You could say that they are what defines your character. If it wasn’t for the 3D portrait, your character would BE the collection of traits. Personality traits and other various ones acquired through your characters’ lifetime give you new choices in events. Inheritable traits act simply as an unchangeable modifier that will accompany your character until his death. The most important part about inheritable traits is the fact they can be inherited by your children. That’s where they get their name from. You should avoid the negative ones like the plague! Choose your children’s spouses carefully, and try to stay clear of your close relatives (for the most part). The game has 3 leveled traits, ranging from very negative to very positive. Each has 6 levels in total. Out of these 3, only the highest leveled ones are included in this list (e.g., the Quick-Intelligent-Genius line is represented by Genius).
7. Albino
The “Albino” trait represents characters suffering from the condition of Albinism. People with said condition are pale and have red eyes. They are very sensitive to sunlight. In-game, these characters enjoy a boost to their natural dread. I guess a red-eyed pale person would look quite menacing in the eyes of medieval folk. For the very same reason, I suppose, they suffer from a sizeable malus to their general opinion. This makes albino a negative trait in most cases. However, if you embrace it and try to rule by fear, the bonus to natural dread can be helpful. You’ll spot an albino child at birth. Then you can educate said child in a way that it develops personality traits that also boost natural dread. While there is a perk in the intrigue lifestyle that can fix your dread at 100, with correct play the albino trait can allow you to rest at close to 100 dread without the need of dabbling into the specific intrigue tree. I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way for the albino trait. If your heir ends up with it, going for the sadistic, arbitrary, and wrathful traits can be a good idea so he can rule by fear.
6. Fecund
The “Fecund” trait provides a huge fertility boost and an increased life expectancy. Both buffs are presented as positive in-game, but they are actually neutral. You wouldn’t want your terrible ruler to live long; you’d rather play as his genius heir sooner than later. Fertility is also negative in many a cases. Also, you won’t have access to primogeniture succession until the late game. This means that a high number of children eligible to inherit will be a problem, splitting up your domain. However, if combined with other positive inheritable traits, fecund means you get more children with a chance to inherit your glorious genes. It also ensures the succession is safe if you find yourself in a position that it’s threatened. On the same note, the life expectancy can be godsent when you want your ruler to not die any time soon.
5. Beautiful
The “Beautiful” trait provides a nice boost to diplomacy, a decent fertility bonus, and a very big boost to your attraction. To better understand this trait’s strength, you should first understand what attraction means in CK3. It essentially modifies the opinion of characters that are attracted to you. For example, same-sex homosexual characters will be modified by this, regardless of your own sexual orientation. Heterosexual characters of the different sex will also be attracted to you in the same vein. Now, when is that most impactful? With historical distribution of sexualities, 80-90% of the characters will be heterosexuals. In most cultures, rulers will usually be men. This means that the attraction bonus is applicable only in some niche situations if you are a male ruler. However, if you’re a woman ruling in a man’s world, this bonus suddenly becomes the strongest single opinion modifier in the game. Your male vassals will adore you! If you modify the game rules governing sexuality distribution, this trait’s value will be modified accordingly.
4. Giant
The “Giant” trait has a red color, which indicates a negative trait. The only negatives are a minor penalty to health and a very small malus to attraction opinion. Everything else is a net positive. Giants in-game enjoy a decent boost to their prowess, making them excellent knights. A boost to vassal opinion is always something you’re looking for, and this trait provides it. On top of that, tribal rulers get another sizeable modifier towards their opinion of you. All that makes the Giant trait absolutely busted when you are tribal. Your vassals will love you and you will be unmatched in the field of battle. As a feudal ruler, it still is positive after considering everything. The minor health bonus can always be mitigated by other inheritable traits. It wouldn’t be my priority when hunting for traits to breed into the succession line, but it’s always something you can comfortably attempt to keep in. Also, there are a couple of cultures that consider Giant a virtue! In these cases, breeding it into your family is much more of a priority.
3. Pure-Blooded
The “Pure-Blooded” trait kind of goes against what I advocated for in the intro. Generally, having offspring with close relatives has inherent risks of negative congenital traits appearing. Especially the inbred trait makes the children horrible attribute-wise and at a constant risk of death. However, by keeping it in the family (wink wink), there’s a chance the pure-blooded trait will appear. Again, in a normal playthrough I’d advocate not attempting this until you’ve unlocked the dynastic legacy that reduces chance of inheriting negative traits. There are also religions that encourage marriage between family members. These do not say that they reduce the chance of inbreeding, but I suspect they do with some hidden modifiers. In any case, the trait’s bonuses are awesome. It’s a must-have trait in games where you’re attempting to collect all positive congenital traits. The reduced chance of inbreeding will make your life a lot easier, while the small health boost is always welcome when your characters are geniuses! The herculean trait (or amazonian when talking about women) gives a couple straightforward bonuses to your character.
The increased prowess is always good if you are fighting in battles yourself. The attraction bonus is a niche under normal circumstances for male characters, but it can be very powerful for women rulers. It will essentially offset the malus due to gender preference in most cultures. The huge health boost is the most important of the bonuses. As discussed before, increased health isn’t always a positive. If your character is an imbecile, you would prefer to get rid of him as soon as possible.
However, if you ended up with this trait, it’s usually because you tried to breed it into your family. In that case, having educated your heir yourself and having ensured that they’re capable means that the health boost is favorable. Combined with some other traits, both congenital and non-congenital, along with a medicine lifestyle focus, this trait can lead to some hilarious age spans. Reaching 120 years old with a character is something achievable! Especially with women (Women have an inherent health boost in-game).
1. Genius
The genius trait had to top this list. It is easily the single most impactful trait a character can have regarding his capabilities to rule. A +5 across all attributes is nothing to sneeze at. Even more important (in my opinion) is the bonus to monthly lifestyle experience. Your characters will be mostly shaped by the choices they make in the lifestyle trees. Getting the perks faster allows you to considerably buff your character in unprecedented ways. Don’t be surprised when a genius character finishes an entire lifestyle tree in a decade or so. Especially if other lifestyle experience bonuses are present. Going down lifestyle paths that are unrelated to your education is also much more feasible with a genius character, as the bonus applies regardless. You always want this trait – or at least its weaker versions – in your characters. Finding spouses that exhibit this trait is always important, as they’re more likely to also have high attributes across the board. Try to pass it down to your heirs in all cases. Disinheriting a primary heir to play as his genius sibling is always an option, never forget that!
