Moira Brown is a resident of Megaton where she owns and runs the Craterside Supply vendor shop in the Capital Wasteland in Fallout 3.
Background[]
Past[]
A self-styled inventor, Moira grew up with an uncommon curiosity about the world while living in the trading community of Canterbury Commons. Sometime before 2263, she left Canterbury Commons and moved to the settlement of Megaton.[1] She takes every opportunity to learn about as much as she can, largely by reading almost every book that comes through the town via traders and caravans. Although the 24-year-old Moira's love of reading has taught her a great deal, she knows very little about the world itself nor understands how the knowledge she has can be applied outside of her workshop or Megaton itself.
Around 2277, an incident involving a domesticated centaur inspired Moira to author a book serving as a compilation of practical knowledge and important tips about surviving in the wasteland and avoiding similar dangers.[Non-game 1] The only hurdle she faced in creating her book was getting someone to help her complete her experiments and research on the wasteland's resources. She would find her partner in the Lone Wanderer who would do the field research for her. Upon finishing the research Moira had assigned to them, Moira chose to handle all the publishing and distribution of the Wasteland Survival Guide, being concerned that her research assistant might injure themself handling the complex printing machines.
Later life[]
After the guide was completed with the help of the Lone Wanderer, it achieved considerable popularity, not just in the Capital Wasteland, but also managing to reach places like the Mojave Wasteland on the other side of the continent in less than four years. By 2287, ten years after Moira published it, the Wasteland Survival Guide had become a renowned series, with multiple guides on subjects ranging from self-defense to hunting and farming, and even had recreations tailored to different regions like the Commonwealth to the north of D.C.
The following is based on the Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Collector's Edition's Afterword entry. |
By 2297, Moira continued to run Craterside Supply and manage the distribution network of the survival guide. On September 10 of that year, she began work on a biography of the Lone Wanderer.[Non-game 2]
The following is based on the Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Collector's Edition's Afterword entry. |
Personality[]
Living most of her life in the relative safety of Megaton has left Moira with significant obliviousness and naivete as to how the wasteland functions. That said, she always strives to display a chipper personality and is a renowned optimist. Her drive to try to improve the lives of her fellow wastelanders served as the inspiration to create the Wasteland Survival Guide that could inform on the dangers faced daily and give others the skills to navigate the Wasteland better. Though making the Guide requires sending the Lone Wanderer into situations that endanger their lives, Moira is not acting out of malice but rather this stems from her naivete towards the post-War world, as she considers managing the printing presses making copies of the Wasteland Survival Guide to be dangerous and chooses to keep the Lone Wanderer away from them.
All that said, Moira is not completely unaware of the reality of the wasteland however, but consciously chooses to look on the bright side of life as to provide some levity against the otherwise bleak outlook many have in the Capital Wasteland. She describes her worldview as trying to piece something broken into a beautiful mosaic - it won't be the same, but it might still be able to be pretty again. The strength of her optimistic values is proven where, if the Lone Wanderer chooses to detonate the Megaton bomb, even after she's been ghoulified, Moira is still as cheery as ever.
However, through certain persuasive dialogue choices, Moira can be convinced by the player character to abandon her flighty personality for a much more sober, down to earth, and realist approach.
Despite her oblivious nature, Moira is quite intelligent and does independent research and tinkering. She was able to singlehandedly invent the mole-rat repellent despite its tendency to unintentionally and violently explode them.
Daily schedule[]
As the owner of Craterside Supply, she spends the day sweeping and trading as well as conducting odd experiments. She opens the store at 8:00 a.m. and closes at 8:00 p.m. The Megaton Craterside Supply store is also her home. She sleeps upstairs and if the Lone Wanderer is caught trespassing after hours she will become increasingly upset. The only time she will leave her shop is if Megaton is destroyed during The Power of the Atom. If Wasteland Survival Guide is completed before Megaton is destroyed, she will instead stay near the entrance to the ruins and only has the option to repair equipment, lacking an option to buy or sell items.
Interactions with the player character[]
Moira manages Craterside Supply in Megaton, a useful location for buying and selling supplies. She comments on a book she is writing, and hands out the quest The Wasteland Survival Guide to act as research for various chapters. The manner in which the quest can be accomplished is highly varied, which can greatly affect the quality and tenor of the resulting Wasteland Survival Guide as well as the various quest rewards. Being thorough in research (which is often the most dangerous of the options provided) and using skill checks and serious answers in dialogue result in the most benefits and the Wasteland Survival Guide having a widely respected reputation. Being less thorough and picking more sarcastic dialogue options can have the guide being treated more as a joke book.
