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Wild Card: A Fallout New Vegas Post-Game Quest

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Well what do you know, I've thought for awhile that a post-game New Vegas quest would be really cool to see! Excited to follow this one.

[X] Plan: New World Hope
[X] New World Blues

I have no strong feelings about whether or not we let House live, so I'll throw a vote to these two because that's the only point where they differ and I otherwise prefer their set ups. I suspect that choosing both the kill House AND look to the future over the past is going to have some interesting narrative consequences.

I do hope that the ghoul and/or mutant companion option makes the cut eventually, no other strong opinions on that matter though.
 
[X] Plan: New World Hope
[X] Plan: The Devil of New Vegas

This might be me, but as much as I love convincing Lanius to leave the Mojave, the prospect of him successfully reunifying the Legion and marching back for Round Two is too dangerous for us to ignore. I also like throwing General Oliver off the Hoover Dam, so I'll be going with approval voting here.
 
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[X] Plan: The Devil of New Vegas

Switching because the NCR is too dangerous to be left unscathed
 
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  • Voting
    • Scheduled vote count started by Etranger on Mar 4, 2024 at 11:33 AM, finished with 54 posts and 47 votes.
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    Prologue Part 2
  • Threadmarks
    • Plan: New World Hope
    - [HOUSE] Ended his existence.
    - [NCR] Let them retreat in good order.
    - [LEGION] Break their backs.
    - [ALLY] Small army of friends.
    - [OUTLOOK] The promise of the future.
    - The Courier, "Six" to their friends (They/Them)

    In the years and decades to come, even as your name vanished into history along with your face, your legacy would be one of calculated violence tempered by a sense of justice, if not actual mercy.

    The withered husk of Robert House, founder and savior of New Vegas, ceased to function with a single shot of your signature revolver, a centuries-long existence snuffed out seemingly at the height of his triumph. Though House envisioned a New Vegas free of outside control, he planned to enthrone himself as an undying tyrant, and his sheer arrogance left the master planner curiously unsuspecting of you, his favorite chess piece.

    Only when you turned on the king did the would-be dictator finally see his doom approaching, and that much too late. With his final gasping breath, he asked you "Why?" You knew he could not possibly understand how he embodied all that there was to hate about the Old World, all of its greed and pettiness, nor how you recoiled from the immortal yoke he sought to put around the world's neck. "For the future," you said, pulling the trigger, murdering the past, and leaving the autocrat to die confused.

    For the New California Republic, the great two-headed bear, you exercised restraint. Since your robot army left General Oliver and his troops to flee west unmolested, the NCR was able to withdraw its forces from the Mojave without incident. The true intent of your show of good faith, this glimpse of your mercy, was not understood for some time; only later, when the men and women who had received the your aid began to speak out against the government, did a few begin to suspect your ulterior motive. The seeds of the anti-war reform movement grew out of the devastation of Second Hoover, and you had played your part in planting them.

    Unfortunately for the Legion, its own brutality and wanton cruelty left it without the few saving graces of the liberal republic that opposed it, and so you chose to meet violence with violence. With almost systematic efficiency, you foiled each Legion plot, razed each secret outpost, until finally you pushed Caesar's advance forces back to and then away from their foothold on the Colorado River. Dozens of skilled assassins came after you, each seeking to end this merciless foe who hounded the Legion's every step, only for each to vanish into the desert, never seen or heard from again. When you came before Caesar under flag of truce, the former Follower questioned your intent, aghast; why would you, his most implacable foe, accept his offer to parley? Your reply: "How else could I have gotten inside your camp?" With a surreptitious motion, you triggered the explosives planted around the Fort, as well as the advance of your companions and upgraded Securitrons. Chaos ensued.

    You're pretty sure you didn't act like that before getting shot in the head. That 9mm bullet must have seriously rearranged some of the furniture up there.

    Lanius was a far more straightforward target than his dead leader, because he came straight to you. Exposed to Caesar's facile brand of Old World philosophy, he was psychologically vulnerable to the cutting remarks you had for him, and when he came for you, he was enraged and predictable. Precise high-caliber shots to his exposed joints left him defenseless, and then a triple-tap to the head finished the job. Benny had been sloppy, shooting you only once; you'd never make the same mistake yourself.

    Devoid of leadership, defeated for the second time, the Legion disintegrated into a myriad warring tribes and cohorts, and the East burned red in the fires of all against all.

    Having settled accounts with your enemies, you turned next to your friends.

    Raul, the ghoul ex-gunslinger you rescued from Black Mountain, decided to hang up his six-shooters once and for all in pursuit of a quiet life fixing machines. With your robot army and large technologically-dependent city, you found him an indispensable advisor and, in a pinch, a pretty good handyman.

