Fallout: Las Vegas Survivors' Journal

[Maria Caliban]

One of the things I enjoyed about the original FO3 was reading about other player's exploration and experiences in the Wasteland so why not a thread focused on just that?

 

What this thread is for:

Discussing your character or play experiences. This is a SPOILER welcome zone.

 

What this thread is not for:

Discussing reviews, bugs, Obsidian, collectibles, the comic, RPGs in general, etc.

[Maria Caliban]

Let's begin!

 

The story begins with the introduction of three factions and then the PC getting shot in the head. Okay, I didn't see that coming. For a moment, I assume that character with the mask in the opening artwork is the PC, who is hideously scarred and must forever hide the flesh vestiges of their face

Edited October 21, 2010 by Maria Caliban

[Serrano]

Thanks, I was wondering if anyone was going to do one of these for New Vegas. Looking forward to reading more after my own playthrough.

[sorophx]

so, what do I do with the Nightkin in Novac? he doesn't seem to notice me. or should I wait for him to kill all the brahmin?

[Enoch]

Heh. My first character has the same Tags as Maria. But I have less Str & End (4, 3), more Ag & Lu (7, 5), and I took Trigger Discipline instead of Wild Wasteland. Also, has a Y chromosome.

 

Have just completed what seems to be most of the Goodsprings quests, and struck out on the road towards Primm. (My tabletop gaming group met tonight, so not much time to play PC games today.)

[Tale]

Jessup, so that is his name. Perhaps it was the scrambling of my brains by a lead whisk, but I can't make up my mind on how I feel about this guy.

 

On one hand, these guys didn't kill me. Not for lack of trying, but maybe I shouldn't hold a grudge so bad.

On the other hand, these guys didn't kill me. Which means they buried me alive.

 

The NCR wants me to handle this situation. They don't really care how. They don't even care about the hostages. I came in thinking I could defuse it peacefully. Everybody lives. Then I saw Jessup. This desert's about to get a splash of color. Jessup was his name.

 

I guess my mind is starting to heal. That decision was easier than I thought. Say hello to Benny, he won't be far behind you.

 

 

 

I'm actually going to hold off on killing Benny until I get the Hermes armor. There's something about that armor that just screams VENGEANCE

Edited October 21, 2010 by Tale

[Tale]

Since we're discussing stats.

S 6

P 5

E 5

C 4

I 8

A 7

L 5

 

I'm going for a smart gunslinger on a roaring rampage of revenge. Tagged Guns, Repair, and Survival. Survival's actually been borderline useless for me because there's more food to find than I'll ever need in hardcore. Also, the canteen from gamestop pre-order is stupid overpowered. Heals something like 25 health every 5 minutes. So resting for an hour will heal me.

 

Mostly pistols. Will use rifles too if I find good ones. With the 6 strength, I can use the Anti-Materiel if I get the perk to lower strength requirements by 2.

 

 

Now for more of Tale's experiments in CLICHESTORM.

 

Vegas changes you.

 

My name is Manion. I would dispute the facts with anyone who tries to claim that I'm a violent man by nature. Guns are for hunting and survival, that's how I've felt all my life. I could fix anything and knew my way around. I took up a job as a courier as an excuse to explore and wander.

 

Then someone put a bullet in my head and buried me alive. Maybe the lead or the lack of oxygen killed the part of my brain responsible for kindness. In the week following I'd seen enough of the insides of other men to settle down and become a surgeon. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but not by much. I've seen dynamite go off in a man's hands. I've seen heads explode down my sights. I've seen men torturned and screaming, on crucifixes and burned alive. I've even seen a man turn into a pile of ash.

 

The wild is filled with all manner of beasties. But only now do I recognize the beasts that live in the cities. And they are the more grotesque by far. Killing others simply for power, caps, or ego. I'm not sure if I could still be considered not a violent man. I've not killed anyone that didn't deserve it. They take a life for their petty reasons and I take theirs. I don't kill men, I kill monsters. I only hope I have enough bullets.

 

Vegas changes you. In return, I will change Vegas.

Edited October 21, 2010 by Tale

[Gfted1]

One thing I learned the hard way and found a bit odd. On my way from Goodsprings to Primm I got jumped by a few Powder Gangers who had set up camp on the side of the road. They attack and I kill them and when I go to loot one of the metal boxes in the camp I took a Karma hit. Why would that effect my Karma, they are my enemies, it wasnt like I was "stealing" from them. Anywho, I learned that if the reticule is red, dont take it unless youre playing a bad guy.

