Traits

Traits are special character abilities in Project Zomboid. They can be positive or negative, and provide different bonuses or penalties.

Positives

Icon	Name	Mutually Exclusive	Points	Description	Effect
	Speed Demon	Sunday driver	-1	“The fast driver.”	+100% Gear switching speed +15% Top speed for all vehicles +200% Engine loudness when reversing
	Cat’s Eyes	-	-2	“Better vision at night.”	+20% better vision at night. Affects search mode
	Dextrous	All Thumbs	-2	“Transfers inventory items quickly.”	-50% inventory transferring time
	Fast Reader	Slow Reader	-2	“Takes less time to read books.”	+30% reading speed
	Outdoorsman	-	-2	“Not affected by harsh weather conditions.”	-90% chance of catching a cold. -99% chance of getting scratched/lacerated while moving through trees. Starts campfires with notched plank faster. Affects search mode
	Wakeful	Sleepyhead	-2	“Needs less sleep.”	-30% less sleep required
	Iron Gut	Weak Stomach	-3	“Less chance to have food illness.”	-50% chance of food illness. Food illness lasts shorter
	Angler		-4	“Knows the basics of fishing.”	+75% Fishing Knows how to craft and fix a fishing rod
	Baseball Player		-4	"Has practice with a baseball bat and knows how to hit with precision."	+75% Long Blunt
	Brave	Cowardly, Desensitized	-4	“Less prone to becoming panicked.”	-30% panic, except for night terrors and phobias
	First Aider		-4	"Has a CPR and First Aid course certificate."	+75% First Aid
	Gardener		-4	"Has basic agriculture knowledge."	+75% Farming Knows how to make Mildew Spray and Flies Spray to cure plant diseases
	Graceful	Clumsy	-4	“Makes less noise when moving.”	-40% footsteps sound radius. -10% chance to trip while run/sprint vaulting a low fence or lunging zombies
	Inconspicuous	Conspicuous	-4	“Less likely to be spotted by zombies.”	-50% chance of being spotted by a  zombie
	Light Eater	Hearty Appetite	-4	“Needs to eat less regularly.”	-25% hunger
	Lucky	Unlucky	-4	“Sometimes things just go your way.”	+10% chance of finding rare loot. -5% chance of failing item repairs. Affects search mode
	Nutritionist		-4	"Can see the nutritional values of any food."	Can see the nutritional values of any food. (Including non-packaged food and cooked food)
	Resilient	Prone to Illness	-4	“Less prone to disease. Slower rate of zombification.”	-25% zombification speed, -55% chance of catching a cold, -20% cold strength, -50% cold progression speed
	Runner		-4	"Runner in the spare times."	+75% Sprinting
	Sewer		-4	"+1 Tailoring"	+75% Tailoring
	Amateur Mechanic		-5	"Has a detailed knowledge of common and heavy vehicle models and their repairs."	+75% Mechanics
	Gymnast		-5	"Agile and discreet."	+75% Lightfooted +75% Nimble
	Brawler		-6	"Used to getting into trouble."	+75% Axe +75% Long Blunt
	Cook		-6	"Knows cooking recipes."	+100% Cooking
	Eagle Eyed	Short Sighted	-6	“Has a faster visibility fade and a higher visibility arc.”	Character has a wider field of view. Affects search mode
	Fast Healer	Slow Healer	-6	“Recovers faster from injury and illness.”	Decreased severity of injuries. Does not apply to exercise fatigue
	Fast Learner	Slow Learner	-6	“Increases XP gains.”	+30% XP for all skills except Strength and Fitness
	Fit	Athletic, Out of Shape, Obese, Overweight, Unfit	-6	“In good physical shape.”	+100% Fitness Can be gained by training Fitness to level 6. Replace by Athletic when reaching level 9 Fitness. Lost if Fitness is below level 6
	Former Scout		-6	"Knows how to pick wild berries and how to treat small injuries."	+75% First Aid +75% Foraging
	Herbalist		-6	"Can find medicinal herbs and craft medicines and poultices from them."	Can find medicinal herbs and craft medicines and poultices from them Can also identify poisonous wild food.
	Hiker		-6	"Used to surviving in the jungle."	+75% Foraging +75% Trapping Knows how to make Stick Traps, Snare Traps, and Wooden Cage Traps
	Keen Hearing	Deaf, Hard of Hearing	-6	“Larger perception radius.”	+100% perception radius. Zombies approaching from behind will be visible much earlier
	Low Thirst	High Thirst	-6	“Needs to drink water less regularly.”	-50% thirst
	Organized	Disorganized	-6	“Increased container inventory capacity.”	+30% capacity for all containers, including boxes, cupboards and cars
	Stout	Feeble, Strong, Weak	-6	“Extra knockback from melee weapons and increased carry weight.”	+100% Strength Can be gained by training Strength to level 6. Replace by Strong when reaching level 9 Strength. Lost if Strength is below level 6
	Adrenaline Junkie	Desensitized	-8	“Moves faster when highly panicked.”	Adds a flat bonus of 0.20 or 0.25 for the character’s base speed at Strong or Extreme Panic, which increases walking, running, and sprinting speed
	Handy		-8	"Faster and stronger constructions."	+100% Carpentry +100% Maintenance  +100 HP to all constructions except walls +11% Building speed
	Hunter		-8	"Know the basics of hunting."	Knows all trap recipes +75% Aiming +75% Short Blade +75% Sneaking +75% Trapping
	Thick Skinned	Thin Skinned	-8	"Less chance of scratches or bites breaking the skin."	-30% chance of receiving wounds 1/13 chance of clothes getting damaged by trees.
	Athletic	Fit, Out of Shape, Obese, Overweight, Unfit	-10	“Can run faster and longer without tiring.”	Faster running speed +4 Fitness -60% endurance loss when running or sprinting. Can be gained by training Fitness to level 9. Lost if Fitness is below 9
	Strong	Feeble, Stout, Weak	-10	“Extra knockback from melee weapons and increased carry weight.”	+4 Strength +40% melee damage Can be gained by training Strength to level 9. Lost if Strength is below level 9

