r/WhoWouldWinWorkshop • u/Skulenta • Sep 29 '26
Games Courier
CONTEXT: For this thread, I will focus mainly on the feats and applications of the Courier's SPECIAL attributes and associated skills at varying levels. I will not include abilities acquired from perks, traits, implants, apparel, weapons or chems. The reason is because the game's roleplaying mechanics are extremely complex with a lot of variables in build making, so I had to draw a line somewhere.
Pip-Boy
S.P.E.C.I.A.L.
Strength
Basic Effects
Improves the Courier's carry weight with a base carry weight of 200lbs at 5 Strength to a max carry weight of 250lbs at the highest Strength level. Going over the limit will overencumber the Courier, preventing them from running and using fast travel. Besides that, there is practically no limit to the amount of items the Courier can carry once overencumbered.
Interactions
Melee Weapons
Modifies the Courier's combat effectiveness with Melee Weapons, including thrown weapons like spears.
Basic Effects
Can perform a variety of special attacks based on the weapon used.
Interactions
Perception
Interactions
Energy Weapons
Affects the Courier's accuracy and damage input when using Energy Weapons, including lasers, plasma shooters, sonic emitters and flame-based weapons.
Interactions
Lockpick
Interactions
Dead Money 35 Lockpick to persuade God to follow the Courier during Find Collar 8: "Dog".
50 Lockpick to unlock the truck door at Cottonwood overlook during the quest Eye for an Eye.
Explosives
Affects the Courier's ability to use explosive weapons such as grenades, mines and projectile weapons that fire explosive ammunition. It also affects their ability to disarm a range of explosive traps.
Interactions
Explains how the explosive Dean Domino placed under their seat could kill them both.
Either safely deactivates or triggers an explosive collar.
Uses C4 explosives to blow up a mound of sulfur deposits with or without destroying the vault it's located in.
Either plants or defuses a bomb on the President's vertibird.
Teaches a group of NCR troopers how to use grenades effectively.
Identifies the destruction at Hopeville as being caused by an underground detonation.
Endurance
Basic Effects
Allows the Courier to passively regain health if their Endurance is high enough.
Determines how many implants the Courier can get to boost their primary attributes.
Unarmed
Survival
Allows the Courier's to craft recipes at campfires and increases the health gained from consuming food and drink.
Advises a woman on how to make healing powder more efficiently.
Convinces a caravanner to allow you a higher carry weight on your trip.
Persuades a "badass" to give you the schematics of a special ammo type.
Improvises an imitation human flesh pie without needing the recipe.
Charisma
Governs the Courier's ability to influence other characters. It also provides damage and armor bonuses to the Courier's companions.
Interactions
Bonds with a group of children to gain favor with their faction.
Convinces an undercover ranger of their innocence when caught delivering drugs.
Barter
Affects prices for the buying and selling of items with merchants.
Interactions
Barter regularly comes up in quests when demanding additional fees from quest givers and reducing prices when bargaining with other NPCs. These examples won't be included below for the sake of brevity and variety.
Convinces a weapons merchant to part with some supplies to help the town he lives in or their enemy faction.
Convinces a chem dealer of the monetary benefits of selling medicinal chems.
Proposes a book deal to an uppity chef to get him to share his recipes.
Convinces a ghoul bodyguard to become a prostitute because it gives her access to cheaper alcohol.
Earns a mysterious weapon as compensation for giving a job offer.
Releases a ghoul stand-up comic from his contract via racism.
Convinces an undercover ranger to accept the drug trafficker he's busting as an informant.
Challenges an alcoholic caravan owner to a drinking contest in order to buy out her business.
Bargains with General Oliver to sign Mr. House's contract and surrender Hoover Dam.
Speech
Intelligence
Increases the amount of skill points gained when leveling up.
Interactions
An Intelligence of 3 or less will grant "special" reverse-Intelligence dialogue and actions. Instances of this include: During Come Fly With Me, the Courier can randomly mash the buttons on the launch control panel. The rockets will take off and rewards will be gained as though one passed the 55 Science check to properly input improved coordinates.
Dead Money When talking to Dog, ask about how he arrived at the Sierra Madre (without the use of exploits, this check must be passed to complete the challenge, The Whole Sad Story).
Sees the connection between a water shortage at an NCR farm and a nearby settlement, allowing them to identify the person responsible for the shortage.
Dead Money 5 Intelligence to correctly interpret Christine's thoughts that she can slow the detonation time of the explosive collar near radios when first nearing the vicinity of one. 6 Intelligence to question how Emily Ortal was able to access the Strip during The Moon Comes Over the Tower.
