An unexpected farewell

After installing one addon too much my Fallout 3 stopped working. I had to uninstall the entire game, along with all the DLC, mods and saves, and I’m now in the process of reinstalling everything from scratch and be a little cleaner about it.

Sadly, this marks the end of Todd’s adventures. I can’t recreate him the way he was, with all that he had done. It’s just not possible. Maybe someone else will pick up the mantle further down the road, but not today.

Rest in peace, Todd. You came, you saw, you shot people’s asses with lasers because simply kicking them was too easy.

A Hero And A Villain, Part Deux – September 3, 2277

After spending the night in Canterbury and grabbing a bite at Porter’s place, me and Dogmeat headed for the AntAgonizer’s lair. It seemed to be an old bunker of some sort, with mines and traps rigged along the way. After a while I couldn’t find any way to get deeper into the bunker. I fugred she was underground, so of course this was frustrating. Then I noticed a button on the wall, and when I clicked it a section of the floor slid to the side and revealed a hidden stairway. That’s actually the first time I’ve seen something like that. Nice.

After fighting my way through a series of tunnels (filled with giant ants, of course) I eventually stumbled into the AntAgonizer’s “throne room”. She’d done a pretty nice job, actually. Of course, when I walked up to her she started spouting her usual nonsense about how humanity was doomed and ants would take over the world, etcetera etcetera. I let her ramble, then calmly addressed her as Tanya and told her to stop what she was doing. She stared at me, blinked, then made a halfhearted attempt to return to her supervillainess routine before giving up. She told me that she didn’t want to be like humans, but she couldn’t go on like she did. I agreed to let her go if she gave up her costume and AntAgonizer persona, which she gladly did. After that, we went out through the rear exit and then went our separate ways.

Most people would’ve considered their work done by now. But I knew that while the Mechanist was intent on protecting the town, he was doing it in a way that was detrimental to both the townspeople and himself. So I had to stop him, of course, as has been the case with every baddie I’ve come across up to this point. I went up to the robot repair center he was hanging out in. The place was an utter mess, like most post-war buildings, but actually had a lot of working robots inside that were very intent on killing me. Luckily, with a couple of scavenged pulse grenades, some computer savvy and a bit of luck, I managed to pull through with no worse injuries than a few laser burns.

I eventually reached Wollinski’s office/lair, through a hilariously overcomplicated hidden door mechanism. He was overjoyed that I had the AntAgonizer’s costume, and wanted to reward me. I told him that I didn’t want any reward besides his promise to give up being the Mechanist and leave Canterbury alone. He didn’t take this very kindly, stating that “Evil never pauses to contemplate its actions, so I see little reason why we should either”. After pointing out some very obvious flaws in his logic, he accepted my terms and lurched out of the repair shop with a hanging head.

After that I went back to Uncle Roe, collected my payment and thanks, then headed back to Megaton. Now I’ll get a good night’s sleep, trade my salvage in the morning… then we’ll see. I hope I won’t run into any more supervillains anytime soon.

…I think it might be time to go after dad.

Sincerely,

Todd

A Hero And A Villain – September 2, 2277

Well, here I am again. I’ve been resting in Megaton for a couple of weeks, recovering from injuries, spending my caps and generally living the good life. However, what I previously thought was an endless well turned out to be just a really big but definetly finite pile. So with this in mind, I once again ventured into the wasteland looking for fame and fortune, with my trusty mutt right behind me.

After a few fairly uneventful encounters with raiders and wildlife, I came across a caravan led my a merchant calling himself “Crazy Wolfgang”. I don’t think the name is an accident; the man actually scours the wastes for high-quality junk. Trash. Scrap. Detritus. Anyway, he seems to be making a fairly good profit from it, so I won’t judge. And he’s good at it, too! I swear to God, I have never seen a more immaculately polished old toaster in my life. Anyhow, after he bought some salvage from me he mentioned that he used to stop by a place called Canterbury Commons, a small settlement to the west. He said that a lot of caravans stop by there, so it’d be a good place to trade. I thanked him, checked my guns and set off towards Canterbury.

