Unofficial WIKI

Trait Categories

traitCategories

Categories group traits together and control how many the player can pick from each group. Each category must be defined before traits can be assigned to it - the traits array lists which trait names belong to this category.

In the editor

"Trait categories"

Editor location
Mechanics → Trait Categories
Editor type
JSON + ADD ITEM
API endpoint
/api/sections/traitCategories.json /api/sections/traitCategories.md
Size limits
  • traitCategories (entire section) — 100,000 chars
Related
Last updated

Schema

json 
{
  "traitCategories": {
    "<key>": {
      "name": "string",
      "maxSelections": "number",
      "traits": [
        "string"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Example

json 
{
  "Race": {
    "name": "Race",
    "description": "Your ancestral heritage. Shapes base capabilities and how the world sees you.",
    "maxSelections": 1,
    "traits": ["Human", "Elf", "Dwarf", "Halfling"]
  },
  "Class": {
    "name": "Class",
    "description": "Your trained vocation. Determines starting equipment and which abilities are most readily available.",
    "maxSelections": 1,
    "traits": ["Soldier", "Scholar", "Scout", "Healer", "Merchant"]
  },
  "Background": {
    "name": "Background",
    "description": "Where you come from and what shaped you before adventuring. Adjusts base skills and gives one starting item.",
    "maxSelections": 1,
    "traits": ["Noble Household", "Working Family", "Frontier Town", "Coastal Port"]
  },
  "Perks": {
    "name": "Perks",
    "description": "Edge traits — small advantages from biology, habit, or hard-won experience. Pick up to two.",
    "maxSelections": 2,
    "traits": ["Iron Stomach", "Light Sleeper", "Sharp-Eyed", "Quick Learner", "Bookish", "Patient", "Cool Head", "Lucky"]
  }
}

Fields

maxSelections

how many traits from this category the player can choose. Set to 1 for mutually exclusive categories or to the desired multi-select cap. 0 is empirically broken in the live UI — the category renders ‘Selected 0/0’ and no traits can be picked. For “pick everything that applies” categories, set maxSelections equal to the number of traits in the category. Typical values: 1 (single-pick), 3-N (multi-select).

traits

required Array<string>. Lists all trait names in this category. Validator errors if absent.

Note: The validator checks name, maxSelections, and traits on traitCategory entries.

See Authoring Guide > Traits for the pattern on hiding trigger-only system traits from the character creator.