That sounds like one hell of a companion quest, I'm sufficiently excited.
Maybe after the the underground bunker is cleared, the Courier and Nicky can convert it into a player house. Sort of a base of operations? There could even be a terminal like in the Lucky 38 to upgrade the bunker for a few caps, clearing out the bodies it'll no doubt be filled with after you kill Carlo, cleaning it up, adding a bit of furniture, weapon storage, stuff like that.
Maybe after that quest there could be some kind of expansion of the Mordino Family into Vegas, (like the movie) Nicky starts his own branch and starts taking Vegas for everything it's worth. Maybe do a few robberies, shake down bookies, degenerate gamblers, and maybe even a shopkeeper or two.
Slightly off topic, but you should sticky that "spoiler alert" post that is below mine, so that way it is always on the top of the forum thread
I believe I have finalized my idea for the story: Nicky (VERY loosely based off of Nicky Santoro from "Casino") recently arrived at Gomorrah all the way from New Reno. Nicky was a captain in the Mordino family (from Fallout 2), and one of his soldiers (underlings) gave him and his whole crew up to another family that they were at war with (the Bishop family). Nicky managed to make it into hiding, but his whole crew was slaughtered by the Bishops. As he was leaving New Reno, he caught word from a connection of his that one of his soldiers, Carlo, had not been hit by the Bishops, and that Carlo was also fleeing town. Nicky had a gut feeling that Carlo was the one that ratted them out, so he followed a trail of bread crumbs (much like the Courier did with Benny) that led him all the way to New Vegas. By the time Nicky arrived in Freeside, he had spent all of the caps he was able to bring with him, so he worked as muscle for the Garret twins for a few weeks until he could afford a counterfeit passport to get onto the strip. Once on the strip, he visited the Gomorrah casino to talk to an old friend, Joe the Barber, and try to find out where Carlo was hiding. Before talking to Joe, however, Nicky meets the Courier on the Gomorrah casino floor. From there, after he is enlisted as a companion, Nicky asks the Courier to go with him to make a visit to Joe. Joe is an experienced hitman for the omertas, but an old childhood friend of Nicky's. When speaking to Joe, the Courier learns that Carlo had in fact recently visited the strip, and that he was staying in a penthouse suite upstairs in Gomorrah. Upon visiting the sweet, Nicky and the Courier find that it had recently been vacated, but there was a note on the bed. The note was written by Carlo, but addressed to a girl he had been with the previous night. Upon investigating the note, they learn that Carlo had hired some gangsters from Gomorrah as body guards because he suspected that Nicky was coming after him, (he afforded it because he was paid handsomely by the Bishops) and fled to a hidden bunker in the Ivanpah Dry Lake. Once Nicky and the Courier arrive outside of the bunker, Nicky initiates dialogue with the courier discussing the plan for Carlo's assassination. Here the Courier has many options: [(Explosives: 50) Place C4 on the hatch and cave in the bunker], , [(Speech: 70) Convince Nicky to go in and do it alone {Nicky dies/-500 karma}], [(Speech: 90) Convince Nicky to not kill Carlo {+300 karma}, [(No Requirements) Enter the bunker and kill Carlo and his guards] If you decide to enter the bunker, you will be confronted by Carlo and his well armed guards. After you kill all of them, Nicky will talk to you, thanking you for your help. At that point you will gain the "Made Man" perk: [Throughout your adventures together, Nicky has taught you to be a better gangster. Your karma is reset to 0 (neutral), and while Nicky is with you, you will have +10 speech, +10 guns, and idolized status on the strip.]
Nicky seems like the kind of guy (to me...) who wants to succeed in the Mob business. Like in the movie, i see him as being smarter than everybody, (or at least thinks he is) and he wants to be the boss of his own organization/branch. Maybe the first quest could be about the Courier helping Nicky take control of the Omertas (Or starting his own Mob Family), and any quests after that would be about helping Nicky, take control of The Strip. (The main front for Nicky's mob could be the Lucky 38 casino, assuming you don't help Nicky take over the Omertas)
There could even be an alternate ending for House, NCR, or Legion players where Nicky fears that the Courier is going to betray him by letting a faction that would jeopardize his power over The Strip take control, and than Nicky maybe tries to kill the courier, The Courier could... A. (Speech challenge) Persuade Nicky to be an uneasy ally. (Nicky will still follow you, but wont trust you, and will insult you significantly more.) +Perk "Uneasy Alliance" while he is following you. B. The Courier kills Nicky, and any still loyal to him. +Permanent Perk "____" (Cant think of a name) C. (Alternate option for B.) The Courier kills Nicky and takes control of his empire. +The same Permanent perk for B. Plus the added option to call in mob backup. (Like the NCR Radio)
Yes Man, players don't have to fear retaliation since Yes Man leaves The Strip management up to you. Nicky is pleased, and makes you a Made Man as seen below. (I'll let you come up with all the Perks' effects.)
