the party, the Barracks start to become more decorated. Once a certain character joins the party, a specific decoration will be added to the Barracks. They are as follows:

style="Template:Roundtl; border:none; background-color:#222222;" | Character	Decoration	Character	style="Template:Roundtr; border:none; background-color:#222222;" | Decoration
Lon'qu	Blade	Ricken	Bookshelf
Maribelle	Staff	Panne	Rabbit-themed curtain
Gaius	Candy tree	Cordelia	Empty shelf
Gregor	Two wooden boxes	Nowi	Green dragonstone
Olivia	Carpet	Cherche	Two wyvern-themed sacks
Henry	Extra books	Lucina	Red Exalt-themed curtain
Say'ri	Hanging scroll	Owain	Tree branch
Inigo	Vase	Brady	Staff
Kjelle	Armor and protector	Cynthia	Lance
Severa	Urn	Gerome	Axe
Morgan	Extra books	Yarne	Bag
Laurent	Triangular hat	Noire	Feathers
style="Template:Roundbl; border:none; background-color:#222222;" | Nah	Red dragonstone	colspan="2" style="Template:Roundbr; border:none; background-color:#232855;" |

See also

• Base conversation, a similar mechanic from the Tellius games
• Everyone's Conditions, a similar mechanic from New Mystery of the Emblem