Traits

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Traits personalize and add flavor to your colonists by granting a wide variety of special bonuses or conditions to their day to day activities, and so encourage more complex player-conceived stories based on those individual characters. Traits provide physical or psychological abilities or limitations, likes/dislikes, behavior tendencies, personality quirks, and so on. Some are beneficial, some are harmful to the colonist or your colony as a whole. Some are constant, some only rarely triggered. Some can be more or less easily negated or manipulated to your advantage by catering to them (or denying them), others are more problematic or outright dangerous.

• On this page, the traits are organized into groups for easier comparison, but you'll find no such groupings laid out formally in the game.

Backstory limitations

Some default prohibitions work as traits, but are the result of limitations placed on a colonist by some quirk in their backstories. For example, they may be non-violent, or incapable of fighting fire, or of interacting with animals, or of doing any cleaning. A colonist "incapable of" one or more of these activities will never, under any circumstances, perform a task related to that topic.

Some backstories trigger more than one prohibition. Though rare, it is quite possible that, given a perfectly wrong combination of backstory limitations, a pawn may be so limited that they are incapable of practically everything.

If present, this type of trait is listed in the "Bio" tab of a colonist, above the other Traits and under the "Incapable of" heading. Mouse-hovering over the listed prohibition will show which backstory triggered it.

Occasionally, these backstory prohibitions will limit traits; for example, a "non-violent" colonist will never be a "Brawler".

A pawn can be "incapable of":

Animals Artistic Caring1

Cleaning Cooking Crafting

Dumb Labor2 Firefighting Hauling3

Intellectual4 Mining Plants5

Skilled Labor6 Social7 Violent8

Notes:

1. Caring prohibits any medical tasks, including Doctoring, Nursing, and Surgery, on humans or animals.
2. Dumb Labor prohibits Hauling, Cleaning, Rearming, Refueling, Loading, and Cremating.
3. Hauling is identical to Dumb Labor, except allows Cleaning.
4. Intellectual prohibits Research, Drug Production, Scanning, Computer Hacking, etc.
5. Plants prohibits Growing, Sowing, Harvesting, and Plant Cutting (including cutting trees).
6. Social prohibits Trading, Recruiting prisoners, and all Wardening.
7. Skilled Labor prohibits a long list: Brewer, Butcher, Cook, Constructor and Deconstructor, Miner, Grower, Harvester, Plant Cutter, Crafter, Smith, Tailor, Repairer, Driller, Fabricator, Machinist, Refiner, Smelter, Stonecutter, and Apothecary (i.e. drug production).
8. (non-)Violent is exactly that, prohibiting all Ranged and Melee combat, as well as the Hunting, Jailor, and Executing prisoners tasks. A pawn that is incapable of Violent cannot defend themself in any way, period. This includes a prohibition against equipping even "non-damaging" weapons such as smoke launchers or EMP grenades, etc. A "non-violent" colonist can still be drafted, and can still use psycasts (though they cannot wield eltex staffs, of course).

General Traits

These traits are generalized into groups, organized roughly by topic. There are no relations or prohibitions between traits grouped together here unless noted (e.g. a colonist cannot be both "ascetic", wanting a minimal bedroom, and "jealous" of those with better bedrooms).

Lifestyle

One likes what one likes...

Name	Description	Effect	Conflicting Traits	Commonality
Night owl	NAME likes to work at night. S/He gets a mood bonus if awake at night and mood loss if awake during the day. S/He doesn't get a mood penalty for being in the dark.	-10 mood penalty if awake during day (11:00 - 18:00) +16 mood bonus if awake during night (23:00 - 06:00) No mood penalty from being in the dark	-	1.3
Undergrounder	NAME has no need to experience the outdoors or light. S/He will never feel cooped up or get cabin fever, no matter how long s/he stays inside, and is not bothered by darkness.	Mood not affected by Darkness. No Outdoors or Space need. +3 mood when indoors, +4 when underground; -3 mood when outdoors	-	0.2
Nudist	NAME enjoys the feeling of freedom that comes from being nude. They can handle clothing, but will be happier without it.	+20 mood bonus when naked -3 mood penalty for wearing any clothing (except headgear and belts)	-	0.7
Masochist	For NAME, there's something exciting about getting hurt. S/He doesn't know why, S/He's just wired differently.	+5 mood bonus for being in a little pain +10 mood bonus for being in medium pain +15 mood bonus for being in severe pain +20 mood bonus for being in shock	-	0.5
Body modder	NAME feels limited in POSSESSIVE feeble human body. NAME often dreams of being enhanced by artificial body parts.	Mood bonus for having artificial body parts, from +4 up to +13 -4 mood penalty for not having an artificial body part +8 opinion of other colonists for each part installed on them, up to +40	Body purist	0.9
Body purist	NAME believes the human body is limited for a reason. To her/him, artificial body parts are unethical and disgusting..	Heavy mood penalty for having artificial body parts, starting at -10, going down to -35 -8 opinion of other colonists for each part installed on them, down to -40	Body modder	0.7
Gourmand	NAME's life revolves around food. S/He gets hungry quickly, and if s/he is in a bad mood, s/he will often satisfy her/his-self by eating.	+50 % hunger rate +4 Cooking skill Only possible minor mental break is food binge as long as there is food in storage; can randomly change to such	Ascetic

