The Vipers are an aggressive tribe[1] of raiders known for their use of poisoned arrows and knives[2] that appear in Fallout: New Vegas and in the Fallout: The Roleplaying Game expansion Royal Flush.
Background[edit]
Originating from Vault 15, the Vipers were founded by a man named Jonathan Faust, who bound the group of former Vault Dwellers together after they had a quasi-religious experience involving a pit of vipers;[1] resulting in their worship of snakes[3], their "mythological bond" with the viper,[1] and the foundation of their religion, The Winding Way of the Great Snake. "The Way" involves a caste system of priests and warriors, rites and rituals that use viper venom in order to evoke visions and perform initiations,[1] and their capricious deity, the Great Snake or "God of the Pit", was said by Jonathan to demand regular sacrifices after he suffered a divine delusion.[4]
Faust led the Vipers for 28 years as a religious figurehead until his death during a raid on the Brotherhood of Steel, which resulted in both the Brotherhood of Steel and the New California Republic hunting the Vipers down almost to a man.[5][6][7] The remaining Vipers fractured into small clans and resorted to opportunistic raiding across the Mojave, attacking caravans and resenting the other wasteland tribes.[8][9] They would come into conflict with two fellow raider groups, The Khans, and Jackals, while also raiding the town of Shady Sands.[10] Aradesh warns the Vault Dweller about the group, describing them as raiders who are fanatically religious.[11]
In 2155, a group of Brotherhood of Steel soldiers pursued the Vipers, the leader of which, Maxson II, was grazed with a poisoned arrow and died.[12][13]
In the Mojave by 2280, they would become known for raiding around the New Reno area along with the Jaggers[8] and occupying the area east of Vegas.[14] Atleast by 2287, they wear Merc Outfits or Metal Armor and utilize Grenade Rifles. They are found in camps at the Horowitz Farmstead, the Highway 95 Viper's Encampment and the Raided Farmstead, with several ambushes along major roads, like Nevada 164 out of Nipton towards Searchlight or the road that branches off north, past Ranger Station Charlie to Novac. Another camp is found southeast of Hidden Supply Cave.
Vipers undergo a series of snake bites as part of their initiation ceremony,[15] and possess unique war cries that are recognizable to those informed.[16] Though after their dispersal by the NCR, much of the Viper culture has been lost, with many Vipers acting merely as gunslingers.[17]
Publications[edit]
Locations[edit]
Appearances[edit]
The Vipers were unused in Fallout, but were mentioned in Fallout 3 and the Fallout: The Roleplaying Game expansion Wanderer's Guide Book, and then appeared in Fallout: New Vegas and in the Fallout: The Roleplaying Game expansion Royal Flush.
Behind the Scenes[edit]
- The group is described in the Fallout Bible and in the Origins of Fallout.[Dev 1][Dev 2]
- The Vipers' camp location in Fallout's game files (accessible by CTRL-R function) consists of three tents.
- Jess Heinig stated that plans were made to develop a map containing the Vipers clan living in a canyon, but did not due to time constraints. He envisioned them as snake cultists, with a notion of the player being able ally with them, but not much though was put into what their story would be.[Dev 3][Dev 4]
- The Vipers or Hounds of Hecate would have appeared in the canceled Fallout 3 project Van Buren.[Doc 1]
- The Vipers are also mentioned in the unofficial pen-and-paper Fallout RPG created by Joshua Sawyer. Similar to the Van Buren implementation, they would have been subservient to the Daughters of Hecate.[18]
Gallery[edit]
Unused content Vipers' base in Fallout
Viper gunslingers in Fallout: New Vegas
Viper Initiate origin in Royal Flush
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Fallout: The Roleplaying Game - Wanderer's Guide Book pg. 16:
"The Vipers trace their origins from Vault 15, which they left to explore the wastes. After a formative, quasi-religious encounter with a huge pit of viper snakes, their founder, Jonathan Faust, organized them into a tribe of merciless raiders. The tribe has a close mythological bond to the viper snake, preferring poisons and stealth to traditional strength. They employ rites and rituals utilizing venom to summon visions and perform initiations into their warrior caste. They are an aggressive tribe, with a deep religious undertone." - ↑ Fallout: The Roleplaying Game - Royal Flush pg. 81:
"The Vipers never had special access to quality weapons and preferred to use poisoned arrows and knives" - ↑ Vault Dweller: "{1007}{}{Vipers}"
Killian Darkwater: "{1107}{Kill72}{The Vipers are a crazy bunch from up north. They worship snakes, or something.}"
(Killian Darkwater's dialogue) - ↑ Fallout: The Roleplaying Game - Royal Flush pg. 14:
"Years ago, the Vipers were a tribal clan of Raiders feared by many, bound under the leadership of Jonathan Faust, and guided by their belief in The Way. Ophiolatreia, the worship of snakes, formed the core of The Way — with each Viper giving praise to the God of the Pit, a hungering, capricious deity that demanded regular sacrifices. Or so Johnathan insisted after he himself suffered a divine delusion at the base of the same sacrificial pit they built their home around." - ↑ Fallout: The Roleplaying Game - Royal Flush pg. 14:
"For 28 years, Jonathan led the Vipers as a religious figurehead until he died defending his people following an ill-fated raid against the Brotherhood of Steel, a raid that ended with both the Brotherhood and the NCR hunting down the Vipers almost to a man." - ↑ Courier: "Colonel Moore's "way"?"
