NOTE: THIS GUIDE IS BEING UPDATED AS THE GAME PROGRESSES.

NEXT UPDATE: MORE SUGGESTED PERKS, MORE PERK DESCRIPTIONS, GRAPHICS.


I have made this advanced character creation and perk guide to aid explaining and showing all the possibilities currently available in the game. So far this would be the first guide with the information actually available on steam.

Some features are currently not available as Going Medieval is currently in Early Access, this guide aims to explain everything related to characters and also list all the data available on characters.

This guide will be updated as the game receives updates.

Feel free to give this guide a rating to help more people see this.
If you have any questions, notice something wrong, or have any improvements please leave a comment and I will answer asap.

Name: Character name used in lore and for identification which is randomly generated, this can be edited by the player.

Background: Character background giving related bonuses to skills.

Pseudonym: Personal nickname related to events involving a character for lore which can provide a skill bonus.

Religious Alignment: How devout a character is and if they are a Restitutionist (Christian) or Oak brethren (Pagan). A Character is either practicing, devout, or a zealot.

It is worth noting that some backstories are only available to a specific religion and a Restitutionist zealot will not consume alcohol.

Age: How old a character is. This does not currently have any effects. (Min: 22, Max: 70)

Weight: How heavy a character is. This does not currently have any effects. (Min: 45, Max: 120)

Height: How tall a character is. This does not currently have any effects. (Min: 100, Max: 210)

NOTE: It is currently not possible to randomise the look of a character, pressing the randomise button will cause a new character entirely to be randomly generated.

At this current point in time, the game developers are not adding children to the game, all characters will be adults with a minimum age of 22.

It is worth noting that because this game is in early access there are some skills that are not currently working. Skills that are not implemented will be marked with N/A.

Passion Learning Bonus to Skill:
0: 1x

: x2.5 XP

: x4 XP



Animal Handling: Increased animal damage, reduced chance of animal retaliation, more food.

Botany: Higher speed picking crops and lower chance of ruining collection.

Carpentry: Higher chance of producing better quality wooden weapons and increased production speed.

Construction: Higher speed building and lower chance of failing construction.

Culinary: Higher speed for producing food and required to produce late tier recipes.

Intellectual: Higher speed for producing research at a research bench.

Marksman: Higher chance of hitting target, required to equip some weapons.

Medicine: Increased tending to wound speed and quality of medical treatment.

Melee: Higher melee damage and hit chance, required to equip some weapons.

Mining: Higher speed mining and lower chance of ruining resources.

Smithing: Higher chance of producing better quality weapons and increased production speed of smelting and smithing armor.

Speechcraft: N/A

Tailoring: Higher chance of producing better quality clothing and increased production speed.

Here are some recommended perks with reasons why. More perks will be added when there are updates as not every perk in the game seems to be functional. This list is in order of how strong I perceive these perks for most playthroughs. If you have any suggestions along with why, feel free to let me know in the comments.

Notes:

• I will add more perks or potentially remove perks from this list as time progresses and the game develops.
  
• When I say crafting skills I mean: Carpentry, Smithing, or Tailoring. (Intellectual is one but I always cite this differently for reasons related to game mechanics).

---

Green Thumb (+3 Botany, +25% Harvest Amount, -50% Chance Harvest Fails)


Explained: Having a 25% increase in all harvested amounts with a 50% less likely chance to fail tends to accumulate significantly larger bonuses for farming the later into a game you get. If you pair this perk with someone who has a 1 or 2 star passion in botany this will lead to you acquiring you so much food that it will often spoil even with 1 harvester.

Combinations: Since this perk is only related to botany, it makes sense to only pair it with parks that could help botanists. At the moment this is best paired with a perk like Fleet Footed for increased movement speed. This perk gains bonuses from perks that also assist with global work speed but aren't a necessity.

Notes: There is no lesser version to this perk and it is currently extremely strong, good for any playthrough.

---

Brawny (+3 Mining, +15% Movement Speed, +10% Global Work Speed, +5% Melee Weapon Damage Multiplier, +5% Unarmed Damage)

Explained: A significant movement speed bonus paired with a good global work speed bonus and some extra melee damage, this perk really is a combination of some of the other best perks in the game with all their bonuses thrown together. Moving quicker allows a character to tend to more tasks in a day, the global work speed bonus allowing them to finish tasks quicker, and some bonus melee weapon damage that you don't have to use if the villager is more suited to bows.