However, the player has the option of talking Moira out of writing the Wasteland Survival Guide, harshly critiquing her optimistic attitude, which will grant a powerful perk but at the expense of all the other rewards of the Wasteland Survival Guide questline. It also causes a significant shift in Moira's personality.
Interactions overview[]
Interactions | ||
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This character starts quests. | ||
This character is involved in quests. | ||
This character is a merchant. | Sells: weapons, apparel, aid, miscellaneous, ammunition, house improvements | 160-3000|
This character can repair items. | Max Repair condition: 54 (72) | |
This character drops an ear upon death (Contract Killer). |
Quests[]
- The Wasteland Survival Guide: Moira asks the Lone Wanderer to do some dangerous research for a book she is writing to help the inhabitants of the wasteland learn to survive better.
- The Replicated Man: Moira is in possession of a Replicated Man holotape.
Effects of player's actions[]
- If the Lone Wanderer blows up Megaton during The Power of the Atom, Moira is the only survivor from Megaton, becoming ghoulified. If the Wasteland Survival Guide quest is started, or she is met and gives the armored Vault 101 jumpsuit to the Lone Wanderer, she can be found at the Megaton ruins. If the quest was not started, she can instead be found in the Underworld, whereupon she will claim she was 'out-of-town' during the detonation and is apparently unaware of her recent affliction.[2] Depending on how the Lone Wanderer breaks the news to her she will either fall into despair or remain positive.
- Convincing her that writing The Wasteland Survival Guide is a bad idea will result in a 30% discount on her wares and an increase of her Repair skill from 24 to 54 (72% condition). Karma will be lost but the Dream Crusher perk is given to the player character. This will also make her considerably less positive and gloomier in her interactions.
Merchant items[]
Ammo | Armor and clothing | Drugs and edibles | Weapons | Misc |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
Inventory[]
- Fallout 3
Apparel | Weapon | Other items | On death |
---|---|---|---|
RobCo jumpsuit | Mentats Abraxo cleaner 10mm rounds |
Craterside supply key Moira's terminal password |
- Fallout Shelter
Notes[]
- Moira's voice does not gain the distinctive raspy tone that most other ghouls receive when they are ghoulified, instead remaining unchanged.
- If the Lone Wanderer blows up Megaton, Moira will not fast travel to Underworld, but instead walk there directly in real-time. This makes it extremely likely for her to be killed on the trip there due to a combination of several threats on the way, a less-than-straightforward route, and Moira's observed unwillingness to defend herself.
- Even though Carol in Underworld says it takes months or years to become ghoulified, the fallout from the detonation of the Megaton bomb will turn Moira into a ghoul in a minimum of a few days.
- If her terminal is hacked, her current experiments can be tracked.
- Moira wonders if mole rats can be tamed and domesticated. Although she never learns if this is true during the game, Pumpkin in Fallout 3 and Snuffles in Fallout: New Vegas prove that the species can at least be tamed.
- Moira will not have a shop in Underworld, although she will still sell things and offer the Wasteland Survival Guide quest.
- Despite it being stated that she was born in Canterbury Commons, no record of her or her family can be found there.
- Moira has a second repellent stick in her desk upstairs.
- Her inventory replenishes on Monday and Wednesday.
- Her corpse appears floating in the swamp in Point Lookout in the sacred bog during the hallucination.
- Even if the Lone Wanderer tells her they blew up the town, she will not become hostile or even angry.
- With Broken Steel installed, if one had previously entered the Holy Light Monastery, it is possible for Moira to be killed by the ghoulified Mother Curie III.
Notable quotes[]
- "Take care. It's a big Wasteland -- but you know that better than me, right?"
- "Could you come back in an hour or two? Even geniuses need their sleep."
- "Good luck with that research!"
- "Hey! Book's coming along well, thanks to you. What's next?"
- "Keep up the great research, super-assistant!"
- "Okay, yes, they're jerks. But if they're intelligent, we can get them to stop. And train them. Maybe we could even ride them! That'd be fun!" – on mirelurks
- "Oh? Feeling a bit under the weather? Or a bit over the Geiger-counter?"
- "Huh. Did you know the human body can survive without the stomach or spleen? Oh, what's up?"
- "No. It's like... Did you ever try to put a broken piece of glass back together? Even if the pieces fit, you can't make it whole again the way it was. But if you're clever, you can still use the pieces to make other useful things. Maybe even something wonderful, like a mosaic. Well, the world broke just like glass. And everyone's trying to put it back together like it was, but it'll never come together the same way."
