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My card - pass it on if you see any good acts out there.Tommy Torini

Talent Pool is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas. The quest begins with Tommy Torini asking the Courier to gather some new talent for the Tops.

Quick walkthrough[]

Side Quest: Talent Pool 
Talk to Tommy Torini about recruiting new acts. 
Accept Tommy's 3% commission offer. 
Negotiate a 5% cut (Barter 50). 
Note: The following can be completed in any order, but one must return to Tommy after recruiting each act before recruiting the next. 
Recruit The Lonesome Drifter, found beneath the road sign just northeast of El Dorado Dry Lake
Recruit Hadrian from the Atomic Wrangler Casino
Recruit Billy Knight from outside of The Tops
Recruit Bruce Isaac, living at the Dino Dee-lite Motel in Novac
Optional: Ask The Drifter for a finders fee (Barter 50). 
Get Hadrian released from his contract using Barter (50), Speech (50) or pay James Garret 150 caps (100 caps Barter 50). 
Optional: Tell Billy he's selling himself short (Barter 25). 
Optional Reward: Mysterious Magnum & 18 .44 Magnum rounds
Reward: 100/166 caps & The Strip fame. 
Reward: 125/210 caps & The Strip fame. 
Reward: 45/75 caps, or 90/150 caps (Barter 25) & The Strip fame. 
Reward: 150/250 caps & The Strip fame. 
Reward: 550 XP and Achievement / Trophy 

Detailed walkthrough[]

  • Talk to Swank at The Tops about earning some more caps. He will suggest that you talk with Tommy Torini in the Aces.
  • Tommy Torini at The Aces, located in the Tops casino, needs more performers to get a bigger audience. For each one you bring back, you get 3% of the cut (or 5% with a 50 Barter check) and fame within the Strip.

Recruit these characters one by one and return to Tommy Torini after each recruitment:

  • The Human Comedian: Billy Knight. He is found just outside The Tops casino by the gate leading to the Lucky 38. You can give Billy some confidence to haggle for his worth with Tommy (Requires a 25 Barter check), netting you 90 caps instead of 45. Also, passing a 25 Barter check on Tommy Torini will get you 90 caps instead of 45. If you do both challenges, you will get 150 caps.
  • The Ghoul Comedian: Hadrian. He is found inside Atomic Wrangler Casino, and you must convince James Garret to release him from his contract. He can be found on the first floor and upstairs as well during certain times of the day; you will have to wait around for Hadrian to return to the stage at 2 PM to activate the speech to release him from his contract. You first have the option of a 50 Barter check or a 50 Speech check (allowing you to not pay any caps) when talking to James. If you select to pay him, you can try to pass a 35 Barter check to lower the caps to 100, instead of 150 caps. You could also convince him to lower the price to 75 caps if you have done favors for the Garrets. With the Terrifying Presence perk, you can intimidate him into letting Hadrian go for no cost. You can also just kill Garret and then talk to Hadrian. Also, if you completed the quest Wang Dang Atomic Tango, the option to release him is there.
  • The Musician: The Lonesome Drifter. He is found north of El Dorado Dry Lake next to a Sunset Sarsaparilla billboard. Aside from recruiting him, passing a 50 Barter check will enable the player to get the Mysterious Magnum from him.
  • The Singer: Bruce Isaac. He is found in his room on the second floor of the Dino Dee-lite Motel in Novac.
  • Return to Tommy Torini after recruiting each performer to collect your 3% (or 5%) cut.

Quest stages[]

StageStatusDescription
10 Find Entertainers for the Tops (4 remaining).
20 Talk to Tommy Torini at the Tops.
25 Find Entertainers for the Tops (3 remaining).
30 Talk to Tommy Torini at the Tops.
35 Find Entertainers for the Tops (2 remaining).
40 Talk to Tommy Torini at the Tops.
45 Find Entertainers for the Tops (1 remaining).
50 Talk to Tommy Torini at the Tops.
65 Convince James Garret to let Hadrian out of his contract.
70Quest finishedTell Hadrian you've gotten him out of his contract.

