Do you optimize the traits?

[Trandir]

I am building my first character in pathfinder and we can pick the traits. After lot of considerations I picked what I consider the best traits cause I am a filty optimizer. Do you do the same?

[Leon]

Pick what best suits the idea of the character you have.

[Kurald Galain]

I am building my first character in pathfinder and we can pick the traits. I can't put my finger on what to choose cause I am a filty optimizer. Do you do the same?

Sure. And since 95% of traits are either "+1 to one save" or "add a skill to your class list", this is easier than it sounds. I find that my Magus handbook (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?423754-Myrrh-Frankincense-and-Steel-Kurald-Galain-s-Guide-to-the-Magus) has a solid list of traits even if you're not playing a Magus.

[stack]

There had been a trait handbook floating around the boards. Not sure if it was kept up for recent releases, but had many.

Found it here. (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?429633-Optimizing-Your-Backstory-a-Guide-to-Traits-and-Flaws&highlight=trait+handbook)

[Trandir]

Pick what best suits the idea of the character you have.

That doesn't answer the question

[MaxiDuRaritry]

It's fine. Even if it comes out of left-field and is the opposite of the rest of your character, everyone has quirks. A jock who loves sports is allowed to have a thing for cute baby otter videos on Youtube despite being a hypermasculine hockey/baseball/football machine. A small, cutesy girl is allowed to have her goth moments on the weekends. Consider it to be making your character more 3-Dimensional.

And think of it like this: people who adventure for a living are risking their lives daily, so it makes sense that the people who are best suited for it would be the most likely to engage in it and survive. So feel free to pick those traits that help you survive. It's basically you choosing to engage in a dangerous occupation that fits your interests, because your interests help you to do that occupation better than someone else.

If anything, it makes MORE sense to optimize from an in-character view. Why would you become a park ranger/survivalist if you went to school for computer programming?

[Leon]

That doesn't answer the question

Well i tried to get a optimizer to think for themselves but it didn't work they needed to have their hands held by a handbook all along.

[Thunder999]

Nothing wrong with picking for the effects then making your character fit them. The fact is many traits are just way too impactful not to. Magical lineage and Wayang spellhunter are build enabling for anyone focusing on one spell, as are the various ones that boost the CL or DCs of specific effects. Then there's the ones that change the ability score a skill uses, fates favored (a must have for anyone using luck bonuses often) etc.

[Trandir]

Well i tried to get a optimizer to think for themselves but it didn't work they needed to have their hands held by a handbook all along.

The fun thing here is that I have chosen traits that aren't that popular. Also is there anything wrong with building a PC with a handbook on your side?

[stack]

There are a huge number of traits; most of them are mediocre, some are flatly inferior to others that serve the same purpose. Many are so niche that they are a waste of time to even read. Sorting through them without knowing what you are looking for is a chore, so if you are just trying to survey options, a handbook is a huge help.

[ZamielVanWeber]

I want to pick the most flavorful traits, but also not to stink. So I will grab a guide and pick the most flavorful traits from the average+ categories.

[icefractal]

Pick what best suits the idea of the character you have. That's what I do ... BUT ... I do it with the view that people in-universe aren't looking at my character sheet, and so the *name* of the trait means nothing. What matters in depicting my character is what difference it makes in practice.

So, effectively yeah, I optimize them. Not specifically for maximum power, but the mechanics are what I'm looking at. Because that's what other people will see.

[YellowJohn]

While my comment relates to 3.5 traits where the thread seems to be discussing pathfinder, I have generally found that my characters have a personality which fits the job I see them fulfilling. So far, this has largely meant the traits which best support their mechanics fit right in with the personality I envisage them having.