Have you ever had a sim born in your game with an extra trait you didn’t pick upon aging up, purchase through aspiration rewards, gain through personality discoveries, etc., and wondered where it came from? Sims 4 Inherited Traits are generally only discovered through gameplay with Sims born in-game, rather than those created in Create-A-Sim. These traits generally indicate something about a Sims heritage, childhood, or occult status (Or a combination of all three)!
If you prefer to play with premade sims, at least to test these traits, some Sims from expansion packs carry inheritable traits. Nyon Specter from Sims 4 Life & Death is a Grimborn sim, and Mara Summerdream from Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature has the High Fae Lineage trait.
How Inherited Traits Work/What They Are
Inheritable traits are traits that are carried through genetic lines or based on certain conception circumstances. These can include place of birth, special NPC status, or parent occult status. These traits can also be passed on via parents who inherited them already, allowing them to pass through multiple generations even once they are removed from the initial source.
Some of these traits carry special gameplay features, moodlets, buffs, etc., although some are just a simple nod to the sims conception as these can only occur with sims born in-game, and none of them can be applied in Create-A-Sim or gained through personality discovery.
To make it easier to reference or browse, this guide is sorted by packs. To keep it concise, EP means “Expansion Pack” and GP means “Game Pack” since all inherited traits come from either one of these two DLC types. While there are other traits that are temporary traits, bonus traits, hidden traits, etc., this article will primarily focus on traits inherited by a Sim’s parentage or conception.
The Sims 4 Inherited Traits By Pack
Table of Contents
EP: Cats & Dogs
Hidden Lighthouse Baby Trait
The first of the inheritable traits is a hidden one, only discovered through those rooting through the internal files of The Sims 4 Cats & Dogs DLC and from a funny little moodlet.
On the bottom corner of the Brindleton Bay map, the world featured in The Sims 4 Cats & Dogs, there is a lighthouse with a deep history in the town. Sims can visit this lighthouse just to do some sightseeing… or to woohoo in. To get this trait, a sim must be conceived from a “Try for Baby” interaction in the lighthouse.
Once your lighthouse baby is old enough, typically once they’ve aged up to a child, you can send them to Brindleton Bay to visit the lighthouse and receive this moodlet:
There’s something so familiar about this place. It fills <Sim Name> with an inner light. They are positively glowing!
EP: Seasons
Father Winter’s Baby
Anybody who has seasons is likely well aware of Father Winter, with his large amount of family funds, generosity in giving gifts like an expensive camera (or a piece of coal), and his jolly spirit. While he can be added or removed from any holiday created or edited by the player in-game, he will appear during the plain Sims 4 Seasons “Winterfest” Holiday, showing up around 9PM. He shows up near fireplaces, or just by walking through the door if one is not available or the area around it is inaccessible.
During his time at the home, or after if you get to know him, you can build a romantic relationship and deep friendship with Father Winter. This includes being able to Woohoo him, and more specifically, try for baby. A baby born to father winter will inherit the Father Winter’s Baby trait, with the following description. A little hint to this is, when your sim is giving birth, some mystical lights will pop up under them!
Wow! Father Winter is actually <Sim Name>’s Dad! That’s amazing! Wonder if they get any magical abilities?
While they do not have any magical abilities like their whimsical parent, sims with this trait do get an increase to their Satisfaction points gain by 50%!
EP: Island Living
Sulani Mana
Sulani Mana is a trait found on all Island Elemental sims, an occult type found in The Sims 4 Island Living that can be communed with if a sim has the Child of the Islands trait. Summoning them allows your sims to build a relationship with them, ask for their judgment in regards to the island itself. By having a child with an island elemental sim, the conceived baby will inherit the Sulani Mana trait, giving them the ability to increase a plant’s quality and summon the volcanic bombs that normally appear randomly with the Volcanic Activity lot challenge.
This Sim is imbued with Sulani’s elemental energy due to their heritage. They can increase the quality of plants as well as summon Volcanic Bombs.
EP: Life & Death
Burning Soul & Reborn
The Bucket List, or Unfinished Business if a sim passes before they’re able to complete it, is the primary gameplay mechanic to complete a sim’s Soul’s Journey. This expands upon the concept of aspirations and life satisfaction, allowing sims to become truly at peace before passing on (or to wreak havoc if their death is more… untimely). Sims get multiple rewards for different tiers of satisfaction, both while living and dead.
Once you have completely filled a living Sim’s Soul’s Journey, they will inherit the Burning Soul trait, which will unlock the ability to Rebirth once they’ve passed on. Rebirthing allows the sim to be revived completely the same, or as a completely new sim, into any household at any age. They can form new family relationships with sims, and will get moodlets and buffs for interacting with sims from a past life.
