A self-styled inventor, Moira Brown (24) grew up in the trading community of Canterbury Commons with an uncommon curiosity about the world. She’s read almost every book that’s come through the town. Although her reading has taught her a wide variety of useful knowledge, she has nearly no actual experience with the world, so she doesn't always understand how it can be applied outside of her workshop. After a recent accident with a domesticated Centaur, Moira was inspired to write a book to help others survive in the Wasteland and avoid similar dangers. She just needs someone with real experience to test out her ideas and give her some real-world insight into life in the wastes.[1] Moira moved to Megaton a few years before 2277.
Moira is the owner of Craterside Supply. She spends the day sweeping and trading as well as conducting odd experiments. She opens the store at 8:00am and closes at 8:00pm. She sleeps in the store as well. The only time she will leave is if Megaton is destroyed in the quest The Power of the Atom.
If The Wasteland Survival Guide (quest) is completed before Megaton is destroyed, she will instead stay near the entrance to the ruins, and only be able to repair, lacking an option to buy or sell items.
If you decide to blow up Megaton, she will not die; instead she will become ghoulified. If you started the Wasteland Survival Guide quest, or met her to receive an armored Vault jumpsuit, you will have to visit the Megaton Ruins to find her. If you hadn't started it, she can be found in the Underworld, whereupon she will claim she was 'out-of-town' during the detonation, and apparently unaware of her recent affliction. Depending on how you break the news to her, she will either fall into despair or remain positive. Soon, she will leave for Underworld.
Convincing her that writing The Wasteland Survival Guide is a bad idea, will make you miss out on the rewards available throughout the quest but convincing her not to will result in a 30% discount on her wares and increase her repair skill to 54 (72% condition). You will also lose karma and gain the Dream Crusher perk.
Moira was originally named Lea, as indicated by her script notes (Lea's got her own ideas about whether or not it's "wrong" to play God.).[2]
Her ghoulification is a compromise to avoid locking out the player from the Wasteland Survival Guide quest, which would be a tangible consequence of blowing up Megaton.
Notable quotes[]
"Could you come back? ahh (yawn) ugh in an hour or two, even geniuses need their sleep."
"Good luck with that research."
"Take care, it's a big Wasteland, but you know that better than me, right."
"Hey, book's coming along well, thanks to you, what's next?"
PCPlayStation 3Xbox 360 Occasionally, Moira will not move from the Megaton ruins after the town has been destroyed if you have completed the quest The Wasteland Survival Guide. She will stand in front of Megaton and can only repair. This will happen also if you complete the quest by depressing her. She will only say usual things like "Oh good. Someone who doesn't have a brahmin to wash up. That's a nice change."
PCPlayStation 3 After killing Moira, opening her Craterside Supplies container, and stealing an item, a voice clip of her saying "Hey, that's valuable junk!" will play, even though she's dead.
If you kill Moira and then decide to blow up Megaton, her body can be found outside of the Underworld entrance.
PlayStation 3Xbox 360 In a very rare occasion if you save, kill Moira, and reload the save she will not be there and therefore rendered completely lost.
PlayStation 3 In a very rare occasion when the player kills Moira using an explosive or using the bloody mess perk would find (if afterwards detonated the Atom bomb) Moira Brown floating outside Megaton in her 'corpse' pieces and any interaction with the lone wanderer is ignored.
PC Attempting to trade with Moira Brown after she closes Craterside Supply each night results in her telling you that she's closed for the night. However, if you tell her "I'm looking to buy some things for my house," and then "Okay, let me take a look at your stuff," you can trade with her as if her store were open.
References
↑Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.86: "Moira Brown A self-styled inventor, 24-year-old Moira grew up in the trading community of Canterbury Commons with an uncommon curiosity about the world. She's read almost every book that's come through the town. Although her reading has taught her a wide variety of useful knowledge, she has nearly no actual experience with the world, so she doesn't always understand how it can be applied outside of her workshop. After a recent accident with a domesticated Centaur, Moira was inspired to write a book to help others survive in the Wasteland and avoid similar dangers. She just needs someone with real experience to test out her ideas and give her some real-world insight into life in the wastes." (Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census)
↑Unused Wasteland Survival Guide quest stage lines reference Hubris Comics and Moira as 'Lea'.
