Karma

Original Boxed Set · Battle Book + Campaign Book

What Karma Is

Karma reflects a hero's control over luck, fate, and consequence. Mechanically, it's a pool of points each player tracks. Karma is earned by good behavior and spent to bend the dice.

Starting Karma equals the hero's Reason + Intuition + Psyche rank numbers added together. (Example: a hero with Good Reason, Typical Intuition, Excellent Psyche starts with 10 + 6 + 20 = 36 Karma.)

Earning Karma

Karma is awarded by the Judge for heroic action. Some standard awards:

Action	Karma
Defeating a costumed villain	10–30
Stopping an ordinary crime in progress	5
Saving an innocent life	10–30
Solving a major case or completing an adventure	25–100
Acting in character (good roleplay, the Judge's call)	1–5

Losing Karma

Bad behavior costs Karma. Some standard penalties:

Action	Karma
Killing a normal human, intentionally or not	−30
Letting a known villain escape when capture was possible	−10
Failing to save a life that was savable	−10
Reckless use of powers in public	−5
Acting out of character (the Judge's call)	−1 to −5

If Karma ever drops below 0, the hero is in crisis — see the Campaign Book for what happens next.

Spending Karma

Karma can be spent in several ways, but it must be spent BEFORE the dice are rolled:

Boost a FEAT roll. Each point of Karma spent adds or subtracts 1 from the d% result (player's choice). Karma can be spent on any FEAT except Popularity.
Stay conscious. Spend 5 Karma per round to keep an exhausted hero on his feet past his normal Endurance limit.
Invest in advancement. See the Campaign Book for converting Karma into permanent ability improvements over time.

Karma Pools

Heroes in a group can pool their Karma when working together on the same goal. The group's combined Karma is used for FEAT rolls made in service of that goal; individual members can't spend pool Karma for personal benefit.