Notes[]

  • If any of the potential performers listed above are killed prior to starting the quest, the dialogue option with Tommy Torini to help him recruit performers will not appear, and the quest cannot be started. The player can only select "Sounds great." after he tells you what entertainment the theater offers / tells you that he's running thin on acts. Swank will still refer you to the Aces theater if you ask him about earning some extra caps. A "Quest Failed:" Pop-up may or may not appear if a potential performer is killed prior to initiating the quest.
  • As each act is recruited, their name and talent appear on the marquee of the Tops sign outside of the casino. Because Billy Knight stands right in front of the sign, the player can observe that his name goes up immediately after he is given Torrini's business card, before he even sets foot in The Tops. If one goes into the casino at the time stated, you can watch the acts. To hear them you have to turn your volume WAY up as it plays through a speaker and is not considered by the game as a character voice.
  • You can recruit all of the acts without returning for your payment or XP or fame each time. Simply note where the recruits are and do all four, then return to The Tops. Some users may have reported a loss of XP, cash, or may have encountered bugs as listed below, but this was not encountered at all during the two playthroughs that tested this. The same amount of fame, XP and cash were awarded both times, identical to what had been gained by doing each recruit separately.
  • Having a negative reputation at the Tops (e.g. Killing everyone after Ring-a-Ding-Ding!) will prevent you from starting/completing the quest, because Tommy will be aggressive when you enter the Theatre.
  • Upon completion of the quest, Bruce Isaac will perform "Cobwebs and Rainbows" and The Lonesome Drifter will perform "Streets of New Reno", "New Vegas Valley", and "Home on the Wastes". All of the songs were adapted and performed by J.E. Sawyer, the lead designer and project director of Fallout: New Vegas. The guitar segments for the song were performed by Nathaniel Chapman and James Melilli.[1]
    Sawyer later elaborated further on the recording process for Talent Pool:
There's not much of a backstory to Streets of New Reno. We needed a small number of songs for the performers at the Tops after Talent Pool was completed but we hadn’t actually decided on/licensed anything. We realized this fairly late on the project and didn’t have many options, so I suggested writing variants of folk songs to be performed with James Melilli and Nathaniel Chapman on guitar. That’s what we would up doing, later adding a variant of Cobwebs and Rainbows to a low-cost instrumental track we found somewhere.Joshua Sawyer's tumblr

He also elaborated on the writing process:

Hey I recently beat Fallout: New Vegas and i saw u wrote some songs in the game in the ending credits. and i was wondering what it was like making those songs and also how it was like being a lead designer on one of the best games ever made?!
Joshua Sawyer: We had to make the songs pretty quickly toward the end of the project. For the guitar songs, the guitarists (Nathaniel Chapman and James Melilli) had to learn the pieces in an hour or two. There wasn't any time to transpose anything, so I had to sing the songs in whatever key we had guitar tabs for. For side content, I think they turned out pretty well.
Joshua Sawyer

Behind the scenes[]

This quest was designed by Travis Stout.[2]

Bugs[]

