Fallout Mod: The Bar

Another article from my previous blog, reincarnated. This is a mod that I really wanted to actually make, but I got overwhelmed by the amount of work… and especially because my PC couldn’t really handle it. If I get a new PC, I’ll definitely reconsider.

Premise

The idea is basically to have a mini bar-tycoon in Fallout 4. It starts with a few quests to set the place up. At that point, there are quests that unlock new options, repeatable quests and more that the player can use to improve the bar, get more profits and even create unique opportunities for themselves.

The place I was checking out was the abandoned building close to Covenant that you can’t actually enter.

Initation

An NPC yells out to player. If talked, the NPCs asks the player to kill the “mice” in the cellar in the nearby building. The building looks quite abandoned. There are some mole rats down the cellar. Reference to classic D&D starter quests.

Once done, NPC will ask the player to join him as the player is resourceful and the NPC can’t really fight half as well. He reveals his plans to start a bar and offers work. First quests are to retrieve some drinks, find potential customers and get some equipment.

Drink quest is similar to smuggler mission in Fo2, where the player needs to recover a number of basic drinks, such as 10x Vodka, 10x Whiskey and 10x Beer. This is basically a scavenge/purchase/craft mission.

To find potential customers, the player needs to go to a few nearby locations and see how they feel about having a bar around. There could be four potential locations and getting two of them interested would be enough. One would be automatically okay, the others could require different kind of checks. Maybe you need to convince someone in one location and in the other, you hack a computer and add the bar to the caravan list or something like that.

For the equipment, the player is sent to a certain NPC who will provide keys to a storage. The NPC will ask for money. They can pay to acquire the keys. They can pickpocket the location from a note that the NPC carries, and lockpick the door. They can pass a speech check to retrieve the key or finally they can kill the NPC.

Once they are back after each of these quests, they can find the NPC in the cellar. The cellar will be rearranged to be an office with a bed. The NPC will ask the player to lend a hand before payment. Screen will go blank to indicate time passage. Once done, they will appear upstairs and the abandoned house will be looking much better.

The NPC will then explain that he has no money at the moment and will tell the player that he’ll pay as he earns. The player will talk him into being a partner.

Player will have access to a room and access to the aforementioned office in the office. The player will also have a lockbox that will generate revenue weekly that will depend on the situation of the bar.

Progress

After this point, there will be many opportunities to develop the bar such as:

• Recruiting bartenders
• Recruiting waiters
• Getting specific furniture
• Spreading the word and getting customers
• etc

These will typically have simple quests such the NPC asking the player to retrieve a specific furniture or passing a speech check to recruit a potential bartender.

There are also some systematic development points, such as the drinks.

At the start, the bar will be depending on salvage and trade. This will mean that the bar won’t have certain drinks at all times and the prices will be variable, reflecting a low addition to the revenue. However, as “the cost” will be technically low for most situations, the player will have a good profit margin.

The player can choose to work with scavengers or location that provide certain drinks constantly. This will ensure the existence of those particular drinks on the menu, but it will have a lesser profit margin.

Finally, the player may find a way to produce the beverage which will have a very low cost, a good profit margin and constant existence. However, to accomplish this, player will need a recipe and the raw materials.

Samples

An inventor of sorts could be recruited, who not only affects the costs, but also provide recipes for new drinks for both the bar and the player.

Advertising in various locations, similar to the starter quest, can increase the customer base. This increases the variety of characters and the profits. Some locations may be unlocked via certain conditions. For example, the inventor could come up with a “drink” made from machine oil that actually brings some Mr. Handys to the place.

Not everything will be fine and dandy of course. If you don’t have good security, you could get robbed. You could get bandit problems. Bar fights. Inviting certain factions to the bar could end up in others not joining.

You can get infiltrated by the Railroad or the Institute.

A rival bar could steal your recipes and you might need to decide how to deal with that.

You could open “branches” of your bar in the towns you govern, which would require an upfront cash but increase your weekly revenue depending on the population.

You could have some unique or special items, learn special perks.

Maybe you can use this place to recruit people to your towns.

There could be a lot of random, interesting, funny NPCs that have various stories to tell.

Conclusion

In the end, Fallout 4 gives you a long timeline to play and this mod could create endless game play and story content. If you read this and decide to make this into a mod yourself, please let me know!