Edit: it would probably just be easier to just leave the Omertas alone since there are too many quests associated with them.
That's... that's beautiful. Complicated but fucking brilliant. When it begins, maybe you have to help him go recruit a bunch of guys for his crew (from Gommorah, the Tops, Freeside), and then all of the crew members go to a special safehouse on the strip where they plot their takeover. Then you do special quests to help them prepare... or something...
Yeah that sounds awesome, and add it up with cccddd123's revenge idea it would make for a real good series of quests. Heres a ROUGH back story for Nicky, feel free to modify it, or completely ignore it.
Nicky could have lived in New Reno all his life, as a street orphan. He was taken in when he was young by a group of thugs who weren't as established as the other four families, but were used alot by one of those four families (You pick which one) as muscle. There could be some kind of rivalry/hatred between Nicky and the antagonist that would eventually escalate into the antagonist pinning ________ on Nicky and his crew, that would cause the ____ Family to kill off most (if not all) Nicky's crew. In order to join The ____ Family the antagonist character must hunt down Nicky and kill him... Nicky barely makes it out of New Reno alive, and immediately starts work as muscle for the Garret Twins at the Atomic Wrangler until he gets enough caps to get on the strip. He spends a few days gambling at Gomorrah until he runs into the Courier. After hearing about the Courier's travels on the radio, Nicky knows he can use the Courier to his advantage. Meanwhile the antagonist enters the Mojave...
Hey people! I only uploaded this about 8 hours ago, and I'm already receiving many positive responses, so I want to work on creating a good quest for him. Here I want you guys to submit ideas, and even try and help me figure out the technical stuff!
I'm not really an expert in the mobster culture so my idea may seem basic. First of all a little lore-friendly background that ties with the quest i'm thinking:
---Spoilers---
The Strip casinos are not exactly gangsters by nature, more like rehabilitated tribals if my memory is correct. I'm thinking in this: Nicky's part of ______ family in New Reno. (if you don't know what i'm talking about, in Fallout 2 there's a city named New Reno where the player can work for different mafia leaders and eventually become part of it [the families are: Bishop / Mordino / Salvatore /Wright.])
When _____ happened (i'll leave that open) he moved to the Mojave desert chasing an old enemy. Eventually he made his way in The Strip since..well, where else would you put a mobster? goodsprings? lol. anyway, for the quest:
I'm thinking in an old-fashioned mafia revenge quest, where the player aids Nicky to bring his enemy down. I'm not really good with names but this enemy should be another gangster who works in The Tops or hides in _____. I'd recommend you to make the quest with alternative endings, for both roleplaying purposes and to, you know, spice it up instead of go there kill this you're done. What is mean is, example: Convince Nicky to not kill him and find a peaceful solution (Speech); Put a bomb in his room and blow him up (Explosives); well..kill him straight (Guns); strip him from all he has and relase him in the middle of nowhere so he dies somewhere (Survival); Spread the word within the NCR he's a legion spy and let them handle him (Speech) (Science), Etc.
These are just random ideas i'm thowing at 3am, so you know.
Well, one more thing: Usually when you complete a companion quest, they actually give you a perk as long as they're in the party. I'm thinking Nicky's perk should be Made Man. (See Fallout 2 perk Made Man for references/perk icon/etc.) The effect? Well it could do with some further tweaking if it's technically hard to make but:
Made Man: You've learned from Nicky how to be and act like a true gangster. Everyone in Freeside and The Strip respects you more.
(+1 level reputation in Freeside/The Strip) (You can "convince" certain characters in those areas to "pay for protection" every week.) (New dialogue options open with certain persons) *Similary to "terryfing prescence" i'm thinking this could be quite useful for advancing in certain quests that you don't meet the reqs / are too pacifist or weak or fail a skill check irreversible or so) for example convincing croupiers to give you some gambling attempts "on the house"; making Benny kill himself; convincing the ultralux to let you "Join" anyway, or to convince casino bouncers to let you pass with your weapons.
Anyway like i said this is just me babbling at 3 am, if any of my ideas seem useful use them. Bye!
