Fallout/Traits

You can choose up to two traits. Be careful in choosing traits because after you select, there's no going back.

Trait	Description
Fast Metabolism	Your body is much less resistant to poison and radiation, but it heals faster. Don't take this one: you'll want some poison resistance and you'll have to take two RadX's to get complete radiation resistance with or without this perk (unless you have the Rad Resistance perk or 10 endurance and Power Armor), and that there are plenty of stimpacks lying around. Don't take this one.
Bruiser	Your strength is increased by two but your actions points are decreased by two. Not a good one... you'll need all the action points that you have.
Small Frame	Your agility is increased by one but your carry weight drops by 30 pounds. It isn't too bad, but the carry weight decrease hurts in the beginning. At least Ian and Tycho have unlimited carrying capacities.
One Hander	You are good with one-handed weapons but are bad with two handed weapons. Not a good choice, since the best weapons are two handed.
Finesse	Your normal attacks do 30% less damage but your critical chance is increased by 10%. Not too bad of a tradeoff, but I didn't tag this one. And critical damage isn't affected.
Kamikaze	Depletes your armor class to what you are wearing but increases sequence by 5. It isn't that great because with 6 perception you'll attack before anyone else does. (in the required fights, that is.)
Heavy Handed	Your melee damage is increased by 4 but criticals do 30% less damage. Good in the beginning, and criticals do heaps of damage anyway. But it isn't good in the end, where super mutants and deathclaws lurk around.
Fast Shot	You can't aim, but your total cost is decreased by one. It isn't a bad tradeoff if you have high critical chance, and is really really good if you take the perks 'Bonus Ranged Attack', 'Sniper', or 'Slayer' The turbo plasma rifle will cost 2 APs to shoot and the super sledgehammer will only cost 1 AP with those perks. Since most of the aforementioned perks come up in the end, it is good to pass this one by.
Bloody Mess	You will always see a grotesque death animation whenever you kill a critter. There really isn't a downside to this, so you can take this one if you want to. The ending at the very very end changes slightly (and for the better).
Jinxed	Everybody makes more critical failures, but so do you! If you have 9 or 10 Luck, you'll make few critical failures. Only take it if you have 9 or 10 Luck.
Good Natured	Your combat skills are decreased by 10%, but speech, doctor, science, etc. are increased by 15%. Not that great...you'll need high combat skills while 70% or so in the non-combat areas will let you go through the game easily.
Chem Reliant	Your addiction rate is increased by 200%, but your withdrawal rate is only 50%. Some drugs, like RadAway, have a 10% addiction rate and no withdrawal... so, it isn't worth it.
Chem Resistant	Your addiction rate is 50% of normal, but chems only last for half as long. Not too bad, since combat doesn't take a long time on the Fallout clock.
Night Person	Normally, your intelligence and perception are decreased by one from 1800 to 0600 hours. This trait reverses what happens normally. Since most people will ask to talk to you during the day, this isn't that great.
Skilled	You get a 10% increase to all of your skills, but you get a perk every four levels. You'll want those perks as early as possible... they are quite useful.
Gifted	All of your primary stats are increased by one, but you get 5 fewer skill points per level and your secondary skills are lowered by 10%. This is among the best traits, since there are only a few skills that you really need to work on.

It is recommended to take Gifted and either Bloody Mess, Chem Resistant, or Small Frame.