    Arcade and Veronica, exiled children of reclusive militant sects, found peace away from their respective pasts as members of the Followers of the Apocalypse. In between their various duties helping the citizens of New Vegas, they were more than happy to lend a hand whenever you needed them, further shoring up your own woeful lack of facility with science and technology.

    Your two most faithful companions, of course, remained by your side without wavering. ED-E, bristling with upgrades, served as your tireless sentinel, watching over you all hours of the day, always with a cheerful beep. Rex the cyberdog, thriving after his brain transplant, seemed content to semi-retire; as your appointed guardian of the Lucky 38, he can't be matched for his vigilance, or for having the fuzziest ears.

    In the wake of the mysterious and unexplained deaths of both Alice Lafferty and Gloria Van Graff, Cass scented opportunity in the form of a huge economic vacuum. Flush with capital following your adventures, she elected to head back West, where by all accounts she's done quite well for herself.

    In order to both continue her treatment and help develop the next generation of medication for Nightkin schizophrenia, Lily returned to Jacobstown, where she has begun writing her memoirs - such as she can remember her past, anyway - so she'll never truly forget those she loved.

    Despite your best efforts, you were unable to persuade Boone to stick around. He returned to Novac and stays there most of the time, but stories reach you of his extended 'vacations' out East, along with rumors of ex-Legion slave traders disappearing without a trace.


    That's what happened to the great and the small, anyway. As for the rest? Well, you were a champion for the small settlements dotting the Mojave, and a scourge of the gangs and raiders that preyed upon them. The towns flourished and the bandits perished. What about the people in the middle, though, the other factions of the Mojave? How did you deal with them?

    BOOMERS
    The heavily-armed descendants of Vault 34 proved to be an explosive element, both literally and metaphorically. If unleashed upon the unsuspecting Wasteland, they could have turned the tide of a seemingly unwinnable battle in your favor. Of course, if you broke them out of their isolationism, then you'd be left to deal with the consequences. Ultimately, you decided to...

    [][BOOM] Enlist their aid.
    The Boomers showed up with their bomber and their artillery at the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, decimating the Legion's forces. Having made their spectacular contribution, they are now fully aware of their power and ready to show the world just what they're capable of. As such, they'll need to be managed very, very carefully.

    [][BOOM] Leave them to their own devices.
    You helped the Boomers out, sure, but ultimately decided against mobilizing them at Hoover Dam. As such, your losses were far greater than they might have otherwise been, even though you won in the end. With their facilities repaired and their defenses secure, they're now poised for another century of peaceful isolation.

    BROTHERHOOD OF STEEL
    Despite their claims to knighthood, the Mojave Brotherhood proved itself to be singularly unwilling to uphold any ideal other than its own self-preservation and the rapacious acquisition of Old World technology. As you were unable to recruit them to do anything useful for once, you were instead left with the choice of how to keep them from causing any damage. Therefore, you...

    [][BOS] Drove them out.
    The Brotherhood was strong, but you were stronger. Destroying their bunker's life-support systems flushed them out into the open, and then it was simply a matter of overwhelming them. The losses you took in the process were not insignificant, but the sheer size of your mechanical army convinced most of the tech-cultists to flee West, back to California.

    [][BOS] Let them be.
    In the end, you concluded that it was best not to pick any unnecessary fights, and left the problem of the Brotherhood for another day. Fixing up their bunker had earned you some grudging goodwill, and perhaps that could be parlayed into something more in the coming years. Then again, perhaps not.

    GREAT KHANS
    More than mere raiders and dealers, the beaten-down tribe of Great Khans still possessed notable armed might and wealth despite their generations of loss. You knew you had to deal with them, one way or another, but were reluctant to adopt the imperialist tactics of the NCR. Accordingly, you...

    [][KHANS] Sent them north.
    You might have been more tolerant than the NCR of tribals and their particular ways, but that didn't mean you wanted half of the Mojave addicted to chems. With a stirring speech, you convinced the Khans' leadership that their destiny lay in the unsettled north, where they could abandon their criminal past and secure a glorious new future. That the future in question meant you'd never see them again was left unmentioned.

    [][KHANS] Had them settle down.
    Of course, there was always the other speech. You know, the one where you told them that their so-called tribal identity was little more than a sham, a convenient cover for theft, banditry, and drug-dealing. Broken by defeat after defeat, they were painfully receptive to what you had to say, and the vast majority simply chose to give up and move to Outer Vegas rather than slowly dwindle to nothing in Red Rock Canyon.

    THE KINGS
    The uncrowned rulers of Freeside were perhaps some of your favorite people, possessing as they did a fierce independent spirit much like your own. You and the King were completely simpatico, and he was fully prepared to lend his aid when you called him up in support of an independent New Vegas. All you needed him to do was...