Yes! I remembered becoming a made man in FO2, and it was amazing! This makes sense, so he comes from New Reno looking for someone who ratted out his crew to the local authorities. The Courier and Nicky go on a hunt to find the guy... yada yada yada. You can whack him in a variety of different ways (including turning on Nicky or convincing him to let him go), then you get the Made Man perk. I'm thinking: [-1000 karma, Strip - Idolized, Freeside - Idolized]. Maybe if you turn on Nicky you get a different perk: [+1000 karma, +2 CH]. I don't think I could get the protection system to work, but I may be able to work out not having weapon checks at casinos.
Well maybe some karma gain or loss, but i think +1000 or -1000 is not really balanced. You could just say "hey why do i bother playing like a good guy or bad guy if i can just do this quest and be karma max?" anyway. I'm not really a modder but the protection system could be just simple new added npcs (voiced or not) with a 7-days check and the caps you get can be fixed or random 700-1200 with luck dependency.
I like those ideas, but i do think that the karma drop is a little high. If i were to incorporate the karma drop i would make it anywhere from -750, to -500 so that way most good players would drop down to at least neutral. It just makes more sense (imo) as far as game leveling goes.
QUEST IDEAS (16 comments)
Maybe after the the underground bunker is cleared, the Courier and Nicky can convert it into a player house. Sort of a base of operations? There could even be a terminal like in the Lucky 38 to upgrade the bunker for a few caps, clearing out the bodies it'll no doubt be filled with after you kill Carlo, cleaning it up, adding a bit of furniture, weapon storage, stuff like that.
Maybe after that quest there could be some kind of expansion of the Mordino Family into Vegas, (like the movie) Nicky starts his own branch and starts taking Vegas for everything it's worth. Maybe do a few robberies, shake down bookies, degenerate gamblers, and maybe even a shopkeeper or two.
Slightly off topic, but you should sticky that "spoiler alert" post that is below mine, so that way it is always on the top of the forum thread
Nicky (VERY loosely based off of Nicky Santoro from "Casino") recently arrived at Gomorrah all the way from New Reno. Nicky was a captain in the Mordino family (from Fallout 2), and one of his soldiers (underlings) gave him and his whole crew up to another family that they were at war with (the Bishop family). Nicky managed to make it into hiding, but his whole crew was slaughtered by the Bishops. As he was leaving New Reno, he caught word from a connection of his that one of his soldiers, Carlo, had not been hit by the Bishops, and that Carlo was also fleeing town. Nicky had a gut feeling that Carlo was the one that ratted them out, so he followed a trail of bread crumbs (much like the Courier did with Benny) that led him all the way to New Vegas. By the time Nicky arrived in Freeside, he had spent all of the caps he was able to bring with him, so he worked as muscle for the Garret twins for a few weeks until he could afford a counterfeit passport to get onto the strip. Once on the strip, he visited the Gomorrah casino to talk to an old friend, Joe the Barber, and try to find out where Carlo was hiding. Before talking to Joe, however, Nicky meets the Courier on the Gomorrah casino floor. From there, after he is enlisted as a companion, Nicky asks the Courier to go with him to make a visit to Joe. Joe is an experienced hitman for the omertas, but an old childhood friend of Nicky's. When speaking to Joe, the Courier learns that Carlo had in fact recently visited the strip, and that he was staying in a penthouse suite upstairs in Gomorrah. Upon visiting the sweet, Nicky and the Courier find that it had recently been vacated, but there was a note on the bed. The note was written by Carlo, but addressed to a girl he had been with the previous night. Upon investigating the note, they learn that Carlo had hired some gangsters from Gomorrah as body guards because he suspected that Nicky was coming after him, (he afforded it because he was paid handsomely by the Bishops) and fled to a hidden bunker in the Ivanpah Dry Lake. Once Nicky and the Courier arrive outside of the bunker, Nicky initiates dialogue with the courier discussing the plan for Carlo's assassination. Here the Courier has many options: [(Explosives: 50) Place C4 on the hatch and cave in the bunker], , [(Speech: 70) Convince Nicky to go in and do it alone {Nicky dies/-500 karma}], [(Speech: 90) Convince Nicky to not kill Carlo {+300 karma}, [(No Requirements) Enter the bunker and kill Carlo and his guards] If you decide to enter the bunker, you will be confronted by Carlo and his well armed guards. After you kill all of them, Nicky will talk to you, thanking you for your help. At that point you will gain the "Made Man" perk: [Throughout your adventures together, Nicky has taught you to be a better gangster. Your karma is reset to 0 (neutral), and while Nicky is with you, you will have +10 speech, +10 guns, and idolized status on the strip.]
