Ostranauts Character Creation — Resume, Traits and Age
✔ Last checked: 2026-08-12
Character creation is a life simulator before the life simulator: you start at 18, asteroid-born and physically wrecked, and every resume choice costs years — until you accept a ship offer and the game begins. It’s the most consequential system in Ostranauts, and the one old guides get wrong least often (it’s been stable), though 1.0 values are still being spot-checked.
What you start with
All characters begin with Spaceship Engineering and Zero-G Ops, plus a brutal trait package from growing up in micro-gravity: Feeble, Fragile, Micro-g Hypovolemic, Immunosuppressed, Insomniac, Unfit, Visual Impaired. Net effect: slower healing, lower G-tolerance, weaker melee. Your resume’s real job is digging out of this hole.
The four resume options
| Option | Cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Seek Adventure | Years + risk | Branching events (Poker Game, Crackdown, Daily Grind…) paying out skills, traits, contacts, cash, items |
| Work on Skills | 1–3 years each | Guaranteed skill: 3yr for Spaceship Engineering/EVA/Piloting; 2yr for Hacking, Business Admin, melee; 1yr for Robotics, Software, Persuasion |
| Adjust Traits | Years (or gain years) | Buy positives (Brave 2yr, Strong 2yr, Genius 3yr); taking negatives refunds years |
| Save Some Money | 1 year | $300–600. Almost never worth it |
Two rules shape everything: positive traits cancel their matching negative instead of stacking (Tough removes Fragile), and you can never get younger.
The clock is the difficulty slider
- Age 29: first semi-random negative trait roll.
- Age 42: second roll.
- Age 47+: forced to accept the next ship offer, ready or not.
Seek Ship shows one offer per year; declining costs a year of searching. Weigh mortgage, hull size and life support — a cheap airtight box beats a debt trap, as covered in the ships guide.
Contacts and enemies from adventures (Law Friend, Criminal Enemy and the like) persist into the game and matter for hiring crew and story beats. When your spacer’s ready, the beginner guide picks up at the dorm on K-Leg.
When the offers come in, starting ships covers what to actually compare — and why the biggest hull is usually the wrong pick.
FAQ
What age should I start at in Ostranauts?
You begin the resume at 18 and age with every choice. Semi-random negative traits arrive at 29 and again at 42, and at 47+ you're forced to take the next ship offer. Most builds finish somewhere in the 20s to keep trait risk low.
Can you remove negative traits in character creation?
Yes, two ways: spend resume years to buy them off, or earn the opposing positive trait — gaining Tough removes Fragile instead of stacking, per the wiki's cancellation rule.
What skills do you start with?
Every character starts with Spaceship Engineering and Zero-G Ops from their asteroid upbringing, alongside a pile of negative physical traits like Feeble, Fragile and Unfit.
Is taking 'Save Some Money' worth it?
Rarely. It pays a few hundred dollars a year — the wiki itself calls it incredibly low versus what adventures or skills return. Money problems are better solved after undocking.