Living space

How a colonist perceives the walls that they call "home"...

Name	Description	Effect	Conflicting Traits	Commonality
Ascetic	NAME has forsaken physical comforts and enjoyments in favor of a simple, pure lifestyle. S/He will become unhappy if s/he has a bedroom that's too impressive. S/He also dislikes fancy food and prefers to eat raw. S/He never judges others by their appearance.	+5 mood bonus for having an awful bedroom -5 mood penalty for having a slightly impressive or better bedroom. Mood not affected by food quality, prefers raw food. Pawn beauty of others does not change pawn's social opinion on that pawn Global Certainty Loss Factor x50%	Greedy Gourmand Jealous	0.7
Greedy	NAME needs a really impressive bedroom. S/He gets a mood loss if they don't get what they want.	-8/-8/-8/-6/-4 mood penalty for not having a bedroom of Slightly Impressive or better.	Ascetic Jealous	1
Jealous	For NAME, it's degrading to have a less impressive bedroom than someone else. NAME gets a mood loss if any colonist has a more impressive bedroom.	-8 mood penalty for not having the best bedroom.	Ascetic Greedy	1
Pyromaniac	NAME loves fire. They will occasionally start fires and will never extinguish them.	+5 mood bonus for having an incendiary weapon equipped Incapable of firefighting Only possible extreme mental break is fire starting spree; can randomly change to such -20% of the market value	-	0.8

Social views

In a brutal world, what otherwise might be socially unacceptable or even unthinkable can be a positive survival trait for both you and your fellow colonists...

Name	Description	Effect	Conflicting Traits	Commonality
Bloodlust	NAME gets a rush from hurting people, and never minds the sight of blood or death.	+3/+5/+7/+8 mood bonus for wearing clothing made out of human skin +8 mood bonus for witnessing a stranger's death +13 mood bonus for killing strangers No mood penalty for wearing tainted clothes or organ harvesting Four times as likely to start a social fight Note: Requires pawn be capable of Violent.	-	0.8
Cannibal	NAME was taught that eating human meat is wrong and horrible. But one time, long ago, S/He tried it... and S/He liked it.	+3/+5/+7/+8 mood bonus for wearing clothing made out of human skin +15 mood bonus after eating meal made with human flesh +20 mood bonus after eating raw human flesh	-	0.6
Psychopath	NAME has no empathy. The suffering of others doesn't bother them at all. They don't mind if others are butchered, left unburied, imprisoned, or sold to slavery - unless it affects them. NAME also feels no mood boost from socializing.	Mood not affected by sight of death, unburied colonists, prisoners sold into slavery, organ harvesting, butchering of humans or friendly chats Note: Rotting corpses will still cause a mood debuff. Global Certainty Loss Factor x50%	-	1

Combat

When it's us or them...

Name	Description	Effect	Conflicting Traits	Commonality
Nimble	NAME has remarkable kinesthetic intelligence. S/He seems to dance around danger with preternatural grace.	Melee Dodge Chance +15.0 Trap Spring Chance x10%	-	1
Brawler	NAME likes to fight up close and personal. S/He's accuracy is greatly increased in melee combat, but s/he'll be very unhappy if asked to carry a ranged weapon.	Melee skill +4 Shooting skill -4 Melee Hit Chance +4.0 -20 mood penalty for wielding a ranged weapon Disallows Shooting Passions Disallows Shoot Frenzy Inspiration	Trigger-happy Careful Shooter Wimp	1
Tough	NAME has thick skin, dense flesh, and durable bones. S/He takes much less damage than other people from the same blows. S/He is extremely hard to kill.	Take 50% damage	-	1.1
Wimp	NAME is weak and cowardly. Even a little pain will immobilize her/him.	Pain Shock Threshold -60%, to 20% base. -15% of the market value Global Certainty Loss Factor x200%	Brawler	1

• and see also Trigger-happy and Careful shooter, below.

