Managing difficult follower traits
Which traits quietly drain faith, and what each one actually costs you.
Faith drains are stated as exact numbers
The trait descriptions give the numbers directly. AgainstSacrifice costs -5 Faith when a follower is sacrificed. FearOfDeath costs -5 Faith whenever another follower dies. FearOfSickPeople costs -5 Faith when another cult member becomes sick. Germophobe costs -10 Faith when the follower falls ill. Three of those four fire when something happens to somebody else, so one sick follower with the wrong traits drains faith repeatedly.
Productivity traits are percentages
Faithless generates Devotion 15% slower. Lazy reduces work and devotion generation speed by 10%. Cynical is 15% harder to level up. MushroomBanned increases work speed and devotion generation by 10% but carries a 50% chance of a follower effect. These are compounding penalties on the same follower, so two of them on one follower is worse than one each on two.
Some traits are conditional trades
HateElderly grants +10 Faith if an elder is sacrificed, murdered or consumed, but carries a large penalty otherwise. Disciplinarian reduces Faith loss when jailing a follower who deserves it and states that all are born guilty. Read the whole sentence: the benefit and the penalty are in the same trait.
Disciple is a promotion, not a personality trait
The Disciple description states it is a member of the Inner Circle who can re-educate Dissenters and use special Shrines. That is a role you assign through Ritual of Discipleship, not a trait a follower is born with. Do not filter it in with personality traits when you plan a flock.
Match the counter to the trait
Zealous ignores dissenters when they preach, which addresses dissent directly. Sacrifice and death triggers (AgainstSacrifice, FearOfDeath) are reduced by doctrine choices that cut death penalties. Illness triggers (Germophobe, FearOfSickPeople) are addressed by treating sickness fast. Pick the counter that matches the trigger.