  • PCPC Xbox 360Xbox 360 After telling Hadrian you will try and get him out of his contract talk to James Garret and offer to pay for him, pass a Barter check of 35 to reduce the amount for him and then tell him you'll pay later, this Barter check never goes away. Keep doing the check and then say you'll pay later. [verified]
  • PCPC Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Xbox 360Xbox 360 After recruiting Isaac, going back to New Vegas may cause the Strip North Gate to become locked. Killing one of the Securitron gatekeepers and looting its key will allow re-entrance. [verified]
  • Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Tommy Torini and his crew may attack Rex if he is in your party. [verified]
  • Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Xbox 360Xbox 360 If you get Bruce Isaac he will never move from the stage and cause all the other acts to end. [verified]
    • Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 FIX: Recruit Isaac in the end, then go somewhere but not to the Tops, do something (drink water from "Goodsprings Source" as an example) then go to the Tops close to 22pm, watch the act that performs at 22pm then wait 'till 15pm the next day (using the "wait" option, wait 'till 16 and check if all the acts perform as normal, maybe the npc of the last act didn't appear in the scenario again but if you wait for an hour using the "wait" option, he will appear sitting where he was the previous night. Save before recruiting Isaac to avoid the bug in case the fix don't work. This works on "Hardcore mode".
  • Failing the quest midway through will render the promotion sign outside of the Tops incorrect, advertising for acts which you have not successfully hired, or are dead. [verified]
  • Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Xbox 360Xbox 360 Occasionally, after recruiting The Lonesome Drifter, the quest will glitch and either allow you to proceed to talk to Tommy Torini prematurely or only require you to recruit one more Entertainer. [verified]
  • Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Prior to a patch, you have to recruit each performer individually, and return to Tommy Torini before you can hand out another card.[verified]
  • Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 When you enter the Ace, Tommy Torini will not give you the quest, but repeating speech options. [verified]
  • Xbox 360Xbox 360 After acquiring the quest, you may leave the aces only to have a black screen appear and the game freeze. [verified]
  • PCPC Xbox 360Xbox 360 Tommy Torini may appear on stage without moving and speaking to him may not work. If your reputation is sufficiently high you can hit him to get him moving, then put away your hands and he will forgive you. [verified]
  • Xbox 360Xbox 360 If you tell Bruce Isaac that Tommy Torini wants to hire him and leave his house quickly after he does, he gets stuck in the wall. This does not affect the quest in any way other than that he won't appear at the Tops; you still may claim a reward [verified]

Gallery[]

References[]

