Factions, Factions Everywhere!¶

The Mojave is full of factions, both large and small, nefarious, altruistic and benign. The two big ones, of course, are the NCR and Caesar’s Legion, both of which you’ve heard about. As for smaller factions, there are plenty, with their own relationships with the larger factions and each other. Post-apocalyptia can be a complicated place, with every town and faction judging you based on your actions. Steal, kill or otherwise act against the interests of a faction and they’ll think less of you, even turning hostile and not trusting you to carry out important quests… fancy talk for “they won’t give you quests if they don’t like you”. Simply put, your actions in the Mojave matter, and since factions often have conflicting aims and ambitions, helping one will sometimes hurt another. At some point you’ll have to make a choice.

The storm brewing in Goodsprings is an introduction to this; the Powder Gangers want Ringo, and aren’t unwilling to pillage Goodsprings in general, either. Obviously the good folk of Goodsprings want to stay out of trouble entirely, but they are morally disposed towards favoring Ringo over some NCR convicts with a penchant for destruction. You can only side with one; defending Ringo from the Powder Gangers is covered in the quest Ghost Town Gunfight . Alternatively, helping the Powder Gangers is covered in the quest Run Goodsprings Run .

If you’re not prepared to make this choice yet, or you don’t want to sour either faction, you still have options at this point. First, you can just postpone this quest until you’ve completed the Powder Ganger storyline. It’s not going anywhere. Second, if you side with the people of Goodsprings but avoid openly killing any Powder Gangers, your reputation loss with the Powder Gangers will be limited. To avoid ruining your reputation with a faction, either kill character affiliated with that faction stealthily, or in the case of the Goodsprings fight, use weapons that inflict KO damage (Boxing Tape, Boxing Gloves) and let the people of Goodsprings do the dirty work. These general rules apply for all factions, and in general it’s best to try and get on the good side of all the smaller factions before making a choice about the NCR and Caesar’s Legion. Some effort will be taken in this guide to do just that, even if it involves a bit of running about and putting things aside for later.

A list of the different reputation statuses you can have, with Fame representing positive reputation and Infamy representing negative reputation, is listed below. Note that Fame and Infamy are not two sides of the same scale; they are both cumulative. As you gain Fame, you do not lose Infamy, and vice-versa. A courier with equal amounts of Fame and Infamy will have a mixed reputation, not a neutral one… with varying shades of gray depending on whether the mix favors Fame or Infamy.

The goal of this guide will be to see and do as much as possible in one playthrough, and make it easier for you to reload a hard save near the end of the game with which you can do all that you weren’t able to do the first. Just the nature of the beast; you can’t make everybody happy, so you won’t be able to do every quest. To that end, your goal as you make your way through the Mojave should be, in general, to earn as much Fame as possible with the factions, while getting as little Infamy as possible. Alternative options will be presented for those who don’t care to see and do everything and/or those who have already made up their minds about which faction(s) they want to support, but this guide will assume you’ll mitigate Infamy and gain Fame where ever possible, for as long as possible… even if that means postponing a few quests here and there.

Ghost Town Gunfight¶

Leave the Prospector Saloon and follow the road to the west to find a gas station on a hill. Loot a Sunset Sarsaparilla vending machine outside, then head inside, where a jumpy Ringo will threaten you. Talk him down and he’ll offer to play a game of Caravan with you to ease the tension. He’ll even give you a deck to start out with. For more information on Caravan, head over to the “Caravan” section of the guide; it won’t really be discussed elsewhere in the guide, but it’s occasionally a good way to waste time, earn caps, and perhaps score the odd trophy/achievement… There’s no reason you can’t - if you care to - grind out the Caravan trophies/achievements by doing this while playing Ringo. Just bet one Cap every time, and after 30 wins, the trophy is yours. You’ll never need to play Caravan again, unless you want to shark some easy Caps off of people.

After you’re done playing as much Caravan as you wish, ask Ringo about his problems with Joe Cobb and hear his side of the story. Offer to help and he’ll suggest you recruit other townsfolk to join in the fight against the Powder Gangers.

Fair enough. Leave the gas station and head to the Prospector Saloon where you can try to recruit Sunny Smiles and Trudy. Sunny Smiles will join if you simply ask her, and she’ll suggest other people who might help, and the aid they’ll provide. Simply put, to get their support you’ll have to succeed at a variety of skill checks, usually with a difficulty around 25. If you want to recruit everybody, you’ve got options; level up some by killing critters in the Mojave and/or read some magazines that boost the relevant skill before talking to a character. Recruiting everybody isn’t necessary, but it will make things easier, especially if you want to help Goodsprings without angering the Powder Gangers too much (i.e. without actually have to kill any of them).

Ask Sunny Smiles about the various Goodsprings residents and she’ll suggest the skills you need to win them over, then talk to Trudy. To convince her you’ll need to make one of two skill checks, either [Speech 25] or [Sneak 25]. Head out front to find Easy Pete in his usual spot; the front porch of the saloon. Talk to him as much as you wish to learn a bit about his past and other topics of interest in the Mojave. Once that’s out of the way, ask for his help and, if you pass an [Explosives 25] skill check he’ll consent.

