The General (leader build)

Overview

A build designed to be the best possible leader for an independant New Vegas, and get the best possible endings.High charisma, high intelligence, a master of speech, pistols, companions, and passing skill checks.

Starting SPECIAL

Strength 3 ”Doughy Baby”
3 points of strength means the general isn’t brawny, but with the strength implant and reinforced spine it will reach 6, which is enough to handle almost all pistols.

Perception 1 ”Deaf Bat”
1 point of perception represents the general having poor eyesight, and possibly bad hearing.

Endurance 7 ”Tough-as-nails”
With a respectable 7 endurance the general is quite hardy, he knows how to take a beating and work through the pain.

Charisma 9 ”Casanova”
9 Charisma means the general is an inspiring presence and natural leader.
Few can withstand his incredible charm, and talent for negotiation.
His empathy is his greatest strength, he is a diplomat, a businessman, and a natural leader. If he gets the charisma implant, watch out!

Intelligence 7 ”Smartypants”
7 intelligence means the general is quite the smartypants.
This nerdiness might have gotten him bullied as a child, until he developed his charisma, but at least it means the general usually make good decisions, and often outwits his opponents.

Agility 6 ”Catlike”
6 agility represents the general’s quick hands.

Luck 7 ”Lucky 7”
7 luck represents the general’s penchant for making the right bets, and talent for judging wether the the odds are in his favor or not.

Traits

Skilled
Skilled is a great trait, it raises your skills and makes you level up slower, which gives you more time to find skill books.

Good Nature
The general build uses very few combat skills but can benefit from all of the non combat skills.
It also represents how he usually prefer settling things in a peaceful manner, resorting only to violence when it’s the best course of action.

Four Eyes
P above 1 and below 10, replaces another trait
This trait could be gained from The Sink’s auto doc in Old World Blues if the perception implant has been bought.

Recommended Tag Skills

Speech
I chose speech as a tag skill because the general is all about being able to convince others.
Alternatively you could replace it with anything you think might be more useful early game as you already have a high charisma boosting your speech.

Guns
I recommend tagging the guns skill because the first perk we’ll be getting require 30 points in the guns skill, and the third perk require 45 points in guns.

Survival
I recommend tagging survival because our second perk require 45 points in survival.

Perks

Each perk is ordered according to what I think might be the best order to pick them in, with the requirements written below the perk name, and some thoughts behind the perk choice.
This is followed by a second section explaining their position in the order, with a short reminder about what level we’re at.

Rapid Reload
A5, guns 30
The general has quick hands, and good practice loading guns.

I decided to get this perk first because the first revolver you are likely to get your hands on has a really long reload time, and I felt the only other choice: Old World Gourmet, was low priority.
If you made guns one of your tagged skills you won’t even need to invest points to get this one.

Travel Light
survival 45
With ”Travel Light” the general is fast, and combined with ”Run ‘n Gun” it helps the general stay out of reach when fighting enemies focused on melee.

I decided to get this at level 4 because it helps you get around, and stay out of enemy reach.

Run ‘n Gun
guns 45/energy 45
Helps the general hit his target when running and shooting.

I decided to get this at level 6 because it has good synergy with the last perk we got.

Imperialist
Imperialist represents the general’s disdain for raiders, junkies, and other lowlife scum. And his will to civilize the wasteland.
I don’t really recommend using the unique dialog options from this perk, as this perk choice isn’t meant to represent hatred towards tribals, only bandits, raiders, pushers, and those who turn to crime in order to fuel their addictions.

I decided to get this at level 8 (as early as possible) to get a combat bonus against any raiders along the road to Vegas. Besides, getting perks without skill requirements first will give you plenty of time to get the skills needed for other perks.

2 Tougness
E5
The general’s outfit provides almost no defense, tougness helps compensate for this weakness.

Decided to make Tougness our level 10 & 12 perks to make the general harder to kill.

Cowboy/Grunt
guns 45, melee 45(cowboy)/explosives 20(grunt)
Gives a bonus to certain weapons, cowboy works well for the pistols that would look good in the general’s hands, but grunt is better for grenades and alternative weapons.

I decided to get Cowboy or Grunt at level 14 to squeeze more damage out of our pistols.

Ferocious Loyalty
C6
One of the most important qualities of the general is his ability to inspire diehard loyalty in his followers.

At level 16 I think it’s about time you started finding some friends. Besides, this is a signature perk of this build.

Finesse
Finesse gives a much higher chance of doing critical hits, making it one of the best combat perks.

We’ll get this at level 18 to boost our damage output.

Nerd Rage!
I5, science 50
The general has had it with being bullied!
When he is pushed far enough he’ll muster his pent up rage in order to prevail against his adversary, and keep himself alive.

