Live multiple lives. Make choices. Watch how trust and karma compound across reincarnations. Cooperative choices build slow trust; selfish choices yield quick gains but erode your legacy.
Why call it “karma”? The word here is a handle, not a moral score. It names one specific mechanic: your actions in this life become starting conditions for the next. Good work carries forward (more ATP, higher trust); harm carries forward too (less ATP, lower trust). No deity, no committee, no moral ledger — just consequences that don’t reset when you do.
What the numbers mean:Trust = your reputation (Talent + Training + Temperament, averaged). ATP = your energy budget — every action costs ATP, run out and you die. CI = consistency score — erratic behavior lowers it, which makes all future actions cost more ATP (the "cost multiplier"). Everyone starts at CI 0.85, not 1.0 — you haven't demonstrated consistency yet, so actions cost ~1.4× their base price. As you behave consistently, CI rises to 0.9+ and the surcharge disappears (actions cost exactly their listed price). Two trust numbers matter here — one decides whether you live, the other decides your next life. Card below. Tip: make a few cooperative choices, then switch to selfish ones. Watch how trust builds slowly but erodes quickly.
Raw trust
(Talent + Training + Temperament) / 3
Decides survival. Drop below 0.5 and this life ends.
Effective trust
raw × CI²
Decides your karma tier at death (Honored / Neutral / Constrained), which seeds your next life.
Why square CI? Consistency compounds. A small dip barely shows (0.9² = 0.81) but a serious inconsistency nearly halves you (0.6² = 0.36). Squaring punishes erratic behavior far more than it rewards perfect consistency.
Life
#1
Trust (Raw)
0.500
Raw ≥ 0.5 to survive; effective (raw × CI²) sets karma tier
Energy
100
Consistency
0.85
Raw trust: 0.500 — determines survival (≥ 0.5 to stay alive)
Effective trust: 0.361 (raw × CI² = 0.50 × 0.85²) — determines your earning rate, action weight, and how others prioritize your contributions
You're not dead! Effective trust (0.361) is below 0.5, but only raw trust determines survival, and yours is 0.50. Effective trust determines your karma tier at death (and thus your next life's starting conditions), not whether you survive.
Consistency (CI) modulates how others perceive your trust. New entities have limited history (CI = 0.85), so effective trust starts below raw. As you make consistent choices, CI rises toward 1.0 and the gap closes. The squaring means small inconsistencies have outsized impact: 0.9² = 0.81 (barely a dent), but 0.6² = 0.36 (nearly halved).
Talent0.500
Training0.500
Temperament0.500
Action costs: 1.4x (new entities pay 40% more because they have no consistency history yet — e.g. a 10 ATP action costs 14. Make steady choices to bring costs down to 1.0x)
Turn 1 — Choose your action:
Life 1 History (0 choices)
No choices made yet. Each choice shapes your legacy.
Try this: Make a few cooperative choices, then switch to selfish ones. Watch how trust builds slowly but erodes quickly.