Combinations: This perk works well with anything. You move faster, work harder, hit stronger. Pair exceptionally well with any crafting or building skill, also good with any harvesting skill.
Also works well with many perks, especially another global work speed bonus like Industrious or another movement speed bonus. This perk could help with botany but is usually more utilised for crafting skills.

Notes: There are several perks related to this with lesser or the same bonuses. Industrious provides the same work speed bonus. Fleet Footed which is the best movement speed perk provides less movement speed than Brawny. Hefty provides 5% more melee damage multiplier than this perk.

---

Forty Winks (+5% Sleep Recovery Speed, -10% Sleep Depletion Speed)


Explained: Want your villagers to work more and sleep less? This is the perk you've been wanting. You do however need to remember to make sure villagers with this perk have suitable schedules as you do not want them given the same amount of sleep hours as a regular character.

Combinations: This perk works great on anyone regardless of if they are suited to a specific role as it allows them to potentially complete more tasks in a day. Could be best suited on roles which you require to get jobs done quicker such as hauling or crafting.

Notes: Has no downside like tiring quicker with Early Bird. Night Owl has reversed stats to this perk with 5% more sleep recovery speed but also has 5% less sleep depletion speed.

---

Erudite (+5 Intellectual, +15% XP gain)


Explained: This perk gives you more intellectual skill for researching alongside with 15% extra XP to all skills. This perk with the XP bonus can help turn a character with no bonuses into someone worthwhile quickly. If a character has a passion bonus somewhere, this perk lets them advance incredibly quickly with XP levels.

Combinations: This perk initially seems suited for someone that does research but that is not strictly what you want to use it for. Utilise this perk with someone that has a passion in a skill to gain levels quickly. One of the best skills for this would be any crafting skill as it affects item quality and speed of producing items. If you choose to use this perk on someone who researches they can progress well but without a passion or high initial intellectual levels it can be more efficiently used elsewhere.

Notes: The worse version of this perk is Wise, which provides 2 less intellectual bonus and 5% less XP gain.

---

Hefty (-5% Movement Speed, +10% Melee Weapon Damage Multiplier, +10% Unarmed Damage, +10% Mining Speed)

Explained: This perk slows down a character but could be invaluable for characters that are intended to do a lot of melee or mining. 10% mining speed is useful as mining is often slow even with decent levels. Even though mining is not always a daily activity especially late game the melee bonus could be very helpful for two handed weapon users to hit even harder.

Combinations: This perk works best when combined with another perk that helps a character recover from wounds quicker like Robust for 15% quicker HP recovery and 15% quicker wound regeneration (With a bonus to motor function so they don't stay down as long. You could also pair with the lesser version called Vigorous). Another good choice to pair this perk with is Brawny as this gives you another bonus 5% melee damage multiplier. Should not only be used for mining as Hefty also slows a character down, unless ideally paired with another speed perk like Fleet Footed.

Notes: Brawny gives 5% melee damage multiplier bonus but also has no downsides and is exceptionally strong so usually is preferred over Hefty.

NOTE: Currently this only lists perks with a percentage or integer modifier, this will be updated soon along with perk icons.


Ascetic




Austere




Benevolent




Bloodlust




Brawler (+3 Melee, +10% Unarmed Damage)




Brawny (+3 Mining, +15% Movement Speed, +10% Global Work Speed, +5% Melee Weapon Damage Multiplier, +5% Unarmed Damage)




Callous




Cannibal




Chilly




Churl (-10% Mood Target, +10% Mood Change Speed)




Cold Hardy




Congenial (+10% Mood Target, -5% Mood Change Speed)




Contemplative (-20% Mood Target, +5% Mood Change Speed)




Dainty




Disfigured




Dullard (-5 Intellectual, -15% XP gain, +10% Clumsiness)




Early Bird (-5% Sleep Recovery Speed, +5% Sleep Depletion Speed)




Elf Shot (-5% Motor Function)




Erudite (+5 Intellectual, +15% XP gain)




Fair




Fleet Footed (+10% Movement Speed, +5% Motor Function)




Forty Winks (+5% Sleep Recovery Speed, -10% Sleep Depletion Speed)




