Companion Mod: Come Fly with me

[TrooperScooperMKII]

Whenever I start a new game. I'm always peeved about the Novac storyline; being a goody-two-shoes stealth character, I end up slipping past the nightkin (stealth boys or no, this is HARD) and hurry to get a place to stay (hardcore...)

the one thing that bugs me is Harland, the ghouls barricaded in the room with the shipments.

 

Let me get this straight: a LONE GHOUL fends off half-mad nightkin, intimidating them enough to the point that the leader LOCKS THE FRIGGIN DOOR, living off of water from condensation and radroach meat, all because his friend MIGHT still be down here- incidentally, she herself had been trapped down there as well and ran off deeper, implying at least some competence...

Power of love my ass. A ghoul survivalist who can repel the Nightkin on their own turf is definitely worthy of walking with the Courier.

 

When a lone human willingly walks into Nighkin territory, offering to help him and/or seeking specific data- he shoots at said human, no questions asked? What about teaming up? What about explaining the situation?

 

So, what I suggest is twofold:

Harland doesn't shoot at the player unless the player attacks, hinging on dialogue; promising to help him, explaining the situation and/or not acting hostile would keep him from attacking. To keep the moral ambiguity, a small part of the stealth boy shipment would still be there; the player could hand it over or keep it.

Finding Harland's friend deserves more than a thank you. Harland doesn't run off, and when the Come Fly with me quest is over, he shows up outside the facility, armed and ready to roll.

 

So what's his game?

Well, for starters, he's a survivalist. I see him as a stealth/survival companion; move in, plant some traps, snipe/assassinate targets; a tactical companion.

There's a Trapper Mod which could be a part of/requirement for the mod; his perk would make the traps more effective? and/or make them easier to use. Additionally, he could make food/water more effective.

 

He would have reinforced leather armor, a combat knife, a silenced rifle and silenced pistol and some food/chems.

 

His "quest" so to speak was finding the prisoner (for recruiting) and a possible followup with Chris Haversham? the doc who launches the missiles.

 

So, sometime after recruiting Harland, Chris contacts the player and asks to be escorted to Jacobstown. He wants to research Nightkin.

Upon getting him there, he either is talked out of experimenting with Nightkin (good Jacobstown rep) and works with the enclave doc on stealth boys, giving the player a unique, rechargable stealth boy a la the white phial (i.e. it can be reactivated every 8 hours) which is also heavier.

Alternatively, continuing his research (bad rep/karma) yields a unique deathclaw gauntlet- nightclaw, which gives a weak stealth effect when crouching and boosts rad resistance.

 

Either way, Harland gets another perk- stealthed opponents are outlined with a mild hologram type blue haze, making them easier to spot.

[thunderlord2200]

i jusy killed him he attacked me for no dam risen.. (i think its the guy talking about the one traped in a room with traps all over..) if it is i gone up the stairs to talk to him and he just started to attack me >=[ me with a mini gun and all i moded his ass into mess meat. xD

[greenknightfury]

i jusy killed him he attacked me for no dam risen.. (i think its the guy talking about the one traped in a room with traps all over..) if it is i gone up the stairs to talk to him and he just started to attack me >=[ me with a mini gun and all i moded his ass into mess meat. xD

 

You aggroed him somehow, either you shot some Bright Follower or managed to injure him that's the only thing that makes him attack on sight, except for a very rare glitch to his aggro.

 

 

As to the main post, I'd love to get Harlan as a companion! Much more so than I ever liked Boone as a companion (tend to just have the ladies or the followers doc as companions).

Edited February 27, 2012 by greenknightfury

[thunderlord2200]

i jusy killed him he attacked me for no dam risen.. (i think its the guy talking about the one traped in a room with traps all over..) if it is i gone up the stairs to talk to him and he just started to attack me >=[ me with a mini gun and all i moded his ass into mess meat. xD

 

You aggroed him somehow, either you shot some Bright Follower or managed to injure him that's the only thing that makes him attack on sight, except for a very rare glitch to his aggro.

 

 

As to the main post, I'd love to get Harlan as a companion! Much more so than I ever liked Boone as a companion (tend to just have the ladies or the followers doc as companions).

 

i just walked up the steps to talk to him then he turned red on the comp and came after me.. i been getting hit by to many glitches so it might be that.. i dono i saved before i gone up to see hime just in case relaoded 3 times then relised no-matter what i do hes going to attack me.. i dont think i killed any of them since i dont kill ghouls there ppl in a way to. xD risen y i helped that shiny guy fly off in the rocket.. xD

[TrooperScooperMKII]

It's not a glitch; the devs, in their wisdom, felt that hardass Harland (he is the guy who shoots when you try to go up the stairs for the stealth boy shipment; the same guy, who, when asked, camly states that it's "nothing to it, I get water off condensation, feast on radroaches and do my business in the corner" and who's first words were "come and get it you mutant bast-" this to invisible insane super-mutants... I mean, damn, this guy's a badass) would shoot without provocation when the courier gets too close... I guess it's the power of love. :sick: keeping that guy down there...?

seriously, though, his apathetic response (and the "reward" for completionist do-gooders like me) is just... insulting...

like, sneaking past a dozen nightkin to find a single corpse, just because I don't want to kill you (because you ATTACK WITHOUT GOOD REASON) and because I'm mr. nice guy... I mean, come on, what are you going to do, Mr. Survivalist? I'm a hardass; you're a hardass. I cleared out the invisible nightkin and got the annoying cultists to leave (the methods are open to interpretation... :devil: ) so I'm clearly worth your respect; I get sh*t dun, I like your style, tag along, yadda yadda, cue companion acceptance.

 

I'm not sure how similar Raul's voice is (or any of the other ghouls, for that matter) but given that he's a "survival buddy with nothing better to do" and no special backstory, I doubt that any voicework would be needed.

[greenknightfury]

Yeah going too close or picking the locked door to the stairs (if you stealthed in) does make him aggro on you and attack. I mentioned the Bright follower thing because my damn twitchy mouse tends to fire sometimes even when i don't mean too.