> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.playsonder.app/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The nine traits > Every trait, both of its sides, and what it changes in a fight and in town. Each trait runs between two sides. A hero can sit at either extreme or anywhere between, and most heroes lean clearly one way on a few traits and sit near the middle on the rest. Pick a trait and a side to see how a hero who leans that way acts. Everything it shows is written out in full below. trait Shows when: In a fight In town ## Fight traits ### Nerve: Fearless or Wary Nerve shows when a pack of enemies is in sight. It sets how eagerly a hero closes on that pack and how early they run. * **Fearless** heroes close on a pack eagerly and run late. When a threat comes close, the brave taunt it. * **Wary** heroes hang back and run sooner. A place where they once met danger feels doubtful to them long before it would to a fearless hero. When fear hits, the timid are the first to speak, and a coward never taunts. * **In town**, nerve decides who goes to the Training Ground. The fearless drill sooner and more often than the wary. ### Composure: Steady or Brittle Composure shows when a hero is wounded. It reads how hard the wound hits them and shapes how they hold together while hurt, including whether they call out for help when an ally is near. * **In town**, composure decides who goes to rest early. ### Vengeance: Vengeful or Forgiving Vengeance shows when a hero holds a grudge or someone attacks them. It decides which enemy they go for first: the species they hold a grudge against, or the one who struck them. * **Vengeful** heroes go for that target first, and more surely than a forgiving hero. * **Forgiving** heroes are less pulled toward it. * Vengeance is the one trait that never shows in town. > [card] [How grudges work](https://docs.playsonder.app/heroes/grudges.md) > > What starts a grudge, what it does and how it ends. ## Bond traits ### Loyalty: Loyal or Lone Loyalty shows when an ally is under threat. It decides which threatened ally a hero steps in to defend, and how strongly they want to regroup when the party gets split. * **Loyal** heroes step in front of a threatened ally and call out danger to them. * **Lone** heroes let an ally find out about the danger on their own. * **In town**, loyalty decides who seeks company. The loyal go looking for their friends. ![A healer in a white hood kneels beside a wounded orc warrior slumped against a dungeon wall, her hand glowing](https://playsonder.app/heroes/trait-compassion.jpg) The tender one runs to whoever is hurt worst. ### Compassion: Tender or Cold Compassion shows when an ally is wounded. * **Tender** heroes run to whoever is hurt worst. * **Cold** heroes feel that pull far less. * **In town**, compassion decides which ally a hero walks over to chat with. The tender pick whoever is loneliest. ## Drive traits ### Ambition: Climber or Settled Ambition shows when the exit is known or there is a floor still to climb. * **Climbers** feel the full pull of the exit. On a cleared floor, they walk past a chest. * **Settled** heroes feel that pull less, so on a cleared floor they linger over the chest the climber walked past. * **In town**, ambition decides who drills at the Training Ground. ![A party fights skeletons in a crypt while a hooded hero kneels at a glowing treasure chest](https://playsonder.app/heroes/trait-greed.jpg) The party fights on. The hoarder kneels at the chest. ### Greed: Hoarder or Freehand Greed shows when there is a chest, a fresh kill, or a kill within reach. * **Hoarders** press the attack that would land a kill. They want chests more than anyone and risk more to reach them. * **Freehands** want chests less, and step back or run sooner. * **In town**, greed decides who browses the blacksmith. ### Curiosity: Seeker or Homebound Curiosity shows when there is unexplored ground nearby. * **Seekers** feel the pull of every unexplored path at least as strongly as anyone, and feel less pull back to the group. * **Homebound** heroes stay closer to the group. * **In town**, curiosity decides how far from the gate a hero strolls. ### Hope: Hopeful or Despairing Hope shows when a hero is wounded or an ally has fallen. * **Hopeful** heroes cheer after a kill they landed themselves. * When an ally dies, hope decides who gives in to despair. * **In town**, hope sets the mood of a hero's gestures: bright for the hopeful, dark for the despairing. ## What heroes say Heroes speak during a run: they taunt, warn, cheer, call for help and despair, each one when their traits push them to it. What a hero says never changes what they do. It only lets you hear what is going on inside them. In town, a hero with a strong need for company and a loyal streak hums or gestures, and their hope sets whether that mood is bright or dark. | Trait | Side | In a fight | In town | | - | - | - | - | | Nerve | Fearless | Closes on a pack eagerly, runs late, taunts close threats | Drills sooner and more often | | Nerve | Wary | Hangs back, runs sooner, doubts places where danger was met, speaks fear first | Drills later and less | | Composure | Both | Shapes how a wounded hero holds together and calls for help | Decides who rests early | | Vengeance | Vengeful | Goes for the grudge species or attacker first | Does not show | | Vengeance | Forgiving | Less pulled toward that target | Does not show | | Loyalty | Loyal | Defends threatened allies, warns them | Seeks company | | Loyalty | Lone | Lets allies find out on their own | Seeks company less | | Compassion | Tender | Runs to whoever is hurt worst | Chats with the loneliest | | Compassion | Cold | Feels that pull far less | | | Ambition | Climber | Full pull of the exit, walks past a chest on a cleared floor | Ambition decides who drills | | Ambition | Settled | Lingers over that chest | Ambition decides who drills | | Greed | Hoarder | Presses for the kill, wants chests, risks more | Browses the blacksmith | | Greed | Freehand | Wants chests less, steps back sooner | | | Curiosity | Seeker | Pulled by unexplored paths, less by the group | Strolls far from the gate | | Curiosity | Homebound | Stays closer to the group | Stays near the gate | | Hope | Hopeful | Cheers own kills | Bright gestures | | Hope | Despairing | Gives in to despair when an ally dies | Dark gestures | This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.