Karma (Fallout: New Vegas)

For an overview of the game mechanic across titles, see Karma.

Karma is a gameplay mechanic in Fallout: New Vegas. It reflects the balance of positive and negative actions towards the inhabitants of the wasteland.

Characteristics

In Fallout: New Vegas, Karma functions parallel to Reputation as a game mechanic. Karma works mechanically as a 2,000-point linear scale with -1,000 being the most Evil, 0 is firmly Neutral, and +1,000 the most Good. Unlike Reputation, where one's Fame and Infamy cannot be lost (which can lead to a "Mixed" reputation), Karma can be both gained and lost, followed by a specific notification and audio effect:

Gaining Karma points	Losing Karma points

Companions and Karma

Unlike Fallout 3, having a certain Karma level is not a requirement for recruiting any permanent companions. That said, a unique case is found with Cass where, after being recruited during Heartache by the Number, if one's Karma drops to -100, she will initiate dialogue and complain about their behavior, with a second warning following one's Karms dropping further to -150. If one manages to keep their Karma within the Neutral threshold (between -250 to 250) and not drop it further, she will not complain anymore. However, talking to her again after one has achieved Evil Karma at -250, she will scold them and permanently leave the party. Note that there is no grace period between Cass's interactions in which one can improve their Karma, meaning it is possible to get her abandonment dialogue in the space of minutes by making three attempts in a row to converse with her with Evil Karma. While she will initially agree to travel with an Evil Karma character, the first attempt to talk with her (which one will need to do in order to tell her to travel with them) will result in the first of her three strikes being used up on the spot.

Karma-based interactions

If one is completing a non-Legion faction ending, when meeting Legate Lanius at the Legate's camp during the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, if the Speech or Barter checks cannot be passed and/or one picks certain dialogue options, he will prepare to engage combat. In this instance, a unique Good Karma dialogue option becomes available where Lanius can be convinced to fight them alone, regardless of whether the player character has companions of their own with them.

The ending slides for each faction ending have variants based on whether the player character had Good, Neutral, or Evil Karma after finishing their ending quest.

Karma levels

Karma level icons, from left to right: Very Evil, Evil, Neutral, Good, Very Good

Upon waking up in Goodsprings, the Karma meter will always be set at 0 and changes depending on certain actions performed by the player character. There are 5 levels with certain thresholds according to one's Karma value:

• Very Good - from 750 to 1,000.
• Good - from 250 to 749.
• Neutral - from -249 to 249.
• Evil - from -250 to -749.
• Very Evil - from -750 to -1,000.

Karma titles

The current Karma level is defined by a "Karma title" which is uniquely tied to one's level. The base game level cap is set at 30 and, although each of the four major add-ons for the game raise this cap by 5 levels up to a maximum of 50, from level 31 up to 50 will have the same Karma title:

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

Karma-influencing actions

Gaining Karma

• Giving Med-X to Boxcars inside the Nipton General Store: +20 Karma for a single dose or +30 Karma for two doses or +40 Karma for three doses or +50 Karma for five doses with a possibility of getting a bonus of +100 Karma for killing him afterwards, possibly due to his affiliation with the Powder Gangers. (The donation option disappears after any amount of Med-X has been given to him to prevent the player from repeatedly coming back to make further donations for extra Karma, meaning that whatever Karma is obtained from the first donation is final.)
• Wiping out the criminal inhabitants of Vault 19.
• Killing Feral ghouls of any kind: +100 Karma.
• Freeing the prisoners in Vault 3 (Karma can still be gained by simply unlocking the cell door even if the occupants are killed).
• Killing a Very Evil character or creature (Vulpes Inculta, Philippe, Mortimer, Duke, Cook-Cook, or Jackal gang leaders): +100 Karma.
• Some quests will give positive Karma if one declines any rewards offered for completing them, including Bye Bye Love, and Someone to Watch Over Me.
• Convincing Oscar Velasco to let go of his hate and join the Great Khans at Red Rock Canyon during Climb Ev'ry Mountain.
• Informing Lieutenant Hayes about Tyrone supplying chemicals to the Great Khans.
• Agreeing to keep Westside's siphoning of NCR pipelines a secret in exchange for Anderson turning himself in for Cpl. White's murder during The White Wash.
• Untying Benny at the Fort if he is allowed to live.
• Convincing Diane to make more helpful chems.
• Giving healing powder to Daniel: +5 Karma each.

