Reservation design document/3

This is part 3 of the Reservation design document for Van Buren, the cancelled Fallout 3 by Black Isle Studios.

Ghoul Guard - #~20, Lvl: 6-15
Through heavy discipline and training, Colonel Green managed to train average, mostly weak ghouls into an elite fighter force. These ghouls are experts at firearms, melee, and unarmed combat and can easily match the combat skills of the NCR, BOS, or Enclave.

Ghoul Commoner - #~30, Lvl: 3-6
Typical ghouls who wander about looking pathetic – which they are. The only thing keeping this lot together is their belief in Dr. Willem Clark and his prophesy of bringing the Promised Earth to the Children of the Wasteland.

Slave - #~15, Lvl: 5-8
Feeble slaves. Not much to say here, except they are physically weak and couldn't fight a crippled senior citizen. If the player wants to stage a slave revolt, he better have better backup than these sorry sods.

Human Slave Traders - #~6, Lvl: 8 - 12
At the Trading Post, the player may run into (more than likely) human slave traders dressed in environmental suits and heavily armed with 5mm assault rifles. Unless provoked, they will mind their own business and continue with their slave trading.

Scaven-picker - #~5, Lvl: 6-10
Another type of customer the player might run into is a particularly nasty individual the ghouls refer to as "Scaven-pickers." These people are more than just run of the mill scavengers. From prolonged usage of Rad-X and Rad-Away, coupled with the continued exposure to radiation in the years trading at the radioactive Trading Post, the Scaven-pickers are a bit touched in the head. They wear outfits that are a mishmash of rubber, leather, metal, and in some parts, aged human skin. They often speak in what seems to be gibberish, but get out just enough recognizable words for the sellers at the Trading Post to understand. They are quick to fight if they feel threatened, and will follow a player if they see something they like on their person, including their skin. They use homemade knives, short swords (machetes), crossbows, and some have a gun with limited ammo. There skill in unarmed combat is also somewhat legendary in the area around the Reservation. To the untrained eye, the unarmed fighting style seems like a berserker arm and leg flinging. However, the blows are purposeful and will inflict maximum and precise damage. The player has a chance to learn this fighting style if he first learns the Scaven-picker's language and earns their trust.

The player can learn to understand Scaven-pickers. Hank, who has been dealing with them for quite a long time, can instruct the player if their character has an IN > 4. This would grant a grainy understanding of the scaven-picker's gibberish language. However, if the player's IN is > 6, then the player can understand, with certain clarity, what the Scaven-pickers are trying to say.

There is also a rumor that the Scaven-pickers are actually escaped slaves who were somehow freed on their way to the Reservation.

Rad Scorpions - #~5, Lvl
In this radioactive region, it'd be an impossibility not to have some rad-scorpions lurking about in a random encounter. Nothing special about these guys, they are your typical rad-scorpions.

Cockroach - #~5, Lvl
Cockroaches of unusual size are abundant in this region, and are one of the primary ingredients for the Reservation's version of Rad-X. About the size of a Volkswagen beetle (pun intended), these giant pests can be very aggressive. However, should the player want to go hunting for these critters, the ghouls of the Reservation pay handsomely for cockroach gizzards.

Endless Walker - #~2, Lvl
Due to their prolonged, open exposure to the desert sun, high radiation, and other hardships of the wasteland, these unfortunate ghouls, who were banished, naked, from the Reservation, look like walking, sun bleached chunks of beef jerky. Their minds are almost completely gone and they react mostly on instinct. They will attack the first thing they see moving in a vain effort to quench an appetite that can never be quenched. Also, their skin in very tough and they strike with their claw-like hands with surprising quickness. Fortunately, endless walkers do not travel in groups. In fact, it is a rare occasion when someone comes across one, though most who travel this side of the wasteland like to keep their distance from the voracious creatures.

