Black Mountain is a location in the Mojave Desert that serves as a radio station for the State of Utobitha. It can be located on the main map easily by spotting the winding road roughly east of Goodsprings and Sloan on your map. Neil's Shack is situated at the bottom of the mountain and marks the start of the road.
Background
Pre-War
Before the Great War, Black Mountain was a radio-transmitting center. The facility and the equipment survived the bombing fairly intact; however, the personnel were wiped out in a matter of days due to heavy radiation exposure, probably from the huge crater at the summit of the mountain.
The facility also served some kind of military capacity as it housed electronic countermeasures to protect the nearby Hidden Valley complex.
After reading logs on a terminal just inside the broadcast building, you find some back-story plot. One of the employees notes that the "tension is pretty high around here." Two logs later, he states, "It's actually happening. We have readings across the board of launches happening everywhere. They must've thrown everything they had, and it looks like we didn't hold back either. The computer says we have 2 minutes until the first missile drops." The same employee's final log was written right as a missile hit, presumably the ones which caused the crater in the summit. Given the layout of the summit, it's probable that the location was a military post of some sort, likely a radar or monitoring post. This is further suggested by comments on the terminals which suggest that those at Black Mountain were monitoring the Chinese. Information from the Brotherhood of Steel's database in Hidden Valley indicates that the facility also jammed radar in the general area of the valley to further enhance its security.
Arrival of Marcus and the State of Utobitha
Sometime around 2277, Marcus, along with a group of mutants including Tabitha, discovered the facility. He decided the place was a good location to settle down because of the intact machinery and electronics and the high radiation levels keeping human outsiders and scavengers away. Sometime in 2278 Marcus left together with all the first generation super mutants leaving Tabitha in charge. Having risen to power, she was inspired to create a Utopia for mutants, whose rules are based on her nostalgic memories of serving under The Master. She became obsessed with the radio transmitter, hosting a talk-show inviting mutants to join the new "Utopia" with her split personality (that of her beloved Rhonda). She ordered mutants to guard all entrances to Black Mountain and shoot humans on sight. Lily may comment on the location if she is there with the Courier, saying: "I wonder if Marcus knows about this place.".
Layout
After getting to the mountain, there is a building that houses the controls for the radio station. Near the top by the radio station, by where the nightkin sniper is positioned, lie the controls for realigning the dishes.
Under the overturned dish that is used as a makeshift camp are three chests. Two have average locks but one contains about 300 caps. A minigun can be had here in one locked chest. The last chest contains about 400 caps. There is also a transceiver in here where you can interrupt the mutants broadcast.
Inside the prison building will be a ghoul named Raul Tejada who you can free and make your companion. If you cannot hack the computer to release the lock to Raul's prison room then you can find the password for it on the other computer in the prison room. Note: to do this, simply access the other terminal, and read entry six. Then, proceed to the first terminal, and the room will be unlocked. Entry six tells you the password is '123456789'.
To get into Tabitha's room you'll need the key. A computer in the Broadcast Building, 1st Floor will give you a hint on where to search for it. Exit the other door to outside iron stairs. The key is under a rock behind the stairs.
Notable loot
- Cuddles' toy car is in the prison building. Read all the entries on the computer terminal, then look on the table for this unique item.
- The unique missile launcher Annabelle is found on the nightkin sniper standing on the radio tower platform.
- One Nuka-Cola Victory in the storage building.
- A Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap in the storage building, between two Sarsaparilla crates on the bottom shelf, left of the training dummy.
- Sheet music book and Repair Note #3 on 2nd floor of broadcast building (Tabitha's room).
- 3 bricks of C-4 plastic explosive in the Storage building: one on top of the Nuka-Cola machine, one on the table behind the trunk on the northeast wall, and one on the floor near the desk by the southern corner.
Notes
- There is a Radiation King Television poster in Tabitha's Studio, There are few of these posters, and they are a reference to The Simpsons
- When you fast travel there or are standing around it the sound of thunder can be heard.
Appearances
Black Mountain only appears in Fallout: New Vegas.
Behind the scenes
- Black Mountain is an actual location south of Las Vegas and near Henderson, Nevada.
- The ambiance that plays at Black Mountain is the same ambiance that plays at Necropolis from Fallout.
Bugs
If the player has rad protection, the radiation meter will indicate +1 but still climb at an unprotected rate- When using the terminal in the prison building, the screen may become blurred but not bring up the monitor interface for the computer. This will fix itself by leaving the building and re-entering but using scoped weapons will now show the image of the computer terminal.
- When climbing back down the mountain after reuniting Tabitha with Rhonda, it is possible that attacking any nightkin or centaur will cause Rhonda and Tabitha to join the fight and attack you. After the original attackers are dead they will disappear altogether. Fast traveling to Jacobstown will show that Tabitha is still hostile to the player.
- By the crater area, a deathclaw can randomly spawn.
- When reaching the top of the second to last hill (by the big crater - it's impossible to miss), the super mutant will run towards you, run up into the air at least 20–30 feet and stay stuck there.
- When fast traveling or climbing the mountain normally, random non-player character's will spawn at Tabitha's compound or in the crater area. They will be non-hostile to both the super mutants/nightkin and to the player. If the player starts a fight with the mutants/nightkin, they will not join regardless of faction reputation.
- You may encounter a nightkin running past you and attack a hostile super mutant. This will give the player the impression that the nightkin is there to protect you. However the nightkin most likely will turn hostile towards the player after they have killed the super mutant.
- When meeting Neil (the friendly super mutant, down by Neil's Shack), for the mission that begins with him, you may be given the optional task to meet him by the overturned satellite dish. Meeting him there, he will ask if you are ready. No matter what reply you give him ("Let's go" or the equivalent of "No not yet. There's some things I have to do first"), he will always respond to the latter. No known fix to this glitch is known at present. Reloading a game save doesn't seem to work.
- A variety of non-player characters may spawn on the roads on your way to the summit including, Sunny Smiles, an NCR Trooper, a Powder Ganger, some Boomers, and a Great Khan. Surprisingly, they won't be attacked by the super mutants if you're around them, they will go straight to you and completely disregard the other non-player characters.
- Sometimes the Nightkin sniper will not spawn, making it impossible to get Annabelle.
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