When I got there, the main street was empty save for some woman in an ant suit and a man in… some kind of robot suit, I guess. Looked kinda goofy. They were accompanied by an entourage of ants and robots, respectively, and the AntAgonizer (that’s the crazy chick – seriously) was rambling on about the inferiority of humans to ants, while the Mechanist (that’s the guy) apparently was the town’s self-proclaimed guardian. After a brief fight in which the robots decimated the ants, they both ran off in opposite directions and the town’s inhabitants came out of hiding. Their leader, Uncle Roe, apologised for the spectacle and informed me that those two have been going at it for months now. It seems that the AntAgonizer had been staging attacks on the town; fairly comical, since the guards usually defeated her ants with little effort. However, one day the ants destroyed a robot belonging to the town mechanic, Scott Wollinski. Apparently it was his favorite, and he assumed the Mechanist persona and started fighting the AntAgonizer. Evidently, his robots and their heavy weapons were tearing up the town during their scuffles. I offered to help Roe get rid of them… and even managed to talk him into doubling my pay. I’m getting better at talking, really.

I figured it’d be wise to check with the townspeople for information before heading out to deal with the delightful duo, so I set about doing just that. Most couldn’t provide any information beyond where they were hiding, but the town’s bartender, Joe Porter, mentioned a story he had heard a while back. Apparently, some family living out in the wastes had been attacked by ants, and the only survivor was a girl called Tanya Christoff. We concluded that Tanya probably became the AntAgonizer when she grew up, deeply affected by the trauma of seeing her parents killed by the ants. I thanked him kindly for the information, as it might come in handy to reach a non-violent solution with Tanya. She doesn’t seem to be the most agreeable person.

Anyway, that’s enough for today. I’m spending the night in Canterbury, and heading out in the morning. Here’s hoping this ends without bloodshed.

Sincerely,

Todd

[OOC note] I’m back again! I took a long break from Fallout 3 after I got my computer back in order to play other games, but I’ve gotten back into it. Here’s hoping I can get my arse in gear and update more often. ^^]

ATTEN-SHUN.

So, my computer is busted. Probably some electrical problem, I dunno. I’m writing this from an old computer we got working, but until my original one is fixed I won’t be able to update. Sorry for the inconvenience.

…blegh.

So, Mothership Zeta was somewhat of a disappointment. Fun while it lasted, but when I got back everything just seemed blegh. I didn’t even want to use the alien weapons I picked up. So yeah, I’m not going to write a post about it but expect an update shortly.

Little Green Men!

Todd will now take an extended vacation aboard Mothership Zeta, the latest Fallout 3 DLC. I will not be updating about this, but rather retell the entire story after he’s come back.

I will do the same with all the DLC packages, so don’t fret if you don’t see an update in a few days or weeks. Have faith!

Cheers.

Bountyful – August 29, 2277

Dear Diary,

I can’t believe this. Someone’s actually put a price on my head. I was confronted by some kind of mercenaries outside a metro station earlier today. Their leader said they’d been looking for me, and, I quote, “What? You think you can just wander around the Wasteland doing the things that you do, and there isn’t going to be someone who takes notice?” They opened fire after declining my offer to come to a peaceful solution, so Dogmeat and me had no choice but to kill them.Who the hell wants me to stop helping people?! Unless…

My god, it’s so simple. I killed Burke, and his employer (whoever that is) must’ve put a bounty on me for that. Or for not blowing up Megaton… sick bastard. I’m going to find whoever put that bounty on my head.

Sincerely,

Todd

Molerats, Mirelurks and Mysterious Men – August 28, 2277

Dear Diary,

Today, Moira had me go test a kind of “repellent” she had developed to ward off mole rats. I hate those ugly, stupid little creatures, so if there’s any chance to see less of them I’ll take it. With that in mind, I happily went to the Tepid Sewers. I encountered a mole rat almost as soon as I entered, and gave it a good whack with the repellent stick Moira had given me. The effect was… interesting. It seems that mole rats experience fatal allergic reactions when exposed to the “repellent”. Violent reactions. As in, their fucking heads explode. I had to wash my armor for an hour in the irradiated river Potomac afterwards to get the blood and brains out.

