Speech

Speech is a Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas skill. In Van Buren, it was to be divided into two skills - Persuasion and Deception. The skill was also to appear in Fallout Tactics but was cut from the final game build.

The speech skill is an often used plot device at the end of Fallout games, almost always as a device to persuade the final 'boss' of the game to leave without fighting (in the case of Augustus Autumn and Legate Lanius) or commit suicide (in the case of the Master).

Fallout
The initial skill is determined as follows:
 * 25% + 2 x Charisma

Example: A starting Charisma of 5.
 * 25% + 2 × 5 = 35%

Chance of success is always a dice roll, testing the player character's Speech skill against the difficulty of the dialogue option. A Speech of about 100% is enough to meet most challenges.

Direct

 * Tag! (permanent +20% and 2% per skill point spent)
 * Speaker (permanent +20%)

Indirect

 * Patrick the Celt (permanent +2%, due to Charisma gain)
 * Gain Charisma (permanent +2%, due to Charisma gain)
 * Smooth Talker (temporarily increases Intelligence by 1 for purposes of dialogue, three ranks)

Fallout 2

 * 5 x Charisma

Example: A starting Charisma of 5.
 * 5 × 5 = 25%

Chance of success is always a dice roll, testing the player character's Speech skill against the difficulty of the dialogue option. A Speech of about 100% is enough to meet most challenges.

Direct

 * Tag! (permanent +20% and 2% per skill point spent)
 * Speaker (permanent +20%)
 * Expert Excrement Expeditor (permanent +5%)
 * Pip-Boy lingual enhancer (permanent +10%)

Indirect

 * Blue memory module (permanent +2%, due to Charisma gain)
 * Gain Charisma (permanent +2%, due to Charisma gain)
 * Mirrored shades (temporary +2%, due to Charisma gain)
 * Smooth Talker (temporarily increases Intelligence by 1 for purposes of dialogue, three ranks)

Fallout Tactics
The Speech skill was in the first draft of Fallout Tactics skills, but was eventually left out.

Fallout 3
The initial skill is determined as follows:
 * 2 + 2 × Charisma + Luck/2

Example: A starting Charisma of 5 and Luck of 5.
 * 2 + 2 × 5 + 5/2 = 15

Speech checks are represented by a preceding tag showing the skill name and the chance of success, encased in brackets (e.g. [Speech 25%]). Speech checks are used to obtain additional information, increase quest rewards (usually a bonus amount of bottle caps), and if failed, they cannot be tested again.

Other options based on the player character's S.P.E.C.I.A.L., chosen perks (Lady Killer/Black Widow, Child at Heart, etc.), or Karma. The tag will display which is used in dialogue.

Chance of success
The chance to succeed in a check is determined by:
 * Speech skill
 * Charisma (non-linear multiplier bonus according to the table on the right)
 * Difficulty of the check
 * Threatening posture: A drawn weapon gives a roughly -10% malus to the speech check.

according to the following formula, capping at 100% (calculated):


 * ( Speech Skill * Charisma Bonus / Speech Check Difficulty ) * 100%

Examples

 * Lucas Simms: Difficulty level 215 when the player tries to increase their quest reward,
 * Gob: 147 to convince reveal information,
 * Jericho: 111 to convince him to talk to the player.

As such: A character with 5 Charisma and 50 Speech character has a 66 base ability, and has a 31%, 45%, and 60% chance with these checks respectively. Having a weapon raised increases the difficulty by about 10%, so with a weapon up the chances would be 28%, 41%, and 54%.

Interestingly, Lucas Simms is one of the harder Speech challenges in the game. Most fall below 170 difficulty, with the single hardest Speech challenge in the game being in dialogue with the AntAgonizer, at 420.

Strategy
Unlike Barter (which will affect a great many transactions in the game), Speech skill will only affect specific dialogue options for the non-player character's that present speech challenges in the game. Putting a large number of skill points into Speech, or selecting it as a Tag Skill assures that the player character will be very, very adept with a fairly uncommon occurrence in the game mechanics.

With Speech challenges, the player only has one chance. Since even a high Speech skill will not guarantee success on harder speech challenges (it will guarantee it on easier challenges however as long as 100% is displayed). A higher speech skill will only increase the probability of success, which translates to fewer game reloads until success. Considering this, spending ten points to increase from a Speech of 30 to a Speech of 40 is likely to be completely unnoticeable in practice.

