Van Buren random encounters

Random encounters in Van Buren are comprised of encounters with various wasteland critters, factions and occasional unique occurrences. The player character can stand by and watch, flee or intervene with sometimes significant consequences. 
==Random encounters by location==
===Blackfoot/Hangdog Villages===
Title 	Location/Requirements 	Details 	Frequency/Limit
Blackfoot raiders 	Areas frequented by Blackfoot tribals outside of the village 	4-6 Blackfoot tribals equipped with armor/weapons scaled to current tech level, but not fit for bringing slaves back. If the Prisoner is allied with them he can trade with them, if not, they are hostile. 	Medium. Unless the Blackfoot have been wiped out.
Blackfoot slavers 	Areas patrolled by Blackfoot tribals outside of the village 	6-8 Blackfoot tribals equipped with armor/weapons scaled to current tech level. Geared primarily to bring back those who would be easy to enslave. They may also be found looting. If the Prisoner is allied with them he can trade with them, if not, they are hostile. 	Medium. Unless the Blackfoot have been wiped out.
Feral dog pack 	Reasonable Luck and Outdoorsman while travelling the hills around the village	X dogs, one mean, X puppies. One of the many caves used by the feral dogs that live in these hills. The dogs guard their territory, growling and snarling if at those who come close, and will attack if they get too close to their cave entrance and especially their pups. 	Low
Hangdog raiders 	Areas frequented by Hangdog tribals outside of the village 	4-6 Hangdog raiders searching for caravans to loot. They are equipped with armor/weapons scaled to current tech level, but not fit for bringing slaves back. If the Prisoner is allied with them he can trade with them, if they are just allied with the Blackfoot they are non-hostile but not exactly friendly. Otherwise they are hostile. 	Medium. Unless the Blackfoot have been wiped out.
Hangdog slavers 	Areas patrolled by Hangdog tribals outside of the village 	6-8 Hangdog slavers each accompanied by a dog and equipped with armor/weapons scaled to current tech level. Geared primarily to bring back those who would be easy to enslave. They may also be found looting. If the Prisoner is allied with them he can trade with them, if they are just allied with the Blackfoot they are non-hostile but not exactly friendly. Otherwise they are hostile. 	Medium. Unless the Blackfoot have been wiped out.
Pack of feral dogs	Open areas around the village 	X dogs, X mean dogs, X hungry dogs. A pack of dogs hunting for food 	Medium
Small brahmin herd	The areas around the village 	A small herd of brahmin, which may or may not be under the eyes of a young Blackfoot herder. A small group of 3-10 brahmin, grazing, with a 60% chance of a child tribal (male or female). If attacked, the brahmin stampede. If the child is attacked, it runs away and tells the people back home about the mean person. If befriended, the kid can tell the Prisoner a bit about the Blackfoots. The higher the level of the player character the more brahmin there are.	Medium. Unless the Blackfoot have been wiped out.
Swarm of mantis 	Any appropriate terrain outside of the village 	5-12 hungry mantises 	Medium, but only appear as an encounter type after the Prisoner kills off the giant mutant bats living in the Blackfoot caves;Blackfoot Tribe design document/4 - Kill the Mutant Giant Bats otherwise their numbers are too low for them to need to swarm, and thus are never seen.
* If the tribes are wiped out encounters with tribal raiders and slavers are replaced with occasional normal raider/slaver activity.Blackfoot Tribe design document/3 - Random Encounters Surrounding the Area
===Bloomfield Space Center===
Title 	Location/Requirements 	Details 	Frequency/Limit
B.O.M.B.-001 EPB (Escape Pod Beta)	Passing through the Bloomfield area 	This encounter will drop the Prisoner into a small desert field with an escape pod from the B.O.M.B.-001. It looks as if the escape pod had a rough landing because of the impact slide and crater. There is a lot of debris from the pod lying around, but the pod is still pretty much intact, and the markings B.O.M.B.-001-EPB is still clearly written on its side. A bit more investigation will reveal robot treads around the area, but there is no robot to be found. All onboard electronics are not functioning, but there are a few medical supplies. 	Unique encounter
Hag snakes major encounter 	Bloomfield maps containing water 	This has a larger body of water coming from a cave. A few hag snakes are meandering around the cave opening. If the Prisoner ventures into the cave, he will find a small nest of hag snakes with incapacitated hosts lying about. Some of the host are still alive, but in some sort of coma, while others are hollowed out husks. There are about a dozen hag snakes going about in the cave, with one really big one (about 14 feet) nestled at the far end. There seems to be more bodies around this hag snake than the others. 	Uncommon
Hag snakes minor encounter 	Bloomfield maps containing water 	A small nest of 4-6 hag snakes, up to level 3,Bloomfield Space Center design document/3 - Monster Roster - Hag Snakes are mucking around a nearly dried up stream. They will seek to attack the Prisoner at first sight, unless he is already impregnated with a hag snake egg, in which case they will ignore him. 	Common
Rusty Hooks and hag snakes 	Wandering the areas with water around Bloomfield Space Center	Here the Prisoner will drop in on a firefight between the Rusty Hooks and some hag snakes. If the Prisoner helps the Rusty Hooks defeat the hag snakes, his reputation with the Rusty Hooks is raised by one point. If the Prisoner fights the Rusty Hooks, his reputation with the Rusty Hooks goes down by one point. Just watching the show leaves reputation unaffected. 	?
