Meltdown

Meltdown is a perk in Fallout: New Vegas.

Effects
When a target has its hit points reduced to 0 by an energy weapon, this perk will trigger an explosion centered on the target, similar to a plasma grenade explosion, but smaller. The explosion can cause critical hits and sneak attack criticals, potentially killing nearby targets, propagating further meltdowns and creating a chain reaction. The player character and companion characters are not immune to damage from the Meltdown effect.

The damage dealt by Meltdown is relative to the damage dealt by the weapon that killed the target. A powerful weapon, such as the Gauss rifle, can trigger a meltdown dealing upwards of 300 damage whereas a flamer's meltdown would be closer to 10.

Bugs

 * As of the latest patch, Meltdown has a high chance of crashing your game.