Mod expansion: Washington

[Seattleite]

Basically, I've been dreaming this mod up for quite some time and I figured it's about time I saw to actually making it. (Might wait until Fallout 4, but we don't have a release date and I might not be available in a year or two to do this kind of thing.)

 

Basically, this mod serves the same function as an expansion pack like "Dead Money" or "Honest Hearts," although it's a bit bigger in terms of gameplay area (a lot of wide-open spaces in Washington) and is almost as big as the original map. The mod would also feature smaller areas for the courier to visit before they can enter Washington. This mod would be built into a mod that features a wide variety of extra features and gameplay changes, including (this part's important) the ability for the courier to be a child. This also includes a more in-depth penetration system for firearms (some weapons, such as the service rifle, can be very low-damage and still penetrate armour easily) and a complete rebalance of all the different weapon types. (In order to make them, you know, a bit more different.) The children in the mod will also be vulnerable, because they appear as companions and invulnerable companions would be bad for gameplay. I can give a list of gameplay changes, but I think for now I'll just move on to the story itself. Remember this is still a work in progress, and I haven't gotten a few important changes. (Such the little ones being vulnerable, and the AI getting ammunition effects.)

 

Before I move on, one final addition to the game that might be given as a part of this mod: a player-customizable companion. This companion would be created when you reach the point where normally the game would ask if you wanted to redo your character before travelling further. At this point you instead get a messagebox explaining what's going on followed by the game recording your current stats and features, and giving you the race menu again. You build a new character from here and when done, the game creates a full actor copy, gives the copy the companion package and reverts you back to your previous state. In doing so, the character gets a companion. The companion's personality will be selected after the rebuild is done, giving you a perfectly good companion of your own design. The game will even let you name them through this same system.

 

First, in order to gain access to Washington, you must gain support of a number of factions, each representing the 13 skills. You do not (and cannot) gain the support of all of them, as all but three of them are in conflict against each other in one form or another and supporting one means shunning another. This support manifests in the form of a unique companion and a vendor station. Further, you must reach the start of the faction campaign for Caeser's Legion, Mr. House, the NCR or Yes Man. They will support you by sending two soldiers with you, opening a vendor station and offering a unique service to you.

 

Legion:

One Centurian and one Vexillarius. Vendor stall sells legion armour and weapons (such as machetes, hunting rifles and spears) and their service is resupply, giving you caps and provisions as well as speedy replacement of your experienced soldiers with weaker legionaries (prime and recruit) should they fall in battle. (ALL companions in this mod are mortal.)

 

NCR:

One veteren ranger and one regular. Vendor stall sells NCR armour and weapons (such as combat knives, service rifles and cowboy repeaters) and their service is also resupply, providing caps, medical supplies and speedy replacement of your experienced soldiers with weaker troopers should they fall in battle. (Basically, the NCR and Legion provide the same services.)

 

Mr. House/Yes Man:

Two Securitron Mk IIs. Vendor stall sells non-faction specific armour (metal, leather, combat) and weapons (axes, submachine guns, shotguns, laser rifles) and their service is robot maintainance. They can repair any robot you lose in battle in about the same amount of time as the other factions can replace their soldiers. Note that although they lack a second service, their soldiers are the most potent in combat.

 

Note that these services only function once you arrive in Washington, in the skill faction areas they don't appear.

 

Melee/Unarmed

You enter this area from the hill south of Goodspring Source. The guardsman will strip you of all possessions when you enter without the decency to even provide you any clothing. As you're probably level 3-5 when you get here, it's unlikely this will mean too much to you. Don't worry too much, you'll get it all back later. The area is a town just a short ways from the map. The town is a primitive tribal settlement with a strong oligarchy that demands all pre-war technology recovered be given to the church. It also uses advanced pre-war tech in discreet manners and claims it to be magical, trying to pretend this sci-fi setting is a fantasy setting. The two groups in this case are the humans and the "orcs." The "orcs" are obviously super mutants (as always, 90% second gen) of a somewhat smaller size and unusual yellowish colouration. (Yes, that means using the Vault 87 texture.) They do not have many resources and normally use their fists and simple improvised weapons in combat. (Bladed gauntlets and knuckle dusters are favourites, although some use katars and other higher-quality weapons.) The humans have plenty of resources but a medieval technology base. They often fight with swords, bows and crossbows and are clearly several times more potent in combat than their supermutant slaves, if only due to superior weapons and resources. The player is introduced to the class conflict by watching a supermutant spitting on its master, prompting the human to flog it until the tip comes off the whip and cut its throat. However, slavery is only favoured by the upper class. The middle class remains apathetic towards this issue (and pretty much everything else while the lower class is adamantly against slavery but is convinced there's nothing they can do about it.

 

Upon entering, the courier is approached by a small child (~8 years, female), who works at a vendor stall near the entrance to the town. She greets the courier, strikes up some conversation and finally offers to give the courier some clothes for free... with any purchase at the stall. (You knew it was coming. It's not like she'd leave her stall to talk to naked strangers if she wasn't trying to sell them something.) She is MUCH friendlier if the player is a child, and gives them the clothing for free right at the beginning. She can be convinced to show the player around and becomes a companion for the time you spend there once her tour is done, and if the courier is a child the checks are much lower and can be done with the lady killer or chechez la femme perks. (Clearly, this wouldn't work if the player was an adult. She'd just back away slowly and go find a guard.) The little one can also be talked into giving you a discount. The store carries simple, low-grade wears. You don't need to take the tour to continue, but it helps you know where to go because you have to witness some events and she shows you all of them. First is the murdered mutant, followed by the slave camp itself, the slums and the citadel. She tells you all about each location as well, and after that she follows you around and comments on things that you pass. She also sells you better gear later in the quest (once you get a permit to purchase such equipment, or if you manage to make a high barter check) and will assist you if you side with the slaves.

 

Basically, a rebellion is occuring within the town. The player can choose to side with the slaves, break them loose and storm the citadel with them, or to kill the leaders and suppress the rebellion. You may also choose a diplomatic solution, convincing the leaders of the rebellion to back down or their masters to free them. The little girl will help supply you and can even be convinced to help you fight if you choose to help free the slaves. If you choose to supress the slaves she will not help you, and in fact she will withdraw all services. You can try to convince her, but it won't take and she might stab you. (With a sword. Multiple times. In the chest.)