Rusty Hooks patrol 	Wandering the areas around Bloomfield Space Center 	A few of the Rusty Hooks are out on patrol in the area. When they come across the Prisoner they will say that it is advisable that he clear out and find somewhere else to snoop around. The Prisoner can try his Speech skill on the speaker to try and find out about the area, tell them he has some good loot to trade (depending on the Speech skill will decide if the Rusty Hooks will try and mug the Prisoner), or shoot them in the face. Fighting these guys lowers the Prisoner's reputation with the Rusty Hooks by a point or two. 	Common
Rusty Hooks showdown 	Wandering the areas around Bloomfield Space Center 	Here the Prisoner will drop in on a firefight between the Rusty Hooks and a rival band of raiders. If the Prisoner helps the Rusty Hooks defeat the invading raiders, his reputation with the Rusty Hooks is raised by one point. If the Prisoner fights the Rusty Hooks, his reputation with the Rusty Hooks goes down by one point. Just watching the show leaves reputation unaffected. 	?
S.O.R. -1000 Gamma 	Somewhere in the vicinity of Bloomfield Space Center 	This is the former occupant from the Escape Pod Beta encounter. This robot is S.O.R.-1000 Gamma from the B.O.M.B.-001. When the Prisoner arrives in this run down rocky area, the S.O.R.-1000 Gamma (its designation) is treading along erratically, making beeps and whirr sounds. Every once in a while, it will blurt out, "No one is left, need new program parameters." If the Prisoner approaches the little robot, it will wig out and attack, saying, "Intruder alert! Sterilize intruders!" Killing this little fellow and searching him will garner a holo-disk giving a bit of information about the B.O.M.B.-001 and its function.	Unique encounter
===Boulder===
Title 	Location/Requirements 	Details 	Frequency/Limit
Battle site 	Passing through 	The site of a fight, spent shells and other evidence, but no bodies. 	Passing encounter
Deserters 	Being in and around Boulder 	Larsen with some of his deserter pals 	Rare encounter. Or until Defeat the Baggers/Larsen's Team.Boulder design document/4 - Defeat the Baggers/Larsen's Team
Glowing ghoul 	North side of town 	A single glowing ghoul 	Rare encounter. Maybe once a month.Boulder design document/5 - General Scripting
Jackal blockade	On the road to Denver from Boulder	The Jackals set up a road block to ambush travellers 	Common
Jackal scout 	Being in the area around Boulder 	A single Jackal scout spots you and runs away. He comes back with another Jackal, another turns up, then a gang shows up.	Common
===Burham Springs===
Title 	Location/Requirements 	Details 	Frequency/Limit
Electro-beetles 	The area around Burhamm Springs 	An average, everyday encounter with a group of hostile electro-beetles. With a good Outdoorsman skill the Prisoner will be able to avoid the encounter entirely or set up favorable conditions. 	Up to 4 encounters
Geckos 	The area around Burhamm Springs 	An average, everyday encounter with a group of hostile geckos. With a good Outdoorsman skill the Prisoner will be able to avoid the encounter entirely or set up favorable conditions. 	Up to 5 encounters
NCR/Powder Ganger standoff	Powder Gang hideout near Burham Springs	Somewhere in the wilderness of Utah, members of the 5th Engineering Company spotted power gang members prowling for caravans. They followed the group to this ramshackle gang hideout, where a shootout began. By the time the Prisoner arrives, they are having a standoff. Dead brahmin, rangers, dogs, gangers, and overturned carts are everywhere. The powder gangers are up against a cliff wall and the NCR soldiers are trying, in vain, to flank them. Unfortunately, since this actually is a gang hideout, traps are everywhere and snipers are just waiting to pop brave NCR heroes. The Prisoner can talk to the powder gang, sneak around and disarm the majority of the traps, fix a bunch of damaged NCR 9mm submachineguns (the guy carrying them was blown up by a mine), or storm in and kill the gangers. If the Prisoner wants to support the gangers, he can rally the Powder Gangers to attack the soldiers, sneak up to the NCR munitions wagon and blow it up (causing huge damage to the soldiers), volunteer to heal up the gangers, or just attack the soldiers outright.	Unique encounter
