Avernum 1 Trait Effects

[Thoukydides]

Here is a list of the bonuses and disadvantages given by the traits in Avernum 1. It is possible that I have missed some of the effects given, and at times I will mention possible effects that I did not test – note: they are just ideas or things listed in the trait description, they may not be actual effects.

 

I have also updated my A1 stat thread with the defensive skills like Hardiness and Luck, so you may want to check those since they will share some of the same effects as these traits.

 

Great Renown

May give an immediate boost of 1 to Reputation, and adds 1 more every few (8?) levels.

Great Renown may be bugged. A character with 12 Rep. and level 9 Renown could not recruit Andrew (supposedly requires 14), but could get Cave Lore from Carlos (requires 14) and enter into Almaria with no fee. With a natural 14 Reputation a different character could recruit Andrew.

 

Nimble Fingers

Gives a 15% bonus to success when unlocking doors. This is equivalent to 2 points of TU.

Does not appear to apply when disarming traps.

Does not increase with level.

 

Note: Tool Use adds 7% per point when unlocking doors and 8% when disarming traps. Fine lockpicks give 15% and Magic lockpicks give 35% bonus over normal picks.

 

Beastmaster

Gives the ability - Summon Beast.

The Summon Beast ability appears to use the same monster list as the Call Beast spell.

At Level 1, both summon zombies and skeletons, nephilim, goblins, bats, rats, and serpents. At Spell Level 2 and around Level 20 for the ability, they nephil warriors, nephar, lava and rabid bats, giant spiders and lizards, sliths, and asps. At Level 40 and Spell Level 3, you get ghasts, slith warriors, ogres, gremlins, fire lizards, and nephar warriors. (Since a level 2 mage spell gives you the same creatures without the exp. penalty, you should pass this up.)

 

Strong Will

Increases Willpower by ~30%, this may increase with level. Resistance tested against confusion, this may vary for other mental status effects like sleep or charming (unlikely since the trait probably just gives a hidden bonus to Willpower).

 

Good Education

Gives an initial bonus of +4 to Rune Reading and Item Lore. At Level 9 it gives a +6 bonus, +14 at Level 40 (the level cap), so it probably adds +2 every 8 levels.

May give an invisible bonus to Arcane Lore.

 

Toughness

Gives an initial 1-3? armor, appears to increase by 1-2? every 8 Levels. At Level 40 it resisted 8 average damage. If Toughness works like armor or Hardiness, then it may have a 50% chance to resist damage.

Gives 10% Elemental Resistance and Magic Resistance, which may increase with level. Probably works like hardiness and has a chance to resist.

May give an invisible bonus to Hardiness.

Does not appear to increase disease resistance, but it may reduce damage taken from poison.

Doubles hit point recovery (gives 2 HP per 8 turns on world map rather than 1).

 

Fast on Feet

Has a 30% chance to increase AP by 1, does not increase with level.

Increases initiative by 3, this is equal to 3 Dexterity.

 

Natural Mage

Can cast spells while encumbered.

Gives an initial +4 to Spell Bonus, adds to both Mage and Priest Spells, increases by 1 every seven levels, beginning at level 7. So It gives +4 at 1, +5 at 7, +6 at 14 and so on. Adds +9 to Spell Bonus at level 40.

May increase Magery.

 

Elite Warrior

Adds an initial +2 to damage and 10% chance to hit, adds +1 damage and 5% to-hit every 8 levels, beginning at level 8. Adds+7 damage and 35% chance to hit at level 40.

If chance to hit is 95%, the skill adds an initial +4 to damage and adds +2 every 8 levels, giving +14 damage at level 40.

Probably increases Blademaster.

Gives the ability - Go Bezerk.

 

Divinely Touched

Does not affect damage or to-hit, does not give armor, does not increase Spell Bonus, and does not increase AP.

Gives 20-30% confusion resistance, gives 20-30% magic and elemental resistance.

May affect other status effects (stoning, curse, paralyze) or non-combat stats.

Gives Call Spirit, Lay on Hands, and Natural Curing abilities.

 

Cursed at Birth

Decreases chance to hit by 10%, does not appear to decrease damage (but the -10% to-hit will result in 2 less damage given by weapon skills and blademaster since their damage depends on to-hit).

Does not increase damage taken.

Reduces confusion resistance by ~30%.

May penalize other status effects.

 

Sickness Prone

Reduces disease resistance by 10-20%, this likely applies to poison as well.

May increase damage taken from poison.

Reduces hit point recovery by 4 times (1 HP per 32 turns on world map).

 

Sluggish

Always decreases AP by 1.

Reduces initiative by 4 (equal to 4 Dexterity.

 

Brittle Bones

Increases physical damage taken by 50%.

Does not increase elemental or magic damage received.

 

Completely Inept

Does not affect to-hit, damage, or dodging.

Does not appear to reduce disease or confusion resistance, may affect other resistances not tested.

Does not appear to reduce AP. Possible effects on initiative not tested.

Increases all forms of damage taken by 50%. This stacks with Brittle Bones and the two increase physical damage by 100%.

 

 

Notes:

Traits that give abilities will still give them if added by the editor after character creation.

All traits were tested by adding them from the editor, so I don’t know if any traits will only give bonuses if selected during creation.

Nimble boots do not add dodging, they are either bugged, or they only add 1 Dexterity and no Defense.

Monsters can exceed the damage cap with normal attacks, however the numbers displayed on screen become bugged and the game will show symbols like @2 (162) and =9 (139). Have fun seeing those if you choose Brittle Bones and Completely Inept as traits (kudos to anyone who completes the game with these, 2x normal damage is not my idea of fun).

 

 

Some of these effects are pretty surprising, considering what the game claims the traits do. What's more surprising is what the traits don't do. For example, Cursed at Birth isn't really that bad, nor is Sickness Prone. Conversely, some of the positive traits are definitely not worth taking. I'm not sure how many of the traits are bugged, or broken since several of them don't do things they should according to the in-game descriptions.

 

Credits: Some of the information in this post was inspired by various walkthroughs. The walkthroughs I consulted include Silver's A1, Harehunter's A2, and Rache's A3 Annotated Maps, AverMan's A1 walkthrough, Matt P's A2 FAQ/Walkthrough, and Relle's A3 FAQ/Walkthrough. In addition to these authors, I would like to thank all the forumites who contributed both directly and indirectly.

[Alorael at Large]

Hm. So Elite Warrior, Natural Mage, Strong Will, and Fast on Feet are good, Cursed at Birth and Sickness Prone are good if you want penalties, and the old A2 run with Completely Inept and Cursed at Birth no longer looks so utterly horrible.

 

—Alorael, who is most surprised by Divinely Touched. He knew it wasn't great in the original trilogy, but for the cost that's really terrible.