To be reborn, Sims with the Burning Soul trait will head to the Baleful Bog in Ravenwood and swim in it, giving you the ability to add them to an existing family at any age, with or without their current appearance, the same traits, etc. You can even be reborn into an entirely different family and take on the genetics of said family! Including a very wealthy and powerful one…
Reborn Trait Description: This sim has been reborn! Reborn Sims have special connections with Sims they once knew in their previous life and may have some somber feelings when visiting their old gravestones. Take this extra chance to live life to its fullest!
Burning Soul Trait Description: <Sim Name>’s soul burns bright! As a ghost, <Sim Name> receives extra benefits to their Ghost Mastery stamina, enabling them to perform abilities more frequently. The burning soul trait persists beyond death, accompanying <Sim Name> into their next life after Rebirth. <Sim Name> can retain one personality trait from their previous life with the Recall Past Life self-interaction, along with certain other traits by using the Peer Into Soul interaction available on mirrors. If <Sim Name> is reborn as a younger sim, certain developmental skills will be immediately unlocked. As an added bonsues, young adults and older get the extraordinary ability to defy the boundaries of Life and Death, enabling Transcendent WooHoo as a living Sim. This trait is a one-time blessing, accompanying <Sim Name> into their next life only once.
Grimborn
Grimborn sims are sims born… from the Grim Reaper and another sim. This can be achieved by developing a relationship with the Grim Reaper, either through meeting him in a very dark meet-cute situation (Aka, when someone dies), through the Reaper Career (Where he is your boss), or while he roams around the neighborhood of Mourningvale in Ravenwood. With the update prior to The Sims 4 Life & Death, The Grim Reaper officially has genetics and can officially be a parent.
Any children with the Grimborn trait will have a subtle scythe birthmark on their neck, towards the back and just under their ear, and will have longer lifespans than the average.
The offspring of the Grim Reaper carry an air of mystique. A scythe-shaped birthmark on their neck serves as a haunting reminder of their otherworldly lineage and their inevitable connection to the cycle of life and death.
Grim Descendant
And if your Grimborn child decides to have any children in the future, their children will appear largely normal except for another trait showing their lineage; Grim Descendant.
Offspring from a Grimborn Sims carry on the legacy of the Reaper!
EP: Enchanted by Nature
High Fae Lineage
Having Fairy Parents has brought a magical lineage that gives a Sim additional Fairy Experience from all sources.
While playing with Fairy Sims, any children born to them will carry a High Fae Lineage trait. This includes sims with a single fairy parent, or sims where both parents are fairies. When testing, babies born with the High Fae Lineage could also carry other Occult special traits, like the Weak Bloodline trait from the other parent being a Spellcaster from Sims 4 Realm of Magic.
EP: Adventure Awaits
Peculiar Plumbird Baby
Special inheritable traits don’t just surround occult status or conception, but also who the other parent was specifically. In Gibbi Point from Sims 4 Adventure Awaits, a Peculiar Plumbird is a folktale Sim who roams around the world and can be met and socialized with.
If you can romance Pruella Preener and get her to move in, she’ll lose her Plumbird form and your Sim can Try for Baby with her. She is a trans woman, and her gender settings allow her to impregnate other sims. She also gains the trait Previously a Peculiar Plumbird.
Any babies born from a pregnancy with a sim and Pruella will have a trait marking that their parent used to be a Peculiar Plumbird.
Fowl Offspring of Former Peculiar Plumbird.
EP: Royalty & Legacy
With the Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy Dynasty system, you can use the perk points gained to earn “Affinity Perks” for your dynasty. Any active affinities will be applied to babies born into the dynasty, scaling to higher levels based on the level of their parent. There are four skill categories that have affinity perks, and the vast majority of skills in The Sims 4 fall into one of these categories; Creative, Mental, Physical, and Social.
There are four separate affinity perks for each category, and all can be unlocked and active within a single dynasty. They also account for any babies born into a dynasty, meaning that Science babies will inherit them, and I solely used Science babies for testing.
Mild Affinities
A child born into the dynasty to parents or a parent with no affinity traits whatsoever will have a mild affinity trait.
<Sim Name> was born into a Dynasty with the [Skill Type] Affinity Perk. They will have slightly improved skill gain in [Skill Type] Skills.
Moderate Affinities
If a sim with a mild affinity trait has a child within a dynasty with the same active affinity perk, their child will have a moderate affinity trait.
At least one of <Sim Name>‘s parents had the Mild [Skill Type] Affinity trait. They will have moderately improved skill gain in [Skill Type] Skills and produce better results when using [Skill Type] Skills.
Strong Affinities
If a sim with a moderate affinity trait has a child within a dynasty with the same active affinity perk, their child will have a strong affinity trait. Any further children after this point would have a strong affinity trait.
At least one of <Sim Name>’s parents had the Moderate [Skill Type] Affinity trait. They will have stronger improved skill gain in [Skill Type] Skills and produce better results when using Creative Skills.
