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You see a ragged looking dog that could expire at any moment.— In-game description

The pariah dog is a special joinable NPC in Fallout 2 found in the special encounter "A lone surviving dog."

Background[]

A pitiful-looking dog, with fur falling off in large patches, a missing eye, and other wounds, the Pariah is known to bring horrible bad luck.

Interactions with the player character[]

Interactions overview[]

Interactions
Paving the Way
This character is a permanent companion.

Companion[]

  • The dog is found in the special encounter "A lone surviving dog". The moment the player enters the map, the game makes a Luck check and repeats it every ten seconds. If the player character fails the Luck test, the dog joins their party over the party limit, dropping their Luck to 1 (2 for the gifted) and providing the Jinxed trait free of charge. The dog has tons of hit points and will only run away in combat.
  • In order to regain Luck and lose the trait, the dog has to die. Contrary to its skeletal look, the pariah dog has a very high Hit Points stat of 750, which means it can withstand great punishment before dying. One fool-proof option is to take him to the Sierra Army Depot and either take him for a walk on the electrified floor or use the organ extractor on him, netting 2 human brains and -200 karma.
  • Note that zero damage instant kill criticals will cause the game to bug out, meaning that though dead, the dog will remain part of the party, occupying a slot and imposing its Luck effects, but it will be impossible to remove him. Perks which add damage points (Living Anatomy, bonus ranged damage, and bonus HtH damage) allow to avoid this issue.

Appearances[]

The pariah dog appears in Fallout 2 and is mentioned in the Fallout Bible.

Behind the scenes[]

In real life, a pariah dog refers to a free-ranging dog that occupies an ecological niche; such dogs are often feral, and sometimes strays.

Bugs[]

PCPC Zero damage instant death critical hits (possible with the Better Criticals perk) that cause the death of any NPC with scripts that would normally activate upon death, will not activate those scripts (this bug is not limited to the dog). Therefore, it is possible for the dog to die, and all the ill effects of its presence in the party, including occupying a party slot, to remain. The perk Living Anatomy makes zero damage impossible; Bonus Ranged Damage and Bonus HtH Damage probably work the same way.

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