But what exactly do you guys mean with "karma" ? Because I'm getting the feeling that what I think karma is, isn't the karma you think it is.
(or something like that)
There has been a Karma system in Shadowrun - you get so called Karma points for completed tasks and character like acting. So, you would actually get Karma for killing a little creature IF you were a sadistic guy. (And you would also get Karma points of course for completing your current assignment and parts of it).
These Karma points were your experience... you used them to increase your stats. And it was also used for determining the so called Karma Pool - which was the amount of dice with which you could boost your normal dice pool if needed, among some other things.
But the Karma system we are talking about here is the rather general approach I guess. That means it can't be a relative kind of thing... you can't say a good guy gets Karma for good actions and a bad guy gets Karma for bad actions. It has to relate - as Lar said - to a specific morale system and based on that, the Karma has to be assigned to certain actions. You would then get Karma - and thus, a bonus - for actions which are good in that system. And no Karma or even lose Karma - thus, a malus - for bad actions in that system.
While most players won't have a problem with that, I again think this is the used approach and shouldn't be used. I mean, yeah, we have seen it in so many games... the game gives you the good-bad-relation and you act along that line... you get some feedback regarding your actions, may they be good or bad, but I doubt that most players think a lot about the game world's morale system (Ultima might be - a very extreme - exception there).
Now, how to do it in "Our next RPG"? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
I think there should be some sort of judging... at least by the game world's inhabitants. If there was only advantage/disadvantages, that would be the utilitarian world you were talking about. I'd say use a impartial bonus/malus system based on the character and the former actions.
For example: If you play a red cross worker who has been married for 50 years, it would be very surprising to kill your wife in a rainy night. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> So, that should be "punished" (in game terms). But if you play a moody mafia boss, it would be something else. Other than that, the people in the game world could still judge you based on their belief systems... that would have consequences on the player's actions because the relationship to the other people whould change based on the player's actions. But the game wouldn't judge the player...
