Little help

[EnclaveKnight]

You will need a Perception of at least 7 to get most of the dialogue options with Chrsitine and a Perception of 8 for one dialogue check in particular; high Medicine and Science (70+) are helpful as well.

If you are not planning on getting Implants, I would definitely shift points from Endurance to Intelligence - you will get more dialogue options and more experience points, and honestly aside from getting implants, high Endurance is only necessary if you are planning to specialize in Unarmed Combat (which maybe you are; New Vegas establishes that Brotherhood Scribes are supposed to be skilled martial artists). Also, if you're planning on Tagging Medicine I think a higher Intelligence is in order, if only for roleplaying purposes - remember that 4 is considered "Below Average" Intelligence; only one point lower and you have dumb dialogue options! I would think somebody with a background in the BoS should have at least 5 intelligence, and if they have medical training/education I would bump it up to a 6 at least.

Uh, comprehension boosts skill magazines by double the normal amount (and requires only 4 intelligence), plus there is intense training to boost specials alone.

Okay, but my suggestion to boost Intelligence had nothing to do with skill levels, and a lot to do with roleplaying, dialogue options and SPECIAL stat checks (not the same as skill checks!).

If you want to use Intense Training to up your Intelligence you can, of course, but with a starting INT of 4 you'd need to boost it by at least 2 before you'd start seeing extra dialogue options, and probably by 3 if you wanted special dialogue with Christine and other characters in Dead Money and Old World Blues. Three ranks of Intense Training for a single stat seems like a waste of perks to me, but it's up to you of course.

If you're really averse to raising INT above 4, you could just take Mentats to temporarily raise your SPECIAL, but you also said you try to avoid chems in gameplay (not sure why you'd avoid chems but be okay with magazines, unless it's for roleplaying purposes), so I would think that's all the more reason to up your INT.

Like I said, unless needed. Like Med-X would be okay, Mentats when dealing with a computer would be fine, unsure of anything else.

I understand, but even 6 I would consider over the top. Do not need all that for everything.

 

[Yamu]

I normally go the same direction as Mr. Trout when it comes to playing medicos, but I've known more than a few medical practitioners in real life who were, to put it kindly, a bit single-minded, but still quite good at what they did. Sometimes, drive, focus, and training can overcome a lack of general smarts, and I've dealt with veterinarians, nurses, and even doctors who I'd trust to cut me open but not to finish a crossword puzzle. It's not ideal, and even with a medical skill of 100 she likely wouldn't be a world-class surgeon as far as roleplaying was concerned, but I wouldn't say that a 4-intelligence doctor (or even technician) would be entirely out of the the question. Sort of a triage nurse-savant, I suppose.

One aspect of the Brotherhood's recruitment troubles that isn't really covered in the games is that with their insular ways and the instant conferral of Brotherhood status upon a child's birth, there would probably be more than a few little recruitlings whose SPECIAL stats didn't quite all make it up to 5, if you catch my drift. Even Fallout 1 had Cabbot. It is a bit surprising that she was (seemingly) on the Scribe track, though, as one would imagine that the lower-intelligence candidates would all opt for (and perhaps be not-so-gently encouraged towards) the Paladin/cannon fodder track. I imagine that her below-average performance in the mental arena probably led to some alienation from her fellows even before the incident with her father.

 

[EnclaveKnight]

I normally go the same direction as Mr. Trout when it comes to playing medicos, but I've known more than a few medical practitioners in real life who were, to put it kindly, a bit single-minded, but still quite good at what they did. Sometimes, drive, focus, and training can overcome a lack of general smarts, and I've dealt with veterinarians, nurses, and even doctors who I'd trust to cut me open but not to finish a crossword puzzle. It's not ideal, and even with a medical skill of 100 she likely wouldn't be a world-class surgeon as far as roleplaying was concerned, but I wouldn't say that a 4-intelligence doctor (or even technician) would be entirely out of the the question. Sort of a triage nurse-savant, I suppose.

One aspect of the Brotherhood's recruitment troubles that isn't really covered in the games is that with their insular ways and the instant conferral of Brotherhood status upon a child's birth, there would probably be more than a few little recruitlings whose SPECIAL stats didn't quite all make it up to 5, if you catch my drift. Even Fallout 1 had Cabbot. It is a bit surprising that she was (seemingly) on the Scribe track, though, as one would imagine that the lower-intelligence candidates would all opt for (and perhaps be not-so-gently encouraged towards) the Paladin/cannon fodder track. I imagine that her below-average performance in the mental arena probably led to some alienation from her fellows even before the incident with her father.

Except I do not plan to have medicine at 100. More like 70 along with Survival. I might upgrade her intelligence to 5 and put intense training into perception (leaving strength at 5 so I can have 7 strength for no reason).

 

[EnclaveKnight]

Here is an idea of what the new BoS character will be:

Name: Braelin Hawthorne
Age: 32 (she was 20 when she left the Lost Hills bunker)

SPECIAL: Strength-5 (7), Perception-6, Endurance-7 (8), Charisma-3, Intelligence-5, Agility-6, Luck 9 or 10
Tag skills: Energy weapons, Sneak, Medicine (backstory reasons), Unarmed once I grab the TAG perk.
Traits: Skilled (can never not pick this) and built to destroy.