    [][KINGS] Mobilize across the city.
    While you didn't really need the help flushing the NCR's troops out of the Mojave, given their full-scale retreat, what you did need was a human face for replacing their authority with your own. Backed by Securitrons, the Kings projected your power across the whole of Outer Vegas, serving as your liaisons to the people. Pretty soon, every neighborhood had its own friendly local King.

    [][KINGS] Keep the peace in Freeside.
    Freeside was the most chaotic of the Outer Vegas territories not under raider control, but that was more a function of neglect than anything else. With your support, the King redoubled his gang's presence on the streets, ensuring that the entrance to the Strip remained calm and peaceful during the transition toward independence.


    12 hours to discuss, then 24 hours to vote. Please vote by plan; a sample format is included below.

    [] Plan: Interesting Plan Name
    -[][CAT1] Do a thing.
    -[][CAT2] No, not that, the other thing.
    -[][CAT3] Yes, right, exactly.

    The first three votes will impact the status quo going forward, while the fourth is more of a cultural/outlook thing with implications for future actions. Options that say you took additional losses will result in fewer available Securitrons at the start of the quest. None of the choices here will impact the disposition of your companions.

    Next vote will determine the fate of the Strip as well as any events outside the Mojave (the DLCs), and then we'll start the quest proper.

    Feel free to ask questions here or come chat in my channel on Wordsmiths. Thank you to everyone for your participation so far, and have fun!
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • []Plan: Peace and Security
    [][BOOM] Enlist their aid
    [][BOS] Let them be
    [][KHANS] Had them settle down
    [][KINGS] Keep the peace in Freeside
     
    Too bad there's no option to give the Boomers what they really deserve, a short drop and sudden stop. At least we can drive out the BoS.

    []Plan: What they Deserve
    - [][BOOM] Enlist their aid.
    - [][BOS] Drove them out.
    - [][KHANS] Had them settle down.
    - [] [KINGS] Mobilize across the city.

    Don't want to enlist Boomer aid, but I feel like we might have lost far too many securitrons if we take both the leave the boomers alone option *and* the drive BoS out option and since driving the BoS out is non-negotiable...enlisting Boomer aid to reduce casualties will have to do.

    Not quite sure about the Khans and Kings vote. I don't think a sudden influx of ex-raiders, addicts and chem-dealers will do the stability of Outer Vegas any good, hence why I had the Kings mobilize.
     
    []Plan: Aid and Independence
    - [][BOOM] Enlist their aid.
    - [][BOS] Drove them out.
    - [][KHANS] Sent them north.
    - [][KINGS] Mobilize across the city.
     
    Man, It's been a long time since I played New Vegas, can't remember what drove all the factions.

    Boomers I remember being infuriatingly annoying to actually reach, but other than that were fine, so I'm leaning towards "Enlist their Aid"

    Brotherhood of Steel, I don't remember much of besides Veronica being my favorite companion, which, huzzah, she's one of the ones who stays in contact with us! "Let Them Be" I really don't feel like expending the resources to root them out. If they wanna bunker up until they go extinct, let em.

    Khans, those are the assholes who almost murdered us at the start of it all. Do I care that they were paid to do it by someone else? No! Fuck those guys and all the rest of those raider assholes! I wish there was an option to purge them like we did the Legion, but I'll settle for kicking them out. "Sent them North"

    Kings, love em. Securitrons have a crap load of firepower, but it'd be perfect to have a human representative to help keep the peace and relate to the people. "Mobilize Across the City"

    [ ] Plan: A New Mojave
    -[][BOOM] Enlist their aid.
    -[][BOS] Let them be.
    -[][KHANS] Sent them north.
    -[][KINGS] Mobilize across the city.
     
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    How much control are we going to have over The Courier's build? It's already mentioned that we're not great at Science and Technology, so what was Six's playstyle for this run? Energy weapons? Small arms? Melee?
     
    [X] Plan: New Beginnings
    -[X][BOOM] Enlist their aid.
    -[X][BOS] Drove them out.
    -[X][KHANS] Sent them north.
    -[X][KINGS] Keep the peace in Freeside.

    The Boomers are a great help, and are on the path towards seeing other people as more than target practice. The Brotherhood by contrast will never accept living under a polity ran by machines for long, even if there is a human at the helm. The Khans deserve the chance at a fresh start, without the baggage of their past in California and the Mojave weighing them down. As for the Kings, while I would like to start attaching a human face to our authority, I think making sure the Kings have Freeside fully under their control and protection is a much more important right now. (I'm pretty sure it's our most populated section of the city atm)

    [X]Plan: Aid and Independence
     
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    []Plan: Balance of Power
    [][BOOM] Enlist their aid
    [][BOS] Let them be
    [][KHANS] Sent them north
    [][KINGS] Keep the peace in Freeside

    Okay so I like the Khans. I want them to survive and preserve their own identity. Knowing they are out north building something for themselves makes me happy. Having them settle down seems like it will be bad for them and our project.

