I Fought the Law is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Side Quest: I Fought the Law | |||||||||||||
| Reach the NCR Correctional Facility and speak with Eddie in the administration building. | |||||||||||||
| Deal with Chavez and his group of Powder Gangers. | |||||||||||||
| Kill Chavez and his men. | Pass a 30 Speech check to convince Chavez to leave. | ||||||||||||
| Return to Eddie. | |||||||||||||
| Deal with the suspicious traveling merchant near Jean Sky Diving. | |||||||||||||
| Kill the merchant. | Pass a 6 Intelligence attribute check or 30 Speech skill check to convince him to give up his identity as a bounty hunter and leave. | ||||||||||||
| Return to Eddie again. | |||||||||||||
| Find proof of an impending attack by the NCR against the Correctional Facility. | |||||||||||||
| Speak with Johnson Nash and pay a 100-caps bribe or pass a 30 Barter skill check to pay 50 (20 if My Kind of Town was completed) or a 30 Speech check to get the intel for free. | Speak with Lt. Hayes after either pickpocketing his military orders or getting the intel from Nash. | ||||||||||||
| Decide the outcome of the NCR assault on the Correctional Facility. | |||||||||||||
| Help the Powder Gangers defend against the NCR assault. | Betray Eddie and help the NCR kill the convicts and take over the prison. | ||||||||||||
| Reward: Powder Gangers fame 200 XP 100 caps 1 Mentats, Psycho, Buffout Various loot from dead Powder Gangers and NCR troopers | Reward: NCR fame 300 XP Various loot from dead Powder Gangers and NCR troopers | ||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
The quest is started by traveling to the NCR Correctional Facility, east-northeast of Goodsprings and slightly southwest of Hidden Valley. The only entrance before completing this quest is to go through the visitors center, accessed from a gate on the west side. A convict named Dawes guards the door and will refuse to let the player character through unless paid a 100-cap bribe. Alternatively, one can pickpocket the door key from him (which won't incur Karma loss). Wearing Powder Ganger armor will not work as Dawes will always see right through it and still require the bribe for entry.
Go through the visitors center to reach the facility's main courtyard. One will also find Meyers residing in the building, where he can be recruited to serve as Primm's new sheriff during My Kind of Town. In the courtyard, approach the two-story building on the north end to enter the NCR CF administration. Inside on the top floor (accessed via staircase), sitting in front of a vandalized portrait of President Aaron Kimball is Eddie, leader of the Powder Gangers out of the NCRCF. If one's reputation with the Powder Gangers is positive, neutral, or negative only to the degree of being Shunned, one can ask Eddie for opportunities to work with him, triggering the quest.
- It is possible to enter the NCRCF and talk to Eddie to start this quest even if one helped the town of Goodsprings fight the Powder Gangers led by Joe Cobb during Ghost Town Gunfight. During that quest, one can attack and injure Cobb's Powder Gangers, but do not deal the killing shot/blow, instead allow one of the Goodsprings defenders to do it. If done this way, the lowest reputation one can gain is Shunned which does not cross the threshold to turn all Powder Gangers hostile on sight.
- Be wary not to assault anyone in the prison or gaining another level of infamy will earn a Vilified reputation and turn the Powder Gangers hostile upon entering. Completing the quest Booted for Boxcars in Nipton or Why Can't We Be Friends? for either Samuel Cooke or Philip Lem in Vault 19 may provide a sufficient boost to reputation, provided one is not already Vilified.
- If the Powder Gangers are hostile still, one can talk to Eddie by using a Stealth Boy outside the entrance and sneaking all the way to Eddie (not always a guarantee). Stand up and immediately talk to Eddie and the quest can be initiated. A Stealth Boy will be required each time the player character goes back to talk to Eddie until the quest ends with the NCR confrontation. Alternatively, acquiring a disguise from the bodies of the Cobb group can reset one's reputation to Neutral, allowing for access.
Loose ends[]
To prove their capabilities and ability to play ball, Eddie gives the player character a simple job for their first time, sending them to "take care" of some Powder Gangers led by a man named Chavez, believed by Eddie to be attempting to set up his own crew and desert the NCRCF group. Chavez and his men are found at the Powder Ganger camp south, a short distance southwest of the prison. One can either do as Eddie suggested and kill everyone or approach Chavez and pass a 30 Speech skill check to convince him to "move on." Talking to him without being able to pass the Speech check results in the group turning hostile. Killing him and his men will not lose any reputation with the Powder Gangers, and his "crew" may not turn hostile if Chavez is killed in front of them first. Killing him or his crew after convincing him to move on also does not cause any reputation loss with the Powder Gangers. After he is dealt with, return to Eddie and let him know the job's done, earning a small amount of Powder Gangers fame.
