CNPCs

When Fallout players talk about NPCs, they usually mean only those that can become part of your party. The developers refer to them more correctly as CNPCs, Companion NPCs. How much control the player should have over these companions has often given rise to heated discussions. According to the Van Buren FAQ, this is the way it would have been handled in Fallout 3:

1. By default, CNPCs (companion NPCs) are controlled by the computer.
2. CNPCs have an options screen similar to the one in FO2 that allows the player to define broad behavior patterns for the CNPC.
3. Outside of combat, the player always has access to the inventory of a CNPC. Their inventory screen looks like the main character's inventory screen.
4. The CNPCs have scripts that, among other things, define idiosyncratic behavior for those characters. E.g.: Sulik hates slavers, so when he sees characters marked as slavers, he gets LUDACRIS and ACTS A FOOL, possibly attacking them and definitely devoting all attention to them in combat. Battery gets angry at robots and machines, and being around them makes him generally belligerent, likely to beat people with a huge wrench rather than evaluate the situation sensibly.
5. When CNPCs are in the party, they get their own selection buttons on the interface as in FO:T. Selecting them allows the player to have basic movement, inventory, and skill use control over them. ONE AT A TIME. CNPCS not under current control out of combat follow the leader as usual.
6. Also, one button appears next to the CNPC tabs that is a toggle: AUTOMATIC/MANUAL. It can be clicked at any time, though its effects only come into play when it's a CNPC's turn to act. If the toggle is set to MANUAL, the CNPC's script and the current situations are then compared to a PC's speech skill in a check. If the CNPC is generally easygoing and is not flipping out due to wounds/intense hatred for current enemies/being high on psycho, the level of the speech skill required to exercise control is relatively low. Otherwise, the requirements get pretty high. At any time, the player can attempt to control his or her CNPCs manually as individuals, but they aren't required to, and they simply may not be able to due to their own shortcomings as a leader or the inherently independent/crazy nature of their allies.

Note on NPC Pacing: Fallout’s going to need to pull a “Final Fantasy” effect with the NPCs (something that Josh has already referred to, I think in relation in BG NPC Pacing). Basically, the NPC allies need to be introduced, one by one, in the first third of the game, and possibly include their own solo missions, so you are forced to adventure them for a while, and you get a feel for them (all the way up to Cid in FF7, for example – after this, the second third of the game takes off). In F2, there were too many NPCs you got later on (robodog[s]) – by this time, you’d already felt attached to the NPCs in your party, you would only switch with difficulty.

Not very much is known about the CNPCs that would have been in Fallout 3. The following ten at least have been mentioned by the developers (most by Chris Avellone):

Detailed Design Documents

For four NPCs, there are detailed design documents with background story and stats.

Alexandra

A doctor in Mesa Verde.

Bear

A super mutant from the Rusty Hooks (Bloomfield Space Center).

Beatrice

A super mutant, bouncer in Hoover Dam.

Measles

A ghoul, one of three personal body guards to The Reservation's leader, Willem Clark.

Sketchy Design Documents

Kurisu

Sulik's lost sister! She is the leader of the Blackfoot tribe (of which the Hangdogs are a part). They won't like it very much if you recruit her and take her away from them.

Devil Dog

The replacement for the ever-popular Dogmeat.

Jobe

A Mr. Handy administrative police robot in Denver, tribute to Wasteland.

No Design Documents

Arcade

High science and mechanics. Mentioned in the Burham Springs design doc.

Ashley

High mechanics and medic. Mentioned in the Burham Springs and New Canaan design docs.

Battery

A tribal mechanic who hates robots and machines, and only speaks in corporate safety slogans. He was designed by J.E. Sawyer. High mechanics and traps. Found in the Jericho Water Plant.

Corporal Christina Royce

An NCR lieutenant, none other than the Chrissy you rescued from the raiders in Fallout 2, also named after the Uzi-toting mercenary in Wasteland.

The Hanged Man

One of the weirder NPCs in Fallout 3.

Alkaya

A tribal scout from the Circle Junction tribals. Mentioned by Chris Avellone.

Xian

A cute Chinese descendent scientist in the Boulder Dome.