Render Unto Caesar

Render Unto Caesar is a main quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Walkthrough
Upon arriving at Caesar's camp the player will have their weapons removed (with the option to keep holdout weapons). All weapons will be returned upon leaving the camp. With a Speech of 35, the player can ask what items are banned, and keep aid/chems, saying they suffer a heart problem.

Travel to the top of the hill and enter Caesar's inner camp. Here you will find the Legion Arena and, most notably, Caesar's tent.

Enter Caesar's tent and talk to him. Caesar will tell the courier that there is a vault underneath the camp with the markings of the Lucky 38 Casino. He asks the player to enter the vault and destroy it. He then returns the platinum chip.

If Benny is alive, Caesar will inform the player they will get to choose his manner of death. At this point, the player can speak to Benny.

The vault is located within a concrete bunker behind Caesar's tent. Upon entering, a Legionnaire will return all of your confiscated items. Putting the Platinum Chip in the computer will provide subterranean access to the irradiated vault.

Once you are inside the vault, you will see a large screen on which Mr. House is displayed. In conversation he will tell you the purpose of the chip and of Victor's objectives before asking you to finish the job by upgrading the computer's security protocol. You can agree to cooperate or defy him. Either way, he will inform you that he has no control over the vault's defenses and that you'll have to fight your way to the computer (but one would think he would have an overide password for the terminals, as it's his vault).

Down the stairs you will encounter a hostile Protectron, a door, and the rest of the path. Behind the door you will find two locked and one unlocked computers. The locked computers are medium and hard can be hacked to disable the vault's defenses. The medium one disables the Automated Turrets and the hard one disables the Protectrons. If you are able to hack both, your path is clear for now.

Either way, head down the hall. If your Repair skill is above 60, you can open the door on the right and disable the Sentry Bots while they are harmless. In the next room, you will encounter two turrets and two Protectrons. If you look through the windows on your left and right you will see Mr. House's army.

The next room is protected by four Protectrons. It is the generator room. If you plan on following Caesar's orders, destroy the three generators by shooting them. As they explode, the facility will destabilize and radiation (+4 Rads per second while wearing the Space Suit) will be released. This will set off the facility's security system, which at this point should only consist of the Sentry Bots that you had the opportunity to disable.


 * If you plan on following Mr. House's orders to complete The House Always Wins: II, continue past the generator room into the computer room. It is protected by three turrets. Use the Platinum Chip and the computers will start upgrading Mr. House's security system. (The player can change still decide to help Caesar and destroy the generators.)

You can run past any enemies at this point and exit the vault the same way you entered it; however, make sure to leave any companions at the bunker entrance. S/he will start fighting the Sentry Bots, if you haven't disabled them, and pull you into the battle. Before you leave the bunker, your weapons will again be taken away from you (aside from holdout weapons.)

Go back and talk to Caesar. The player will then receive 500 XP and Legion Fame.

Note: No matter what you've decided, Caesar will not know what you did in the vault. He will have felt the vibrations from either the blast or the update and assumed that you did what he asked. If are trying to remain friendly to both Mr. house and Caesar you can activate the securitrons using the chip and then blow up the generators. Caesar will think you only blew up the bunker and Mr. House will only notice you activating the securitrons. (There is no need to destroy the generators, Caesar will believe the bunker to be destroyed if you just upgrade the bots. Destroying the generators will cause you to fail The House Always Wins.)

Part 2: Mr. House
Caesar tells you that he wants Mr. House killed, as simple as that. Make your way to the Lucky 38. If you blew up Mr House's secret bunker, no Securitrons will greet you outside the building and they will all be hostile towards you. Kill or pass the one or two on the first level and use the elevator to go to the penthouse. There are five Securitrons in the main room of the penthouse and they will all be hostile toward you. They have a high DT, so lower level players may have some problems defeating them unless they have Pulse Grenades or the pulse gun which can disable a securitron with a single shot.

In the same area with Mr. House's big screen on the left there will be a computer tucked behind the stairs, use the computer to open the antechamber and there will be two more Securitrons waiting for you. If you are not hostile against Mr. House, opening the antechamber will turn the Securitrons against you.