New Canaanites 	Passing through 	A group of New Canaanite merchant-missionaries. There are only four of them: one man, one woman, and two children. They are walking with two brahmin. They are friendly folks, and are willing to trade with people who don't have a horrible reputation. The Prisoner can trade with them, escort them to their destination (randomly chosen between Hoover Dam, Fort Abandon, and the Ciphers) for Karma. Bullying them into turning over all of their goods, or outright murdering them entails a big Karma loss. 	Unique encounter
Radscorpions 	The area around Burhamm Springs 	An average, everyday encounter with a group of hostile radscorpions. With a good Outdoorsman skill the Prisoner will be able to avoid the encounter entirely or set up favorable conditions. 	Up to 5 encounters
===B.O.M.B.-001===
There are no random encounters for this location.B.O.M.B.-001 design document/2 - Random Encounters Surrounding the Area
===Denver===
Title 	Location/Requirements 	Details 	Frequency/Limit
Cockroach clutch 	Being in and around Denver at night 	A group of giant cockroaches scavenging for food. Will hone in on and eat dropped food items and fallen enemies. 	Common
Feral dog pack 	Being in and around Denver, higher chance in the morning and evening	Random amount of feral dogs 	Common until Kill All the Dogs is completed, upon which there are no encounters in the city but the rate of encounters increases in the areas surrounding Denver.Denver design document/5 - Wacky scripting
Floating eyebots 	After activating The Box, found anywhere within Denver 	Patrolling eyebots, hostile on sight 	Common
Glowing ghouls 	Possible encounter on the north side of Denver 	Poor souls who wandered until they reached Denver, pretty weak. 	Unique encounter
Lizards 	On high structures in Denver 	Slow moving climbing lizards found on second and higher stories of buildings. Will not attack unless attacked and irradiate anything near them. 	Up to 20 encounters
Mixed dog pack 	Being in and around Denver, higher chance in the morning and evening	Random amount of feral dogs, including police dogs 	Common until Kill All the Dogs is completed, upon which there are no encounters in the city but the rate of encounters increases in the areas surrounding Denver.
Police dog pack 	Being in and around Denver, higher chance in the morning and evening	Small pack of police dogs 	Up to 4 encounters
Radscorpions 	Being on the edge of town day or night 	A small pack of radscorpions 	Common
Robots vs. Salvagers	After activating the Box, wherever the two meet 	A group of Salvagers try to defeat the robots, but without help will fail. Some will be imprisoned, others flee into hills and never return.Denver design document/5 - Respawning	?
* Raiders, caravans and any other human contact, besides the Salvagers, was ruled out for random encounters in this area.Denver design document/3 - Random Encounters Surrounding The Area
===Hoover Dam===
Title 	Location/Requirements 	Details 	Frequency/Limit
3-Some Caravaners 	Passing through 	All are armored and carry at least a decent firearm of some sort. At first glance, these caravaners could be mistaken for raiders. If asked, they will say because of the frequent attacks by Brotherhood of Steel, they must be heavily armed and always ready for battle. If the Prisoner wants to trade with them, and he is on neutral to good terms with the 3-Some Caravan, then they will be happy to trade. If the Prisoner established a hostile reputation with the 3-Some Caravan, then the escorts and caravaners will attack on sight.	?
Albino beasty wars 	Areas around Hoover Dam at night 	The Prisoner comes across albino rats and albino ants going at each other. They will not attack the Prisoner's party unless someone in the party is closer than another enemy. Once one side or the other has been vanquished, the winning side will attack the Prisoner's party. 	Common
Cockroach minor encounter 	The areas around Hoover Dam 	A small nest of 4-6 giant cockroaches mucking around in search of food. Instantly hostile. 	Common
Crimson Caravaners 	Passing through 	Aside from the well armed escorts, the caravaners from the Crimson Caravan Company look fairly unassuming. Groups consist of three or four normally attired carvaners carrying small firearms, and two to four heavily armed escorts. If the Prisoner wants to trade with them, and he is on neutral to good terms with the Crimson Caravan, then they will be happy to trade. If the Prisoner established a hostile reputation with the Crimson Caravan, then the escorts and caravaners will attack on sight. 	?