 

The tech here is primitive, but the weapons and armour are still very, very good. The high-grade swords deal more damage than anything available in the wasteland, and even the "unarmed" weapons are potent. This is the single best place to find such weapons, and they have some unique ranged weapons including bows, crossbows and slingshots. (All of which use the "guns" skill.) Of course, the actual melee weapons are insanely powerful and are mostly swords, (rapiers, short swords, long swords, great swords, even katanas... there's a lot of variety in the department of stabbity death) but also include knives, axes, maces and clubs. The "unarmed" (that name is horribly innacurate) weapons are also quite potent, include a good number of holdouts and are surprisingly sophisticated. (Katars, caesti and so forth.) The little girl from the town is the shop vendor in washington if you side with the upper class as well as a companion if you side with the slaves. She sells both melee and unarmed weapons, and plenty of clothing and armour items. At this point, she's selling the best weapons of this type in the game in addition to the lower-tier bulls***. If you side with the upper class, your "companion" is your own, personal super-mutant slave, who runs the shop if you side with the slaves.

 

Speech/Barter:

A bit further south, just north of the Mojave Outpost, you find a child (~8 years, male) on the main map. (Probably shooting radscorpions when you get there, given the location.) He tells you about his family, which is currently trying to negotiate a contract with a trade outfit, getting caps and goods in exchange for repairing some electric motors for them. His parents (as you can find out pretty quick with a good speech check, which is easier if you are a child) are professional con artists, and have swindled a living out of traders since before he was born. Now they've found traders who have what they need, but the traders aren't putting out the half up front the family wants. (So they can cut and run before the traders find out they can't actually repair the motors in question.) You can use speech to convince the traders to give them 25% up front through barter, or use a speech challenge for the same effect. You can also teach the family how to repair the said motors so they can actually complete the contract and get the full value. (And a pretty sweet job from then on out.) If you help the family get a down payment and run, their children run away due to a moral objection to their family's lifestyle. They'll meet you (by complete accident) in Washington, and join up with you there. By that time they run a small shop selling chems and trade goods, clothing and miscellanious items. They're decent vendors for those things, although outside of the chems and junk the gear is pretty random. The boy is willing to travel with you, but his sister (~12 years) will remain at the shop disgusted by your actions in California. If you help the family, they run away anyway because their parents are still stealing from their employers. This time, however, the boy is the vendor and the girl is a companion.

 

Medicine/Survival:

Southwest of Nipton, you meet a pair of tiny children (a boy and a girl, ~4 years) hunting geckos. The little ones are hard to speak to. They will not respond during battle, and outside of battle they dissapear into the train tunnel nearby. If you can talk to them during their travels, they'll (reluctantly) speak to you, all the time putting pointy objects against your chest. (If you have EVER killed a child, they will freak out and stab you to death the moment you try to talk to them.) They are only comfortable speaking to you if you are a member of the followers of the apocalypse (and wearing the coat) or if you are also a child. (Kind of a running theme. Kids get along best with other kids.) They can be talked into taking you to their camp, which is obviously easier if you are a child and even easier if you are a follower. (If you're a child and a follower, you don't even have to pass a check.) Once inside, you find out there's an entire tribe of children there that has been there for almost two years. The tribe has about forty children, and apparently was part of a larger tribe of ~140 people. Their tribe was an enemy of the NCR, and (under the command of Cassandra Moore) the NCR went Bitter Springs on them. The rangers rode into their village, guns blazing. Originally, the tribe has eighty adults and sixty children. The tribe, like the Khans, sent their non-combatants (little ones included) through a back passage, but the NCR chased them and gunned many of them down. The survivors were forty children, four seniors and one sick man. The sick man apparently survived by hiding in a side passage and ducking the NCR when they went looking for survivors. He left when he got his strength back and attacked the NCR in retribution, killing three troopers and a ranger before he died. The elderly have since passed, either from illness or from injury trying to provide for all the little ones. Since then, the kids have had to learn to fend for themselves and are doing quite well at it. In fact, in two years only four of them have died (three killed by raiders, another by geckos) and they've actually taken in six stray kids from the wasteland. Since then, they've taken geckos as their favourite prey (partially because the golden geckos nearby ate one of them) and have taken to hunting down and killing any members of the viper and jackal gangs they can find.

 

The followers found them about two months ago and have been providing them medical care and teaching them agricultural techniques. Then the followers found out that the kids actively hunt vipers and jackals and eat them. Further, although the followers knew there were a lot of children there, they didn't know the group was entirely children. Now they have been trying to convince the kids to find families and have had zero success. Finally, the kids produce and use chems in combat in addition to using them medically, and some of them are clearly abusing these drugs. (Mostly the older ones.) Add on a great many other things kids will inevitably do if nobody tries to stop them (that everybody wants to pretend they're incapable of) and the Followers are repulsed by their lifestyle and are trying to change it. One particularly vocal member of the Followers staff, a teacher, is pushing for the rest to withdraw education from those that are partaking in these actions, and although the others don't want to do so it's likely he can convince them.

 

The player can do a number of things here. They can talk the little ones into making concessions in their way of life in order to get education (they will NOT return to society, but a lot of the other stuff can be taken from them) or they can talk the Followers teacher into leaving the camp alone. They can also kill said teacher, and as long as they make it look like an accident this will resolve the quest for the little ones. If you resolve the quest for the Followers, the teacher will follow you to Washington. He tells you the children didn't change enough for his taste and he won't teach them, but he thanks you for your effort and he'd gladly come to Washington and see what he could do up there. He brings another three members, including a doctor who comes along with you and two more who run a small clinic there that can treat your wounds, radiation and addictions dirt cheap. (No, they don't sell supplies. But they're the only non-faction doctors in Washington and the cheapest doctors in the mod.) Of course, having a teacher and a doctor with you is pretty nice. It translates to a universal skill boost from the teacher and better healing from the doctor. If you resolve it for the children, the two four year olds you met earlier as well as two six year olds and two eight year olds will come with you to Washington. The four year olds will come as companions while the rest will run a restaurant and a small chem stall. You can get some excellent food and chems from them there, including hydra and even stimpacks. Their specialty is, of course, human and gecko cuisine. They also sell raw ingredients, and the little ones that come with you actually eat your enemies to regain health and make sure that those you need to finish off stay down. (Like dog, only small and cuddly.) The little ones are also good survivalists, giving you the ability to cannibalise opponents you wouldn't otherwise be able to (and a boost to those you could anyway) boosting your recovery and reducing need buildup. (Normally in the mod, it's one point every six seconds. With the little ones, it's slowed to one point every ten seconds.) Note that the cannibalism bonuses are provided by the little girl, and the healing and need effects are provided by the little boy. This is important, in case you have one with you and not the other.

