Summary
Fallout’s karma system does a decent job of tracking player actions, but its record isn’t perfect when it comes to the various NPCs of the wasteland. While a lot of characters do manage to get a karma rating that’s in tune with their actual morality, theFalloutgames have also missed wildly, to the point that their karma can be outright misleading. In most cases, it only takes a quick conversation to see their true personalities, which makes these instances quite surprising.
The Karma system is one ofFallout’s most classic role-playing features, and it’s pretty simple to understand. Performing moral, kind, or heroic acts will give the player good karma, while evil, cruel, and dishonest actions instead award evil karma. Often, there are some features that are only available to players of certain karma levels, such asFallout 3’s karma-specific companions. NPCs also have static karma ratings, determining their morality and effect on the player’s karma.
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Fallout: New Vegas: Dixon’s Karma Should Be South of Neutral
Out in thewastelands thatFallout’s protagonists explore, most characters that they encounter will probably be Neutral. In general, Neutral karma indicates a pretty average person, someone who won’t go out of their way to be heroic, but also isn’t prone to significant acts of cruelty. In short, Neutral karma represents someone that a player could run into in everyday life. However, Dixon fromFallout: New Vegasdoesn’t even come close to fitting that mold.
Dixon is a drug dealer living in Freeside who isn’t much more moral thanNew Vegas' resident raider gangs. He deliberately sells products that are more addictive and of lower quality, and laughs about how his customers become addicted to his wares. One of the game’s tasks even involves taking him to task regarding his actions, which he scoffs at. Despite Dixon’s callousness, the game considers him to have Neutral karma, which seems like a mistake.
While he is a minor character, Dixon never shows any redeeming qualities – not even inFallout: New Vegas' cut content. Between his smug attitude and the glee he takes in ruining people’s lives, Dixon is definitely an evil character despite what the karma label applied to him claims. The player only has to deal with him once, and that should be more than enough to show his true colors.
James Hsu in Fallout: New Vegas Deserves Better Than Neutral Karma
Out in the Mojave Wasteland,Fallout: New Vegas' New California Republicis a much better option than Caesars' Legion. However, the NCR is still far from perfect, with many high-ranking officials who are deeply flawed, including the president himself. Among this group, Colonel James Hsu manages to emerge as a levelheaded presence whose leadership skills could rival the leaders of other factions. Yet somehow, his in-game karma doesn’t seem to agree.
When Boone (one ofFallout: New Vegas' best companions) has praise for someone, that should be a good sign. In the player’s interactions with Hsu, he comes across as a lot more likable than almost anyone with real standing in the NCR. He’s responsible and reasonable, and in comparison to the rest of the NCR brass that the player can meet, he seems downright professional. However, despite his position as the most likable member of his faction, he only has Neutral karma.
James Hsu not having Good karma feels like a mistake. Fighting against Caesars' Legion inFallout: New Vegasis absolutely a heroic action, and he doesn’t seem to have been corrupted by his position. Considering his deeds, and the company he finds himself in, Colonel Hsu feels like someone whose karma should be higher than Neutral. That karma rating puts him on the same moral level as the borderline-bloodthirsty Colonel Moore, who he certainly holds the moral high ground over.
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Fallout 3’s Roy Phillips is the Opposite of a Good Person
The biggest failure ofFallout’s karma system can be found in one ofFallout 3’s darkest quests. Tenpenny Tower may be one of the nicest-looking places in the wasteland, but its owner is an absolutely terrible person. However, the game rightfully identified Alistair Tenpenny as Very Evil. His opponent in this quest, Roy Phillips, is classified as having Good karma. However, that description of Roy could not be more inaccurate, as he is at least as evil as Tenpenny.
Roy and his friends are denied entry to Tenpenny Tower because they’re ghouls. ConsideringGhouls' history in theFalloutuniverse, one could easily feel sympathetic for him. However, Roy himself is extremely unpleasant, and siding with him has terrible consequences. If allowed inside, Roy will let a horde of feral ghouls into the tower to kill all the inhabitants, and he won’t feel a shred of remorse for it. Yet somehow, even after that, he still counts as having Good karma.
Roy’s Good karma is one of the most baffling details in the game. His all-consuming hatred of humans makes it hard to differentiate him from thepeople who helped destroyFallout’s world, and that probably wouldn’t bother him. All the actions that he takes in-game, from killing the tower’s residents to supporting Megaton’s destruction, would make him deserving of Very Evil karma alongside his foe Tenpenny. Instead, he would probably laugh at the fact that players would lose karma if they decided to fight against him.
When it comes to the player themselves, they can typically do a decent job of keeping track of their own character’s karma. However, there are some occasions where even if a character’s alignment is glaringly obvious, the in-game karma designation might disagree. Admittedly, the overall effect of karma on the game is ultimately rather minimal compared to things likeFallout’s iconic power armor. Still, one can’t be blamed for wishing that the karma system inFalloutgames hadn’t made a few obvious errors in judgment.
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