Eddie will next send the player character to "deal with" a suspicious traveling merchant residing near Jean Sky Diving, hanging around without fear or care that he's in Powder Ganger territory. At the small hut, passing either a 6 Intelligence attribute check or 30 Speech check, one can convince him to reveal that he is actually a bounty hunter trying to bag any Powder Gangers he comes across. A separate 30 Speech check allows for shaking the "merchant" down for his caps. The bounty hunter may attack even after he is convinced to leave, even if one is not dressed as a Powder Ganger. If the prior options fail, the merchant can be killed without Karma penalty. Once the merchant has been dealt with, report back to Eddie to gain more Powder Gangers fame.
Choosing sides[]
Once the player character has proven themselves capable, Eddie instructs them to snoop around and find out if the NCR is drawing up plans for taking back the prison from the convicts.
The objective will direct the player character to Primm, where it can be fulfilled by talking to either Johnson Nash or Lt. Hayes.
Talking to Nash will have him ask for compensation in exchange for information, giving the following options:
- Pay 100 caps
- Pass a 30 Barter check to pay 50 caps
- If My Kind of Town was completed by appointing a new sheriff beforehand, the 30 Barter check will instead reduce the caps amount to 20
- Pass a 30 Speech check to get the information for free
Speak with Hayes will only lead to him telling the player character that military orders are classified, unless they already know about the planned assault - either by pickpocketing the military orders from him, and/or by getting the information from Nash first before talking to Hayes.
Once the information has been acquired, the quest progresses to a point with two options: report back to Eddie ahead of the NCR's siege, or betray him and work with Lt. Hayes to help the NCR take back the prison.
Powder Gangers[]
If the player character reports back to Eddie at the NCRCF, he will reward them with 1 Buffout, 1 Psycho, 1 Mentats, and 100 caps, completing the quest and garnering 200 XP. By then, the NCR has arrived, and Eddie says the player character is free to leave without the need to assist the convicts further, but they have the option to kill some of the troopers on their way out.
As soon as one exits the building, the assault will begin, and NCR troopers blow open new accessways through the guard fence, pouring into the facility to attack the convicts. One will not incur NCR infamy by helping Eddie; however, all the soldiers assaulting the base will be hostile to the player character, and attacking and killing them will likely incur said infamy. Alternately, one can change into NCR armor before exiting the building, the NCR invaders will be neutral, though this will also turn the Powder Gangers hostile.
If one does stick around and help the Powder Gangers defend their stronghold from the attackers, go and speak with Eddie again where he will thank the player character and award a large amount of Powder Gangers fame.
NCR[]
If the player characters chooses to betray Eddie to the NCR, they must speak with Lt. Hayes in his tent outside Primm and offer assistance in the assault. He will tell the player character to rendezvous with Sgt. Lee, located just to the southeast of the prison (on a hill, approximately in line between Powder Ganger camp south and the prison). Upon initiating dialogue with him, he will give the player character a short "briefing," and the assault will then begin with the same explosions destroying chunks of the fence to open new entryways.
The quest will end once Eddie is dead, but as the Powder Gangers will rush out into the courtyard for the battle, he will most likely be one of the last Powder Gangers alive anyway. One garners 300 XP for completing the quest this way and a small amount of NCR fame after speaking with Lee once Eddie dies. If Lee dies during the assault, no NCR reputation will be gained.
Lee may mention reporting back to Lt. Hayes after the quest has finished, but if My Kind of Town has already been completed, he will disappear from the NCR tents and instead be found at Camp Forlorn Hope.
Quest stages[]
Notes[]
- It is possible to kill all the Powder Gangers before the assault on the prison (including Eddie) and complete the quest (by implementing sneak kills with a silenced weapon to avoid Powder Gangers infamy, then kill Eddie when one is told to report to Sergeant Lee - reporting back to Sergeant Lee after killing Eddie will generate an automatic mission success).
- Killing Eddie prior to that point will fail the quest.
- By doing this, it is also possible to gain the rewards for helping Eddie (300 XP instead of the normal 200), only become shunned (Powder Ganger camps will not attack the player character) by the Powder Gangers (See Notes) and gain the reputation increase with the NCR. First, betray Eddie to Hayes. Then, instead of talking to Lee outside of the prison, head on in. Speak to Eddie prior to killing him and let him know about the attack, stealth kill him and equip NCR faction armor (armor optional), then run outside and through the visitor's center to speak with Lee as he is running (from the left) inside. Keep running after speaking to him and over the ridge if one lacks NCR faction armor. He will reward only NCR reputation and not Powder Ganger infamy, as the latter would normally occur at this point but does no due to turning the quest in first to Eddie. Similarly, the player character gains the 300 XP for the NCR completion even though the quest is finished by Eddie.
