The best companion and follower mods for Fallout: New Vegas

Fallout: New Vegas companion mods can turn lonely Mojave wanderings into a proper role-playing adventure with distinctive characters.

There is a doctor with three hundred dialogue lines, a teddy bear with an automatic weapon, and even a deathclaw raised from an egg, each with quests, perks, and interaction mechanics.

Delilah — Mojave MD

Adds a fully voiced doctor companion specializing in wasteland medicine and healing. Delilah addresses the main weakness of standard companions: a lack of deep specialization and support skills.

• Over 300 voiced, lip-synced dialogue lines with a full companion wheel.
• 3 new perks tied to medical abilities.
• 4 unique consumables: custom medicines and items.
• 4 quests connected to her medical practice and backstory.
• Additional treatment options, including emergency blood transfusions and recovery mechanics.

✅ How gameplay changes: Delilah is essentially a mobile first-aid kit with personality. She does more than follow you: she changes your approach to survival. Instead of spamming stimpaks, you can get a blood transfusion in a critical situation. Personal quests develop her character further.

Rusty the Bear — Companion Mod

Adds a teddy bear companion with his own toy arsenal and a personality inspired by the film Ted. He levels alongside you and brings comedy to the Mojave's otherwise serious daily life.

• A fully voiced version with distinctive dialogue and profanity.
• Levels with the player, starting at level 8 and capped at 40.
• Essential: cannot die permanently.
• Choose a combat style: ranged with a custom automatic BB SMG, or melee with the Rattle weapon's limb-damage bonus plus explosive frag grenades.
• Can live in your Lucky 38 suite.
• Improved HD plush-fur texture: the main attraction.

✅ How gameplay changes: Rusty is for when you have had enough grim post-apocalyptic seriousness. A bear carrying an automatic BB gun looks hilarious, but performs well in combat. His weapons are unique and tied to him, making him feel like a living traveling companion instead of a walking equipment locker.

The Storyteller Companion

The official mod from YouTube channel ShoddyCast adds the Storyteller, its lore-obsessed narrator, and his robot ED-NA as fully voiced companions. Directly connected to the channel's storytelling style, with exclusive audio, collecting mechanics, and environmental interactions that immerse you in the lore.

• Custom, fully voiced dialogue with exclusive Three Dog audio clips unavailable elsewhere.
• A pre-War book collecting quest.
• Occasional environmental interactions, such as the Tops slot machines or the Nash residence in Primm.
• A fully functional companion wheel and unique combat tactics.
• Requires Lonesome Road; compatibility with Tale of Two Wastelands is confirmed.

✅ How gameplay changes: Essential if you love Fallout lore and watched the ShoddyCast series. The Storyteller comments on locations and events in his familiar voice, while the book quest turns exploration into a hunt for knowledge. ED-NA adds a robot companion without extra fuss. Starting a fresh save is preferable for ED-NA to work correctly.

RobCo Certified — New Vegas

RobCo Certified expands robot repair and construction into a full companion system. Adds a three-rank perk that lets you repair destroyed robots into loyal followers or build new ones from scrap at Cerulean Robotics in Vegas.

• Perks RobCo Certified, Pro Certified, and Gold Certified let you repair and upgrade Protectrons, Mister Handys, robobrains, sentry bots, Securitrons, and others.
• Crazed Inventor/Mad Scientist perks for building junkbots such as Ovenbot, Safebot, and Hoverbrain, plus Old World Blues cyborgs: cyberdogs, cyberclaws, and lobotomites.
• Tools including the RobCo Wrench, remote control, and Neural Command Unit for repairing, buffing, and commanding multiple robots.
• Upgrades include mounted weapons, such as Protectron Rippers and Mister Handy guns, plus abilities such as Tesla fields or shields.
• Multiple simultaneous robot companions supported.

✅ How gameplay changes: For anyone wanting a robot army instead of one or two human companions. Find broken bots, repair them with the perk, then upgrade their weapons and abilities into a customizable mechanical entourage. The junkbot system creates unique machines from scrap, such as an oven on legs or a floating brain in a jar. Companion limits are controlled by perks, letting you bring a whole squad.

Desmond Harper Companion

Desmond Harper is a classic wasteland adventurer who joins you at the Atomic Wrangler Casino in Freeside. Fully voiced, with a short personal quest and a second quest in later versions, he offers standard companion features plus unlockable extras such as a personal radio and configurable behavior.

• Over 200 voiced dialogue lines, with comments on around 50 locations.
• 2 new quests: recruitment and a follow-up at level 14+.
• A fully functional companion interaction wheel.
• A radio for calling or locating him, found during the quest.
• Post-quest unlocks: choose his home, synchronize weapon drawing, toggle combat dialogue, and switch between essential and mortal status.
• Default weapons: cowboy repeater and spiked knuckles.

