Character Traits
Characters are allowed to select two traits from the following list. Some traits are limited to certain starting areas or races as indicated in their Background section. Unless otherwise stated, no trait can be selected more than once.
Alchemical Adept
Though the arcane is lost to man, they still study the secrets of formula and reaction.
Backgrounds: Council of Wyrms, Estruaza, Old Lastra, Tyrancy of Geddephron, Zharad Gruene
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus on all Craft (alchemy) checks made to craft alchemical items. Furthermore, when you fail a Craft (alchemy) check by 5 or more but don't roll a natural 1, you don't ruin any raw materials or have to pay that cost again.
Artist
You come from a home in which the arts, philosophy, and music were given a prominent place.
Benefit: Choose one Craft or Perform skill. You gain a +2 trait bonus on all checks with that skill.
Special: Can be selected multiple times. Each time, pick a new Art or Perform skill.
Beacon of Faith
Your devotion to the Great Beasts is unquestioned and it is rewarded with moments of divine clarity.
Benefit: Once per day, as a free action, you can treat your Caster Level as 2 levels higher for one round.
Blessed Touch
The light of your healing hand comforts all it touches.
Benefit: When healing with the Lay on Hands or Channel Energy class abilities or any cure spell, the target recovers 1 additional hit point.
Special: Can be selected multiple times. The effects stack.
Bullheaded
With a marked independent streak, your stubbornness and determination is legendary. You are exceptionally headstrong and difficult to sway from your intended course, for better or worse.
Benefit: You get a +1 trait bonus on Will saves.
Bully
Much of your life, you've been bigger or just plain meaner than everyone else, and you're not about to stop.
Benefit: You gain a +1 trait bonus to Bluff and Intimidate checks.
Child of the North
Cold days of howling snows and wind have kept you indoors but also taught you how to avoid frostbite.
Backgrounds: Jyvestra, Möth Unvidia, Voad, Zharad Gruene
Benefit: You gain a +1 trait bonus on saving throws against cold effects and a +2 trait bonus on Fortitude saving throws against the effects of cold weather.
Special: Cannot be taken along with the Child of the South trait.
Child of the South
Hot days beneath the unrelenting sun have kept you tanned but also taught you how to avoid heatstroke.
Backgrounds: Barren Haven, Dwallutham, Idyle, Imbara, L'r Tost, Marukeem, Tholaqua, Tide Princes
Benefit: You gain a +1 trait bonus on saving throws against fire effects and a +2 trait bonus on Fortitude saving throws against the effects of hot weather.
Special: Cannot be taken along with the Child of the North trait.
Competitive
Second place is the first loser.
Benefit: Whenever another creature within 30 feet attempts a skill check and you attempt a check with the same skill before the start of that creature's next turn, you gain a +1 trait bonus on your check. This bonus increases to +2 if the attempt is an opposed skill check against the other creature.
Cooperative
The people of your home have to work together to survive.
Benefit: When using the Aid Another action, the bonus increases to +3.
Normal: The bonus from Aid Another is normally +2.
Cosmopolitan
Your exposure to the thousand forking paths of city life has taught you things you ordinarily would never have learned.
Background: Council of Wyrms
Benefit: Choose one skill you do not have as a class skill. It becomes a class skill.
Special: Can be selected multiple times. Each time, pick a new skill.
Courageous
You stand fast when those around you cower.
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus to all saving throws against fear.
Defiance
Your mind is a fortress and you will allow no trespassers.
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus to all saving throws against mind-affecting effects.
Duelist
You grew up in a land where slights were resolved with steel.
Backgrounds: Imbara, Kyth, Skunting, Tide Prines, Tythald Gate, Tyrancy of Geddephron
Benefit: When wielding a weapon to which Weapon Finesse can be applied, you gain a +1 trait bonus to all attacks of opportunity.
Education
Some regions hold the pen in higher regard than the sword. In your youth, you received the benefit of excellent formal schooling.
