Goris Companion

[lunaticorlover]

I noticed there was mention of Goris in the Humanoid deathclaw thread, but I figured I'd give him his own topic to discuss. Forgive me if this has been posted before.

 

I'd really love to see Goris from Fallout 2 make a return! He was my favorite companion, definitely one of the coolest and most intriguing designs.

 

I imagine him older, larger, and more scarred (and stronger!) than he'd been in Fallout 2. You'd discover a secluded cave filled with accumulated books and knick knacks, Goris in the midst. With a bit of chatting, you'd convince him to venture the wastes again. Perhaps even a simple fetch quest of some sort could be implemented in order to recruit him.

 

I think it would be really cool, and fit in well with the overall plot--there are a lot of deathclaw followers, but none of them seem to have any personality to them (well, save for Mr. Claw, he's cool). I'd love to implement this bit of Fallout lore into a more modern translation.

 

However, I'm fully aware of how challenging this would be. Goris isn't just a deathclaw. He's an albino deathclaw, and he talks, and he wears a cloak that he dramatically sweeps off like a badass when combat starts. It would definitely be hard to pull off, but I imagine with the right talent it would look really stunning.

 

I am by no means good with modding. It took me an hour to figure out how to edit a bit of dialogue with the GECK. But if anyone would be seriously interested, I'm a capable writer and would be more than happy to write his dialogue.

 

This is more of a pipe dream than anything else, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyway.

[devinpatterson]

Who knows, maybe deathclaws have a very long lifespan (if not cut short via unnatural means). Most of the parts are there. Q rigged a deathclaw to a SM skeleton, so some weapons are usable. You'd still need to keep him to a manageable size though (for interiors). The albino would be an easy re-tex. Even voice work would be easier in some regards, I mean you don't have to imitate an existing actor.....just put a little spin on the S's and what have you. Actually I have a voice actor in mind that could probably do it justice. I can do the dialog quest, modeling and textures, but will only invest the time in making it if really seems promising (goes beyond just a cool model, into a genuinely appealing companion with a compelling personality).

 

Tell you what, go ahead and start throwing out the ideas/brainstorming and I'll collaborate with you (and hopefully others will as well). If we feel like there's enough substance in re: to his history, personality etc then we'll start working on him.

[lunaticorlover]

Well, I think a good way to make the mod feel genuine would to be to connect it to his role in Fallout 2. I need to do a bit of research on what EXACTLY Goris's fate was, as I still haven't quite beaten Fallout 2 yet.

 

Either way, his personality is definitely going to be drastically different from Fallout 2. He comes off as a bit of a naive idealist--I think after traveling the wastes he'd get a taste of the real blood and grit that comes with it. He's a pariah, and very lonely one at that--unlike ghouls, he can't find others like him. They're all dead.

 

At this point I'd imagine he's a bitter skeptic, disgusted by the world, yet still wishing he could be as intrigued and enamored with it as he once was. He stays in his cave, reading classic pre-War books with this notion that humanity would have been kinder to him and his dead kinsmen then (even though we know that's not quite true).

 

Perhaps the player's quest to recruit him permanently is to bring him proof that there is still good in the Mojave. You find, say, three examples. I'm no expert at scripting, but I'm assuming that could work one of two ways. The hard way would be to create entirely new characters/events/etc to serve as these examples. The easier way would be to choose existing in-game scenarios that could work as examples of 'good-doing', and when you come across those, you can report back to him. Or maybe skip all that and pass a speak check if you have high enough intelligence, considering he's a pretty clever dude.

 

We've got a lot of examples in New Vegas of how shitty life can be in a post-apocalyptic environment. I feel like a good overarching theme to have with Goris is that's not always the case.

 

I'll need to go over his dialogue and speech patterns in Fallout 2 again, but I'd be happy to put together some basic beta dialogue. There's a program called Twine, that you can use to make text adventures, and I could craft a basic dialogue tree with it.

[devinpatterson]

OK I'll look for examples of virtue/kindness/whatever in the vanilla game.

[devinpatterson]

Ok so a couple of points. He survives. He also caries a male dominant gene for deathclaw intelligence. If he mates with a ordinary female deathclaw there will be intelligent offspring (implying that there exists the possibility of other intelligent deathclaws from his line). That implies a possible society (well more likely tribe) and/or the companion could be a descendent of Goris instead of the original. Not saying he has to be, from what I can tell there is only 4 decades from FO2 to NV.

 

But the family angle could be very interesting. Say you protect his tribe from a slaughter and Goris realizes that he can no longer shut the world out. Or perhaps his son has gone adventuring and hasn't returned. Goris has been isolated for so long, he needs the couriers help to locate his wayward child.

