[QUEST IDEA] SPOILER - Joining the BoS Properly

[Athanasa]

SPOILER TYPE: Talking about the quest where you enter the main BoS base. Something that happens in pretty much every Fallout game. So, it's not plot spoilers, but if you haven't played anything yet them you might not want to read any further.

IDEA SUMMARY

You are required to do a combat test as well as the medical

exam before you are given the rights to your Power Armor.

You also gain a sweet new mod according to the results

of your combat test / your weapon preferences.

BoS Welcome Summarised

We don't usually like outsiders, but here's a fresh suit of Power Armor. We're not going to check that you know how to use it. We're not going to even check what sort of weapons you favour, why would a military organisation want to know your strengths in the field? Now go and storm this super mutant base FULL OF NUCLEAR WARHEADS right under our base.

For anyone interested, a youtube video I found covering the vanilla questline of boarding the Prydwen and getting your first BoS mission. Because I couldn't remember half of the stuff that happened, just that it was over far too fast for such an important event in my character's life.

So, first person you talk to when you get onto the Prydwen is Lancer Captain Kells, and he makes it very clear he has doubts about you. Lines like, "You don't look much like a soldier to me" and I'm sure there were others, too. Because, let's face it. You're new. Sure, you have Danse to vouch for you, and apparently his word counts for a lot. But remember what Rhys was like? Sure, he was an arse. But a realistic amount of arse, given the state of the world. Given the way the Brotherhood works, I was hoping to have to earn the respect of the Brotherhood. After all, earning your rank makes it all the sweeter. You actually feel a little bit of pride when NPCs salute you as 'Knight'.

Unfortunately, things take a turn towards 'rushed story progression' once you talk to Maxson.

"[Danse] feels you've become quite an asset to us. Seeing as he's one of my most respected field officers, you couldn't get a better recommendation. Therefore, from this moment forward, I'm granting you the rank of Knight. And [...] a suit of Power Armor."

"Hi! Danse likes you! Here, have one of our most powerful and jealously protected resources and a promotion."

"In any event, once you've finished becoming familiar with the Prydwen and my staff, report to the Flight Deck for your new orders."

So you wander about, have the "Medical Examination Chinwag" and chat to some other people.

At no point does anyone make any attempt to discover more about your combat abilities.

You, the newest member of the most organised and advanced military Organisation in post-war America. You, the person given a suit of power armor. You, someone no-one apart from Danse and his Recon Team have ever met or talked to in more than passing. I imagine the lack of any actual checks is because some players would be frustrated by having to jump through hoops to get their Power Armor. However, for those of us that want to feel any actual weight to our actions and progress through the ranks, it's somewhat lacking.

Weapon Preference Tests

You are taken out to the BoS training area and told to perform various tasks with weapons they provide you. Because you're the new guy, various off-duty Brotherhood soldiers come to watch and comment on your abilities, based on certain trigger stats / perks / events. At last, people that actually acknowledge your skills! Because they're super generic NPCs, voice lines for these comments can be borrowed from all over the game (e.g Diamond City guards), or even voice-acted by random members of the community. You'll never meet these people again, so who cares if their voices match no other NPCs?
As for where this goes, I imagine it wouldn't disrupt the Boston Airport TOO much if you put some target dummies somewhere. Or, stick a door on a wall somewhere and make a new cell especially for it.

Physical Strength
You punch at a punchbag / dummy in thick padded leather armor.
Strength > 7: Your impressive strength is noted by the onlookers and commented on. Maybe a muttered, "Niiice..." from a chick in Power Armor.
Iron Fist: The punch bag / dummy is destroyed. Onlookers are very impressed. Stunned silence, followed by clapping?
Strength < 2: People notice you're not physically strong. "Don't worry, Power Armor covers that."

Melee Weapons
You are given a combat knife. Attack a dummy in heavy armor.
Strength > 7: Your impressive strength is noted by the onlookers and commented on. Again.
Big Leagues: Your remove all the limbs from the dummy.
Strength < 2: Your knife gets stuck in the dummy's armor?

Close Weapons: Pistol / Shotgun, take your pick
Shoot at a target (or cans on a wall).
Gunslinger: People are impressed at your skills.
Takes More than X Bullets to Succeed: Someone says "Small guns aren't my thing either."

Front Line Weapons: Rifles (Auto / Semi, your pick)
Shoot at cut-out targets?
Commando, Automatic Weapon: No idea.
Steady Aim: Your hipfire accuracy is complimented.
Rifleman: Your accuracy is complimented.

Sniper Weapons
Shoot a can / melon from a long way away. Maybe only allow one / two shots.
Sniper: *Impressed whistle*
Miss: No idea. I'm tempted with someone commenting on Danse's appalling lack of ranged accuracy.

Missile Launchers
Shoot... something? An old motorbike?
Demolition Expert / Heavy Gunner: Your character mutters the "Hell Yes" or similar line from lock picking / hacking when they pick up the weapon. After you hit the target, someone yells "Duck!" as the motorbike explodes.