After talking to Easy Pete make your way next door and talk to Chet, who can be convinced with an investment of 1000 Caps, or with a [Barter 25] skill check. For your trouble, he’ll throw in some Leather Armor… not bad for a skill check, but a horrible waste of 1000 Caps. He’ll also tell you about the men who were traveling with the city-boy who shot you; members of a group called the Great Khans.

Finally, visit the good doctor and ask him for help to get three Stimpaks. If you pass a [Medicine 30] skill check he’ll throw in two Doctor’s Bags. It’ll have to do. Before returning to Ringo, you may want to make some final preparations… at least if you want to help the people of Goodsprings without actually killing any Powder Gangers. If you kill any of them, your reputation will drop so low that other Powder Gangers will be hostile on sight… which isn’t a huge deal, but it will lock you out of some quests. Visit Chet and buy some Boxing Gloves or Boxing Tape, both of which deal KO damage to enemies you hit. It’s not much damage, but KO damage doesn’t count as assault when you strike characters, and hence, will allow you to deal damage to faction members without tanking your reputation… unless you kill them. Murder still counts as murder.

When you’re ready, return to Ringo and tell him you’re ready to settle matters. Afterwards Sunny will show up and tell you that the Powder Gangers are on the move… and give you five sticks of Dynamite if you convinced Easy Pete to help out. Follow Sunny out of the gas station and make your way to the Prospector Saloon, where whatever residents of Goodsprings you’ve gathered are waiting. As Sunny said, there are six Powder Gangers (including Joe Cobb) will attack from the south. If you recruited everybody, the residents of Goodsprings will be more than capable of fending off the Powder Gangers on their own. If not, you may need to lend a hand. If you want to keep a passable relationship with the Powder Gangers, either sit out the fight entirely or use weapons that deal KO damage and avoid taking the last hit. If you fend off the Powder Gangers without killing or assaulting any of them, you should come out of this with a “Shunned” reputation. If not, you’ll be “Vilified”. The former will allow you to keep working with the Powder Gangers, the latter will turn them hostile, which makes a working relationship quite difficult. Either way, you’ll be “Idolized” in Goodsprings and will get a reward from Ringo, who asks you to stop by the Crimson Caravan Company and visit sometime. All in good time. Now, however, it’s time to leave Goodsprings behind and move on to Primm, which is covered in the section “From Goodsprings to Primm” …

Run Goodsprings Run¶

You can find the representative of the Powder Gangers - Joe Cobb - standing along the white wall of a house south of the Prospector Saloon, adjacent to the road. Talk to him and he’ll tell you about the NCR, the Legion, and Hoover Dam, if you care to listen. Ask about Ringo and you’ll learn about the Powder Ganger’s grievances with him, after which he’ll make a comment about doing not-so-nice things to Goodsprings. If you ask him about his past, you can get him to (vaguely) discuss his criminal past [Speech 20]. Once done, offer to help him take over the town, then give him a good reason; If you pass an Intelligence check[Intelligence 6], he’ll immediately see the merit in your suggestion, but either way, you’ll have to deal with Ringo, first. This causes you to fail the quest Ghost Town Gunfight quest if you’re started it.

Return to the Prospector Saloon and follow the road in front of it uphill to the west to find a gas station, in which Ringo is hiding. Ringo is still friendly enough, but if you were conspiring with Joe Cobb, Ringo will refuse any help you may offer. You can tell Ringo that you’re here to kill him… but why would you out yourself like that? Just kill him, then loot the gas station; there are plenty of crates to loot, and a Floor Safe [Easy].

Tell Joe Cobb the good news and you’ll notice that he’s gathered a posse of Powder Gangers. He’ll suggest discretion, and ask you to canvas the town for supplies before attacking. Head to the General Store next to the Prospector Saloon and talk to its owner - Chest. Succeed at a [Barter 25] check or [Speech 25] to convince Chet to act in his best long-term self interest, then go pay Doc Mitchell a visit. Lie to him about needing medical supplies and furnish your lie with a bit of believable medical knowledge [Medicine 25] and he’ll cough up some more loot.

Get whatever toys you can, then return to Joe Cobb. If you succeeded in getting goodies from the townsfolk you’ll gain fame in the eyes of the Powder Gangers. Your share of the medical supplies turns out to be five Stimpaks, a Super Stim and one Buffout. Once done, all that’s left to do is assault the Prospector Saloon and take over the town. You’ll have to fight a number of Goodsprings residents including Trudy, Doc Mitchell, Easy Pete and Sunny Smiles. Once they’re dead, this quest is complete, but you can talk to Joe Cobb (who will take up residence in the Prospector Saloon) and he’ll recommend you head to the NCR Correctional Facility. If you want to continue working with the Powder Gangers, you can skip to the “New California Republic Correctional Facility” section, but it’s advisable to make your way to Primm and Nipton, first, the start of which is covered in the section “From Goodsprings to Primm” .