Maybe the first quest could be about the Courier helping Nicky take control of the Omertas (Or starting his own Mob Family), and any quests after that would be about helping Nicky, take control of The Strip. (The main front for Nicky's mob could be the Lucky 38 casino, assuming you don't help Nicky take over the Omertas)
There could even be an alternate ending for House, NCR, or Legion players where Nicky fears that the Courier is going to betray him by letting a faction that would jeopardize his power over The Strip take control, and than Nicky maybe tries to kill the courier, The Courier could...
A. (Speech challenge) Persuade Nicky to be an uneasy ally. (Nicky will still follow you, but wont trust you, and will insult you significantly more.)
+Perk "Uneasy Alliance" while he is following you.
B. The Courier kills Nicky, and any still loyal to him.
+Permanent Perk "____" (Cant think of a name)
C. (Alternate option for B.) The Courier kills Nicky and takes control of his empire.
+The same Permanent perk for B. Plus the added option to call in mob backup. (Like the NCR Radio)
Yes Man, players don't have to fear retaliation since Yes Man leaves The Strip management up to you. Nicky is pleased, and makes you a Made Man as seen below.
(I'll let you come up with all the Perks' effects.)
Edit: it would probably just be easier to just leave the Omertas alone since there are too many quests associated with them.
Nicky could have lived in New Reno all his life, as a street orphan. He was taken in when he was young by a group of thugs who weren't as established as the other four families, but were used alot by one of those four families (You pick which one) as muscle. There could be some kind of rivalry/hatred between Nicky and the antagonist that would eventually escalate into the antagonist pinning ________ on Nicky and his crew, that would cause the ____ Family to kill off most (if not all) Nicky's crew. In order to join The ____ Family the antagonist character must hunt down Nicky and kill him...
Nicky barely makes it out of New Reno alive, and immediately starts work as muscle for the Garret Twins at the Atomic Wrangler until he gets enough caps to get on the strip.
He spends a few days gambling at Gomorrah until he runs into the Courier. After hearing about the Courier's travels on the radio, Nicky knows he can use the Courier to his advantage.
Meanwhile the antagonist enters the Mojave...
---Spoilers---
The Strip casinos are not exactly gangsters by nature, more like rehabilitated tribals if my memory is correct. I'm thinking in this: Nicky's part of ______ family in New Reno. (if you don't know what i'm talking about, in Fallout 2 there's a city named New Reno where the player can work for different mafia leaders and eventually become part of it [the families are: Bishop / Mordino / Salvatore /Wright.])
When _____ happened (i'll leave that open) he moved to the Mojave desert chasing an old enemy. Eventually he made his way in The Strip since..well, where else would you put a mobster? goodsprings? lol. anyway, for the quest:
I'm thinking in an old-fashioned mafia revenge quest, where the player aids Nicky to bring his enemy down. I'm not really good with names but this enemy should be another gangster who works in The Tops or hides in _____. I'd recommend you to make the quest with alternative endings, for both roleplaying purposes and to, you know, spice it up instead of go there kill this you're done. What is mean is, example: Convince Nicky to not kill him and find a peaceful solution (Speech); Put a bomb in his room and blow him up (Explosives); well..kill him straight (Guns); strip him from all he has and relase him in the middle of nowhere so he dies somewhere (Survival); Spread the word within the NCR he's a legion spy and let them handle him (Speech) (Science), Etc.
These are just random ideas i'm thowing at 3am, so you know.
Well, one more thing: Usually when you complete a companion quest, they actually give you a perk as long as they're in the party. I'm thinking Nicky's perk should be Made Man. (See Fallout 2 perk Made Man for references/perk icon/etc.) The effect? Well it could do with some further tweaking if it's technically hard to make but:
Made Man: You've learned from Nicky how to be and act like a true gangster. Everyone in Freeside and The Strip respects you more.
(+1 level reputation in Freeside/The Strip) (You can "convince" certain characters in those areas to "pay for protection" every week.) (New dialogue options open with certain persons) *Similary to "terryfing prescence" i'm thinking this could be quite useful for advancing in certain quests that you don't meet the reqs / are too pacifist or weak or fail a skill check irreversible or so) for example convincing croupiers to give you some gambling attempts "on the house"; making Benny kill himself; convincing the ultralux to let you "Join" anyway, or to convince casino bouncers to let you pass with your weapons.
Anyway like i said this is just me babbling at 3 am, if any of my ideas seem useful use them. Bye!