- However, if the player character uses the above method, all the NCR troopers inside the administration center will be hostile to them from that point on (even days or weeks later) if they ever enter the area without an NCR faction disguise equipped.
- Powder Gangers in the scattered camps are hostile to the player character until one reputation is neutral or at least Shunned, so avoid killing them loudly to be able to speak to Eddie initially.
- It is possible to talk to Eddie without a Stealth Boy, even if one is vilified by the Powder Gangers. The easiest way to do this is to kill Powder Gangers who can see through disguises (Dawes, Carter, Hannigan, bodyguards, etc), and stealthily kill all other Powder Gangers (Not necessary to kill Meyers). One may need to remove and then put the Powder Gangers faction armor back on to reset rep back to neutral, and also wait around until they no longer sense the player character, so they no longer appear as hostile. Using this technique, one can get rid of every Powder Ganger at the NCR Correctional Facility except for Eddie and Meyers. Then, every time one wants to talk to Eddie, run in and talk to him before he has a chance to get up. When dialogue ends, run out of the room so he cannot see the player character and turn hostile. One can also try to sneak behind the computer on his desk and back away.
- Killing all of Eddie's guards stealthily may allow one to get to Eddie and initiate dialogue without hostilities, as a workaround for the above issue. If he becomes hostile when approached after his guards are dead, try running quickly at him and repeatedly trying to talk. If the player character gets to him before he stands up, he will talk to them. Also, one can sneak behind the computer on his desk after the talk, back away to the wall, then stand up and walk away.
- If one wants to help the Powder Gangers or sit back and let the NCR and Gangers fight it out (without betraying them), it is recommended that one visits the Cell Blocks and the Visitor Center, so that more Gangers will join the battle. This will lead to a slightly more even fight.
- If one wants to be certain to complete the quest, (and not intervene), one will have to visit each cell block, otherwise the NCR will just kill the Powder Gangers in the yard, then the Admin building. After Eddie is killed the NCR troops will go into idle mode and walk around the building leaving the Powder Gangers alive in other buildings. One named Powder Ganger may remain in one of the cell blocks, (a sneak kill if one wants to keep their rep intact).
- If one has low Intelligence when reporting to Eddie after dealing with the bounty hunter, the player character will say "I got rid of the bunny hunter."
- Although the player character can pickpocket the attack orders from Lt. Hayes before the quest, they will still be unable to initiate the attack on the Powder Gangers or speak to Hayes about the attack at all until the one is given the choice during the quest (this also mean the player character cannot complete this quest if they are hated by the Powder Gangers).
- After the traveling merchant has been revealed, his name will change to bounty hunter.
Behind the scenes[]
- The quest name is a reference to the song of the same name written by Sonny Curtis and recorded by the Crickets, and more famously covered by the Bobby Fuller Four in 1965,[1], the Clash in 1979 and Green Day in 2004.
 | The following is based on Fallout: New Vegas cut content. |
|---|
- A number of cut and partially completed dialogue options exist which point towards the final portion of the quest having had additional options for helping out. In particular, a number of incomplete topics would have allowed the player character to offer suggestions as to how Eddie could better defend the facility, including increasing guard coverage and placing snipers on the guard towers.
- There was also going to be an option to free Chavez from the prison.[2]
| End of information based on Fallout: New Vegas cut content |
|---|
Bugs[]
Completion of this quest in favor of the NCR will not register the proper result. Even though one will have gained the fame for success, Mr. New Vegas will report the mission as a failure, as will the ending narration. [verified]- Sgt. Lee may freeze on the steps to the admin building and will not finish dialogue - thus preventing NCR fame. Shooting the weapon out of his hand (which will turn Lee hostile) but then holstering your weapon immediately (which will return Lee to turn friendly) will unfreeze him. [verified]
- If the player character passes the Intelligence or Speech check to make the bounty hunter admit he is there to collect Powder Ganger bounties, the question "So what are you still doing here?" will still be available. If selected, he will answer, "Uh, you know, just filling up water and stuff." This response is in support of his cover story rather than the truth he has just admitted. [verified]
- The explosions that opened the entrances for the NCR troops will not detonate mines or C-4, giving an easy way to finish this quest however one will gain infamy from the NCR. [verified]
- The script for this quest is set up to despawn the NCR troopers after 3 days and turn off the alarm but neither appears to occur. The alarm can be turned off using the console command NCRCFAlarmRef.disable.[verification overdue]
