Fallout 3 random encounters

General information
Random encounters in Fallout 3 consist not only of randomly appearing enemies, but also scripted encounters that can happen in certain pre-defined places in the Capital Wasteland. They usually consist of unique situations, enemy encounters or small tasks for the player.

A random element is the place where a given scripted event will appear. Once a special encounter has been activated in a particular area, no other random event will occur in this area. You can save outside the spawning area and keep reloading if you don't get the encounter you want.

Unique vs. repeatable
There are two different types of scripted random encounters in the game: unique encounters and repeatable ones. Unique encounters can only occur once per playthrough whereas repeatable ones can occur multiple times.

Grouped by location
Random encounter locations are divided into two groups. Some encounters occur only in one group of locations (A in the location table's "Group" column); others occur only in the second group of locations (B in the location table's "Group" column). Only very few encounters are available in all locations.

List of encounters
The encounters are grouped by living characters or creatures they contain. There are no duplicate listings; if you are looking for an encounter which involves multiple parties, make sure to check all potentially relevant sections.

Videos
thumb|300px|left|Manipulating random encounters