 

Repair:

In Novac, you'll find a ghoul trader who is selling goods out of a functioning pickup truck. You read that right, he has a functioning pickup truck. You can talk to the man, and quickly find out that his boss used to be a quartermaster in the USMC, (also a ghoul, of course) and is running a workshop down south. He'll agree to take you to it if you meet him further south. You can travel there and (if you can get past the radiation, it's by the missile test site) you can get a ride to the workshop and find a sizable (and mildly radioactive) warehouse full of ghouls from across the wasteland. They make a living by selling off repaired pre-war armour, weapons and equipment. Once more, you have an issue to resolve. A local branch of Enclave remnants has been trying to get supplies from them, but the ex-quartermaster is refusing them service. And shooting at them. You can either convince the old man to help the Enclave, convince the Enclave to just go away, or kill the Enclave soldiers and take their stuff. Either way, quest resolved. Three ghouls (the man who took you there and a ghoulified ten year old boy who he's adopted, as well as a ghoulified ten year old girl who is clearly into the boy) will follow you to Washington. The man runs an armour shop, but he's also the only 100% repairman in Washington. Which is good, because he sells power armour and there's very little power armour in washington. The little kids will follow you around, the boy helps maintain your gear (like Raul, only smaller) and the girl can repair your gear to 80% in the field. (Which is useful if you can't wait until you get back to the camp.)

 

Sneak:

There's a little girl (~4 years) at the 188. She follows you around when you arrive, and tries to get your attention. (Unlike the other children, this adorable little lady is actually friendlier at this point in time towards adults than other children. You'll see why later. Although once you get to Washington she's equally friendly to everyone.) She says she's waiting for her dad to come back from the dam. A quick perception check reveals that her mother tried to tell her that her dad was dead in a gentle manner and the girl refused to believe it and ran away to wait for him. She wants you to keep her company for a while, especially if you manage to convince her that her dad actually is dead. If you sleep at the 188 after this, when you wake up your caps are gone and you find a note reading "I'm sorry."

 

You can find her later on in Vegas, in the Ultra-Luxe. She'll always be asleep when you show up again, in a double bed if available. With her are a grown man, a woman and another little girl. (~2 years) Specifically, her father, mother and little sister. If you confront them about the story and the stolen caps, they'll give them back to you. But only if you enter the room without waking them up, otherwise they run and don't appear again for a couple days. (This time in a different Casino, chosen at random. Might be the Vikki and Vance or the Atomic Wrangler if the quests required are completed.) A few quick checks reveals that they're thieves. They've been making a living through theft for quite some time, longer than they've had children. After this, you've completed the quest. (Really, that's it. It's very short.) When you talk about the trip to Washington, they reveal themselves to be from Yakama, and they come with you when you head up there. They'll "procure" goods and sell them to you for dirt cheap, but their selection is poor and unpredictable. The little girl will come with you as a companion, if you are willing to play with her for a while. She just wants to play hide and seek, and she cheats like hell towards the end. (Seriously, she uses a stealth boy.) It might be difficult to find her, but once you do you've won. Remember, though, there's a time limit for the whole thing. You have to find her three times before dinner time. (6:00) Since she only offers this quest after noon (and only once you are in Washington) this leaves you with twelve real-world minutes to find a girl who hides really well and uses a stealth boy on the third time. As for her perk, you get a little extra loot (ammo and caps, mostly) off enemies and out of containers when she's with you, as well as a small bonus to stealth.

 

Explosives:

In Gomorrah, there's a cowboy sitting with his feet on the table and hookers on either side of him. Across the table is a cowgirl, who is similarly flanked by prostitutes. The two of them are armed with revolvers and their jackets have bandoliers full of grenades. They are exceedingly rude to you, but let slip they're mercenaries. Their company is on the rocks because of a schism growing between their soldiers and the soldiers of the two other officers. This schism is a result of ethical concerns. The ones you meet are rude, cruel and uncivilized but are discriminating in their contracts and have good moral compasses. The others are polite, cultured and classy but are also unscrupulous and cold-blooded. You can repair this schism and they'll follow you to Washington and give you aid there pro-bono. You can also kill the soldiers and officers on the civil, cold-blooded side and get the same effect. Otherwise, you can just pay them and they'll follow. They're all great with explosives, and have plenty of firepower to go around. They also run a munitions store full of ammunition and explosives. Which is great because that's a bit more scarce in Washington than it was in Nevada. The man or woman can be a companion, it's the player's choice. They're both complete assholes, but they're armed differently. (The man uses a unique semi-automatic grenade launcher and a shotgun with explosive slugs. The woman uses a scoped grenade launcher and another explosive-launching shotgun.)

 

Lockpick/Science:

West of Vegas, on the mountain, you can find a group of drug dealers in a small bunker. The drug dealers have made some interesting concoctions in the last few months, but they've been having issues with a group of thieves trying to steal their research and sell it to the Khans. You can take the research for the thieves, get the thieves to back off or just kill one faction to resolve it. Each faction will set up a store in Washington if you do, selling the same chems. The lockpick companion (a teenage girl of unspecified age) can help you break into places by making your lockpicks only break half the time and picking locks for you with varying success. (This takes a bit of time and doesn't always work. You can have them do it several times, though.) The science companion (a teenage boy of about the same unspecified age) gives you new chem recipes, gives an addiction resistance and increases chem duration. Note that if you get a peaceful solution to this, your companion will be considerably better at their job. Likely because the other possible companion came with them (not as a companion, though) and when they're not with you they're probably back at camp getting laid. Good morale works wonders. (Improved companion nerve, better lockpick/chem bonuses.)

