Personality Traits in The Amaranth Saga

June 1, 2019 | View Comments | |

I’m working on romance in The Amaranth Saga at the moment. NPCs need to make decisions like whether they want monogamy or marriage. Initially, I considered having a different personality trait influence each type of decision. But this quickly creates overly-abstract traits like InclinationToHaveMultiplePartners and InclinationToHaveChildren. So I decided to create a list of personality traits to cover all scenarios.

A phrenology diagram — Self-portrait as phrenology illustration, by Jason Priem

Modern personality inventories, like Myers-Briggs, are not really suitable. They don’t tell us whether someone will seek vengeance on their enemies, for example. Instead, I’ve compiled a list using some of my old notes, role-playing game character creation resources, and The Characters of Theophrastus. The following list is subject to change, but (I think) covers most scenarios I can think of without overlaps.

Status

	Hierarchical / Egalitarian The Hierarchical believes people get what they deserve, and thus dislikes those poorer than themselves. The Egalitarian will help the weak.
	Sycophant / Envious The Sycophant seeks to ingratiate themselves with the powerful, and has no pride. The Envious hates seeing others succeed.
	Disreputable / Reputable The Disreputable is attracted to vice and dishonesty. They are easily conned. The Reputable seeks honest company.
	Hubristic / Humble The Hubristic underestimates others, thinks they know best, and tends to micromanage. The Humble accepts criticism and avoids meddling.
	Boastful / Understated The Boastful desires attention, exaggerates their influence, and expects deference. They Understated avoids recognition.

Loyalty

	Independent / Attached The Independent avoids taking on obligations. They will travel and leave things behind. The Attached seeks comfort, and memorialises the past.
	Honourable / Dishonourable The Honourable always keeps promises (if they're incautious, this can be awkward). The Dishonourable will lie and backstab, without care for reputation.
	Corrupt / Principled The Corrupt will bend rules for personal advantage, although will not necessarily betray others outright.
	Strict / Merciful The Strict will adhere to rules and principles, no matter how cruel. The merciful will bend them.
	Tribal / Cosmopolitan The Tribal puts their family, nation, religion, or race before everyone else. The Cosmopolitan does not discriminate.
	Nepotist / Nonreciprocal The Nepotist always returns favours, and helps those that help them.
	Jealous / Compersive The Jealous demands complete loyalty and devotion. The Compersive tolerates divided loyalty and gives their allies and partners freedom.

Material

	Ambitious / Content The Ambitious is always seeking to increase their wealth and power.
	Conniver / Generous The Conniver always expects something in return, and takes as much as they can (or asks too much).
	Stingy / Profligate The Stingy hates spending money, even on themselves.
	Hedonist / Abstinent The Hedonist indulges in sex, drink, etc.

Decision Making

	Impressionable / SelfAssured The Impressionable is easily convinced by others.
	Stubborn / Changeable Once the Stubborn makes a decision, they refuse to change it (even when it would be wise to do so). They do not often learn from mistakes.
	Distrustful / Naive The Distrustful always assumes others are dishonest and self-interested.
	Insecure / Confident The Insecure has low self esteem, and is desperate for the approval of others (not necessarily in public).
	Defiant / Yielding The defiant is brave and reacts poorly to threats. The Yielding will surrender or give in to despair.
	Pessimist / Optimist The Pessimist expects things to go poorly. They are cautious and risk adverse.
	Hurried / Patient The Hurried will take risks to achieve their goals sooner. The Patient may miss opportunities.
	Conformist / Nonconformist The Conformist goes along with the majority, and is wary of causing change or controversy.

Aggression

	Bully / Respectful The Bully uses intimidation to control others. The Respectful wants people to make their own decisions.
	Unforgiving / Forgiving The Unforgiving hates those who wrong them, takes things personally, and thinks in black-and-white.
	Wrathful / Passive The Wrathful is prone to sudden outbursts of violence.
	Cruel / Compassionate The Cruel doesn't care about the suffering of others, and may actually enjoy it (particularly as revenge).
	Blustering The Blustering makes threats they can't (or won't) follow through.

Social

	Gormless / Opaque The Gormless is incautious with their speech, and makes their intentions obvious. But at least they're honest.
	Garrulous / Taciturn The Garrulous loves drama. They will spread unsubstantiated rumours and readily smear others.
	Extrovert / Introvert The Extrovert is friendly, and enjoys maintaining relationships and networks.

I will probably add some more specific cultural values (e.g., monogamy, devotion-to-religion, devotion-to-family) at a later point.