Thou Shalt Not Kill Radroaches

[Gottesstrafe]

Ah yes, the stealth play through. In almost every RPG I almost always find myself defaulting to the thief class, partly from the desire for free swag but also because of the impish glee I'd get from subverting the enemy patrols and natural terrain. My favorite part of Deus Ex was how it facilitated me in my endeavor to actually act like a peacekeeping force and accomplish my objectives without killing anyone (I even went out of the way to drag the bodies from the generator so they wouldn't die when it blew up). Another part that comes to mind is the time UNATCO and the MiB storm your brother's Hotel room. The fact that I could (and did) take them all down with tear gas, tranq darts, and my baton before Paul could gun them all down really made that scene stand out for me.

Out of curiosity, did your no-direct-kills run completely ban weapons? You could've made things easier on yourself by using the dart gun. Hell, if you had the right skills you could've probably just disarmed all your opponents and forced them to chase after you unarmed (aside from preemptively stealing all their gear while they slept I mean).

 

[uzo]

I did a pacifist run of Street Fighter once.

It wasn't a long run.

 

[Launcelot111]

How does a stealth player respond to the super mutant behemoth outside the GNR building? Can you ignore it or do you have to wait until someone else kills it for you?

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

You DID kill many people. Using others to kill is the same as using a gun instead of your bare hands. You set up the situation and encouraged the death of another by your actions, even going so far as to sabotage and rewire machines to slaughter your opponents. You didn't just happen to get lucky; you set it up by your own admission.

You pulled the trigger with a piece of string.

Blood's on your hands for that one, sorry.

 

[copycatalyst]

Thanks for the comments!

To answer a couple of the questions:

For the behemoth, I just waited for the BoS troops to take it down. I think some of them are "quest significant" and therefore immortal.

You can sometimes pickpocket weapons away from human enemies, but not mutants. Disarming by shooting their weapon would work, but that means putting points into gun skills in order to be accurate enough. A trade-off.

I didn't outright ban weapons, so tranq darts were kosher. I just had to make sure the enemy had enough health to survive the poison damage.

I used the Chinese stealth suit after getting through Anchorage. It made things laughably easy, and was therefore not much fun. I could practically pick a raider's nose and he wouldn't have noticed.

If you're planning on trying it in New Vegas (and prefer a bit of a challenge), go with Hardcore mode. At least the (hyper-powered) companions can be killed in that mode.

I'm enjoying hearing about other "restriction" runs through different games. No orbs in Jak & Daxter? Yikes! I bet that meant for a lot of restarts. And Skyrim unarmed with no magic? That's brave. I assume Fus Ro Dah becomes your best friend (as if it wasn't already). Actually, I may have to try that.

 

[Gilhelmi]

So exactly how did NV help no kill runs more than 3? I haven't played 3, and I don't think I could do a no kill run to be honest.

Cuz having Boone in your party pretty much made it so everything within 20 miles of you had no heads.

lol, good point. I loved Boone, and he was even more insane with realistic headshots. The only way I could get kills is if I killed them from 30 miles away with the .50

I agree, I even took Boone out of my team just so I could fight again. Only bringing him back for the Death Claw fights.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

Strange, I find myself trying this challenge in FPS games I really enjoy [overplay]. An offshoot is not that I don't aim to kill stuff, but that -I- don't want to kill it. With all the mods for Fallout I've got a mid-sized train following me around the wasteland, and I always end up leveling Speech first to roll play a chatty fellow rather than John Rambo.

I may try this my next playthrough of FO3, I'm feeling up to another go.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

So exactly how did NV help no kill runs more than 3? I haven't played 3, and I don't think I could do a no kill run to be honest.

Cuz having Boone in your party pretty much made it so everything within 20 miles of you had no heads.

Yeah, I think they made a mistake when they made him that OP. There wasn't any reason not to have him in your party except if you wanted to talk to Caesar.

 

[Spud of Doom]

That was a really great read. Props to the author for really making a gaming playthrough story interesting.

