Depending on your Karma, you'll now either go on a rampage (start with pickpocketing and stealing things from all the villages), kill good people - simply do really bad stuff. Or you will now play the saint and give Purified waters to the beggars (you can get Purified waters from your butler robot as well - use the wait function to replenish). Fallout 3 - The Pitt (Karma). I'm on my good karma character so i would like to do the good karma choice. Thanks for the discussion:) 11 years ago. Dec 26, 2008 Karma on fallout is basically just like a good and evil system (similar to Fable I and II: Awesome games) If you have bad karma people will more or less hate you and vice versa for good karma. Another interesting factor is that people with bad karma are hunted by bounty hunters and people with good karma are attacked by evil assassins. It's not hard to gain Good Karma in Fallout 3, actions that award positive karma are all around you, and offer significant boosts to your karma level. Providing water to beggars outside of Megaton, Rivet City and Tenpenny Tower is an easy, repeatable way to gain Good Karma. It's so good to be bad.
For an overview of karma in the Fallout universe, see Karma. |
Karma is the reflection of all good and evil choices you make during the game and how they are perceived by the inhabitants of the wasteland.
- 4Ways to change karma
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:
Value | Karma | Image |
---|---|---|
-1000 to -750 | Very Evil | |
-749 to -250 | Evil | |
-249 to +249 | Neutral | |
+250 to +749 | Good | |
+750 to +1000 | Very Good |
Overviews
Karma doesn't have as much of effect on gameplay as in Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout 3, since reputation has a more important place.
However, it does still exist and if someone catches you performing an action that causes negative Karma against their faction you will often lose reputation with that faction; for example, stealing something from The Silver Rush where a Van Graff can see you. They may also become openly hostile despite your reputation with them not being lowered enough for you to be considered hated where they will attack you.
Karma's basic mechanics work similarly to the way they do in Fallout 3 (a 2001 point linear scale with -1000 being the most evil and +1000 the most good). Unlike reputation, where one can only gain fame or gain infamy, karma can be gained and lost.
Karma also no longer determines which companions you can recruit. However, when opening a conversation with Cass after she has joined you and when you have substantially negative karma (-100) she will complain about your behavior. You will get a second warning when your karma is even lower (-150). After that, she won't complain anymore, as long as the player stays neutral. When you continue on your path to 'the dark side' and talk to her again while having evil karma (-250) she will leave for good. Note that Cass does not actually grant the player any grace period to improve their karma, so a player who doesn't know better can alienate her in the space of minutes by making three attempts in a row to converse with her. Even though she will agree to accompany an evil character, the first attempt to talk with her (which you will need to do in order to tell her to travel with you) will result in her telling the player that they 'can be a real asshole sometimes' and the first of three strikes will be used up on the spot.
The values for karma gain may be bugged; currently killing Very Evil NPCs (such as Vulpes Inculta) gives only 2 karma, yet killing some Fiends and Feral Ghouls grants 100 karma.
Some ending narration in the game's epilogue will also depend upon the player's karma. (See Fallout: New Vegas endings for details.)
Karma titles
Your karma status is defined by a 'karma title', depending of your karma points and on your level. Though each of the add-ons raise the level cap by five, titles do not change past level 30.
Level | Good karma | Neutral karma | Bad karma |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Samaritan | Drifter | Grifter |
2 | Martyr | Renegade | 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 | Betrayer |
9 | Desert Avenger | Desert Scavenger | Desert Terror |
10 | Exemplar | Observer | Ne'er-do-well |
11 | Vegas Crusader | Vegas Councilor | Vegas Crime lord |
12 | Paladin | Keeper | Defiler |
13 | Mojave Legend | Mojave Myth | Mojave Boogeyman |
14 | Shield of Hope | Pinnacle of Survival | Sword of Despair |
15 | Vegas Legend | Vegas Myth | Vegas Boogeyman |
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 | Guardian of the Wastes | Renegade of the Wastes | Scourge of the Wastes |
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 | Last, Best Hope of Humanity | Moneygrubber | Soultaker |
29 | Savior of the Damned | Gray Stranger | Demon's Spawn |
30+ | Messiah | True Mortal | Devil |
Ways to change karma
To increase karma to Good or Very Good
- Go inside Vault 3 and kill some Fiends or go inside the NCR Correctional Facility and kill some Powder Gangers.
- Give Med-X to Boxcars, the injured Powder Ganger, inside Nipton general store. Note, you can only do this once.
Maintain Neutral karma
- Kill Fiends or Powder Gangers if your karma is too low.
- Steal items if your karma is too high.
To decrease karma to Evil or Very Evil
- Steal items. (This can subtract Karma as many times as the player wishes by stealing from an owned container, replacing the item, exiting, and stealing it again.)
- Go on a killing spree in a faction.
