Crew, Traits & Loyalty
Every person in the game carries a large set of traits: numeric values describing personality, history, and current state. Traits are what make one crew member loyal muscle and another a future rat. This page explains how traits are stored, how they change, and how they change behavior.
Not a spreadsheet
The trait system is not a stat block. It is the foundation for simulating people, and that is the long game of this project.
- Every one of the 552 traits is a dimension, not a decoration. A trait is not there only to flavor a backstory. It is a hook that behavior can be hung on. Any trait can be deepened: given new effects, new thresholds, new interactions, new drama.
- Depth compounds. The game gets deeper not by adding more pawns but by wiring more of these dimensions into GOAP, drama, combat, and the economy. A trait that today only colors a dossier can tomorrow gate a goal, shift a fight, or trigger a breakdown.
- This is endless by design. The target is not a fixed feature list. It is a long march toward people who feel real: who carry a past, change from what they live through, and surprise you. Every trait wired deeper is a step toward that, and there is always another step.
IMPORTANT
We are not building a spreadsheet of numbers. We are building people. The traits are the raw material; the depth comes from traits plus drama plus the rest of the systems compounding into behavior nobody scripted.
Inventory
There are 552 traits across 17 categories. See the complete list with descriptions in the Full Trait Catalog. Today a focused subset is wired to live gameplay (see what drives behavior); the rest are dimensions waiting to be deepened.
| # | Category | Count | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | CorePersonality | 17 | All |
| 02 | SubstanceUse | 33 | All |
| 03 | TraumaMentalHealth | 49 | All |
| 04 | CriminalHistory | 56 | Criminal |
| 05 | FamilyBackground | 49 | All |
| 06 | SocialRelationships | 50 | All |
| 07 | CognitiveSkills | 52 | All |
| 08 | MoralEthical | 51 | All |
| 09 | PhysicalBiological | 49 | All |
| 10 | SituationalDynamic | 50 | All |
| 11-16 | Law Enforcement (6 categories) | 90 | Police |
| - | CivilianLife | 6 | Civilians |
The CorePersonality traits are the ones you will watch most: Greed, Caution, Aggression, Impulsivity, Narcissism, Empathy, Ambition, Patience, Loyalty, Paranoia, Confidence, Dominance, Courage, Discipline, Manipulative, Charisma, Curiosity.
How traits change
Traits are computed from observable behavior, not set by hand. Three things move them:
| Source | When | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Action impact | A pawn finishes an action | Selling drugs raises Greed and Stress, lowers Empathy. |
| Goal impact | A pawn completes a goal | Completing a bribe gives a large confidence and corruption swing. |
| Decay | Over time, toward a baseline | Stress drifts back down when the pawn is safe. |
All of these are defined in data (a trait-impact ruleset), so mods can retune them. See Modding: economy and tuning.
Example: a single drug sale
| Trait | Change |
|---|---|
| Greed | +2 |
| Stress | +1.5 |
| Empathy | -0.5 |
| DrugDealing count | +1 |
Small amounts accumulate. Hundreds of deals move a personality a long way. This is how a cautious earner slowly becomes a greedy one.
Decay rules
| Trait | Decays toward | Rate | Condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| CurrentStress | 30 | 0.05 / tick | Not in combat |
| Paranoia | 20 | 0.03 / tick | Heat below 30 |
| Caution | 40 | 0.02 / tick | Not in danger |
Contextual modifiers
Situation amplifies trait changes. These multipliers stack on top of the base impact:
| Trigger | Effect |
|---|---|
| At night | 1.5x Paranoia and Stress changes |
| Near police presence | 2x Stress and Caution changes |
| High section heat (above 70) | 1.8x Paranoia, Caution, and Stress changes |
| Bribing while hot (heat above 50) | 2x Confidence, Dominance, Moral Flexibility, Stress |
| Repeated corruption (several successful bribes) | 1.5x Narcissism, Conscience, Guilt, Dominance |
Trait interactions
Some traits push on each other continuously:
| When | Effect |
|---|---|
| Stress above 70 | Suppresses rational thinking (0.5x) |
| Paranoia above 60 | Boosts Caution (0.3x) |
| Confidence above 70 | Boosts Leadership (0.4x) |
| Empathy and Ruthlessness | Always inverse (0.6x) |
| Dominance above 80 | Suppresses Conscience (0.4x) |
Threshold events
This is where traits become behavior. When a trait crosses a cutoff, the pawn gains or loses goals and properties. These are the moments that create stories.
| Trait | Threshold | Becomes | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ambition | >= 90 (and low Loyalty) | Starts own gang | Unlocks recruit and territory goals, becomes a boss |
| Ambition | >= 70 | Seeks promotion | Unlocks impress-boss goals |
| Ruthlessness | >= 85 | Psychopath | Unlocks extreme-violence actions |
| CurrentStress | >= 80 | Breaking point | Fires a breakdown event |
| Loyalty | <= 20 | Disloyal | Unlocks betray and leak goals |
| Dominance | >= 85 (after bribes) | Feels untouchable | Unlocks demand-protection goal |
| MoralFlexibility | >= 90 | Moral event horizon | Unlocks blackmail and frame goals |
| Corruption level (police) | >= 50 | Turns corrupt | Unlocks accept-bribe, ignore-crime |
Trait-gated goals
Some goals stay dormant (priority 0) until traits unlock them with a trait_check gate. See GOAP priority math.
| Goal | Unlocks when |
|---|---|
| DEFECT | Loyalty < 20 and Greed > 70 |
| STEAL_FROM_CREW | Greed > 80 and Loyalty < 40 |
| RAT_TO_POLICE | Loyalty < 15 and Fear > 70 |
| MENTAL_BREAK_RAGE | Aggression > 70 and Stress > 80 |
| CATATONIC_BREAKDOWN | Depression > 80 and Stress > 70 |
| SUBSTANCE_BINGE | Craving > 75 and Stress > 60 |
| REFUSE_ORDERS | Resentment > 60 and Loyalty < 30 |
| INSPIRE_CREW | Confidence > 80 and Leadership > 60 |
See how these play out in Drama and Betrayal.
Loyalty and the player relationship
A set of traits tracks how a crew member feels about you specifically. The player's treatment moves them directly:
| Player action | Effect on the member |
|---|---|
| Raise their payout | Loyalty up |
| Cut their payout | Loyalty down, Resentment up, Trust down |
| Lean on them repeatedly (threats) | Stress up, Loyalty erodes |
| Leave a rat unpunished | Loyalty drops across the whole crew (contagion). See Betrayal. |
What actually drives behavior
Of the 552 traits, a focused subset is wired to live gameplay today: the ones referenced by goal gates, threshold events, combat scoring, and inference. The rest are not idle flavor; they are dimensions not yet wired. Each one is a place the simulation can grow deeper.
| State of a trait | What it means | Where it goes next |
|---|---|---|
| Wired | Already gates goals, shifts outcomes, or triggers drama | Tuned and balanced |
| Seeded, readable | Set at worldgen, visible in a dossier, shapes character | A candidate to wire into behavior |
| Dormant | Defined and carried, waiting for its hook | The backlog of depth |
This is the engine of the game's long-term depth: every pass wires more of the catalog into GOAP, drama, combat, and the economy, so more of who a person is ripples into what they do. See Not a spreadsheet.