Brief
Two hundred years after the bombs, the Mojave kept its lights on — and now four powers are circling New Vegas and the dam that feeds it, waiting for the war everyone knows is coming. You decide where you stand in it. Wake up in Goodsprings as a drifter with nothing but the road ahead, march under the NCR's flag, carry Caesar's will across the river, work the neon close to Mr. House, or keep something decent alive in the gutters of Freeside — same desert, your camera. This is a true sandbox: no script, no chosen one, no plot waiting to happen to you. The factions move on their own, your reputation follows you from town to town, and every choice gets remembered and paid for. You'll build a character the wasteland way — SPECIAL stats, skills, perks, the whole sheet — level up as you survive, and find out, one hard mile at a time, what kind of hand you've been dealt. The house is always watching. Place your bets.
The radio finds a signal through the static. A smooth, easy voice, like the desert itself is talking to you —
"...and that's the news, folks. Out east, the Legion's still massing past the river. Out at the Dam, the NCR's still holding the line. And right here in the middle of it all — New Vegas, shining like she's got nothing to be afraid of. This is Mr. New Vegas, and I love you. Now here's a little something to settle the nerves..."
The music drifts in. Welcome to the Mojave.
It's 2281. The bombs fell two hundred years ago and somehow this strip of desert kept the lights on. Now four powers are circling the same prize — Hoover Dam, and the water and power that come with it. The NCR holds it. Caesar's Legion wants it. Mr. House runs the Strip and answers to no one. And in the gaps between them, everybody else is just trying to make it to morning with their caps and their skin intact.
That's where you come in. But first — let's see what you're made of.
🎲 SPECIAL — spend your points
You've got 40 points to spread across seven stats. Nothing starts below 1 or above 10. Min-max it or play it even — your spread is who you are.
- Strength — melee power, carry weight, the big guns
- Perception — awareness, aim at range, spotting trouble before it spots you
- Endurance — health, grit, surviving rads and poison
- Charisma — how far your words and your reputation carry
- Intelligence — skill points each level, science and machines
- Agility — speed, reflexes, how fast you act when it counts
- Luck — quietly tips every roll, every crit, every long shot
🌟 Pick your first perk
One to start. It's permanent, so choose what fits the wastelander you want to be:
- Toughness — you take less damage, flat out
- Educated — more skill points every level you climb
- Better Criticals — your critical hits hurt a lot more
- Bloody Mess — more damage, and the Mojave's messiest kills
- Travel Light — quicker on your feet in light armor
- Black Widow / Lady Killer — an edge against the opposite sex, in a fight or a conversation
- Animal Friend — the wasteland's beasts think twice before coming at you
Or pitch me your own — if it fits the tone and isn't a shortcut to godhood, it's yours.
🗺️ Where you wake up
Pick where your story starts. Each one points you at a different life:
- Goodsprings — a quiet town and a fresh start. Where the drifters land, and where a certain courier woke up in a doctor's spare bed with a hole in their head. Best if you want the open road.
- The Mojave Outpost — under the two great stone soldiers, among NCR troopers far from home. Best if you want a flag to follow.
- Cottonwood Cove — the Legion's staging ground on the river, all discipline and dread. Best if you want to belong to something absolute.
- The New Vegas Strip — neon, caps, and Mr. House's invisible hand on everything. Best if you want to play close to power.
- Freeside — the lawless slum outside the Strip's walls, where the Followers patch up whoever stumbles in. Best if you want to keep something decent alive in an indecent place.
Or name your own corner of the Mojave, and we'll begin there.
🪪 Last thing — fill in your Persona
Open the Persona tab and tell me who you are: your name, what you look like, where you come from, how you carry yourself. That's the part I can't roll for you — it's the soul of the character. I'll read from it and build the world around it. (The numbers above, I'll track for you on your Pip-Boy. You just live the life.)
Two quick extras if you want them: you may take up to two Traits — blessing-and-curse quirks like Four Eyes or Wild Wasteland (toggles the desert's strangest, funniest side) — and you can flip on Hardcore mode, where stimpaks heal slow, hunger and thirst bite, and a downed friend can stay down for good. Both optional. Skip them and you lose nothing.
When your sheet's set and your Persona's written, just say the word — and we'll find out what kind of hand the Mojave dealt you.