 

Energy weapons/Guns:

Finally, north of Vegas and near the crashed UFO (Did I mention this is WW and HC only? Well, I have now.) you will find a group of soldiers wearing powered exoskeletons and toting energy weapons the likes of which you've never seen. (Armour-skipping particle weapons, to be specific.) They are preparring to attack the UFO when you arrive, and will attack when you get close. They'll also win pretty quickly. They'll tell you to leave if you don't help them. If you do help them (and kill at least one alien, there are more to go around now) they'll be a bit more open to you. Either way, you can offer to join them and if successful they'll take you back to their base. If you fail, another faction will show up and attack them with firearms. The factions will duke it out and the gun faction will probably win. (Because they're still fresh while the energy guys are wounded from battling the aliens.) If you haven't killed at least one of the losing faction's members, the other faction will take you prisoner (or kill you, if you resist) and you'll end up back at their base. If you do kill one of the losing faction, they'll offer to let you join and take you to their base.

 

Once there, you find out that the two factions are resistances to an invasion that will probably never happen. Specifically, they're both dedicated to killing aliens, but they differ in their means and philosophies. The energy group believes in using alien technology against its masters, most of their weapons are at least partially based on alien tech and they use some alien tech in their armour. (Although calling it "armour" is a bit generous, given that it's only good against radiation, poison and energy weapons.) The other group is adamantly opposed to such practices, believing aliens and their weapons are evil and not to be used. They use human firearms, human armour, human chems and human equipment. The two groups are, obviously, in violent opposition to one another's methodology and spend more time killing each other than aliens.

 

They both use robots, and have different versions of all the common robot variants. They wear unique armour that is more effective against their own weapons than those of their opponents, and use unique weapons that cannot be found anywhere else. There is, of course, a diplomatic solution to this. But of course, you'll need to wait until an alien attack occurs for it to work. (Takes three days.) Otherwise, you have to pick a side and wipe out their opponents. Then the aliens will attack and you'll have to fight them off with your new allies. (Remember, aliens use energy weapons. But you can get anti-energy armour no matter how you do it.) Once this is done, they will send a squire with you on your trip to Washington, which they believe to house an alien outpost. (And it actually does, surprisingly enough.) The factions also run vendors in Washington. These vendors carry their wares and those of their enemies. They even stock a small supply of alien wares, although ammunition is limited.

 

The squires are a eight year old boy for guns and a six year old girl for energy weapons. Both start off considering you a hero for killing the other faction at first, but soon they consider what you've actually done and it starts to take speech checks to keep them allied to you. If your character starts to turn evil, this makes matters even worse and the checks get even higher. Eventually, the checks become impossible, and you have to make checks just to prevent them from trying to kill you. As for why they'd want to kill you for killing their enemies, the kids are questioning their faction's dogma. You slaughtered another group opposed to the same enemy, which should have been their ally. Worse yet, these factions use child soldiers, so you would have had to kill children if you took that method. (You can choose to kill just the faction's leaders. Quick assassinations let one faction win just like killing off everybody in the faction, unite the factions like the diplomatic solution did and doesn't leave the little one questioning your actions.) To avoid this, use the diplomatic solution or precision application of violence to resolve the issue. (By "precision application of violence" I mean "assassination.")

 

Washington:

 

Note that your party has a cap on the number of people it can have at any given time. 17 may be available (including yourself, your custom companion and the two faction soldiers) but you can only have eight. (Yourself and seven others.) At any given time, nine companions will be back at the camp. Not all the questlines are best completed with sheer, brute force, but for the ones that are you'll likely be taking your custom, your ranged and melee warriors, the explosives mercenary, the two soldiers and one other. (Probably one of the little ones from survival, because they can eat downed enemies to finish them off.) Note that although this works fantastic for combat, it'll leave you much less capable on the side missions and your survivability will drop if you don't have a healer of some sort with you. (The little survivalists still fit the bill.) Otherwise, keep your team tailored to the situation. And I recommend keeping your custom at all times, if only because they're probably going to fit your playstyle the best. If the custom ends up being added, that is.

 

Once in Washington, you'll find out that there are three wars going on there. In Eastern Washington, a miltaristic, oligarchic police state run by a religious group called the Fundamentalists ("Fundies" for short) is at war with a group of freedom fighters (or "terrorists," if you ask the fundies) called the Liberators. The Liberators are the aggressors here, trying to destroy the Fundamentalist Church and free the people under its rule from their oppresion. Once again, pick a side. Remember, though, that the Liberators allow children to fight in their military. (Which is also a 100% volunteer army. They are, after all, focused on freedom above all else.) If the Fundamentalists seem a bit unsympathetic at this point, that's because they are and they are meant to be. They're like the Legion in a lot of ways. There is no diplomatic solution here. You are going to have to use violence to resolve this matter, and the best you can do is be surgical with said violence.

 

In the west, you find an ongoing war in Seattle and its surrounding areas between the Seattleites and the Undead. The Seattleites are a semi-advanced civilised nation, building (and rebuilding) Seattle into a stable community in the post-war world. They're sophisticated, secular and have a surprisingly strong military. They are at war with the Undead because the Undead have been robbing them of resources for years. The Undead are also a semi-advanced civilised nation, working within a great many areas of Seattle. While they are much less sophisticated and cultured, they are also secular and militarily strong. (A fair bit stronger, actually.) They steal from the Seattleites because they know the Seattleites would never trade with them and they need the resources.

 

Finally, the middle conflict. I'm going to keep this one a secret for the time being.

 

New enemies:

 

Mirelurks:

Once again, we are in a costal region. We'll bring these back for that reason. (And because the DT system presents an interesting opportunity for their armour.) Their DR and DT are both very high over most of their body, but if you target their face their bonus DR and DT go away, leaving just a couple points from endurance. (Yes, endurance gives DR and DT in this mod.) They're a threat to pistol and shotgun wielding players, as these weapons can only significantly damage their face, but they're not a big deal for any player with a rifle, who can just shoot right through their armour. (Note that anybody loading birdshot will be unable to hurt them no matter where they shoot.)

