Background

Moira Brown will give you this quest when you talk to her in Megaton. You'll usually find Moira inside her shop Craterside Supply.


Overview

Moira will ask you to help her write a guide for surviving in the wasteland. That is, you'll need to do a bunch of crazy and dangerous stuff to learn how things should and shouldn't be done, and then Moira will write about it. That sort of partnership doesn't exactly sound fair, but Moira will give you lots of rewards for your help, and so it will work out. For example, just for accepting the quest Moira will give you an Armored Vault 101 Jumpsuit.

There are two ways to handle this quest. You can play along with Moira and help her write the guide, or you can convince her that she's wasting her time.

Helping Moira

If you decide to help Moira, then you'll need to complete nine tasks for her (three chapters with three tasks each). Each task is basically a quest, and you'll be given a main objective plus an optional objective. The more optional objectives you complete, the better your reward will be at the end. Also, every time you complete a task, Moira will ask you to comment on it, and the way you answer her questions will affect your reward as well. If you answer with intelligence each time, then you'll receive a medicine and science bonus, if you answer with strength each time, then you'll receive a damage resistance bonus, and so forth.

Depending on how many optional objectives you complete, you'll receive one of the following perks at the end of the quest: Survival Assistant, Survival Expert, or Survival Guru. See the special perks page for more information on these perks.

You'll also receive rewards for completing each chapter of the guide. After completing Chapter 1, Moira will give you some Stimpaks. After completing Chapter 2, Moira will give you some ammunition. After completing Chapter 3, Moira will give you a Mini Nuke. You'll also receive a copy of the Wasteland Survival Guide when you're done.

Deterring Moira

After accepting Moira's quest, you'll automatically get some new lines of dialogue, and you'll be able to use them to convince her that the book isn't important. This is what you'll need to say:

• Can I ask you about your work and how my research fits into it?
• Why can't you do this research yourself?
• It sounds like you don't know what you're doing.
• Seriously, don't waste time with this book. Stick to helping caravans.

The last line will require you to pass a tough speech check, but if you make it then Moira will give up the idea of the guide. You'll receive the Dream Crusher perk for completing the quest this way, and because Moira will have more time to concentrate on other things, her repair skill will jump from 24 to 54 (allowing her to repair things 18% better), and she'll give you a 30% discount at her store.