It is not difficult to save the game right before initiating dialogue with most non-player characters in the game. In circumstances where a non-player character will initiate conversations with the player that can include speech challenges (such as Bryan Wilks, Lug-Nut, or Goalie Ledoux), these non-player characters will only appear under predictable circumstances (nearing Grayditch, obtaining the naughty nightwear, or arriving at the Red Racer Factory); thus, saving the game just before encountering these non-player characters will allow the player to use the same strategy listed above. For non-player characters who can present multiple Speech Challenges, such as Bryan Wilks or Vance, it is possible to choose the option to stop speaking to them after succeeding in the first Speech Challenge, save the game, and then talk to them again to attempt the second Speech Challenge.

Ways to increase Speech
Note: Only items adding +5 or more are included.

Direct

 * Tag! (permanent +15)
 * Bobblehead - Speech (permanent +10)
 * Lying, Congressional Style (permanent +1 or +2 with Comprehension)
 * Paradise Lost (permanent +1 or +2 with Comprehension)
 * Scoundrel (permanent +5 with each rank)
 * Survival Expert (permanent +2, 4 or 6)
 * Impartial Mediation (temporary +30 with neutral Karma)
 * Yew's bear charm (temporary +10)
 * Naughty nightwear (temporary +10)
 * Button's wig (temporary +10)

Indirect

 * Intense Training (permanent +2 per point of Charisma)
 * Grape Mentats (temporary +2-10 depending on Charisma, a perfect Charisma of 10 will see no benefit)
 * Ant queen pheromones (temporary +2-6 depending on Charisma, a perfect Charisma of 10 will see no benefit)
 * Pre-War businesswear (temporary +5, includes "Dirty" and "Grimy")
 * Lincoln's hat (temporary +5)
 * General Chase's overcoat (temporary +5)
 * Paulson's outfit (temporary +5)

Fallout: New Vegas
The initial skill is determined as follows:
 * 2 + 2 × Charisma + Luck/2

Example: A starting Charisma of 5 and Luck of 5.
 * 2 + 2 × 5 + 5/2 = 15

Speech no longer has a randomized chance of succeeding with percentiles. Each Speech check is a flat requirement; if the player does not meet the requirement, he will automatically fail it. It is thus impossible to bypass any Speech check through repeated save-scumming.

