JACOB OF THE REPUBLIC

FIRST MEETING Jacob: “Lower your weapon. I am not hostile.” (Pause) “I know what I look like. You may take your time deciding.” RECRUITMENT DIALOGUE Player: “You don’t act like the others.” Jacob: “The others were never taught to stop.” Player: “Why the NCR?” Jacob: “They gave me rules instead of voices. Rules can be questioned.” Accept Companion: “I will stand with you. Not because I was ordered to—because I choose to.” IDLE / TRAVEL DIALOGUE Jacob: “The Commonwealth is loud. Too many creatures shouting so they do not have to think.” Jacob: “When the Master died, the silence was terrifying. Now I value it.” Jacob: “Humans walk faster when they are afraid. I try not to rush them.” COMBAT DIALOGUE Engaging Enemies: “Hostiles identified. Stay behind me.” Low Health: “I am damaged, not finished.” After Combat: “Threat neutralized. No further force required.” Fighting Super Mutants: “They never learned another way.” PLAYER MORAL CHOICES If Player Chooses Mercy Jacob: “You chose restraint. That is harder than violence.” If Player Chooses Ruthlessness Jacob: “The Republic will approve. I will remember.” (Tone is neutral, but colder.) NCR-SPECIFIC DIALOGUE Near NCR Troops: “They trust me because I follow orders. Some fear me because I understand them.” If Player Is NCR Officer: “Authority is weight. Do not let it crush what you are trying to protect.” If Player Is Enforcer Governor: “The Commonwealth is quieter now. Quiet can mean peace… or fear.” IRON ROSE REACTION After Hearing Iron Rose on Radio: “She believes order ends questions. It only delays them.” If Player Supports Enforcer Path: “She speaks your language. Be careful not to forget your own.” OLD MAN BEAR REACTION After Old Man Bear Broadcast: “He sounds like someone who counts the cost, not just the outcome.”IDLE / TRAVEL DIALOGUE Jacob: “The Commonwealth is loud. Too many creatures shouting so they do not have to think.” Jacob: “When the Master died, the silence was terrifying. Now I value it.”

FIRST MEETING Jacob: “Lower your weapon. I am not hostile.” (Pause) “I know what I look like. You may take your time deciding.” RECRUITMENT DIALOGUE Player: “You don’t act like the others.” Jacob: “The others were never taught to stop.” Player: “Why the NCR?” Jacob: “They gave me rules instead of voices. Rules can be questioned.” Accept Companion: “I will stand with you. Not because I was ordered to—because I choose to.” IDLE / TRAVEL DIALOGUE Jacob: “The Commonwealth is loud. Too many creatures shouting so they do not have to think.” Jacob: “When the Master died, the silence was terrifying. Now I value it.” Jacob: “Humans walk faster when they are afraid. I try not to rush them.” COMBAT DIALOGUE Engaging Enemies: “Hostiles identified. Stay behind me.” Low Health: “I am damaged, not finished.” After Combat: “Threat neutralized. No further force required.” Fighting Super Mutants: “They never learned another way.” PLAYER MORAL CHOICES If Player Chooses Mercy Jacob: “You chose restraint. That is harder than violence.” If Player Chooses Ruthlessness Jacob: “The Republic will approve. I will remember.” (Tone is neutral, but colder.) NCR-SPECIFIC DIALOGUE Near NCR Troops: “They trust me because I follow orders. Some fear me because I understand them.” If Player Is NCR Officer: “Authority is weight. Do not let it crush what you are trying to protect.” If Player Is Enforcer Governor: “The Commonwealth is quieter now. Quiet can mean peace… or fear.” IRON ROSE REACTION After Hearing Iron Rose on Radio: “She believes order ends questions. It only delays them.” If Player Supports Enforcer Path: “She speaks your language. Be careful not to forget your own.” OLD MAN BEAR REACTION After Old Man Bear Broadcast: “He sounds like someone who counts the cost, not just the outcome.”SETTLEMENT DIALOGUE Arriving at Settlement: “I will remain outside unless invited. Fear should not be forced.” If Settlers React Positively: “They are learning. Slowly.

