Your good deeds in one incarnation are rewarded in the next. This is the purpose of Karma, which you earn through out-of-play service to the game and spend on in-play rewards for your character. The ways you can earn and spend Karma are detailed below.
Earning Karma
- Cleaning (Varies) - Clean-up occurs at the end of every event, typically on Sunday morning. A sign-up sheet is available in the tavern for those who wish to volunteer. The sheet lists all of the available duties as well as the Karma each job is worth.
- Den Duty (1 karma per extra hour) - All players who play for more than one shift are required to work a shift at the Dragon's Den per event. This time is counted the same whether you’re serving as a monster or performing a more specialized role, such as den keeper or narrator. One Karma is awarded for every hour of duty completed after the four-hour minimum. Additionally, den duty may qualify you for special discounts on your game dues (see Fees & Discounts for details).
- Donations (1 Karma per $5 or hour of work) - You can donate cash, communal food and drink, or game materials (e.g., boffer weapons and spell packets) to an officer in exchange for Karma. One Karma is awarded for every $5 worth of raw materials and/or hour of work. Receipts should be submitted along with the donation whenever possible. Unsolicited donations may not be accepted or may earn less than the usual amount of Karma at the discretion of game the Board of Directors. Likewise, special rates may be offered for pressing game needs. These are announced in the Karma Opportunities forum.
- Photo Contest (1 karma per winning photo) - You can take photos at an event and upload them to the photo gallery. Players are then able to view and "like" them. The players posting the five photos with the most likes are awarded one Karma for each winning photo a week after the event.
- Staff Duty (Varies) - Licensed players can complete specialized staff duties in exchange for Karma. In many cases, performing staff duty also exempts you from having to perform den duty.
- Volunteer Work for Umstead (1 karma per hour) - The game has a vested interest in improving the park where we play and maintaining good relations with the people who manage it. Proof of work completed or time spent should be provided whenever possible. See the William B. Umstead State Park website for more information.
- Writing (1 to 10 karma per story) - You can write stories to be run at the game. The amount of Karma earned depends upon the format of the content (see “Storytelling” for details). Karma is awarded after the content has been approved, scheduled, and run at an event.
Spending Karma
- Bonus Gold (1 Karma apiece) - You can buy extra gold for your character for one Karma apiece.
- Bonus Fortune (2 Karma apiece) - You can buy fortune for your character for two Karma apiece.
- Bonus XP (1 Karma apiece) - You can buy up to four extra XP for your character after every event that character is played.
- Character Revision (Varies) - You can change your character's class, race, or trade. This is free until your character reaches 60 XP, which occurs after your third event. After that, changing class or trade costs an amount of Karma equal to your character level. Changing race cost half that amount, rounded up.
- Downtime Advancement (1 Karma per 3 days) - You can instantly advance your character's downtime queue by three days for every Karma you spend.
- Resurrection (Varies) - If your character dies, you can resurrect yourself for an amount of Karma equal to the normal gold cost of the ritual (level squared divided by two), rounded up. Only your personal Karma is available for this purpose.
- Sanctum Revision (Varies) - You can remove all of the abilities from your sanctum in order to select new ones. This costs an amount of Karma equal to the sanctum's level.
- Treasure Redraw (1 Karma per draw) - When you draw treasure during meal breaks at events, you can spend one Karma to redraw and take the new result.