Pack of cigarettes (Fallout 3)

Packs of cigarettes, all branded "Big Boss," can be found just about anywhere in the Capital Wasteland and the Mojave Wasteland.

Like the cartons of cigarettes, they have little practical value. They can't be smoked by the player. However, they have a low weight (0.5) and a relatively high value (10 caps), giving them a good value/weight ratio (20 caps per weight), making them useful trade goods, especially for lower-level characters.

Strangely, they can be found very often in garbage cans. Giving a carton of cigarettes, a pack of cigarettes, or a cigarette to Jericho will cause him to smoke when they are idle in game.

It is interesting to note that while the game allows extensive drug use, bloody violence, intoxication, and addiction, the player is unable to smoke. Considering that all other addictive substances in the game are beneficial in some way or another and smoking has no immediate benefit or downside (or Bethesda was unable to come up with one); it could be the reason why the Lone Wanderer and the Courier can't smoke.

Behind the scenes

 * The cigarette's brand name "Big Boss" may be an allusion to the popular stealth/action series Metal Gear and Metal Gear Solid. One of the primary characters in both series is code-named Big Boss. Cigarettes are recurring inventory item in almost every Metal Gear game.