Don't Tread on the Bear![1] is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Quick walkthrough
| Side Quest: Don't Tread on the Bear! | |||||
| Gain NCR infamy or complete any Legion, Mr. House or Yes Man questlines. | |||||
| Continue gaining NCR infamy or continuing aforementioned questlines. | |||||
| Reward: NCR infamy Failure of active NCR quests | |||||
Detailed walkthrough
The exact contents of this quest vary per actions. It can result in one of five outcomes:
- The NCR has a robust network of informants. Continued work with Mr. House makes the NCR refuse the Courier's help.
- The NCR has a robust network of informants. Same as above, but when working with Yes Man.
- Little escapes the eyes of NCR Rangers. Continued work with Caesar's Legion gives the NCR's brand of a terrorist.
- The NCR has declared the Courier a terrorist. Wherever the NCR has jurisdiction, be prepared to be shot on sight.
- The NCR knows that the Courier is working against its interests and will no longer accept the Courier's help.
The first three actions are the result of aiding an opposing faction. The fourth is a result of continuing to work with Caesar's Legion, gaining general NCR infamy, usually through killing their troops, or launching the missile at Long 15. In the case of opposing faction quests, it will first activate as a warning upon the completion of a certain quest in the series. Completing another quest will fail the mission. The Courier will no longer be able to take on NCR quests once this happens, and any NCR quests active will immediately fail as well. In the fourth action, the entire faction will become enemies with the Courier, giving a preparation to be attacked. The fifth action will result in the Courier no longer being able to further advance through the NCR quest line as a result of continuing to work with Mr. House or Yes Man. In either case, the NCR-based ending is no longer possible to achieve.
Quest stages
Notes
- Each faction quest has a specific trigger and failure point.
- The Independent path will trigger it upon the completion of either Wild Card: Change in Management or Wild Card: Side Bets, then fail upon the completion of the other.
- House's path will trigger it after completing The House Always Wins III, then fail it on part IV.
- Caesar's Legion will trigger it after the third part of Render Unto Caesar, and fail it after the fourth.
- Like the quest Beware the Wrath of Caesar!, almost anything can be done against the faction before the representative of the faction arrives. As long as the representative comes to no harm, faction reputation should be reset to neutral; if reputation is higher than neutral, it will not be reset. Quests like this are triggered after meeting the faction representative, unless the specific NPC is killed, which will automatically fail the quest.
- NCR Ranger hit squads will be sent out to warn or kill the Courier.
- If Ambassador Crocker or Colonel Moore dies, the NCR will instantly be hostile.
- Failing this quest will remove Ambassador Crocker and Colonel Moore from the game world, to reinforce that the NCR quest line can no longer be continued.
- As noted in the messages, reputation with the NCR will not be lowered if this quest is completed via House or Yes Man (unlike the Legion, the NCR does not consider them hostile). In fact, so long as nothing else to antagonize them is done, it is possible to breach the El Dorado substation and get them to agree to a truce with the Brotherhood of Steel (in Yes Man's path) without dropping reputation below Idolized. They will even still accept help in preventing President Kimball's assassination.
- If the Lucky 38 is exited for the first time and the unnamed NCR trooper approaches, it is possible to fast travel before the conversation starts. The trooper will follow the Courier until he is able to tell them that Ambassador Crocker wishes to talk. This can lead to problems if having entered Nellis Air Force Base and the trooper catches up, as when he walks out of Nellis, the Artillery Barrage will annihilate him. This will result in failing "Don't Tread on the Bear!" and may result in the label as a terrorist.
Behind the scenes
"Don't Tread on the Bear!" is a reference to the "Gadsden Flag", a historical flag that depicted a coiled rattlesnake over the phrase "Don't Tread on Me."
References
- ↑ Quest name from Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide
