Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Bottle Cap

Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle caps are uncommon miscellaneous items in Fallout: New Vegas.

Background
A Sunset Sarsaparilla bottle cap with a blue star on the bottom, bottles of Sunset Sarsaparilla were randomly capped with these as part of a promotion before the Great War, where participants needed to redeem 50 of them at the Sunset Sarsaparilla company's headquarters in Las Vegas to receive a prize. This prize has attained a legendary status following the War, becoming a highly sought after treasure in the Mojave Wasteland.

Sometime after the Courier finds at least one of these caps, a man named Malcolm Holmes, a retired collector of these prized caps, will approach the player character and warn that the caps are highly sought after by collectors who will kill for them. He says sometimes people can be so crazed that they will attack strangers if they simply believe they have any. He also warns to steer clear of a man named Allen Marks, who is said to have killed several people for the caps and is somewhat of a professional collector.

The caps are thought to be very valuable, and according to a legend they allow access to a secret treasure guarded by a man named Festus. When asked about Festus, Malcolm says he has been guarding the treasure since before the Great War, which he says "would make him pretty damn old." He states that he has met a few people who claim they have actually seen Festus and that these people "aren't the lying type." The treasure's contents are unknown, although Malcolm hints that it could be money, technology, or other pre-War items whose actual value is unknown. The star bottle caps are still occasionally found, as the treasure's guardian still distributes them.

Gameplay
Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle caps are a rare variant of the Sunset Sarsaparilla bottle cap, featuring a blue star on the underside of the cap. The star glows blue, though dimly. These caps have a 1-in-20 (5%) chance of being found when drinking a bottle of Sunset Sarsaparilla, and otherwise can be found in various locations throughout the Mojave Wasteland. These caps are part of the quest The Legend of the Star, and thus cannot be sold. Once the quest is completed, picking up a Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap will simply add to the player's total bottle cap count.

Associated prize
After finding at least 50 Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle caps, the player character can approach Festus at the Sunset Sarsaparilla headquarters, which will initiate the directly associated quests, The Legend of the Star and A Valuable Lesson. Completing these quests will lead the player character to the prize for collecting these rare caps, about 1500 regular bottle caps, 319 toy deputy badges (which have no monetary value), and Pew Pew, a unique laser pistol.

Variants

 * Sunset Sarsaparilla - In terms of game items they are considered a separate item; however, picking up a Sunset Sarsaparilla cap simply adds to the player character's total bottle cap count.
 * Bottle cap - Standard Nuka-Cola bottle caps featuring 21 crimps and ridges, used as the basic form of currency throughout the wasteland.
 * Counterfeit bottle caps - Can be found inside the cap counterfeiting shack. These "fake caps" appear identical to standard Nuka-Cola bottle caps, but have no trade value and cannot be used for any monetary purpose.

Locations
The following is a list of 100 fixed locations where star bottle caps can be found throughout the Mojave Wasteland. Additional star caps can occasionally be acquired from non-player characters or by drinking Sunset Sarsaparilla.

Random locations

 * Up to nine star caps can be found between Nipton and the Nipton Road pit stop, where the player character will find Tomas and Jacklyn embroiled in a gunfight. If Tomas dies, the player character can talk to Jacklyn and confront her about the star bottle caps, at which point she will attack. Killing her will enable looting two star bottle caps from her body, and then up to seven more from Tomas' body. If Tomas kills Jacklyn, he will not attack the player character, and acquisition of all nine caps will involve pickpocketing, killing, or convincing Tomas to give up his caps with a Speech skill of 50 or by the Terrifying Presence perk. In either scenario, the victor in the scuffle may loot the star caps off their fallen opponent, enabling the player character to gather all nine caps from one person.
 * Six star caps can be found on Malcolm Holmes.
 * Norton, the leader of the mercenaries attacking Jacobstown, has one star cap.
 * The player character can initiate the mini-game encountered within the dialogue with Festus, which will randomly award star caps. The mini-game can be played ad infinitum, enabling the player character to rack up a star cap every 5–10 minutes.
 * A wastelander may appear fighting some scorpions when the player character is traveling to scorpion gulch. He will be carrying a Sunset Sarsaparilla star cap on his body should he die during the confrontation. The wastelander will respawn after three days, at which point another star cap can be acquired from him.
 * Sergeant Daniel Contreras at Camp McCarran occasionally sells some.
 * A great amount of Sunset Sarsaparilla can be found in the Sunset Sarsaparilla headquarters which can be consumed, giving a 5% chance of getting a star cap.