Gluttonous (+10% Appetite, -10% Consumption Duration)




Gobbler (-50% Consumption Duration)




Gourmet (+3 Culinary, +5% Appetite, -15% Consumption Duration)




Green Thumb (+3 Botany, +25% Harvest Amount, -50% Chance Harvest Fails)




Heat Resistant




Hedonist




Hefty (-5% Movement Speed, +10% Melee Weapon Damage Multiplier, +10% Unarmed Damage, +10% Mining Speed)




Hot-Blooded




Ill-Favored




Industrious (+10 Global Work Speed)




Infirm (-10% Hitpoints Recovery, -5% Motor Function, -5% Wound Regeneration)




Iron Stomach (-40% Consumption Duration)




Laggardly (-10% Movement Speed, -15% Global Work Speed)




Lightweight




Listless




Lord of Misrule




Moribund (-15% Hitpoints Recovery, -5% Motor Function, -25% Wound Regeneration)




Night Owl (+10% Sleep Recovery Speed, -5% Sleep Depletion Speed)




Outgoing (+5% Mood Target, -5% Mood Change Speed)




Precious




Punch Drunk




Ravishing




Robust (+15% Hitpoints Recovery, +10% Motor Function, +15% Wound Regeneration)




Robust (Text only secondary version of robust)




Ruthless




Sluggardly (-5% Movement Speed, -10% Global Work Speed)




Snow White




Somnolent (+10% Sleep Recovery Speed, +15% Sleep Depletion Speed)




Stout (+10% Appetite, -5% Consumption Duration, -5% Movement Speed)




Sun Seeker




Swigger




Vigorous (+20% Hitpoints Recovery, +5% Wound Regeneration)




Vulnerable (-10% Wound Regeneration)




Washout




Whirlwind (+5% Movement Speed, +10% Motor Function)




Wicche (+3 Animal Handling)




Winsome




Wise (+3 Intellectual, +10% XP gain)

Accurate (+5 Marksman)
Ambitious (+5 Intellectual)
Apostate (+3 Animal Handling)
Artful (+5 Speechcraft)
Avant Garde (+3 Culinary, +3 Medicine)
Bloodthirsty (+5 medical)
Bookish (+3 medicine, +3 carpentry)
Brutal (+3 Smithing)
Caring (+5 Animal Handling)
Charitable (+5 Culinary)
Cheerful (+3 Construction, +3 Medicine)
Chivalrous (+5 melee)
Clever (+5 Intellectual)
Confident (+3 Marksman)
Crafty (+5 Tailoring)
Cunning (+5 Botany)
Deadly (+3 Marksman, +3 Melee)
Desolate (+5 Mining)
Despicable (+3 Intellectual, +3 Melee, +3 Marksman)
Faithless (+5 construction)
Hopeful (+3 Medicine)
Inconspicuous (+5 Intellectual)
Loyal (+3 Melee)
Patient (3 Marksman)
Penitent (+3 Carpentry)
Reckless (+5 Mining)
Rustic (+3 Botany, +3 Culinary)
Ruthless (+5 Melee)
Savage (-3 Speechcraft, -5 Intellectual)
Shrewd (+3 Carpentry, +3 Smithing)
Solitary (+5 Melee)
Soothsaying (+3 Botany)
Spinning (+3 Botany, +3 Tailor)
Swindling (+3 Tailoring, +3 Animal Handling)
Tempered (+5 Smithing)
Thoughtless (+5 Tailoring)
Thrifty (+3 Smithing)
Tireless (+5 Carpentry)
Toxic (+5 Culinary)
Uprooted (+3 Animal Handling)
Weary (+5 Melee)
Wicked (+5 Smithing)
Willful (+3 Speechcraft)
Winsome (+5 Speechcraft)
Yorkist (+3 Melee, +3 Construction)