- Access an owned computer terminal (which can subtract Karma as many times as the player wishes).
For an overview of karma in the Fallout universe, see Karma. |
Karma is the reflection of all good and evil choices you make during the game and how they are perceived by the inhabitants of the wasteland.
- 3Obtaining karma points
- 4Effects of 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:
Value | Karma | Image |
---|---|---|
-1000 to -750 | Very Evil | |
-749 to -250 | Evil | |
-249 to +249 | Neutral | |
+250 to +749 | Good | |
+750 to +1000 | Very Good |
Karma titles
Your karma status is defined by a 'karma title', depending of your karma points and on your level. Karma titles above level 20 can only be reached with the add-onBroken 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 Councilor | 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 |
Obtaining karma points
Positive
- Donating caps to a church (In increments of 10, 50, or 100):+1 karma per cap
- Selling fingers taken from the corpses of evil characters (you killed) to Sonora Cruz via the Lawbringer perk:+10 karma per finger
- Giving away scrap metal to Walter in Water Processing Plant, Megaton for free:+10 karma per item
- Giving away purified water to beggar characters like Carlos outside of Rivet City:+50 karma per item
- Performing a good action in a quest: At least +50 karma (ex: Bring Cherry to Rivet City.)
- Killing a very evil character or creature (Allistair Tenpenny , Mister Burke, Eulogy Jones, Carolina Red, Ahzrukhal, Jaime Palabras, Jotun, Ymir, and Cutter):+100 karma
- Disarming the Megaton bomb in The Power of the Atom quest without requesting payment:+200 karma
- Activating the failsafe in the Tranquility Lane quest: +300 karma
- Activating Project Purityyourself in the quest Take it Back!: +1000 karmaBroken Steel
- Blowing up the Enclave Mobile Command Crawler in the Who Dares Wins quest in the Broken Steeladd-on :+1000 karma
- Taking the Escalator to Heaven perk in the Broken Steel add-on: +2000 karma (essentially, it resets your karma to the maximum 1000)
Neutral
- Taking the Karmic Rebalance perk in the Broken Steel add-on instantly sets your karma back to 0.
Negative
What Does Karma Do In Fallout 3
- Devour a corpse (Cannibal perk required):-1 karma per corpse
- Stealing from a non-evil character or faction:-5 karma per instance (note that when stealing from owned (red text) containers, such as cabinets or lockers, the karma change applies once per activation of that container. Meaning, if you open a container once and steal two items, you lose 5 karma, but if you open the same container twice, stealing one item each time, you will lose 5 karma each time, which means you lose 10 karma). Items can be replaced in owned containers after being stolen, and then stolen again and again with the same karma loss each time, making for a useful method by which console gamers can decrease their karma, although repeatedly hacking an owned terminal is a faster way of doing this.
- Repeatedly hacking an owned (red text) terminal (Classifies as stealing, but can be done over and over again)-5 karma per hack attempt, NOTE, even accessing the terminal will result in negative karma
- 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.)
- Giving psycho to Paulie Cantelli in Rivet City: -100 karma each time so long as he's alive
- Enslaving any character with the Mesmetron:-100 karma
- Causing Mister Lopez to commit suicide (either by pushing him or insulting him):-500 karma
- Letting the feral ghouls into Tenpenny Tower in the Tenpenny Tower quest: -600 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 karmaBroken Steel
- Blowing up the Citadel in the Who Dares Wins quest in the Broken Steel add-on :-1000 karma
- Taking the Devil's Highway perk in the Broken Steel add-on:-2000 karma (essentially, it resets your karma to the minimum -1000)
Effects of karma levels
Good karma
What Does Karma Do In Fallout 3 Dlc
- Access to Star Paladin Cross and Fawkes.
- Talon Company Mercs will come after you.
- A citizen in Megaton will reward you for your good-doings with ammo and other random gifts.
Neutral karma
- The use of the Impartial Mediation perk, the single biggest skill boost in the game.
- Access to Sergeant RL-3, a good early-to-mid game follower, and Butch.
- Neither Talon Company, nor the Regulators will come after you.
Bad karma
- The Regulators will be after you.
- Access to Clover and Jericho, good early-to-mid game followers.
- A slaver in Paradise Falls will reward you for your wrong-doings with ammo and other random gifts.
Companions and Karma
In Fallout 3, some companions have a karma level requirement that must be met if the player wishes to enlist them:
- Clover and Jericho need a bad karma to be recruited. After being hired, they will follow the player regardless of changes in karma level, although they will often mention how boring the player is, should he become good.
- 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.
- Players with high karma may hire Fawkes or Star Paladin Cross. 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 will leave your side if you become evil after hiring them, and will refuse to follow you again until your karma is high enough.
- Dogmeat will follow you regardless of what your karma level is.
Sounds
- Karma gain
- Karma lose