Skills

When your colonists are not fighting for their lives...

Name	Description	Effect	Conflicting Traits	Commonality
Too smart	NAME is too smart for her/his own good. S/He learns everything much faster than everyone, but can be quite eccentric.	Global Learning Factor +75% Mental Break Threshold +12% Global Certainty Loss Factor x50% Note: Requires pawn be capable of Intellectual.	Nerves spectrum traits	1
Fast learner	NAME has a knack for learning. S/He picks things up much faster than others.	Global Learning Factor +75%	Slow Learner	1
Slow learner	NAME is slow on the uptake. S/He picks things up much slower than others.	Global Learning Factor -75% Global Certainty Loss Factor x50%	Fast Learner	1
Quick sleeper	NAME doesn't need as much sleep as the average person. Whether s/he's sleeping on a bed or on the ground, s/he will be fully rested in about two thirds the usual time.	+50% Rest Rate Multiplier	-	1.1
Great memory	NAME has a fantastic memory for detail. S/He will lose unused skills at half the rate of other people.	Skill loss rate x50%	-	1.1
Tortured artist	NAME feels alienated and misunderstood by other human beings. S/He will get a constant mood debuff, but gain a chance (50%) to get a creativity inspiration after a mental break.	Permanent -8 mood 50% chance of receiving the mental inspiration "Inspired Creativity" after a mental break ends.	-	0.6

Relationships

It's all about who wants to share a bed with whom...

Name	Description	Effect	Conflicting Traits	Commonality
Kind	NAME is an exceptionally agreeable and giving person. S/He never insults others and will sometimes offer kind words to brighten the moods of those around her/him. {PAWN_pronoun} also never judges people by their appearance.	Sometimes tells others Kind Words +5 mood bonus for anyone who has been told Kind Words by this colonist Will not Slight or Insult others Opinion of other pawns not changed by beauty or on disfigured pawn Global Certainty Loss Factor x200%	Abrasive Psychopath	2
Abrasive	NAME always says exactly what's on their mind, especially if it's bugging HIM/HER. That tends to rub people the wrong way.	Has a tendency to slight and insult people -15% of the market value Global Certainty Loss Factor x50% Note: Requires pawn be capable of Social.	-	1
Annoying voice	NAME's voice has a particularly grating, nasal quality to it, and tends to talk in barked, garbled phrases. This predisposes others to dislike them.	-25 opinion from other colonists -20% of the market value	-	0.5
Creepy breathing	NAME breathes heavily all the time, and sweats constantly. People find it creepy.	-25 opinion from other colonists -10% of the market value	-	0.5
Misandrist	NAME really dislikes and distrusts men.	-25 opinion of men.	Psychopath	0.3 for men 1.7 for women
Misogynist	NAME really dislikes and distrusts women.	-25 opinion of women.	Psychopath	1.7 for men 0.3 for women
Asexual	NAME has no sexual attraction to anyone at all.	May not have romantic relationships with people.	Gay Bisexual	0.2
Gay	NAME is romantically attracted to people of their own gender.	Will only have romantic relationships with people of the same gender.	Asexual Bisexual	0.3
Bisexual	NAME is romantically attracted to both men and women.	Will have romantic relationships with people from either gender.	Asexual Gay	0.2

• And see also the Beauty category of traits, below.

Spectrum Traits

Theses are groups of related traits, that are inter-related and grouped by degree, creating a "spectrum" of good/bad/better/worse in that specific sphere of behavior. A colonist can only have one trait from any single related spectrum for these traits, defining whether they are notably outside the norm for, for example, movement speed, or drug interest, or their physical (un)attractiveness.

Drug Desire

These traits affect a colonist's likelihood to consume drugs.

Note that they can only go on a drug binge when drugs are present in the map.

