Dharma, Karma, and Reincarnation (LL)

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==Optional Rule: Dharma, Karma, and Reincarnation==
Indian society is founded upon the concepts of dharma, karma, and reincarnation. If you wish to incorporate these concepts into your campaign, you may want to use the following optional rules.
A PC's dharma is a combination of character class and alignment. In order to follow his dharma, a character must behave according to the alignment guidelines given in the Player's Handbook. These tenets must be followed strictly, or the character will suffer a karma penalty (see below). For example, a Lawful Good character who participated in the theft of a magic sword would be violating his dharma, for he would be breaching his duty to respect the laws of the land.
In addition to alignment, each class carries with it certain dharmic duties. The duties for the standard AD&D® character classes are summarized below, but if your campaign incorporates non-standard or highly specialized character types, you may have to define your own dharmic duties:
Fighter: Fighters must always be brave, never allowing fear to dictate their actions. They must never hide from danger or flee while a friend or ally fights on.
Ranger: The requirements for Rangers are the same as they are for Fighters, but rangers must also show reverence to nature, never killing an animal or plant without reason.
Paladin: The dharma of a paladin is also much the same as that of a fighter, but the paladin must never tolerate evil. Further, the paladin must always help the weak or poor and be quick to give alms to beggars. Wizard: Wizards must never pass up an obvious opportunity to learn about the forces that shape the world or the magic with which it is infused.
Specialist: Although basically the same as if is for wizards, the specialist gains an additional duty of the DMs devising that is related to his or her field of study.
Priest: The priest must devote himself to the worship of his god and must never allow an insult to his faith to go unavenged. He must try to recruit followers for his god whenever possible. Specific religions might place additional demands on these characters.
Druid: The druid character must act in a way that is always complimentary to the natural world around him. He must never harm or destroy plants or animals without good reason.
Rogue: Rouge characters must attempt to accrue wealth (usually for his own benefit, but occasionally for a cause or to help another). They can never leave a potential victim or inviting fortune untouched.
Thief: Thieves have the same dharma as rogues, but must rely on cunning, stealth, trickery or something other than brute force to accomplish their goals whenever possible.
Bard: A bard must serve to entertain and enlighten. He must pursue knowledge in the form of tales and songs, not in the rigid manner of a wizard. He must pass up no chance to tell others of the wonders he has seen and the tales he has heard.
If a situation occurs which pits the dharma requirements of a character's alignment against those of his class, violating the requirements of either is still a breach of his dharma and results in the karma penalties outlined below. If a multi- or dual-class character has conflicting dharma requirements, the same rule applies.
Each time a character goes up a level, he receives a point of karma. In addition, a character who does a truly outstanding job of role-playing his character according to the dharma requirements, such as finding a clever way to meet the conflicting demands of alignment and class dharma, may receive an additional point of karma (never more than one per session). If a character significantly violates his dharma (such as a lawful good character engaging in theft), he loses a point of karma (there is no limit to the number of points that may be lost in this way).
After a character's death, the player does not roll up a new character. Instead, he consults the row matching his number of karma points on the reincarnation table below, then rolls 2d6 to see what he comes back as (ascetics modify their roll by + 2):
===Reincarnation Table===
karmapoints	2d6 roll	2d6 roll	2d6 roll	2d6 roll	2d6 roll
karmapoints	2 	3-5 	6-8 	9-11 	12
0 	slug 	kobold 	goblin 	orc 	gnoll
3-5 	kobold 	goblin 	orc 	gnoll 	human
6-10 	goblin 	orc 	gnoll 	human 	human**
11-15 	orc 	gnoll 	human 	human* 	human**
16-20 	gnoll 	human 	human* 	human** 	human***
20+ 	human 	human* 	human** 	human***	nirvana
Slug: The character is removed from play and the player must roll up a new one.
Kobold, goblin, orc, gnoll: The character is reincarnated as a monster of the type listed. See rules for creating new PC races in the Dungeon Master's* Guide. The Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma of the old character are transferred to new one (making any necessary adjustments for race) and all other scores are rerolled.
Human: The player transfers his old character's Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma to his new character. All other attribute scores are rerolled. Character begins at level one in the same class(es) as the previous character.
Human*: The player transfers his old Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma to the new character and rerolls all other attributes. The new character retains the old one's class(es), but begins at 1d4 levels lower than the previous character.
Human**: The player transfers all old ability scores to the new character, and begins one level lower in the previous character's class(es).
Human***: The player may add 1d4 points to any single ability score of his old character (to maximum 18), and then transfer all of the old character's scores to new character. The new character begins at the same level as the old one and retains the previous character's class(es).
Nirvana: The character achieves unity with the Brahman and is retired from play. A completely new character is generated to replace the old one, but the new character receives +2 modifier on all of its saving throws.
The reincarnation appears within a day's time, having only vague memories of his previous life. All karma points from the previous character are lost, and the new character starts over at 0 karma. If a raise dead or similar spell is used on the previous character's body, both the reincarnation and the old character die and are removed from play.