Break before doing "Reunions"?

[Excessive Paranoia]

Spoilers I guess? Though I'm not sure if anyone hasn't finished the game by now...

So I'm in the middle of a long RP playthrough of the game that I'm trying to stretch out to months of in-game time rather than the weeklong railroaded deal that seems to be the norm. As such, I'm trying to insert somewhat realistic delays into the mix wherever I can (e.g. need to follow a bunch of leads before finding Nick instead of just lasering straight to him, or needing to have the Minutemen scout Fort Hagan for some period of time instead of just running in there the second you find it), but its kind of difficult when completing one mission immediately throws you into the next.

That all said, one of the spots I'd like to have a break is after Kellog's house, but before the mad dash across the map following Dogmeat, since it seems rather far-fetched to have Kellog's trail still be fresh when he's disappeared long enough in the past that Nick was on his case and Nick was held prisoner in the Vault for "weeks" (his own dialogue). It would make much more sense, and fit with what I'm hoping to do, to have that trail appear sometime after going to his house in Diamond City.

Anyway, this brings me to the point of the post, namely, are you presented with an option to delay starting the Reunion's quest once Dogmeat smells the cigar, or are you railroaded into it at that point? The reason I'm here asking is because I'm currently in the previous mission and I need to decide whether to try to stretch out getting access to the house or if I'll have the opportunity to stretch out the start of Reunions and I really don't want to waste an hour or more of my life getting into the house and finishing this quest, only to find out that I've got to roll-back to where I am currently because you can't avoid the cigar smell trail.

Thanks.

[Ratselhaft]

You can just ignore Dogmeat, he will sit outside Kellogs house until you interact with him, If he smells the Cigar he will run off and be left where ever you leave him until you interact with him again....

But from a RP perspective that does not fit.

Personnally I dont go and find Valantine for a while, even avoid his office to start with... I find from a RP perspective it fits better.

EG... Escape Vault looking for son who just been Kidnapped....

Find out its been 210 years in the Vault so son could be/ is in all probability dead...

RP main character thinking Mama Murphy is mad so why listen to her (or never save Preston and co and ignore any other NPC's as wrong.. in Denial so so speak)....

Mourn Son and get on with life until you find out Kellog is still alive and that sets you off again.

But you have already gone passed that point.

So you can hold it at your point within the game mechanics but it feels forced.

[rresuggan]

im at lvl62 and still to do hunter/hunted, im doing the dlcs and lots of other quests, keeping interaction with preston to a minimum, so you are still allies with everyone and havent met the institute, its a good time to explore

[Excessive Paranoia]

Originally posted by Ratselhaft:

You can just ignore Dogmeat, he will sit outside Kellogs house until you interact with him, If he smells the Cigar he will run off and be left where ever you leave him until you interact with him again....

But from a RP perspective that does not fit.

Personnally I dont go and find Valantine for a while, even avoid his office to start with... I find from a RP perspective it fits better.

EG... Escape Vault looking for son who just been Kidnapped....

Find out its been 210 years in the Vault so son could be/ is in all probability dead...

RP main character thinking Mama Murphy is mad so why listen to her (or never save Preston and co and ignore any other NPC's as wrong.. in Denial so so speak)....

Mourn Son and get on with life until you find out Kellog is still alive and that sets you off again.

But you have already gone passed that point.

So you can hold it at your point within the game mechanics but it feels forced.

Is it possible to go into Kellogg's house, but not go so far in the quest as to show Dogmeat the cigar?

[SeaBee]

if I recall I think as soon as you finish searching Kellogs house you go right into the part to follow Dogmeat. I followed Dogmeat to the Fort but haven't gone inside yet, decided to work on the DLC first, just finished Far Harbor.

[dogg]

I'm pretty sure you can make Nick just wait by Kellog's door while you find the key or pick the lock.
He will wait indefinitely iirc.

