In Freeciv, "Specialist" is the generic term for a citizen of a city who has been unassigned from working tiles on the surrounding land. Instead, a Specialist directly provides a benefit to the city through a special skill.
In most rulesets, there are three types of Specialist.
- Entertainers - Provide luxury to the city, whether to appease the populace or to induce celebration.
- Taxmen - Provide gold to the city by collecting taxes.
- Scientists - Provide science (Bulbs) to the city, by researching science goals.
Rulesets may contain other types of Specialists besides the classic Specialists listed above. Check the ruleset documentation for more info.
To assign a Specialist, simply click a worked land tile to unassign the citizen from that tile. The default Specialist (often an Entertainer) will then appear in the Specialist panel of the city window. You may then click the icon of that Specialist to cycle through the Specialists available to that city.
Rulesets may have rules for when certain Specialists are available. This may be tied to a city size (e.g. minimum 5 for "civ1"), technology requirements, a Wonder, or any other condition specified by the ruleset.
Rulesets may also specify how many units of their specialty they produce each turn, possibly affected by Wonders. Two is the common starting number.