Alchemist (+10 Speechcraft, +10 Intellectual, +3 Botany, +3 Medicine)
Archer (+12 Marksman, +5 Melee)
Architect (+12 Intellectual, +10 Construction)
Armorer (+12 Smithing, +5 Carpentry, +5 Melee)
Armorer (+12 Tailoring, +5 Carpentry, +5 Marksman)
Army Cook (+12 Melee, +10 Culinary, +3 Animal Handling)
Arrowsmith (+12 Smithing, +3 Carpentry)
Barber (+12 Speechcraft, +10 Medicine)
Berner (+15 Animal Handling, +5 Melee, +3 Speechcraft)
Blacksmith (+12 Smithing, +5 Melee, +3 Mining)
Bowyer (+10 Carpentry, +10 Marksman, +3 Construction)
Brewster (+12 Culinary, +10 Botany)
Brick Maker (+12 Construction, +10 Mining, +3 Botany)
Builder (+12 Construction, +5 Carpentry, +3 Speechcraft)
Butcher (+12 Culinary, +10 Animal Handling)
Carpenter (+12 Carpentry, +3 Speechcraft)
Carter (+10 Mining, +5 Melee)
Chef (+15 Culinary, +5 Botany, +5 Animal Handling)
Cobbler (+15 Tailoring)
Cordwainer (+10 Tailoring, + 5 Construction, +5 Botany)
Cottar (+12 Botany, +3 Animal Handling)
Courtesan (+12 Speechcraft, +15 Intellectual, -5 Melee, -5 Marksman)
Engineer (+12 Intellectual, +5 Melee, +3 Marksman)
Farmer (+12 Animal Handling, +5 Botany, +3 Intellectual)
Farrier (+12 Smithing, +3 Animal Handling)
Field Doctor (+12 Medicine, +10 Melee)
Franklin (+12 Mining, +5 Botany)
Gardener (+12 Botany, +5 Culinary, +5 Medicine)
Grave Digger (+12 Mining, +5 Melee, -3 Speechcraft)
Healer (+12 Medicine, +3 Intellectual)
Herbalist (+12 Botany, +5 Intellectual, -3 Smithing)
Hunter (+12 Marksman, +10 Animal Handling)
Innkeep (+12 Culinary, +3 Speechcraft, +3 Melee)
Knight (+12 Melee, +3 Speechcraft, +3 Botany, +3 Medicine)
Lorimer (+15 Smithing)
Marshal (+12 Animal Handling, +5 Medicine)
Master Builder (+12 Intellectual, +5 Carpentry, +5 Construction)
Mercenary (+12 Melee, +10 Mining)
Miner (+12 Mining, +3 Construction)
Monk (+12 Intellectual, +5 Botany, +5 Medicine)
Nun (+12 Medicine, +10 Speechcraft)
Peddler (+12 Speechcraft, +10 Smithing, +5 Mining)
Recruit (+12 Marksman, +5 Tailoring, +5 Smithing)
Reeve (+12 Botany, +5 Smithing)
Roofer (+12 Carpentry, +10 Construction)
Scribe (+12 Intellectual, +3 Speechcraft)
Shipwright (+12 Construction, +5 Melee)
Soldier (+12 Melee, +5 Marksman)
Swineherd (+12 Animal Handling, +5 Botany)
Tanner (+12 Tailoring, +3 Botany)
Wheelwright (+12 Carpentry)

A character may have a pseudonym associated to them that provides a small bit of lore and a boost to one skill.

Bonesetter (+3 Medicine)
Bridegroom (+3 Tailoring)
Butcher (+3 Animal Handling)
Ghost (+3 Mining)
Le Chou (+3 Botany)
Philosopher (+3 Smithing)
The Apostle (+3 Carpentry)
The Bard (+3 Marksman)
The Bold (+3 Melee)
The Bride (+3 Tailoring)
The Broken (+3 Marksman)
The Crow (+3 Medicine)
The Cuckold (+3 Carpentry)
The Deceiver (+3 Marksman)
The Doctor (+3 Intelligence)
The Fool (+3 Intelligence)
The Forlorn (+3 Culinary)
The Hanged (+3 Mining)
The Heretic (+3 Construction)
The Kitten (+3 Speechcraft)
The Lamb (+3 Tailoring)
The Lucky (+3 Smithing)
The Pagan (+3 Botany)
The Pirate (+3 Mining)
The Prodigal (+3 Speechcraft)
The Pudding (+3 Culinary)
The Rebel (+3 Carpentry)
The Riddler (+3 Speechcraft)
The Saint (+3 Animal Handling)
The Spy (+3 Intelligence)
The Tart (+3 Culinary)
The Thief (+3 Tailoring)
The Wakeful (+3 Melee)
Zealot (+3 Construction)