Karma

Generally, Karma (as a tab on your in-game character sheet) 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 1, if you kill a child, you earn the Childkiller award.

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.

Defender
If your positive karma reaches 250 you gain the status of the 'Defender'.

Shield of Hope
If your positive karma reaches 481 you gain the status of the 'Shield of Hope'.

Guardian of the Wastes
If your positive karma reaches 751 you gain the status of the 'Guardian of the Wastes'.

Savior of the Damned
If your positive karma reaches 1001 you gain the status of the 'Savior of the Damned'. (No Image at the moment, please add one if you possess the proper emblem)

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

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

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

Demon Spawn
If your negative karma reaches -1001 you gain the status of the 'Demon Spawn'.

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 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.

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

Good
The following titles apply if your karma is above +250 points.


 * Level 1 - Vault Guardian
 * Level 2 - Vault Martyr
 * Level 3 - Sentinel
 * Level 4 - Defender
 * Level 5 - Dignitary
 * Level 6 - Peacekeeper
 * Level 7 - Ranger of the Wastes
 * Level 8 - Protector *
 * Level 9 - Urban Avenger
 * Level 10 - Exemplar
 * Level 11 - Capitol Crusader
 * Level 12 - Paladin
 * Level 13 - Vault Legend
 * Level 14 - Ambassador of Peace *
 * Level 15 - Urban Legend
 * Level 16 - Hero of the Wastes
 * Level 17 - Paragon
 * Level 18 - Wasteland Savior
 * Level 19 - Saint
 * Level 20 - Last, Best Hope of Humanity *
 * Achievement/Trophy awarded.

Neutral
The following titles are awarded if your karma is between -249 and +249 points.


 * Level 1 - Vault Dweller
 * Level 2 - Vault Renegade
 * Level 3 - Seeker
 * Level 4 - Wanderer
 * Level 5 - Citizen
 * Level 6 - Adventurer
 * Level 7 - Vagabond of the Wastes
 * Level 8 - Mercenary *
 * Level 9 - Urban Ranger
 * Level 10 - Observer
 * Level 11 - Capital Councillor
 * Level 12 - Keeper
 * Level 13 - Vault Descendant
 * Level 14 - Pinnacle of Survival *
 * Level 15 - Urban Myth
 * Level 16 - Strider of the Wastes
 * Level 17 - Beholder
 * Level 18 - Wasteland Watcher
 * Level 19 - Super-Human
 * Level 20 - Paradigm of Humanity *


 * Achievement awarded.

Evil
The following titles are awarded if your karma is less than -250 points.


 * Level 1 - Vault Delinquent
 * Level 2 - Vault Outlaw
 * Level 3 - Opportunist
 * Level 4 - Plunderer
 * Level 5 - Fat Cat
 * Level 6 - Marauder
 * Level 7 - Pirate of the Wastes
 * Level 8 - Reaver *
 * Level 9 - Urban Invader
 * Level 10 - Ne'er-do-well
 * Level 11 - Capital Crimelord
 * Level 12 - Defiler
 * Level 13 - Vault Boogeyman
 * Level 14 - Harbinger of War *
 * Level 15 - Urban Superstition
 * Level 16 - Villain of the Wastes
 * Level 17 - Fiend
 * Level 18 - Wasteland Destroyer
 * Level 19 - Evil Incarnate
 * Level 20 - Scourge of Humanity *


 * Achievement awarded.