Speech in quests and exploration

 * 30 Speech or 30 Medicine to convince Doc Mitchell to give you three stimpaks before initially leaving his house. Passing both will result in five stimpaks rather than six, Speech will always be the second choice (worth 2).
 * 30 Speech to convince Chavez to move on in I Fought the Law.
 * 30 Speech to convince Comm Officer Lenk to share her story.
 * 30 Speech or 6 Intelligence to convince the suspicious merchant at Jean Sky Diving to reveal himself for I Fought the Law.
 * 30 Speech to convince Johnson Nash to give up information for I Fought the Law for free.
 * 30 Speech or pay 200 caps to convince Major Knight at the Mojave Outpost to pardon Meyers for the quest My Kind of Town.
 * 30 Speech to convince Mick to sell you weapons at Mick and Ralph's.
 * 35 Speech to convince Milo to start the mission Back in Your Own Backyard.
 * 35 Speech to convince Haggerty to allow you into HELIOS One.
 * 40 Speech to convince Deputy Beagle in Primm to give you the information before you release him.
 * 40 Speech to convince each of the Misfits to be more of a "team player" in Flags of Our Foul-Ups.
 * 40 Speech to convince Jane in Freeside to give something else of value towards her debt in quest Debt Collector.
 * 40 Speech to convince Thomas Hildern to improve the offered reward in There Stands the Grass. (available after talking to Dr. Williams and returning to confront Hildern)
 * 41 Speech to convince Boone to tell you who he's on the lookout for.
 * 45 Speech to convince Jessup to release the hostages in Boulder City.
 * 50 Speech to convince Neil to help you kill Tabitha in Crazy, Crazy, Crazy.
 * 50 Speech to convince Tomas to get rid of his necklace.
 * 50 Speech to convince Joana you have what it takes to have sex with her, which follows into another speech challenge of 75 in order for her to lead you to her room and commit the deed.
 * 50 Speech or the Black Widow perk to convince Chris Haversam that he's human in Come Fly With Me.
 * 50 Speech to obtain thrust controllers for 250 caps from Old Lady Gibson for Come Fly With Me.
 * 50 Speech to convince Ralph to craft you a counterfeit passport for the New Vegas Strip at a cost of 500 caps.
 * 50 Speech to get away with killing Caesar with the autodoc during Et Tumor, Brute? (as an alternative to 50 Medicine or positive Legion reputation)
 * 55 Speech to get the Think tanks to realize that you are aware of their conversation.
 * 60 Speech to convince Keith to show you how he's cheating at Caravan.
 * 60 Speech to convince Pacer to let you see the King for free.
 * 60 Speech to convince Private Stone to turn himself in during the Medical Mystery quest.
 * 60 Speech to convince Benny to head immediately to The Tops Presidential Suite without his bodyguards.
 * 60 Speech to lie and convince Private Edwards to leave the Camp searchlight house he is holding out in by saying that all the radscorpions are gone.
 * 62 Speech to convince Mortimer to choose the cannibal side in Beyond the Beef.
 * 64 Speech to convince all Fiends inside of Vault 3 so they will not attack you.
 * 65 Speech to convince the gambler to a weapons check while guarding the front of the Silver Rush during Birds of a Feather.
 * 65 Speech to convince Norton outside of Jacobstown to leave the mutants alone in the quest Unfriendly Persuasion
 * 65 Speech to ask Dog/God "Why did you put emphasis on the word "Master" before?" after freeing him from the jail. Dead Money
 * 66 Speech to convince Jack in the Red Rock Drug Lab to make medicinal chems.
 * 75 Speech to make Dog let God take over in the Dead Money DLC quest Put the Beast Down. (This can only be done if you convinced God to come out of the cage in the quest Find Collar 8: "Dog".
 * 75 Speech to convince the Strange Man during the Birds of a Feather quest to pay you for running chems.
 * 75 Speech or the Confirmed Bachelor perk to convince Arcade Gannon to be your companion.
 * 75 Speech to convince Alice McLafferty to give Janet her wages.
 * 75 Speech to cause Tabitha to order the nightkin under her command to attack the super mutants at Black Mountain when activating a radio during Crazy, Crazy, Crazy.
 * 80 Speech to convince Keene for not taking the Stealth Boy Mk2 in the quest Guess Who I Saw Today.
 * 80 Speech to convince Isaac that the Gun Runners can use refurbished weapons while Dealing with Contreras.
 * 80 Speech to convince Orion Moreno to stay with the Remnants and fight for the NCR during the quest For Auld Lang Syne.
 * 80 Speech or good Karma to convince Legate Lanius to fight you one-on-one.
 * 80 Speech in order to convince Hector to tell you what he knows about Corporal White during the quest The White Wash.
 * 85 Speech to say Dog/God "You want to protect Dog..." after freeing him from the jail. Dead Money
 * 85 Speech to convince Dog/God to merge personalities in the Dead Money DLC quest Put the Beast Down.
 * 95 Speech to talk your way out of combat after bringing back the objective to I Could Make You Care and then leaving the Brotherhood of Steel base.
 * 100 Speech to convince Lee Oliver to leave Hoover Dam without fighting you during the quest Veni, Vidi, Vici.
 * 100 Speech to convince Legate Lanius to leave Hoover Dam without fighting you.

Direct

 * Tag! (permanent +15)
 * Lying, Congressional Style (permanent +3 or 4 with Comprehension)
 * Meeting People (temporary +10 or 20 with Comprehension)
 * Benny's Suit (temporary +5)
 * Dean's Tuxedo (temporary +5)
 * Naughty nightwear (temporary +10)
 * President Kimball's suit (temporary +5)
 * Pre-War businesswear (temporary +5)
 * Vera's outfit (temporary +5)
 * Caesar's armor (temporary +5)
 * Vault jumpsuit (temporary +2)

Indirect

 * All items that yield Charisma bonuses can be stacked to a max Charisma of 10. Further bonuses are lost.


 * Party Time Mentats (temporary +10 to Speech, as a result of Charisma gain, can be stacked with Mentats)
 * Mentats (temporary +2 to Speech, as a result of Charisma gain)
 * Absinthe/Beer/Irradiated beer/Jake Juice/Scotch/Irradiated Scotch/Vodka/Whiskey/Irradiated whiskey/Wine (temporary +2 to Speech, as a result of Charisma gain, stackable with Mentats)
 * Sexy sleepwear (temporary +2 to Speech, as a result of Charisma gain)
 * T-51b power armor helmet (temporary +2 to Speech, as a result of Charisma gain)
 * Sheriff's duster (temporary +2 to Speech, as a result of Charisma gain)
 * Bounty hunter duster (temporary +2 to Speech, as a result of Charisma gain)
 * Regulator duster (temporary +2 to Speech, as a result of Charisma gain)