Dead Money

Dead Money is the first add-on for Fallout: New Vegas, developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks.

Release
A timed exclusive, Dead Money was released on December 21, 2010, for Xbox 360 and was later released for PC and PlayStation 3 on February 22, 2011.

Synopsis
Dead Money is set in the Sierra Madre, an opulent and extravagant resort near the Grand Canyon that would have been the greatest casino in the west, had it ever been opened. The bombs fell before the grand opening gala event, and the Sierra Madre froze in time, its state of the art security system locking the place up tight. Nothing could get in, and none of the guests could escape. The security holograms then activated and the once glorious event turned into a slaughter. After many years, the climate control and air conditioning systems within the facility began to spit strange toxins into the surrounding city, causing a red cloud to form over the area - which proved lethal to anyone who tried to explore the city. Only a mysterious group called the ghost people survived to call the city home, trapped inside what appears to be hazmat suits, they wander the streets never speaking to their victims, only capturing them alive and dragging them away to the depths of the city deep within the Cloud. The Sierra Madre attempted to send out a distress signal on the day of the War, but the system did not broadcast an alert signal, having been hooked up to the gala event to broadcast adverts for the casino, so help never came.

And so the Sierra Madre faded from memory, only occasionally being seen in posters across the wastes, until it took on mythic ghost story status, a supposed "City of Gold" in the wasteland where all the treasures of the Old World were rumored to be held. It was kept alive as a late-night saloon story by prospectors who'd claimed to have found maps leading there and were willing to part with the map for a few caps... or a drink... or a warm place to sleep.

The Sierra Madre is a place in the wastes, with travelers risking their lives to find it. Only one man truly "found" it and lived. After the fall of HELIOS One, Father Elijah, formerly an elder of the Mojave Brotherhood of Steel, set out to find new weapons to eradicate the NCR, and in the process, he discovered the Sierra Madre. In doing so, he lured others, including the Courier, to the resort, forcing them to navigate the hazards of the Madre and play the pawns in his game to crack open the casino's vault, long since lost to time. If the Courier wished to escape this hellish place, they would have to be clever, and use their new allies as Father Elijah did. The real question is, what really mattered to them? The treasure? Revenge? Survival? Or their humanity?

Characters

 * Christine Royce
 * Dean Domino
 * Dog and God
 * Father Elijah

Mentioned-only
Dead Money mentioned-only characters, 3

Creatures

 * Ghost people
 * Radroach

Robots and computers
Dead Money robots and computers, 2

Armor and clothing
Dead Money armor and clothing, 3

Cut armor and clothing
Dead Money cut armor and clothing, 1

Consumables
Dead Money consumables, 3

Weapons
Dead Money weapons, 3

Cut weapons
Dead Money cut weapons, 1

Weapon mods
Dead Money weapon mods, 3

World objects
Dead Money world objects, 3

Other items
Dead Money miscellaneous items, 3

Behind the scenes

 * The add-on as a whole is a reference to the 1948 film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, in which two people who are down on their luck meet a prospector, and strike it rich after finding gold in the remote mountains. The main conflict of the film is mistrust, a theme which is constant throughout Dead Money.
 * According to Jason Fader, the add-on was also inspired by films such as: Battle Royale (2000), Cube (1997), and Lifeboat (1944).
 * Chris Avellone penciled a blog detailing the thought process behind design decisions that went into the game.
 * The original title for the add-on was Dead Man's Hand, but the developers were unable to secure a license to use that name, so they had to rename it Dead Money, a result that Chris Avellone was disappointed with. This title is referenced in the achievement of the same name.
 * "Dead Money" is a slang term used in poker to refer to numerous things. Most commonly, it refers to money that is already in the pot and goes only to the winner of the hand. For example, if two players each bet $5 on the first betting round, in the second betting round, there will be $10 in the pot in "dead money." Additionally, it also refers to money bet out but is now facing a reraise.  If one player bets $5, and another player raises to $15, the original player cannot retrieve his original $5 without winning the pot - the money is now dead. The term can also refer to a player who believes they have a chance at winning, but in reality, they have almost no such chance due to a lack of skill or experience: "Bob wants in. Let him join, he's dead money." Therefore a tournament with many unskilled players can be said to have a lot of "dead money." It is also a reference to how Father Elijah treats the player character and the other NPCs, existing only to get him the technological riches of the Sierra Madre - to him, they are all "dead money."