Nipton

"City of the Dead"

Nipton is a small town located in southern Mojave Wasteland, ravaged by Caesar's Legion in 2281.

Background
A town near the state line of Nevada and California, transected by north-south bound railroad tracks. The town hosted a lottery before the war, offering those who purchased tickets a chance at a jackpot worth millions of dollars.

After the Great War, it gained a seedy reputation under the leadership of Mayor Joseph B. Steyn. Following the NCR Correctional Facility prison break, Steyn extended a hand to the Powder Gangers letting them know Nipton was open for trade. Steyn was able to arrange servicing NCR soldiers in the night and Powder Gangers in the day and keep the two separated. The town's undoing came when Steyn arranged a deal with Caesar's Legion to turn over both NCR soldiers and Powder Gangers to Vulpes Inculta in return for 8,000 caps.

Instead, Vulpes and the Legion forces rounded up the residents and aforementioned groups including the mayor, subjecting them to a lottery. Using lottery tickets, the fate of those gathered was decided, and what followed was a massacre. The lottery tickets determined who was decapitated, crucified, or enslaved. The runner-up ticket resulted in crippling for Boxcars, and the winner Oliver Swanick was granted his freedom. The mayor was burned to death on a pile of tires after his ticket was called. In the aftermath, the lack of intervention on the part of the New California Republic communicated to the local Brotherhood of Steel chapter that the NCR was unwilling or unable to respond.

Layout
By approaching from either direction along Nevada State Route 164, the player character may be greeted by Oliver Swanick, an ex-Powder Ganger. Swanick won the lottery, resulting in the Legion sparing his life. As the player character approaches the town hall, Vulpes Inculta (or alternatively Gabban if Vulpes is killed before the player character enters Nipton) either greets them or becomes hostile if they are wearing an outfit that aligns them with the NCR. Venturing through the settlement, the player character will see multiple crosses with the remains of the lottery's losers. The rest of the town is in ruins and actively burning.

Outside of Nipton Hall are several crucifixes, along with skulls on a post, and a pyre. Behind the hall are a water tower and a water pump which causes minor radiation damage. Vulpes Inculta meets the Courier outside of the hall and tells them to spread the word of Caesar's Legion's atrocities. After speaking to him, the quest Cold, Cold Heart begins. Alternatively, if the Courier is clothed in NCR faction armor, Vulpes and the other legionaries will be hostile and attack.

Buildings

 * Nipton General Store: Located close to the western side of town. A man named Boxcars sits inside and will speak about what happened, opening up the quest Booted.
 * Nipton Town Hall: Inside the hall itself, one will find many Legion mongrels. They are automatically hostile if the player character does not have the Animal Friend perk, even if dressed as a member of Caesar's Legion. Killing the mongrels does not give the player character Legion Infamy.
 * Nipton Hotel: To the left of the town hall, a small building with four NCR trooper corpses dumped inside.
 * Nipton house: Several houses available for the player character to explore.
 * Good Luck trailer park: A small trailer park in the southeastern part of town.

Notable loot

 * Worn key - Upon entering Nipton Town Hall, directly to the right, behind the counter. There is a mine behind the counter. The key unlocks the first door on the right down the hall, which leads to a basement.
 * Big Book of Science - On the town hall's third floor, in the mayor's office on the desk.
 * Nuka-Cola Victory - Behind the Average locked door in the mayor's office on a shelf.
 * Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap - On the main road to the east of Nipton, across the train tracks, inside a wrecked truck with a Sunset Sarsaparilla case. The star bottle cap is laying on top. The traffic cones here are booby-trapped with mines.

Related quests

 * Booted
 * Cold, Cold Heart: Ranger Ghost, an NCR sniper found on the roof of the compound at the Mojave Outpost, will ask the Courier to investigate the lack of traffic from the town, noting the visible smoke from the town's direction.
 * Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
 * They Went That-a-Way
 * Wheel of Fortune

Appearances
Nipton appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes

 * Nipton is based on the real-world location of Nipton, California. Similar to the in-game equivalent, it is located near the state line and advertises the sale of California state lottery tickets.
 * The two state line roadsigns directly outside of Nipton exist in the real world but are located at the south end of the real world Primm along I-15. Until 2021, the signs resembled the in-game versions.
 * The Declaration of Vital Essence may be a tongue-in-cheek reference to the film Dr. Strangelove, in which the character of Gen. Jack Ripper is highly and vocally paranoid about guarding his "precious bodily fluids" and "Purity of Essence." Admittedly, in the film, he spoke of his essence as though he were referring to his own vigor "in the bedroom."
 * With the Wild Wasteland trait, in front of a destroyed building near the eastern entrance of the town, the charred skeletal remains of two people named, respectively, Owen and Beru can be found. This is a reference to a famous scene from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which Luke Skywalker returns home to find that his uncle and aunt of the same names have been incinerated in a similar fashion by stormtroopers.

Bugs

 * There's a glitch that prevents the player character from being able to speak with Vulpes Inculta, even when he triggers the conversation. The camera will zoom in on him as it would usually do when initiating conversation, but will then quickly retract, bringing the player character back into control. Reloading doesn't seem to fix this issue. To fix this issue, an earlier save must be loaded.
 * Sometimes, when fast traveling to Nipton, the player character may find a crucified prospector instead of a Powder Ganger. He can't be removed from the cross but he can be interacted with. He will most likely be killed by the bark scorpions by the next time the player character travels there.
 * Standing near the entrance of the town hall may trigger an attack from a Jackal gang member. It is unknown whether or not this attack was scripted, or if the member had simply walked close enough to detect the player character.
 * The people on the crosses can be removed from them in the event that the player character enters and suddenly exits the town hall. They will not move, instead standing still in front of the crosses. Some can be interacted with and some can be pickpocketed.
 * A generalized version of the above can be experienced, with the game freezing or crashing upon leaving Nipton in any direction, either on foot or by fast traveling. This tends to happen after a prolonged period of play.