Slave collar (Fallout 3)

Characteristics
There are two versions of this item; the first is a quest item given to the player by Grouse for use in the quest Strictly Business, along with a Mesmetron. It has a weight of 1 and a value of 0, and cannot be removed from the player's inventory except by enslaving an non-player character. The second version of this item is a hidden apparel item that is generated on non-player characters enslaved by the player.

The slave collar is used by the slavers from Paradise Falls. The collars send a frequency to Paradise Falls to keep track of where every collared slave is.

It is possible to remove a collar from an enslaved non-player character simply by talking to them and select the appropriate conversation choice. Success in removing the collar is based on the player's Science skill: your level must be at least 25 to attempt to remove the collar, with only a 50% chance of success. The likelihood of success increases in steps (at levels 50 and 75) up to a 100% success rate.

Outside of initiating conversation, the player character may be approached in the Wasteland by an escaped slave still wearing a slave collar, who will beg for the collar to be removed.

The collar will also explode if struck by the Mesmetron. As the slave collar's instructions state, "The Mezzer rays trigger the collar's self-destruct mechanism, so once the collar's on, don't shoot the slave with the Mesmetron, unless you want to pay me for a new collar.".

Locations
The slave collar can only be obtained through accepting the quests marked below as there are no collars placed in the game world.

Related quests

 * Strictly Business
 * Strictly Profitable
 * The Kid-Kidnapper

Behind the scenes

 * Exploding collars are frequently used as plot devices in fiction entertainment. The earliest known use of an exploding collar was in the Starchild Trilogy, a trio of novels published between 1964 and 1969.

Bugs

 * If the player receives more than one slave collar, enslaves multiple people, and then returns to Paradise Falls, Grouse will say that you have lost the collar, and will make you pay for a new one. Also, if the player receives more than one slave collar and enslaves more than one person, Grouse may still pay you for only one slave, and you will receive one collar.
 * Removing a collar via dialog from any non-player character who has been enslaved by the player (other than Red, Flak, Arkansas, and Susan Lancaster) may cause a crash to desktop. A small number of non-player characters, such as Bone, will always cause a crash in this instance.
 * If you put a slave collar on an Enclave scientist (the ones wearing a glass helmet), their body will become invisible leaving only their hands and head visible.
 * If the player receives the slave collar for the quest and kills Grouse the quest will end, and the slave collar will be 0 WG instead of 1 WG it usually adds.