Nerd Rage at level 20 should help keep us alive, especially in the dlc areas.

Mad Bomber
repair 45, explosives 45
Being creative has saved the general on more than one occasion, and especially his creativity when it comes to explosives. Besides, who doesn’t love a good fireworks display?

At level 22 you are probably at the Sierra Madre or at least considering going there, turn the ghost people into actual ghosts with MFC grenades, MFC clusters, and other improvised explosives!

Old World Gourmet
survival 45
I like the image of a military leader partaking in fine dining, and occasionally enjoying a good scotch or fine wine, similarly to Dot Pixis from Attack on Titan.

I waited to level 24 before getting this perk due to it being mostly here for roleplay, but it can come in handy at the Sierra Madre if you are still there or haven’t gone yet, and the extra resistance to addiction isn’t bad.

Jury Rigging
repair 90
The general’s outfit and equipment is very unique, as such he had to get creative to maintain it.

At level 26 you’ve at least had a chance to track down most of the repair skill books in the base game seeing as three of them can be found before even making it to Vegas.

Hit the Deck
explosives 70
Knowing the proper way to not get blown up is just one of the general’s many talents.

At level 28 I decided to invest more into explosives, I began with keeping our character alive.

Splash Damage
explosives 70
Larger explosions means more enemies having a bad day.

Decided to get this at level 30 for the reason just mentioned.

Spray and Pray
The general takes great care of the people who follow him, and is good at making sure not to hurt them.
Have some synergy with ”Splash Damage”.

Now that our explosions are bigger let’s make sure our companions don’t die from them, getting this perk at level 32 should work.

Mysterious Stranger
L6
This person is the general’s own personal guardian angel.
Wether it is to repay some kindness the general once did him, he believes the general is going to create a better future, or he just simply like him, one thing is for certain: the mysterious stranger will sometimes show up to help the general in battle, only to disappear before anyone can ask him why.

At level 34 we’ve gotten a new friend, or maybe an old friend finally managed to track us down, whatever the case he’s here to help!

Gunslinger
The general’s primary weapon is a pistol, and this perk make his pistol shots hit more often in V.A.T.S.

Now that the stranger sometimes show up in V.A.T.S we might as well make our V.A.T.S attacks more accurate.
Gunslinger, level 36.

Nerves of Steel
A7, agility implant
Having nerves of steel lets the general get back into V.A.T.S faster, giving the mysterious stranger more chances to help.

I decided to get Nerves of Steel at level 38 because I feel that getting action points back faster all the time was better than having more action points or getting them back instantly some of the time.

Grim Reaper’s Sprint
Lets the general get back in V.A.T.S if he manage to kill his target, which means more Mysterious Stranger.

Now at level 40 let’s get back into V.A.T.S instantly if we successfully kill something.

2 Action Boy
A6
More action points means more V.A.T.S which means more Mysterious Stranger.

At level 42 and 44 I decided to finish up our V.A.T.S investment.

Quick Draw
A5
The general has quick hands, and can ready his gun fast enough to give any would-be assassins a nasty surprise.

We get this one at level 46 because I felt like the other perks were more useful to get earlier.

Fight the Power
This represents him being a man of the people, for the people.
The general is a leader, but he’s got the common man’s best interest at heart, and won’t tolerate tyrants.

At level 48 this will be our second to last perk, the reason for waiting this long is that I don’t feel there is much point for this build to antagonize the major powers until late game.

Thought You Died/Just Lucky I’m Alive
Thought You Died turns the general’s good karma into health, making him harder to kill, and gives a 10% damage bonus.
Alternatively Just Lucky I’m Alive lets his critical hits do 50% more damage, and gives a luck bonus after surviving a battle with less than 25% health, letting him get more criticals.

We get this at level 50 because we can’t get it earlier.

Special Perks

Reinforced Spine
Putting his spine back in his body at the end of Old World Blues will combined with the strength implant give the general 6 strength, which will allow him to use almost every pistol effectively.

Strength Implant
Combined with reinforced spine the general will get enough strength to use almost all pistols effectively.

Agility Implant
This implant is needed to get the ”Nerves of Steel” perk.

Subdermal Implant
The general’s outfit provides almost no defense, getting subdermal armor will help compensate.

Equipment

US Army General Outfit
This outfit is an obvious choice, the build is literally called ”The General”
It can be found early in the Lonesome Road dlc, on a corpse in the Hopeville missile silo bunker.

