Keen Cook

Keen Cook

Class	Traits
Type	Positive Trait
Points	-3
Effect	Knows cooking recipes.
Skill Boosts	Cooking: +2 Butchering: +1
Conflicts	Keen Cook
Free With	Burger Flipper Chef

Keen Cook gives a character cooking knowledge from the first day. It adds two levels of Cooking and one level of Butchering, and it teaches a set of baking and preserving recipes.

It is a positive trait and costs 3 points at character creation. The Burger Flipper and Chef occupations grant it for free. It suits any run that lasts beyond the first weeks, when fresh food runs out and meals have to be made from scratch. Good meals also keep a survivor happy and well fed.

Keen Cook Effects

The two Cooking levels make meals better from the start. A good cook gets more out of the same ingredients. Training Cooking also goes faster with the extra levels.

The Butchering level gives a head start with cutting up animals and fish.

The trait teaches a range of recipes. A character can make Cake Batter, Pie Dough, Bread Dough and a Baguette. Biscuits and several kinds of cookies, including Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal, Shortbread and Sugar cookies, are known too. Pizza, Breaded Onion Rings, Breaded Shrimp, Cabbage Rolls and Guacamole round out the list.

The most useful recipe in a long run is the Jar of Preserved Food. Preserved jars keep crops and meat for a long time, which carries a base through winter.

Keen Cook also helps foraging. The search area grows a little, and the chances of finding animals, berries, mushrooms, wild plants, medicinal plants and packaged food all rise slightly.

Keen Cook Skill Boosts

Keen Cook adds these skill levels when the character is created.

Skill	Levels
Cooking	+2
Butchering	+1

Keen Cook Recipes

A character with Keen Cook knows these recipes from the start, with no book or magazine needed.

Name	Recipe	Crafting Materials	Tools	Skill	Station	Learned	Spawn ID
4x Cabbage Roll	Make 4 Cabbage Rolls	1x Cabbage 1x Ground Beef 1x Rice 1x Onion 1x Marinara	-	None	Any Surface	Yes	`/additem Base.CabbageRoll`
Cake Batter	Make Cake Batter	1x Bowl or Bowl 2x Flour 1x Lard 2x Brown Sugar 2x Egg 1x Yeast 1 L Bottle	Fork	Cooking: 0	Any Surface	Yes	`/additem Base.CakeBatter`
5x Guacamole	Make Guacamole	1x Avocado 1x Onion 1x Tomato 1x Jalapeno 1x Salt or Seasoning Salt	Bowl or Bowl Large Knife Fork	Cooking: 0	Any Surface	Yes	`/additem Base.Guacamole`
Jar of Bell Peppers	Make Jar of Preserved Food	1x Jar 1x Jar Lid 6x Bell Pepper or similar 2x Vinegar 1x Salt or Seasoning Salt 0.5 L Water Bottle	Bread Knife	Cooking: 0	In Hand	Yes	`/additem Base.CannedBellPepper`
2x Fried Onion Rings	Prepare 2 Breaded Onion Rings	1x Onion 2x Baking Soda 1x Flour	Large Knife Fork Bowl or Bowl	Cooking: 0	Any Surface	Yes	`/additem Base.FriedOnionRings`
Baguette	Prepare Baguette	10x Flour 2x Salt or Seasoning Salt 1x Yeast 1 L Water Bottle	Rolling Pin Fork Bowl or Bowl	Cooking: 0	Any Surface	Yes	`/additem Base.Baguette`
Biscuits	Prepare Biscuits	1x Muffin Tray 1x Flour 2x Salt or Seasoning Salt 1x Baking Soda 1x Lard 2 L Dispenser Bottle	Fork Bowl or Bowl	Cooking: 0	Any Surface	Yes	`/additem Base.Muffintray_Biscuit`
Bread	Prepare Bread Dough	10x Flour 2x Salt or Seasoning Salt 1x Yeast 1 L Water Bottle	Fork Bowl or Bowl Rolling Pin	Cooking: 0	Any Surface	Yes	`/additem Base.Bread`
Fried Shrimp	Prepare Breaded Shrimp	1x Baking Soda 3x Flour 1x Shrimp	-	Cooking: 0	Any Surface	Yes	`/additem Base.ShrimpFried`
Baking Tray with Chocolate Chip Cookies	Prepare Chocolate Chip Cookies	1x Baking Tray 2x Lard 5x Brown Sugar 2x Egg 1x Baking Soda 6x Chocolate Chips 3x Flour 1 L Water Bottle	Rolling Pin Fork Bowl or Bowl	Cooking: 0	Any Surface	Yes	`/additem Base.CookieChocolateChipDough`
Baking Tray with Oatmeal Cookies	Prepare Oatmeal Cookies	1x Baking Tray 2x Lard 5x Brown Sugar 2x Egg 1x Baking Soda 10x Can of Oats 3x Flour 1 L Water Bottle	Rolling Pin Fork Bowl or Bowl	Cooking: 0	Any Surface	Yes	`/additem Base.CookiesOatmealDough`
Pie Dough	Prepare Pie Dough	10x Flour 1x Butter or similar 2x Salt or Seasoning Salt 2 L Dispenser Bottle	Rolling Pin Fork Bowl or Bowl	Cooking: 0	Any Surface	Yes	`/additem Base.PieDough`
Pizza	Prepare Pizza	6x Flour 1x Salt 15x Cheese 15x Tomato Paste 1x Yeast 0.5 L Water Bottle	Rolling Pin Fork Bowl	Cooking: 0	Any Surface	Yes	`/additem Base.PizzaRecipe`
Baking Tray with Shortbread Cookies	Prepare Shortbread Cookies	1x Baking Tray 4x Butter 10x Brown Sugar 3x Flour 1 L Water Bottle	Rolling Pin Fork Bowl or Bowl	Cooking: 0	Any Surface	Yes	`/additem Base.CookiesShortbreadDough`
Baking Tray with Sugar Cookies	Prepare Sugar Cookies	1x Baking Tray 2x Lard 10x Brown Sugar 2x Egg 1x Baking Soda 3x Flour 1 L Water Bottle	Rolling Pin Fork Bowl or Bowl	Cooking: 0	Any Surface	Yes	`/additem Base.CookiesSugarDough`

