Whats the backstory of your New Vegas Courier?

I’ve made a couple of characters recently that had a more in depth backstory than I usually come up with for my characters, using fallout 2 as inspiration. Here’s one

Tommy “Neckties” was born on the mean streets of New Reno, the result of a one night stand between a naive Cat’s Paw hooker and a low ranking Salvatore enforcer. He suffered years of neglect and abuse (pretty standard for children of Reno) until he finally ran away from the dilapidated building he called home. He spent his teens making a name for himself in New Reno, running with gangs and doing odd jobs for the families, and developing a penchant for cheap women and expensive suits (not that he ever had to pay for either). As a young adult he began raiding caravans in the wastes surrounding Reno, earning a reputation for brutality.

Eventually he caught the attention of the remnant Salvatore family. Having been pushed out of New Reno years beforehand, the Salvatores were little more than glorified raiders at this point, similar to the Yakuza. Regardless, Tommy had worshipped these guys as a kid, and jumped at the chance to join their organization. His initiation involved capturing and executing a made man from one of the major families that still controlled New Reno. Tommy passed this test with flying colors, receiving a laser pistol and the nickname “Neckties” (both for his choice of attire and for his brutal execution methods). Over the years, Tommy began to realize that he didn’t see eye to eye with most of the other Salvatores. Tommy wished to reclaim the Salvatores former glory, even if it meant setting up shop in another city, but the other members seemed content with pretending that they were still a force to be reckoned with. Tommy eventually cut ties with the Salvatores and fled east, guarding caravans and even delivering packages from time to time. His time with the Salvatores taught him the importance of letting go, and never letting yourself get tied down, (a lesson he would eventually pass on to Veronica).

Hearing stories of a new city of sin on the frontier, Tommy set his sights on New Vegas, hoping to start up a gang and take the city for himself. As far as role playing goes, I had Tommy wear a pre war suit most of the time, eventually wearing Benny’s suit. Tried to get the laser rcw as soon as possible. Worked with Mr. House at first, then betrayed him. Helped out Omertas sabotage the Strip, turned the Kings against the NCR, worked with Van Graffs, wiped out Khans for revenge, wiped out brotherhood for their tech, and had sex with as many women as he could.

What's his tags and traits
 
What's his tags and traits
Fuck I can’t remember, I know he tagged energy weapons, then maybe barter and sneak? Or maybe survival? I don’t really remember at this point. I remember getting speech pretty high with him, so speech was probably tagged. As far as traits, I remember wanting to give him Hot-Blooded, but to be honest I hate most of the traits in New Vegas, so I probably just chose wild wasteland and left it at that.
 
My last courier was a mercenary from some fringe prospector community up north, probably Idaho or Oregon, whose home was wiped out by tribal raiders when he was in his early teens. He steadily drifted south, rarely encountering the NCR beyond small interactions at the fringes until he made his way to New Vegas and worked as a courier.

He was kind of a greedy "operator" sort of character who liked to shoot first and ask questions later and loathed tribals, with the exception of the ones in Zion who voluntarily took him in and sheltered him after a caravan job that way went awry. His fondest memories from that time in his life, besides leading the NCR and Enclave Remnant forces to victory in The Second Battle of Hoover Dam, were his extermination of the Great Khans and his escape from The Sierra Madre Casino.

His only regret was that he was unable to save Novac, the settlement which reminded him most of his childhood home, from being sacked by the forces of Caesar's Legion.

For my current game I haven't actually decided on a super detailed backstory, as I'm only 10 hours in, but I'm playing a low-combat high-speech character with extra skill in Science and Sneak thrown in there as well. I started the playthrough when the @Atomic Postman Van Buren PnP thread was still in it's early stages and was thinking it would be fun if my character had some kind of family roots there.

I was thinking that his father was a prospector from Colorado and his mother a Mormon who suffered from an unknown chronic ailment that often left him caring for her when his father was away in the wastes, and he would often pass the what downtime he had reading through what few books his family owned. He soon developed a knack for electronics which garnered the attention of his father, an abusive drunk and chem user, who began to take him out prospecting with him beginning at the age of 8.

During one of these trips his mother passed away, which resulted in him running away from home while still a young boy. He would gradually drift westwards by tagging along with various bands of merchants, and one small group of strange cult-like missionaries, until eventually finding himself in Vegas.

Not sure where the speech proficiency fits in there, though. Maybe he picked it up while traveling with merchant caravans, or maybe it just came naturally due to him not being particularly good in a fight.
 
My current courier is a girl from Vault 101. After saving DC, she took a train to Mojave.

Some years later, some checkered city boy of an asshole put a bullet on her head, make her lose all the skills and levels, as well as an idea of where her stock of items are.

