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Under the SPECIAL system, player characters are limited to a certain number of non-player character (NPC) companions in their group. This restriction is called the Party Limit. The number of NPCs following a character at a given time is usually referred to as the "party count."

Fallout[]

There is no limit to the number of followers the player character can have in Fallout, other than by the total number of available followers in the game.

Fallout 2[]

The party limit in Fallout 2 is determined by the following equation:

The result is rounded down, i.e. a character with CH 9 would return a limit of 4.5, rounded down to 4, which means they can recruit four followers. Note that if Charisma is reduced after recruiting, the followers will not leave the party.

Since SPECIAL imposes a cap of 10 on all stats, the Chosen One can recruit a maximum of five permanent companions.

  • Mentats or mirrored shades can be used to temporarily raise Charisma to recruit a companion.
  • Either Gain Charisma or the blue memory module provide +1 Charisma each and can increase the party limit if the player character's Charisma is an odd number.
  • Magnetic Personality increases the available party limit by one, to the standard maximum of five. Only useful if the player character's Charisma is an even number 8 or less.

There is no practical reason to increase Charisma above 9, as a dose of Mentats will temporarily increase it by +1, giving the maximum party limit. Combining the blue memory module with mirrored shades and Mentats allows a player character with a starting Charisma of 7 to eventually recruit the maximum number of companions (6 if Gain Charisma is used).

Exceptions[]

Some NPCs can join regardless of the party limit. Usually, these are unwanted or temporary companions. They still count towards party count (i.e., with them, it may go above the party limit) and prevent recruiting regular companions until there's room. Additionally, these followers cannot be dismissed in the traditional way, as elaborated below. The exceptions are as follows:

Fallout 3[]

Main article: Fallout 3 followers

Aside from glitches, the Lone Wanderer can only have one permanent companion, as well as Dogmeat, as company. An unlimited number of temporary type companions can be added in addition to Dogmeat and the permanent companion.

Fallout: New Vegas[]

Overall, the same rules are carried over from Fallout 3, as the Courier can have only one humanoid companion and one "animal" companion, the latter referring to Rex and ED-E. The main difference from Fallout 3 is companions cannot die when playing in Casual mode, instead companions can be only rendered unconscious with the exception of story branches that lead to a companion's death such as having a companion getting hostile and then killing them or leaving any companion in the hidden Valley bunker if the player decides to blow up the bunker. However, in hardcore mode, normal rules of death apply with a few exceptions.

Fallout 4[]

In Fallout 4, only one companion can follow the Sole Survivor at a time.[1]

References[]

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