WAGES OF SIN (Karma for Bad Guys!)

WAGES OF SIN Karma for Bad Guys!

"All great things must first wear terrifying and monstrous masks,
in order to inscribe themselves on the hearts of humanity."

-Friedrich Nietzsche

The FASERIP RPG Rulebook at page 48 makes it specific and clear that Villains do not have Karma, do not use the Karma system and their Karma therefore is not tracked.

This does not reflect the advanced iteration of the game from which we all take inspiration. It also means that supervillains will just arbitrarily get more powerful or weaker. While this reflects badly written comic books, it isn't really in line with the best comic book stories.

To reward Villains or just to play them in a more versatile way, use the rules below.

The Wages of Sin: Karma for Villains

Despite what is said above, the gamemaster should not have to keep track of Karma for every NPC in his or her campaign. Just as the heroes are the focus of normal Karma bookkeeping, only the major bad guys should have their Karma kept up to date in detail. The various statistics provided for Cultists, members of The Arm or other mooks, gangsters, bank robbers, credit card fraudsters or even common murderers will have their listed calculated Karma but they almost always lack both the conquering vision and the opportunity to make a huge difference to anything with their Karma.

The major bad guys, including all supervillains and the most noticeable and dangerous of the normal human villains, need to have their Karma recorded and updated just like the heroic characters.

KARMA AWARDS FOR BAD GUYS

Villains receive Karma as follows:

Karma is earned for for SUCCESSFULLY committing a crime equal to what a hero's reward would be for preventing that crime. Multiple counts of the same type of crime count as the same crime, no multiple Karma awards for that. If a hero or hero team is defeated in the course of successfully committing the crime count that in too.
Villains earn Karma for defeating heroes exactly the same way heroes earn it for defeating villains.
Successfully catching heroes in a Deathtrap.
The villain does not receive Karma for killing heroes. They do not lose Karma for doing so either. However, successfully catching a hero or heroes in a Deathtrap that requires the hero or heroes to have to think of a way out and make at least one roll to escape earns the Villain an amount equal to what the Villain would earn for directly defeating the same hero or heroes in direct combat. The Villain does not lose Karma if the hero escapes. This is essentially the Karma ecology of a superhero world.
Bragging. Most Villains are insecure, and feel that they must attract attention, boast and share the vital points of their most recent evil pan for world domination with listeners worthy to be an audience. A Villain earns 28 Karma for boasting or exposition.
However, the gamemaster must actually divulge useful information to the players in this fashion. This useful information should be clues or the seed to defeating the Villain's plan.
Note that Villains with loved ones or other more normal or mundane obligations can still earn -and lose- Karma for fulfilling or failing to keep those obligations.

KARMA LOSSES FOR BAD GUYS
Defeat is a Karma loss as for heroes. In addition, being defeated reduces the villain's Popularity by 30 points, regardless of whether it was a public or private defeat. This reduction is always toward zero. (A villain with a -40 Popularity is reduced to -10 Popularity.)
Criminal Conviction is a Karma loss equal to what would have been the Karma award for successfully carrying out that crime.
Doing Time:The villain loses 10 Karma points per month in prison or other incarceration or restraint A Villain cannot earn additional Karma while incarcerated unless there is an undetectable crime or evil act that the Villain can commit.
KILLING: A Villain loses 30 Karma points for killing anyone.
This includes Servants from the Servant power, hirelings, members of their evil Team or a secret organization or anyone else.

BAD KARMA POOLS
Villains can form a special type of Karma Pool with henchmen, contractors, Servants and anyone else that work directly for them. In this Karma pool, all Karma earned by the gang or Team members is kept, but only the Villain may spend it. Any member may leave the Pool, taking their "share" with them unless the Villain kills that character as soon as they leave. If the departing character is executed the Karma, less 30 for the killing, is retained in the pool.

THE WAGES OF SIN
Villains may spend their Karma exactly as a player character does. They can improve in all the same ways. In addition there are several special Bad Guy Only ways to spend Karma:
- DAMAGE REDUCTION: A Villain may spend 40 points of Karma to reduce the effects of an attack by one color Rank. This spending must occur before the attack is made. The players do not have to be informed of this spending although smart players will work it out soon enough. If 40 Karma is spent, the Villain reduces a Gold attack to Silver, Silver to Bronze, but Bronze and White results still apply. The idea behind this is to prevent heroes from destroying Villains in one Karma-boosted attack. This forces heroes to reduce the Villain's Karma total in battle bit by bit.
- ESCAPE or MYSTERIOUS DEATH: Good villains are hard to find and if one is forced into a full-fledged retreat by the heroes, the gamemaster should try to keep the villain alive to fight another day! The gamemaster may spend ALL the Villain's remaining Karma to effect an escape or mysterious death. To do this the Villain must have 100 or more Karma to spend. All of it is lost. A mysterious death will vary according to the Villain in question. All super-powered Villains with the slightest intelligence will seek to maintain a 100-Karma-point buffer to make this form of escape. Villains can also Build a Device (cost 100 Karma remember) then spend ANOTHER 100 Karma and have a pre-prepared Escape or Mysterious Death ready to use.
  
  INFAMY
  Villains crave the fear that a large negative Popularity provides, rather the love and adulation of a large positive Popularity. Villains will try to maintain their fearsome reputation.
  Villains earn Negative Popularity as set out below. Remember that a loss to Popularity for a Villain brings them closer to zero. A gain to Villain Popularity LOWERS the score. For example a Villain with -30 Popularity who is defeated by a hero loses 30 Popularity, increasing his fearsome Popularity to a pathetic zero, scaring nobody. If the same Villain now defeats a hero, his Popularity goes from zero to -10.
  - Defeated by hero loses 30 Popularity
  - Defeating hero gains 10 Popularity
  - Defeating other villain loses 5 Popularity
  - Imprisoned Villain loses 5 Popularity
  - Making Proclamation or Challenge gains 5 Popularity