On the wall in the antechamber next to a new door there will be another computer use this to access the elevator door next to it and take it down to the control room. Use yet another computer to crack open Mr. House's medical pod, ignoring the warning. Now talk to House and you are given three options: You can kill Mr. house outright (for Caesar or yourself), you can just disconnect him from the mainframe (with the same results as killing him, just with prolonged suffering), or you can put him back in his pod, however he will still remain hostile towards you because you have doomed him to death within a year from microbial infection. Regardless of your choice, you will receive 500 XP and your objectives will update.

Note: Using a Stealth Boy prior to entering the casino can make this section of the mission much easier. The robots will not detect the player, and alarms will not go off until Mr. House's chamber is opened.

Return to Caesar for Legion Fame and 100 XP.

Part 3: Boomers
Caesar wants you to get the boomers to use their artillery cannons against the NCR when he attacks Hoover Dam. However, the problem lies in that the cannons blast anyone that gets close to their base (if you already are idolized with them then skip to the end). While heading to their base, George will stop you and offer information on how to get past the shells. You can use a speech check or pay him, but all it boils down to taking a left turn as soon as you see the houses and following the house line until you reach the end. Make a bee-line for the fence, and once you are close enough, enter the gate. Talk to the Boomers and follow directions until you complete the Boomer quest-line (see the Volare! article for more details) and have support from the tribe. After all this return to Caesar and let him know that the Boomers are on his side. There is also the (much quicker) option to kill the two leaders of the boomers which will complete this part of the quest as well.

Part 4: White Glove Society
You must bring Caesar's offer of allegiance to the White Glove Society. After learning about the society by talking to Marjorie AND then Mortimer, you can either tell Caesar they do not want his alliance (which ends this part of the quest) or go to Mortimer after talking to Marjorie and help revert the society to cannibalism (see Beyond the Beef). Mortimer will give you a key to the kitchen where Ted Gunderson will be locked in a freezer. You have the option of killing him or freeing him and returning him to his father. If you kill him you must frame his father by putting blood samples around his penthouse. Also, if you release him and then kill him all of the members of the White Glove Society will be hostile towards you and you may end up killing Marjorie. If this is done, the only way to finish the quest will be to reload from an earlier checkpoint. Caesar will never allow you to tell him the Society is not worth their time. There will be two hired hands with caravan shotguns in the penthouse to try and stop you from planting the blood. Once you leave the room you will then get some securitrons to investigate the room and arrest Gunderson's father. Return to Mortimer two more times until you are informed the society is now cannibals and confirm your alliance by talking to Marjorie. If you choose to free Gunderson, you're going to have to find a replacement for the cannibals to eat, return him and confirm that the society is cannibals by talking to Mortimer and then Marjorie. Now return to Caesar with the news.


 * You may encounter a problem with converting the White Glove Society to cannibalism if you have a good karma rating. Mortimer might tell you that you wouldn't have the stomach to help him. To get around this, you either need to have a high enough speech rating, or be a cannibal yourself, to convince him you can help.


 * This mission can be averted altogether if you have foiled Mortimers plan and rescued Ted Gunderson. You can tell Caesar that the society will not revert back to cannibalism, so the plan to blackmail them into an alliance will not work. This though seems to have little to no detrimental effects to the Legion actually conquering the Mojave, and the player is not punished by Caesar for failure.


 * If you have killed Marjorie before you get this quest you can still complete it, Caesar will just move on to the next stage of the quest

Part 5: Brotherhood of Steel
You must go to Hidden Valley and enter the Brotherhood of Steel bunker. If you have not interacted with the Brotherhood of Steel, you must go through an orientation by convincing a Ranger in an adjacent bunker to leave. If you warn the Ranger in any way about the Brotherhood, the Brotherhood will become hostile and enter the bunker to kill you. If your reputation with the NCR is too low, the Ranger will not talk to you, so you are going to have to kill him. The Brotherhood will confiscate your weapons, so it is recommended to carry some holdout weapons before entering. If you have Veronica as a companion, then you can move more freely in the bunker.


