What happens if you kill an NPC?

[lemming3k]

Can it be done? If so I assume you get a bounty but is that it? Whole base turned against you? Whole faction?
Can it be done covertly to avoid all that?

Something about Stocker makes me want to shoot them....

[Rich]

You can't, NPCs are "essential" and can't be killed.

[tkwoods]

Originally posted by Rich:

You can't, NPCs are "essential" and can't be killed.

Some are... You can kill non-essential NPC's and you will get a bounty if it's a faction like UC or Free Star. You can get bounties high enough that you get shot at on sight. But just go pay it off at a different location and go about your business.

[Gamefever]

Sorry,

The answer is not simple.

Sure you can kill an NPC,
Thing is you just can not kill most of the NPC's that would make sense to want to off, reasons may be valid or not.

The point is there are certainly NPC's in the game that the player may even feel justified such as when an NPC asked the player to commit genocide, well a common reaction may be that you want to kill the corporate rat that just asked you to murder 50,000 people.
But you cant.
Because the guy is marked essential and that means he is immortal.
Now in that specific case one might claim that if you killed that NPC it would break the quest. However I have made quests in Creation Kit and happen to know that the reason it breaks the quest is because the guy that wrote that quest did not include an outcome that considered what to even do if the player killed the guy.
So its a stupid counter argument.

More to the point Bethesda created Fallout 4, and the player could kill off entire factions without breaking the game, so since the company has written quests before to completion it stands to reason that an excuse as flimsy as the one outlined above is unacceptable.

It does not stop there, as there are reports of plenty of random NPC's that are marked essential. I just dont know for certain because well I never bothered testing to see what NPC's could be killed but some of those people showed video's of how running around with a gun out did not get the local law on the players case as well....I had no idea and played through the whole game without knowing that.

Anyway chances are if you are talking to an NPC that has dialogue, you cannot kill this NPC, until the essential flag is removed and that wont happen until well its obvious that whatever quest they have is finished. Even then it is certainly possible that the essential flag never gets removed.

[PC Panda]

Originally posted by Rich:

You can't, NPCs are "essential" and can't be killed.

Experience real choice in starfield

[lemming3k]

Thanks all.
That's a fair point about some being essential. I was hoping some of the more annoying ones wouldn't be and could be safely terminated.
For what it's worth, Stocker goes down but doesn't die.

[Cyg]

Originally posted by Gamefever:

Sorry,

The answer is not simple.

Sure you can kill an NPC,
Thing is you just can not kill most of the NPC's that would make sense to want to off, reasons may be valid or not.

The point is there are certainly NPC's in the game that the player may even feel justified such as when an NPC asked the player to commit genocide, well a common reaction may be that you want to kill the corporate rat that just asked you to murder 50,000 people.
But you cant.
Because the guy is marked essential and that means he is immortal.
Now in that specific case one might claim that if you killed that NPC it would break the quest. However I have made quests in Creation Kit and happen to know that the reason it breaks the quest is because the guy that wrote that quest did not include an outcome that considered what to even do if the player killed the guy.
So its a stupid counter argument.

More to the point Bethesda created Fallout 4, and the player could kill off entire factions without breaking the game, so since the company has written quests before to completion it stands to reason that an excuse as flimsy as the one outlined above is unacceptable.

It does not stop there, as there are reports of plenty of random NPC's that are marked essential. I just dont know for certain because well I never bothered testing to see what NPC's could be killed but some of those people showed video's of how running around with a gun out did not get the local law on the players case as well....I had no idea and played through the whole game without knowing that.

Anyway chances are if you are talking to an NPC that has dialogue, you cannot kill this NPC, until the essential flag is removed and that wont happen until well its obvious that whatever quest they have is finished. Even then it is certainly possible that the essential flag never gets removed.

Well written , this deserves an award.

[Sem56]

why don't you just try it? lol

[ulroth]

They are all Preston Garvey now.

[Jᴧgᴧ]

Originally posted by ulroth:

They are all Preston Garvey now.

I look at Sarah Morgan as Preston's evil female twin. Always wants to talk, always has something good bad to say, always complaining, always judgemental. Preston was none of those things, except chatty.

[Loki McNeil]

Sadly, the game is ridged, protecting the bulk of the NPCs from being killed. Maybe they felt players did not want to lose their opportunity to gain specific quest if their desired npc was killed. Or the forced narrative of the story required the NPC.

Personally, vital NPC's should have been written to have a back up. If killed, the subordinate within their organization would take up the mantel and provide the vital quest, with outcomes slightly different in keeping with the new personality of the second character.

