Fallout 3 Broken Steel DLC Q&A

GameSpot brings us some of the first details about Fallout 3's Broken Steel DLC in the form of a Q&A with designer Al Nanes.
GS: What can you tell us about the story in Broken Steel? Why the decision to explore the Brotherhood of Steel rather than one of the lesser-known factions?

AN: The story revolves heavily around the Brotherhood of Steel and its pursuit of the Enclave. After its victory at the end of the original Fallout 3 story, the Brotherhood feels that it needs to strike while the iron is hot and wipe out whatever remnants of the Enclave remain. What it discovers is that the strength of the Enclave hasn't been diminished [as much as it seemed to have been], so players become an integral part of the skirmish. As to why we chose to explore the Brotherhood rather than a lesser-known faction, the decision was purely for story reasons. Because of players' actions at the end of Fallout 3, the Capital Wasteland is on the brink of a huge change. That change heavily involves the Brotherhood of Steel, so we were obligated to include them in the continuing storyline. They were basically too crucial not to explore.

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GS: With the level cap being raised from 20 to 30, what sorts of new perks can we expect to see?

AN: We had to come up with a group of new perks for Broken Steel to provide appropriate awards to players that have achieved level 20 and beyond. We also had to make sure they weren't simply adding points to a skill, which we felt may already be maxed out by some players, and therefore become instantly useless. So, we've come up with some fun and interesting ones, like nerves of steel, which increases the regeneration rate of your action points.