Starting perks

Positive costs spend perk points; negative costs grant points. These perks modify your starting setup independently of your starting scenario.

Starting perks

Perk	Point cost	Effect
Savings	+1	Start with an additional 150 Credits.
Bad Lease	-1	Your starting rent is increased by 40 Credits.
Convict	-1	Start with an additional -30 Security Reputation and will receive 25% less reward for reporting customers on the Wanted List.
Model Citizen	+1	Start with an additional +30 Security Reputation and will receive 50% more reward for reporting customers on the Wanted List.
Well Connected	+2	Start with an additional 15 Reputation with all factions.
Vigilant	+2	You will never get robbed during the night.
Sawyer's Crew	+1	The Underground Exchange is available from the start. Janitorial Service is always free, unless the Store is vandalized. Vandalism clean up cost is significantly reduced.
Diplomatic	+2	Reputation generated from trade is increased by 33%.
Intimidating	+2	All committed crimes generate 33% less available evidence.
Side Street	-1	You get one less random customer per day.
Nicotine Addiction	-1	You will suffer a trade penalty of 8% if you don’t consume nicotine regularly. The addiction can be cured.
Narcotic Addiction	-1	You will suffer a trade penalty of 8% if you don’t consume narcotics regularly. The addiction can be cured.
Alcohol Addiction	-1	You will suffer a trade penalty of 8% if you don’t consume alcohol regularly. The addiction can be cured.
Secret Admirer	+1	You will occasionally receive random items from a secret admirer when opening the Store.
Colorful Character	+1	Allows you to have 3 additional starting perk slots.
Blackmail	-2	You have a questionable past and a blackmailer is threatening to expose your secret. You will have to pay them a small weekly fee or they will expose you, leading to a major one-time loss to your reputation across most factions.
Blabbermouth	-2	All committed crimes generate 33% more available evidence. You will gain 50% less reputation with the Black Market and the Revolution.
Minimalist	-3	Your main inventory is reduced 20x10 instead of 24x10.
Sentinel Collapse Disorder	-3	You suffer from a deadly, incurable auto-immune condition and must take a weekly Immunivax injection to stay alive. Start the game with 1 Immunivax Injector.
Welfare Program	+1	The Commissary is available from the start. On Mondays, you may receive Food Stamps depending on your total wealth.
Proficient Scavenger	+1	You can perform up to 2 additional Search actions in the Dumping Grounds every time you visit.
Gambling Addiction	-1	You will always buy some Lottery Tickets when possible. All lottery content is unlocked from the start. The addiction can be cured.
Tapehead	+1	You start with all music cassettes available inside the cassette player.
Degenerative Osteoarthritis	-1	Scavenging in the dumping ground works normally for the first week. After that, you lose 1 max scavenging attempt every week that passes. Once your max attempts fall below 3, you can no longer scavenge at all. Normal shopkeepers start with 5 daily max attempts. Start with 2 additional topical bandages.
Known Snitch	-2	Customers from the wanted poster will never visit your store. Start with -10 reputation with the Revolution and the Black Market.

Convict and Model Citizen cannot be selected together. Colorful Character adds three perk slots.

Update 049: addiction behavior

The official Update 049 notes (September 14, 2026) add these details beyond the extracted descriptions above:

• Addiction perks give you one item related to the addiction at the start. Withdrawal begins immediately, so you can use that item straight away or keep it for later.
• Gambling Addiction automatically buys scratch tickets too, including a stack when possible.

Related pages

• Starting scenarios
• Reputation & faction perks

Sources: September 14 demo, PerkTable localization and StartingPerkList / StartingPerk code. Only the 25 registered perks are listed; unused localization entries are excluded. The table’s descriptions are the game’s own text; the Update 049 section is a separate summary of the official patch notes.