Karma
Karma
Karma is one of the two reputation variables in the Reputation Title System (the other being Fame). It is a closed-range integer (−32,000 to +32,000) representing a character's moral standing. Karma is earned by slaying evil creatures, completing quests, and killing red (murderer) characters; it is lost by killing good creatures, stealing, making and applying poison, and casting Necromancy spells with Increased Karma Loss equipped. Karma directly drives two skill systems (Chivalry for paladins, Necromancy for dark casters), determines NPC interaction tier (very-low-Karma characters can't get vendor service), and gates the karma-color of the character's name as displayed to other players. The karma value is shown indirectly through a character's Paperdoll title (the karma title appears unless overridden by Fame Lord/Lady or by a Reputation Title).
How Karma is calculated
Karma changes via a per-event formula at every "morality-relevant" action.
Slaying an evil creature
A character with 5,000 Karma slaying an Ice Fiend (creature Karma = −18,000):
- Karma Gained = −(creature_karma / 100) − 50
- = −(−18,000 / 100) − 50
- = 180 − 50 = 130
- New Karma = 5,000 + 130 = 5,130
Slaying a good creature
A character with 10,497 Karma slaying a Crane (creature Karma = 150):
- Karma Lost = (−creature_karma − your_karma) / 100
- = (−150 − 10,497) / 100
- = −106 (rounded down)
- New Karma = 10,497 − 106 = 10,391
The penalty for slaying good creatures scales with your own Karma — high-Karma characters hemorrhage Karma faster on bad acts. Conversely, the bonus for slaying evil diminishes as you outpace the creature; if your Karma exceeds a monster's Karma magnitude, you gain little or nothing from killing it.
Karma levels
Karma sits on an exponential scale — higher tiers are increasingly difficult to reach.
| Level | Range |
|---|---|
| Positive Level 5 | 10,000 to 32,000 |
| Positive Level 4 | 5,000 to 9,999 |
| Positive Level 3 | 2,500 to 4,999 |
| Positive Level 2 | 1,000 to 2,499 |
| Positive Level 1 | 500 to 999 |
| Neutral Level 0 | 499 to −499 |
| Negative Level 1 | −500 to −1,249 |
| Negative Level 2 | −1,250 to −2,499 |
| Negative Level 3 | −2,500 to −4,999 |
| Negative Level 4 | −5,000 to −9,999 |
| Negative Level 5 | −10,000 to −32,000 |
The scale is slightly skewed toward the positive at early levels (a beginner's first kills weight Karma upward).
Karma titles (Paperdoll display)
Each Karma level has a paperdoll title that prefixes the character's name (unless overridden by a Fame Level-5 "Lord/Lady" or by a quest-granted Reputation Title):
| Karma level | Title prefix |
|---|---|
| +5 | The Glorious |
| +4 | The Honorable |
| +3 | The Trustworthy |
| +2 | The Estimable |
| +1 | The Respectable |
| 0 | (no prefix) |
| −1 | The Notorious |
| −2 | The Dishonorable |
| −3 | The Disreputable |
| −4 | The Despicable |
| −5 | The Dread Lord / Dread Lady |
The "Dread Lord" title is the canonical signal that the character is a deeply-committed dark caster or PvP murderer — it appears on negative-karma Necromancers running Vampiric Embrace / Reaper Form / dark-magic builds.
Color & Morality
Every NPC, animal, monster, and player character is rendered in a morality color that derives from Karma (and alignment). The color appears on the all-names display, the object-handle highlight, and the paperdoll title bar.
| Hue | Meaning | Karma effect of attack |
|---|---|---|
| Blue | Positive karma, good alignment | Killing reduces your Karma |
| Gray | Neutral or criminal flag | Karma gain may apply, may not |
| Red | Murderer (5+ kills); attackable freely | Killing reduces their Karma; you gain Karma for killing |
| Orange | Hostile (faction, war, etc.) | Karma neutral |
A player character can be blue and have negative Karma simultaneously — that's the canonical "I'm not a criminal but I'm a Necromancer" combination. In Ilshenar, certain blue NPCs (pixies, cu sidhes) aggressively target negative-karma blues — making the facet a dangerous neighborhood for dark casters.