Main quests
Act 1Ain't That a Kick in the Head · Back in the Saddle · By a Campfire on the Trail · They Went That-a-Way · Ring-a-Ding-Ding!
Act 2Wild Card (Wild Card: Ace in the Hole, Change in Management, You and What Army?, Side Bets, Finishing Touches) · The House Always Wins (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII) · Render Unto Caesar · Et Tumor, Brute? · Things That Go Boom · Kings' Gambit · For the Republic, Part 2 · You'll Know It When It Happens/Arizona Killer
Act 3No Gods, No Masters · All or Nothing · Veni, Vidi, Vici · Eureka!
Side quests
New California RepublicAnywhere I Wander · Back in Your Own Backyard · Bitter Springs Infirmary Blues · Boulder City Showdown · Can You Find it in Your Heart? · Climb Ev'ry Mountain · Don't Tread on the Bear! · Emergency Radio · Eye for an Eye · Flags of Our Foul-Ups · Hard Luck Blues · I Don't Hurt Anymore · I Put a Spell on You · Keep Your Eyes on the Prize · Medical Mystery · No, Not Much · Pressing Matters · Restoring Hope · Return to Sender · That Lucky Old Sun · The White Wash · There Stands the Grass · Three-Card Bounty · We Will All Go Together · You Can Depend on Me
Caesar's LegionBeware the Wrath of Caesar! · Caesar's Favor · Caesar's Foe · Caesar's Hire · Cold, Cold Heart · I Hear You Knocking · The Finger of Suspicion · We Are Legion
The StripBeyond the Beef · Bye Bye Love · Classic Inspiration · How Little We Know · Pheeble Will · Talent Pool · The House Has Gone Bust! · The Moon Comes Over the Tower
Freeside & Outer VegasBirds of a Feather · Bleed Me Dry · Debt Collector · G.I. Blues · High Times · Someone to Watch Over Me · The Coyotes · Wang Dang Atomic Tango
BoomersAnt Misbehavin' · Sunshine Boogie · Volare! · Young Hearts
Great KhansAba Daba Honeymoon · Cry Me a River · Don't Make a Beggar of Me · Oh My Papa
Powder GangBooted · I Fought the Law · Run Goodsprings Run · Why Can't We Be Friends?
Brotherhood of SteelEyesight to the Blind · Still in the Dark · Tend to Your Business
OtherCome Fly With Me · Crazy, Crazy, Crazy · Ghost Town Gunfight · Guess Who I Saw Today · Left My Heart · My Kind of Town · The Legend of the Star and A Valuable Lesson · Unfriendly Persuasion · Wheel of Fortune
Companion questsED-E My Love · For Auld Lang Syne · Heartache by the Number · I Could Make You Care · I Forgot to Remember to Forget · Nothin' But a Hound Dog · One for My Baby
Unmarked questsA Bit of Slap and Tickle · A Final Plan for Esteban · Access Powers · All Fired Up! · An Ear to the Ground · Andy and Charlie · Arachnophobia · Arizona Scavenger · Barton the Fink · Bear Necessities · Big Winner (Atomic Wrangler, The Gomorrah, The Tops, Ultra-Luxe, Vikki & Vance) · Bounty Killer (I, II) · Brotherhood Bond (I, II) · Caching in at the Cove · Cajoling a Cudgel · Claws Mended · Claws Out · Dealing with Contreras · Defacing the Humble Stone · Democracy Inaction · Don't Poke at the Bear! · Eddie's Emissary · Exhumin' Nature · Fight Night · Flogging a Dead Corpse · Friend of the Followers · Gland for Some Home Cooking · Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger · Hat's Entertainment · Help for Halford · Hidden Valley computer virus · Highway to the Danger Zone (I, II) · Honorary Rocketeer · I Love Bananas · Iron and Stealing · Keith's Caravan Charade · Laurifer Gladiator · Lenk's Bad Debts · Lily and Leo · Long-Term Care · Malleable Mini Boomer Minds · Maud's Muggers · Meeting an Equal · Missing a Few Missiles · Most Wanted · Not Worth a Hill of Corn and Beans · Old School Ghoul · A Pair of Dead Desperados (I, II) · Papers, Please · Pistol Packing · Playing on the Old Joana · Powder to the People · Power to the People · Razzle Dazzle! · Reach for the Sky, Mister! · Rest and Resupply · Ringo's Caravan Rules · Rotface's Loose Lips · Saving (or Savaging) Sergeant Teddy · The Screams of Brahmin · Silus Treatment · Short-Term Treatment · Smooth-Talking Criminal · The Star Showdown · Strategic Nuclear Moose · Straus Calls · Strip Search · Suits You, Sarah · Tags of Our Fallen · A Team of Moronic Mercenaries · Thought for the Day · Tourist Traipse · Trudy's Radio Repair · A Trusted Aide · Useless Baubles or Fancy Trinkets? · We Must Stop Beating Like This · We Must Stop Meeting Like This · Wind-Brahmin Wrangler · You Gotta Break Out a Few Eggs · You Make Me Feel Like a Woman
Add-on quests
Dead MoneySierra Madre Grand Opening! · Find Collars (8: "Dog", 12: Christine, 14: Dean Domino) · Fires in the Sky · Strike Up the Band · Mixed Signals · Trigger the Gala Event · Put the Beast Down · Last Luxuries · Curtain Call at the Tampico · Heist of the Centuries · Big Winner, Sierra Madre
Honest HeartsA Family Affair · Arrival at Zion · Bighorners of the Eastern Virgin · Chaos in Zion · Civilized Man's Burden · Crush the White Legs · Deliverer of Sorrows  · Departing Paradise · Flight from Zion · Gathering Storms · Gone Fishin' · Happy Trails Expedition · Prisoners of War · Retake the Bridge · River Monsters · Rite of Passage · Roadside Attraction · Sanctity of the Dead · The Advance Scouts  · The Treacherous Road · The Grand Staircase · Tourist Trap
Old World BluesAll My Friends Have Off Switches · A Brain's Best Friend · Coming Out of Her Shell · Field Research · He Came... And Went · Influencing People · Midnight Science Fiction Feature! · Old World Blues · On the Same Wavelength · Picking Your Brains · Project X-13 · Sonic Emitter Upgrade · Welcome to the Big Empty · What's in a Name? · When Visitors Attack! · X-2: Strange Transmissions! · X-8 Data Retrieval Test · X-8: High School Horror! · X-13: Attack of the Infiltrator!
Lonesome RoadThe Reunion · The Silo · The Job · The Launch · The Tunnelers · The Divide · The Courier · The End · The Apocalypse
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