Power Armor Training

PA training would basically be an assault course, and also aim to teach the player about Power Armor if there's anything they haven't already picked up. The course design would be intended to introduce players to the main advantages of Power Armor - its ability to survive falls of any height and to walk under water. Along with this, there would be metal planks and stuff to walk along, walls to jump over, doors to punch through. Oh, also there's walkways above and people watching.
Power Drop: You climb up some stairs to a diving board. There's a bullseye on the ground under you, surrounded by mannequins. The aim is to hit the bullseye, allowing the damage from Power Armor landing to destroy them and make you feel badass.
Underwater Walking: Later, you jump off a ledge into water to continue your course, learning (if you didn't know already) that Power Armor sinks like a stone and can't swim... but you can just walk along the bottom of the pool and out the other side.

Get a Weapon Mod Reward

After doing all of this, you have a conversation with... someone. Proctor Ingram? Captain Kells? They are impressed with your abilities, and comment that you seem to favour X type of weapon [determined by your perks], and navigate through a series of chat options to get a weapon mod. Mods are Rank 2 Science! perk upgrades, which may remain useful for you for along time (especially the barrels, which can be transferred to any new weapons). Maybe a Power-Fist (for Power Armor?) for Melee Characters?
ALTERNATIVE: The NPC that starts the whole Combat Test quest (and that you talk to for all of it) is a custom voice-acted NPC by a member of the modding community, allowing for more flexibility of lines and not having to mangle together lines from other characters.

Sniper Rifle:

Improved Sniper Barrel [sniper Perk]

Long Scope [sniper Perk]

Marksman's Stock [sniper Perk]

Rifle:

Improved Automatic Barrel [Commando Perk]

Boosted Photon Agitator [Rifleman Perk?]

Recoil Compensating Stock [Rifleman Perk]

Pistol:

Improved Short Barrel

Sharpshooter's Grip

Amplified Beam Splitter

And there you have it. My idea for having an actual immersive and involved quest for when you're joining the Brotherhood as a Knight. And a sweet weapon mod at the end.

[Moraelin]

Not sure if they actually operate THAT medieval under Maxson, but I'd definitely be all for having more than one path in the brotherhood, according to my abilities or current play focus. Though I'd take it even one step further and say: why do I have to be a KNIGHT in power armour anyway? I mean, maybe I'm more the recon type, and recon BOS armour did exist in FO3 and NV. Or maybe I'm more the scribe type.

[Athanasa]

Not sure if they actually operate THAT medieval under Maxson, but I'd definitely be all for having more than one path in the brotherhood, according to my abilities or current play focus. Though I'd take it even one step further and say: why do I have to be a KNIGHT in power armour anyway? I mean, maybe I'm more the recon type, and recon BOS armour did exist in FO3 and NV. Or maybe I'm more the scribe type.

 

According to the wiki, Scribe is a civilian rank. But then you have scribes happily fighting on the front lines, or close to (the one at Cambridge station, whose name I forget) so that probably means nothing. As for Knights, "In the East Coast and Midwestern divisions, "Knight" is a strictly military rank and the Scribes are the ones responsible for manufacturing technology there."

 

Then there's Journeyman Knights. "Journeymen Knight is the one small step rank before becoming a full fledged knight. It is where an initiate decides after his/her advancement whether to continue as a knight or scribe. It is an important step in advancement as they continue to serve the Brotherhood." It would be cool if your initial meeting with Maxson dropped you at Journeyman Knight rank. However, I think that - for all intents and purposes - Knight is the best suited rank. Mostly because it covers everything related to fighting in the field, while still giving the potential to cover Scribe type duties as well.

 

Still, recon armor would be nice. Glancing at the wiki to poke my own memories, it's meant to be worn under a Power Armor suit... Maybe have something that functions more like a Power Armor FRAME on your body, rather than full power armor? Something that doesn't make you a bulky tank man, but instead lets you sprint faster, more quietly, and jump higher / further and negate fall damage... with a low / non-existent fuel consumption and none of the bonus armor of the normal Power Armor. Although, in all honesty, explaining it to myself like that just makes it sound like a variant highly specialised Combat Armor-esque tier.

[Scribblesix]

Recon armour is just the standard BOS suit we get in this game. It's less armoured than in the past because of the new layering system. Generally all good ideas; i cant really fathom why the faction questlines are so underdeveloped

[Athanasa]

Recon armour is just the standard BOS suit we get in this game. It's less armoured than in the past because of the new layering system. Generally all good ideas; i cant really fathom why the faction questlines are so underdeveloped

 

"OH MY GOD IT'S TAKING SO LONG TO GET MY INSTANT GRATIFICATION TITLE I'M GOING BACK TO COD!"

- What Bethesda seems to think players will be like now.

 

That or they're just cutting corners and being unforgivably lazy.

[Moraelin]

Hmm, I suppose I could think of the frame as recon armour. I was just having trouble reconciling a big and noisy frame with any reasonable interpretation of "recon".

[Athanasa]

Hmm, I suppose I could think of the frame as recon armour. I was just having trouble reconciling a big and noisy frame with any reasonable interpretation of "recon".

 

A custom frame TYPE item, not the frame itself. Or something. I have no clue.