This is a point where criticism of the game is valid. As it is a call back to the 1990s video game era.

[Bastard Emperor]

Originally posted by lemming3k:

Can it be done? If so I assume you get a bounty but is that it? Whole base turned against you? Whole faction?
Can it be done covertly to avoid all that?

Something about Stocker makes me want to shoot them....

Yes. I hate Stocker too. When I'm done with all the missions and side missions completion I'm installing the non-essential NPC mod and killing everyone I don't like.

[Joker of Souls]

Originally posted by Gamefever:

Sorry,

The answer is not simple.

Sure you can kill an NPC,
Thing is you just can not kill most of the NPC's that would make sense to want to off, reasons may be valid or not.

The point is there are certainly NPC's in the game that the player may even feel justified such as when an NPC asked the player to commit genocide, well a common reaction may be that you want to kill the corporate rat that just asked you to murder 50,000 people.
But you cant.
Because the guy is marked essential and that means he is immortal.
Now in that specific case one might claim that if you killed that NPC it would break the quest. However I have made quests in Creation Kit and happen to know that the reason it breaks the quest is because the guy that wrote that quest did not include an outcome that considered what to even do if the player killed the guy.
So its a stupid counter argument.

More to the point Bethesda created Fallout 4, and the player could kill off entire factions without breaking the game, so since the company has written quests before to completion it stands to reason that an excuse as flimsy as the one outlined above is unacceptable.

It does not stop there, as there are reports of plenty of random NPC's that are marked essential. I just dont know for certain because well I never bothered testing to see what NPC's could be killed but some of those people showed video's of how running around with a gun out did not get the local law on the players case as well....I had no idea and played through the whole game without knowing that.

Anyway chances are if you are talking to an NPC that has dialogue, you cannot kill this NPC, until the essential flag is removed and that wont happen until well its obvious that whatever quest they have is finished. Even then it is certainly possible that the essential flag never gets removed.

you forgot to mention some main NPC cant even take damage. In one of the main quests in the neon oil rig city you meet a crime boss or something don't remember his name. If you attack him you do zero damage and he does not react in anyway. Extremely immersion braking.

[wyodinosaur]

Well, there are console commands that can kill essential NPCs. However, that might raise complications with the game.

[AdahnGorion]

Originally posted by lemming3k:

Can it be done? If so I assume you get a bounty but is that it? Whole base turned against you? Whole faction?
Can it be done covertly to avoid all that?

Something about Stocker makes me want to shoot them....

90% of all npcs in this game are immortal.
Nothing really happens if you shoot people from a faction, you can go from one to another and be best friends, no matter the havoc you wrrecked prior to that.

[Charlemagne]

Originally posted by Joker of Souls:

Originally posted by Gamefever:

Sorry,

The answer is not simple.

Sure you can kill an NPC,
Thing is you just can not kill most of the NPC's that would make sense to want to off, reasons may be valid or not.

The point is there are certainly NPC's in the game that the player may even feel justified such as when an NPC asked the player to commit genocide, well a common reaction may be that you want to kill the corporate rat that just asked you to murder 50,000 people.
But you cant.
Because the guy is marked essential and that means he is immortal.
Now in that specific case one might claim that if you killed that NPC it would break the quest. However I have made quests in Creation Kit and happen to know that the reason it breaks the quest is because the guy that wrote that quest did not include an outcome that considered what to even do if the player killed the guy.
So its a stupid counter argument.

More to the point Bethesda created Fallout 4, and the player could kill off entire factions without breaking the game, so since the company has written quests before to completion it stands to reason that an excuse as flimsy as the one outlined above is unacceptable.

It does not stop there, as there are reports of plenty of random NPC's that are marked essential. I just dont know for certain because well I never bothered testing to see what NPC's could be killed but some of those people showed video's of how running around with a gun out did not get the local law on the players case as well....I had no idea and played through the whole game without knowing that.

Anyway chances are if you are talking to an NPC that has dialogue, you cannot kill this NPC, until the essential flag is removed and that wont happen until well its obvious that whatever quest they have is finished. Even then it is certainly possible that the essential flag never gets removed.

you forgot to mention some main NPC cant even take damage. In one of the main quests in the neon oil rig city you meet a crime boss or something don't remember his name. If you attack him you do zero damage and he does not react in anyway. Extremely immersion braking.

You mean the boss of the Syndicate? I always kill him. Or what other boss?