Backgrounds: Council of Wyrms, Estruaza, Old Lastra
Benefit: Choose two Knowledge skills. You gain a +1 trait bonus on skill checks with both of them.
Experienced
No stranger to conflict, you know what it means to fight for your life; you value quick wits and quicker reaction times when battle is upon you. Enemies find it difficult to catch you off guard.
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus to initiative checks.
Focused Mind
Your devotion to your studies is absolute and when you are concentrating, the rest of the world seems to disappear.
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus to concentration checks.
Fleet
A lifetime of living in some of the world's most rugged, dangerous terrain has given you some of the fastest feet around.
Backgrounds: Idyle, Tyrancy of Geddephron
Benefit: You gain a +5' trait bonus to your base movement speed.
Special: Can be selected multiple times. The effects stack.
Gambler
Dice, cards, or the cups: whatever the game of chance, you have a love for it and enough experience to keep anyone from putting a fast one over on you.
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus on all Sense Motive checks.
Handler
You have been trained from an early age to handle all manner of animals.
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus on all Handle Animal checks.
Hardy
You are famed for your resilience.
Benefit: You gain +2 hit points.
Special: Can be selected multiple times. The effects stack.
Ignorance is Bliss
No one can really explain it, but you have a knack for doing things that everyone says you shouldn't be able to.
Benefit: Once per day when attempting a skill check for a skill you're untrained in, roll twice and take the better result.
Islander
You've heard tales of the sprawling mainland, but your home will always be the islands dotting deep blue oceans.
Backgrounds: Barren Haven, Imbara, Kyth, L'r Tost, Marukeem, Tholaqua
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus on Swim checks.
Kitted Out
You know how to wear armor like a second skin.
Benefit: Reduce the armor check penalty of any armor you wear by 1, to a minimum of 0.
Special: Can be selected multiple times. The effects stack.
Laid Back
With a calm, easy nature, nothing ever really seems to bother you all that much.
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus on all Diplomacy checks.
Levelheaded
You are noted for your clear thinking and balanced mind, never flustered by any situation.
Benefit: Select one Knowledge skill. You can always choose to take 10 on checks with the chosen Knowledge skill, even when distracted or threatened.
Living History
The past is not merely a collection of stories to you, it is a part of the present, a lesson you carry with you in everything you do.
Backgrounds: Council of Wyrms, Old Lastra
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus on all Knowledge [History] checks.
Luck
You are known for surviving. Through pluck and self-assurance, you endure when no one expects you to.
Benefit: You get a +1 trait bonus on Reflex saves.
Mercantile Background
Powerful merchants and traders control the wealth of the world. You come from a family that excels at a particular trade and knows well the value of any kind of trade good or commodity.
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus on all Appraise checks.
Militia
You served your time in some military unit or local militia. There, you trained with weapons and armor suitable for use on the battlefield.
Benefit: You gain one of the following:
- Martial Weapon Proficiency in one of the following weapons: Glaive, Halberd, Longbow, Longsword, or Pike;
- Armor Proficiency with one specific type of armor only one category higher than your current Armor Proficiency (i.e., one type of Medium armor if you already have Light Armor Proficiency or one type of Heavy armor if you already have Medium Armor Proficiency);
- Shield Proficiency with Light or Heavy shields or with Tower shields if you are already proficient with both Light and Heavy shields.
Special: Can be selected multiple times. Each time, pick a new weapon, armor, or shield.
Natural Born Leader
No one is really sure what it is—your insight, your valor, your inspiration, or something else—but when you give an order, something in people just wants to listen.
Benefit: Increase your Leadership score by +1 when you take the Leadership feat at level 6 or beyond.
Play Hard
You know how to balance your life, and when the time comes to enjoy yourself, few people are as enthusiastic about it as you.
Benefit: You gain a +1 trait bonus on all Climb and Swim checks.
Special: This bonus increases to +2 if you also have the Work Hard trait.
