Republic of Dave

The Republic of Dave is a small farm in the far northeast corner of the Capital Wasteland that is considered by its close knit family to be a sovereign nation-state. When the Lone Wanderer finds it Dave is the 'president', but the player can try to change this in the Election Day quest. In earlier years, it was known as the Kingdom of Tom.

Location
The Republic is located in the northeast corner of the Capital Wasteland, nearly in the top-right corner of the map.

Background
Over the past two centuries, this tiny plot of land has been known as the Kingdom of Larry, the Republic of Stevie-Ray, Billsylvania, the New Republic of Stevie-Ray, and, most recently, the Kingdom of Tom, after Dave's father.

In his earlier days, Dave was exiled from the Kingdom of Tom and wandered the Wastes, gaining experience and maturing into a mercenary. He returned, instigated a rebellion, overthrew his father, Tom, and renamed the Kingdom to the "Republic of Dave" where all citizens were safe from dictatorship, replaced with democracy.

The Republic's economy seems to prosper despite its small size, with trading happening, however rarely, with the trade caravans nearby. It also has its own agricultural sector to the left of the entrance into the Republic of Dave (the brahmin pen).

The country's organization is as follows:

The Republic of Dave Military
Joint Security Force, consisting of Dave and Bob.

The Immigration Bureau
You cannot become a citizen of the Republic, but for asylum (the right to stay temporarily) you can first tell Dave that you are looking for asylum, or for a "special asylum" you can become a "refugee" within the country; you must either pay the 250-cap immigration fee or offer a hunting rifle as a gift to do so. It is also possible to tell Dave that you are the Ambassador of the Wastelands (Speech check). In that case, he will let you stay without paying anything.

The Tourism Office
Answers any questions an Ambassador from the Wastes is likely to ask upon arriving.

Other amenities

 * Dave wishes to remind visitors that there is a museum, school, Capitol Building, and men's and women's' separate sleeping quarters which you cannot sleep in.
 * The school here is one of only three known active in the entire Capital Wasteland, the others being in Vault 101 and Little Lamplight.
 * The children are taught that Dave is better than an average human being, notably: "As a baby, he never cried and his poop didn't stink." (probably nod to jokes about Chuck Norris)

Elections
The elections are a fairly important time in the Republic of Dave, though it does seem to be biased (Dave being the only Presidential candidate). The people blindly believe that Dave is their rightful leader and will vote for him unless convinced otherwise with Speech.

The law of the Republic of Dave is also another crucial element: everyone should refer to Dave as "Mr. President" and treat him with the utmost respect, or else they will have 24 hours to leave the Republic, lest they be executed.

The New Republic of Dave
If he loses the elections, Dave informs the player that he is heading to Old Olney to make "The New Republic of Dave". For the new republic to establish, the player must go to Old Olney and clear out the deathclaws in the area. Dave will arrive at the ruined city and sit in the area where the wastelander bodies are found. When spoken to, Dave will inform you that you are in the new Republic of Dave, and order you to leave. Speaking to him twice more will make him hostile towards the player.

Inhabitants

 * Dave, president
 * Rosie, his first wife
 * Jessica, his second wife
 * Bob, Dave's eldest son and second in command
 * Rachael, Dave's daughter
 * Mary, Dave's daughter
 * Ralph, Dave's son
 * Flower, Dave's daughter
 * Shawna, teacher and curator of the Museum of Dave; with enough speech you can convince her to buy your loot. She does not have anything to sell.

Notable loot

 * Dave keeps a unique hunting rifle named Ol' Painless, that does significantly more damage than the standard hunting rifle. It also has a faster reload time than the standard hunting rifle. Additionally, Ol' Painless has a zero spread. To acquire it, you either have to steal Dave's key or rig the election so one of the other two win, after which you will be given access to the safe. Obviously, the first option is considered stealing and must be done discreetly if you do not wish to upset the residents. However, the rifle can at times be equipped by one of Dave's wives, thus rendering it impossible to get if the first two options have been skipped unless the player selects the 'your republic is forfeit' dialogue option with Dave. This will turn all the citizens hostile and allowing you to kill them without karma loss, and then picking up the rifle through searching the bodies of Dave and his wives.
 * The Bobblehead - Perception can be found in the Republic of Dave Museum. As with all other bobbleheads, taking it does not yield any karma difference.
 * A Nuka-Cola Quantum on the safe in Capitol Building. (Must be stolen.)
 * Two pre-War books in the museum.
 * Similar to the giant teddy bear(s), there is a giant version of the hot plate on one of the shelves in the Museum of Dave. Taking it will cause you to lose karma.

Related quests

 * You Gotta Shoot 'Em in the Head
 * Election Day

Behind the scenes

 * The lead designer is on record saying that the Republic of Dave was not inspired by anything in particular; it simply struck them as a funny idea for a location to visit.
 * There is a secret entrance on the east side of the republic, a small gap in the fence.

Bugs

 * If you have Fawkes with you, it may be best to have him wait outside as there have been cases of him killing all the adult NPC's in the Republic of Dave unprovoked. Also, Sergeant RL-3 may also kill all the adults in an unprovoked attack, so have him wait outside, the same as Fawkes.
 * Sometimes Jessica or Bob will not vote if they are standing in front of the ballot box, even if you tell them to vote and they say they will. This results in the quest being broken and the only way of fixing this problem is to load a save before you activated the quest.
 * Creatures can rarely spawn inside the compound walls (typically when fast-traveling to the location), resulting in the deaths of several of the adults inside.
 * The doors to the men and women's quarters both highlight red when you are in front of them, however you will not lose karma or cause any hostilities by opening them.
 * On a approach to the camp for the first time, a random creature can spawn outside the gates causing a resident (usually Bob) to go outside and fight it. If they die no one else in the camp will be the wiser. After telling all of the remaining residents to go vote you have to tell Dave "the results are in" to get him to go the ballot box and finish the quest. If anyone is dead he'll simply repeat "* insert dead resident*  hasn't voted yet..." and the quest will be broken. The solution is to load a save before you activated the quest.
 * You cannot wait inside the main building.