Traits / perks / handicaps thread

[An0n3]

It’s a bias when you’re representing aspects of one religion or social group without incorporating others/all others.

[KA101]

[quote=“An0n3, post:12, topic:421”]Ditch Ugly and Truth Teller until the NPC faction system gets fully implemented. As is they’re obvious power buys. Does anyone make a character without those two negative traits?

They’re something-for-nothing, essentially. Any NPC you really want to make happy you can usually just run a quest for, or just badger repeatedly for a free item until they cave and give it to you.

On the flip-side, I think balancing run speed and AP for characters is in order, as Fast Runner and Quick are fairly essential traits everyone uses and end up costing 6 points. Either making them cheaper (2pts a pop?) or removing them and making run speed/AP tied directly to Dexterity (and thus improving the importance of it) might be more balanced.[/quote]
Truth Teller, yes; Ugly, no. Got tired of becoming horribly deformed after indulging in Mutagen. Try Light Step instead of either FR/Quick; it seemed to work well enough.

Good to know that 4 is considered a good skill level. As for skills–two points per character point is the least I’d want. Since stats/perks are pretty difficult to come by, starting at rank 2 rather than 0 makes sense for combat or other dangerous-to-level skills.

[Vorpal2]

It’s a bias when you’re representing aspects of one religion or social group without incorporating others/all others.

I wouldn’t call it bias - I deliberately didn’t name the perks Muslim or Jewish for that reason.

Otoh, looking more into it, because of the slaughtering process, etc, marking meat properly Halal/Kosher would be a coding nightmare. Not to mention working out if Eldritch Horrors are kosher.

[ArgusTheCat]

Technophile (2 points) - You get a +5 morale bonus when doing anything with machines. Electronics, mechanics, even construction if you get to play with power tools. You will also improve at those skills slightly faster than normal (10% bonus, maybe) Additionally, you get a +10 morale bonus if you have cybernetics installed. Fighting robots depresses you, though.

Technophobe (-2 points) - You get a -10 morale bonus if you have to do anything with computers or electronics that isn’t very simple. A flashlight is fine, a radio you can tolerate, but anything that requires a keyboard is going to annoy you. You also train electronics and computers much slower (-20%, higher than above on purpose). On the upside, murdering robots makes you feel GOOD.

Man’s Best Friend (4 points) - Start the game with a loyal dog companion that you can train and equip to assist you. [Yes, I am aware of how much work this would take to implement, but I need someone to name Dogmeat]

Not to mention working out if Eldritch Horrors are kosher.

They are not.

[AseaHeru]

I have an idea for one.

Strong Stomach Acid (-2?): you can eat almost everything, including things like paper and small twigs. However if you get very hungry there might be some negative effects (small chance for torso damage)

[An0n3]

I think Argus is onto something, with more traits that provide positive or negative moodlets.

Book Worm - increases morale bonuses from reading books and magazines
Too Long, Didn’t Read - reading times are doubled

Boozehound - increases morale bonuses from drinking alcohol

Warm Gun - shooting firearms gives a positive moodlet

Agoraphobe - morale penalty for being outside
Claustrophobe - morale penalty for being in small rooms

[DeepEnd]

Boozehound - increases morale bonuses from drinking alcohol

I like this one alot. Maybe make this one +/- perk so alcohol replaces conventional mood alterants (alcohol provides longer and more morale boost and other drugs morale effects are lower or negative).

IMHO alcohol is most used depression drug in the world, so this one goes along nicely.

Also love idea of whiskey-chugging survivor who needs booze as badly as food, shelter and bandages.

Also craftable stills.

[AseaHeru]

yes. even more so as you can use booze as fuel. atleast you can in RL.
can we please add that? perhaps requiring a modification for engines?

[KA101]

[quote=“An0n3, post:23, topic:421”]I think Argus is onto something, with more traits that provide positive or negative moodlets.

Book Worm - increases morale bonuses from reading books and magazines
Too Long, Didn’t Read - reading times are doubled[/quote]
Good catch–there’s already a perk for quicker reading. Adding additional morale from reading is a nice touch.

[quote=“An0n3, post:23, topic:421”]Boozehound - increases morale bonuses from drinking alcohol

Warm Gun - shooting firearms gives a positive moodlet[/quote]
I recommend the Ethanol Burner as the backup bionic powerplant, but that’s because I’ve had good luck getting a CBM/Hazmat. Nowadays I’m not so sure. In any event, alcohol is powerful enough already IMO.

Agoraphobe - morale penalty for being outside

There are mutations that achieve this directly/indirectly already–the Albino (damage/pain) and Troglodyte (direct stat penalties) branches. No need for more, but phobias generally aren’t a bad thought…

Claustrophobe - morale penalty for being in small rooms

Now this is nasty. Not sure what defines “small” but most of my Cata takes place in enclosed areas. 3 or 4 points, I’d say.

