It’s now time to visit the NCRCF and deal with the Powder Gangers there. Your approach will vary significantly depending on how you handled the Powder Gangers in Goodsprings. If you completed the quest Run Goodsprings Run , or avoided killing any of the Powder Gangers during Ghost Town Gunfight , your reputation should be high enough that the Powder Gangers won’t be outright hostile towards you. If your reputation is lower than “Shunned” however, it’ll be a pretty straightforward fight. This section of the guide will largely assume you aren’t too hated by the Powder Gangers, and hence can actually complete their quests. If that’s not the case, you’ll just have to fight every Powder Ganger you come across, and will not be able to complete the quest I Fought the Law … and it’s lucrative enough to do that, so follow along with that in mind.

Fast travel to Jean Sky Diving and follow I-15 to the north-east until you find a trailer near an intersection, patrolled by some Powder Gangers. Inside the trailer you can find a copy of Today’s Physician, an Ammo Box, and a bed you can rest on. Loot the trailer and continue following I-15 until you find an over-turned truck along the road, now serving as a Coyote den. Kill the pooches and loot the truck to find some food items on the floor, a Doctor’s Bag, and some Sunset Sarsaparilla Crates with… anything but Sunset Sarsaparilla in them.

Powder Ganger Camp North¶

From the truck-turned Coyote den, head south-east across the road and into the desert to find Powder Ganger Camp North, which is built next to an elevated ledge. As you approach the camp from the ledge over-looking it, be wary of explosive traps placed around. The camp itself isn’t terribly interesting; there’s a Powder Ganger Note to read on an Explosives Crate you can rob.

New California Republic Correctional Facility (NCRCF)¶

Head south from the Powder Ganger Camp North to find the fenced-off NCRCF. Kill whatever critters are lurking out front and loot some trailers in what used to be a parking lot. Once again, this section assumes your reputation with the Powder Gangers is “Shunned” or higher. If not, you will not be able to complete the following quests… in which case, you’ll just end up having to kill all the Powder Gangers in the NCRCF, which is lucrative enough to be worth doing.

Make your way south along the western side of the prison to find a gate you can open. Do so and proceed towards the prison to meet a Powder Ganger called Dawes, who will tell you all about the Powder Gangers and their rather simplistic goals. More importantly, he’ll tell you about the convict who is now in charge; a man named Eddie. Ask to head inside and Dawes will try to shake you down by demanding 100 Caps to gain access to NCRCF. You can pay him and accept the loss or you can just decline and steal the NCRCF Visitor’s Center Key from him. All in all, Dawes isn’t much of a guard.

A Pardon for Meyers¶

Inside the Visitor’s Center you’ll find some vending machines to loot and a Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Bottle Cap lying on a counter near a Broken Terminal. It’s all stealing, though, so you might want to hold off on it for now. Other than that you can find Meyers in here, the prospective sheriff for Primm. If you talk to him you’ll find out that his vigilantism might be an undesirable trait for a sheriff, although he’s open to do the job… if you get him an NCR pardon and the freedom to… ah… “accelerate” due process.

To get his pardon you’ll need to return to the Mojave Outpost (which Meyers refers to as Camp Mohave) and talk to Major Knight. He’ll grant the pardon for 200 Caps, or for free if you succeed at a [Speech 30] check. Once you’ve secured his pardon, return to Primm and find Meyers standing around south of Deputy Beagle’s Residence. Merely talk to him to complete the quest My Kind of Town . At this point, if you’ve been following the guide, you have all three options for Primm’s new sheriff covered, so pick whichever one you fancy the most.

Meyers will also mention somebody named Cooke, who apparently is the ideological leader of the Powder Gangers… or at least the spark that caused the explosion. Unlike the rest of the Powder Gangers, who seem to be bad people who just wanted to be free so they could go back to their criminal ways, Cooke has an anti-NCR axe to grind.

Exit the Visitor Center and enter the yard, where a few Powder Gangers are wandering around. Search the guard towers to find some loot, including a Super Stimpak, two Stimpaks, some .308 Rounds, some 5.56 Rounds, a Varmint Rifle, some .357 Magnum Rounds, a First Aid Box and an Ammo Box [Very Easy].

Once you’re done scouring the yard for loot, head into Cell Block A where, in the south-eastern cell you can find a Grenade Box, a Mine Box [Easy], and two Armor Cases (one of which is locked [Average]). There’s also a Patriot’s Cookbook magazine on the floor. In Cell Block B you can find some Jet on a table in the first (western-most) room. In the western of the two rooms to the south you can find two boxes of Mentats on a bed and a Footlocker [Very Easy]. If you pick a locked cell door [Easy] to the north you can find an Ammo Boxes, plenty of Metal Boxes, and a Schematic - Powder Charge . Lastly, you can find Carter, a natural born smuggler who now sells his wares to anybody with some Caps to spend. He doesn’t sell anything terribly valuable, but he does tend to sell a lot of cards, if you want to expand your Caravan deck.

Exploring the NCRCF¶

Return to the yard and make your way north to find the NCRCF Administration building. Once inside, immediately turn west and loot a Gun Case on a metal shelf, then continue north into an infirmary to find Hannigan, the acting doctor for the Powder Gangers. If you’re sneaky enough, you can loot the clinic to find a First Aid Box [Easy] and two Doctor’s Bags.