After testing the “repellent” extensively (and having a minor run-in with some raiders) I exited the sewers and heard laser discharges somewhere close by. I ran off towards it to investigate and saw… well, afterwards I found out it was a man, but at first I thought it was some kind of robot. He was wearing this weird armor made entirely out of metal, with glowing red eyes and some kind of “horns” on his helmet… after he saw me, he immediately started shooting at me without a word! Of course, I had to shoot back and it was a tough fight, even though he had obviously been injured by something or someone prior to my approach. After he was dead, I got a closer look at his armor.

It was torn and cracked in places, but obviously very well made. It seems to be some kind of “powered armor”, if you can believe that, with motors and such assisting the wearer’s movements. It was obviously very tough, because the only wound I could see on the man after I had stripped him of his armor was the lucky shot through his eye that had killed him. I also noticed some kind of emblem on his chest, but it had been deformed by a bullet impact so I couldn’t see what it was. After looting the poor man, I went back to Megaton and stashed the armor in a locker in my house. Hopefully I’ll be able to repair and use it someday, but I’d likely need special training for that. In any case, I got a laser rifle in decent condition so it’s not all bad… even though I’ll need to find some more microfusion cells for it.

Anyway, that’s all. Hopefully I won’t run into any more of these guys.

Sincerely,

Todd

[OOC] The Big Ol’ Post Of Stats

Greetings, dear readers! I hope you’re having fun with the blog! I sure am, though taking breaks from playing so often in order to update is more tedious than I had thought. Fear not, however! I shall continue to bring you updates on a regular basis.

Now, I should warn you that this post is going to be all about mods, stats and skills, so if you’re not interested in that you should stop reading here. If not, go forth ye brave nerds!

Todd is currently spankin’ butt at level 6, and is close to 7. His S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats are as follows:

Strength 4

Perception 7

Endurance 6

Charisma 4

Intelligence 8

Agility 6

Luck 6

His skills are as follows (I’ll only list those above 20):

Energy Weapons 50

Explosives 32

Lockpick 37

Medicine 42

Repair 55

Science 35

Small Guns 55

Speech 30

Unarmed 21

I’ll now list the mods I’m using, with a short description of what they do. (Note: I’m using a lot of mods, so I won’t list those with no remarkable effect on gameplay nor graphical ones.)

CRAFT and Ammo Benches – Allows me to melt down different items to Scrap Metal, which I can then use together with frag grenades/mines and fission batteries to make ammo I have purchased rather expensive schematics for.

Repair Rethought Reborn – Allows me to use a lot of various items to repair gear, instead of just duplicates of the same item. Very useful!

Slower Degradation – Slows weapon and armor degradation by -50%.

Dogmeat Leather Armor – Makes Dogmeat essential (he doesn’t die permanently) and improves his A.I, and adds schematics for craftable leather armor to increase his damage resistance.

Ultimate Perk Pack (Original + Experience perks) – Modifies some Perks in the game, and allows certain Perks to be gained through repeated tasks.

Mart’s Mutant Mod – HUGE mod, revamps the respawn system and adds a lot of new monster types/skins, changes leveled loot lists and enables NPC’s and monsters to be different sizes, along with tons of other features (too many to list here).

Better Power Armor – This mod vastly increases the Damage Resistance of all kinds of Power Armor, including that worn by enemies.

Amplified Crippled Effects – Makes the effects of crippled limbs a whole lot worse.

Triage – Revamps the medicine system completely, in ways too profound to list here. Sufficient to say, it’s a lot harder and more realistic to treat injuries.

And that sums it up. All the mods can be found at www.fallout3nexus.com.

Cheers!