Only a few perks telling what's she been through: Ant Sight, Superior Defender etc...
 
Just deleted my old save and started a new one:

Elak is a tribal from Idaho who grew up with his people in the Rocky Mountains where food was difficult to grow and winters were harsh. A true son of his tribe; he was raised as a hunter and warrior to follow a strict code of honor which eschews drunkenness, theft or banditry, and being true to one's word. He also carries another important cultural practice in his heart, the consumption of the bodies of his enemies after battle.

Exiled from his village so that they may preserve resources and survive a particularly harsh winter, he ventured south into Nevada alone and subsisted on selling pelts before finding work with The Mojave Express after a brief conversation with a traveling merchant who is fluent in his language.

He favors his machete in combat, though he is familiar enough with simple shotguns to feel comfortable using them. As a skilled hunter he also recognizes the value in sneaking up on one's prey and is skilled in the preparation of foods, healing items, and even poisons using ingredients which occur in the environment around him.
 
The closest I've got to a backstory was one female character I've had where I made her out to be the granddaughter of the Chosen One. Never mapped out whether it was from the whoopsie with Mrs. Bishop and her son had a daughter, or if it was a child The Chosen One had after settling down in Arroyo once he saved his village and was in his forties or something. Unless the Chosen One was like sixteen being forced to save the bloody world.

Beyond that, most of my characters kinda just follow the regular joe/jane archetype where they were npcs until Benny shot the bullet with the magical power of creating PCs. As much as New Vegas had for roleplaying characters, I've mostly just kept them minimal; surprisingly, now that I think of it.
 
My courier was a 19 year old freshmen in college living in Shady Sands with their parents and took an assignment from the Mojave Express to deliver a poker chip to some casino in New Vegas at the start of summer vacation. My courier grew up in Shady Sands with progressive parents and a good upbringing. They had a younger sister and were middle class citizens. The courier wanted to be a lawyer when they grew up, but also had a sense of adventure and wanderlust. They were a person with good karma, a hardworking citizen, law abiding, and going to school for an education most of their life. They are good natured, charismatic, empathetic, smart, and curious. Their strength isn't that great, but they are a pretty balanced person overall. (Special stats are all min. 5. I know, the pussy route of character building.) Their dad taught them how to handle and gun and themselves over all, and they were a part of the Wasteland Scouts when they were in middle and high school. They aren't that good at camping or cooking though. They are independent, though will defer to authority when faced with a hard decision, and easily flustered. They love technology and tinkering, and studied computer science in school. They are a pacifist usually, but will resort to violence in times of trouble.


They got out of school on a Friday, excited for their summer ahead of them and their 3 day trip to New Vegas, and started the journey to New Vegas. Saturday night they traveled through Goodsprings, stopped to get food at the saloon, then was walking to somebody's house to stay for the night (a bed and breakfast type of deal) and then was ambushed and taken to the cemetery and then shot in the head. They don't remember getting shot or Benny, just getting attacked and then their memory is blank until they woke up. Doc Mitchell wrote to the courier's parents about this. The courier decided that they would spend their summer vacation exploring the desert and get revenge on this guy for shooting them in the head. They never expected that at the end of it, they would of helped so many people, killed criminals and monsters, killed Caesar, and help the NCR annex the Mojave Wasteland. They return home at the end of the summer as a hero and a much better person.

P.S.: First post on this forum, though I've been reading through posts for a little while before.
 
Either a Shi who sides with House/Legion to weaken the NCR or a former desert ranger who fell out with the NCR after the ranger unification due to them leaving much of the territory unprotected and ironically ends up joining Legion.
 
An amnesiac that got to forget his haunting traumatic past, now born anew in the Mojave as a carefree (though mildly vengeful) socratic drifter that relies on the muscle memory of his former life as a merc to survive​
 
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Current one is a son of a female ex Follower of Apocalypse whom down on her luck tried out as a caravan merchant and a tribal father hailing from a tribe in the Yellow Stone National Park. My courier spent his first 14 years of his life with the tribe. His father died during the annual migration to the tribes winther camp. My couriers mother was so heartbroken due to the loss of her husband that she decided as soon as the snow cleared that she'd bring the courier back to the civilisation she had grown up in. My courier has both a civilized name and a tribal name so he simply goes by "The Courier" to counter his own identity crisis.
 
Daxton is a neutral karma mercenary who was native to a small town outside the Mojave, but has since immigrated west in search of more profitable employment. His father was a soldier, though no matter how much Daxton asked his dad would never tell him the army he served under.

His father was a harsh and often distant man, but not one without merit. He couldn't teach Daxton much in the way of farming or simple work, but he could (and did) give his son a long list of skills in various forms of combat. Guns, energy weapons, explosives, and the capabilities to maintain them.

