Bridge Keeper is a special encounter in Fallout 2.
Overview
You standing in front of a large chasm, spanned by a rope bridge that is blocked by a brown-robed figure. The Bridgekeeper, when approached, hails the player and demands that they answer three questions. The player can answer, or decline, however you can not leave without crossing the bridge, there is no exit grid on the near side, and, if the player has the Highwayman, it is inexplicably parked on the far side.
The Bridgekeeper's questions begin, with "What is your name?" and "What is your quest?" The Chosen One can answer truthfully or lie to the first one, the answers to the second all tend to be acceptably true, and will change depending upon the point they are at in the storyline. The third question is more random, and is a piece of obscure Fallout trivia, usually based on the intricacies of the SPECIAL system.
If you have less than 4 in Intelligence, the conversation will be extremely confusing, but you can still answer questions. The Bridgekeeper will ask you only two questions and help you greatly for the 2nd, giving you the answer in the question. Also, it's the only type of character that can kill the Bridgekeeper directly to the 1st question, asking him his name.
Third question answer
- What is the minimun requirement for the Quick Pockets perk?
- Uh...agility of five?
- Uh...level three?
- What do you mean? The statistic or level requirement? (kill Bridgekeeper)
- Which non-player character from Fallout 1 survived to appear in the sequel?
- Uh...Dogmeat?
- Uh...Tandi?
- Uh...Harold?
- What do you mean? NPC allies or NPC enemies? (kill Bridgekeeper)
- How much weight can a person with a strength of six carry assuming he has the Strong Back perk?
- Uh...two hundred and twenty-five pounds?
- How many levels of the Strong Back perk does the person have? (kill Bridgekeeper)
Notes
- If the player answers all of the questions truthfully and accurately, the Bridge Keeper will grudgingly let him/her pass, while muttering to himself in floats about how he hates his job, occasionally breaking the fourth wall and implying he is an actor in a cheesy, career halting role.
- If the player answers the first two questions truthfully and accurately, then answers the third question with another question, the Bridge Keeper spontaneously die and you earn 500xp. You can also loot on his body the bridgekeeper's robes, an equivalent to the combat armor with weigh half as much.
- If the player lies to Bridge Keeper or fails to answer the third question correctly or with another question, the player die horribly.
- If the player attempts to engage the Bridge Keeper in combat, mad exploding brahmin will come to his aid, kamikazeing the player. As such, attempting to fight one's way past him is not recommended. But it is possible to kill him, and when you do so you will earn 7500xp and lose 10 karma.
- This encounter have the highest probability of encounter of all special encounters.
Behind the scenes
- This encounter is a reference to the famous comedy movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
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