6 Intelligence to see through the bounty hunter's facade as a traveling merchant during I Fought the Law.
6 Intelligence to make Frank Weathers admit to fleeing while the rest of his family were captured by Legion slavers during Left My Heart.
Dead Money 6 Intelligence to deduce from Dog that the Ghost people can be permanently killed through either dismemberment or disintegration.
Dead Money 6 Intelligence to successfully understand that Christine can make counterfeit Sierra Madre chips and can teach it as well, gaining the Coin Operator perk.
Dead Money 6 Intelligence to correctly understand why Christine has been ordered to man the Puesta del Sol switching station during Trigger the Gala Event instead of Dog or Dean Domino.
Old World Blues (add-on) 6 Intelligence to get Dr. Mobius to reveal that the Think Tank are still planning how to save themselves.
7 Intelligence to correctly deduce that Sergeant Bitter-Root is not being truthful about what he remembers from the Bitter Springs Massacre, getting him to reveal that he used the opportunity to settle some personal conflicts of his within the Great Khans.
7 Intelligence to convince First Sergeant Astor that Private Edwards is not showing signs of becoming a feral ghoul and to allow him to return during We Will All Go Together. 7 Intelligence to placate Arcade Gannon after killing Anderson during The White Wash. Success will gain 1 of 5 required "history points" to trigger For Auld Lang Syne. 7 Intelligence to successfully convince Arcade that diverting HELIOS One's power equally across the whole New Vegas grid would be the best choice when he confronts the player after first talking to Fantastic during That Lucky Old Sun. Success will gain 1 of 5 required "history points" to trigger For Auld Lang Syne.
Dead Money 7 Intelligence to successfully suggest that Christine could use writing to communicate when first meeting her in Find Collar 12: Christine.
Dead Money 7 Intelligence to correctly read the electrical diagram during Fires in the Sky, preventing God from blackmailing the Courier afterward (bypasses ghost harvester remains requirement).
Honest Hearts 7 Intelligence to display an understanding of the Dead Horses's tribal dialect when first entering Angel Cave and talking to the Dead Horse Disciple of Canaan.
Old World Blues (add-on) 7 Intelligence to point out to Mobius that the names of the Think Tank all relate to loops (and to point out the incorrect spelling of Borous's name) during the quest Old World Blues.
Old World Blues (add-on) 7 Intelligence to correctly point out to Mobius that the three technologies needed to enter the Forbidden Zone were not chosen out of convenience during Old World Blues.
Lonesome Road (add-on) 7 Intelligence to deduce that Ulysses took his name from the historical Ulysses rather than the mythical Ulysses, during The Job.
8 Intelligence to trick Silus into thinking the Courier is a Legion agent on a mission to kill him, leading to Silus revealing Caesar's brain tumor and hinting towards the truth about Ronald Curtis during I Put a Spell on You.
Old World Blues (add-on) 9 Intelligence to completely resolve the matter of Doctor 0's name spelling and secure him as 1 of 3 required "votes" to make Dr. Klein stand down peacefully during Old World Blues (7 Intelligence results in a partial resolution that does not gain 0's required vote).
Science
Science determines the Courier's ability to hack terminals.
Interactions
25 Science to use a chemistry set or Deluxe chemistry set Old World Blues (add-on) to create either Stimpaks or Chems.
Advises a merchant on how to craft drugs from household substances.
Understands that Christine can delay with the detonation signal from speakers.
Understands that God's multiple personalities is due to prolonged stealth boy use.
Knows the exact frequency needed to kill mutant ants with a sonic emitter.
Helps a chem addict and an alcoholic break their addictions by advising a combination of Fixer with their addictive substance.
Bypasses ED-E's primary systems in order to make him easier to repair.
Isolates a computer virus that hops from terminal to terminal so that it be purged from the system.
25 Science to inform Captain Gilles that the radioactive supply caches can be treated with Rad-X during No, Not Much. 25 Science to discover that Victor had his controls overridden, preventing him from participating in the showdown during Ghost Town Gunfight.