Endless Walker 	Wandering the wastes surrounding Hoover Dam	Not all endless walkers end up scorpion food, at least not at first. On those rare occasions when one survives more than one year in the wasteland, they turn into wandering, voracious creatures on an endless quest for flesh. Though encounters with endless walkers in these parts are rare, when someone does encounter them, they are assured to never forget the encounter, if they survive. 	Very rare
Giant albino ants 	Areas around Hoover Dam at night 	They are the same as the albino ants that lurk in the Skum Pitts, they have a toxic bite and travel by night in groups of 2-5. Instantly hostile. 	Common
Giant albino rats 	Areas around Hoover Dam at night 	They are the same as the albino rats that lurk in the Skum Pitts, they have a toxic bite, but only half as toxic as the albino ants, and travel by night in groups of 2-5. Instantly hostile. 	Common
NCR patrol 	NCR patrol routes around Hoover Dam 	These are the troops that accompanied Governor Dodge to Hoover Dam. They are under the direct command of Major Fleming. The NCR troops are armed with high powered rifles, grenades, and combat armor. They usually travel in squads of four to six and will not attack the Prisoner unless his Hoover Dam reputation is below neutral. 	Common
Radscorpion minor encounter	The areas around Hoover Dam 	A small nest of 4-6 radscorpions mucking around in search of food. Instantly hostile. 	Common
===Mesa Verde===
Title 	Location/Requirements 	Details 	Frequency/Limit
Cipher nomads 	Entering or exiting Mesa Verde 	8-12 Cipher nomads either on their way out or heading in to Mesa Verde. Usually 75% of them will be adults, with the remainder being teens or younger. 	Up to 3 encounters
Desert stalkers vs. Ciphers	One of the areas around Mesa Verde 	A small band of Ciphers battling several desert stalkers. 	Encountered once
Hunting radscorpions 	Areas surround Mesa Verde during the night	The Prisoner runs into a pack of hungry, hunting radscorpions. 	Common
Radscorpion pack 	Areas surround Mesa Verde during daytime 	The Prisoner inadvertently wanders into a pack of hidden radscorpions that buried themselves underground to hide from the desert sun. 	Common
Viper patrol 	The area around Mesa Verde 	5-6 Vipers scouting the area around Mesa Verde. They'll be wary of the Prisoner, unless he has been assigned a Personal Number and is using a Cipher texture, in which case they will attack.	Up to 5 encounters, or until the Vipers or their main camp is destroyed.Mesa Verde design document/2 - Deal with the Vipers
Vipers vs. Ciphers 	One of the areas around Mesa Verde 	A skirmish between a Viper patrol and a band of Ciphers. 	Up to 2 encounters
Wolves and corpses 	Passing through 	The aftermath of a Viper/Cipher battle. There are several corpses being chewed on by ravenous wolves. 	Up to 4 encounters
===New Canaan===
Title 	Location/Requirements 	Details 	Frequency/Limit
Lost Enclave patrol	Luck 8, Outdoorsman 100+ 	Six Enclavers humorously lost in northern Utah. One wears a suit of Enclave combat armor similar to Arcade Gannon's. The others wear bits and pieces of leather armor or metal armor. They are carrying mixed and matched weapons and a lot of broken tech. The leader (in combat armor) will approach the Prisoner and ask him if he knows the way to the MacArthur Army Base. If the Prisoner is at all hostile or "weird" to the Enclavers, they will become defensive and will fight back. If the Prisoner is helpful, the Enclaver will give him some "junk" (broken down weapon parts), and head out.	Unique encounter
Powder Gangers 	Areas near New Canaan 	5-10 Powder Gangers, 1:3 thugs, others are gunners. In groups of 9-10, there will be one equivalent of a 215 Sniper. One of the men is a gunner leader who can be talked with. Successful Barter (Moderate), Deception (Moderate), or Persuasion (Hard) can be used to prevent the group from attacking. Medical aid can be offered in lieu of goods, as can Mechanical aid (fixing weapons and armor). 	Up to 4 encounters
Van Graff caravan 	Passing through the New Canaan area	Eight bad kids from the Van Graff trading family. The Van Graffs are willing to trade some of their weapons, ammunition, and drugs for almost anything. If the Prisoner is wanted by NCR, they will not hesitate to ambush him with everything at their disposal. Obviously, they don't care about NCR, but they would like the bounty. Barter (Easy) can be used to talk them out of an attack in exchange for goods, Deception (Very Hard) can be used to trick them into thinking the Prisoner is more powerful than he appears. 	Up to 3 encounters
===Reservation===
Title 	Location/Requirements 	Details 	Frequency/Limit
Cockroach minor encounter 	The areas around the Reservation 	A small nest of 4-6 giant cockroaches mucking around in search of food. Instantly hostile. 	Common
