Gaming
 

Karma

From The Vault


“ Karma's a real bitch, you'd be wise to remember that. ”

—-Michael Masters.
Karma

Generally referencing the actual concept of Karma, Karma (as a tab on your in-game character sheet) in the Fallout series is the reflection of all good and evil choices you make during the game. In the first Fallout, it only covered a statistic called "Reputation" , as well as the special Karma/Reputation perks. In Fallout 2, what was originally called Reputation was renamed to Karma, and Reputation became a measurement of how you are perceived by various communities.

As a statistic, Karma (Reputation in the original Fallout) is a measurement of your good or bad deeds and how perceived by the inhabitants of the wasteland. Also, you can gain "titles" displaying your "achievements". For example, in Fallout, if you kill a child, you earn the Childkiller award.

Contents

[edit] Fallout 2

[edit] Neutral Karma

[edit] Wanderer

Wanderer

You start off with the status of a 'wanderer' with 0 karma points. This Status can therefore also be called Neutral. You stay a wanderer until you either reach +250 or -250 karma points.

[edit] Positive Karma

[edit] Defender

Defender
  • If your positive karma reaches 250 you gain the status of the 'Defender'.
  • This karma is an obvious reference to Batman, at least to anyone looking for a deeper meaning to it than just its definition.

[edit] Shield of Hope

Shield of Hope
  • If your positive karma reaches 481 you gain the status of the 'Shield of Hope'.
  • This Karma is a reference to Captain America  even though that wasn't his shield's name.

[edit] Guardian of the Wastes

Guardian of the Wastes
  • If your positive karma reaches 751 you gain the status of the 'Guardian of the Wastes'.
  • This Karma level is a reference to the British Foot Guards.

[edit] Savior of the Damned

Savior of the Damned
  • If your positive karma reaches 1000 you gain the status of the 'Savior of the Damned'.

[edit] Negative Karma

[edit] Betrayer

Betrayer

If your negative karma reaches -250 you gain the status of the 'Betrayer'.

[edit] Sword of Despair

Sword of Despair

If your negative karma reaches -481 you gain the status of the 'Sword of Despair'.

[edit] Scourge of the Wastes

Scourge of the Wastes

If your negative karma reaches -751 you gain the status of the 'Scourge of the Wastes'.

[edit] Demon Spawn

Demon Spawn
  • If your negative karma reaches -1001 you gain the status of the 'Demon Spawn'.
  • This Karma is a reference to Spawn.

[edit] Fallout 3

Karma is the system in Fallout 3 that keeps track of the moral actions and consequences of a character. Karma is the principle of cause and effect, and it represents the player's aptitude towards a certain status: good, neutral or evil. Although it is measured in points, the player never gets to see a numerical karmic value, only the title. You can only use the console command player.getav karma to get the current value of karma.

People will behave differently toward you depending upon your karma. For example, if a player has very good karma in Megaton, one NPC will talk to the player everyday to give them free items such as ammo, food or medicine. Players with evil karma can get the same benefits in Paradise Falls.

If the player's karma ever becomes Good, they will be targeted by Talon Company Mercs (even if their karma subsequently drops back to Neutral or Evil). Likewise, if the player's karma ever becomes Evil, they will be targeted by Regulators, even if their karma later raises to Neutral or Good. A player that has been both Good and Evil (i.e. in order to recruit all followers) may sometimes find themselves attacked by both Talon Company Mercs and Regulators at the same time (though they may attack each other first!) Keeping a neutral Karma level will result in neither Regulators nor Talon Company Mercs to bother you.

[edit] Companions and karma

Surprisingly, the two companions (excluding those who don't care about the player's karma) that prove themselves to be the most loyal are those who require low (or evil) karma: in other words, Clover and Jericho. After being hired, they will follow the player regardless of changes in his or her karma level, although they will often mention how boring the player is, shall he become good. That is probably because the Lone Wanderer paid for their services (not to mention that Clover herself is a slave, thus blindfully loyal), and because they don't really have a "conscience". Following the Lone Wanderer as he or she helps other people is boring, but not disturbing. Jericho is a companion that can prove himself handy when given good armor and weapons. Clover, however, appears to be much weaker than other companions (including Jericho), but when separated from you due to certain events of the story, she will join you again when you go looking for her, unlike Jericho.

Butch DeLoria and Sergeant RL-3, both recruited with Neutral Karma, are similar to Clover and Jericho. They will not leave if your karma becomes good or evil, but unlike Clover, you can't get them back with a high or low karma level when the main story separates you. Furthermore, while RL-3 can be an interesting follower, Butch proves himself to be the worst companion of the game.