Bio: Braelin was born in the Brotherhood of Steel Lost Hills bunker. She always admired her father and the other paladins, mostly for their bravery. She did clash with some of the older members on what they should focus on in terms of "dangerous technology" (as in she does not think that energy weapons and power armor are dangerous on their own). At the age of 16 she fell into a relationship with an older woman in the brotherhood. They kept their relationship a near total secret until Braelin's father caught them together. Braelin panicked and shot her father, killing him. She was forced to flee the bunker, and live out a life as simply Braelin. For the last twelve years, she was taking mercenary and courier jobs just to keep away from the Brotherhood.

 

[Walpknut]

Comprehension skill magazines? those don't exist, you can take mentats tho, but in Dead Money is hard to find it.

 

[EnclaveKnight]

Comprehension skill magazines? those don't exist, you can take mentats tho, but in Dead Money is hard to find it.

What are you talking about? Comprehension is a perk FOR skill magazines, I am grabbing that along with Retention anyways. Level 2 perk is usually RP so that is whatever I want.

 

[Walpknut]

Sorry my bad, I was confusing it with Perception. Whoops.

 

[EnclaveKnight]

Now for the biggest questions: "rejoin" the Brotherhood, or just get their rep to liked/idolized (plan to not launch nukes in LR)?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I normally go the same direction as Mr. Trout when it comes to playing medicos, but I've known more than a few medical practitioners in real life who were, to put it kindly, a bit single-minded, but still quite good at what they did. Sometimes, drive, focus, and training can overcome a lack of general smarts, and I've dealt with veterinarians, nurses, and even doctors who I'd trust to cut me open but not to finish a crossword puzzle. It's not ideal, and even with a medical skill of 100 she likely wouldn't be a world-class surgeon as far as roleplaying was concerned, but I wouldn't say that a 4-intelligence doctor (or even technician) would be entirely out of the the question. Sort of a triage nurse-savant, I suppose.

One aspect of the Brotherhood's recruitment troubles that isn't really covered in the games is that with their insular ways and the instant conferral of Brotherhood status upon a child's birth, there would probably be more than a few little recruitlings whose SPECIAL stats didn't quite all make it up to 5, if you catch my drift. Even Fallout 1 had Cabbot. It is a bit surprising that she was (seemingly) on the Scribe track, though, as one would imagine that the lower-intelligence candidates would all opt for (and perhaps be not-so-gently encouraged towards) the Paladin/cannon fodder track. I imagine that her below-average performance in the mental arena probably led to some alienation from her fellows even before the incident with her father.

Great points as always, Yamu. I work in the medical profession myself and it's true; you definitely don't have be a genius to get through training, even at the highest level. The idea of a, uh, shrinking gene pool resulting in Brotherhood candidates with less than totally optimal stats is intriguing too, and is very consistent with the organization's problems.

I think you've just inspired me to create a relatively low-INT, Brotherhood-affiliated "Cabbot build" for New Vegas. I'm thinking a suit of T-45, plus the Recon Armor helmet and a minigun would look a lot like the sprite from Fallout...

Now for the biggest questions: "rejoin" the Brotherhood, or just get their rep to liked/idolized (plan to not launch nukes in LR)?

I would say, either rejoin them or destroy them. I can't see the point in an outcast helping out the very organization she left, thereby increasing the chances of them finding her or figuring out her identity (not to mention strengthening a group whose values she probably finds pretty questionable). If she has a change of heart, or sincerely believes that Brotherhood's direction can be changed (perhaps as a result of spending time with Veronica), then maybe she would join back up.

It seems more consistent with the back-story you've established, along with her paranoia of being discovered, that she'd want to eliminate the Brotherhood's presence in Nevada altogether - finishing the job she started with her father.

 

[EnclaveKnight]

Now for the biggest questions: "rejoin" the Brotherhood, or just get their rep to liked/idolized (plan to not launch nukes in LR)?

I would say, either rejoin them or destroy them. I can't see the point in an outcast helping out the very organization she left, thereby increasing the chances of them finding her or figuring out her identity (not to mention strengthening a group whose values she probably finds pretty questionable). If she has a change of heart, or sincerely believes that Brotherhood's direction can be changed (perhaps as a result of spending time with Veronica), then maybe she would join back up.

It seems more consistent with the back-story you've established, along with her paranoia of being discovered, that she'd want to eliminate the Brotherhood's presence in Nevada altogether - finishing the job she started with her father.

What I meant by the rep thing was to boost her rep with them before I destroyed them. Plus, there is the fact that she grew up in the Lost Hills Bunker, and therefore does not really know anyone in the Mojave Chapter.

Plus, she was technically never exiled, having run off before being tried for murder. Never heard the words or any judgment on that front, so is still a member, just an "ex"member for game-reasons.

 

[EnclaveKnight]

I decided to alter one more time. Decided to TAG speech instead of sneak because I think that would actually make more sense for someone on the run (If she gets into trouble she is not looking for, she can talk her way out of it). will also take the TAG perk and tag unarmed and imagine that Veronica taught her how to punch effectively.

I was thinking of explosives, but it did not sound right. Can someone sell me on the rationale of a former BoS member using explosives and not energy weapons? The only thing I can think of is that she wanted to show the Brotherhood the value of gathering explosives to use as weapons because they refused to use it.