Festus (Fallout: New Vegas)

Festus is a unique robot residing in the Mojave Wasteland in 2281.

Background
Festus is a robot type character who you first meet inside the Sunset Sarsaparilla Headquarters.

When first meeting Festus you may want to select the Pleased to Meetcha option. This option will explain all of the dialogue options available to the player.

Quests
If the Courier asks Festus for star info, the quest The Legend of the Star will be started. The Courier actually learns about this quest prior to meeting Festus through an encounter with Malcolm Holmes. All the player needs is to obtain a few Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Bottle Caps and Malcolm will approach the Courier. However to officially begin the quest the player must travel to Sunset Sarsaparilla Headquarters. To complete this quest the Courier must find 50 Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Bottle Caps. These can be found by searching the wasteland, or by drinking Sunset Sarsaparilla.

"Lucky Horseshoes"
You may also play a game called Lucky Horseshoes which is a variant of Blackjack. Number cards count as face value, Aces count for 1; there are no face cards. Whoever draws to the highest number without going over 21 wins*. You may draw, hold or quit. Once you hold, you're done drawing for that hand. If a player draws to equal the opponent's total, it's called a "Lucky Horseshoe" whereby the opponent's total is bumped up (increased) by one.

Prizes include differing handfuls of caps, the occasional Sunset Sarsaparilla cap, and -- of most benefit to the Courier -- cards for your Caravan deck. This game can be played repeatedly to garner more and more Caravan cards; they seem to be offered as the prize if you're able to string together multiple wins. Just keep playing and you'll keep getting cards.

Appearances
Festus appears in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes

 * After redeeming 50 Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Bottle Caps for the quest, Festus will tell you the story of The Legend of the Star. He'll make mention of Nuka-cola, the rival soft drink of Sunset Sarsaparilla. After this, he'll mention that to avoid legal action from Nuka-Cola, he must inform you that Nuka-cola is a "Swell" drink, but sometimes people just want something different. This is probably reference to the Cola Wars between Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
 * Festus was likely modeled after a character on the western show Gunsmoke, also named Festus. The two look alike, sound alike, and both have a tendency to "jaw awhile."
 * Festus is Latin for 'happy'.

Bugs
WARNING! You can easily prevent the triggering of the The Legend of the Star quest by using stealth and either disabling or stealing from Festus before talking to him!