Born Ghoul- #~2, Lvl: 8 – 10
These are two of the four Born Ghouls; the others being Measles and Belle. Unlike regular ghouls, these ghouls were conceived and birthed. At first glance they look like any other ghoul, but a closer inspection reveals that their lesions, exposed bone, and hair patches are very uniform and look like they even serve some kind of purpose. On top of that, these ghouls are a little tougher, a little stronger, and a little faster. They are formidable opponents and have a definite air of superiority about them. Their preferred combat mode is either unarmed or melee with a very sharp weapon. Born Ghouls enjoy slicing into fresh flesh and feel that guns are way too impersonal.

Cockroach Minor Encounter
A small nest (~ 4 – 6) of giant cockroaches are mucking around in search of food. They will seek to attack the player at first sight.

Rad-Scorpion Minor Encounter
A small nest (~ 4 – 6) of rad-scorpions are mucking around in search of food. They will seek to attack the player at first sight.

Scaven-Picker Encounter
A group of Scaven-pickers are rummaging around the husk(s) of some pickup trucks. Once they see the player and his posse, they will approach and float gibberish, expecting a coherent response. If the player is not able to understand what they say, the Scaven-pickers will attack the player. Fun ensues.

However, if the player does understand, then there is a possibility for trade. Sometimes they have good stuff, sometimes they don't.

Slaver Caravan Encounter
The player has a good chance to run into slavers on their way to, or coming from, the Reservation. These slavers are well equipped with assault rifles and environmental suits received through trade with the talented ghouls at the Reservation. They will not attack the player on sight, but they will issue a warning not to interfere. If the player heeds that warning, all is good and everyone goes about their business. However, if the player decides to play hero and wins the battle, there are a couple of short and long term repercussions.

First off, if the slavers were going to the Reservation with fresh slaves, then obviously those slaves won't arrive and the places where those slaves are needed will be short handed. Eventually, those slaves will die of overwork (except for Fred – he's a tough freak), and the ghouls will have to do their own dirty work until another slaver caravan comes several months away. In addition, since Horatio expects regular shipments of slaves and tries to keep to a schedule, he will get suspicious that the player had something to do with the "late" caravan, especially if it happens more than once.

The second repercussion is that freeing the slaves in the middle of a radioactive wasteland is not such a good deal. The slavers provided Rad-X for the slaves so they would not drop from radiation over the long trek. If the player kills the slavers and does not give the Rad-X to the slaves, they will eventually die a slow, horrible death. However, if the player does give the Rad-X to the slaves, the slaves have a chance at survival. If the later is true, the player will eventually run into the freed slaves and find that they have been adopted by the Scaven-pickers. The player would even begin to see the early effects of frequent Rad-X use by the freed slaves – gibberish will start to become natural to them and they will act far more abrupt and paranoid.

Endless Walker Encounter (rare)
Not all Endless Walkers end up scorpion food, at least not at first. On those rare occasions when one survives more than one year in the wasteland, they turn into wandering, voracious creatures on an endless quest for flesh. Their constant exposure to the hot sun and high levels of radiation has caused their skin to toughen into natural, hardened leather, but at the same time, their brain has completely cooked. Endless Walkers who have been in the wastes for so long become a creature of instinct and will attack anything that moves, especially the player. Though encounters with Endless Walkers are rare, when someone does encounter them, they are assured to never forget the encounter, if they survive.

Scaven-Picker Camp Encounter (rare*)

 * * unless the player is doing a quest for Klik, then this encounter will pop up right after the player finishes said quest, and is in the region of the Reservation

Scaven-pickers are nomads. Since they are always wandering around looking for things to loot, they never stay in the same place for longer than a couple days. However, they also never venture more than a day or two's walk from the Reservation. Scaven-pickers are addicted to Rad-X and need to always have a fresh supply, despite the fact they need it for protection.

The Scaven-picker's camps are composed of makeshift tents that look like they were sown together with every piece of material known and unknown. The tents are small, but it looks like several Scaven-pickers cram into each tent until there is barely enough room to breathe. The camps are some fifteen to twenty strong, and Klik always seems to be there should the player find the camp (that is, if the player had not killed her). Trade is possible if the player knows the gibberish language, but if the player does not, then the Scaven-pickers will go wild and attack the player thinking he's an intruder wanting to steal their junk.