Cass

Rose of Sharon Cassidy (also known as Cass or Whiskey Rose), is a water merchant and owner of Cassidy Caravans in the Mojave Wasteland in 2281.

Background
Born in 2244, Cass is the daughter of John Cassidy, a companion of the Chosen One in Fallout 2, and a tribal woman he met on his travels. Her father up and left once more to wander the wastes while she was still young - leaving her only a name, a pendant, his shooting skills and propensity for hard drinking.

Worn down by years of hard luck and a recent rash of terrible misfortunes, Cass is a despondent merchant who's about to get out of the caravan business. She's smart, tough, and steady with a gun, but has not been savvy enough to survive the ruthless caravan wars that have flared up in Nevada since the NCR's expansion. Though quick to join up with the Courier for some easy money, she is still interested in finding out if she has been suffering from bad luck or something more sinister.

When first encountered by the Courier, Cass is drowning her sorrows at the Mojave Outpost bar. NCR Ranger reports have reached her that her caravan has been attacked and "burned to ash," placing an even greater burden on her shoulders. However, threats along the road into New Vegas and problems with NCR paperwork have so far prevented her from leaving the outpost to investigate the attack.

Cass has inherited her father's heart condition, and will show her disgust for chems if the Courier speaks to her while under their effects.

Quests

 * Heartache by the Number: The Courier recruits Cass as a companion, then investigates her sacked caravan and helps exact revenge on the perpetrators.
 * Successfully completing Cass' companion quest will give her one of two perks:
 * Calm Heart, which raises her health by 50.
 * Hand of Vengeance, which grants a 15% bonus to the damage Cass inflicts with Guns-skill weapons.
 * It is possible to obtain both of these perks. See quest info for more details.
 * You Can Depend on Me: The Courier is sent by Alice McLafferty to convince Cass to sell her caravan.
 * Birds of a Feather: The Courier is sent by Jean-Baptiste Cutting to either kill Cass or lure her to the Silver Rush to be killed.
 * Note: Completing Heartache by the Number first makes the Van Graff faction hostile, disabling the option to talk Jean-Baptiste Cutting to complete this mission.
 * Beyond the Beef: The Courier can offer Cass, or any other human companion, as a substitute to Mortimer for the banquet.

Moonshine

 * Once she joins the Courier as a companion, Rose of Sharon Cassidy will give them the recipe for Cass' moonshine which is craftable at campfires.
 * If the Courier has all of the ingredients on hand, she can also craft moonshine for them without needing a campfire.

Flirtation

 * Male Couriers with the Lady Killer perk can accuse Cass of flirting with him, saying, "Miss Cassidy... are you flirting with me?" Cass makes it clear that nothing is ever going to happen between the two and he better respect that, as she "knows his type."
 * Male Couriers with a great Speech skill and the Lady Killer perk will make Cass say she "knows his look" and knows he says all the right things to leave a trail of broken hearts across the Mojave.
 * Male Couriers with the Confirmed Bachelor perk can respond to Cass's flirting by saying they should not be anything more than friends. Cass states that he must have a "Legion" point of view, implying that he is not interested in women.
 * Female Couriers with the Black Widow perk can respond to Cass's comment about not liking "soft men" by saying that they are rarely a problem for them [the female Courier].
 * Females with the Cherchez La Femme perk can respond to Cass's comment about not liking "soft men" by saying that they are rarely an issue for them [again, the female Courier], wherein Cass will respond - with a shocked expression - by defending herself, nervously saying that she meant no offense, and that when she has had enough to drink, she does not care who she ends up in bed with.
 * Already having the max amount of companions and asking Cass to join, may make her respond with not being in the mood "for a threesome. {Under her breath} Today."

Low Karma

 * With Cass as a companion, opening a conversation with her with a negative Karma (-100) will make her complain about the Courier's behavior. With a Speech check of 65 she can be convinced about trying to improve, or just be acknowledged her discontent and continue the conversation.
 * Speaking to her again with even less Karma (-150) brings her confrontation a second time. She can again be promised improvement with a Speech check of 65 or just go on with the conversation.
 * After the second confrontation, Cass stops complaining as long as the Courier stays Neutral (Karma -249 or higher). Talking to her again with Evil Karma (-250 or less) will make her automatically disband, with no way of convincing her to stay.
 * Making an offensive comment about her dead parents turns Cass hostile (For this dialogue to be active, she must first be asked about her family.)
 * Talking to Cass repeatedly, regardless of topic, with Evil Karma (-250 or below) will make her disband.

Appearances
Rose of Sharon Cassidy appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes

 * Rose of Sharon is a common name that applies to several different species of flowering plants that are highly valued throughout the world and originates in the Bible as one of the many names of God. She is named after the character of the same name in John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath, which she describes as "some Old World book about dirt pilgrims."
 * Chris Avellone designed Cass' companion arc.
 * The playing cards that come with the Collectors Edition of Fallout: New Vegas depict Cass as a blonde. This was probably one of the earlier concepts of her; in-game she has red hair.
 * During the development process of Cass, there were some ideas to have the player character wake up next to her drunk and be wed with her. The marriage would take place with The King doing the proceedings with an Elvis song.
 * The original idea for Cass's Whiskey Rose perk was to allow carrying more water items, along with receiving a healing bonus from its consumption. This was then changed to become more valuable as a companion game mechanic, and to also reinforce her hard-drinking personality.
 * The ending for when Mr. House retains control of Vegas quotes Cass as saying, "We were going full speed ahead... but facing backwards the whole time." This alludes to the final line of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby: "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." This is appropriate, since Mr. House's ideal is also of a Gilded Age world: "the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us..."

Bugs

 * Cass has the infuriating habit of sometimes trying to occupy the exact same spot as you when you are crouched firing at a target. This can result in her being completely inside you and unable to fire, or even in you scoring a critical hit on her. Using the companion wheel to tell her to back off usually fixes the problem.
 * If she was sent to Lucky 38 before starting sub-quest from the Van Graff's brother, quest mark will indicate that she is located close to the Mojave Outpost, but it won't be possible to actually see her there. Then quest mark will guide the Courier to the Silver Rush where they can tell Jean-Baptiste that she is dead. She seems to disappear from the game at this point.
 * Sometimes, when sent to the Lucky 38, she can be seen walking around the Casino floor.
 * Cass's weapons are not returned after leaving Gomorrah.
 * After fast traveling to a location, she will occasionally start running away as quickly as she can for no reason. To correct this, either enter a building (that makes your game load a new area) or fast travel to another location.
 * Weapons placed in Cass' inventory may become fully repaired after being taken out of her inventory.
 * If Cass's perk-giving quests are completed before ever meeting her (as in killing the Van Graffs and Alice McLafferty.), then upon meeting her, the game will initiate dialogue as if having met her before with seemingly no prompts available to carry the conversation into the recruitment phase. It seems that after this, the option of having Cass as a companion is lost forever.
 * After delivering her and letting Jean-Baptiste kill her, quips by certain non-player characters in the game (such as the "she aims for the crotch" comment) will still be said as if Cass was still alive companion. Fiends in Vault 3 will also make the comments "I'll hit that" and "Does she put out?".
 * Sometimes when doing the Lady Killer speech where you say "Miss Cassidy... are you flirting with me?" [Lady Killer] will show up twice before the text.