 

Wanamingo:

Smuggled out of Redding, the wanamingos repopulated in eastern Washington due to a religious raider group called the "Children of the New World." They never could tame the damn things, though. Now they run wild through eastern washington. They are very, very fast and are difficult to kill with energy weapons. Their DR and energy resistance are very high, they are immune to radiation and poison, and their DT is pretty good. Recommended weapons include rifles, shotgun slugs and armour piercing pistols, but fire is also surprisingly effective. (No bonus fire resistance, so they burn fine. Plasma weapons light people on fire in this mod and so do laser criticals, but those are vulnerable to energy resistance and don't do as much fire damage as flamers or incendiary grenades anyway.) A nice little throwback to Fallout 2 in a way, but in 3d and real time figting them feels different. They are classed as abominations.

 

Gore:

A creation of the CotNW, the gores were created by irradiating newborn boar and cow to death, ghoulifying a newborn human and throwing them all into a vat of FEV. The resultant creature was an infant gore. The gore is a creature a bit smaller than a brahmin with large tusks and horns, hands instead of forepaws, and a build somewhere between that of the creatures it was made from. Enough gores were made through FEV long enough ago that they are now reproducing naturally. (Odd, considering most FEV mutants are sterile.) Gores are sapient, and can stand on their hind legs. (Although they can't walk that way.) They use their horns and tusks in combat, goring enemies to death, and often wear body armour. They have semi-humanoid faces and mouthes, and speak fairly well. (Although they sound like a cross between a ghoul and a 2nd-gen mutant.) They are intelligent, move in packs and attack by ramming targets and goring them to death. Their primary advantages are their speed and durability, as they lack any sort of ranged attack. They are classed as abominations.

 

Hacks:

Similar to the gore in origin, the hacks were created by the CotNW by killing a newborn wolf and cougar with radiation, and throwing a freshly-ghoulified newborn into a vat of FEV with them. The infant slashers are the most vicious people you will ever meet, and are much more humanoid than gores are. Hacks have canine heads and teeth, but feline eyes and ears with human vocal cords allowing them to speak. They have cougar claws on humanoid hands, digitigrade feet and are semi-hairless. (Like the fiend guard dogs or the dogs of the capital wasteland.) They are intelligent, move in packs and carry weapons, but they deal a great deal of damage even without them. Their primary advantages are speed and agility, as they are fairly fragile in combat. They are classed as abominations.

 

Zombie:

Similar to a regular ghoul in appearance, zombies are actually something else entirely. Due to radiation, FEV and chronic chemical poisoning, zombies have mutated into something resembling the creatures of old-school horror movies. They are slow and clumsy, but strong and durable. They come in three varieties: non-sapient, semi-sapient and sapient. Sapient zombies have a lot of health, regenerate lost health and when killed they have to have their brainstem severed, be decapitated, have their heart pierced or their torso ruined, else they will regenerate. (Once they are down, you can kill them permanantly by scoring a critical hit on their head or torso, or else by crippling said head or torso. As they cannot detect you when knocked out, going into sneak for the coup de grace guarantees a kill.) Sapient zombies use weapons in combat, including firearms, energy weapons and explosives and have plenty of medical tech and armour on hand. They are the most dangeround zombie variety because of their use of weapons and armour, but despite having a lot of health, good DT, great melee power and plenty of firepower, they are still clumsy and have poor senses.

 

Semi-sapients are much less intelligent. They can't work complicated weapons and their armour is lighter and simpler because they can't maintain it and might try to remove it. They use melee weapons in battle, usually blunt ones to avoid self injury, but still wear armour. (Still, a zombie with combat armour, a helmet and a sledgehammer isn't to be taken lightly.) You cannot kill them permanantly with a critical to the head, but all the other methods (including crits to the torso and decapitation) will still kill them. Non-sapient zombies are the dumbest. They are incapable of using weapons and their armour has to be light and attached very firmly to prevent them from ripping it off. They attack bare-handed in combat and even though they wear armour it isn't very tough and they're still slow. They are the hardest to finish off, even decapitation will not prevent them from fighting. You have to score a crit on their torso or else cripple it, or they will get back up. They can even fight with limbs severed, although much less effectively. (Might have to have it spawn different creatures for that to work if we can't put that in their animations. That way they'd lose limbs while in combat and keep fighting.) All zombies are considered creatures, more specifically abominations.

 

Vampires:

Humans with a peculiar... condition. (Both a Fo3 reference and a reminder that this is a Wild Wasteland mod.) While they don't usually go out of their way to harm humans for their blood, they are the most violent of the undead factions. They have naturally high stats and many also have strong regeneration, natural armour, combat skills and speed. When they feed (which they do when they kill an enemy in combat, using the "cannibal" animation) they temporarily gain a massive increase to their regular powers. (Their normal ability gives them +1 to all stats. The basic "feed" bonus gives them an additional +2 for two minutes. The others increase just as much.) However, in sunlight they are weakened substantially, with a -5 to all stats. (And a loss in their other abilities equal to five times their natural bonus, of course.) Vampires are a testament to the mutagens of Seattle, as their belief in their vampirism actually caused the mutagen to give them their powers. Which means the mutagen (prewar tech, retroviral, similar to FEV) is somehow tied to the subconcious. The mutagen also made them immortal, and killable only through decapitation or the destruction of their heart. Like zombies and ghost people, you have to double tap them. Specifically, you have to crit their torso or cripple their head. Critting their head doesn't kill them, but it does make them take longer to get back up. Crippling their torso removes all of their powers. They are counted as abominations, just like zombies.

 

Special ghouls:

In addition to regular ghouls, and the many varieties of feral ghouls, there are also non-feral versions of the different feral ghouls. This includes sapient roamers, glowing ones and reavers. In fact, the leader of the ghoul faction within the Undead is a sapient reaver. Not much to say here, you know how that works already.

 

Super mutant raiders:

The CotNW that I've mentioned are all FEV mutants. Mostly, they're made up of second generation mutants (big surprise) but they are lead by a council of first gens and nightkin. These mutie raiders fight alongside abominations, ghouls and mutated animals. Other than that and their intense hatred for humans they're basically just raiders.