Endless Walker 	Wandering the wastes surrounding the Reservation	Not all endless walkers end up scorpion food, at least not at first. On those rare occasions when one survives more than one year in the wasteland, they turn into wandering, voracious creatures on an endless quest for flesh. Though encounters with endless walkers in these parts are rare, when someone does encounter them, they are assured to never forget the encounter, if they survive. 	Rare
Radscorpion minor encounter	The areas around the Reservation 	A small nest of 4-6 radscorpions mucking around in search of food. Instantly hostile. 	Common
Scaven-Pickers 	The areas around the Reservation 	A group of Scaven Pickers are rummaging around the husk(s) of some pickup trucks. Once they see the Prisoner and his posse, they will approach and float gibberish, expecting a coherent response. If the Prisoner is not able to understand what they say, the Scaven Pickers will attack. However, if the Prisoner does understand, then there is a possibility for trade. Sometimes they have good stuff, sometimes they don't. 	Common. Unless Eliminate the Scaven-picker pests has been comleted.Reservation design document/4 - Eliminate the Scaven-picker pests
Scaven-Picker camp 	Random map around the Reservation 	Scaven Pickers are nomads. Since they are always wandering around looking for things to loot, they never stay in the same place for longer than a couple days. However, they also never venture more than a day or two's walk from the Reservation. The Scaven Picker's camps are composed of makeshift tents that look like they were sown together with every piece of material known and unknown. The tents are small, but it looks like several Scaven Pickers cram into each tent until there is barely enough room to breathe. The camps are some fifteen to twenty strong, and Klik always seems to be there should the Prisoner find the camp (that is, if the Prisoner had not killed her). Trade is possible if the Prisoner knows the gibberish language, but if not, then the Scaven Pickers will go wild and attack thinking he's an intruder wanting to steal their junk.	Rare. Unless the Prisoner is doing a quest for Klik, in which case the encounter will occur right after completion in one of the nearby areas. Or unless Eliminate the Scaven-picker pests has been comleted.
Slaver caravan 	Travelling towards or from the Reservation 	These slavers are well equipped with assault rifles and environmental suits received through trade with the ghouls at the Reservation. They will not attack the Prisoner on sight, but they will issue a warning not to interfere. If the Prisoner heeds that warning, all is good and everyone goes about their business. However, if the Prisoner decides to play hero and wins the battle, there are a couple of short and long term repercussions.
First off, if the slavers were going to the Reservation with fresh slaves, then obviously those slaves won't arrive and the places where those slaves are needed will be short handed. Eventually, those slaves will die of overwork (except for Fred – he's a tough freak), and the ghouls will have to do their own dirty work until another slaver caravan comes several months away. In addition, since Horatio expects regular shipments of slaves and tries to keep to a schedule, he will get suspicious that the Prisoner had something to do with the "late" caravan, especially if it happens more than once. 
The second repercussion is that freeing the slaves in the middle of a radioactive wasteland is not such a good deal. The slavers provided Rad-X for the slaves so they would not drop from radiation over the long trek. If the Prisoner kills the slavers and does not give the Rad-X to the slaves, they will eventually die a slow, horrible death. However, if the Prisoner does give the Rad-X to the slaves, they have a chance at survival. If the latter is true, the Priosner will eventually run into the freed slaves and find that they have been adopted by the Scaven Pickers. The Prisoner would even begin to see the early effects of frequent Rad-X use by the freed slaves – gibberish will start to become natural to them and they will act far more abrupt and paranoid.	Common
==Notes==
Maxson bunker, Nursery, Ouroboros and Twin Mothers Village all have unspecified or unfinished random encounter sections. Instead each are immediately preceded by the "Monster Roster" for the respective area.Maxson bunker design document/2 - Monster Roster - Random EncountersNursery design document/2 - Monster Roster - Random EncountersOuroboros design document/2 - Monster Roster - Random EncountersTwin Mothers design document/2 - Monster Roster - Random Encounters
==References==
Category:Van Buren random encounters