Boomers Hat (optional)
The boomer hat matches well with the general outfit, and gives a small perception bonus, compensating slightly for the general’s own low perception.
It does suffer from low durability however, and will therefore often need repairs, this is made easier with Jury Rigging.
It is also bent out of shape, which you might find distracting, in which case feel free to skip out on wearing a hat.
Getting this hat requires a bit of luck, when doing the Ant Misbehavin’ quest for Raquel there is a chance one of the dead boomers found inside the Nellis array will spawn wearing it, there is a chance to receive it as a reward when completing the quest ”Volare!”, and it is sometimes sold by the Boomer munitions manager.

Dr. Mobius’ glasses
Wearing the glasses of Mobius will give the general a +10 bonus to his explosives skill, +2 intelligence, making you guaranteed to pass intelligence checks if you have the intelligence implant, and if you got the Four Eyes trait from The Sink’s auto doc they will give a perception bonus.

That Gun/any pistol
Traditionally officers carry pistols rather than rifles.
I think That Gun, .44 Magnum Revolvers, and 12,7mm Pistols look the best, but 12,7mm Pistols are very inaccurate, require more strength than all other pistols, and use an extremely rare type of bullets, making them ill suited to be a main weapon.
With the Cowboy perk it would be best to get any revolver except the Police Pistol, and with Grunt .45 Auto Pistols would be best.

Recommended Endings & Decisions

Dead Money
In Dead Money I recommend trapping Elijah in the Vault and escaping with as much gold as possible.
Dog should be either merged with God, or convinced to listen to him.
Dean Domino and Christine should both be kept alive; agree to cooperate with Dean when you first meet him, and activate holograms to protect him during the gala event. Don’t threaten Christine with putting her back in the auto doc when you first meet her, and run the bypass so she don’t need to go into the basement at her part of the gala event.

Honest Hearts
Agree with Joshua to fight the White Legs, but convince him to spare Salt Upon Wounds.
Fighting the White Legs will not only let the Sorrows keep Zion, it will also lead to more trade routes as the tribes unite against the 80s, driving them off highway 50 so they can’t raid there.
Convincing Joshua to spare Salt Upon Wounds will also bring Joshua some peace, and make Daniel slightly less miserable.
I recommend revealing the truth about Waking Cloud’s family, and tell her Daniel was only doing what he thought was best for the tribe in hiding it.
I leave it up to you if you think Follows Chalk should explore civilization, or stay with his tribe.

Old World Blues
I recommend befriending the Think Tank and sparing Doctor Mobius, they would probably be an invaluable asset to the general after the ending of Fallout New Vegas.
You should also make sure to find every facility and complete all the research, plus find every personality module and upgrade for the Sink.
The technology of Big MT will help turn Vegas into one of the most advanced nations in America, and might just be enough to prevent the tunnelers of the Divide from being the slow death of the Mojave that Ulysses think they will be.

Lonesome Road
I recommend stopping the missile launch, after all: the general seek to make the wasteland a better and more civilized place, and nuking it is what turned it into a primitive raider infested hellhole to begin with.
I would also convince Ulysses, rather than kill him, as his vigil keep marked men and possibly tunnelers from entering the Mojave, at least for some time.

Main Game
In case you somehow missed it, the general is supposed to be a general, and thus a leader, which means the NCR and Legion wouldn’t fit, as in both of those endings he remain outside of the faction’s leadership.
The best choices would be either Mr House, where he effectively becomes the General Oliver to Mr House’s President Kimball, which fit better with wanting to civilize, but worse with disliking tyrants.
Or what I would recommend: the independant ending, which fit better with disliking tyrants, but somewhat worse with civilizing.
While going independant would turn the area around Vegas anarchic at least for the first couple of years, with the general’s securitron army, his sense for diplomacy, his probably high wealth, his intelligence, and support from the many factions he has helped or enlisted, such as: the Followers Of The Apocalypse, the Enclave Remnants, the Kings, Crandon and Jules, and the Thorn, he could probably stabilize the area, especially if he has destroyed the leadership of the Fiends.

Minor factions and how they might play into the future of Vegas

Just for fun let’s go over some of the different factions, and how they might play into the future of an independant New Vegas:

The Followers Of The Apocalypse would be the general’s most important support aside from Yes Man.
Their technical and medicinal know-how would be invaluable in stabilizing the area, and apart from any engineers at Hoover Dam who decide to stay, they’d be the main source of engineers capable of keeping it running, thus helping them would be a top priority.
The general should help Bill Ronte and Jacob Hoff with their addictions, work out a supply deal with the Garret twins, and generally do whatever he can to support their efforts.
In the independant ending, no matter what you do, the Followers in Freeside will struggle to provide even basic care, but that doesn’t necessarily have to mean they’ll be overwhelmed forever.
If we assume you’ve done everything possible to help them, and we assume the general will use his time and ressources to help them and restore order after the second battle of Hoover Dam, it should be possible for them to eventually expand enough to cover the basics within a few years.