 

Hillfolk:

Common around the islands but present throughout washington, hill folk have made a comeback. They still have a ton of health and now come with natural armour, but their weapons suck as bad as ever. Like most of the new creatures, they are classed as abominations.

 

Trogs:

Yeah, I don't need to say much. You know what a trog is by now.

 

Two-headed yaio guai:

These yaio guai are basically normal, except for having two heads. Much like a brahmin, this doesn't seem to be an issue for them. They aren't as common as regular yaio guai, but they're out there. (Note, being NCR will have no impact on their hostility.) They are also classed as mutated animals.

 

Radspiders:

Small ambush predators, attacking the player from stealth. They appear in locations where they are hard to see, do not give off warnings before the player approaches (aggro radius in enabled, but they have no anim, their radius is within striking distance and the timer is really short) and attack with poison the instant you get close. Their bite deals basically zero damage and their poison is weaker than scorpion venom in terms of raw damage, but they also incapacitate better and their nature an an ambush predator makes them dangerous even to experienced players. They are classed as mutated insects, despite being arachnids. (Because scorpions are as well. Somehow.)

 

Radroaches:

Not really new, I know, but there were barely any in Nevada. They'd be common in Washington.

 

Basics:

 

Health is now impacted more by endurance, less by level and doesn't have a base value for the player.

Armour now provides DR in addition to DT.

Armour is WAY more protective than it used to be.

Guns now have penetration effects that subtract from DT and multiply DR. (For weapons with good penetration, they multiply it by less than one. For those with bad...)

Lasers and plasma weapons ignore DT completely, and multiply DR.

Lasers do not deal more damage on critical hits, but set the enemy on fire. They can no longer disintegrate.

Plasma weapons set people on fire all the time, but do more fire damage on crit. They can no longer melt.

Lasers have MUCH higher DPS than plasma weapons now and are more ammunition efficient, and plasma does not make up for it with single shot damage because they are immune to DT. (Energy resistance still shifts that a bit.) However, lasers are much less reliable and tend to crap out on you pretty quickly. They also don't set people on fire, which is important against enemies with high DR because fire damage skips DR.

Blunt weapons ignore DT, but do not impact DR.

Missiles and other shaped charges ignore DR, but take full effect from DT. They also have a tiny blast radius and immense damage, making the DT of most enemies meaningless.

Melee weapons, especially blades, are by far more powerful.

Explosives have a huge blast radius and deal more damage, but this often works against you as much as it does for you.

Nuclear bombs are too powerful to ever be useful.

Bullets are no longer hitscan, you have to lead your targets. Not all bullets move at the same speed.

Experience is now on a higher scale, with enemies and actions awarding more experience. As a result, you can grind for experience easier and quests don't level you as fast.

The level cap is 100. You need 4,950,000xp to reach it. Not going to happen.

You gain a perk every level.

If I could get it to work, you would get a skill point for every point of intelligence when you levelled. Unfortunately, the setting doesn't work.

Tagging a skill does not increase it. Instead, it makes it increase faster when you allocate skill points to it.

You regenerate health naturally, but it is extremely slow. (One point every hundred seconds for each point of endurance.)

Children regenerate twice as fast.

Children have unique perks available to them, get larger well rested bonuses and interact better with other children.

The sexual perks (lady killer, confirmed bachelor, black widow and cherchez la femme) can be taken by children, but some of their uses no longer function. (For instance, a female child courier could not sleep with Benny.) At the same time, there are some instances where the perks only work for children. (Flirting with the little girl in the melee camp, for instance.)

"Child at Heart" is available for adult couriers. It allows a courier to interact with children as if they were a child, which is (usually) beneficial. Children get it automatically.

The player (if a cannibal, night person and hematophage) can become a vampire. They're a milder vampire than the ones listed above, however. They get their perpetual statistic bonus and double it when they feed, but lose it and then some in sunlight.

Blood packs are now powerful healing tools.

Food restores limb condition, not health, and only very little.

Stimpacks are now temporary. They restore a certain amount of health, and then it steadily returns to normal.

The radiation and needs effects are completely different and no longer have an instant death threshold for all players. (All but sleep deprivation reduce your health, though, and will kill you if they reduce it to 0. At the end of their chains, all but sleep deprivation cause constant health damage as well.)

The game toys with your crosshair settings a bit with a script. If you are in first person, true iron sights. Third person, no true iron sights. In first person or if you not aiming, no crosshair. If you are in third person and aiming, crosshair. That simple.

Sleep doesn't instantly heal you, but sleeping does restore a fair bit of health and limb condition. (Health equal to your endurance, the condition of every limb for a tenth of that. In an owned bed, this is doubled.)

In addition to "roughin' it" allowing sleep at a camp fire, some companions have the ability to set up camp anywhere so you can sleep. Just talk to them you can sleep there. This includes both of the survival companions.

 

New weapon types:

 

Hard light:

You remember the holorifle? Basically that, but an entire category of them. A holo-machinegun, a holopistol and a holocarbine are all added to the roster. These weapons deal a little AoE and have a special effect that deals damage over the course of a few seconds. However, instead of microfusion cells they now use their own unique holo-cells, which allows their anti-armour effect to be different. Specifically, hard light weapons completely ignore enemy DR but take full effect from DT. On critical hits, they deal more base damage and special AoE damage.

 

Particle beam:

Similar in effect to the holorifle, particle beam weapons fire a glowing white hitscan beam that completely ignores DR and DT. (Still impacted by energy resistance.) These weapons don't do a very impressive amount of damage and have a slow rate of fire, but their ability to almost completely ignore armour is worth the loss. They deal radiation damage to the target, and on critical hits they deal more damage and more radiation.

 

Alien blasters:

A very unique weapon type dealing regular damage, fatigue damage and several seconds of electric damage, especially against robots and power armour. Ignores DR, but not DT, and on critical deals extra primary damage and a little bit of fire damage. Alien blasters are some of the more potent weapons in the game, but also the rarest and their ammunition is scarce.

 

Bows:

Quiet, accurate, deadly weapons with reusable ammunition. As a downside, they are also slow, short ranged and low penetration. Great for sneak attacks, especially against unarmoured opponents. Otherwise, they're merely passable weapons that you're not likely to run out of ammunition with.