Paragon karma bonus
Gold-hued (Paragon) creatures in Ilshenar receive a 40% increase in Fame and Karma over the non-paragon version, unless the creature has Karma 0 (in which case the bonus does not apply — see Publish 27). This makes Paragon kills substantially more rewarding for veteran karma-grinders.
Karma & Skills
Chivalry — paladin spell scaling
Chivalry spells scale with the caster's Karma. Every Chivalry spell except Sacred Journey is Karma-influenced:
| Spell | Karma effect |
|---|---|
| Close Wounds / Noble Sacrifice | Karma scales healing amount |
| Cleanse by Fire | Karma reduces self-damage incurred by the caster |
| Remove Curse / Dispel Evil | Caster Karma + target Fame + target Necromancy skill drives success chance |
| Consecrate Weapon / Divine Fury / Enemy of One | Karma scales duration and bonus magnitude |
| Holy Light | Karma is a base-damage component |
Paladins are dedicated max-Karma builds — Karma at +5 is non-negotiable for serious Chivalry use.
Necromancy — dark caster scaling
Necromancy inverts the relationship — negative Karma boosts certain dark arts:
| Mechanic | Negative-Karma effect |
|---|---|
| Shadow Wisp (Summon Familiar) | Regenerates mana for the caster and friendly characters only if their Karma is negative. A Dread Lord receives more mana than a Sinister Lord — an explicit Karma-gradient mana economy. |
| Increased Karma Loss (Item Property, Publish 36) | Item-side modifier that grants a higher rate of Karma loss while casting Necromancy spells. Currently found only on the Ossian Grimoire Necromancy spellbook — the canonical "all-in" dark-cast item. |
The Necromancer's calling is to drive Karma down into Dread Lord territory, then leverage the Karma-floor for maximum spell efficacy.
Karma Locking
When a character's Karma moves from neutral to negative, it is automatically locked. An ankh must be visited and the Karma unlocked before any further Karma can be regained (positive or negative).
The Karma lock is one-way: a locked character will not gain Karma from any action, but can still lose Karma from bad acts. Fame is unaffected by a Karma lock — you continue to gain/lose Fame independently.
Manual Karma locking is available at most shrines: access the Context Menu (right-click or shift-click) for the ankh and select Lock Karma.
| Lock case | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Necromancer holding Karma at −5 | Forces Karma to stay deeply negative even when accidentally killing evil creatures (PvM is Karma-positive by default, which would otherwise erode their negative Karma) |
| Paladin holding Karma at +5 | Less common (positive Karma rarely accidentally drops below the +5 threshold), but useful in PvP-heavy builds |
| Roleplay | A character's "moral identity" is locked-in regardless of in-game actions |
Karma at the extremes
| State | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Very low Karma (Dread Lord territory) | Most NPCs will not interact with the character. Vendors won't sell, healers won't rez, quest-givers won't speak. The Karma penalty is a hard NPC-facing wall. |
| Very high Karma (+5) | Full NPC interaction; positive social signals; canonical "good" identity |
Discerning a target's Karma
Access a target's Paperdoll. The displayed title includes the karma title — unless the character has a Fame Level-5 "Lord/Lady" title (which supersedes the karma title) or a quest-granted Reputation Title (which supersedes both).
Karma sources at a glance
| Action | Karma effect |
|---|---|
| Slay evil creature | Positive |
| Slay good creature | Negative (scales with your Karma) |
| Kill red (murderer) character | Positive |
| Kill blue (good) PC | Negative + Murderer count |
| Steal from a player or NPC | Negative |
| Create poison (Poisoning skill) | Negative |
| Apply poison to weapon | Negative |
| Cast Necromancy spell with Ossian Grimoire | Negative (accelerated) |
| Complete quests | Positive (varies by quest) |
| Bulk Order Deeds | Positive (Karma + Fame both granted) |
| Hand out gold to beggars (Begging) | Negative |
See also
- Fame — the partner reputation variable; combined with Karma for the Reputation Title System
- Chivalry — paladin skill system; spells scale with Karma
- Necromancy — dark-magic skill system; certain effects scale with negative Karma
- Publish 27 — paragon Karma bonus introduction
- Publish 36 — Increased Karma Loss item property introduction
- Ilshenar — facet where blue NPCs target negative-Karma blues
- Begging · Poisoning — Karma-negative skills