Ways of lowering and raising karma in Fallout 3



 * Killing an Evil character or creature: +0 karma
 * Killing a Very Evil character or creature: +100 karma
 * Killing a Neutral or Good creature: -25 karma
 * Killing a Neutral or Good character: -100 karma
 * Enslaving a character using the Mesmetron and a slave collar: -100 karma
 * NOTE: YOU must kill a character that is evil or good to gain or lose karma. If you don't want to change your karma and kill someone you can shoot a car that is near them and have the explosion kill them or shoot, pickpocket or steal from them to make them hostile and have you partner (i.e. Fawkes) kill them.
 * NOTE: Enslaving Raiders is a good way to lower your karma and earn lots of caps without angering friendly NPCs. It's a good idea to do this in an indoor location where you can sneak up on them one at a time, i.e. Springvale School or Bethesda Ruins. You'll have to quicksave and quickload for max effectiveness, as the Mesmetron doesn't always stun its targets (instead sometimes merely angering them or causing their heads to pop).
 * NOTE: Evergreen Mills is a good place to lower your karma. Almost every time you go there a maxmimum of 3 raiders will be waiting for you. The raiders will wait for you when you arrive and attack you almost immediately but at least one can always be enslaved. Additionally the Behemoth that is present has some pathing bugs which cause him to stand still in certain locations. He can then be killed with a bit of patience, making a fast travel exit possible.
 * Stealing from a non-evil character or faction: -5 karma per item
 * Donating caps to any church: +1 karma per cap
 * NOTE:if you dont have any caps then steal an item worth more than 5 caps and sell it. (if you steal an item worth 15 caps, sell it, and donate the caps to a church then you will net 10+ karma
 * Devour a corpse (Cannibal Perk required): -1 karma per corpse
 * Giving away Purified Water to beggar characters like Carlos outside of Rivet City: +50 karma per item
 * NOTE: Your Megaton/Tenpenny Tower house robot Wadsworth/Godfrey gives 5 Purified Water a week freely, and there are beggars for water conveniently posted outside of Megaton and Tenpenny Tower. This is pretty much infinitely free positive karma.
 * Giving away Scrap Metal to Walter in Water Processing Plant, Megaton: +10 karma per item
 * Performing a good action in a freeform quest: At least +50 karma
 * Performing an evil action in a freeform quest: At least -50 karma
 * Repeatedly hacking a locked terminal (Classifies as stealing, but can be done over and over again)" -5 Karma per hack attempt
 * NOTE: There is a small bug that allows you to gain negative karma fairly quickly from this method. As you back out of the terminal click/select it as many times as you can before it completely closes back up. You get negative karma for each click as it retracts, enabling you to get around 20-30 Karma reduction each hack attempt, depending on how quick your fingers are. There is a Very easy -terminal in The Brass Lantern in Megaton (the restaurant opposite of the bomb), so you only need a Science level 15 or higher. (This can freeze your game! 360)
 * A good opportunity to lower your karma significantly without angering population is Tranquility Lane, just do whatever Betty asks of you.


 * Blowing up Megaton in the Power of the Atom quest: -1000 karma, the lowest possible in the game
 * Disarming the Megaton bomb: If you disarm the bomb for free, you will recieve +200 karma
 * If you want to lower your Karma and feel good about it, all of the residents in Tenpenny Tower are classified as Neutral or Good characters, -100 each. If you feel inclined towards ridding the world of bigotry...

To manually adjust karma, the console command rewardkarma xxx can be used, were "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.

Unequal Opportunities?
Some players argue that Fallout 3 rewards players who seek to gain karma over those who lose karma. Where as good karma players gain the strongest, most reliable followers and the praise of the majority of the inhabitants of the wasteland, bad karma players get weaker, less reliable followers, are generally disliked by everyone, and (if keeping in the spirit of the evil character) lose the second largest city in the game. And if the player is not careful, may turn their home into a feral ghoul infested ruin. Also neutral characters experience some similar setbacks as their followers are even weaker and if remaining truly neutral in the quest Power of the Atom, do not receive a house as following the set neutral path results in the same outcome as the good path, but with no karma change. Besides problems with the relative strength of good followers compared to evil/neutral followers are some other, unique, issues. Jericho will become slower and slower if he picks up or is given cigarettes. He, as well as Clover will also attack you if you steal from their respective homes, something that does not happen with other followers. Some say that the follower Charon, who is attainable no matter what your karma is, could be regarded as evening out the follower imbalance. Others say no, due to the fact that if you kill slaves, an evil action, in Charon's company he become hostile after you fire him.