Name	Description	Effect
Chemical fascination	NAME is utterly fascinated with chemical sources of enjoyment. Consuming recreational drugs will create a good mood, while abstaining will lead to increasing frustration over time and possibly drug binges. S/He will ignore directives to not use recreational drugs, and will consume more than a normal person.	Has Chemical need, mood buff (up to +6) when satisfied and mood debuff (up to -12) when not Will ignore drug policies for recreational drugs (i.e. all drugs except for penoxycyline and luciferium) regardless of chemical need. NOTE: The colonist will still respect allowed areas and will not use forbidden stacks of any drug regardless of chemical need
Chemical interest	NAME has an unusual interest in chemical sources of enjoyment. Consuming recreational drugs will create a good mood, while abstaining will lead to increasing frustration over time and possible drug binges. S/He will ignore directives to not use recreational drugs, and will consume more than a normal person.	Has Chemical need, mood buff (up to +3) when satisfied and mood debuff (up to -6) when not Will ignore drug policies for recreational drugs (i.e. all drugs except for penoxycyline and luciferium) regardless of chemical need. NOTE: The colonist will still respect allowed areas and will not use forbidden stacks of any drug regardless of chemical need
Teetotaler	NAME abhors the idea of gaining pleasure from chemicals. S/He strictly avoids alcohol and recreational drugs.	Will not go on binges Cannot be directed to take non-medical drugs; force administering the drug will cause a -20 mood penalty -25 opinion of any pawns with chemical interest or fascination

Industriousness

These traits affect the colonist's Global Work Speed.

Name	Description	Effect
Industrious	NAME has an easy time staying on-task and focused, and gets things done much faster than the average person.	Global Work Speed +35% -5 opinion of all colonists without the same trait
Hard worker	NAME is a natural hard worker and will finish tasks faster than most.	Global Work Speed +20% -5 opinion of all colonists without the same or industrious trait
Lazy	NAME is a little bit lazy.	Global Work Speed -20%
Slothful	NAME loves idleness and hates anything productive. S/He moves slowly and rarely stays focused on a task.	Global Work Speed -35%

Speed Traits

These traits affect a colonist's walk speed.

Name	Description	Effect
Jogger	NAME always moves with a sense of urgency - so much so that others often fail to keep up.	Move speed +0.4 c/s
Fast walker	NAME likes to be where s/he's going. S/He walks quicker than most people.	Move speed +0.2 c/s
Slowpoke	NAME is always falling behind the group whenever s/he goes anywhere.	Move speed -0.2 c/s Disallows Go Frenzy inspiration.

Base Mood

These traits affect the colonist's natural, constant mood.

Name	Description	Effect
Sanguine	NAME is just naturally upbeat about HER/HIS situation, pretty much all the time, no matter what it is.	Permanent +12 mood bonus
Optimist	NAME is naturally optimistic about life. It's hard to get HER/HIM down.	Permanent +6 mood bonus
Pessimist	NAME tends to look on the bad side of life.	Permanent -6 mood penalty
Depressive	NAME is perennially unhappy. S/He has trouble sustaining a good mood even when everything is fine.	Permanent -12 mood penalty

Nerves

These traits affect the colonist's mental break threshold.

Name	Description	Effect
Iron-willed	NAME's will is an iron shield. S/He keeps going through thick and thin, when others broke down long before.	Mental Break Threshold -18% Global Certainty Loss Factor x25%
Steadfast	NAME is mentally tough and won't break down under stresses that would crack most people.	Mental Break Threshold -9% Global Certainty Loss Factor x50%
Nervous	NAME tends to crack under pressure.	Mental Break Threshold +8% Global Certainty Loss Factor x200%
Volatile	NAME is on a hair-trigger all the time. S/He is the first to break in any tough situation.	Mental Break Threshold +15% Global Certainty Loss Factor x300%

Neurotic

These traits affect the colonist's mental break threshold and their global work speed.

Name	Description	Effect
Neurotic	NAME likes to have things squared away. S/He will work harder than most to attain this state of affairs, but HER/HIS nerves can get the better of HER/HIM.	Global Work Speed +20% Mental Break Threshold +8%
Very neurotic	NAME feels constantly nervous about everything that has to get done. S/He will work extremely hard to attain this state of affairs, but HER/HIS nerves can easily get the better of HER/HIM.	Global Work Speed +40% Mental Break Threshold +14%

Shooting Accuracy

These traits affect the colonist's accuracy in ranged combat, as well as aiming time. Mutually exclusive with brawler.

