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.

General traits

These traits are generalized into groups, organized roughly by topic but there are no such groupings laid out formally in the game. 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 − : Added Indoors need +3 mood when indoors / +4 when underground −3 mood when outdoors + : Gains the Morbid meditation focus type	-	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 apparel, except headgear and utility items	-	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, replacing default −5 and +3 from Pain:Idealized. +10 mood bonus for being in medium pain, replacing default −10 and +5 from Pain:Idealized. +15 mood bonus for being in severe pain, replacing default −15 and +7 from Pain:Idealized. +20 mood bonus for being in mind-shattering pain, replacing default −20 and +9 from Pain:Idealized. Note: Mind-shattering pain causes pain shock at the default pain shock threshold +3 mood bonus for wearing a slave body strap +2 mood bonus for wearing a slave collar Negates all mood effects for both Skullspike:Desired and Disapproved Negates the −5 mood penalty and -20 opinion malus for being fed on by a Bloodfeeder + : Gains the Morbid meditation focus type	Wimp	0.5
Body modder	NAME feels limited in POSSESSIVE feeble human body. NAME often dreams of being enhanced by artificial body parts.	+4 to +13 mood for having artificial body parts −4 mood penalty for not having an artificial body part +8 to +40 opinion of other colonists for each part installed on them	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.	−10 to −35 mood for having artificial body parts −8 to −40 opinion of other colonists for each part installed on them	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	1

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 quality of meal, including raw food, nutrient paste meals, and baby food +/- : Pawn beauty of others does not change pawn's social opinion on that pawn + : Gains the Minimal meditation focus type − : Loses the Artistic meditation focus type, if they had it ×50% Global Certainty Loss Factor	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. + : Gains the Morbid meditation focus type	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 − : Randomly have fire starting sprees with a MTB of 50 days, regardless of mood −20% reduction in market value Gains the Flame meditation focus type	-	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... See Human resources for comparative analysis.

Name	Description	Effect	Conflicting Traits	Commonality
Bloodlust	NAME gets a rush from hurting people, and never minds the sight of blood or death.	+ : No mood penalty for: Observing fresh corpses, Observing rotting corpses, Human butchering and Organ Harvesting +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 − : Four times as likely to start a social fight + : Gains the Morbid meditation focus type	Requires pawn to be capable of Violence	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.	+ : No mood penalty for: Observing fresh corpses, Human butchering, Cannibalism +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 All mood buffs stack + : Gains the Morbid meditation focus type	-	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.	+ : No mood penalty for: Observing fresh corpses, Human butchering, Organ harvesting, Unburied colonists, Prisoners sold into slavery, Relatives dying, Bonded pet dying [Verify] − :No mood bonuses from: Friendly chat [Verify], Being nuzzled − :No opinion gain from friendly interactions (still loses opinion from hostile interactions) + : Gains the Morbid meditation focus type x50% Global Certainty Loss Factor	Kind	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.	+15 Melee Dodge Chance ×10% Trap Spring Chance	-	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.	+4 Melee skill −4 Shooting skill +4 Melee Hit Chance −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.	x50% damage taken	Delicate	1.1
Wimp	NAME is weak and cowardly. Even a little pain will immobilize her/him.	−50% Pain Shock Threshold. −15% market value x200% Global Certainty Loss Factor − : Negates Pain mood buffs from Pain:Idealized, reverting them to the default values.	Brawler Masochist	1
Delicate	NAME has fragile skin and bones. She/He takes more damage than other people from the same blows.	x115% damage taken	Tough	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.	+75% Global Learning Factor +12% Mental Break Threshold x50% Global Certainty Loss Factor	Nerves spectrum traits Requires pawn be capable of Intellectual	1
Fast learner	NAME has a knack for learning. S/He picks things up much faster than others.	+75% Global Learning Factor	Slow Learner	1
Slow learner	NAME is slow on the uptake. S/He picks things up much slower than others.	−75% Global Learning Factor x50% Global Certainty Loss Factor	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.	x50% Skill loss rate	-	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.	−8 Permanent mood 50% chance of receiving the mental inspiration "Inspired Creativity" after a mental break ends. + : Gains the Morbid meditation focus type.	-	0.6

Relationships

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. S/He 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 x200% Global Certainty Loss Factor	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 x50% Global Certainty Loss Factor	Kind 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.		0.3 for men 1.7 for women
Misogynist	NAME really dislikes and distrusts women.	−25 opinion of women.		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
Recluse	The fewer people in NAME's faction, the happier she/he is. Being alone is best of all.	Mood buff or debuff from the number of human pawns, children, guests, or prisoners in the colony. Mechanoids and pets do not count. 100% chance for starting colonist in solo mechanitor scenario.	-	0.5

Recluse Mood

Count	Mood	Count	Mood
1	+12	11	−2
2	+8	12	−3
3	+6	13	−4
4	+4	15	−6
5-10	0	16+	−8

• Uniquely to them, Gay/Bisexual/Asexual sexuality traits are the only ones that can generate after 3 traits limit, resulting in rare pawns with 4 traits.
• 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 behaviour. 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 despite the common misconception, chemical fascination and interest pawns no longer randomly go on drug binges independent of mood.

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 take drugs for Recreation regardless of Drug policy and chemical need. NOTE: This only applies when a pawn are allowed recreate (e.g. not while scheduled to Work) and to recreational drugs (i.e. all drugs except for penoxycyline and luciferium). They will otherwise follow the Drug Policy regarding drugs carried, and scheduled and addiction doses. 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 take drugs for Recreation regardless of Drug policy and chemical need. NOTE: This only applies when a pawn are allowed recreate (e.g. not while scheduled to Work) and to recreational drugs (i.e. all drugs except for penoxycyline and luciferium). They will otherwise follow the Drug Policy regarding drugs carried, and scheduled and addiction doses. 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

Main article: Beauty (Pawn)

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

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	body modder	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.	+4 to +13 mood bonus for having artificial body parts −4 mood penalty for not having an artificial body part +8 to +40 opinion of other colonists for each part installed on them	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.". Undergrounders have a new Need_Indoors, which is increased by spending time indoors, especially inside mountains.
• 1.4.3523 - Ascetics no longer get a negative mood debuff when eating nutrient paste meals. Plasmaswords and persona plasmaswords now provide the mood bonus to pyromaniacs like other incendiary weapons.