Dusty McBride

Dusty McBride tends to his ranch of Brahmin in Novac in the Mojave Wasteland in 2281. He is the husband of Alice McBride. Dusty carries the unmarked quest Midnight Ranch Attacks. He informs the Courier about the his Brahmin being attacked at midnight every night. According to Dusty they are found with bullet holes in them. If you wait until midnight, you will see that it is a crazed Nightkin causing the attack. He appears in Fallout: New Vegas.

There's been a bug (Xbox 360) and (PS3) where the Nightkin doesn't attack the Brahmin and just stands the other side of the fence, watching. When you approach the Nightkin, he does nothing. You may stand as close as you want and no reaction will come from him. If you shoot him while he's still cloaked, you will be able to kill him (his dead body falls still cloaked), search him and gain XP from it but when you go back to Dusty McBride you only have the option to tell him that you haven't found anything.

For (PS3/Xbox360) Possible Bug "Fix" 1: After helping Boone and have him as your companion, go to McBride's ranch at night. You will see the Nightkin standing there doing nothing. Shoot the Nightkin, but don't kill him, this will trigger Boone's agression towards the Nightkin, and kill him for you. After the the Nightkin is dead, the body will remain uncloaked. You will then be able to report back to Mr.McBride, and get your reward.

For (PS3) Possible Bug "Fix" 2: Try turning the ps3 fully off, flip the switch in the back to totally turn it off, and back on so it clears the cache and resets the event. Wait till that time for him to show up and get near him to start it off. Sometimes works.

For (Xbox 360) Bug "Fix": With the bug, normally when you attack the bugged, herd attacking Nightkin, his/its stealthboy never malfunctions allowing you to see it. Also, when it dies, it stays invisible. This is a sign that the bug is preventing completion of this task. But letting a companion (Craig Boone was used in this case) attack/kill the Nightkin will make its stealthboy fritz like normal Nightkin and when it dies it will become visible. You will have to initiate the attack for your companion and the Nightkin to become aggressive toward one another. Loot the Nightkin corpse and talk to Dusty McBride to receive 75xp and all the steaks you want from his freezer.

There's a similar bug also on PC. However, the Nightkin appears already at daytime and remains there uncloaked. After you kill him, you're able to tell Dusty McBride that no one will kill his Brahmins. You finish the quest and gain fame with Novac.

You are able to use the Wait function to make it day time and he will still remain there. If you look at him, the word Nightkin will show with no health as if he is a friend (in the same colour as your HUD, rather than in red). You may also crouch and pickpocket him (despite not being given the option, you just crouch and press A) and he will Yell at you, but stay still, and you'll lose karma!