 

Crossbows:

More accurate, longer ranged and better penetrating than bows, (better critical as well) but much less damaging and excruciatingly slow. Great for mid-range sniping when you don't want people to hear the shot, and useless in close quarters due to the single shot capacity and painfully long reload. Ammunition is still reusable. Overall not as useful as bows, but they're better for snipers.

 

Slingshots:

Faster than bows and just as quiet, and their ammunition is also just as reusable. However, they're weaker with shorter range, lower accuracy and less penetration. Not very good weapons, except that they have more "special" ammunition.

 

Toys:

Not really a weapon category themselves, toys exist for every weapon type in the game. There are even toy holo-rifles and particle beam weapons. These cute little weapons are very weak, but usually quite sturdy and reliable. Not to mention energy toys have infinite ammunition (recharger tech) and ballistic toys have reusable ammunition (retrievable) while melee toys deal fatigue damage. Also, toys are all "minor crime" weapons, so you can get away with hitting people on accident with them. Also, toys have extremely low strength and skill reauirements, usually needing only 1-3 strength and no more than 25 skill. That said, though, they're still the weakest weapons in the game and they're more for show than anything else. Also, all the little ones from the skill factions have specific toys you can give them to get rewards. Sometimes a collection of toys will yield a perk. (Like the energy girl gives you a perk increasing your critical chance with all energy weapons if you give her one of every energy toy, while the guns boy gives you a perk increasing your rate of fire with bows, crossbows, slingshots, revolvers, bolt-action, lever-action and pump-action firearms if you give him one of each ballistic toy.)

 

Armour variations:

Standard armour in game has a DT equal to 0-25 for clothing, 25-50 for light, 50-75 for medium and 75-100 for heavy, with DR equal to half DT. Their hit points in all categories range from 100-200hp from minimum to maximum. This will be referred to with the shorthand "basic" through "+5," as these move in units of five. Some apparal has less than basic, and as such will be referred to with a "-" in its quality.

 

Medieval armour:

Mediaval armour is worn by melee troops and "orc" supermutants. It has double DR and half DT compared to normal. This makes it much more effective than regular armour against all blunt weapons, most blades and explosives as well as the primary types of energy weapons. However, it also makes it less effective against the remaining categories of energy weapons. Against firearms, its efficacy is debatable. With its lower DT, it is less likely to stop a bullet and thus less effective most of the time. However, it is more effective against bullets neither it nor modern armour could stop due to its higher DR. (As DR is never removed entirely from a target.) It only comes in +1, +3 and +5 varieties.

 

Ballistic armour:

Ballistic armour is fibrous armour worn by the soldiers of the gun faction. It has 50% greater DT, but 50% lesser DR and 30% lesser health. It also only comes in +1, +3 and +5. It is excellent against low-damage blades and bombs, some energy weapons (hard light and alien) and bullets. With its immense DT, it stands a better chance of stopping a bullet any other armour in the game, but it also doesn't do a damn thing against bullets that negate its DT and it doesn't last very long in combat.

 

Shielded armour:

Shielded armour is armour built out of alien technology for use by the energy faction. It only provides a little DR and DT equal to 20% of normal DT for their weight and quality. However, it also has special effects on it that give the player excellent bonus resistances to energy, fire, radiation and poison in place of the armour rating it should have had. (Equal to the DT of modern armour of that weight and quality multiplied by 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1, respectively.) Shielded armour provides the best environmental resistances in the game, and when combined with a helmet and a nice, high base value from the player it translates to near immunity to many energy weapons. Better yet, when wearing shielded armour, shielding devices (which temporarily increase environmental resistances) have double effect and have a slight effect against projectiles. (Normally, these give +20% poison resistance, +15% radiation resistance, +10% fire resistance and +5 energy resistance. With the armour, this is doubled and they provide +5 DR and DT.)

 

That's all I've got for now. If anybody is interested in the project, let me know.

Edited December 11, 2012 by Seattleite

[Mattyklev]

Very interested please proceed ;)

[Seattleite]

Very interested please proceed ;)

 

I can do the GECK work and world building. I can also voice-act for about 25% of the adult males in the mod. I've got about six good accents I can do, and a couple voices to go with them. That's about the extent of my capabilities.

 

I imagine with some help (maybe a lot of help) I could script most of it. And I gladly rip off the original, the expansions and occasionally Oblivion for good scripts. (The zombie/vampire scripts are blatant ghost-people rip offs, although killing them isn't the same.)

 

I know Wanamingos are on the Nexus, and I'm pretty sure mirelurks, hill folk and such are too. So that's covered. But now I can't do any more.

 

My animating sucks, my texture art is rudimentary at best, my modeling is limited to simple shapes and I couldn't write an original script to save my life.

 

This mod has what, forty new weapons? Fifty? A solid thirty new armour types, maybe twenty ingestibles and ten or so completely new enemies. I can't model, texture or animate any one of those. I can't do the vulnerable children thing (really don't know how) and I can't make companions yet. All the scripted sequences (like the mutant getting flogged) I can't do a thing about. I can't voice act for children or females at all and at best twenty adult males. And all the little stuff I wanted I can't do alone or I'd have done it already. (Animated ingestible use, showing the player lie down when they sleep, that sort of thing.)

 

I'll be cutting whatever corners I can, but there's a lot I'm going to need help on. That's why this is in "mod requests."

Edited December 10, 2012 by Seattleite

[QuidProQuoBrute]

This sounds like an interesting idea, however I may suggest something a little less ambitious unless you have a team of people working on this. It may also be advisable to see if you can use any of the mod resources or pieces of mods already out to create this with the author's permission of course.

[VaultPi]

part of my brain imagined a land of acid rain, Pete's Place selling mutated fish, Ishmales Coffee shops selling all kinds of addictive \chems etc....

[Seattleite]

This sounds like an interesting idea, however I may suggest something a little less ambitious unless you have a team of people working on this. It may also be advisable to see if you can use any of the mod resources or pieces of mods already out to create this with the author's permission of course.

