History Main / KarmaMeter

* ''VideoGame/MiracleWarriors'' from the original UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem uses a very primitive version of this. In addition to running into monsters in the field, the player could also encounter Merchants, White Mages and Travellers (as well as evil counterparts of the same). The characters were subject to the same "Attack" and "Talk" commands available in the player's menu. Under normal conditions, talking to said characters yielded beneficial results such as the merchant selling you monster items, the White Mage healing the hero and his party, and the travellers offering up advice. Surprisingly these characters were also fountains of exp if the player could kill them, something that starts out easy because said characters will waste turns demanding to know what you're doing. The catch was, the more you did this, the more word of your misdeeds gets around, causing the in game population to question how much you and your crew can be trusted. This results in the good characters attacking you on sight (the White Mage packs a wallop) and the towns actively tossing you out on your axe. While the evil counterparts do become friendlier (the actual monsters could care less either way) their boons are often just less useful versions of the good guys' (with the evil merchant even taking advantage of your inability to enter towns to gouge you for more mundane items). The only way to restore your karma to good is to go on a very long killing spree against the bad characters (and like his good counterpart, the Black Mage packs a wallop, but only offers up a tenth of the exp) and there is an overlap where neither side is willing to help you.

* ''VideoGame/SplinterCellDoubleAgent'': The main focus: Sam Fisher has to curry the favour of both his native NSA and his target organization, the JBA. Interestingly, there are only a small handful of choices in the game that add to your trust with one faction while also taking an equivalent hit to your trust with the other, so it's neither difficult nor time-consuming to gain 100% favor with both the JBA and the NSA through the majority of the game. As seems to be the case with a lot of these games, your "good and evil" rating ended up depending on one action: [[spoiler:whether you kill your old friend and handler Lambert or the somewhat sympathetic but still entirely evil new friend in the JBA.]] This is not possible in "Version 2" of the game (the version on [[UsefulNotes/TheSixthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames sixth-generation]] consoles), which has a "classic" tug-of-war meter, meaning you can't please both the NSA and the JBA. Also one of the few examples which discourages playing to extremes, since doing so means that you're either "in over your head" or in danger of blowing your cover and being exposed as a double agent (i.e., complete a loyalty test within a time limit or you fail the mission).

%%* ''Manhwa/{{Yureka}}'': This is a plot point.

*** ''TabletopGame/LeviathanTheTempest'' has Tranquility, which represents the character's ability to keep his [[{{Kaiju}} beastial self]] and [[GodOfEvil divine self]] in check. The Leviathan has a Tranquility track of twelve boxes. The divine nature starts in the top box (which it will always occupy barring the intervention of an [[KidWithTheLeash Atoll]]) and expanding downwards from there whenever the Leviathan treats others as pawns, deliberately uses [[MindRape the Wake]] on others, goes too long without human contact, or is criticized by an Atoll. The bestial nature, on the other hand, starts in the bottom box (which, again, it cannot be removed from without an Atoll), and expands upwards whenever the Leviathan destroys things, attacks others without a good reason, goes too long without human contact, or is criticized by an Atoll. Whatever spaces are left in the middle are occupied by the Leviathan's human mind. When Tranquility hits zero, the Leviathan's divine and bestial selves come into direct conflict and battle for control. If the bestial self wins, the Leviathan becomes a Typhon, a feral beast dominated only by its instincts. If the divine self wins, the Leviathan becomes an Ophion, a mad demigod seeking to expand its power and influence by dominating and manipulating mortal proxies. If the Human wins, the leviathan becomes an EmptyShell as they've essentially lobotomized themselves in the process. One other quirk of Tranquility is that, unlike almost all other ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' KarmaMeters, the player does ''not'' have the ability to spend Experience to buy back lost Tranquility. Each School offers a specific achievement that will give you a chance to regain Tranquility, and it can be restored by positive reinforcement from an Atoll, but you cannot buy it back.

*** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'' has Harmony, which determines the situations in which a werewolf enters "Death Rage", where he or she turns into a ferocious monster who kills foes and friends nearby or runs for a safe location. All werewolves risk it during combat, but those with lower Harmony risk the violent version every time they are insulted, have their authority challenged, or even if they burn themselves on the stove trying to cook. In Second Edition, Harmony is retooled to represent the balance between the wolf's dual natures of Spirit and Flesh. Harmony can now range from 0 (completely controlled by the Spirit) to 10 (completely of the Flesh), with the ideal being 5 (perfect balance between the two) and Breaking Points pushing the character in either direction. The closer Harmony is to 5, the better the wolf's control of his shapeshifting (High Harmony makes it difficult to transform, while low Harmony makes it difficult to ''hold'' a specific shape), the fewer things trigger his UnstoppableRage, and the longer he can remain in the TranquilFury stage of that rage where he retains some self-control and has a chance of pulling out of it or getting someplace where he can't do any harm upon going fully berserk.

* In ''Videogame/RobocopRogueCity'' Robocop is occasionally given the choice between "Upholding the Law" or "Serving the Public Interest" (IE, enforcing the law regardless how petty or being a reasonable officer beloved by the community).

*** ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'': Each vampire has a Humanity score, rating how much he still acts and thinks like a normal human being; inhumane acts decrease the Humanity meter, and, if a Vampire runs out of Humanity, he becomes little more than a feral beast. The video game adaptation, ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeRedemption'' uses the Humanity score more as a standard Karma meter: your score at the end determines whether you join with the BigBad as his minion, kill him and take his place, or kill him and are reunited with your lover.

** ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' has a variation in the form of Dark Powers Checks: If you perform an evil deed that the GameMaster feels deserving, he rolls a percentage die to judge if it attracts attention from the Dark Powers, and, should the RandomNumberGod dislike you, they start turning you into a [[OneWingedAngel monster]]. Should you perform a deed of ''exceptional'' evil, you may eventually find yourself a [[EvilOverlord darklord]] of your own domain -- too bad in both cases it's a [[BlessedWithSuck true curse]]. Also rather unforgiving -- although it has reservations for PayEvilUntoEvil, there are just some deeds the baddies don't deserve. There are also some rather controversial options for the rules, such as mandating powers checks just for gaining levels in t he wrong classes, which fans universally ignore. It ''is'' possible to seek redemption and remove the curses, but it's ''extremely'' hard to do.

Furthermore, games with a Karma Meter often include a GoldenSnitch decision that will heavily push you towards (or even lock you ''permanently'' in) one extreme of the morality gauge ''regardless'' of your actions up to that point. This means that in a game with MultipleEndings, [[LastSecondEndingChoice your ending is decided more by that one single choice rather than an accumulation of all of your deeds and misdeeds]].

[[quoteright:205:[[VideoGame/{{Fallout}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/KarmaMeter_2075.jpg]]]]

In some games, it doesn't matter whether you're good or bad but how far you lean to one side is rewarded — [[NoPointsForNeutrality there are bonuses for being very good or very evil but not moderate]]. This has the annoying side effect of rewarding [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat if not forcing]] the doing of [[StupidEvil completely pointless acts of malice]], [[EvilIsPetty killing beggars and robbing empty houses]] just to be [[CardCarryingVillain "more evil"]], and punishing an evil player for doing good quests or deeds (depending on how harsh the meter is) and vice versa, stifling any real choice altogether.

* ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'', perhaps surprisingly for a game where [[VillainProtagonist the entire premise is being evil]], has a karma meter in the form of the "corruption" meter, which essentially gauges whether you're a totally self-serving, AxCrazy, ZeroPercentApprovalRating Evil madman or a NobleDemon VillainWithGoodPublicity who helps out the public to earn their support while on your quest for revenge. ''VideoGame/OverlordII'' switches over to a Tyranny system with the extremes of "Destruction" and "Domination." Destruction is AxCrazy mass murderer again, but Domination is less NobleDemon and more cruel slavemaster, treating those around you as tools and pawns — while using mind control to ensure they ''love you for it''. Either route is balanced in an appropriate fashion; Destruction usually gives a large one-time payout, while Domination grants a continuous flow of income and equipment for your Minions. It's the difference between pillaging a town and leaving it a smoking crater, or enslaving all the townsfolk and forcing them to slave for your Evilness for the rest of their lives.

