Unique Weapons

I am not suggesting the creation of new weapons from scratch. Instead, I believe that "end game" Fallout weapons should be implemented in What Remains, if they can only be found once and preferably through some sort of (long) quest, not like in Fallout 1/2, where obtaining powerful weapons such as Gauss firearms or with pulse technology was ridiculously "easy": you could buy them from a normal San Francisco merchant, grab them from a Brotherhood of Steel bunker, etc. Of course, one could say prices for these weapons and their ammunition was high and/or the quest that let you obtain them was tough ("one could say", I personally wouldn't), but this is in my opinion not enough, and even breaks the atmosphere of the game (and would violently break the atmosphere in What Remains).

Now, when I talk about a "quest", I mean something similar to what was done in Baldur's Gate II. In that game there were a few unique weapons that were only available if the player found the parts needed to craft them, and took them to a specific NPC. For example, to get the Equilizer Sword, you needed to find its pommel jewel, blade and hilt. In some cases, you also needed certain items that already existed in the D&D world, such as the Gauntlets of Ogre Power for the Crom Faeyr. I think this kind of feature would fit very well in What Remains and in the Fallout universe in general.

The Player Character, during his/her travels, could meet a few dedicated scavengers who might tell him/her about the rumors of a pre-war prototype weapon they've heard (or might keep their knowledge to themselves if for some reason they don't like the PC). These NPC's could identify the strange piece of "useless" old world technology the PC bought from an ignorant merchant or was given as a sign of gratitude by a tribe shaman who grants a strong religious meaning to the item in question.

Regular people might have vague knowledge about a high-tech weapon they could have seen in pre-War propaganda, in magazines, or in comic book advertisement (how can we be sure that *all* people living in the post nuclear world would be able to know a comic book is fiction? - they could make up "myths" about how Captain Cosmos defeated a whole army of aliens with an energy pistol).

A possible list of weapons that could become unique is:
-Pulse Gun/Rifle
-Gauss Gun/Rifle
-Vindicator Minigun
-Mega Power Fist

The actual way to obtain these weapon could be different in each case, for example depending on their origin.

The Mega Power Fist and pulse weapons were developed by American Companies. The most interesting case is that of pulse weapons: they were produced by the Yuma Flats Energy Consortium, which seemed to have a facility in the area of Chicago. The Reavers in Fallout Tactics created a prototype pulse rifle, most probably by having access to Yuma Flats technology (should check the mission text, but would be a pain in the ass). So this facility could be found in What Remains, and inside there could be a terminal with information about these weapons, or a blueprint, along wih the machinery which allows us to craft one pulse pistol/rifle if we find the (unique) parts we need for it.

There isn't much information about BeatCo, the company which developed power fists. If we are using the "prototype in facility" option for pulse weapons, using the same for the Mega Power Fist would be a bit redundant. So I guess it can be given to a NPC.

The Vindicator minigun as well as Gauss weapons are of German origin. As they were imported into the USA and not created in local industries, it would probably make more sense if they could be found in military bases (they were imported and given to elite soldiers) or in totally random places - like in a corpse, some NPC's inventory or a faction's armory: another scavenger had already found them-. However, they would be in a very poor condition and need (once again, unique) parts to be repaired.

Some ways of obtaining weapon parts I can think of:
-Merchant selling "useless junk" for a cheap price.
-Merchant selling some "very rare piece of old world technology!" for a higher price.
-A tribal group holding some strange pre-War object for religious reasons.
-A scavenger who has found the item and knows/suspects it's useful, but will only give it to the Player Character after he/she completes a mission or somehow gets good reputation in the area.
-A scavenger's corpse lying forgotten on the badlands, with a strange object in his backpack.

These are all just some wild thoughts. I would like to know your opinions about them

Some excellent suggestions you got there, Eternauta!
It's nice that you suggest a way to obtain certain weapons by crafting/scavenging different parts obtainable all across the badlands, because such a thing is planned and even crucial to the main story.

However, I don't see a reason why this shouldn't be done with more items, like the weapons you described. I am playing Baldur's Gate II right now and found the search for these weapon parts very enjoying, so I think I will expand on that.

I also really liked your idea about the comic book and people really believing to the myth that captain energy fought "aliens" with his energy pistol etc. I will try to fit such tales and myths in somewhere.

I'm glad to know the general idea goes well with the concepts you already had in mind

The part about the weapons being spoken about by badlanders based on a "myth", weapon parts being found in a tribal totem, etc., was actually something I came up with while typing the post, I had not thought about it in the first place. I think it would make the whole "find certain items to get uber weapon" quest actually have something to do with the setting, story, etc., instead of just being a way to, well, get an uber weapon. Also it could be useful to arrange some sort of regulation, to make sure the player will have access to powerful gear only at a certain moment of the game, but well you decide that kind of things