 

I was hoping most would already be on the Nexus. Although maybe not for this game. And I was trying to recruit people to make what wasn't. I could do the rest, given enough time. And since I planned to work on it through the winter break, most weekends and summer, I'd have it done and ready for testers by fall quarter.

 

part of my brain imagined a land of acid rain, Pete's Place selling mutated fish, Ishmales Coffee shops selling all kinds of addictive \chems etc....

 

Most of the old-world buildings are destroyed. (And the models mostly recycled from Fo3 and NV.) A few major landmarks remain, but that's all that's unique. That said, plenty of unique ingestibles in and around Seattle. Yes, fish included. And even the apocalypse couldn't stop Seattle from having more coffee than any city could ever need. I'll have a generic version of Starbucks every two blocks though, rest assured. And I didn't know there was a Pete's Place in Seattle. The only Pete's Place I know of is just on the Canadian side of the border. And I also don't have a clue what "Ishmales" is.

[QuidProQuoBrute]

Full steam ahead. I hope for the best, it sounds like a great idea

[VaultPi]

Actually the place is called Pikes Place, and it's infamous for throwing fish around the building....

[Seattleite]

Actually the place is called Pikes Place, and it's infamous for throwing fish around the building....

 

Pike Place is a market. There's a mall and an open courtyard with a large number of stores and food stalls. It's famous for its coffee, not fish. And local seafood isn't the biggest thing around here anyway. Seattle prefers pho. As in the Vietnamese noodle soup.

 

The biggest feature in Pike Place is the Starbucks in front of the mall. I believe it's the original, but I'm not sure.

Edited December 11, 2012 by Seattleite

[Seattleite]

Exact vampirism effects:

 

Vampirism: (All vampires)

Base +1 to all stats.

Player gains an additional +1 for two minutes after feeding. (One in-game hour.)

NPCs gain +2 instead, for the same amount of time.

Player gains a -3 penalty in direct sunlight. (Using the same logic as "Solar Powered.") This nets a -2, -1 if recently fed. Just stay inside during the day and you're golden.

NPCs gain a -5 penalty. This nets a -4, -2 if recently fed.

 

Blood Healing: (Vampire healers, vampire immortals and vampire warriors)

Player now regenerates, as if they had the regenerating implant. (1pt/10sec)

NPCs regenerate one hitpoint per second, which is ten times as fast as what the player gets. (Because you really wouldn't notice one in ten seconds when shooting them down.)

Feeding causes the player and NPCs to regenerate limb condition at one point per second for two minutes, and restores all the player's needs by the same.

Being exposed to sunlight causes the player one point per second damage to their radiation level and all needs. This effect can turn quite fatal if left unchecked.

Being exposed to sunlight causes NPCs two points per second damage to their health and one to every limb. (And a smoke effect.) Most will die in 1-3 minutes, and since the sun will cripple their heads long before then, they'll stay down.

 

Blood Resistance: (Vampire survivors, vampire immortals and vampire warriors)

+25% Damage Resistance

Player gains another +25% for two minutes after feeding.

NPCs gain another +50% for the same period.

Direct sunlight gives the player a -50% to their damage resistance, netting a -25% normally and 0% when recently fed. The extra vulnerability is a serious issue.

NPCs gain a -100% in direct sunlight, netting a -75% normally and -25% when recently fed. Which basically means the sun turns them squishy like you wouldn't believe.

I'm not certain if your DR can become negative and cause you to take extra damage. I believe it can. If so, you could take as much as 25% more damage (before DT, which is important) and they could take as much as 75% more. If not, this just removes other DR sources. (Say, armour or morphine.)

 

Blood Prowess: (Vampire warriors only)

+50% run speed, double AP regeneration and +25AP for the player. Makes you much faster and makes VATS pretty badly overpowered.

Player gets Turbo, Steady and Rebound effects for two minutes after feeding. Stack with turbo and enjoy the results.

NPCs get another +100% run speed and all their combat skills jump to 100.

-100% run speed, no AP regeneration and -50AP in direct sunlight. Feeding effect does not work in sunlight. This makes you absurdly slow and makes VATS useles. Have fun with that.

For NPCs, sunlight makes them unable to run and drops all their combat skills to 0.

 

So, with all four abilities:

Player gets +1 to all SPECIAL stats, regenerates 1hp/10s, has +25% DR, +50% run speed, double AP regeneration and +25ap at all times.

Feeding gives the player another +1, 1pt/s restoration of limb condition and needs, +25% DR, turbo, steady and rebound effects for two minutes.

Direct sunlight gives the player a -3 to all SPECIALs, damages all their needs by one point per second, -50% DR, -100% run speed, removes all AP regen and -50 AP.

NPCs get +1 to all SPECIAL stats, regenerates 1hp/s, have +25% DR, +50% run speed and +25ap at all times.

Feeding gives NPCs another +2, 1pt/second restoration of limb condition, +50% DR, +100% run speed and +100 to all combat skills.

Sunlight gives NPCs a -5 to all SPECIALs, damages their health and limbs by two points per second, gives -100% DR, -1000 carry weight and -100 to all combat skills.

 

Basically, the player as a vampire is stuck inside during the day or else they become weak, slow and vulnerable. However, NPC vampires are weakened more and some can actually be killed if they step out into the sun.

 

Setting NPC vampires on fire removes their base powers during the duration of the fire effect. Also, there exist silver salts in game the player can use as poisons. These not only remove their powers, but inflict weaker versions of the sun penalties. It also deals health and fatigue damage to both vampires and non-vampires alike. There are a few special silver weapons and a handloading player can make silver bullets. These do not poison the vampire or remove their base powers, but they do cancel the vampire's feeding powers (through a removespell command, so it only lasts until they feed again) and automatically score critical hits on them in exchange for doing half damage against non-vampiric enemies. The energy equivalant is the "UV" or "Solar" mod, which does the same thing.

 

Note that Silver/UV/Solar also impacts zombies, except dealing double damage instead of removing powers, and in addition to scoring criticals.

 

Being a vampire requires the player to have the "Cannibal," "Night Person" and "Hematophage" perks. You cannot get blood healing or resistance until you are a vampire, and you must have both of them to get blood prowess.

Edited December 17, 2012 by Seattleite