Karma ( Fallout : New Vegas ) Karma is the reflection of all good and evil choices you make during the game and how they are perceived by the inhabitants of the wasteland . Overviews . Karma doesn ' t have as much of an effect on gameplay as in " Fallout " , " Fallout 2 " and " Fallout 3 " , since reputation has a more important place . However , it does still exist and if someone catches you performing an action that causes negative Karma against their faction you will often lose reputation with that faction ; for example , stealing something from the Silver Rush where a Van Graff can see you . They may also become openly hostile despite your reputation with them not being lowered enough for you to be considered hated where they will attack you . Karma ' s basic mechanics work similarly to the way they do in " Fallout 3 " ( a 2001 - point linear scale with - 1000 being the most evil , 0 neutral , and + 1000 the most good ) . Unlike reputation , where one can only gain fame or infamy , Karma can be both gained and lost . Karma also no longer determines which companions you can recruit . However , when opening a conversation with Cass after she has joined you and when you have substantially negative Karma ( - 100 ) she will complain about your behavior . You will get a second warning when your Karma is even lower ( - 150 ) . After that , she won ' t complain anymore , as long as the player stays neutral . When you continue on your path to " the dark side " and talk to her again while having evil Karma ( - 250 ) she will leave for good . Note that Cass does not grant the player any grace period to improve their Karma , so a player who doesn ' t know better can alienate her in the space of minutes by making three attempts in a row to converse with her . Even though she will agree to accompany an evil character , the first attempt to talk with her ( which you will need to do in order to tell her to travel with you ) will result in her telling the player that they " can be a real asshole sometimes " and the first of three strikes will be used up on the spot . When facing Lanius at the battle of Hoover Dam ( assuming you choose to side with any faction other than Caesar ' s Legion ) , if the speech or barter checks can ' t be passed , or the wrong dialogue is selected at the near - end or the beginning , he will prepare to engage combat , and the player will have a unique " good " Karma dialogue option that will convince him to fight you alone , " honorably , " regardless of whether you have followers with you . The values for Karma gain may be bugged ; currently killing very evil NPCs ( such as Vulpes Inculta ) gains the player only two Karma , yet killing some Fiends and Feral Ghouls grants 100 Karma . Some ending narration in the game ' s epilogue will also depend upon the player ' s Karma . ( See for details . ) Karma levels . You begin the game with a value of zero , which increases or decreases based on the players actions . There are 5 levels of Karma : Karma titles . Your Karma status is defined by a " Karma title " , depending on your Karma points and your level . The base level cap is 30 and the raise this cap for five levels each , but titles do not change past level 30 . Companions and Karma . The recruitment of your companions does not affect your Karma . However , Cass will permanently leave your party if you talk to them too many times with evil Karma .