Reputation Affects Karma

[SignedName]

A way to integrate Karma a bit more thoroughly, as well as make certain decisions have a permanent effect on Karma as well as Reputation.

The basic framework would be that some factions would be designated as "Good" some as "Evil" and most as Neutral. Achieving a positive Reputation with a Good faction would reward a small one-time Karma bonus (say 25/50/100 for each respective rank) while negative Reputation would reduce your max Karma (200 points for Villified, 100 for other negative reputations). Evil factions would reduce max Karma for being Idolized (100), but you would receive no Karma bonus for being Villified by them (that would be too easy). Being Villified by a Neutral faction would also reduce max Karma (100).

Goodsprings, Freeside, and the Followers of the Apocalypse would be Good, as the ways you raise or lower your reputation with them are the least morally ambiguous, and Caesar's Legion and the Powder Gangers would be Evil. The effect of this would be that you couldn't become beyond moral reproach just by being Idolized by for your do-gooding, but you could end up being irredeemable if you wrong enough factions/settlements.

[sullyvanj93]

I feel like this defeats the purpose of having the two separate systems? That's why the game split it up into two scales to begin with.

[SignedName]

The Karma system in New Vegas is barebones and superfluous, it's almost impossible to get negative Karma in vanilla and as a result even when doing an "evil" playthrough you'll get the ending slides for a Good Karma ending (Many a True Nerd famously maintained positive Karma in his "kill everything" run). The idea is to make it so an Evil ending is possible without using cheap tricks/exploits, as resorting to petty theft or repeatedly accessing owned terminals can't be the dev intention for what should constitute an "evil" playthrough.

[laclongquan]

Karma can be punished by taking owned items, with owner being non-evil variety (Raider or fiend or ganger doesnt hit karma that way)

So you can be hit to hundred points just from looting a cell full of owned items.

Anyway, I speak of this because when people say they dont like karma system they actually mean they dont like being punished for looting items lying around.