    When it comes to the Boomers and the BoS leaving the Boomers around without a possible counterweight seems like the worst of both worlds. Playing the Boomers and the BoS against each other promises to be interesting (also the BoS is like obviously the lesser evil).

    Eating the attrition of dealing with the BoS when our forces are too weak to control all of the Mojave seems risky. Especially when awakening the expansionist streak of the Boomers. I can easily see a scenario where we really struggle to keep Boomers in check while also holding down the fort elsewhere. Preserving our forces and using the naturally arising tensions between the Boomers and the BoS seems easier to me. Also from an OOC perspective I wanna see Etranger's take on the BoS and deal with them.
     
    Going to vote after work, but I am just going to say I think we should be mindful that Veronica is one of our comanpions when it comes to what we do with the BoS. If my memory serves right, she becomes inaccessible as a follower if you drive them out ingame. While we're already past that point, I still think she won't be too happy if we destroy Hidden Valley still and may be the source for some early, undesirable tension right off the bat.

    If the NCR can somehow make amends with them in their ending, then so can an independent Vegas I feel.
     
    The Boomers looking beyond their walls may be a problem for New Vegas. They were going to trade with the Crimson Caravan to restock their supply of gunpower and shells. They're going to need supplies from somewhere else. I'm not sure if New Vegas can meet their demands. I do also like the idea of having to deal with them as an active agent in the Mojave.

    BoS deserve worse. Just because they can read and have power armour doesn't mean they're not raiders. That said, them sticking around also presents a potential threat to deal with. I know the usual player response is to minimize those, but what if we didn't to see what Etranger can cook up. Will it hurt? Definitely. They will probably seize Helios One or stop caravans on the road to steal batteries from them at gunpoint. A city patrolled by an army of robots would piss them off.

    Again, they don't think anyone should have laser weapons, small energy cells, micro-fusion cores, or even fission batteries if they can help it. They can not be trusted to be normal at all, even if the reasonable elder is in charge. Those paladins in Veronica's quest slaughtered an entire Followers outpost on the off chance Veronica shared any of her technical knowledge with them. I think within a generation they're going to start unironically claiming only they should have electricity and start attacking generators and power lines.

    And that's great! We need something to keep us busy. :p

    Khans of course you've gotta have the Idaho Khanate. That goes without question.
     
    They (The BoS) aren't wrong on the whole energy weapon thing, but we can keep them holed up in their bunker if they start making waves on things we care about.
     
    Decisions, decisions...not a fan of either opening the Boomers up to the outside world or keeping the BoS around, but I suspect if we want to keep our forces undepleated we're going to have to pick one of those options. Depends on what we think we can live with.

    Or, we can do the Gamer Move and both recruit the Boomers and keep the BoS around. Surely nothing would go wrong.

    As for the others: letting the Khans keep their identity would be nice...maybe gives us a friendly ally to the North? Kings I think we should spread across the city because that both lets them serve as a human face and also keeps the King from getting to strong of a base in Freeside. Listen, just because we like them doesn't mean that we can't take steps to ensure that they won't be able to oppose us too strongly.
     
    Settling the Khans feels a bit to Caesar-ish, and while I disagree with where the Brotherhood is at in this part of the world, I don't think eradicating them is the right move. Other than that I'm fairly neutral.
     
    We should settle the Khans, it'd be a good manpower boost, plus in a way they would help cement our power as foreign yet now unorganized with a personal connection to the Courier
     
    A lack of loyal companions turned lieutenants we can delegate to is gonna bite us in the backside eventually.

    Veronica was loyal and helped us. However you feel about brotherhood of steel, maybe don't drive them, and Veronica with them, away.

    Securitrons don't grow on trees. Enlist the boomers aid now and subvert them with booze, steak, and seasoned food later.

    Send the Khans north. We don't need to give the criminals of new vegas a dangerous and storied group of outlaws to flock to.

    The Kings can do either action, but expanding beyond freeside might help their numbers in the longterm.
     
    Brightflame said:
    Going to vote after work, but I am just going to say I think we should be mindful that Veronica is one of our comanpions when it comes to what we do with the BoS. If my memory serves right, she becomes inaccessible as a follower if you drive them out ingame. While we're already past that point, I still think she won't be too happy if we destroy Hidden Valley still and may be the source for some early, undesirable tension right off the bat.

    If the NCR can somehow make amends with them in their ending, then so can an independent Vegas I feel.
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    Randino Treviani said:
    Veronica was loyal and helped us. However you feel about brotherhood of steel, maybe don't drive them, and Veronica with them, away.
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    Driving out the Brotherhood won't drive Veronica away. She's a follower now and has fully left the brotherhood behind. Etranger has also said that none of the choices here will affect the disposition of our companions.
     
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