Karma (Fallout 2)

Karma in Fallout 2 is basically the renamed "General Reputation." Changes include: Reputation titles are kept, and a 'reputation' statistic is added.

Like in other games, Karma is how you are generally perceived in various places by various people. It may have an effect on how others interact, mostly in dialogue.

Karma is, philosophically, the principle of cause and effect, with the effects of your actions but also your intentions that are take into account measured in point called "Karma points". The more an intention or an action have a major impact, the more you win or lose more or less Karma points.

It is classified by three types: good, neutral, and evil. Players always start a new game with 0 Karma points, a neutral Karma. People will behave differently toward you depending upon your Karma, and it's also a factor to unlock certain dialogue options or able to do something specific.

Karma titles
Your Karma status is defined by a "Karma title", depending of your Karma points.

Specific Vault Boy images were going to appear to represent the Karma titles, but probably due to an oversight, they don't appear in-game and a specific image that includes all the Karma titles is put in their place.

Companions and Karma
The recruitment of the companions is sometimes affected by Karma:
 * Sulik: Ditto, but will also not join if the Chosen One is Hated in Klamath.
 * Lenny: disbands if the Chosen One has bad reputations, like having poor Karma or destroying Gecko's nuclear power plant as part of its quest.
 * John Cassidy: will not join someone with too low a Karma, or any bad reputation title.
 * Marcus: will not join anyone with low karma.