Barter (Fallout: New Vegas)

Barter is a skill

Description
The Barter skill is primarily used in the buying and selling of items, such as trading with a merchant or scavenger. In general, purchase prices will be lowered and selling price will be higher. It is the primary factor in price determination, and is also offset by the Barter skill of the non-player character in question. The skill is also used in certain dialogue options with non-player characters, where certain responses require Barter checks.

Initial level

 * $$\text{Initial level}=2+(2\times\text{Charisma})+\left\lceil\frac{\text{Luck}}{2}\right\rceil$$

Example: A starting Charisma of 5 and Luck of 5.
 * $$2+(2\times5)+\left\lceil\frac{5}{2}\right\rceil=2+10+3=15$$

Barter affects the prices gotten when trading with merchants. There are also many Barter skill checks in the game that can help advancing in quests by displaying a good sense with money, talking down costs, and talking up rewards. The Barter skill is governed by the Charisma attribute.

General price (before application of reputational fees or discounts) is counted with the same formula as in Fallout 3.

Price Discounts
Many merchant barter menus can be triggered with a modifier from -100 to 100, usually based on the Courier's faction reputation (see Available Discounts). This modifier is effectively a percentage of the existing price dictated by your barter skill.

Positive values add that percentage to the value of items you sell and subtract that percentage from the cost of items you are purchasing. A negative value similarly reduces the price of items you sell and increases the cost of items you purchase by that percentage.

A zero or omitted modifier corresponds to buy and sell prices dictated only by the Barter stat. No modifier level will allow you to sell items for more than - or purchase items for less than - their actual value

A modifier of -100 corresponds to zero trade value of items regardless of barter skill and a modifier of -100 effectively reduces a barter skill of 100 to 0. A modifier of 100 has the effect of offering barter 100 prices with a barter skill of 0 and full value trades when barter exceeds ~11 points.

Available Discounts
The following merchants offer discounts under certain conditions:


 * 5 for providing the Food additive from Vault 22
 * 5 for repairing the Food Processor

Dr. Kemp in the Camp McCarran Concourse offers a discount if Esteban Morales has been recovered in A Final Plan for Esteban Quartermaster Mayes at Camp Forlorn Hope will purchase items but does not sell anything
 * Arranging meat supply with Fitz at Grub n' Gulp Rest Stop
 * 3 for purchasing meat with caps
 * 5 for trading for meat with vegetables/water (Speech 60 or Barter 60)
 * Arranging meat supply with Blake at Crimson Caravan Company
 * 5 for purchasing meat with caps
 * 8 for purchasing discounted meat with caps (Speech 70)
 * 8 for trading for meat with vegetables/water (Barter 50)
 * Arranging food supply with Ruby Nash in Primm
 * 2 for purchasing food with caps (200 Caps or Barter 60 and 100 Caps)
 * 5 for trading for food with vegetables/water (Speech 70)
 * Completing none of these results in standard barter rates
 * 10 for recovering Esteban and requesting caps
 * 20 for recovering Esteban for free

Jack at the Red Rock Drug Lab has bugged dialog that would offer the discounts noted above.

When the Courier's reputation with the Mojave Brotherhood becomes Mixed, a paladin should approach them and inform them of a discount. This discount variable is never referenced in the barter scripts, so only the positive reputation discount is available.

Ways to increase Barter

 * Permanent
 * Leveling up (up to +15 or +17 with Educated)
 * Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor (+3 or 4 with Comprehension)
 * Empathy Synthesizer (+2 depending on current Charisma, a perfect Charisma of 10 will see no benefit.)
 * Tag! (+15)
 * Good Natured (+5)
 * Skilled (+5)
 * Temporary
 * Salesman Weekly (+10 or 20 with Comprehension)
 * Mentats (+2 depending on current Charisma, a perfect Charisma of 10 will see no benefit.)
 * Party Time Mentats (+2-10 depending on current Charisma, a perfect Charisma of 10 will see no benefit, can be stacked with Mentats.)
 * Absinthe/Beer/Irradiated beer/Irradiated whiskey/Jake Juice/Scotch/Wine (+2 depending on current Charisma, a perfect Charisma of 10 will see no benefit.)
 * Moonshine (+2-4 depending on current Charisma, a perfect Charisma of 10 will no benefit, can be stacked with other alcohol.)
 * Benny's suit (+5)
 * Roving trader hat (+5, earliest acquisition is from Malcolm Holmes.)
 * Roving trader outfit (+5, earliest acquisition is from Malcolm Holmes.)
 * Vera's outfit from Dead Money (+5 and another +2 depending on current Charisma.)
 * Daniel's outfit from Honest Hearts (+5)
 * "Mood Light" (+5-9 (depending on current Charisma) for 12 hours or until the player uses the "Smart Lights")

Barter experts

 * Elizabeth Kieran (98) - NCR Major providing aid to NCR squatters living in Freeside.
 * Lady Jane (98) - a caravan merchant living in Freeside.