The Sims Medieval Fatal Flaws List and Strategy Guide

by Tom "Metro" Schlueter

See also the Traits Guide.

Picking Traits for RPG characters has been around a long time. But, forcing a player to also deal with the downsides of a Fatal Flaw is a pretty cool twist on EA's part. So, let's go through the whole list of the Fatal Flaws you can choose for your Heroes in The Sims Medieval and find out exactly how "fatal" some of them are.

Bloodthirsty
"Were you looking at me? Hey, I'm talkin' to you, Sir StinksaLot!" Bloodthirsty Sims want to throw down and throw down often. If they do not fight with another Sim for awhile, then they'll be hit with a -15 Looking for a Fight debuff. Spitting in the face, or slapping just won't quench the fire and eliminate the debuff. You have a few options to eliminate this debuff. If your Sim is able to sword fight, they can select to duel or spar with another Sim to fix this. That's the best way, as it will give them XP. If for some reason your Merchant or other non-fighter is bloodthirsty, you'll have to use the Fistfight interaction. After having a Fistfight you'll likely have the additional -10 Punched debuff, but hopefully you'll also have a +15 Won a Fistfight to offset things. This isn't a good fatal flaw for non-fighters.

"Top of the morning to you, Build Master Ruald."
"And good morning to you, Lord Pretty Boy."

Cowardly
This Fatal Flaw does not seem too bad. If your Hero is outside at night, then they're hit with a -20 Afraid of the Dark debuff, but simply returning inside with lights remedies that problem. According to the trait description, "scary situations" may also cause your Sim to run away. But, give this Fatal Flaw to the right Hero - such as a Priest, Merchant, or a Bard - one that probably will not be engaged in swordfighting or any "scary" stuff - and it should be pretty low maintenance on your end.

Cruel
Like Bloodthirsty Sims, Cruel Sims need to let off some steam every once in awhile when they receive the -20 Pent-up Anger debuff. The advantage for Cruel Sims is that they don't need to risk eating a knuckle sandwich to achieve stability-all they need to do is pick a target and choose something from the Mean category like Argue. You can also find "release anger" under the traits menu if your Sim is cruel, which will get them feeling happy again.

Cursed
The Cursed debuff is very similar to Morose. It's very long-lasting (15 hours) and may or may not fire upon waking up. It doesn't seem to be too problematic, especially since it's not a guaranteed daily occurrence. But, on days you are Cursed you may want to avoid activities such as swordfighting and card playing.

Drunkard
This Fatal Flaw is pretty manageable-just give your Hero a drink and it will keep that -15 Need a Drink debuff at bay. Personally, I think it's a great Fatal Flaw because you have the opportunity to give your Hero some nice buffs from their drinks too, like Feeling Festive (+10) and Buzzed (+10). Just put a cask right in the eating area and make it a habit for your Hero to have one drink after a meal and you'll probably never even see the debuff. I suppose the downside of this trait is having to spend more money on the necessary ingredients for the brewing.

Drunkard: "Ahhhh...Two Buck Chuck. Circa...this morning."

Fool
The nice thing about this Fatal Flaw is you're not constantly hit with regular debuffs-it just works in the background. But, that's not to say it isn't nasty...Fools gain approximately 20% less XP at ongoing activities like Practicing Military Strategy, Practicing on the Training Dummy, or Sailing to Foreign Territories to Trade. So, if you like leveling your Hero as quickly as possible, steer clear of this one.

Glutton
Another one to avoid. Much worse than Drunkard. With Drunkard you're hit with the Need a Drink debuff maybe once a day, and that's only if you don't have a drink, so it's completely preventable. With Glutton there's no avoiding the rapid rate at which your Sim will become hungry. Picture the frantic dog in the Beggin' Strips commercial constantly searching for his snack - "It's Bacon!" This constant drain on your Hero means he'll spend more time eating to simply rid himself of the hunger debuff and you'll get less done. This is particularly bad for Blacksmiths if they're making advanced items. Some can take hours, and growing hungry can cause a hit to your end quality if you have to stop and eat. The upside is-assuming you're not making Gruel and are feeding your Glutton quality meals-you'll have more frequent buffs from the meals.

Hubris
Basically with Hubris your Sim gets so full of themselves when good things happen they receive a -10 Blinded by Hubris debuff. The kicker is this debuff ramps up if lots of good things happen close together in the 3-hour period. Let's say your Hero goes out and wins a swordfight. -10 debuff. He then immediately discovers Wildflowers and collects those. The debuff jumps to -15. He then catches a fish in the stream. Now, he's at -20. So, this is a tough Fatal Flaw to negotiate if your Hero is accomplishing a lot of stuff. I can't imagine if I had to deal with this in real life. Sheesh. I'd have a -1000 debuff by the end of every day. And you know that I'm right.