South-west of the infirmary you’ll find some stairs leading to the second floor where, on the first room in the second floor, you can find a Gun Cabinet [Average]. To the east are two rooms, one behind a locked door [Average]. In the other (northern) room you’ll find a copy of Lying, Congressional Style on a desk. In the room behind the locked door you can find an Explosives Crate under a desk, and some 9mm Rounds, .22LR Rounds, 12 Gauge Rounds and .357 Magnum Rounds on top of the desk.

Return to the first room on this floor, then go through a doorway to the west to reach the warden’s office, now occupied by Eddie and his inner circle. Talk to him and learn about the breakout and Cooke. Apparently the Powder Gangers still in the NCRCF are the opportunistic criminals, while the violently anti-NCR branch went north with Cooke. Ask him for a job and he’ll tell you to eliminate a splinter group led by a Powder Ganger named Chavez. This starts the quest I Fought the Law .

I Fought the Law¶

Return to Eddie and tell him the news of Chavez’s demise or departure. Afterwards he’ll give you a new task; to investigate a merchant who is trying a little too hard to get the Powder Ganger’s attention. Fast-travel to Jean Sky Diving to find a Traveling Merchant hanging around. Talk to him and, either succeed at a [Speech 30] or [Intelligence 6] check to see through his ruse and convince him to leave, or try to force his hand by demanding a toll. Either way, he’ll admit to his game and, if you succeed at a check, will decide to leave after it’s revealed that his ruse won’t work, or you’ll have to put him down.

Agree to eliminate Chavez for Eddie then leave the NCRCF. Make your way over the hills to the south-west to find the Powder Ganger Camp South along the train tracks. Either talk to Chavez at the camp (he’s not a friendly fellow!) and succeed at a [Speech 30] check to convince him to move on, or just kill him and his goons. Once you’re done dealing with Chavez and his goons, search the campsite to find some abandoned food, Dynamite, a copy of Lad’s Life in a wooden crate, a Dino Toy on a metal crate and a good deal of junk. There’s also a “Powder Ganger Note” on a wooden beam that talks about a concentration of Powder Gangers to the north.

Return to Eddie again and he’ll give you a third task; he’s getting anxious about the NCR response to the break-out… or the lack of one, as the case may be. He wants you to head to Primm and see if you can find out what the NCR is up to in regards to the NCRCF. Make your way to Primm and find Johnson Nash in the Vikki and Vance (if you haven’t found a new sheriff) of in his house (if you did) and ask him about NCR’s plans. He’ll try to get you to pay 100 Caps for the information, which can be negotiated down to 50 Caps with a successful [Barter 30] check, or with a successful [Speech 30] check he’ll tell you for free.

Make your way to Lieutenant Hayes and talk to him about the NCR operation and you’ll get the option to help attack the prison. Now you’ll need to choose which of the two - the NCR or the Powder Gangers - you wish to side with. If you help the NCR, you will automatically gain Infamy with the Powder Gangers, whether you actually kill any Powder Gangers or not. The reverse is not true, however, so siding with the Powder Gangers can net the most Fame gain, overall. If you offer to help the NCR you’ll be told to rendezvous with the strike team - lead by Sergeant Lee - near the prison. You can make this offer without actually taking a side just yet, so do so, then return to the Powder Ganger Camp South map marker.

Now, if you want to finish up things with the Powder Gangers, talk to Eddie and he’ll reward you for your work. After you talk to him, the NCR assault will begin. You’re not required to help out (although Eddie certainly invites you to) and you’ll be viewed as hostile by the NCR Troopers who assault the place. If Eddie survives (with or without your help) you can talk to him again for some Powder Ganger Fame; probably enough to raise your standing with them. You can try to get the outcome you want without gaining much NCR Infamy by using weapons that deal KO damage (Boxing Gloves or Boxing Tape) without actually killing any of the NCR Troopers yourself (there’s very little chance the Powder Gangers will win without help) or you can put on some NCR clothes as you leave the prison to avoid a fight. In the former case… just try to damage the NCR Troopers before retreating into the NCRCF Authority building, then hope the Powder Gangers can kill them as you draw fire and continue to whittle the NCR Troopers down.

*Only if Eddie survives.

Alternatively, find Sergeant Lee on a hill between the Powder Ganger Camp South and the NCRCF. He’ll give you a brief a debriefing before commencing the attack. Make a bee-line for the NCRCF Administration building and let the NCR Troopers deal with the Powder Gangers, which they should be more than capable of doing on their own. Once Eddie is dead you’ll get a quest reward, including some Fame if you talk to Sergeant Lee after the fight. With this approach you can grab an Administration Key off Eddie’s body and loot the safe [Average] behind the warden’s desk, which might be tricky to do with Eddie sitting there.

*Only if Sergeant Lee survives.

Best case scenario, as far as this guide is concerned? You’ll side with the Powder Gangers and either avoid a fight with the NCR, or try to avoid getting too much (if indeed any) Infamy with them while helping the Powder Gangers. In this way you can pursue further Powder Ganger quests without turning the NCR hostile towards you… ideally remaining “Neutral” with them and improving your reputation with the Powder Gangers to “Mixed” or better, depending on whether you completed the quest Run Goodsprings Run or Ghost Town Gunfight .

Either way, it’s time to move on. Next the south-western areas of the Mojave will be covered, followed by the areas along the train tracks east of Primm and Nipton. If that optional exploration doesn’t suit your fancy, skip to the section “From Nipton to Novac” .