[iceball3]

Here’s my two cent
New mutation branch:Vitality
New mutation branch:Ignorance

Vital Spirit (-4)
Branch: Vitality
-All speed penalties are halved, though, you don’t move any faster otherwise. You will also can not be forced asleep except from schizophrenia. If unconsciousness from pain is ever implemented, this trait would raise the pain threshold for unconsciousness significantly, as well as for being knocked out from other sources. It may be harder to sleep overall though (stacks with insomnia)

Pain Ignorant
Branch: Ignorance
-Prerequisites:HP Ignorant
Stat penalty for pain is halved, but the speed debuffs still apply. You may sometimes also fail to notice if an enemy hits you, as some low damage attacks may not report in the announcement window.

Ignorant
Branch: Ignorance
Details and creatures might not be immediately apparent. Enemies, items, etc may not be immediately noticed by you (invisible to only you) before careful observation (enemies who are closing with you should be noticeable easily though.)

Death Ignorant
Branch: Ignorance
Branch:Vitality
Prerequisites:Pain ignorant, HP ignorant
Taking a fatal hit to the head or torso will not instantly kill you, however, it will be marked as broken (thus cannot be healed by surgery) and be fatal on the next damaging (>1 damage) hit.

Rasputanian
Branch: Vitality
Prerequisites:Death Ignorant
You are truly difficult to keep down! You will not perish unless BOTH torso and head are brought to zero. They will still be broken at that point though and need surgery to fix. If your torso is broken, all bleeding damage is shifted to your head.

[GlyphGryph]

From ideas in another thread:

Shortsighted - The maximum size of your experience pool is decreased by half.
Disciplined - The maximum size of your experience pool is doubled.

[Sep]

Explorer - starts with the map revealed, bino bonus doubled.

Bad Ankles - occasionally stumbles when running more than 10 tiles, get stunned 1 turn and receives small damage on a random leg

[slydogg9692]

Yes please with Disciplined. It’ll help with reaching higher skill levels with skill rust on.

Anyway, on the the suggestions!

Lucky Bastard(-3) - You just seem to find better stuff everywhere. Loot everywhere is greater for you. (Not sure if this is feasible)

Pacifist (+3) - You were never much of a fighter. All combat skills are reduced by 1 point.

Pacifist Variant (+4) - You were never much of a fighter. All combat skills cannot go beyond 4.

Mute (+3) - You have been unable to speak since birth. Can only interact with NPCs on a basic level. (Not sure how to specifically apply yet)

Deaf (+3) - You cannot hear at all. (A more debilitating trait than poor hearing)

Also, with regard to CharGen traits, what about “Positive traits” that are relatively cheap, give good bonuses but also provide negative effects like…

Aggressive (-2) - Too much testosterone bro! Your melee attacks are stronger and faster, but you’re more likely to get hit.

Emotionless (-2) - You were always a cold, emotionless person. You gain no morale boosts, but you can only have a small morale penalty at most.

[Rivet]

Throwing my ideas in here. Let’s see if any stick.

Experienced Psychonaut: You’ve done your share of drugs, maybe more than your share; addiction rates and penalties for mind altering substances are reduced.

Ferocious: You are one hostile person. Killing stuff grants a small morale boost, though perhaps the effect should diminish slightly with exposure; kill a dozen zombies and the effect decreases with each successive kill until you spend some time cooling down and the ‘exposure’ counter resets itself.

Warm Natured: You don’t mind the cold so much as others; penalties are reduced or perhaps your ‘warmth’ rating is set at a higher baseline than normal.

Cold Natured: The opposite of warm natured; get colder faster or perhaps just take bigger penalties from it.

Migraines: Every now and again the game decides it’s migraine time and your pain rating goes up a semi-random amount for a semi-random number of hours, or else until you manage to stuff yourself with enough pills to feel better.

Soft Heart: Harming those poor defenseless woodland creatures is so cruel! Causing damage or killing (intentionally or otherwise) those cute little non aggressive animals causes morale penalties.

[xara]

Renaissance Man - Character is considered +1 in all skills for the purposes of crafting

Shop Class Failure - Character is considered -1 in all skills for the purposes of crafting

Against All Odds - Gain stacking morale boost per X number of monsters within Y tiles of character

It’s Hopeless - Gain stacking negative morale per X number of monsters within Y tiles of character

Arsonist - Gain small morale boost for lighting a fire. Gain large morale boost when in presence of raging infernos

Demo-Derby Enthusiast - Vehicles less likely to take damage from hitting objects; morale boost from driving over hostiles

Nudist - The more you wear, the bigger the morale hit

[KA101]

From one of the temperature threads:

Temperature Tolerance: You’re comfortable at a wider range of temperatures. +5 degrees F (each way, so net 10 degrees expansion) per point, figure 1-2 points.