The Enclave Remnants have powerful weapons and technology that could be used to help keep order after the second battle of Hoover Dam, they even have a vertibird, which could allow for a rapid response in extreme situations.
Most of the remnants are old however, and as such it would be best long term if they could be convinced to teach the younger generation how to use their gear.
Orion Moreno might just be happy enough seeing the NCR being kicked out of Vegas to be willing to help train young volunteers, especially if it was implied to be to prevent the NCR from returning.
Daisy Whitman loves flying, and would probably be willing to teach youngsters how to fly her vertibird, just to have an excuse to spend her time flying it.
Arcade Gannon would obviously want to use his father’s old power armor to help keep order.
And Judah Kreger already helped keep order in Westside before the battle of Hoover Dam.

The Kings should be convinced to end hostilities with the NCR squatters, in order to calm things down.
Post game they could maybe even help police Freeside if properly motivated.
And maybe they could even become the next family on the strip, helping to run a reopened Lucky 38, which would give them an income that might help keep them from causing trouble, and some of them might put it back into helping their friends and family in Freeside.
The Lucky 38’s revolving cocktail lounge seem like it could be a good draw, especially if provided with unique drinks such as the Battle Brew from Big MT.

The Boomers could probably be convinced to use their artillery and superfortress to bomb any particularly dangerous raiders on the general’s behalf.
After all, the Boomers love to use their guns and explosives on ignorant savages.
So make sure to help them out.

It would be best to convince the Great Khans to break their alliance with Caesar.
If they make their own empire in Wyoming, perhaps in the future they may even become another trading partner for an independant Vegas.

The Powder Gangers at the NCRCF should be wiped out, as otherwise they would raid the trade routes.
The ones in Vault 19 should either be helped join the Great Khans, or be made to turn surrender to the NCR.

The Brotherhood Of Steel should be wiped out, as they would never accept Vegas having a securitron army.
If they aren’t destroyed by the general they will eventually either demand he hand over control of the securitrons, or go to war with Vegas.
In the meantime they would harass travelers for any piece of advanced technology they have.

As already mentioned, the Fiends’ leadership should be wiped out, as without them the Fiends become easy prey.
Perhaps Vault 3 could even become a settlement; it is mostly intact, and located close to Zap’s Neon Signs, perhaps some former vault dwellers such as Sarah Weintraup, Michaelangelo, and survivors from Vault 34 could be interested in returning to the vault life.

Earning the respect of The Thorn would likely earn the respect of Westside, especially if the general agreed to protect Westside’s source of water during the Whitewash quest.
The hunters of the Thorn could maybe even be enlisted in the role of scouts, snipers, and rangers.

Earning the respect of Jules and Crandon would possibly garner the support of the North Vegas Square.
Having more people supporting you is never a bad thing.

The families on the strip would probably be kept mostly business as usual.
They might expect to renegotiate how much they pay for the protection of the securitron army, now that House is no longer in charge, but the general is a persuasive man.
Make sure to stop the Omertas’ plan, and solve the White Glove Society’s cannibalism problem.

The super mutants of Jacobstown could be a good trading partner and ally, selling bighorner meat and hides.
Might even be possible to enlist some of them for mutual protection.
Helping Doctor Henry develop a cure for the nightkin schizophrenia would not only be a good step towards making them willing allies of the general, it would also increase the value of Jacobstown, as mutants flock to it.

Novac could be another great trading partner and ally.
Especially if the general helped the Bright Brotherhood get closer to their destination on top of helping them get their rockets working, they would have helped restore Novacs defenses.
The combined gratitude of Novac and the Bright Brotherhood could be leveraged.

If the general could keep the road between Primm and New Vegas clear, Primm could be a valuable source of trade from California.
As long as either Meyers or Primm Slim is sheriff, Primm would probably be safe as well as grateful towards the general, and gratitude means allies.

Lastly Goodsprings would thrive in the independant ending.
And with the general having helped them stand up to the Powder Gangers led by Joe Cobb, and possibly saved a settler from being killed by geckos together with Sunny Smiles, Goodsprings could be another ally of the independant New Vegas.

Finishing remarks and trivia

I hope you enjoyed reading it, despite it approaching fanfiction levels there towards the end.
This is the first build I’ve ever posted, and clearly I’ve put too much thought into the personality and decisions of it, the next build I won’t be telling you what to do nearly as much. Not that you have to do anything I say really, you could make your own general a kind of wasteland Hitler if you wanted to.

Let me know what you think down in the comments.