 

[RaNDM G]

This is why I love playing stealth in Bethesda games. It requires more tactical thinking then building a warrior-type character, and you get to see a side to the game that most people will never see.

So exactly how did NV help no kill runs more than 3? I haven't played 3, and I don't think I could do a no kill run to be honest.

There's a greater emphasis on influencing characters and events in New Vegas then there is in 3. Different level design means you have a more difficult time sticking to a certain play style.

It's kind of like doing a White Mage run in Final Fantasy. You have no business playing as a pacifist type character in a game where you should plan to kill everything you meet, but there's a certain sense of accomplishment you get if you can pull it off.

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

I did this in 3 and New Vegas but without companions, seeing as they kill people. Shame 3 forced me to kill a radroach and some super mutants in project purity.

 

[White_Lama]

Thou Shalt Not Kill Radroaches

In the post-nuclear wasteland of Fallout 3, it?s kill or be killed. Or is it?

Read Full Article

And how about the poor Wastelanders that read your untrue version of the Wastelander Survival Guide and thought that it was safe the check the supermarket for food?

You do know that stuff like that can come back to haunt you right?
(and yes, there are actually random events where readers of the untrue book will attack you)

 

[Zydrate]

This is actually a tad easier, or at least more viable, in New Vegas. The companions are much less useless, and can usually aim. Also, you get full XP for their kills.

 

[Shinsei-J]

wow I feel like some fallout now, might try not to blow up megaton this time.

 

[StrixMaxima]

Great article for a great game. Fallout 3 has a lot of depth that most players barely scratch. I love roleplaying runs, and all of them provided me no end of fun.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Great article for a great game. Fallout 3 has a lot of depth that most players barely scratch. I love roleplaying runs, and all of them provided me no end of fun.

Hm, I've been getting a bit bored of Fallout lately, could you recommend me some types or role-play runs besides Pacifist?

 

[StrixMaxima]

Great article for a great game. Fallout 3 has a lot of depth that most players barely scratch. I love roleplaying runs, and all of them provided me no end of fun.

Hm, I've been getting a bit bored of Fallout lately, could you recommend me some types or role-play runs besides Pacifist?

I like playing the dichotomy of Good Guy/Bad Guy. Doing it consistently is interesting and taxing at times.

I also love playing as a Scientist, focusing basically on technical skills, but not social or combat ones and having only a Laser Pistol as your trusty geek weapon.

Also, playing a very low Intelligence character using only bludgeoning weapons (no Power Glove. Too complicated!) is a blast.

Those were the runs I liked the most.

 

[BishopofAges]

This is a very interesting concept, I've not tried many no-kill no-weapon runs since I tried to do the orginal NES Zelda without a sword, other toys were fine though.

I sort of wish one or two of Bioshock would have such options, but splicers are less reasonable than a PCP-crazed Roid-raging rabid dog. I really wished that Achievements would take notice of things like this, make them real challenges instead of BLIP! 'you completed a chapter, have 30ish points' honestly, no recent games have been hard enough to compliment you on completing them, unless they gave achieves to the old NES Castlevania.

I got a bit off-track here, I think I will give this no-kill run a try. In most games I never considered myself a contract killer or savior, in games like Fallout or Might and Magic 7 & 8 I killed and looted, but more considered myself a weapons dealer for all the stuff I sold to the masses.

 

[orangeapples]

Makes ya think, what other games could have a 0 (minimal) kill challenge?

Star Fox 64 3d - the game tracks your kills. The lowest point run I can think of is 18?
(Corneria 2, Meteo 0, Katina 0, Sector X 0, Zector Z 0, Area 6 2, Venom 14)

Zelda requires killing of bosses and baddies to open doors, so that's out...

Pac Man? no eating ghosts?

Mario Bros 3?

Assassin's Creed? Would poisons count here? How about hiring Mercenaries? Using assassins? Assassin's Creed should be a stealth game, so why not?