Chills: You just require more heat to feel warm. “Cold” happens at 5 degrees warmer than baseline. +3 points.
Feverish: It’s too bleedin’ hot out. “Hot” happens at 5 degrees cooler. +3 points. (Less layers is less encumbrance, but also means less carry-capacity, armor, etc!)

Chap I know made these. I think they’re pretty good (certainly given the current NPC problems, but I think they’ve potential long-term) & would like them to get some comment:
Exotic Combat Training: You’ve trained in one of the less-popular martial arts; start with Krav Maga, Ninjitsu, Capoeira, Zi Quan, or Muay Thai. 4 points.
Shaolin Adept: You’ve studied the ancient Shaolin teachings; start with one of the five Shaolin animal forms. 5 points.
Venom Gang Member: You were a member of the Venom Gang; start with one of the five deadly Venoms. 5 points.

[slydogg9692]

More traits!

Pure Blood (+5) - You are a fine genetic specimen. Unfortunately, your body outright refuses any significant changes to it. You cannot gain any mutations and cannot install any CBMs.

Intense Pacifist (+3) - You cannot bear to kill anything living at all. You get a substantial morale penalty for killing or butchering any regular living being.

And, if it comes to the point where NPCs are so buggy anymore…

Charismatic (-3) - You have a certain kind of charm. NPC reactions react better to you, and are more likely to join you.

[quote=“KA101, post:33, topic:421”]From one of the temperature threads:

Chills: You just require more heat to feel warm. “Cold” happens at 5 degrees warmer than baseline. +3 points.
Feverish: It’s too bleedin’ hot out. “Hot” happens at 5 degrees cooler. +3 points. (Less layers is less encumbrance, but also means less carry-capacity, armor, etc!)[/quote]

Is that in Celsius or Fahrenheit? If it’s the latter, it’s kind of a small detriment for that amount of bonus points. Eh. Minor detail anyways. It’s the heart of the idea that matters.

[Smashness]

Entomophobic: You have an immense fear of insects, resulting in a varying morale hit depending on amount of insects.

Old: With age comes wisdom. -3 Strength and Dexterity, +3 Intelligence and Perception

[KA101]

[quote=“slydogg9692, post:34, topic:421”]More traits!

Pure Blood (+5) - You are a fine genetic specimen. Unfortunately, your body outright refuses any significant changes to it. You cannot gain any mutations and cannot install any CBMs.

Intense Pacifist (+3) - You cannot bear to kill anything living at all. You get a substantial morale penalty for killing or butchering any regular living being.

And, if it comes to the point where NPCs are so buggy anymore…

Charismatic (-3) - You have a certain kind of charm. NPC reactions react better to you, and are more likely to join you.

[quote=“KA101, post:33, topic:421”]From one of the temperature threads:

Chills: You just require more heat to feel warm. “Cold” happens at 5 degrees warmer than baseline. +3 points.
Feverish: It’s too bleedin’ hot out. “Hot” happens at 5 degrees cooler. +3 points. (Less layers is less encumbrance, but also means less carry-capacity, armor, etc!)[/quote]

Is that in Celsius or Fahrenheit? If it’s the latter, it’s kind of a small detriment for that amount of bonus points. Eh. Minor detail anyways. It’s the heart of the idea that matters.[/quote]
Yeah, my numbers need fine-tuning there; I play in Celsius but then I don’t play with temperature effects enabled. Wasn’t sure what magnitude would be worthwhile but given the problems I’ve read about, decided to err high.

Would a regular living thing that hits a trap trigger the morale hit? Not sure if the game discriminates between player-set traps and pre-existing traps. (Squirrels fall into my dry-moat all the time.)

[slydogg9692]

Old: With age comes wisdom. -3 Strength and Dexterity, +3 Intelligence and Perception

These kinds of traits (traits that directly affect stats) are kind of…weird. As it is now, giving them a cost is counter productive, since you come out with less points. Having them provide bonus points is just unfair too. If it’s free it kinda loses it’s point: why not just add or subtract the respective points?

Maybe some other form of effect would be better? Say, lower speed and skill comprehension perhaps?

Would a regular living thing that hits a trap trigger the morale hit? Not sure if the game discriminates between player-set traps and pre-existing traps. (Squirrels fall into my dry-moat all the time.)

Good point. I am reminded of my mountains of chunks of meat and bones after cleaning up my farm of dead bodies. Hmmm. If it creating that distinction would be too difficult/time intensive to implement, maybe use a cheap cop out like “It wasn’t me who directly killed it. It was my trap.”?

Reformulating the description could also work. Instead of “You cannot bear to kill anything living at all. You get a substantial morale penalty for killing or butchering any regular living being.” it could be “You cannot bear to see any living thing die. You get a substantial morale penalty for seeing the death of any regular living being.”