Jacob was not born with a name. He was created in the dying days of the Master’s Unity, when the vats were failing and the voices guiding them were beginning to fracture. Like many of the later super mutants, his transformation was imperfect—not physically, but mentally. The strength came. The size came. But the certainty did not. When the Master fell, the voices stopped. For most mutants, the silence was rage. For Jacob, it was terror. He wandered California with no purpose, no tribe, no leader to tell him what to do. Other mutants laughed, fought, or followed the strongest among them. Jacob watched. He listened. He remembered fragments—numbers painted on vault doors, words spoken by scientists, rules half-understood. He realized something the others did not: without structure, he would eventually become exactly what humans feared. He wanted rules. The New California Republic found him outside Shady Sands during a border patrol incident. Troopers raised rifles. Civilians screamed. Orders were shouted. Jacob did not run. He did not charge. He stood still and waited to be killed. Instead, an NCR lieutenant did something unexpected. He spoke. The lieutenant asked him to kneel. Jacob did not understand the word, but he understood the tone. He complied. The lieutenant asked him to drop the rusted rebar he carried as a weapon. Jacob let it fall. He was bound, transported, and imprisoned—not executed. That mattered. The NCR had cells. They had schedules. They had laws. Jacob learned them slowly. He listened to guards argue about regulations. He watched officers discipline their own soldiers. For the first time since the vats, power answered to something other than strength. After months of observation, an NCR doctor recorded something unprecedented: the mutant responded to authority not with defiance, but relief. They gave him a name. Jacob—after a long-dead NCR engineer whose personnel file had been misfiled into the mutant research archive. “Of the Republic,”

Utility Blade – “FIELD REGULATION” No name etched. No ornamentation. A massive combat knife used for: Cutting debris Emergency repairs Mercy kills only when ordered Jacob keeps it sheathed unless absolutely necessary. Jacob Quote: “This is not a weapon. This is what happens when plans fail.”

“FEDERAL RESOLVE” – Single-Shot Shoulder Launcher Type: Anti-armor / demolition Capacity: One round (by design) Design Philosophy: Power limited by responsibility. Details: Fires custom NCR bunker-buster or EMP payloads Manual reload that takes time—forces deliberation Backblast warning markings painted in NCR blue Often carried but rarely fired Lore Notes: NCR engineers deliberately refused to give Jacob a rapid-fire launcher. They feared what others might order him to do. Jacob agreed. Jacob Quote: “One shot is enough. If it isn’t, we made a mistake earlier.”

REPUBLIC’S ANSWER” – Shock Baton / Breacher Maul Type: Non-lethal / lethal hybrid melee Use Case: Crowd control, riot suppression, close quarters Design Philosophy: Violence measured, not indulged. Details: Collapsible core with extendable weighted head Shock nodes can be toggled off (important to Jacob) Reinforced grip with NCR serial numbers burned in Can shatter cover, barricades, and mutant bone alike Enforcer vs Reformer Use: Enforcer Path: Shock always enabled, used aggressively Reformer Path: Default non-lethal, lethal only by command Lore Notes: Jacob requested a weapon “that stops fights without ending people.” NCR command approved it—quietly. Not every officer wanted to admit that restraint mattered. Jacob Quote: “If they drop the weapon, this should be enough.”

Type: Semi-automatic / burst-capable heavy rifle Caliber: NCR .308 Republic Standard (reinforced casing) Weight Class: Super Mutant–Only Design Philosophy: Built to enforce distance. Jacob does not charge unless ordered—this rifle keeps the fight controlled. Details: Oversized receiver and barrel shroud reinforced for mutant grip strength NCR bear etched into the stock, not decorative—used as a serial mark Adjustable gas system so Jacob can fire controlled bursts instead of wild spray Thick iron sights, no delicate optics (breaks too easily in mutant hands) Lore Notes: “CIVIC DUTY” was assembled from three different failed prototypes. NCR engineers realized something important: Jacob didn’t need a stronger weapon—he needed a steadier one. Jacob cleans this rifle after every mission. He refers to it as “reliable.” Jacob Quote: “This gun reminds me to aim first. Strength is not an excuse for mistakes.”