FASA Games, Inc.

So, other than the very occasional use for specific skills, what can karma be used for?

Karma is meant to represent the extra edge that adventurers have over the average person. Thus, its primary use is for augmenting Tests made with the Profession and Core Skills. It's also used to power Magical Skills in the low-magic environment of 1879. To use Skills like True Shot, Karma must be spent to activate the effect. It's also used at higher Tiers for augmenting specific Attribute and Attribute-based Tests. For example, at Journeyman, the Airship Pilot gains the ability to spend Karma on DEX-only Tests, while the Dodger can spend Karma for Recovery Tests (which are effectively TOU Tests). When the Players Companion comes out, you'll see a number of new uses for Karma in the creation and linking of fetishes and foci, magical tools that give specific advantages to the user in actions like summoning or spellcasting.

I really like how you have made karma and magic distinct in 1879. Do you think that style would work for mechanics for "Half-Magic Adepts"?

I've kicked the idea around with the development crew a bit. Half-magic adepts are well in the future of 1879. Right now, the magic level in the Gruv would sustain such a thing, but not on Earth. As Earth's magic cycle goes rocketing up, though, Talents and Adepts and eventually Disciplines will become possible once more. We're talking a considerable time scale here, though. Not going to happen during Victoria's reign. The closest you're going to find at this point are the Mediums, who can take spells as Skills in order to create a mechanic for psychic abilities.