¶ Project Zomboid Character Creation
Character creation in Project Zomboid can be intimidating when you're first starting out. There are occupations, traits, skills to customize before you even enter the game. In this article we'll start by simplifying some of the character creation and give an overview of making your first character and what traits might be good to start.
¶ Passive Attributes
The first thing that you need to know about your character is that your character will develop passive attributes overtime. These are important to know before you begin choosing which active skills you want.
These include:
- Strength - determines your player's carry weight
- Weight - how much fat your character has. This can affect other attributes such as running speed.
- Fitness - includes several different abilities such as movement speed
Weight is an attribute while strength and fitness are passive skills.
¶ Skills
Skills make doing things in Project Zomboid easier. Your skills are all parts of your character that can be levelled up as you play and do these things, but you can give yourself certain advantages when creating your character. By default you'll be given traits that you can choose from. These traits will give, take or modify your character's EXP gain on the skills that it affects. Each skill in the game is as following:
| Skill | Description |
| Sprinting | Affects how fast the player can run |
| Lightfooted | How far the sound of footsteps can be detected by zombies |
| Nimble | How fast you move while in the combat stance |
| Sneaking | How loud a player's steps are when sneaking |
| Axe | Affects the combat proficiency with axes |
| Long Blunt | Affects the combat proficiency with long blunts |
| Short Blunt | Affects the combat proficiency with short blunts |
| Long Blade | Affects the combat proficiency with long blades |
| Short Blade | Affects the combat proficiency with short blades |
| Spear | Affects the combat proficiency with spears |
| Maintenance | Reduces the chance for melee weapons to use condition per use |
| Carpentry | Gives a higher chance of repairing wooden structures |
| Cooking | Allows the player to detect poison better which results in making better food |
| Farming | Allows the player to check on a crop plant's status, the information increases as the skill is leveled up |
| First Aid | Makes treating all kinds of wounds easier |
| Electrical | Allows the player to do more advanced electrical actions as is leveled up |
| Metalworking | Allows the player to build and repair metal structures |
| Mechanics | Allows the player to build and repair car parts |
| Tailoring | Allows the player to patch and fortify clothing |
| Aiming | Helps with all things guns |
| Reloading | Determines how long it will take for the player to reload |
| Fishing | Helps the player shorten time to catch fish |
| Trapping | Gives the player a better chance of catching things in traps |
| Foraging | Allows the player to detect more loot in search mode |
¶ Occupations
The final thing to consider when creating your character is your occupation. Occupations will give your character a set of traits specific to that role. They will also give you a specific spawnpoint, starting pack, and starting points. These are also great for roleplaying. Below are all occupations in the game and what skills they give:
| Occupation | Skills |
| Fire Officer |
+ 1 Axe +1 Fitness +1 Sprinting +1 Strength |
| Police Officer |
+3 Aiming +1 Nimble +3 Reloading |
| Park Ranger |
+1 Axe +1 Carpentry +2 Foraging +2 Trapping |
| Construction Worker |
+1 Carpentry +3 Short Blunt |
| Security Guard |
+1 Lightfooted +2 Sprinting |
| Carpenter |
+3 Carpentry +1 Short Blunt |
| Burglar |
+2 Lightfooted +2 Nimble +2 Sneaking |
| Chef |
+3 Cooking +1 Maintenance +1 Short Blade |
| Repairman |
+1 Carpentry +2 Maintenance +1 Short Blunt |
| Farmer | +3 Farming |
| Fisherman |
+3 Fishing +1 Foraging |
| Doctor | +3 First Aid |
| Veteran |
+2 Aiming +2 Reloading |
| Nurse |
+2 First Aid +1 Lightfooted |
| Lumberjack |
+2 Axe +1 Strength |
| Fitness Instructor |
+3 Fitness +2 Sprinting |
| Burger Flipper |
+2 Cooking +1 Maintenance +1 Short Blade |
| Electrician | +3 Electrical |
| Engineer |
+1 Carpentry +1 Electrical |
| Metalworker | +3 Metalworking |
| Mechanic |
+3 Mechanics +1 Short Blunt |