Occupations with Keen Cook

These occupations hand out Keen Cook for free.

Name	Image	Points
Burger Flipper		+2
Chef		-2

Keen Cook Conflicting Traits

A character with Keen Cook cannot also take these traits.

Name	Image	Points	Type
Keen Cook		-3	Positive Trait

Picking Keen Cook

For 3 points, Keen Cook is one of the best value traits in the game. Cooking matters in almost every long run. The preserving recipe alone pays for it once a farm is producing.

A Chef or Burger Flipper start already includes the trait. Other characters can buy it cheaply. It pairs well with Gardener, since home-grown crops feed straight into the recipes.

Notes

Burger Flipper and Chef already include this trait.
Jars of Preserved Food carry a base through winter.
Foraging finds slightly more food with this trait.
Gardener pairs well for a farm-to-kitchen build.

All Character Categories

All Traits

Positive TraitsNegative TraitsOccupation Traits

Trait	Points	Effect
Adrenaline Junkie	-4	Moves faster when highly panicked.
Angler	-4	Fishing +1
Artisan	-2	Better at pottery and glass crafts.
Athletic	-10	Faster running speed. Can run for longer without tiring.
Baseball Player	-4	Long Blunt +1
Blacksmith Knowledge	-6	Can use an anvil to create metal items.
Brave	-4	Less prone to becoming panicked.
Brawler	-6	Axe +1, Long Blunt +1
Bushcrafter	-8	Can find medicinal herbs and craft medicines and poultices from them, and make simple stone and bone tools. Start fires faster.
Cat's Eyes	-3	Better vision at night.
Crafty	-3	Increased XP gains for Crafting skills.
Dextrous	-2	Transfers inventory items quickly. Faster rope climbing speed, and less chance of falling. Faster weapon shouldering time.
Eagle Eyed	-4	Faster visibility fade. Higher visibility arc. Weapon sights more effective at long range.
Fast Healer	-6	Recovers quickly from injuries and illness.
Fast Learner	-6	Increased XP gains.
Fast Reader	-2	Takes less time to read books.
First Aider	-2	First Aid +1
Fit	-6	Fitness +2
Former Scout	-6	Start fires faster.
Gardener	-2	Agriculture +1
Graceful	-4	Makes less noise when moving.
Gymnast	-5	Lightfooted +1, Nimble +1
Handy	-8	Faster and stronger constructions.
Herbalist	-4	Can find medicinal herbs and craft medicines and poultices from them.
Hiker	-5	Foraging +1, Trapping +1
Hunter	-8	Aiming +1, Tracking +1, Sneaking +1, Short Blade +1, Butchering +1
Inconspicuous	-4	Less likely to be spotted by zombies.
Inventive	-2	Has lower skill level requirements to research recipes from items or auto learn recipes.
Iron Gut	-2	Less chance to have food illness.
Keen Cook	-3	Knows cooking recipes.
Keen Hearing	-6	Larger perception radius.
Light Eater	-2	Needs to eat less regularly.
Low Thirst	-2	Needs less water to survive.
Mason	-2	Better at building stone and brick constructions.
Nutritionist	-2	Can see the nutritional values of any food.
Organized	-4	Increased container inventory capacity.
Outdoorsy	-2	Less affected by harsh weather conditions.
Resilient	-4	Less prone to disease. Slower rate of zombification.
Runner	-4	Running +1
Sewer	-4	Tailoring +1
Speed Demon	-1	Drives very fast.
Stout	-6	Extra knockback from melee weapons. Increased carrying weight.
Strong	-10	Extra knockback from melee weapons. Increased carrying weight.
Target Shooter	-5	Aiming +1
Thick-skinned	-8	Lower chance of being scratched or bitten.
Tinkerer	-4	Maintenance +1
Vehicle Knowledge	-3	Has knowledge of common and commercial vehicle models, and repairs.
Wakeful	-3	Needs less sleep.
Whittler	-2	Can carve wood and bone items.

