Publication:Unearthed Arcana/Character Traits

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Character Traits

Traits are aspects of a character's personality, background, or physique that make him better at some activities and worse at others. In many ways, traits resemble feats: A character can have only a limited number of traits, and each trait provides some benefit. Unlike feats, however, traits always carry a corresponding drawback. In addition to their game effects, traits suggest characteristics about the character's personality that might lead to interesting roleplaying opportunities. Together with a character's class and feat selection, traits offer a way for game mechanics to encourage deeper character backgrounds and consistent roleplaying.

Traits serve as an interesting starting point for roleplaying, reminding players of their characters' most prominent strengths and weaknesses. However, roleplaying a certain aspect of a character's personality does not require possessing the trait. For example, a paladin can be honest and forthright without the Honest trait. The player should roleplay the character consistently even though the character's honesty has no effect on his skill checks.

A character can begin play with up to two traits, chosen by the player at the time of character creation. Alternatively, the DM can require players to roll on Table: Character Traits to determine the traits possessed by their characters.

As characters advance in level and ability, they might want to get rid of the traits that they chose at the beginning of play. Although characters cannot rid themselves of a trait directly, specific feats, skill ranks, or magic items can compensate for the penalties imposed by a trait. For example, an abrasive character can work on becoming more personable by spending skill points to gain a rank in Bluff and a rank in Diplomacy, thereby offsetting the drawback from the Abrasive trait.

If the DM allows it, players may add traits to their characters after 1st level. The DM might allow a player to assign a trait to her character after she has roleplayed the character in a manner consistent with the trait in question, or after a traumatic or life changing experience (after dying, a character might develop the Cautious trait or the Aggressive trait). If the DM includes this option, a character should gain a new trait no more frequently than once every five levels.

Behind the Curtain: Designing Traits

Although this section provides a large number of character traits, a player who wants to create a character with a distinctive personality may ask the DM to design a new trait. If that happens, the DM should keep in mind that the traits variant is only effective if the benefits and the drawbacks of the traits are related. If the drawback and benefit of a trait apply to disparate or unrelated aspects of the game, it becomes too easy for a player to choose a trait for her character that provides a bonus on a commonly attempted ability check or skill check while the corresponding penalty applies to a rarely used or never used aspect of play. For example, a trait that gave a bonus to Armor Class and a penalty on attack rolls would be poor design because spellcasters make very few attack rolls (making the penalty far less severe) yet continuously gain the benefit-of the increased Armor Class. As long as the DM and player talk about a new trait ahead of time and view it in light of what skills and abilities the character uses most often, this potential pitfall is easy to avoid.

Roleplaying Of Traits

If a player creates a character with one or more of the traits described here, she has three basic choices for how that trait affects the character's personality.

First, the character might view the trait as a weakness. A character with this view might try to hide the trait or make excuses for his behavior. On the other hand, he might seek out others with the trait to feel better about his own idiosyncrasy.

Second, the character might view the trait as a strength. A character might call attention to the trait, encourage others to act in ways that mimic the trait, or simply assume that those without the trait are less worthy than those who possess it.

Finally, the character might not acknowledge the trait at all. A character might adopt this attitude toward a trait for several reasons, each suggesting something different about the character's background and personality.

• The character might not be aware of the trait; for example, a nearsighted character might not realize that others see better at a distance because his impairment is mild and the onset was so gradual that he never noticed the change.
• The character might be aware of the trait but not want to admit that he possesses it. For example, an abrasive character might realize that his mannerisms affect others, yet find more solace in putting the blame on those whom he offends rather than on himself.
• The character might know but simply not care.

Traits

Name	Description
Abrasive	You are difficult and demanding in conversation, which tends to oppress those around you.
Absent Minded	You are fascinated by knowledge and learning and are capable of pursuing complex trains of thought quite quickly. However, your preoccupation with such thoughts makes you a little less aware of your surroundings.
Aggressive	You are quick to initiate combat, and you tend to press the attack once battle is joined. Your enthusiasm makes you a dangerous foe, but you sometimes leave yourself open to blows that a more cautious warrior would avoid.
Brawler	You naturally move close to your opponents when fighting, instinctively grabbing and punching rather than striking with weapons.
Cautious	You are cautious in combat, even a bit cowardly, and you take more care to defend yourself than others. However, this caution renders you susceptible to fear effects.
Detached	You maintain a distance from events that keeps you grounded but limits your reaction speed.
Dishonest	You are naturally deceitful and insincere with others. You have a talent for lying, but have difficulty convincing others when you do speak truthfully.
Distinctive	You have some distinctive physical feature such as a scar, a prominent nose, a limp, or some similar characteristic that is hard to disguise or conceal.
Easygoing	You are naturally friendly. Others feel comfortable around you, but this trait also makes it more difficult for you to be pushy or suspicious.
Farsighted	You have difficulty focusing on nearby objects, but your distance vision is more keen than normal.
Focused	You can keep your attention on a task despite many distractions; however, events in the background pass you by.
Hard of Hearing	You have a slight hearing impairment, and to compensate, you have become more in tune with your other senses.
Hardy	You are made of tougher stuff than the average person, but you're not quite as quick to react to dangerous effects.
Honest	You are naturally straightforward and sincere. This quality helps you persuade people to your viewpoint, but you have difficulty telling lies and seeing deception in others.
Illiterate	You cannot read, but you have devoted yourself to learning other skills.
Inattentive	You are skilled at finishing simple tasks quickly, but you have a difficult time dealing with longer, more complex tasks.
Musclebound	You are good at almost everything that requires strength, but less adept than most at tasks that require coordination.
Nearsighted	You have difficulty focusing on distant objects, but your eye for detail is more keen than normal.
Nightsighted	Your eyes are particularly well-suited to using darkvision, but they are less well-adapted to what others consider normal light.
Passionate	You are made of tougher stuff than the average person, but you are highly suggestible.
Plucky	You have a strength of will not reflected in your limited physical gifts.
Polite	You are courteous and well spoken.
Quick	You are fast, but less sturdy than average members of your race.
Reckless	You naturally sacrifice accuracy to put more power behind your blows.
Relentless	You don't know the meaning of the word "tired." You go all out until you simply can't continue.
Saddleborn	You are a natural in the saddle, but you have little patience for handling animals when not riding them.
Skinny	You are very slender for your race.
Slippery	You are less adept at grappling and wrestling than others of your size and strength, but you are adept at slipping out of another's hold.
Slow	You are slow, but sturdier than average members of your race.
Specialized	You have a knack for one kind of work or study, but other tasks are harder for you to accomplish.
Spellgifted	You have a gift for casting spells from a certain school. Although your spells from this school are more potent than those of other casters, you are not as effective at casting spells from other schools.
Stout	You are heavy for your race.
Suspicious	You are naturally suspicious of everyone and everything. While this trait makes you hard to fool, it makes others slightly less likely to agree with you or find you threatening.
Torpid	You are sluggish and slow to react to danger, but also resistant to others' commands.
Uncivilized	You relate better to animals than you do to people.

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