Negatives

Icon	Name	Mutually Exclusive	Points	Description	Effect
	Sunday driver	Speed Demon	+1	“The very slow driver”	-40% acceleration, max speed of 30MPH, No change to engine loudness
	All Thumbs	Dextrous	+2	“Transfers inventory items slowly”	+300% inventory transferring time.
	Clumsy	Graceful	+2	“Makes more noise when moving”	+20% footsteps sound radius, +10% chance to trip when run/sprint vaulting a low fence or lunging zombies.
	Cowardly	Brave, Desensitized	+2	“Especially prone to becoming panicked”	+100% panic except for night terrors and phobias.
	Short Sighted	Eagle Eyed	+2	“Small view distance. Slower visibility fade.”	-2 foraging radius in search mode.
	Slow Reader	Fast Reader	+2	“Takes longer to read books”	-30% reading speed.
	Weak Stomach	Iron Gut	+3	“Higher chance to have food illness.”	+100% chance of food illness. Food illness lasts longer.
	Agoraphobic	Desensitized	+4	“Gets panicked when outdoors”	Enters in Panic when outdoors and affects search mode.
	Claustrophobic	Desensitized	+4	“Gets panicked when indoors”	Enters in Panic when indoors.
	Conspicuous	Inconspicuous	+4	“More likely to be spotted by zombies.”	+100% chance of getting spotted by zombies.
	Disorganized	Organized	+4	“Decreased container inventory capacity”	-30% capacity for all containers, including boxes and cupboards.
	Hard of Hearing	Deaf, Keen Hearing	+4	“Smaller perception radius. Smaller hearing range.”	Besides the decreased perception radius, the range of sound will be decreased and the sound effects will be muffled.
	Hearty Appetite	Light Eater	+4	“Needs to eat more regularly”	+50% hunger.
	Pacifist	-	+4	“Less effective with weapons”	-25% XP for all weapon skills, Maintenance skill and Aiming skill
	Prone to Illness	Resilient	+4	“More prone to disease. Faster rate of zombification.”	+25% zombification speed. +70% chance of catching a cold, +20% cold strength, +50% cold progression speed.
	Sleepyhead	Wakeful	+4	“Needs more sleep”	-30% tiredness rate.
	Smoker	-	+4	“Stress and unhappiness decrease after smoking tobacco. Unhappiness rises when tobacco is not smoked.”	Stress will constantly slowly rise. Smoking Cigarettes will lower the stress level.
	Unlucky	Lucky	+4	“What could go wrong for you, often does.”	-10% chance of finding rare loot. +5% chance of failing item repairs. Affects search mode.
	Asthmatic	-	+5	“Faster endurance loss”	+40% endurance loss when running or sprinting. +30% endurance lost when swinging.
	Hemophobic	Desensitized	+5	“Panic when performing first aid on self, cannot perform first aid on others, gets stressed when bloody”	-
	Feeble	Strong, Stout, Weak	+6	“Less knockback from melee weapons. Decreased carrying weight.”	-2 Strength Can be lost by training Strength to level 5. Trait will be gained if Strength is below level 5
	High Thirst	Low Thirst	+6	“Needs more water to survive”	+100% thirst
	Out of Shape	Athletic, Fit, Unfit	+6	“Low endurance, low endurance regeneration.”	-2 Fitness Can be lost by training Fitness to level 5. Trait becomes Unfit is Fitness goes below level 3. Gained if Fitness goes below level 5
