Old Ben

Old Ben is a local living in Freeside in 2281.

Background
Old Ben can be found outside the entrance to the New Vegas Strip in Freeside. Upon speaking to him, he advises the Courier not to go near the gate of the Strip without talking to the gatekeeper first as the securitron guards are programmed to vaporize anyone who enters the fenced-in area without proper authorization. Old Ben has been living in Freeside for his whole life, and after further questioning, will tell the Courier about his life and many of his former occupations.

Early Life
When Ben was young, his father ran a butcher shop in Freeside, which eventually went out of business due to another vendor selling some kind of strange meat at much lower prices. His father later died and long after, people around town who had bought the strange meat started experiencing abnormal shakes. After meat vendor also died, someone moved into his place and discovered human remains in the crawlspace. Old Ben then spent some time as a courier, making enough caps to get a passport into the New Vegas Strip.

The Strip
Upon entering the strip, Ben found a job working as a crier outside the Tops. As he was quite charismatic, he often chatted with the female talent at the casino. When one of these girls start to take an interest in Ben, her manger became jealous, and decided to frame him, saying that Ben had stolen from the casino. Since a few grand was missing from the casino's vault, Ben was blamed. He was kick out of the Tops and lost all of his belongings as well as his casino apartment, and was forced to return to Freeside.

Back to Freeside
With Ben's reputation tarnished, and lacking many career options, he then turned to being an escort. Regardless of the good pay, Ben felt like a "piece of meat", resulting in him quitting. With the money from the escort job, Ben was able to purchase the gear necessary to become a bodyguard. Already having the wits and physical build to handle Freeside's many thugs, Ben had become a quite popular bodyguard. with many tourists choosing him as a guard for their outings into Freeside. After a while Ben had received a reputation for being a stand up guy again. After a decade of working as a bodyguard, Ben decided to retire.

Quests

 * Wang Dang Atomic Tango: When looking for a male escort, the Courier can choose between Ben and Santiago to be a "smooth talker" for the Atomic Wrangler Casino. Old Ben can be persuaded through either a Speech check or the Confirmed Bachelor/Black Widow perk.

Appearances
Old Ben appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.

Bugs

 * He can sometimes, after you talk to him, run to the Strip's gate where he will be obliterated by the securitrons.
 * If you recruit Santiago and go to the Atomic Wrangler to tell James, then go back to Ben and pass the Speech check, you will be awarded 50 XP and he will run to the Atomic Wrangler. Then when you go back to the Wrangler, you can speak to Ben again to pass the Speech check infinitely, earning 35 XP per check. You can also still use the Black Widow/Confirmed Bachelor perk. Speaking to James will not bring the option to recruit Ben.

Alter Ben Ben (Freeside) Vecchio Ben Stary Ben Старый Бен Старий Бен