 * Note: Completing the violent path in this part of the quest will set your reputation to Vilified with the Brotherhood. If you have Veronica as your companion, this will cause her to abandon you. The only way to complete this quest and keep Veronica as a companion is to get an accepted reputation with the brotherhood. Blowing up the bunker will then get you to a merciful thug status, which does not cause Veronica to leave, although she will scold you. If you have been idolized by the Brotherhood of Steel, your reputation after blowing up the bunker will be Wild Child, and Veronica also won't leave you. Another way is to part ways with Veronica and tell her to wait for you at the Lucky 38 before starting the self-destruct sequence.  After completing that part of the quest, you can rejoin her at the Lucky 38 with no penalty.

Primary Method

Once you have access to the bunker, you need to steal 3 keycards from 3 main personnel in order to get the password for the self-destruct sequence or have a Science skill of 100, at the same time you can look for a bunker key for your escape later on. It is suggested that you save before pickpocket each character in order to avoid killing for the keycard if they catch you stealing. You need to go level L2 of the bunker, where you can find Elder McNamara, Head Paladin Hardin and Head Scribe Taggart. Head right, where you can find McNamara, who is the easiest to steal from and can be stolen as he is sitting in his chair. Hardin can be found to the left of this room in one of the three bedrooms. He will be in the room sleeping, standing, or on his computer. Crouch, wait until you are hidden and then steal his key card. Go back towards the door to L1 and go all the way up the left hallway this time. At the end is the self-destruct room, where you will also find Taggart.

Note: If you helped remove Elder McNamara in the Quest Still in the Dark, the Head Paladin keycard can be found on Paladin Ramos.

Once you have all keycards, return to the room where Taggart is and obtain the password from the the Override Code Generator terminal (green) next to the actual self-destruct terminal (blue). Now use the code on the self-destruct terminal to destroy the bunker and head out of the bunker.

After activating the self-destruct sequence with the password, you will become a villain in the eyes of the Brotherhood, so you will need a good exit strategy. Here are four alternatives:


 * A single Stealth Boy can get you out without firing a shot or getting shot.


 * If you kill the scribes and the apprentice in the computer room before starting the self-destruct and put on their robes, everyone in the bunker will be friendly except for McNamara. Go into his room kill him and the guards will stay friendly. Then pickpocket one of them for a key from the doorway. After that, everyone is a friend and you can walk out.


 * You may re-program the terminal in the first section of the bunker (after you speak to McNamara)(there should be a Brotherhood soldier on the terminal on the wall usually Paladin Ramos). You have the options to deactivate, or reset target parameters. Set to "registered brotherhood" for an easy level clear out and to avoid a tough chase out of the bunker. To access the terminal you will need a science skill of at least 75.


 * Guns blazing: Before heading up to L1 to make your exit, kill the guards protecting the Elder on the other side of L2 and steal a key so that you are able to leave the bunker. If you do not steal a key, you must lockpick the final door (Lockpick skill of 100). Now make your way to L1. Having either a lot of stimpaks, ammo and good weapons to fight your way out. If you do not have a Stealth Boy and are having trouble running to the door, perhaps change your settings to easy for the time being. In one of the sleeping rooms is a super sledge with a value around 2400, in perfect state. This is useful for killing any hostile Paladins on the way out.

After leaving the bunker, the bunker will explode and there is a chance that there will be 5 paladins waiting to kill you before you can return to Caesar.

Alternate Method

Simply kill all of the Brotherhood of Steel in the bunker and in the patrol outside. Caesar will reward you with quest completion without blowing up the bunker. If you dress in either a Scribe Robe or T-51b Power Armor the turrets will not shoot at you, so it is merely a matter of luring NPCs to convenient kill points. Veronica will also abandon the player if this route is taken. You can also reprogram the turrets to fire at brotherhood personnel, while this does not yield you much experience it does make it easy to get a lot of people killed.