GP: Realm of Magic
Like most occult Sims excluding Aliens, most will gain the full potential of their occult status once they’ve aged up into a teen, though you can see their status in Create-A-Sim, and there is hints for each occult in-game at younger life stages. In The Sims 4 Realm of Magic, Spellcasters gain full access to magic upon aging up to a teen, but traits relating to their parentage or bloodline appear as soon as they age up to infancy and you can view all of their traits.
If your initial Spellcaster, generally someone you created in CAS as a Spellcaster, a sim who was turned via gameplay or cheats in-game, or a premade sim that is a spellcaster, decides to have children and continue their bloodline, their children, grandchildren, and any further descendants will have traits to reflect that so long as they are also Spellcasters.
Weak Bloodline
If a Spellcaster Sim is born one generation removed from your initial Spellcaster, they will gain a Weak Bloodline trait.
This Sim’s parents had no Bloodline traits. Sims with the Weak Bloodline trait gain an additional talent point at each Spellcaster rank to spend towards perks. They also gain Spellcaster experience faster and reduce the chance of overloading by 10%.
Strong Bloodline
If a Spellcaster Sim is born two generations removed, meaning they are the grandchild of the initial Spellcaster and their parent carried the Weak Bloodline trait, they will gain a Strong Bloodline trait.
At least one of this Sim’s had a Weak Bloodline trait. Sims with the Strong Bloodline trait gain an additional talent point at each Spellcaster rank to spend towards perks. They also gain Spellcaster experience faster and reduce the chance of overloading by 20%.
Ancient Bloodline
If a Spellcaster Sim is born three generations removed from your initial Spellcaster, meaning they are the great-grandchild of the initial Spellcaster and their parent carried the Strong Bloodline trait, they will gain an Ancient Bloodline trait.
I also tested this with both of the twins who carried the Strong Bloodline trait having children, with one having a child through WooHoo, and the other through having a science baby. The twin who conceived naturally had a human partner, and the sim who had a science baby had a fairy partner. Both children born to the sisters had the Ancient Bloodline trait.
At least one of this Sim’s parents had a Strong or Ancient Bloodline trait. Sims with the Ancient Bloodline trait gain an additional talent point at each Spellcaster rank to spend towards perks. They also gain Spellcaster experience faster and reduce the chance of overloading by 50%.
GP: Werewolves
Unlike other occults, Sims 4 Werewolves were built for their lineage to be somewhat spotty. Not every child born to them will innately be another Werewolf, even if both parents are. Generally, like most Sims 4 genetics, the child can either be one status or the other. For example, if your human sim has a baby with a vampire sim, they can have either a vampire baby or a human baby. This also is typically how it goes for most occults, excluding Sims 4 Get to Works Aliens which can also have full, half-alien, and part-alien hybrids.
Dormant Wolf
A sim with the Dormant Wolf trait is a Sim that acts like a typical human, but can “awaken their inner wolf” through specific gameplay features. As previously stated, they can either have one or both parents who are werewolves, and there is always a chance for a child to inherit the Dormant Wolf trait if they Werewolf blood from a parent directly.
Out of a set of triplets born to a werewolf and a human Sim, two got the Dormant Wolf trait and one was werewolf without a special trait.
The wolf sleeps soundly within <Sim Name>. What would it take to awaken?
If you want to awaken a Dormant Wolf’s full werewolf form, visit Lake Lunvik in Moonwood Mill when the Sim is a teen or older, and have them swim in the lake during a full moon. The lake will be sparkling when it is officially nightfall and the full moon is out. When they come back to shore, they will transform into a full werewolf.
Greater Wolf Blood
On the opposing side of Sims 4 Werewolf genetics, Sims with the Greater Wolf Blood trait have at least one or both parents who are werewolves, but they do not to inherently be a werewolf to actually get this trait, as it is random. If they have this trait and later choose to become a werewolf, it acts similarly to the Magical Bloodline traits for Sims 4 Spellcasters, helping them progress through Werewolf ranks and gain experience quicker.
Greater Wolf Blood is a rarer trait, no matter if both or only one parent is actually a werewolf. Out of 10 babies, I only ran into one with the Greater Wolf Blood trait, while the Dormant Wolf trait appeared four times. The only time I got Greater Wolf Blood was a single baby from a set of triplets, born from parents created in CAS who were both werewolves. I will note that, per the trait description, the trait comes from “Having Werewolf Parents, and a Bit of Luck”, indicating it is almost entirely up to chance.
The moon has blessed <Sim Name> with a Greater Wolf Blood, enhancing their Werewolf growth. Talk about high expectations!
Here we take a moment to think about the ridiculous amount of children and wonky family trees that now exist in this save. A moment of silence, please.
Do you play with occults or the systems that create these traits, and do you have a favorite? What combinations have you found that work really well, or some that don’t? Let us know!
Make sure to follow the Sims Community as we update with more guides to the Sims gameplay systems, and new ways to enjoy Life Simulation games!