[Tale]

Because the system doesn't seem make faction adjustments for items. If they're a faction you can be friendly with, then it's always considered stealing.

[sorophx]

this is definitely a bug. if you drop a previously stolen weapon, it will flash red yet again. you can exploit it to drop your karma all the way (if you consider negative karma an achievement, that is)

Edited October 21, 2010 by sorophx

[sorophx]

anyway

 

S 4 (obviously because I expect Power Armor to boost it to 8, I hope in NV it actually is worth wearing, unlike in F3)

P 7 (Sniper perk, here I come)

E 4 (who needs it anyway)

C 5 (from my experience so far companions are a game breaker, no need to make 'em even more powerful)

I 8

A 9 (ugh, old habits never die, not sure how it affects real-time combat, pumped it just to be sure)

L 3

 

took Fast Shot and Small Frame as starting traits. I'm playing a female char so I figured having the Black Widow perk could help. tagged speech, guns and sneaking.

 

now that I think about it, speech has proven useless in the first few levels. should've gone with barter and lockpick instead of speech and guns. well, there's always a second playthrough.

 

all in all, it's an interesting experience. I'm weak, but I can hide well and sneak attack everybody, which helps a ton in open spaces. In buildings though I'd get my ass handed to me most of the time without using VATS if not for Boone.

[sorophx]

ugh, I don't get it, you can only edit your post in the first few minutes?

 

anyway, forgive me if I'm writing too much, but I think Ive stumbled upon the *big plot device*. there's this tower that has the means to control solar power. and I get 3 choices (5 actually, but 4 of them go in pairs or something): conduct the power to a couple of towns (the quest giver insists on 2 specified locations but aside from these 2 there's 2 others you can power up, or you can just power up the whole region risking temporary blackouts). you can also use it as a weapon of mass destruction. now I'm wondering, what the consequences of my choice will be...

 

I can also clear the facility of all the NCR troopers by enabling the defense mechanisms. it looks like a hint at a future quest. the Brotherhood of Steel have been mentioned, they're trying to gain control over the facility. can they be the fourth major power in the game?

 

furthermore, it seems I can readjust this ARCHIMEDES thing at any time. makes room for interesting combinations...

[Maria Caliban]

I've been roaming the wasteland and quickly realized that while ray guns are cool, there are far more bullet guns and bullets. I am now hoofing it through the desert with a 10 mm, simple shotgun, service rifle, and plasma pistol. Back 'at home', I have a 9 mm pistol, 9 mm machine gun, cowboy repeated, grenade gun, laser pistol, and laser rifle.

 

I realized that you can just run over the mantis bugs and kill them. I tried to run over a giant soldier ant, but that didn't work.

 

I found Ringo in the gas station in Goodspring and agreed to help him. Before I could do so, I needed Explosives 25, Barter 25, and Speech 25. Then I headed up to Sloan and decided I needed Medicine 30 and Repair 35.

 

I did quests for the Powder Gang until I hit Primm, at which point I betrayed Eddie. This got me to level 7, at which point I headed back to Goodspring, passed all the skill tests, and easily destroyed the Powder Gang even though I'd already destroyed the Powder Gang.

 

After Goodsprings, I wandered south to the NCR HQ, and found a 'desert canyon' with a bunch of broken down vehicles. Some of them were spray-painted COURIER 6? and YOU CAN GO HOME COURIER.

 

Part of me wonders if this isn't a Jacob's Ladder/Mulhuland Drive plot. Maybe I wasn't saved. Maybe I'm bleeding out in a grave somewhere and all the events since I woke up at Docs are a hallucination.

 

Edited October 22, 2010 by Maria Caliban

[Maria Caliban]

One more thing, when I hit Novac (or was it Nipton?) for the first time, I encountered two skeletons. One named Drew and the other named Breu. The game played 'eerie' music and the image of a pip-boy head with spiral eyes appeared on my screen. What's that about?

[Deraldin]

One more thing, when I hit Novac (or was it Nipton?) for the first time, I encountered two skeletons. One named Drew and the other named Breu. The game played 'eerie' music and the image of a pip-boy head with spiral eyes appeared on my screen. What's that about?

 

That's your wild wasteland perk kicking in with an encounter that wouldn't normally be there.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

so, what do I do with the Nightkin in Novac? he doesn't seem to notice me. or should I wait for him to kill all the brahmin?

 

I shot him in the head before he killed any cows as I think that both competes the "quest" and gets you extra points in Novac.