Daxton is primarily motivated by self gain, applying his skills with intent to improve his lot in life, but he is not a malicious man most of the time. Acts of wanton or undeserved cruelty disgust him and he isn't opposed to sharing the wealth with those he deems deserving.

Experience in The Mojave have lead him to believe an independent Vegas would be better overall than the bloated democracy of the NCR or the iron boot of Caesar's Legion, leading him to side with House since he knows he is not the kind of man who could personally guide the region -- and with House as a benefactor, he knows he could lead the life he wants without getting bogged down in the rigors of leadership.
 
My courier is a boy who used to live in new reno but he leave because of all the corruption (Like that girl in the Honest Heart dlc)And he started exploring other places frist he started going to another places in california like vault city then he started going to another states like Utah colorado and the divide until he decided to come back to califronia, but before that he decide to earn some caps working in the mojave express and then the story of New vegas begins.
Edit:This was my last courier, i am replaying all the fallout series, so when i reach new vegas and create a new character, a i am going to talk about, the special, the stats, his story and personality
 
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New character time:

Anna grew up in a small family near the border to Idaho and Nevada. Her father was a trader who taught her how to talk to people. Her mother was a veteranarian-turned-doctor who tended to the humans and animals of her tiny trapping community and instilled in her children a deep sense of duty to protect life and right and wrong. Her best friend was her older sister, Alexandria who was a mere 11 months older than her and her spitting image. The two would often pose as the other and use one another's names when causing mischief, leading to humorous situations when they were marched back to their parent's home. As the two grew into adults Alexandria began to develop deep religious and spiritual beliefs, much to the discomfort of their mother and father. Not long after a particularly tense argument Alexandria vanished, leaving her mother and father stricken with worry and anxiety. In a moment of need they turned to their only remaining daughter and asked Anna to venture out into the desert and seek out her sister, and Anna obliged without needing to be asked.

She made her way south, working odd jobs before hearing of a woman using her name in The Mojave. She picked up a courier job by chance that would point her in that direction and immediately took it.
 
Paladin Peterson: The California chapters knew all too well that they were in deep shit. They had been reduced to an archipelago of isolated bunkers and chapters, fighting a guerilla war from beneath the mountains. They may have been a century or two ahead of NCR in terms of materiel, but the NCR had the insurmountable advantage of defense in depth and inexhaustable manpower. Increasingly, the High Elders were pursuing more and more outlandish avenues to salvage their on-again off-again war with NCR. Dealings with the scum of New Reno, wild goose chases in the Far East, increasingly deranged Wunder-Waffen projects.

The woes of the Mojave chapter, first under Elder Elijah and then under Elder McNamara, seemed but one of many chapters in the Brotherhood's inexorable chain of recent failures. When the Mojave Chapter went into lockdown, most in Lost Hills wrote them off as a lost cause. But the Circle of Steel saw an opportunity. The Mojave, the outer frontier of NCR, where their weaknesses shined brightest, faced with an existential threat. The Mojave, it seemed, was as good a fulchrum as any. All they needed was the lever.

Paladin Peterson came from an old and venerable line within the Brotherhood, his oldest ancestor having been one of Maxson's men at Mariposa, though like most venerable lines it had been diluted with its fair share of Wasteland recruitee blood. Paladin Peterson was a long-time field agent for the Circle, most recently having taken part in that harebrained scheme up in New Reno. His cover was always that of a Courier for some firm or another.

He was cunning, though not particularly ingenious. A deft hand with a power fist, but not the best shot. He was stealthy, whenever he wasn't jittering from afterburner gum or some other chem. But his greatest asset, the one that got him the job, was his skill for lockpicking. He was considered the greatest lock cracker in the Brotherhood, maybe the world. They joked the man could be declared medically braindead, and he'd still be able to crack an Old World safe with the taps of his feet.

His mission: Take a job, any job, that will get you to the Mojave. Get into the Hidden Valley Bunker by any means. Get them to end lockdown, re-secure Helios, have the Brotherhood out in force again as quickly as possible. Before the NCR can rally a response, find some way to get Caesar. Help him in any way to take down the NCR, up to the very last moment before it threatens the interest of the Brotherhood. Bring NCR and Legion to blows at the dam, weaken them both, and then have the Brotherhood emerge as a third party that wins the day.

Getting shot in the head before being thrown into a ditch wasn't part of his plan, but it turned out to be a very fortuitous turn in the end...
 
My courier is actually Abe Lincoln.
He invented a time machine, it malfunctioned and broke down causing him to get stuck in post-apocalyptic Reno.
After that Abe blew all he had on blackjack, hookers and booze and ended up owing a lot of money to the Bishops, so he got a job as a courier to get as far away from Reno as possible.
 
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