Man’s Best Friend In Minefield – August 22, 2277

Dear Diary,

Well, after a few days of more or less uneventful scavenging, I decided to help Moira with her guide some more. After getting severe radiation sickness (I keep telling myself it’s for a good cause, it makes me feel better) and getting a small but beneficial mutation as a side effect, she tasked me with going to a town called Minefield. Apparently, the town was originally called Ridgefield before the war, but now it’s abandoned and the source of many local ghost stories. She wanted me to get to the playground in the middle of town, and bring her back a landmine to tinker with. It sounded easy enough. Oh boy, was I wrong.

But more about that later. On my way to Minefield, I came across an old scrapyard. There were these HUGE piles of old wrecked cars and buses everywhere… though they had all been emptied of anything valuable a long time ago. I was just about to leave when I heard shouts and growling from somewhere further inside the yard. I hurried to the location just in time to see a dog tear a raider’s throat out, the corpses of three others lying around along with a dead trader. Heart pounding, I grabbed my rifle and was just about to shoot him when he looked at me. He didn’t growl or make any move to attack, instead he calmly walked up to me and whimpered. I gave him a scratch behind his ear as I surveyed the scene. I guess the trader had been his old master, and he had killed the raiders after they shot him. I pitied the poor creature, and asked if he wanted to come along with me. He barked three times, as if he understood… he had a small, crude nametag on his collar that said “Dogmeat”. It’s a funny name, so I’ll let him keep it. After looting the raiders’ bodies, the two of us headed off towards Minefield.

When I got there, I saw right away how the town had got its name: the ground was shock full of landmines. I told Dogmeat to stay behind as I ventured into town, disarming the landmines as I went. Thank god I found that copy of “Duck and Cover!” while scavenging yesterday or I wouldn’t have known how. When I passed an old car, I suddenly heard bullets impacting the vehicle. It started burning and I bolted. I knew all too well the danger of burning fusion powered cars, and sure enough, just as I took cover behind a house the thing went up like God pounding the earth with a righteous fucking hammer. I waited until the smoke cleared, then went onwards. Thankfully, the sniper either didn’t see me or didn’t care enough to blow my head off. Eventually I saw the bastard: it was an old man standing on a ruined building on the north edge of town. I crouched behind a fence, steadied my hunting rifle on one of the crossbeams and fired. The round caught him in the chest and sent him tumbling off the edge, falling two stories. Content that my temporary antagonist was dead, I scouted the town and looted the intact houses. There was no less than eight intact pre-war books in Minefield, and I took them with me. I’ve always enjoyed reading, and most books I’ve found are completely destroyed. But when I was about to exit Minefield…

Suddenly I heard a beeping noise. I couldn’t react fast enough, and suddenly there was this godawful bang and the entire world went white for a second. Next thing I knew, I’m lying on the ground with Dogmeat licking my face. I had almost stepped on a landmine… luckily for me though, its sensor was malfunctioning and oversensitive, so it went off at a greater distance than it was supposed to. Nevertheless, my leg was broken and full of metal splinters. I had to lean on Dogmeat to get up (I love that animal now), and I probably wouldn’t have made it back to Megaton if I hadn’t had the luck of finding a crutch and a medicale brace in one of the houses earlier. After crawling my way there (I couldn’t stand up) I managed to stabilize my leg properly and shuffle back to Megaton in one piece.

After I got back, Moira was quite shocked at the state I was in. She offered to patch me up for free… provided I told her what it was like and how I dealt with it. Turns out she would’ve had me injure myself as the next step in the guide! Well, I’m glad that part took care of itself. After being treated, I gave her a full report on Minefield, along with a landmine. She rewarded me for my heroic efforts, and allowed me to take a break from the research after all I had been through. After trading with her for a couple of ammunition schematics, I used the frag mines I had disarmed in Minefield to make some new ammo and headed off to bed. Now I’ll go to sleep and take it easy in Megaton a few days until my leg is completely healed… hopefully that won’t be too long. I think I’m almost ready to go after dad.

Sincerely,

Todd