All items of a magical nature (read: items crafted so well that they have attributes) carry with it the hint of Corruption -- an innate quality that weakens the will of the bearer when they are faced with temptation, doubt, dread, and greed.

The way to calculate the inherent Corruption of the item is simple:

1. Determine all the Augment bonuses available from the item's qualities.
2. Add the augments together.
3. That value is the Corruption Value for the item, which is applied as a Corruption Penalty for any contests involving tests of will (temptation, doubt, dread, and greed).
   1. If any of the item's abilities are Active, rather than Passive (such as a Ring that makes the wearer invisible), double the effective Corruption Value.
   2. Use of an item's Active ability will sometimes trigger a Corruption test as result, with potentially damaging results to the character's racial traits.