 

Another angle concerns the fact that Goris is a scholar. He might be run across doing some research or even seek out the courier for questions about his/her experience (OWB, the divide etc). Alternately maybe he's been communicating with another group like the BOS, via electronic (radio, terminal) or other means (notes left for a courier to deliver, next to a small pile of caps). This other group believes him to be a very knowledgeable scholar/scribe and they have been exchanging information. perhaps this other group (I'm just going to use BOS for the purposes of this example) taskes the courier with delivering a message to a cave, but the courier gets curious and explores inside. Or perhaps a BOS initiate that was delivering a message has returned and the BOS asks the courier to check on him/her at the location of the same cave.

 

Anyway a lot of angles. Goris could have even been in contact with Elijah when he was in his hideout shack. They may have even known each other as friends.

[Morgwynn]

Goris wasn't an Alpha Deathclaw by any means he was a normal deathclaw with intelligence and that added intelligence is what gave him his edge in combat. Still he might be able to survive mating with a Mother Deathclaw however his offspring wouldn't be as intelligent as he is, granted they would become far more social among there own kind and hunt with even greater cunning but I doubt they would be self away like Goris is. I think normal deathclaws wouldn't attack him because they sense he is one of them kind of how Faral Ghouls don't attack normal Ghouls. I imagine Goris would make a lair for himself among normal deathclaws for protection, I mean who would have the stones to enter a Deathclaw lair looking for one particular Deathclaw . . . Oh wait that would be the player character. Imagine a " Mysterious Stranger " went to Vault 13 before the Enclave wiped out the intelligent Deathclaw there and convinced them into giving him a small clutch of eggs and an intelligent female Deathclaw to watch over the eggs while the " Mysterious Stranger " found a place for them to hide while he tried to locate a safe place for the eggs to be hatched. So the best place to hide is in plain sight figures the " Mysterious Stranger " and hides the female Deathclaw in a travelling carnival/side show as an attraction at the travelling side show pretending to be a normal non intelligent Deathclaw long enough for the " Mysterious Stranger " to find a cave network that is out of sight and out of mind. The travelling side show enters the Mojave in it's travels and the " Mysterious Stranger " finds an old abandoned Vault that would be perfect for the female and her eggs and returns to the travelling side show to retrieve her and the eggs only to find that the greed of the side show operator has become so strong that he doesn't want to give up the female Deathclaw so a gun battle breaks out only this time it's the courier who comes to the aid of the " Mysterious Stranger " in fending off the side show security personnel and rescuing them both. And agreeing to help them to the safety of the hidden vault. The character would gain the " Mysterious Stranger " perk and the new Queen Mother Deathclaw would honor the player character by naming one of the infant Deathclaws after him/her. Also you could get a side quest to find Goris who would be considered an honored elder among the intelligent Deathclaws.

[Morgwynn]

Goris could have followed Marcus to the Mojave feeling a sort of kindship with him since they were both non human companions. Once in the Mojave he could have become a sort of wilderness scout/ranger legend giving a little credence to Chief Hanlons stories of trained Deathclaws that he must have heard from other rangers out in the field who were saved by a strange clothed Deathclaw who would show up long enough to save the rangers hides and then vanish as quick as appeared.

[Morgwynn]

Maybe after you find Goris and introduce him to the new Deathclaw queen he'll decide that he wants some sexy time with the new queen and after a one night stand ending in a friends with benefits type arrangement he becomes your companion.

[devinpatterson]

Goris wasn't an Alpha Deathclaw by any means he was a normal deathclaw with intelligence and that added intelligence is what gave him his edge in combat. Still he might be able to survive mating with a Mother Deathclaw

In a lions pride only the alpha male and female mate, but every adult lions is capable of doing so. I think you can see where I'm going with this.....

 

He also caries a male dominant gene for deathclaw intelligence. If he mates with a ordinary female deathclaw there will be intelligent offspring (implying that there exists the possibility of other intelligent deathclaws from his line).

however his offspring wouldn't be as intelligent as he is,

Actually that's straight from the wiki;

 

"since the gene was made male specific and any intelligent male that mated with a non-intelligent female deathclaw would (most likely) produce intelligent deathclaws.[1]"

[1] is a footnote for the fallout bible.

 

" and hides the female Deathclaw in a travelling carnival/side show as an attraction at the travelling side show pretending to be a normal non intelligent Deathclaw long enough for the " Mysterious Stranger

If he's being painted as very cynical, I think it's unlikely he'll entrust his mate to a human/carnival.

[XTgrndr]

If anyone managed to make this companion, I'd love to see him.

 

I'm now picturing this moment.

 

Raider: Oh, you think you're so tough, you and your hunchback monk friend over there.

 

Goris throws aside the robe.

 

Raider: Oh <bleep>.

Edited August 14, 2013 by XTgrndr