Players with high karma may hire Fawkes or Star Paladin Cross. Both are very tough characters, and Cross is a very versatile fighter. They are not slaves or servants like Clover and Charon: they will follow you of their own free will, without any cost, if you ask them and have good karma. Be aware, however, that being good characters, they have a conscience and will leave your side if you become evil after hiring them, and will refuse to follow you again until your karma is high enough. If you want to pick one of them as your follower, be aware also that they appear quite late in the game. You cannot hire Star Paladin Cross before you gain access to the Citadel, which means that you cannot have her as your companion until the quest The Waters of Life is completed. Fawkes, although he appears when the player searches for the G.E.C.K. in Vault 87, cannot be hired before the player escapes from Raven Rock (end of The American Dream).

[edit] Karma levels

Karma levels

You begin the game with a value of zero, which increases or decreases based on the players actions. There are 5 levels of Karma:

  • 1000 to 750 : Very Good
  • 749 to 250 : Good
  • 249 to -249 : Neutral
  • -250 to -749 : Evil
  • -750 to -1000 : Very Evil

[edit] Titles

Good karma titles apply if your karma is above +250 points, neutral titles are awarded if your karma is between -249 and +249 points and evil titles are assigned if your karma is less than -250 points.

Ranks above 20 can only be reached with the add-on Broken Steel.

Level Good karma Neutral karma Bad karma Achievement/Trophy
1 Vault Guardian Vault Dweller Vault Delinquent -
2 Vault Martyr Vault Renegade Vault Outlaw -
3 Sentinel Seeker Opportunist -
4 Defender Wanderer Plunderer -
5 Dignitary Citizen Fat Cat -
6 Peacekeeper Adventurer Marauder -
7 Ranger of the Wastes Vagabond of the Wastes Pirate of the Wastes -
8 Protector Mercenary Reaver 10G/bronze
9 Urban Avenger Urban Ranger Urban Invader -
10 Exemplar Observer Ne'er-do-well -
11 Capital Crusader Capital Councillor Capital Crimelord -
12 Paladin Keeper Defiler -
13 Vault Legend Vault Descendant Vault Boogeyman -
14 Ambassador of Peace Pinnacle of Survival Harbinger of War 20G/bronze
15 Urban Legend Urban Myth Urban Superstition -
16 Hero of the Wastes Strider of the Wastes Villain of the Wastes -
17 Paragon Beholder Fiend -
18 Wasteland Savior Wasteland Watcher Wasteland Destroyer -
19 Saint Super-Human Evil Incarnate -
20 Last, Best Hope of Humanity Paradigm of Humanity Scourge of Humanity 30G/silver
21 Restorer of Faith Soldier of Fortune Architect of Doom -
22 Model of Selflessness Profiteer Bringer of Sorrow -
23 Shepherd Egocentric Deceiver -
24 Friend of the People Loner Consort of Discord -
25 Champion of Justice Hero for Hire Stuff of Nightmares -
26 Symbol of Order Model of Apathy Agent of Chaos -
27 Herald of Tranquility Person of Refinement Instrument of Ruin -
28 Lightbringer Moneygrubber Soultaker -
29 Earthly Angel Gray Stranger Demon's Spawn -
30 Messiah True Mortal Devil 20G/bronze

[edit] Ways of changing karma in Fallout 3

[edit] Add Karma (Doing Good)

[edit] Subtract Karma (Doing Evil)

  • Devour a corpse (Cannibal Perk required): -1 karma per corpse
  • Stealing from a non-Evil character or faction: -5 karma per transaction
  • Repeatedly hacking a locked terminal (Classifies as stealing, but can be done over and over again) -5 karma per hack attempt
  • Selling Ears taken from the corpses of good characters (you killed) to Daniel Littlehorn via the Contract Killer Perk: -10 karma per ear
  • Killing a Good creature: -25 karma
  • Performing an evil action in a quest: At least -50 karma
  • Killing a non-Evil character: -100 karma (although, this can be gotten around by shooting them once, making them hostile, then letting a follower kill them.)
  • Enslaving any character with the Mesmetron: -100 karma
  • Blowing up Megaton in the Power of the Atom quest: -1000 karma
  • Infecting Project Purity with the modified FEV in the Quest Take It Back! : -1000 karma
  • Blowing up the Citadel in the Who Dares Wins quest in the Broken Steel DLC: -1000 karma

To manually adjust karma, the console command rewardkarma xxx can be used, where "xxx" stands for the amount the player wants to add or use a negative value to decrease it instead. Best used when trying to recruit permanent companions.

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