Poor Hygiene
Maybe you get distracted and can't remember to do the dishes every month or perhaps you just dislike taking showers, but you live in conditions that would give lesser men the plague.
Benefit: You get a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves.
Quick Reaction
Life has taught you the value of always being on your toes, leaving you better equipped to deal with danger when others least expect it.
Benefit: You gain a +1 dodge bonus to AC whenever you are wearing no armor. You lose this bonus any time you would lose your Dexterity bonus to AC.
Relaxing Patois
You are accustomed to dealing with foreigners without upsetting their bizarre sensibilities.
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus on Diplomacy and Sense Motive checks when dealing with members of a different race or nationality.
Ruin Explorer
You've spent your life around examples of ancient architecture, old temples, and forgotten relics. No one knows their way through dangerous rubble to the hidden treasures inside like you.
Benefit: When in any sort of ruined or abandoned structure, any time you come within 5 feet of a trap or secret door, you receive an immediate Perception check to notice them.
Saddleback
You are as comfortable riding as walking.
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus on Ride checks.
Sea Legs
The deck of a ship is like a second home to you and you are as comfortable on the water as others are on land.
Backgrounds: Barren Haven, Dwallutham, Imbara, Jyvestra, Kyth, L'r Tost, Marukeem, Skunting, Tholaqua, Tide Princes, Voad
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus on Acrobatics checks.
Seductive
You are skilled at applying sensual suggestion to turn negotiations in their favor.
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus on Bluff and Diplomacy checks with members of the opposite sex.
Silver Palm
You value haggling and the art of the deal.
Benefit: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Appraise and Bluff checks.
Sneaky
You are known for your surreptitiousness.
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus on Stealth checks.
Street Smart
You have learned how to keep informed, ask questions, and interact with the less savory elements of civilized life without raising suspicion.
Backgrounds: Council of Wyrms, Skunting, Tyrancy of Geddephron
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus to Knowledge [Local] checks.
Strong Soul
The souls of your people are hard to separate from their bodies.
Backgrounds: Möth Unvidia, Tyrancy of Geddephron, Zharad Gruene
Benefit: You can act regularly for 1 round when between 0 and -9 hit points.
Survivor
You thrive in a wilderness that others find uninhabitable. This gives you a savvy that you can take to any difficult environment.
Backgrounds: Gevan, Idyle, Jyvestra, Möth Unvidia, Tholaqua, Voad, Freehold/Redoubt
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus on Survival checks.
Templeborn
Your earliest memories are those of the clergy and the cloister, singing the praises of the vanished divine.
Backgrounds: Council of Wyrms, Estruaza, Old Lastra, Zharad Gruene
Benefit: You gain a +1 trait bonus to all Knowledge [Nobility] and Knowledge [Religion] checks.
Walkabout
The world is out there and you've never been able to resist its call. A lifetime of travel means you can cover distances on foot that awe your peers.
Benefit: Treat your base land speed as 10 feet higher when determining your overland speed on foot.
Work Hard
You know how to balance your life, and when the time comes to buckle down and get a job done, few can match your work ethic.
Benefit: Choose two Craft and/or Profession skills. You gain a +1 trait bonus on all checks with them.
Special: This bonus increases to +2 if you also have the Play Hard trait.
Wealthy
Born with a silver spoon in your mouth, your parents are loaded. They may be old money or it could have been earned by your parents through sweat and toil; either way, you reap the benefits now.
Backgrounds: Council of Wyrms, Dwallutham, Estruaza, Tide Princes
Benefit: You begin play with an extra 1,000 gold.
Where it Hurts
Life can teach cruel lessons and you've done your best to learn them all.
Backgrounds: Imbara, Möth Unvidia, Skunting, Tyrancy of Geddephron
Benefit: You gain a +1 trait bonus on all roles made to confirm critical hits.
Special: Can be selected multiple times. The effects stack.