Ranger Chauncey (super mutant Ranger)

[theDemonJackal]

I like the light machine gun idea. But I am trying to keep in the mind set that Chauncey is a SM and considering the size of his hands in comparasion to that of a trigger. Besides all those points, I rather like the idea of Chauncey taking pleasure in beating someone with his bare hands rather than shooting them.

As for having seen so many deaths, I have found that each companion in NV is somewhat broken:

Cass- Depression(caravans gone under) and alcholism

Boone - Wifes dead and Bitter Springs

Lilly - in general.

as Well as some of the others. So he gets up close and personal because he doesnt know any other way of handling it, and hes good at it. i mean you see a huge juggernaut running towards you while your trying to reload. Your gonna be scared shitless. Chauncey basically is the huge monster that is the equivelant to Lanuis. And they are set to meet on the battlefield at the next battle. It is an unspoken arrangement by both sides that the monsters will fight.

[devinpatterson]

I like the light machine gun idea. But I am trying to keep in the mind set that Chauncey is a SM and considering the size of his hands in comparasion to that of a trigger.

Not really an issue. The light machine gun *is* used by SMs.

 

Besides all those points, I rather like the idea of Chauncey taking pleasure in beating someone with his bare hands rather than shooting them.

I'm confused because you had mentioned he had seen so many deaths, but also propose that he takes pleasure in beating someone to death. It seems like there may be a possible contradiction there.

 

as Well as some of the others. So he gets up close and personal because he doesnt know any other way of handling it, and hes good at it.

Even the stupidest wasteland SMs know how to handle weapons. As a ranger Chauncey should be very well versed in firearms.

 

i mean you see a huge juggernaut running towards you while your trying to reload. Your gonna be scared shitless. Chauncey basically is the huge monster that is the equivelant to Lanuis. And they are set to meet on the battlefield at the next battle. It is an unspoken arrangement by both sides that the monsters will fight.

I don't really think it's a good idea to cast Chauncey as mirror image of Lanuis. Lanuis is a major character, Chauncey a secondary, and they fill very different rolls in each faction.

 

I appreciate that you have a lot of passion for the character and have done a lot of work. But I think your trying to cast him in teh role of a bruiser and that's why your coming up with these spurious arguments (ie the trigger is too small, he's seen too much death but also wants to beat opponents to death, etc). I can understand and appreciate that you like the idea of a unarmed tank/bruiser.

 

But what I'm asking is, do you think it's the best archetype for a ranger character? In other words, does just having a high melee skill qualify you as a ranger or would you need to have the archetypal ranger traits (regardless of your race) to make the grade? I'd argue the latter.

 

Here is an alternate pitch that could give him some decent character and backstory, but also qualify him for service in the NCR's most elite service. Like lily he would have retained his memory of his past life. In this case a high ranking NCO (if marine say a gunnery sgt or first sgt) and is the typical grizzled drill sgt type. He's up there in rank (for a NCO), but never a desk jockey, he was always with his platoon. He's knowledgeable in military tech, tactics and small fire teams. The NCR may appeal to him as the closest current approximation of the ideals of the long lost U.S. He uses a light machine gun as his weapon of choice, but has the grunt perk tagged so he's at home with grenades, grenade launchers, assault & marksman carbines, light machine gun, and combat knives. We also give him a cigar that is perpetually sticking out of his mouth. It also gives us some great mannerisms, speech patterns, philosophy etc to work off of.

 

I think that would make a better back story and a better fit in the ranger ethos, than a brawler/bare knuckled specialized character.

 

What do you think?

[theDemonJackal]

I say we settle on a compramise. I do enjoy your idea about him being a former drill instructor, but also dont really want to throw away the whole masters army thing. What if, like lilly, he was an old man once he was mutanised. Retaining a lot of his memories, he was a high ranking member of the masters army and fought along side marcus, lilly and Tabitha.

He is considered an asset to the NCR, due to his war experience (at least as far back as he can recall) and his abilities as a mutant. His status as a ranger is of his own choosing and while he takes the medals he wont take advancement. (as you said he prefers the field to desk work)

We basically just combine the ideas and settle on him being a drill sergent turned into a mutant, and forgeting a majority of his past (bar his training) while also fighting to make sure a man like the Master never gains control again.

As for how I feel about the character, this is the first mod I am actually participating in the creation of and want to do it right. I'd hate to see such a great idea for a mod go to waste.

[devinpatterson]

I say we settle on a compramise. I do enjoy your idea about him being a former drill instructor, but also dont really want to throw away the whole masters army thing.

Oh no we're not tossing out the 1st gen/master story line at all, this simply adds more character to Chauncey.

 

What if, like lilly, he was an old man once he was mutanised. Retaining a lot of his memories, he was a high ranking member of the masters army

Yep, that's my pitch.