Losing Karma

• 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 a container is opened once and two items are stolen, one will lose 5 Karma, but if the same container is opened twice, and one item is stolen each time, one will lose 5 Karma each time, making 10 Karma lost in total).
• Planting an explosive through reverse-pickpocketing.
• Repeatedly hacking an owned (red text) computer terminal (classified as stealing, but can be done over and over again): -1 Karma per hack attempt. Even accessing the terminal will result in negative karma.
• Sabotaging the rockets during Come Fly With Me.
• Crucifying Benny at the Fort.
• Lying to Dr. Richards that one cannot find the thief during Medical Mystery.
• Accepting the bribe from Private Stone during Medical Mystery.
• Vandalizing the Boulder City Memorial with a weapon and then proceeding to insult Private Kowalski and his dead brother instead of apologizing to him with a speech check after being confronted about having damaged the memorial: -25 Karma regardless of whether or not the player kills him or decides to run away and spare his life after he opens fire in a fit of sudden rage.
• Disabling or killing Mr. House: -50 Karma.
• Enslaving Arcade Gannon for Caesar during Et Tumor, Brute?
• Convincing Oscar Velasco to take revenge during Climb Ev'ry Mountain.
• Humiliating Grecks by taking his clothes.
• Convincing Frank Weathers to commit suicide during Left My Heart.
• Setting off the bomb collars on the Weathers family in Cottonwood Cove.
• Choosing the attack option when conversing with Private Edwards.
• Demanding further payment from Lieutenant Markland during Bitter Springs Infirmary Blues.
• Demanding payment from Captain Gilles during No, Not Much.
• Encouraging Alice Hostetler to kill Mrs. Hostetler during Someone to Watch Over Me.
• Complementing Alice Hostetler on killing Mrs. Hostetler during Someone to Watch Over Me. Once this quest has been completed Alice will relocate to the Aerotech Office Park, and this dialogue option can be repeated indefinitely for infinite negative Karma.
• Telling Lindsay that Mister Cuddles is dead.
• Tearing Sergeant Teddy in half when talking to Melody.
• Lying to Marcus that one needs 3,000 caps to pay off the mercenaries during Unfriendly Persuasion.
• Initiating the self-destruct sequence at the Hidden Valley bunker: -100 Karma upon exiting the bunker.
• Lying to Comm Officer Lenk that one is there to collect payment for the Omertas.
• Calling Comm Officer Lenk pathetic and telling her the Rangers never should have let her join.
• Altering the Misfits' records during Flags of Our Foul-Ups.
• Devouring a corpse (Cannibal perk needed): -1 Karma per corpse.
• Killing a non-evil creature: -25 Karma.
• Killing a Very Good character or creature (Sarah Weintraub, Sunny Smiles, Julie Farkas, Keely, Bill Ronte, Jacob Hoff, Malcolm Holmes, Bert Gunnarsson, Old Ben, or Tomas): -100 Karma.
• Making Boone kill a target without first obtaining proof in One for My Baby: -25 Karma
• Telling Boone you "just wanted [him] to kill him/her" in One for My Baby: -100 Karma
• Lying to Christine Royce, or threatening her with Terrifying Presence, and making her go down the elevator during the quest Mixed Signals.
• Killing Dog/God during Put the Beast Down.
• Lying to Waking Cloud about her husband's fate at the end of A Family Affair.
• Threatening to hack into Dr. 8 during On the Same Wavelength.

Maintaining Neutral Karma

Due to the number of actions that can both gain and lose Karma, if one is seeking to maintain a Neutral Karma level, certain orders of actions can be used:

• Killing Fiends or Powder Gangers or feral ghouls to raise Karma.
• Stealing owned items from NPCs' homes and inventories to drop Karma.
• With the Lonesome Road add-on, three perks become available at level 50 (Ain't Like That Now, Just Lucky I'm Alive, and Thought You Died) that all reset Karma to 0 when taken in exchange for respective benefits.

Notes

• It is normally impossible to see one's exact Karma value, meaning it is necessary to use use the console command player.getav Karma to view it.
• One can see their current Karma title in the Pip-Boy, in the "general" category in the stats section. If the general category of the Pip-Boy shows the character's faction reputation instead, the player may need to press the button shown in the top right of the Pip-Boy screen to view their Karma level.
• When attempting to steal drained energy cells, casings or any type of ammunition ingredients from non-player characters, there is no risk of failure, no Karma loss and the NPC will not react even if detected when taking them. This could be due to the drained cells and casings having no monetary value, much the same way vendors will let the player character take such objects for free from their shops. This explanation appears to be accurate since the same phenomenon also occurs with Xander roots.
• Even if one is Vilified by a given faction, stealing any items from owned containers of that faction or lockpicking their doors, will result in a loss of Karma. This occurs whether one is seen or not. However, no Karma is gained or lost if the player character steals from containers belonging to criminal groups, such as the Powder Gangers, so long as their reputation with said group is Vilified.
• The player character will only lose Karma for killing a non-Evil creature or NPC if they are assigned to a faction that is programmed to give the player character a Karma penalty for killing its members; by default, no Karma is lost for killing Good/Very Good characters. The same is true for Evil and Very Evil characters.
• The values for Karma gain may be bugged; currently, killing "Very Evil" NPCs such as Vulpes Inculta gains the player character only +2 Karma gain, while killing some Fiends and feral ghouls grants 100 Karma.

Bugs

• Playstation 3 There is a random glitch where the Karma title remains at "Guardian of the Wastes" or "Scourge of the Wastes" even if the player character is above level 20. This occurs with Good, Neutral and Evil Karma.^[verified]
• PC Playstation 3 Xbox 360 When reaching higher levels, the game may "forget" one's Karma at random times, then it will return without warning.^[verified]