[Ratselhaft]

Originally posted by Excessive Paranoia:

Originally posted by Ratselhaft:

You can just ignore Dogmeat, he will sit outside Kellogs house until you interact with him, If he smells the Cigar he will run off and be left where ever you leave him until you interact with him again....

But from a RP perspective that does not fit.

Personnally I dont go and find Valantine for a while, even avoid his office to start with... I find from a RP perspective it fits better.

EG... Escape Vault looking for son who just been Kidnapped....

Find out its been 210 years in the Vault so son could be/ is in all probability dead...

RP main character thinking Mama Murphy is mad so why listen to her (or never save Preston and co and ignore any other NPC's as wrong.. in Denial so so speak)....

Mourn Son and get on with life until you find out Kellog is still alive and that sets you off again.

But you have already gone passed that point.

So you can hold it at your point within the game mechanics but it feels forced.

Is it possible to go into Kellogg's house, but not go so far in the quest as to show Dogmeat the cigar?

Yes.

That is what I said.

You leave the House and dont interact with Dogmeat or go near him , ie fast travel away (or if on survival move no-where near him) and he will stay outside the house until you do.

[Bored Peon]

Originally posted by Ratselhaft:

You can just ignore Dogmeat, he will sit outside Kellogs house until you interact with him, If he smells the Cigar he will run off and be left where ever you leave him until you interact with him again....

But from a RP perspective that does not fit.

Yeah but you are forced to put in a delay somewhere and leaving Dogmeat outside the house in Diamond CIty or outside the Fort are you last real points before moving on to Act II.

Technically the RP stopping point would be after freeing Nick but before discussing your case with him.

I personally do not like engaing Act II until I am satisfied exploring the game areas. That way I do not have the Act II BOS infestation while exploring.

[Ratselhaft]

Originally posted by Bored Peon:

Originally posted by Ratselhaft:

You can just ignore Dogmeat, he will sit outside Kellogs house until you interact with him, If he smells the Cigar he will run off and be left where ever you leave him until you interact with him again....

But from a RP perspective that does not fit.

Yeah but you are forced to put in a delay somewhere and leaving Dogmeat outside the house in Diamond CIty or outside the Fort are you last real points before moving on to Act II.

Technically the RP stopping point would be after freeing Nick but before discussing your case with him.

I personally do not like engaing Act II until I am satisfied exploring the game areas. That way I do not have the Act II BOS infestation while exploring.

Nod, I am the same, kind of and explain how I RP it later in that post.

[Excessive Paranoia]

Originally posted by Ratselhaft:

Originally posted by Excessive Paranoia:

Is it possible to go into Kellogg's house, but not go so far in the quest as to show Dogmeat the cigar?

Yes.

That is what I said.

You leave the House and dont interact with Dogmeat or go near him , ie fast travel away (or if on survival move no-where near him) and he will stay outside the house until you do.

Originally posted by Bored Peon:

Originally posted by Ratselhaft:

You can just ignore Dogmeat, he will sit outside Kellogs house until you interact with him, If he smells the Cigar he will run off and be left where ever you leave him until you interact with him again....

But from a RP perspective that does not fit.

Yeah but you are forced to put in a delay somewhere and leaving Dogmeat outside the house in Diamond CIty or outside the Fort are you last real points before moving on to Act II.

Technically the RP stopping point would be after freeing Nick but before discussing your case with him.

I personally do not like engaing Act II until I am satisfied exploring the game areas. That way I do not have the Act II BOS infestation while exploring.

The thing is that I clearly remember following Dogmeat to Fort Hagen and then using that as a hold point, but still being able to use Dogmeat after getting there in a past playthrough, but that was 18 months ago at this point and I can't for the life of me remember how I did it.

[Bored Peon]

I think once he is at the front door to Fort Hagen you can swap him out again.

[SeaBee]

Once you get to Fort Hagen and discover it, your quest should update to "Find a Way into Fort Hagen", that is the point where you can stop and do other quests. That is what I did.