Insecure
This would be much more problematic in Sims 3 where it's easy keeping Sims away from others for days on end. But, total isolation is basically impossible in Medieval - Sims are constantly going in and out of all buildings, so there's always people to socialize with. If your Sim does not talk to another Sim for about a day, then he'll get hit with a -15 Lonely debuff. That can be repaired by simply speaking to another Sim with a chat interaction. Occasionally, they'll wake up with a 4 hour debuff 'Nervous' that deals -10 and can't be cured so easily. All in all, a 'safe' pick.

Insomniac
During my testing I did not have any issues with an Insomniac. If one particular bed is supposed to give a Sim a certain value for the Well Rested buff, then an Insomniac still receive the full value, but it's 8 hours long instead of 10. Not too bad. There's also the chance of waking up with the additional -5 Can't Sleep debuff, but it lasts only 2 hours. All in all, one of the less annoying Fatal Flaws.

Licentious
Yes, I had to look that word up. Think of it as a fancy way of saying - All I wanna do is zooma zoom zoom and a boom boom. Licentious Sims need lots of lovin' and if they go without some physical contact for a day or so they're hit with a -20 Dry Spell debuff - whether they have a Romantic Interest within arms length or not. This Fatal Flaw can be challenging because you obviously need to get another Sim to a relationship level where at least a Kiss is accepted. But, the upside is once you get to that point, then you can opt and take the easy route with simple kisses to ward off the debuff instead of going for the Kingball Court homerun with Woohoo. Having a spouse nearby for a quick kissy face is recommended. Otherwise, your libido crazed Sim will be going to the Messenger Post a lot.

Misanthrope
Think Ebenezer Scrooge or the Grinch-characters who hate people and simple can't stand being around them. Your Sim will take a -15 Hates People debuff every time someone opens their yap. But, what's worse is think of how often Heroes need to socialize in Medieval to accomplish Quests. Oh, it's like sticking needles in your eyes. I can't stand it!

Morose
I played a test Monarch for 3 game days to examine this Fatal Flaw. After 2 days I simply didn't get it. Where was the debuff or penalty? Judging by the trait description I was thinking Morose was akin to the Grumpy trait in Sims 3 where your Sim simply has a permanent "behind the scenes" hit to overall Mood. So, I was expecting Focus to initially be in the red. That wasn't the case. Finally, on the 3rd test day, my Monarch woke up with a Morose debuff, -15 Focus for 15 hours. So, it's not even a daily thing, but admittedly that's a long debuff and you can't get rid of it. It just needs to run its course.

Puny
I chose this Fatal Flaw for Ron Popeil in my Merchant Guide. Absolutely golden. Zero debuffs. He never fought with anyone, so it was a total nonissue. Just use common sense in Hero choice-give this trait to a Knight or Spy with all of their swordfighting and you'll be headed for a nightmare with all of the injuries they'll receive. One more thing-when you go to the Village Shoppe or trade with foreign territories you're often presented with a situation in which you can take a "tough" or daring route, or a safer route. With Puny Sims, take the safer route to avoid Focus-tanking injuries. Another point of interest, with the Vain trait, Puny Sims have issues with mirrors and will not enjoy the benefits of checking themselves out.

Uncouth
This Fatal Flaw is not too bad. There are no debuffs from this Fatal Flaw so Focus is not affected. I certainly would not give it to a Merchant because I wouldn't want the chance of a Merchant's words being seen as inappropriate and losing a sale. A Peteran or Jacoban Priest might also be a bad choice to give this Fatal Flaw if it would affect his sermons. But, for the most part it's pretty harmless. Every once in awhile things your Sim says will have a negative reaction from someone else. To offset this Fatal Flaw you might opt for the Friendly trait. While Questing you might need to work a bit more in talking to Sims to complete tasks, but it should not be that difficult. If an Uncouth Sim clicks on another Sim, then selects Trait, you'll see the Make Ribald Joke interaction.

"Did you hear that Lord Pretty Boy streaked across the Throne Room last night completely...naked!"
Lord Pretty Boy: "GUARDS!"

Weak Constitution
The Medieval version of acid reflux. Occasionally a Sim with this Fatal Flaw will throw up after eating or drinking. Not a big deal. Sims with this Fatal Flaw are also more susceptible to getting sick. I'm sure this is only amplified if your kingdom's well being is neutral or lower, so make sure to do everything you can to have high well being - place a clinic and score well on a Quest like Hungry Hungry Hamfest.