Name	Description	Effect
Careful shooter	NAME takes more time to aim when shooting. S/He shoots less often than others, but with more accuracy.	Aiming Time +25% Shooting Accuracy +5
Trigger-happy	Pew! Pew! Pew! NAME just likes pulling the trigger. S/He shoots faster than others, but less accurately.	Aiming Time -50% Shooting Accuracy -5

Beauty

These traits influence a colonist's appearance and how it affects other colonists' opinions of them - as well as sexual attractiveness.

Each point of beauty corresponds to +20 opinion from other colonists, e.g. a colonist with 2 beauty will have +40 opinion, while another with -1 beauty will have -20.

Name	Description	Effect
Beautiful	NAME is exceptionally beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze. People are attracted to her/him before s/he even opens her/his mouth.	+2 pawn beauty
Pretty	NAME has a pretty face, which predisposes people to like HER/HIM.	+1 pawn beauty
Ugly	NAME is somewhat ugly. This subtly repels others during social interactions.	-1 pawn beauty
Staggeringly ugly	NAME is staggeringly ugly. HER/HIS face looks like a cross between a drawing by an untalented child, a malformed fetus in a jar of formaldehyde, and a piece of modern art. Others must exert conscious effort to look at HIM while conversing.	-2 pawn beauty

Psychic Sensitivity

These traits influence how much a colonist is affected by psychic phenomena.

Name	Description	Effect
Psychically hypersensitive	NAME's mind is like a psychic tuning fork. S/He is extremely sensitive to psychic phenomena.	Psychic Sensitivity +80%
Psychically sensitive	NAME's mind is unusually sensitive to psychic phenomena.	Psychic Sensitivity +40%
Psychically dull	NAME's mind is psychically out of tune with others. S/He isn't as affected by psychic phenomena.	Psychic Sensitivity -50%
Psychically deaf	NAME's mind works on a psychic frequency different from everyone else. S/He just isn't affected by psychic phenomena.	Psychic Sensitivity -100%

Immunity

These traits influence how often colonists are infected by a disease.

Name	Description	Effect
Super-immune	NAME has a naturally powerful immune system. S/He will gain immunity much faster than a normal person would, and can survive illnesses that would kill others.	Immunity Gain Speed +30%
Sickly	NAME has an awful immune system. S/He gets sick more often than usual, frequently with illnesses that nobody in the colony has been afflicted by.	Medicine skill +4 Randomly catch diseases independently from rest of the colony, on average once every 30 days

Obsolete Traits

These are no longer found as-is in the current game version, though many of them have been renamed or reworked into one of the traits found above.

Name	Description	Effect	Conflicting Traits	Fate
Prosthophile	NAME feels limited in their feeble human body. NAME often dreams of going bionic.	+14 mood bouns for having a bionic body part -4 mood penalty for not having a bionic body part	Body purist	Replaced by Transhumanist
Prosthophobe	NAME believes the human body is limited for a reason. To them, bionic body parts are unethical.	-10 mood penalty for having a bionic body part	Transhumanist	Replaced by Body purist
Green thumb	NAME has a passion for gardening. They get a mood bonus for every plant they sow.	+1 mood bonus from sowing a plant. Stackable up to 20 times.	-	Removed in Beta 19
Tunneler	NAME has no need for space. S/He will never feel cooped up or get cabin fever, no matter how long s/he stays indoors.	No Outdoors need	-	Replaced by Undergrounder
Transhumanist	NAME feels limited in their feeble human body. NAME often dreams of going bionic.	Mood bonus for having artificial body parts, from +4 up to +13 -4 mood penalty for not having an artificial body part +8 opinion of other colonists for each part installed on them, up to +40	Body purist	Replaced by Body modder

Version history

• 0.0.245 - Traits hidden as they did nothing.
• 0.7.581 - Brawler, prosthophile, and more added.
• 0.9.722 - Teetotaller and Chemical Fascination traits added
• 0.12.906 - Greedy, Jealous, Ascetic, Night Owl traits added.
• 0.17.1546 - Wimp trait added.
• 0.19.2009 - Undergrounder, Great memory, Tough, Gourmand, Sickly, Quick sleeper traits added
• 1.1.0 - Asexual trait added
• 1.3.3066 - Transhumanist trait renamed to Body Modder. Kind description changed "NAME is a nice person. They have a tendency to brighten everyone else's day and never insult others." -> "NAME is an exceptionally agreeable and giving person. S/He never insults others and will sometimes offer kind words to brighten the moods of those around her/him. {PAWN_pronoun} also never judges people by their appearance."