	Overweight	Athletic, Fit, Out of Shape, Obese, Underweight, Very Underweight	+6	“Reduced running speed, low endurance and prone to injury.”	Starting weight is 95 Replaced by Obese if weight goes above 100. Lost if weight goes below 85. +10% chance to trip while run/sprint vaulting a low fence. +15% chance to fail a tall fence climb. -30% endurance regeneration. -1 Fitness
	Restless Sleeper	-	+6	“Slow loss of tiredness while sleeping”	Sleep less hours, and slower loss of tiredness when sleeping.
	Slow Healer	Fast Healer	+6	“Recovers slowly from injuries and illness”	Increased severity of injuries. Does not apply to exercise fatigue.
	Slow Learner	Fast Learner	+6	“Decreased XP gains”	-30% XP in all skills except Strength and Fitness.
	Underweight	Obese, Overweight, Very Underweight	+6	“Low strength, low endurance and prone to injury.”	Starting weight is 70. Replace by Very Underweight if weight goes below 65. Lost if weight goes above 75. -20% melee damage. +10% chance to trip while run/sprint vaulting a low fence or lunging zombies. +15% chance to fail a tall fence climb -1 Fitness
	Illiterate	Fast Reader, Slow Reader	+8	“Cannot read books”	Unable to get a mood boost by reading leisure books, learning new recipes by reading recipe magazines, or getting an XP multiplier by reading skill books.
	Thin-skinned	Thick Skinned	+8	“Increased chance of scratches, lacerations, or bites breaking the skin.”	+27% chance of receiving wounds. 1/3 chance of clothes getting damaged by trees
	Obese	Athletic, Fit, Out of Shape, Overweight, Underweight, Very Underweight	+10	"Reduced running speed, very low endurance and prone to injury."	Starting weight is 105. Replaced by Overweight if weight goes below 100. +20% chance to trip while run/sprint vaulting a low fence. -10% chance to trip from lunging zombies. +25% chance to fail a tall fence climb. -60% endurance regeneration. +20 fall damage. -2 Fitness
	Unfit	Athletic, Fit, Out of Shape	+10	"Very low endurance, very low endurance regeneration. "	Can become Out of Shape by training Fitness to level 3. Gained if Fitness is below level 3. -4 Fitness
	Very Underweight	Athletic, Obese, Overweight, Underweight	+10	"Very low strength, very low endurance and prone to injury."	Replaced by Emaciated if weight goes below 5o. Replaced by Underweight if weight goes above 65. -40% melee damage. +20% chance to trip while run/sprint vaulting a low fence or lunging zombies. +25% chance to fail a tall fence climb. +10 fall damage. -2 Fitness
	Weak	Feeble, Strong, Stout	+10	"Less knockback from melee weapons. Decreased carrying weight."	-40% melee damage. Can become Feeble by training Strength to level 2. Gained if Strength goes below level 2 -5 Strength
	Deaf	Hard of Hearing, Keen Hearing	+12	"Smaller perception radius and hearing range"	Can't hear sound. Radio chatter doesn't appear. Still able to watch TV due to closed captions.