Gifted is the best trait and such a no-brainer practically any build should take it.



Most of the traits are duds. Your real choices are between Fast Shot, Small Frame and Finesse.



Fast Shot: Higher ROF is great, but you lose called shots. Since shooting people in the groin is part of the Fallout charm, it's a costly trade-off. This trait is much better in FO2 since you can get the Gauss pistol; with the other higher ROF perks and the extra AP perks, you can get like a million shots per round with that thing. It's still worthwhile in FO1, but again, you can't shoot people in the junk if you take it.



Small Frame: This is more of a hindrance in FO1 than it is in FO2. Think of it like an extra attribute point (wonderful) at the cost of less carry weight (bad). If you plan on taking several party members, however, they can act as mules and so the cost of the trait is vastly outweighed by the benefit.



Finesse: The additional damage from more crits outweighs the regular damage lost from the trait, especially if you start with a reasonably high Luck and aim for the head or eyes a lot. The main problem with Finesse is that it becomes obsolete once you get the Sniper perk later in the game.



There is a contingent of the fanbase that likes Bloody Mess a lot- but IMHO, you'll see all the death animations in the game and always seeing the best ones gets kind of repetitive, personally.



Tag Small Guns, Speech and Lockpick for your skills- the "optimal build" for the game is basically a gunslinging diplomat.



Strength and Endurance don't need to be terribly high; I'd advise starting with a high Agility (even 10 points) since it comes in so handy during combat. Intelligence should also be pretty high. You need a Perception of 5 or 6 or so to get one of the best perks in the game. Charisma can be a dump stat if you're rolling with no party members, otherwise keep it at 4 or so to have at least two buddies. The first perk you take should be the one that lets you see how many hit points enemies have remaining; it is EXTREMELY useful.



It can't really be modded but there is a fan patch that's advisable; you can get it from No Mutants Allowed.



There are few crippling choices; the game is a miracle of non-linearity in CRPG design. However, for a first playthrough I recommend following the conventional path the game gives you. Take your time and explore, do side quests, etc. Enjoy! You are about to experience one of the finest CRPGs ever made.



Oh, and save often and always save before going in a building since you can (very rarely) get NPC blocked inside a house.