Trait	Points	Effect
Agoraphobic	+4	Gets panicked when outdoors.
All Thumbs	+2	Transfers inventory items slowly. Can't craft anything while walking. Slower rope climbing speed, and higher chance of falling. Slower weapon shouldering time.
Claustrophobic	+4	Gets panicked when in small indoor rooms.
Clumsy	+2	Makes more noise when moving.
Conspicuous	+4	More likely to be spotted by zombies.
Cowardly	+2	Especially prone to becoming panicked.
Deaf	+12	Can't hear sound.
Disorganized	+6	Decreased container inventory capacity. Affects world containers and bags, but not your main inventory.
Fast Metabolism	+2	Permanent tendency to lose weight. Starts with Low Weight trait.
Fear of Blood	+5	Panic when performing first aid on self. Cannot perform first aid on others. Gets stressed when bloody.
Hard of Hearing	+4	Smaller perception radius. Smaller hearing range.
Hearty Appetite	+4	Needs to eat more regularly.
High Thirst	+2	Needs more water to survive.
Illiterate	+10	Cannot read any books or in-world text.
Out of Shape	+6	Low endurance, low endurance regeneration.
Prone to Illness	+4	More prone to disease. Faster rate of zombification.
Puny	+10	Far less knockback from melee weapons. Extremely small carrying weight.
Reluctant Fighter	+5	Decreased combat XP gains.
Restless Sleeper	+6	Slow loss of tiredness while sleeping.
Short Sighted	+2	Smaller view distance. Slower visibility fade. Weapon sights less effective.
Short of Breath	+5	Faster endurance loss.
Sleepyhead	+4	Needs more sleep.
Slow Healer	+3	Recovers slowly from injuries and illness.
Slow Learner	+6	Decreased XP gains.
Slow Metabolism	+2	Permanent tendency to gain weight. Starts with High Weight trait.
Slow Reader	+2	Takes longer to read books and other literature.
Smoker	+3	Unhappiness rises when tobacco is not smoked. Stress and unhappiness decrease after smoking tobacco.
Sunday Driver	+1	Drives very slow.
Thin-skinned	+8	Higher chance of being scratched or bitten by zombies.
Unfit	+10	Very low endurance and endurance regeneration.
Weak	+6	Less knockback from melee weapons. Decreased carrying weight.
Weak Stomach	+2	Higher chance to have food illness.

Trait	Points	Effect
Ax-pert	-	Better at chopping trees. Faster axe swing.
Desensitized	-	Far less prone to panic. Ignore discomfort.
Emaciated	-	Low strength, low endurance and prone to injury.
High Weight	-	Reduced running speed, low endurance and prone to injury.
Low Weight	-	Low strength, low endurance and prone to injury.
Marksman	-	Improved gun accuracy and damage. Quicker reload.
Night Owl	-	Requires little sleep. Stays extra alert even when sleeping.
Very High Weight	-	Reduced running speed, very low endurance and prone to injury.
Very Low Weight	-	Very low strength, very low endurance and prone to injury.