Traits

[turnip]

I think traits about nutritonal handicap like vegetarian/vegan, carnivorous and even (hardcore mode, please keep your children in leash) cannibal may be added to the current list.

Cannibal would be incredibly hard to do. The Colonist would either die or kill a fellow colonist before even the first raid. If you got a Cannibal as a refugee later on, you'd have to secure a steady supply of bodies, and everyone else would be horrified by him eating those bodies. More like super-hardcore mode.

[AspenShadow]

I think traits about nutritonal handicap like vegetarian/vegan, carnivorous and even (hardcore mode, please keep your children in leash) cannibal may be added to the current list.

Cannibal would be incredibly hard to do. The Colonist would either die or kill a fellow colonist before even the first raid. If you got a Cannibal as a refugee later on, you'd have to secure a steady supply of bodies, and everyone else would be horrified by him eating those bodies. More like super-hardcore mode.

Seriously? Bestiality and not cannibalism?

I can't see how it would be any more difficult. You simply add the rider that a colonist with the predisposition (trait) for it would only act on the urge when starving or if driven insane (loyalty-threshold) and then could eat corpses of raiders or attack people until dead and then eat corpses.
Of course the natural aftermath is he dies from illness, commits suicide from guilt, or wanders into the wastes to be a menace to wildlife until hunted down by angry colonists.

[turnip]

I think traits about nutritonal handicap like vegetarian/vegan, carnivorous and even (hardcore mode, please keep your children in leash) cannibal may be added to the current list.

Cannibal would be incredibly hard to do. The Colonist would either die or kill a fellow colonist before even the first raid. If you got a Cannibal as a refugee later on, you'd have to secure a steady supply of bodies, and everyone else would be horrified by him eating those bodies. More like super-hardcore mode.

Seriously? Bestiality and not cannibalism?

I can't see how it would be any more difficult. You simply add the rider that a colonist with the predisposition (trait) for it would only act on the urge when starving or if driven insane (loyalty-threshold) and then could eat corpses of raiders or attack people until dead and then eat corpses.
Of course the natural aftermath is he dies from illness, commits suicide from guilt, or wanders into the wastes to be a menace to wildlife until hunted down by angry colonists.

Done like that, it would be a good idea. I was under the assumption that they would be ONLY cannibalistic, but I see what you're saying.

[AspenShadow]

It wouldn't be that much different to add the Bestiality trait, it would likely function in a similar manner, such as follows:

You simply add a possible interaction to all animals with the rider that a colonist with the predisposition (trait) for *bestiality* would only act on the urge when alone or low on morale and then could *Hump Muffalo* or squirrels.
Of course the natural aftermath is he's eventually spotted and he dies from Alien STD(lol), is cast out, or wanders into the wastes to be a menace to wildlife until hunted down by angry colonists.

Hmmm, I like the coincidence that the last line only changes in meaning.

[Zeiph]

Stop quoting yourself, you feel weird every time

yes cannibalism is not a forced way of nurturing, it's just that people would feel better eating human food, or would have the idea to do so (as for bestiality: the human being is just another kind of beast)

[AspenShadow]

Stop quoting yourself, you feel weird every time

yes cannibalism is not a forced way of nurturing, it's just that people would feel better eating human food, or would have the idea to do so (as for bestiality: the human being is just another kind of beast)

Damn you've got a good memory, you cheeky Zeiph lol

And yeah humanity is just as much part of the Kingdom Animalia as any other hominid, but most people don't think like that. Still I'm... tentatively warming up to the idea, it would be a very amusing WTF moment in a LP for the player to suddenly glance at their oaf with a Muffalo in bed lol.

[Zeiph]

It would be a very amusing WTF moment in a LP for the player to suddenly glance at their oaf with a Muffalo in bed lol.

Ow yeah I second that ! Twice !

[AspenShadow]

Alright I'm waking up this dead thread, because quite frankly it never should've died! 

I'll start with a pretty amusing suggestion I had to include from one of the Youtube Let's Play comments: "Raised by Bionic Beavers". Which according to Rimworld Canon would be changed to: "Raised by Optibeavers."

[Khellendros]

I recently watched a YouTube video that shows 2 Vatgrown Soldiers, with 0 for social, yet their traits included weak, nosy and charisma. These traits don't seem to correlate well with a soldier with no social skills.

I would suggest having certain traits locked out of certain types of characters. It seems obvious that someone who doesn't want to speak to anyone wouldn't be charismatic and a soldier wouldn't be weak.

[AspenShadow]

I would suggest having certain traits locked out of certain types of characters. It seems obvious that someone who doesn't want to speak to anyone wouldn't be charismatic and a soldier wouldn't be weak.

I agree that this is something that needs more fine-tuning, however I should add a soldier can easily be weak. Even a genetically-engineered soldier may be weak in comparison to other vat-growns or it could've simply been a fault in his vat that left him deficient.