* ''NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup'', in a rare sports game example, has a career mode with a KarmaMeter ranging from Hero to Villain. Where you land on the scale depends on your actions during races — for instance, deliberately crashing other drivers will move you to the Villain end. This has the effect of royally pissing them off and making them want to take you out when they get the chance. However, if you can win enough races, the fans won't care whether you're a Hero or a Villain.

*** The aforementioned gifts actually render the karma meter meaningless, because it actually makes the choice mathematical rather than ethical — killing the Little Sisters gets you more ADAM ''now'', but freeing them gives better rewards in the long run, in the form of more ADAM, plus plasmids and tonics you either no longer have to buy, or couldn't buy to begin with. Not to mention you can also break the system by [[GoodBadBugs causing a pair of extra Little Sisters to spawn]], allowing you to reap the immediate rewards of harvesting two of them and still go for the good ending.

* ''VideoGame/CryOfFear'' more or less uses this idea, in the same manner as ''Franchise/SilentHill'', to determine which ending you get. There are technically two endings, one good and one bad. In any case, the bad ending has [[spoiler:Simon killing himself]], and just ''how'' bad it gets depends on two choices. If Simon chooses to avoid fighting Carcass after it [[spoiler:apparently influences Sophie into [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide]], Simon kills Sophie [[IfICantHaveYou so nobody can take her away after he's gone]], and apologizes to his doctor Purnell for being too far gone to be saved]]. If Simon chooses not to trust the Doctor, who has so far done nothing but get in the way, [[spoiler:with the only gun he can find after [[BagOfSpilling losing all his items in a train crash]], Simon kills Doctor Purnell in the ending, [[YouHaveFailedMe realizing that all Purnell did was give him the push he needed to end it all]] but asking whoever finds their corpses to not let Sophie know what happened]]. If Simon [[spoiler:both avoids fighting Carcass ''and'' refuses to trust the Doctor, he kills both Sophie and Purnell, hoping that the scene he leaves behind traumatizes whoever discovers it]]. If, however, Simon [[spoiler:chooses to stay and fight Carcass and trust the Doctor, he staves off of suicide -- but he still suffers a horrific hallucination and guns down a pair of police officers during it]]. It crosses over with EarnYourHappyEnding as well, as the "good" choices in both cases make something more difficult about the game. The former is the more immediately-obvious one, as Carcass is [[ThatOneBoss one of the most difficult bosses in the game]], so it's nice for you to be able to skip it. The latter takes a while to fully play out, as the Doctor [[spoiler:shoots Simon in the shoulder after he makes his decision, permanently cutting the player's total health. If you refused to give him the gun, you lose less health from it, and you get to use it after defeating him in a boss fight. If you trust him, though, he cuts your health bar further, and deals greater damage per hit in the later fight, but you get his .357 Magnum revolver after the fight instead of the gun he wanted you to give him, which deals twice the damage]]. There's also a joke ending you can get in a NewGamePlus for finding a package early on and setting it in a mailbox, which locks you into that ending regardless of your choices -- [[spoiler:Simon ends up going through the normal finale from the dev's previous release ''VideoGame/AfraidOfMonsters'', and learns that the person behind the wheel of the car that crashed into him in the introduction and set off the entire series of events was none other than ''[=AoM=]'''s protagonist David Leatherhoff — [[{{Retraux}} still appearing]] in his ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' style and speaking in text rather than voice, [[MythologyGag having gotten stoned before heading out to drive]]]].

* ''VideoGame/NexusClash'': Every character has a Morality score, adjusted in small or large ways by most of the actions they can take. The Elder Power [[KnightTemplar Namm]], the god of justice and morality, maintains the Karma Meter and requires that Angels stay on the side of Good to keep using their powers. His archrival [[ManipulativeBastard Tlacolotl]] ''also'' pays attention to it, requiring that Demons remain Evil to use ''their'' powers. [[spoiler:It's a trap. Namm defines "Good" as whatever will help him win the war no matter who gets hurt, and Tlacolotl is all too willing to egg his enemy on so long as Namm's zealotry produces an unending stream of wounded souls willing to turn demon for vengeance. Player characters have shed a great deal of blood, ink, and tears trying — often unsuccessfully — to find definitions of good and evil that don't simply play into the agendas of the aforementioned deities.]]

* ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'' gives a Karma Meter to each general in your army. The good side, Chivalry, is cultivated by things like freeing prisoners and keeping cities happy. This is rewarded by increasing happiness and population growth of a city when the general is managing it, and increasing the morale of all soldiers under his command. The evil side, Dread, comes from executing prisoners, excessively taxing populations, arranging many assassinations, and more. This increases public order when garrisoned in a city and decreases the morale of all troops fighting against him. Given that soldiers that flee are likely to be captured and executed when facing an evil general, you'd think it would be the other way around… Unfortunately, DumbIsGood is in effect here. "Chivalrous" tactics seem to consist of sending your army head-first against the enemy, but if you decide to skirmish, out-flank, or God forbid attack your enemy from the rear, your generals will quickly pick up "Cruel and Cunning" or similar traits. And for some reason, using Spies to keep tabs on your enemy's movements is also evil. You certainly can have multiple generals throughout your forces, so there's nothing wrong with having your maximized Dread general sweep aside your opposition while a maximized Chivalry general arrives on his heels to build the new territory up. Even more annoying is how your diplomatic reputation works on the world map — you can go the entire game without starting a single war, but if you fight back against your enemy or take their cities in retaliation, you'll quickly be saddled with a reputation as an untrustworthy monster.

* ''VideoGame/AncientDomainsOfMystery'' has a Karma Meter that is only partially visible — your alignment can change and the game display will reflect this, but unless you have the (otherwise useless) Law skill at a fairly high level, the game won't tell you whether a certain act was considered lawful/chaotic... and that skill only informs you ''after'' you've committed the act. Shuffling around within an alignment (for example, NL to N+ to N= to N- to NC are all considered Neutral) isn't much of a problem, but woe betide the player who accidentally changes alignment (such as from NC to CN — you're now considered Chaotic) late in the game... because the nicer you've been to one god, the more the other two will hate you. There is also an artifact which is only granted to players that reach the bottom of the Caverns of Chaos without ever committing one chaotic act ''or'' letting one lawful creature die. Since there is no indicator for this, the artifact is nearly impossible to get.

** ''VideoGame/FableII'': Purity versus corruption are added on. Based on the foods you eat and the rent you charge... okay... It gets sort of odd when you own all the property in Albion, though — essentially running a feudal state. Not to mention that, ironically, it got there because of your capitalist supremacy.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
** ''VideoGame/Fallout1'' only offers a general karma meter. ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' has the karma meter, plus an AllianceMeter. They also feature a series of status elements such as "grave robber", "child killer", and "slaver", depending on the choices made. Certain characters will react differently to different combinations of these — for example, some stores will only sell to people with negative karma, [[EvenEvilHasStandards but still balk at selling to a child murderer]]. The only truly bad effect of negative karma turns up in ''Fallout 2'', in which towns will pay for bounty hunters to attack the player — but killing bounty hunters results in a further drop in karma, creating an unstoppable downward spiral…
** ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' has drawbacks for both negative AND positive karma — Talon Company Mercenaries will begin randomly spawning to attack you if your Karma hits Very High, while Regulators will start gunning for you if your Karma hits Very Low. Talon Company mercs are rather nasty, spawning with energy weapons, Combat Armor, and high-quality assault rifles, even if you're level 4 (then again, having better equipment means better loot to pilfer off their corpses). If there's a single subversion in ''Fallout 3'' of this trope, it's the Impartial Mediation Perk that offers +30 Speech… so long as you are Neutral. This is the ''only'' benefit offered in the game for staying Neutral, if you don't count the ability to recruit a few Neutral-only companions and avoiding energy weapon death at the hands of Talon Company Mercs or Regulators. Of course, any given trip through the subways of DC is going to result in some unintentional added saintliness for the simple fact that killing Feral Ghouls, which are everywhere in the metro stations, adds a little bit of positive karma.

* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' has the "Swashbuckler Rating", which measures not just your karma in the traditional sense, but also your adventurousness and leadership skills. The rating was underused in the game itself, as it only affected one or two sidequests. It's an interesting example even though it's underused, as it's not really a decision between "good" and "evil" so much as "good captain" or "bad captain". The game encourages a balance between daring and consideration of your crew — you have to consider each question carefully, as too far along the scale of "bold and daring" becomes "foolish and reckless", but too cautious becomes "cowardly".

In some games, it doesn't matter whether you're good or bad but how far you lean to one side is rewarded — [[NoPointsForNeutrality there are bonuses for being very good or very evil but not moderate]]. This has the annoying side effect of rewarding [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat if not forcing]] the doing of [[EvilIsPetty completely pointless acts of malice, killing beggars and robbing empty houses]] just to be [[CardCarryingVillain "more evil"]], and punishing an evil player for doing good quests or deeds (depending on how harsh the meter is) and vice versa, stifling any real choice altogether.

*** ''TabletopGame/LeviathanTheTempest'' has Tranquility, which represents the character's ability to keep his [[{{Kaiju}} beastial self]] and [[GodOfEvil divine self]] in check. The Leviathan has a Tranquility track of twelve boxes. The divine nature starts in the top box (which it will always occupy barring the intervention of an [[KidWithTheLeash Atoll]]) and expanding downwards from there whenever the Leviathan treats others as pawns, deliberately uses [[MindRape the Wake]] on others, goes too long without human contact, or is criticized by an Atoll. The bestial nature, on the other hand, starts in the bottom box (which, again, it cannot be removed from without an Atoll), and expands upwards whenever the Leviathan destroys things, attacks others without a good reason, goes too long without human contact, or is criticized by an Atoll. Whatever spaces are left in the middle are occupied by the Leviathan's human mind. When Tranquility hits zero, the Leviathan's divine and bestial selves come into direct conflict and battle for control. If the bestial self wins, the Leviathan becomes a Typhon, a feral beast dominated only by its instincts. If the divine self wins, the Leviathan becomes an Ophion, a mad demigod seeking to expand its power and influence by dominating and manipulating mortal proxies. One other quirk of Tranquility is that, unlike almost all other ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' KarmaMeters, the player does ''not'' have the ability to spend Experience to buy back lost Tranquility. Each School offers a specific achievement that will give you a chance to regain Tranquility, and it can be restored by positive reinforcement from an Atoll, but you cannot buy it back.

* ''VideoGame/DrJekyllAndMrHyde'' for NES makes progression in the game itself be the KarmaMeter, specifically how far Jekyll and Hyde get relative to each other. Normally, you play as Jekyll, the HelplessGoodSide who can only defend against the [[EverythingTryingToKillYou myriad townspeople out to get him,]] but if his [[SanityMeter stress meter]] fills up from being hit enough, he will transform into Hyde, who gets to fight off demons in a MirrorWorld. However, if Hyde catches up to Jekyll, a BoltOfDivineRetribution strikes him down and the game ends. The twist in this particular game's interpretation is that Jekyll's gameplay is so [[BeingGoodSucks slow, tedious, and frustrating]] that players would naturally want to play as Hyde despite the risk. Indeed, the game actually encourages playing as Hyde because the GoldenEnding for the game requires him to make it all the way to the end (otherwise, you get a boring AWinnerIsYou screen).

** In 1st Edition the Dungeon Master is advised to keep a CharacterAlignment chart for each {{PC}} showing how Good/Evil and Lawful/Chaotic they are. Each time a {{PC}} commits a Good/Evil and/or Lawful/Chaotic act, they're moved appropriately within the chart. If a {{PC}} ever changes their alignment due to such drift, they lose a level of experience. Certain character classes (such as LawfulGood paladins) can lose their powers if they change alignment. Magic items, spells and creatures of a specific alignment react negatively to characters of an opposite alignment (e.g. ChaoticGood vs. LawfulEvil).

** ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' has a variation in the form of Dark Powers Checks: If you perform an evil deed that the GameMaster feels deserving, he rolls a percentage die to judge if it attracts attention from the Dark Powers, and, should the RandomNumberGod dislike you, they start turning you into a [[OneWingedAngel monster]]. Should you perform a deed of ''exceptional'' evil, you may eventually find yourself a [[EvilOverlord darklord]] of your own domain--too bad in both cases it's a [[BlessedWithSuck true curse]]. Also rather unforgiving--although it has reservations for PayEvilUntoEvil, there are just some deeds the baddies don't deserve. There are also some rather controversial options for the rules, such as mandating powers checks just for gaining levels in t he wrong classes, which fans universally ignore. It ''is'' possible to seek redemption and remove the curses, but it's ''extremely'' hard to do.

* ''TabletopGame/TenraBanshoZero'': It goes up whenever you do certain things, and goes down only rarely, when you willingly give up your character's Fates. If it goes above the Mystical108, you become an Asura.

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' ties the ability to use Charm and Intimidate options directly to your Paragon and Renegade meters, respectively. Specifically, it checks not only your total points, but how many you ''SHOULD'' have considering the levels you've completed so far (so the biggest conflicts require total dedication to either Paragon or Renegade if you want to pick them). This has the unfortunate result of penalizing you heavily for not committing down a single Morality path, and even moreso for playing Neutral and not picking either. Dedicated Paragon players, particularly, tend to have [[KickTheSonOfABitch a few favorite Renegade choices that are just too satisfying to miss]], and Renegade players have similar moments where [[EvenEvilHasStandards they can't help but be compassionate]].

->''"It seems as though the floodgates are beginning to creak open on ''VideoGame/InFamous'', including the revelation of Karma Moments - a tracked morality system with effects on player progression. It wasn't meant to be funny, but for some reason we found it very funny, because like many mechanisms of this kind your choices tend to come down to being an omnibenevolent supercherub or the Goddamned devil."''

-->-- ''Webcomic/PennyArcade''[='=]s '''Tycho Brahe''', on ''VideoGame/InFamous''

* ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' has a notoriety meter, which is filled up whenever someone sees you commit a highly suspicious act and gets away to tell someone. Filling it up too much will make it easier for random people to recognize you and call for help, and in ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'', the newspaper report you get at the end of each level will slowly start to build up a description and composite ID picture of Agent 47, becoming more accurate the higher your notoriety is. You ''can'' bribe people to lower your notoriety, though.
* ''VideoGame/Manhunt2'' focuses not on whether you kill, but on how sadistic you are in your killing. Being professional in your slaughter leads to [[spoiler:a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind]], while killing in more sadistic ways results in [[spoiler:a SplitPersonalityTakeover.]]

* ''VideoGame/SplinterCell: Double Agent'': The main focus: Sam Fisher has to curry the favour of both his native NSA and his target organization, the JBA. Interestingly, there are only a small handful of choices in the game that add to your trust with one faction while also taking an equivalent hit to your trust with the other, so it's neither difficult nor time-consuming to gain 100% favor with both the JBA and the NSA through the majority of the game. As seems to be the case with a lot of these games, your "good and evil" rating ended up depending on one action: [[spoiler:whether you kill your old friend and handler Lambert or the somewhat sympathetic but still entirely evil new friend in the JBA.]] This is not possible in "Version 2" of the game (the version on [[UsefulNotes/TheSixthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames sixth-generation]] consoles), which has a "classic" tug-of-war meter, meaning you can't please both the NSA and the JBA. Also one of the few examples which discourages playing to extremes, since doing so means that you're either "in over your head" or in danger of blowing your cover and being exposed as a double agent (i.e., complete a loyalty test within a time limit or you fail the mission).

* ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel2'' features the "Judgement" system, which is built upon two values: "Empathy" for if [[TheLeader Malt]] aims towards co-operation and caring for his crew members, and "Resolution" for if he makes choices focused on working towards a goal. As a result, Malt gains different skills to use during gameplay, while also changing the way he develops as a leader.