Hanlon: "The colonel is an effective commander - one of the best - but she sharpened her claws on the Vipers and the old Jackals. Did four tours against the Brotherhood, too. She used to be a ranger until an injury took her out of action. Happens to a lot of us, unfortunately. She's better at making graves than making friends. Bring in Moore and the earth will be razed. Fields will be salted."
(Chief Hanlon's dialogue) - ↑ Fallout: New Vegas loading screen hints: "Brutalized by the NCR, the once-legendary Vipers and Jackals gangs have become little more than opportunistic, petty raiders."
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Fallout: The Roleplaying Game - Royal Flush pg. 58:
". Two tribes best known in the area were the Vipers, a group of charismatic snake-handlers who suffered the loss of much of their culture and customs as the tribe fractured and was hunted down by the NCR, and the Jaggers" - ↑ Fallout: The Roleplaying Game - Royal Flush pg. 14-15:
"The few surviving Vipers reformed into bands of lawless raiders, attacking settlements and caravans for supplies. These actions have done little to endear them to the NCR. Even when they are not raiding for necessary supplies, the Vipers have become resentful of the other Wasteland tribes, finding nearly any reason to attack outsiders, though they favor stealth and poison to enact their vengeance. As a member of one of the remaining Viper clans, your outlook of the Wasteland will have been changed by he traditions of your forebears, likely altered in some esoteric way." - ↑ Vault Dweller: "{122}{}{There are different groups? Who are they all?}"
Ian: "{128}{}{There are three groups: the Khans, the Vipers, and the Jackals. They pretty much hate each other, but they all raid Shady Sands.}"
(Ian's dialogue) - ↑ Vault Dweller: "{1005}{}{Vipers}"
Aradesh: "{257}{Ara_55}{Be very careful with such as these. Raiders who are fanatically religious can be quite dangerous. No one here knows of their base.}"
(Aradesh's dialogue) - ↑ Citadel Terminal Entries; Maxson archive terminal, Maxson II
- ↑ Citadel Terminal Entries; Maxson archive terminal, John Maxson
- ↑ Fallout: The Roleplaying Game - Royal Flush pg. 194:
"The Vipers, or what’s left of them, have small enclaves dotting the desert hillsides. They often make small camps at intersections of old-world freeways and pick off travelers going into canyon country or rugged terrain east of Vegas. These Viper remnants have lost much of their tribe’s former unique culture and become little more than roving bands of gunslinging Raiders. Viper Initiate PCs may find common ground with them, and they may show grudging respect to any travelers who can fight off their attacks or deal with them from a position of strength. Though the Vipers aren’t committed to a side in the upcoming war, they could be useful allies if the team needs extra hands for their confrontation with Boulanger—especially if one of the PCs is a Viper Initiate who can re-unify the scattered Raiders." - ↑ Fallout: The Roleplaying Game - Royal Flush pg. 81:
"Any “true” Viper would have the signature bite marks of initiation, which Neheb grudgingly shows if asked." - ↑ Fallout: The Roleplaying Game - Royal Flush pg. 77:
"A PC with the Viper Initiate origin immediately notices that their war cries and dress are all wrong" - ↑ Fallout: The Roleplaying Game - Royal Flush pg. 77:
"This is not in itself conclusive, as many Vipers have lost their tribal customs and become little more than gunslingers with a cosmetic affectation for snakes." - ↑ J.E. Sawyer's Fallout Role-Playing Game; Organizations
- ↑ Ouroboros design documents, page 2
- ↑ No Mutants Allowed, The Origins of Fallout - Part 3, Page 2
- ↑ Fallout Bible 6; The Vipers design document
- ↑ Jess Heinig: "There were originally going to be two other raider tribes in addition to the Khans—the Vipers and some other group the Jackals. We had this idea worked out for the Vipers being in a cleft in a canyon with some beat-up wagons or motor homes, and a sort of snake-worship-cult thing going on. There was gonna be a quest where you could become an honorary Viper and go through their pit of serpents and gain the Snakeater perk for free. Sadly, we just didn't have time to actually build the map."
- ↑ "My original plan for the Vipers (but I didn't have time to implement them) was to make them kind of a snake-cult. (I like snake-cults okay?) They would be a mix of fragmentary hand-down traditions from charismatic snake-handling, indigenous culture knowledge, and misapplied fragmentary pre-War knowledge handed via oral history. Not much actual development was done on what kind of story they'd have for players to interact with, but there was a notion that you could ally with them, go through one of their snake-handling rites and gain a Perk that gave you a high level of poison resistance."
(Fallout Developer Statements - Factions; Jesse Heinig: Vipers and Jackals, 2022 December 2)