I believe it's still possible for a male to have the Pregnant trait. On a side note should pregnancy really be a trait? If it is then what are the upsides (the cons are obvious)? And should the sprite be effected in a small manner that wouldn't be much work for the graphic's artist?

[Rhok]

i love this thread... i'm not big on grammar... or forums in general... i type exactly how i speak face to face... pausing... often

but i want to jump in and ask how much shame should play a role in some of the more... controversial traits...   
[have to include a TL/DR version after previewing... traits + shame = suspend disbelief]

i agree with AspenShadow that just because you "do/are" something doesnt mean your suited to it... or that it is your natural state

how much is shame a motivator for a weak person to sign up for the military just to prove to himself that he isnt weak... and yes... you can take that both mentally and physically

and for a man to have pregnancy as a trait would be even more of a burden... couvade... otherwise known as sympathetic pregnancy

how much is shame motivating these people to participate in normal actions?  i would think a weak soldier motivated by shame would be more willing to overwork himself... more willing to take risks in combat in exchange for recognition...  would a man suffering from "pregnancy" put in a good days work... (no other way to put the next part without being all MAN about it) or would he spend his morning sick... eat at weird times... and complain about a sore back

going back even further in the thread... for someone with the traits of bestiality or cannibalism... shame would be the prime motivator for how they interact with other colonists... or how they approach their tasks... certainly no one who has these urges wants anyone to know... does the cannibal colonist spend an unreasonable amount of time dealing with the dead?  how many prisoners dont quite make it through the night while he is on duty?  does the muffalo humper wander off once in a while?  is he extra motivated to keep the muffalo herd healthy and plentiful?

personally... i am not against including any trait that can be found in a human... but i would hope that... from the perspective of the "player"... that if i only set the cannibal to tasks that did not involve dealing with human meat... that eventually that colonist would defy my orders and satisfy his nature... in order for these traits to play out in story fashion... i either have to encourage behaviors through task assignments... or hide the colonist to avoid the shame

because while i can accept everything in human nature... i would not be able to suspend disbelief if i seen an arborphiliac and a pyromaniac sitting down for tea hosted by the cross dreser with all of this in the open... i can not accept that everyone will be fine with the knowledge that they live with and work beside the muffalo humper... could it be possible to enjoy a burger that could have been his ex?... or be fine by being woken up each morning by the foot fetish fiend living next door...

i think shame has to be included as a motivator for doing actions by the colonists in the game... either by hiding their actions from other colonists... and by defying the player to satisfy urges... to return them to their true nature... and on the flip side... motivated to defy ones nature... as in the weak soldier... to excel not by skill... but to avoid personal shame

[nnescio]

"Leaked" in the playthrough videos is some kind of trait system for character creation. This topic is as much a question to Ty as it is a discussion topic for other interested people like I am ^^.

Has the traits system a current use other than the simple storytelling purpose or do they have a passive effect (hidden effect?)? Is it planned?

There are about 200 traits in the game. Four of them have gameplay effects. Yeah, there's some work to do The rest are just fun storytelling notes, for now. I want to have most of them have a real effect eventually.

If you don't mind me asking, what are the two traits other than "Runner" and "Tough" that have in-game effects? Those two are pretty powerful (especially "Runner").

[AnarchOi]

I had an idea for traits, what if you are able to determine one colonist as a leader, and his traits will have positive and negative effects on the whole colony?

For example you can have a leader who is a veteran and gives a boost to shooting for the whole colony however he is lazy and gives a negative buff and everyone requires more sleep than usual. Or a leader who has a trait in mining and improves everyones mining, but is psychotic and makes people more prone to being afraid.

I dont know how well this will work with the current lists of traits, mainly cause there are so many which cant be used for this system, but I think it'll lead to some interesting gameplay. We can possibly find someone whose traits matches our play style and we'll do everything we can to protect him. It will also ensure that every colony will behave differently than the last. It'll also give possibility for raids or assassination attempts that focus on just killing or kidnapping our leader.

[Tynan]

If you don't mind me asking, what are the two traits other than "Runner" and "Tough" that have in-game effects? Those two are pretty powerful (especially "Runner").

There used to be alcoholic and gunslinger. Alcoholic I took out because all the code was from the old zombie game and assumed a scenario that would start and end all the time; gunslinger made them aim faster at close range, I just took it out because I didn't want to maintain that complex code while I was reworking the accuracy system recently.

[SleepyFox]

Not to engage in a little thread necromancy, but the Search function didn't bring this in. I'd like to know if those of us with creative rewards for characters in game, will be allowed a second submission pass when Traits are in and do something so we can give the characters a little more permanent flavor? I love the idea of traits (and perks and such) and having a little more lasting mark on the game world with a character who doesn't have malleable traits (like my pirate queen shouldn't be jealous and squeamish at the same time, especially with her lack of any sort of feelings for human life because SCIENCE.) Obviously since it's just now Alpha 2, there's a LOT of time before Traits will probably do anything or even be worked on.

'til then I really like the idea of being able to set two perma-traits on submitted doods.