Brother Thomas

Brother Thomas (named Brother Andrew, Brother Simon, Brother James or Brother Matthew before Emogene Takes a Lover) is the leader of the "Pillars of the Community" cult located at the Charles View Amphitheater in Boston in 2287.

Background
The leader of a small cult called the Pillars of the Community, Brother Thomas is a character with a shady reputation, who has gathered a small band of followers to his movement. He regularly sends out missionaries to spread the word about his cult, by distributing fliers and pamphlets in nearby towns and communities. He requires all new members of his cult to stay with him until they agree to give up their "worldly possessions" so they can safely begin on the road to salvation, though it appears that only he benefits from the operation.

In reality, Thomas is a con artist and thief, who does nothing more than steal the belongings of local residents, as part of a scam. He uses the Pillars of the Community cult as a front for his operations.

Membership in the Pillars of the Community
Upon speaking to him he will try to convince the Sole Survivor to join the Pillars of the Community, on the condition that they give him everything they own. If the player character goes through with it Thomas will act surprised, subtly revealing that the entire thing is a charade. He will then tell the player about level one of the cult, asking the player to repeat the phrase "I deserve a better life. A better life is coming. A better life is almost here". Upon doing so he will ask the player to keep repeating the phase until it is truly believed, stating that only with this true belief will the player be ready for level two. Thomas goes on to say that the player character will know they are level two when good things start happening to them.

This will leave the player without any items except keys or quest items. The player character can break into the back storage room of the office to retrieve their items, but doing so will result in Thomas and his followers becoming hostile.

If the player character asks about changing their mind about joining the cult before entering the office, Thomas will say there is no obligation to join, though they supposedly have yet to have a member leave the organization. If the player changes their mind while talking to Thomas in the office however, Thomas will say the player character is past backing out, and he will demand that they allow him to relieve the player of their worldly possessions. This brings up the option to threaten him into allowing the player to leave with their inventory intact. If successful, Thomas will allow the player to walk out peacefully otherwise Thomas and his followers will turn hostile and attack.

Quests
Emogene Takes a Lover - It is revealed Brother Thomas tried to talk to customers of The Third Rail in Goodneighbor. This eventually caused him to be thrown out by Ham, but not before he could talk Emogene Cabot into coming with him. Upon failing to convince her to join his cult he imprisoned her. When the Sole Survivor confronts him, he tries to misdirect them, stating that "she is busy" and "they are having relationship problems". He can be persuaded or killed, enabling to Sole Survior to rescue Emogene.

Appearances
While the particular Brother Thomas associated with this entry does only appear in F04,  it is worth mentioning that a distinct NPC character of the same name demonstrates in FO1 to assembled BOS members and witnessing Vault Dweller an assortment of 1 point melee and combat skills fighting tips.



Bugs
If you do give him your belongings, some of your weapons may have disappeared from his inventory, or have been altered once you return to dispose of him.
 * This appears to affect only unique and legendary weapons that have been renamed.

Брат Томас