Some thoughts on some possible vanilla quest modifications and a new Minutemen questline

[reygunz5636]

Just writing down some thoughts.

 

"Out of Time" should have two alternate completion possibilities: if the Sole Survivor has not engaged in combat with the Raiders assaulting the Museum of Freedom and has (1) spoken with Ellie Perkins or (2) spoken with Nick inside the vault if the Sole Survivor has not yet spoken to Ellie Perkins, "Out of Time should complete.

 

"When Freedom Calls" should fail, whether it has started or not, after so many in-game days have passed. After the quest fails, Preston and the gang should be placed in Sanctuary and some infrastructure should be automatically added. I see one obstacle to this is that the Sole Survivor can access Sanctuary's workbench without ever speaking to Preston. This could be overcome by making completing "When Freedom Comes"/starting the miscellaneous Sturges tutorial quest is required or, if "When Freedom Calls" has failed, completing "The First Step" is required. ("When Freedom Calls" should also complete after speaking with Preston inside the Museum of Freedom after killing the Deathclaw and raiders. I knw there is a mod that does this already, but I think its worth mentioning here for the changes I am proposing.)

 

There is some weird dialogue delay when speaking with Preston in Sanctuary for the first time. I'm not aware of a fix made for this yet. Additionally, the dialogue should end when Preston mentions helping Sturges. The conversation should pick up again after completing Sturges' miscellaneous quest (also, access to the workbench should given after talking to Sturges here and Sturges should give the Sole Survivor enough "seeds" to plant an adequate amount of food) and "The First Step" should initiate when Sturges directs the Sole Survivor back to Preston.

 

"The First Step" should direct the Sole Survivor to Abernathy Farm rather than Tenpines Bluff because it is closer to Sanctuary, has a story about Raiders messing with settlers, and is often overlooked by new players (though new players wouldn't be playing with mods really, but I think you understand that I am trying to "fix" a mistake). I suppose that this would remove "Returning the Favor" as a separate quest, but who really cares. Additionally, the locket should be moved to Walden Lake - a location that is often neglected and within reasonable vicinity. More on the reasoning for this should be apparent later.

 

Tenpines Bluff, Starlight Drive-inn, and Sunshine Tidings Co-op should be prioritized as the second Minutemen settlement acquisition quest, not including Sanctuary. Making Tenpines Bluff the default quest would be fine. None of these should send the Sole Survivor to the Corvega Assembly Plant. Tenpines Bluff can now send the Sole Survivor to locations closer to it including USAF Satellite Station Olivia.

 

(I realize that the above two quest modifications are dependent on the Sole Survivor not already acquiring them. I'm sure my following idea does not require that the Sole Survivor does the quests in that order nor acquires other settlements before hand. Although, the easy access to Red Rocket maybe problematic. Not Sure.)

 

After completing "The First Step" and acquiring at least one other settlement besides Sanctuary and Red Rocket (and hopefully having set up a recruitment beacon for one of the empty settlements if that is how the settlement is acquired), raiders attack Sanctuary. After the Sole Survivor has cleared the raiders, Preston, Sturges, Marcy, or Jun find a note on one of the raiders. The note reads, "Bring the seer back to Corvega - Jared" or something along those lines. Preston now realizes that the raider gang at Corvega is a direct threat to Sanctuary. Preston asks the Sole Survivor to help them subdue the threat. (Some good writing for the dialogue is needed here. Some quest mods I've seen that are deemed "good" have very poor writing. I won't mention which ones, but please consider your creative writing skills here and seek assistance if you are not skilled in this area.) This is basically the conclusion to the Minutemen story during the first act of the game.

 

"Taking Independence" should be delayed until the second act and only after the Sole Survivor has acquired so many settlements. I know there are some mods that already adjust the requirements, but I am not looking to make the player level a requirement and I am also trying to make completing "Reunions" a requirement. Taking the Castle would be the pinnacle Minutemen point during the second act.

 

During act three, "Defend the Castle" needs to be delayed by maybe increasing the number of settlements needed to complete "Form Ranks" and definitely requiring so many in-game days pass after completing "Institutionalized" and having spoken with Preston afterwards.

 

Now I am not sure if the next segment of the Minutemen questline should wait until after business with the Institute is complete or should it just become available after "Defend the Castle." I also haven't put as much thought into here as this is where more creativity is needed. The Gunners at this point should be the major threat to the Minutemen. I think having the Gunners attack a settlement or multiple settlements should take place. At this point, driving the Gunners out of Quincy and assaulting Gunner's Plaza should both be part of the questline. I also can see the Atom Cats playing a role in the Quincy assault. By the end, there should be an allusion to the mysterious Gunner commander that the game never reveals is an ominous threat that will not be dealt with in this game. There is also room here for the Sole Survivor to betray the Minutemen and join the Gunners, though I would like to see an opportunity to join the Gunners at a much earlier point in the game.

 

Anyways, I think that this would make the Minutemen more enjoyable to play and gives them a greater arch.

Edited October 5, 2022 by reygunz5636