If you hack the turret terminal and set allowed targets to registered Brotherhood members then you will be safe even if you are wearing a Brotherhood disguise and you will not gain any infamy or hostility. This will kill all of the Brotherhood members on the first level except the teacher, Ramos, and the shopkeeper (as they are not close enough to the turrets to notice them and do not move around very much). You can then kill the remaining personnel while wearing a disguise (only done with fists, companions, and luring them into turrets, untested so far with other methods) and not gain any Brotherhood infamy. Talking to any Brotherhood members after killing any will make them hostile if it is not a conversation character, as will wandering into their line of sight after you make any of them hostile without combat. This is the only way to do this quest if you wish to ally yourself with the Legion and still retain Veronica as a follower. In addition, you will be able to loot the facility and personnel. Be careful of the patrol that exits immediately after you do, as removing your disguise will render Brotherhood faction members hostile regardless of actual reputation.

Part 6: Caesar's Illness
Caesar will now explain his headaches and tells you he needs a cure for his tumor. You must now complete the quest Et Tumor, Brute?.

Part 7: President Kimball's Assassination
President Kimball is making a speech at Hoover Dam, and Caesar wants you to talk to Cato Hostilus about his Assassination. You must now complete the quest Arizona Killer.

Failing the Arizona Killer quest will still allow you to complete Render Unto Caesar. See Arizona Killer for more details.

Part 8: Legate's Camp
Report to Legate Lanius

Bugs

 * Completing Beyond the Beef by stopping Mortimer's plans before accepting the White Glove Society portion of this quest may render it unable to be completed. Dialogue to Caesar will not include an option to indicate the White Glove Society will not revert to cannibalism, and speaking to Marjorie will direct you to speak to the dead or missing Mortimer.
 * After saving the Gunderson boy and converting the White Gloves to cannibalism, the dialog options for Mortimer will close. However the quest will sometimes still direct the player to talk with Mortimer about converting the White Gloves to cannibalism. If they were converted to cannibalism, this glitch is irrelevant and the quest will complete (if the other conditions are still met).
 * Although he was wearing the radiation suit, he was not hostile and the quest proceeded normally. Do not talk to Mr. House again after taking this quest. (See comments below)
 * During part one of the quest if the player chooses to fight Benny in the arena some of the players weapons may not be returned and will be lost forever.
 * When activating the self-destruct sequence of the Hidden Valley bunker, the bunker will not explode upon exiting.
 * If you try to blow up the weather station guard by placing a grenade or similar in his pocket using a stealth boy, the game will sometimes hard freeze when it explodes.
 * If you decide to do as Mr. House asks, you may not be able to return to the strip. Entering The Strip will result in a black screen with the game music playing. This is fixed by wearing an Old Cowboy Hat.
 * If you take a companion into the vault then the companion becomes unconscious and the player runs straight out leaving the unconscious companion in the vault then the quest will be unable to be completed as the player is not allowed to enter the Caesar's tent with a companion. Waiting for the companion does not work and the player can not dismiss or tell the companion to wait.
 * The Legion remained hostile even after receiving the 'Mark of Caesar.' Equipping NCR armor, exiting the Pipboy screen, then removing the armor within perception range of hostile Legion members worked to correct this. May also work outside of perception range.
 * If you upgrade the robots inside the bunker with the platinum chip then reload a previous save, the bots will still appear upgraded and characters within the game will feature the dialogue as if they've been upgraded as well, despite the quests NOW not having been finished due to reloading the game
 * If you bring Veronica along with you when you are to destroy the Brotherhood of Steel Bunker she will stick with you and fight and exit the bunker. After exiting the bunker, she will consistently run towards you then run away, she'll repeat this forever and you can't access dialogue with her. Once you try to return to Caeser's tent you will be unable to enter as you can't tell Veronica to wait outside. This can be fixed by reverse pickpocketing a grenade onto the guard outside the tent and then fast traveling away immediately after it goes off. Fast travel back and the legion will not be hostile towards you and you may now enter the tent without the guard there to stop you.

Behind the scenes
The name of this quest refers to a Gospel story in which Jesus is asked whether or not the Jews should have to pay taxes to their Roman rulers. Jesus reponds by asking whose image is on the denarius. His challenger replies "Caesar's", thus admitting that the Jews are, after all, using Roman money. Jesus then instructs the crowd to "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's."

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