[Maria Caliban]

I'm still mostly wandering. Only need to discover 5 more places to get the 50 explored places challange. I am worried that when I finally get to my house it will be nothing but a bunch of big rocks. Still haven't gotten to Novac (the dinosaur one).

 

One more thing, when I hit Novac (or was it Nipton?) for the first time, I encountered two skeletons. One named Drew and the other named Breu. The game played 'eerie' music and the image of a pip-boy head with spiral eyes appeared on my screen. What's that about?

 

That's your wild wasteland perk kicking in with an encounter that wouldn't normally be there.

 

Ahh. Thank you.

[sorophx]

yeah, I ended up smoking him too, although I don't think it was the right way to finish this quest. he did have a tape on him with "screaming bramins". I tried to steal it but didn't know who to show it to. he kept going on about some "quiet man who knows about horns"... but the town itself bugged after I got rid of the ghouls and there are no NPCs in it anymore... actually, now that I think about it I should've left him alive because I already am idolized in Novac gonna reload an earlier state

[sorophx]

oh damn it! another bug. when I sent the rockets flying, something happened and a couple of ghouls stayed behind. the quest is still considered completed, but the scientist fellow gets stuck in the basement and whenever I talk to him he just replies "go and finish the quest". maybe that's why Novac is empty now...

[Maria Caliban]

As ever, I've come to love and hate companions.

 

Without the flying robot, I'd doubt my level 8 character could take on the three nightstalkers or those three golden geckos. At the same time, it decided to start shooting at rad scorpions, causing about five small, two regular, and one giant one to swarm my location. Can I upgrade its gun?

 

Anyway, I now have the bug stomper perk.

[sorophx]

yeah, I wish there was a "do not engage" mode. Boone smells enemies 3 levels below him and goes berserk. I'm tired of following him around making sure he doesn't get overwhelmed

[Maria Caliban]

yeah, I ended up smoking him too, although I don't think it was the right way to finish this quest. he did have a tape on him with "screaming bramins". I tried to steal it but didn't know who to show it to. he kept going on about some "quiet man who knows about horns"... but the town itself bugged after I got rid of the ghouls and there are no NPCs in it anymore... actually, now that I think about it I should've left him alive because I already am idolized in Novac gonna reload an earlier state

 

Killing him is the right way to finish the quest.

[Tale]

One more thing, when I hit Novac (or was it Nipton?) for the first time, I encountered two skeletons. One named Drew and the other named Breu. The game played 'eerie' music and the image of a pip-boy head with spiral eyes appeared on my screen. What's that about?

 

That's your wild wasteland perk kicking in with an encounter that wouldn't normally be there.

 

Ahh. Thank you.

The name wasn't Drew. It was Owen. Owen and Beru.

 

 

 

 

Hit level 12 last night. Completed the Vault 22 quest as level 10, turned it in, and went 3/4ths the way through 11 on that turn-in. Did the nearest quest which was just talking to people and hit 12. 2 levels in 30 minutes, nice. Can't wait to hit 14 for Jury Rigger.

Edited October 22, 2010 by Tale

[sorophx]

I'm level 12 and I'm nowhere near Vault 22. exploring Vault 34 right now. can't remember what it looked like in the original for the life of me.

 

Boone is a freaking cheat. most of his shots are criticals, always aims for the head, he's a machine. I almost dropped him for Veronica because the psychic kid hinted she was some kind of a key (or she had a key, I didn't quite catch it). but it's just too cool walking around rangers and hearing them say, "I wish a first recon guy was looking after me"

Edited October 22, 2010 by sorophx

[Niten_Ryu]

My character

 

Conservative, loves to read about the pre war era days. Has way too idealistic view of the patriotism and doesn't really understand the cause and effect connection and the reasons that lead to the post nuclear world. His work as courier made him sneaky and because weapons and ammo were often too pricey or too hard to find, he learnt how to use melee weapons. In his younger day he worked in civil engineering, blowing away obstacles with dynamite or with some jury rigged explosives. Long days and heavy lifting made him extremely strong and he has managed (so far) to avoid any serious injuries (except that nasty extra hole in the head). He's been basically healthy all his life. Now much hair left and his saggy / rugged features mke people naturally avoid him and he probably need to pay extra even to the prostitutes. Most likely to align himself with the New California Republic.

 

Str 8

Per 7

End 7

Cha 3

Int 6

Agi 4

Luc 5

 

+ Wild Wasteland