# KARMA_DATA — FO3 Karma Engine Source of Record > **Snapshot as of 2026-07-15 — Protocol 8 Stage 2 (Sonnet build).** > Every value below was fetched live from `fallout.wiki` (via the in-app Browser > tool — direct `WebFetch` was blocked with 403/402 by the wiki's anti-scraping > layer, so the browser tool's rendered-page text was used instead; content is > identical, only the retrieval method differs). This file is the **transcription > source** for `GAME_DEFS.FO3.karma` in `js/core/state.js` — the build's only job > is to copy these values in, never to re-derive or "improve" them (Protocol 3). > > **Corrections vs. the Stage-1 plan's inline data:** the Stage-1 plan > (`planning/KARMA_ENGINE_PLAN.md`) paraphrased this data from an earlier > extraction. Two live-verified corrections were found and are called out > inline below (§2 Level 11 title spelling; §5 Regulator squad size is > actually verified, not unverified as the plan assumed). Everything else in > the plan checked out against the live page. --- ## 1. Karma bands (unchanged — matches shipped `_KARMA_TIERS`) **src:** `fallout.wiki "Karma (Fallout 3)"` — "Karma levels" section. > Very Good: +750 to +1000. > Good: +250 to +749. > Neutral: -249 to +249. > Evil: -250 to -749. > Very Evil: -750 to -1000. Confirms the shipped `js/ui/ui-core-cmd.js` `_KARMA_TIERS` breakpoints are correct. **Do not change them** (per the Stage-1 plan's explicit instruction). --- ## 2. The 90 karma titles (level 1–30 × Good/Neutral/Bad) **src:** `fallout.wiki "Karma (Fallout 3)"` — "Karma titles" section, table transcribed verbatim (the wiki's own `(Karma)` disambiguation-link suffixes, e.g. "Vault Dweller (Karma)", are a MediaWiki link-disambiguation artifact, not part of the in-game title text, and are stripped here — the bare title is what the game displays). > The Karma status is defined by a title depending on one's Karma points and > level. Karma titles above level 20 can only be reached with DLCs [Broken Steel]. **⚠ Correction vs. Stage-1 plan:** the plan's inline title list gave Level 11 as "Capitol Crusader / Capitol Councilor / Capitol Crimelord". The live wiki page spells it **"Capital"** (consistent with "Capital Wasteland", the game's own region name) — **"Capital Crusader / Capital Councilor / Capital Crimelord"**. Verified directly against the rendered wiki table; used here as the corrected value. | Level | Good | Neutral | Bad | |---|---|---|---| | 1 | Vault Guardian | Vault Dweller | Vault Delinquent | | 2 | Vault Martyr | Vault Renegade | Vault 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 | Reaver | | 9 | Urban Avenger | Urban Ranger | Urban Invader | | 10 | Exemplar | Observer | Ne'er-do-well | | 11 | Capital Crusader | Capital Councilor | Capital Crimelord | | 12 | Paladin | Keeper | Defiler | | 13 | Vault Legend | Vault Descendant | Vault Boogeyman | | 14 | Ambassador of Peace | Pinnacle of Survival | Harbinger of War | | 15 | Urban Legend | Urban Myth | Urban Superstition | | 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 | Last, Best Hope of Humanity | Paradigm of Humanity | Scourge of Humanity | | 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 † | Lightbringer | Moneygrubber | Soultaker | | 29 † | Earthly Angel | Gray Stranger | Demon's Spawn | | 30 † | Messiah | True Mortal | Devil | † Levels 21–30 require the Broken Steel add-on to actually reach in the base game's level cap (20), but the titles exist in the table regardless — the app allows level up to 50 with no DLC-gating, so these simply resolve once `state.lvl` is high enough. No gating needed (Stage-1 plan §7 edge case 3). **Level clamp:** app `MAX_PLAYER_LEVEL = 50` (`js/ui/ui-core-cmd.js:268`) exceeds the title table's max of 30 — `getKarmaTitle` must clamp `lvl` to 30 before indexing (levels 31–50 show the Level-30 title). --- ## 3. Karma-affecting events (the action picker) **src:** `fallout.wiki "Karma (Fallout 3)"` — "Obtaining Karma points" section (Positive / Negative / Other), transcribed verbatim. Repeatability is inferred from the wiki's own phrasing ("per cap", "per instance", "each time" = repeatable; a single named quest/story beat = one-off) and cross-checked against the "Fallout 3 Random Encounters" page where relevant. ### 3a. Repeatable (grindable) — positive | id | label | delta | src note | |---|---|---|---| | `donate_church` | Donated caps to a church | +1 per cap | "Donating caps to a church (In increments of 10, 50, or 100): +1 Karma per cap." | | `lawbringer_finger` | Sold a Lawbringer finger to Sonora Cruz | +10 per finger | "Selling fingers taken from the corpses of evil characters... to Sonora Cruz via the Lawbringer perk: +10 Karma per finger." | | `scrap_to_walter` | Gave free scrap metal to Walter | +10 per scrap | "Giving Scrap Metal to Walter in Megaton's Water Processing Plant for free: +10 Karma per scrap." | | `water_to_beggar` | Gave Purified Water to a beggar | +50 per item | "Giving away Purified Water... to beggar characters like Carlos outside of Rivet City: +50 Karma per item." | | `save_captive_reward` | Saved a Wasteland Captive (took the reward) | +50 | "Saving a Wasteland Captive: +50 Karma" | | `save_captive_no_reward` | Saved a Wasteland Captive (refused the reward) | +75 | "Saving a wasteland captive without the Reward: +75 Karma" | | `kill_very_evil` | Killed a Very Evil character/creature | +100 | "Killing a Very Evil character or creature (Allistair Tenpenny, Mister Burke, Eulogy Jones, Carolina Red, Ahzrukhal, Jaime, Jotun, Ymir, Cutter or a cannibal Hunter): +100 Karma" | ### 3b. Repeatable — negative | id | label | delta | src note | |---|---|---|---| | `cannibalize` | Devoured a corpse (Cannibal perk) | −1 per corpse | "Devour a corpse (Cannibal perk required): -1 Karma per corpse." | | `steal_owned_container` | Stole from an owned container | −5 per activation | "Stealing from a non-evil character or faction: -5 Karma per instance... the Karma change applies once per activation of that container." | | `hack_owned_terminal` | Hacked/accessed an owned terminal | −5 per attempt | "Repeatedly hacking an owned (red text) terminal... -5 Karma per hack attempt, NOTE, even accessing the terminal will result in negative Karma." | | `contract_killer_ear` | Sold a Contract Killer ear to Daniel Littlehorn | −10 per ear | "Selling ears taken from the corpses of good characters... to Daniel Littlehorn via the Contract Killer perk: -10 Karma per ear." | | `kill_good_creature` | Killed a Good creature | −25 | "Killing a good creature: -25 Karma" | | `fev_water_to_beggar` | Gave FEV-tainted Aqua Pura to a beggar | −50 per item | "Giving away Aqua Pura with the Modified FEV... to beggar characters like Carlos outside of Rivet City: -50 Karma per item." | | `kill_non_evil` | Killed a non-evil character | −100 | "Killing a non-evil character: -100 Karma" — ⚠ **conditional**, see §3d below; a manual picker row, never an automatic NPC-alignment inference. | | `psycho_to_paulie` | Gave Psycho to Paulie Cantelli | −100 | "Giving Psycho to Paulie Cantelli in Rivet City: -100 Karma each time so long as he is alive." | | `mesmetron_enslave` | Enslaved a character with the Mesmetron | −100 | "Enslaving any character with the Mesmetron: -100 Karma" | ### 3c. One-off story beats (positive) | id | label | delta | src note | |---|---|---|---| | `mei_wong_gun` | Gave Mei Wong 25 caps for a gun | +100 | "Giving 25 caps to Mei Wong to buy a gun: +100 Karma" | | `disarm_megaton_bomb` | Disarmed the Megaton bomb without payment | +200 | "Disarming the Megaton bomb in The Power of the Atom quest without requesting payment: +200 Karma" | | `tranquility_failsafe` | Activated the Tranquility Lane failsafe | +300 | "Activating the Failsafe in the Tranquility Lane Simulation: +300 Karma" | | `destroy_enclave_crawler` | Destroyed the Enclave Mobile Command crawler | +500 | "Blowing up the Enclave Mobile Command crawler in Who Dares Wins in the Broken Steel DLC +500 Karma" | | `destroy_krivbeknih` | Destroyed the Krivbeknih | +500 | "Destroying The Krivbeknih in the Point Lookout add-on: +500 Karma" | ### 3c. One-off story beats (negative) | id | label | delta | src note | |---|---|---|---| | `burn_harold` | Burned Harold (Oasis) | −200 | "Burning Harold in the quest Oasis: -200 Karma" | | `bryan_wilks_paradise_falls` | Sold Bryan Wilks to Paradise Falls | −400 | "Bringing Bryan Wilks to Paradise Falls during Those!: -400 Karma" | | `mister_lopez_suicide` | Caused Mister Lopez to commit suicide | −500 | "Causing Mister Lopez to commit suicide (either by pushing him or insulting him): -500 Karma" | | `ghouls_into_tenpenny` | Let the Feral Ghouls into Tenpenny Tower | −600 | "Letting the Feral Ghouls into Tenpenny Tower in the Tenpenny Tower quest: -600 Karma" | | `blow_up_megaton` | Blew up Megaton | −1000 | "Blowing up Megaton in The Power of the Atom quest: -1000 Karma" | | `infect_purity_fev` | Infected Project Purity with FEV | −1000 | "Infecting Project Purity with the Modified FEV in the Quest Take it Back!: -1000 Karma" — corroborated by the "Take it Back!" quest page: "Inserting the modified FEV lowers Karma by 1000." No conflict on this one. | | `destroy_citadel` | Destroyed the Citadel | −1000 | "Blowing up the Citadel in Who Dares Wins in the Broken Steel add-on: -1000 Karma" | ### 3d. Kill-penalty modeling note (Protocol 3 trap — Stage-1 plan §9a) The Notes section of the Karma page states explicitly: > "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." This means `kill_non_evil` (−100) is **conditional on per-NPC programmed faction data the app does not have** — it must stay a manual picker row the player taps when the game tells them a kill cost karma, never an automatic `if (npc.alignment...)` inference. The event ships with its cited delta; the *decision to apply it* stays entirely with the player. ### 3e. UNVERIFIED — generic "quest act" deltas (ship as `null`) The Karma page also lists two **unquantified** generic categories: > "Performing a good action in a quest: At least +50 Karma (ex: Bring Cherry to > Rivet City.)" > "Performing an evil act in a quest: At least -50 Karma" No exact number is given — only a floor ("at least"). Per Protocol 3 this ships as `delta: null` with `verificationStatus: 'unverified'`; the picker row shows "value unverified (wiki states 'at least ±50', no exact figure)" and is disabled. | id | label | delta | verificationStatus | |---|---|---|---| | `good_quest_act` | Performed a good act in a quest (exact value not specified) | `null` | `unverified` | | `evil_quest_act` | Performed an evil act in a quest (exact value not specified) | `null` | `unverified` | ### 3f. UNVERIFIED / CONFLICT — Project Purity self-activation Two pages disagree on the karma value for self-activating Project Purity in *Take it Back!*: - `fallout.wiki "Karma (Fallout 3)"`: "Activating Project Purity by yourself in the quest Take it Back!: **+600 Karma**" — no DLC qualifier stated. - `fallout.wiki "Take it Back!"