Appearances[]
Moira Brown appears in Fallout 3, Fallout Shelter, Fallout: Wasteland Warfare, and Fallout Shelter Online.
Behind the scenes[]
- During development, Moira was previously named Lea[3] Marsh before it was changed. When asked about it in 2023, quest designer Fred Zeleny could not recall why exactly her name needed to be changed, but it occurred early on in development and was an easy change.[Non-game 3]
- Upon Megaton's destruction and encountering Moira after she becomes a ghoul, the Lone Wanderer can tell her "Don't take this the wrong way, but you got ugly real fast."[4] This is a quote from the 1992 film Army of Darkness.
- In one of the latter chapter 8 quests in Fallout Shelter Online, set about 10 years after the events of Fallout 3, Moira is at the Commonwealth and is trying to fulfill her mission to tame and ride mirelurks, but she accidentally traps herself in their lair. She introduces herself as coming from the Capital. One of the team members recognizes her as the author of the Wasteland Survival Guide and claims to be her biggest fan. She agrees to sign their copy. After, she joins the player's Vault and shows interest in studying its "ecological environment"; this is only from a story perspective however, as she still needs to be recruited gameplay-wise. Fallout Shelter Online was developed by an outside studio (Shengqu Games) and has not been placed into the main continuity.
Bugs[]
- To avoid this glitch, don't complete the "Wasteland Survival Guide", while doing that quest, complete "The power of the atom" quest and she while greeting you in Megaton and after some dialogue, she will start traveling to the Museum of History (Underworld).
Occasionally, Moira will not move from the Megaton ruins after the town has been destroyed if you have completed the quest Wasteland Survival Guide. She will stand in front of Megaton and can only repair. This will happen also if you complete the quest by depressing her. She will only say usual things like "Oh good. Someone who doesn't have a brahmin to wash up. That's a nice change." [verified]
- Even when Moira is dead, opening her Craterside Supplies container, and stealing an item, she replies "Hey, that's valuable junk!", despite being dead. [verified]
- In a very rare occasion if you save, kill Moira, and reload the save she will not be there and therefore rendered completely lost. [verified]
- Bloody Mess perk one could find (if one had detonated the atom bomb) Moira Brown floating outside Megaton in her 'corpse' pieces and any interaction with the Lone Wanderer is ignored. [verified] In a very rare occasion when Moira dies from an explosive or the
- Attempting to trade with Moira Brown after she closes Craterside Supply each night results in her saying she's closed for the night. However, if told "I'm looking to buy some things for my house," and then "Okay, let me take a look at your stuff," she can be traded with as if her store was open. [verified]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ The Lone Wanderer: "Where'd you get the Vault Suit back there?"
Moira Brown: "I'm pretty sure I remember a girl coming into town with that about ten, twelve years ago. She didn't know a thing about the Wastes, and I knew she'd get herself hurt without some sort of protection. So I offered to armor her vault suit. Never saw her again -- probably died out there, poor thing. In a way, she gave me the idea to write this book. It's yours, if you help."
(Moira Brown's dialogue) - ↑ The Lone Wanderer: "The bomb in town just blew up. You're lucky to be alive!"
Moira Brown: "Wow! Who would have thought a town built around a bomb could be so dangerous?Honestly surprised, and naive as hell. Good thing I wasn't in town at the time, huh? Man, that could have really done a number on me!"
(Moira Brown's dialogue) - ↑ MS03script from GECK: Tracks when Lea dies to end quest...
...basic task completed (can return to Lea)...
;bonus task completed (must return to Lea)
... tracks if the player's speech challenge is attempting to convince Lea to stop writing the book... - ↑ The Lone Wanderer: "Moira, don't take this the wrong way, but you got ugly real fast."
Moira Brown: "Don't be silly, I just got some gunk on my face after the explosion... but that doesn't explain why it peels away in strips. And oozes. You know what? I think I'm turning into a Ghoul! This is fascinating! Now, where can a Ghoul like me go to study these effects in peace?"
(Moira Brown's dialogue)
Non-game
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.86: "Moira Brown
A self-styled inventor, 24-year-old Moira grew up in the trading community of Canterbury Commons with an uncommon curiosity about the world. She's read almost every book that's come through the town. Although her reading has taught her a wide variety of useful knowledge, she has nearly no actual experience with the world, so she doesn't always understand how it can be applied outside of her workshop. After a recent accident with a domesticated Centaur, Moira was inspired to write a book to help others survive in the Wasteland and avoid similar dangers. She just needs someone with real experience to test out her ideas and give her some real-world insight into life in the wastes."
(Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Afterword
- ↑ Fred Zeleny on Tumblr
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