[theDemonJackal]

Okay. That works quite well. We got the story of Chauncey, his weaponary (melee I am torn between Old Glory, A bowie Knife(always see a ranger with a knife) or a Supersledge). We are half-way there. Now you asked me about the quests involving Chauncey earlier. And this is what I have come up with.

 

You got a friend in me...(Takes place after recruiting Chauncey and leaving the Ranger station. Keane must be alive.)

The courier is given a message from Marcus to ask a Supermutant to come to Jacobstown. Marcus isnt aware that this is Chauncey, and in fact Chauncey doesnt look forward to seeing Marcus again as both sides are still sore about their falling out.

Marcus asks Chauncey to go out and search for Keane who has left the safety fo Jacobs town to venture into the wastelande in search of likeminded mutants. Chauncey accepts the favor and asks the courier to come with him.

"But where could Keane have gone. This may take days of tracking... You up for that?"

So where in the Mojave could Keane find a large group of Mutants? *Hint: It rhymes with Slack Fountain* Marcus still needs Keane to be alive, and is hesitant to send the ill tempered Chauncey on a recovery mission. There are a few mutant remnants at the mountian(if you have finished the Quest) so get ready for a fight.

 

Suspicous Minds (This is the only quest you can do if you have killed Keane. The quest begins when you ask Chauncey about the NCR.)

Upon asking him about the NCR, Chauncey will mention that he is friendly with a few high ranking Officers at McCarran that he hasnt seen in a while. He shows some desire to seeing one or two of them again, and asks if its possible to stop there for visit.

Once there Chauncey will comment on the training regiment and the shabbyness of the made beds. Inside the main building, Chauncey meets an old friend of his by the name of Lt. Baxter. Who asks the courier to bring Chauncey up north to check out a commuinication problem with a team. Chauncey has already agreed and Baxter just wants to see if you would accompany him. Baxter states:

I'd do it myself...but darn I was just re-assigned to Searchlight...Leaving later today.

Once there Chuancey is attacked by the men in NCR Uniforms. Upon killing them, a note can be found indicating that there is a leak in the NCR and they plan to Kill Baxter once hes relocated to Camp Searchlight. Chauncey then wants to save his friend and tells you they have to get to searchlight At once!

 

Those are the two Ideas I had for Chauncey and his Quests.Basic run down anyway.

He is a specail case of companion in my opinion as he belongs to two different groups in the Wasteland and therefore should probably have a quest in the NCR and for Jacobstown. Also both of the quests are named after songs I think suit Chaunceys Personality.

I will be editing and recording more dialogue sometime this week and will post the link onto this page as soon as I am satisfied with the sound.

[devinpatterson]

Okay. That works quite well. We got the story of Chauncey, his weaponary (melee I am torn between Old Glory, A bowie Knife(always see a ranger with a knife) or a Supersledge).

I'd say offhand the combat knife (but a larger version). It would fit his grunt perk (bonus) and feel like an old friend in his hands (as a military man), however that may not be an option as we don't really have a SM animation for it (I don't think).

 

Judging by the weapons they use (nail board, bumper sword, rebar club, super sledge) we may not have much in the way of animations to work with. I think old glory would work, a special version that uses either the super sledge or bumper sword animation. I can copy over the mesh over and make a unique weapon. But it's so iconic to Ulysse. I'v swapped animations from a donor humanoid to a target humanoid and sometimes they work ok. It's possible we may be able to use the kf's for a human knife with Chauncey. Hmmmm.

[theDemonJackal]

Hmmm. Old Glory with a bear instead of an eagle?

[devinpatterson]

Hmmm. Old Glory with a bear instead of an eagle?

I can put a two headed bear (really a Yao guai, but at that size and textured gold it will look the same) on a flag pole. But I wonder if it might make more sense to go with a super sledge with the two headed bear being the head of the sledge. The 2241 flag's bear seems like a decent shape for the weapon's head;

 

Pic;

 

 

http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/fallout.gamepedia.com/f/fe/Fo2_NCR_Flag.png?version=172d0c1a0a31cff6a14b50431e391732

 

 

 

It's still gaudier than I would like for a hardened solider like Chauncey, but I feel it would be a better choice than a variant of old glory.

 

I think a flag pole seems a bit flimsy for a SM and I feel like it would be hard to get away from the association with Ulysses, even with a bear instead of an eagle.

 

But a sledge, now that's a proper super mutant weapon there. Skull crushingly effective. And I think that's well within the NCR's weapon smiths capabilities (they seem pretty adapt at most weapons except energy).

 

Ideally I'd still prefer the combat knife, but if it turns into a real tar baby and looks like it's going to suck up a lot of time to implement, then I think the sledge is a decent compromise. It will fit teh SM archetype but with the two headed bear it also displays Chauncey's loyalty to the NCR and can act as a emblem/standard. And Chauncey would be an excellent standard bearer, not a lot of NCR peeps are going to be able to absorb more damage than him, nor attract the same level of notoriety/visual impact.

 

On the other hand, maybe Chauncey would just have a rusty sledge or bumper sword without any of the fancy trimmings. What do you think?

[theDemonJackal]

Currently in hospital at the moment. Sorry for the late reply. I like the idea of a double headed supersledge, and since hes a vetaran we can have it rusted to hell, the bears heads looking in pieces and./or chipped.

Like i said in earlier dialogue writings, he enjoys "Bone Breakind Fun". Besides, like the Antler to the Nightkin, he could have an attachment to the old super sledge(not crazy attachment but sentimental reason)

Besides whose gonna try and take it from him if he doesnt think its broken.

I like the idea, I mean I have said that Chauncey is as fear by the legion as Lanuis is by the NCR. But Chauncey is swept under the carpet as too crazy a story to be true,unlike lanuis (I have written in his dialogue that at Hoover Dam Chauncey continued fighting while carrying his wounded brothers to safty. It was said he was shot, stabbed, and electrocuted, but continued to carry his brothers in arms.[This is because Chauncey's brothers in arms mean more to him than any order from above])

I like the idea of the Bear Sledge.

What do you think of the quest ideas? I promise I'll get back to writing as soon as I am discharged from the hospital.

[theDemonJackal]

Random Thought: Bear Neccessaty being the name of the Sledge

I rather like it. Plus it gives me an excuse to add in the line when he switchs to melee "All we need is the 'Bear Neccessaty' for now"

 

The question about the quest still stands but I got some new lines and things to bring up that have come to mind. They dont need to be implemented of course, but would like if they were looked at.

But other than that, working on random locations he could comment on, Some linked to Mutants, others linked to Vegas, and a lot linked to the NCR. The vegas lines thus far are as follows:

"Lets go to the Ultra Lux, they dont know me there." (Near the Ultralux)

"Who says soldiers dont have fun. Shake it Adams!" (women in the fountain at the ultra lux)

"Know how to count cards?...Ah we'll wing it." (Tops Casino)

"Anyone ever Buy a vault suit?" (Vault 21 Reception desk)

"I was playing cards and getting kicked out of this place,before the omeratas were in charge." (Gommorah Casino Floor)

"Alright lets...where the hell are the dealers?" (Entering Lucky 38)

 

I thought becase of the rather enjoyable line I came up with when he is dismissed to the Lucky 38 "Probably a bad time to bring up I got a gambling problem."

 

 

I thought it would be fun for him to interact with the subject of gambling in Vegas. (lets face it we dont see a lot of mutants in Vegas and rather than say its a racial thing I think its better for the character if he has been kicked out of some casinos and cheats at some games. I found the idea of a supermutant counting cards funny if I am being honest.)

 

In terms of off topic commments (such as niners Senoir slicey hands story) I had an idea a while back that he should mention mutants we meet in the Mojave, but not by name. Rather by their character traits. Here was some examples:

"Know what shell shock does to a mutant? I knew a guy that ate constantly for comfort. Always talking to himself too..." (Dog)

"Scariest Name I know...Lou" (Lieutenant)

"Know Gommorah used to have a supermutant in it. Whatever happened to that guy?" (Angel -A cut character from NV-)[Might be interesting as project if this goes well]

"Mr. New Vegas is good...But wheres the Tiny Lester Lutton?" (Tiny Lester is a character mentioned in OWB)

"I hate all that hippy s-hit. Knew a guy once gave up violence for the grace of his spirit or some crap!" (Uncle Leo)(Bonus points for mentioning hippies!)

 

Anyways, so with what free time I have with internet access I found a few cut character from fallout games that might be interesting in mentioning by Chauncey as they are relivent to his and Marcus' shared cause. The two that stick out are Chris and Justin, Nightkin who believed there could be harmony between mutants and humans from fallout 2. So thought, what if Chauncey wasnt alone when he joined the NCR. What if he found two like minded veterans of the masters army that werent lucky enough to survive as long as he? So I came up with the following dialogue option if you complete Marcus' Quest.

6: So after Marcus and you went seperate ways... Did you stay alone?

 

Cha:No. There were two nightkin that joined with me. We fought together for years.

 

6: Cool! Where are they stationed? We can visit them.

 

Cha: Boulder City and Cottonwood...

 

6: 1.What?

2. Theres no Ncr Stations there

 

Cha: 1. They were Killed in action...Chris was decapatated by legionairs and Justin didnt escape the explosion in time.

2. I know. Their dead....(Follows the same route as above after the dots.)

 

6: I'm sorry.

 

Cha: So am I....Lets drop it