`: "If one has the Broken Steel add-on, the player character's Karma will be raised by **1000** if they decide to activate the purifier themselves. Karma is unaffected if Sentinel Lyons or one of the player character's Companions is sent in." — explicitly tied to Broken Steel; silent on the base-game (no-DLC) case. This is a genuine, unresolved **source conflict** (Stage-1 plan §9 flagged this exact case in advance). Ships as: | id | label | delta | verificationStatus | |---|---|---|---| | `project_purity_self` | Activated Project Purity yourself | `null` | `conflict` — src cites both pages; conflicting values +600 (Karma page, no DLC qualifier) vs +1000 (Take it Back! page, Broken Steel-qualified) | ### 3g. Not modeled (perk-triggered, out of scope) The Broken Steel perks **Escalator to Heaven** (+2000, resets karma to max +1000) and **Devil's Highway** (−2000, resets karma to min −1000) are perk-selection side effects, not discrete player-tappable actions — they are noted here for completeness but are **not** added to the `events[]` picker (the picker models actions, not perk acquisition; taking a perk is already tracked elsewhere in the app's perk system). Scope stays tight per the narrowest reading of the brief. The Head of State (abolitionists/slavers), Arefu truce, Weston Lesko lie, and Timebomb-kill entries listed on the wiki page's Positive/Negative lists carry **no explicit karma number at all** (not even an "at least" floor) — they are omitted from the transcribed event table entirely rather than invented as UNVERIFIED rows, since the wiki does not actually assert a numeric karma effect for them. --- ## 4. Hit squads **src:** `fallout.wiki "Karma (Fallout 3)"` (Effects of Karma levels) + `fallout.wiki "Fallout 3 Random Encounters"` (Karma-Related section) + `fallout.wiki "Regulator (Fallout 3)"` + `fallout.wiki "Talon Company Merc"` + `fallout.wiki "Bounty Notice"` + `fallout.wiki "Private Contract"`. > "Regulator Hit Squad ... A Regulator ambush takes place if one has a Karma > rating of Evil or Very Evil, with the 'Bounty Notice' note." (Random > Encounters page) > "Talon Company Hit Squad ... A Talon Company ambush takes place if you have > a Karma rating of Good or Very Good, with the 'Private Contract' note." > (Random Encounters page) ⛔ **There is no Enclave hit squad anywhere in any of these sources.** The shipped `[!] ENCLAVE HIT SQUAD RISK` string is a fabrication with no basis in the cited material — this is exactly the Protocol 3 violation this unit exists to fix, and the citation guard's anti-regression check locks this fact down. **⚠ Correction vs. Stage-1 plan:** the plan's §3a inline sketch marked `squadSize: null, verificationStatus: 'unverified'` for **both** factions. Live verification found the **Regulator** page states a specific number: > "They typically operate in three-member squads when searching the Wasteland > for the Lone Wanderer, if the latter has at least evil Karma." (`Regulator > (Fallout 3)` page) This is a real, citable value — **Regulator squad size ships as `3`, not `null`.** Talon Company's page instead only states squads are "of different sizes dependent on the Lone Wanderer's level" **without giving the specific per-level numbers anywhere found on fallout.wiki** — the Stage-1 plan's inline draft asserted a specific "L1–7=2, L8–11=3, L12–15=4, L16+=5" breakdown that could not be verified against any live fallout.wiki page (checked: Talon Company, Talon Company Merc, Fallout 3 Random Encounters). Per Protocol 3, an unverifiable number is never transcribed — **Talon squad size ships as `null` + `verificationStatus: 'unverified'`**, correcting the plan's assumption. | faction | alignment | threshold | contract note | bounty | squadSize | spawnFrequency | verificationStatus | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Regulators | evil | ≤ −250 | Bounty Notice | 1,000 caps | **3** (typical) | `null` | `verified` (squad size + threshold); spawn frequency unverified | | Talon Company | good | ≥ +250 | Private Contract | 1,000 caps | `null` | `null` | `verified` (threshold); squad size + spawn frequency unverified | Both bounty notes ("Bounty Notice" / "Private Contract" holotape transcripts) independently confirm **1,000 caps** as the bounty amount on each side. --- ## 5. Companions (8 total, 4 gate-classes) **src:** `fallout.wiki "Karma (Fallout 3)"` (Companions and Karma section) + each companion's own page, as cited per row. > "Clover and Jericho require the player to have bad karma to be recruited... > Butch DeLoria and Sergeant RL-3 require the player to have neutral Karma... > Fawkes and Star Paladin Cross require the player to have good Karma... > Dogmeat and Charon will follow the player character regardless of what their > Karma level is." | name | karmaReq | otherGate | src | |---|---|---|---| | Dogmeat | none | Found at the Scrapyard fighting off Raiders (or occasionally at The Mall). Recruitable "regardless of any other companion or Karma level." | `fallout.wiki "Dogmeat (Fallout 3)"` | | Charon | none | Obtain his employment contract from Ahzrukhal at The Ninth Circle: kill Greta for Ahzrukhal, OR pay 2,000–5,000 caps, OR pay 1,000 caps with Barter 50. "Charon will join the Lone Wanderer regardless of Karma." | `fallout.wiki "Charon (Fallout 3)"` | | Fawkes | good | Freed from a cell in the Vault 87 Test Labs; joins outside Raven Rock at the final stages of *The American Dream*. | `fallout.wiki "Fawkes"`, `fallout.wiki "Karma (Fallout 3)"` | | Star Paladin Cross | good | Found at the Citadel Laboratory (Brotherhood of Steel HQ), Elder Lyons' seneschal. | `fallout.wiki "Star Paladin Cross"`, `fallout.wiki "Karma (Fallout 3)"` | | Butch DeLoria | neutral | After completing *Trouble on the Homefront* (opening or destroying Vault 101), found at the Muddy Rudder in Rivet City. Requires neutral Karma to recruit; once hired he stays regardless of later karma shifts. | `fallout.wiki "Butch"` | | Sergeant RL-3 | neutral | Purchased from Tinker Joe (between the RobCo Facility and Tenpenny Tower) for 1,000 caps, or 500 caps with Barter 70. Requires neutral Karma. | `fallout.wiki "Sergeant RL-3"` | | Clover | evil | Purchased from Eulogy Jones at Paradise Falls for 1,000 caps, or 500 caps with Barter 50. "She may be bought by the Lone Wanderer if their Karma is evil enough." | `fallout.wiki "Clover"` | | Jericho | evil | Found in Megaton; requests 1,000 caps for "supplies" before joining. Recruitable with evil Karma. | `fallout.wiki "Jericho"` | Behavioral note (not modeled as state, informational only): once recruited, each companion "will not leave if karma changes" within their own tier direction — e.g. Fawkes stays if karma later drops to neutral, but won't *rejoin* if dismissed while karma is off-tier. The app's karma-gate check is a **recruitment-eligibility** signal, not a live-companion-loyalty simulator. --- ## 6. Also verified — companion-availability text, source-conflict resolution - Karma page's "Effects of Karma levels" section corroborates the same 3-way companion split as the dedicated companion pages (cross-checked, no discrepancy). - `fallout.wiki "Take it Back!"` was fetched specifically to resolve the Project Purity conflict (§3f) — confirmed as a genuine conflict, not a transcription error on either side. --- ## 7. Retrieval method note Direct `WebFetch` calls to `fallout.wiki` and `fallout.fandom.com` were blocked (403 Forbidden / 402 Payment Required — anti-scraping measures on both domains). All data above was retrieved by loading the live pages in the in-app Browser tool and reading the rendered page text — same content, same URLs, different retrieval path. Every `src` citation above names the actual page title as it appears on fallout.wiki; no secondary/mirror source was used for any numeric or title value.