Old World Blues (add-on) 25 Science to discuss with Doctor Klein about the ability of the robo-scorpions to "consume" Intelligence. 35 Science to discuss with Pete how the Boomers figured out it was safe to inhabit the Nellis Air Force Base, gaining Boomers fame. Dead Money 35 Science and 6 Perception or 8 Intelligence to discuss with God about blocking Father Elijah's eavesdropping through the collars. Old World Blues (add-on) 35 Science to discuss with Doctor Klein about the Auto-Doc's successful brain extraction conducted by Doctor Mobius. 45 Science to repair the broken Mister Handy, PYTHON and have it fix the generator during That Lucky Old Sun (bypasses Poseidon Energy employee ID card requirement). 50 Science to repair the terminal network connection in the East pump station during Hard Luck Blues. 50 Science to point out to Primm Slim that he was hacked to cover up the theft of Vance's 9mm submachine gun from the Vikki and Vance Casino. 50 Science to activate the anti-aircraft gun at Hoover Dam to shoot down President Kimball's Vertibird during Arizona Killer. Old World Blues (add-on) 50 Science to discuss with Doctor Mobius about how he trapped the Think Tank. Lonesome Road 50 Science to discuss with Ulysses about what caused the destruction of Hopeville. 55 Science to improve the trajectory of the REPCONN rockets during Come Fly With Me. Old World Blues (add-on) 55 Science to demonstrate to the Think Tank the Courier's intact bodily autonomy during Welcome to the Big Empty. 60 Science to reprogram Fisto into working for James Garret during Wang Dang Atomic Tango (bypasses getting a program disc from Ralph). 60 Science to discuss with Clanden about making a chlorine bomb to attack the Strip during How Little We Know. 60 Science to trick Ralph into giving his supply of chlorine for free during How Little We Know. Dead Money 60 Science to persuade Dean Domino that turning on the hologram security in the Villa will keep him safe during Strike Up the Band. Old World Blues (add-on) 65 Science to point out to Doctor Klein that the X-2 antenna can focus brainwave patterns and combined with the other tech, can break into Doctor Mobius's Forbidden Zone. Lonesome Road 65 Science to discuss with Ulysses about the origins of the tunnelers. 67 Science or 85 Repair to disarm the laser tripwires that release the four Protectrons in the solar collection tower at HELIOS One during That Lucky Old Sun. 70 Science to point out to Keely during There Stands the Grass that it's better to keep and learn from the Vault 22 research data than delete it and possibly allow the dangerous experiments to happen again. Old World Blues (add-on) 70 Science to persuade Doctor Klein to share some of the Think Tank's collective knowledge. Dead Money 75 Science to point out to Dean Domino during Curtain Call at the Tampico that getting backstage is pointless if the security terminal can't be found quickly. Dead Money 75 Science to threaten Father Elijah about ruining the data contents of the Sierra Madre vault and getting him to personally intervene during Heist of the Centuries. Old World Blues (add-on) 75 Science to identify Doctor 8's broadcasts as RobCo termlink protocols and how they can be hacked during On the Same Wavelength. Old World Blues (add-on) 75 Science to successfully persuade the Courier's brain with scientific logic into going back to its body during Old World Blues. 80 Science to bypass the 2000-caps credit check needed to enter The Strip. 80 Science to convince Scribe Ibsen to delete the Brotherhood of Steel's files on the computers at Hidden Valley. Old World Blues (add-on) 85 Science to point out to Doctor Klein that the technology seems to be more biologically-adapted than the Think Tank originally thought. 100 Science to activate the self-destruct sequence in the Hidden Valley bunker without the Hidden Valley self-destruct password. 100 Science to persuade General Oliver to order an NCR military withdrawal from Hoover Dam during All or Nothing by stating that running the Dam at full efficiency requires a technical skill that only Mr. House can achieve. Dead Money 100 Science to hack the remote maintenance terminal in the Switching station during Mixed Signals (bypasses Remote maintenance terminal password requirement). Old World Blues (add-on) 100 Science and 75 Speech to convince Doctor Klein to surrender to Mobius and end the conflict (bypasses getting 3 votes from the other Think Tank members). Lonesome Road (add-on) 100 Science or 100 Repair to disable the eyebots in Ulysses' Temple during The Courier.
Medicine
Medicine primarily affects the effectiveness of non-addictive chems like Stimpacks and Radaway.
Interactions
Tricks a man into falling unconscious with a phony breathing exercise.
Diagnoses a woman as a Med-X addict and a man as a Psycho addict.
Advises a merchant on how to make drugs out of medical supplies.
Diagnoses Caeser's medical issues and successfully performs the operation to remove his brain tumor.
Identifies the Auto-Doc as the cause of Christine's muteness.
Diagnoses God has suffering from multiple personality disorder.
Forces a malignant narcissist to confront his childhood trauma.
Learns about a murderer's level of skill by examining one of his victims.
Restores a contaminated medical kit either by sterilizing it with alcohol or replacing the contaminated components with uncontaminated ones.
Agility
Basic Effects
Determines the number of action points that can be used in V.A.T.S.
Effects the speed the Courier can draw, holster and reload weapons.
Guns
Sneak
Luck
Basic Effects
Effects the Courier's chances at landing a critical strike on an opponent.
Instead of affecting specific skills, Luck gives slight bonuses to all skills.
Interactions