✅ How gameplay changes: Desmond suits anyone wanting a reliable companion with personality and no excessive extras. He comments on locations and has a personal quest to help you get acquainted. The radio solves the eternal “where did I lose him?” problem. A versatile fighter leaning toward firearms and melee.

Baby Deathclaw Commander

Lets you hatch and raise your own baby deathclaw from a viable egg found in the world. It grows into a powerful, loyal pet whose size, health, damage, and abilities develop through feeding and combat.

• A viable deathclaw egg for raising your own pet.
• Hatches and grows while carried in your inventory; requires feeding once per in-game hour, with 50 feedings to reach adult size.
• Progressive growth in size, damage, health, and appearance, eventually using the black male deathclaw model.
• Becomes a full combat companion on reaching adulthood.

✅ How gameplay changes: Imagine finding an egg, raising and feeding the baby, and watching it become an unstoppable tank. Fifty feedings may sound tedious initially, but spread naturally over in-game hours. You end up with an adult deathclaw.

Russell, The Bounty Hunter

Russell is a fully voiced, lore-friendly former Desert Ranger turned bounty hunter. Recruit him at the 188 Trading Post. Expect deep dialogue, a questline, and grim wasteland adventures with mature content.

• Over 1,200 fully voiced dialogue lines, performed by the community.
• A main quest of roughly 2+ hours, followed by “Hunter, Hunted” (level 20+ recommended), random encounters, and new weapons and armor.
• An ending slideshow showing characters' fates, fully adapted for companion support.
• Comments on New Vegas Bounties I & II.
• Comparable combat strength to Boone/Raul, specializing in ranged/melee combat.
• Mature-content warning: Profanity and scenes of slaughter. Attacks the Legion on sight, making him unsuitable for Legion playthroughs.

✅ How gameplay changes: Russell offers Obsidian-level companion depth. With 1,200 dialogue lines and a two-hour quest, there is enough content for a small DLC. He also reacts to SomeGuy's New Vegas Bounties quest mods. In combat he matches top vanilla companions. Skip him if you play for the Legion.

Crossroads

A substantial companion and quest mod featuring two followers, Robert and Brandon, with interesting histories. Focuses on nonlinear storytelling and interaction with vanilla content.

• Over 2,000 fully voiced/lip-synced lines out of more than 3,000 total. Robert is fully voiced; Brandon partially.
• 1 recruitment quest, 2 companion questlines, and 3 side quests with over 10 endings.
• Companions with over 100 interactions involving vanilla locations, quests, NPCs, and even other companions.
• Reputation, skill/SPECIAL/perk checks, and dialogue based on player actions.
• 3–4 hours of main content, with high replayability: 5–6 playthroughs to see everything.
• Starts at Cottonwood Overlook.

✅ How gameplay changes: Crossroads is an RPG quest inside an RPG, with companions reacting to everything around them. Over 100 vanilla-content interactions mean Robert and Brandon comment on your quests, locations, choices, and even other followers. More than 10 endings make each playthrough distinctive: this is a narrative with consequences rather than a linear story. Three to four hours of content, but five or six playthroughs for full coverage: Obsidian-level replayability.

The Unforgiven WHAT-IF — Griffa Companion

This WHAT-IF companion mod adds Griffa, the deadly cowgirl from popular quest mod The Unforgiven, as a fully voiced follower after completing the main mod. She brings her trademark personality, cowboy attitude, and fighting style to your team for further adventures, assuming you achieved the best ending where she survives.

• Fully voiced by original actress Ally Katz, with authentic dialogue and characteristic cowboy antics.
• Unique equipment: snazzy revolver and snazzy hat, with weapons and gear tied to the character.
• Standard companion features built on a custom companion template.
• Contains The Unforgiven spoilers: finish the main mod first.
• No additional quests; focused on companion role-play and banter.

✅ How gameplay changes: If The Unforgiven left you wanting more time with Griffa, here is your chance. The mod gives her a second life as a full companion after the main quest. The original actress's performance preserves her personality. A chance to keep traveling with a character you liked.

Enclave Communications Officer — Companion

Adds the iconic Enclave communications officer, the famous radio voice from Fallout 3, as a loyal, patriotic Enclave-themed companion. He joins you as a true American patriot, ready to fight for the Enclave's ideals.

• Fixed level 30, without player scaling, and maximum combat skills.
• Top-tier equipment in the finest Enclave tradition.
• Enclave patriot dialogue and theme. The author's first mod, so somewhat rough, with known minor issues such as skin tone resetting on load and dismissal behavior.

✅ How gameplay changes: For Enclave fans and Fallout 3 nostalgia. With all combat skills at 100, the officer is a tank in Remnants power armor carrying a plasma rifle and super sledge. Essential for Enclave role-play.

Mod installation recommendations

These companion mods provide maximum follower variety in Fallout: New Vegas. To get everything working, though, keep a few installation points in mind:

1. Always install through Vortex: Manual installation can cause conflicts.
2. Check every mod's requirements, including DLC, NVSE, and dependencies such as SomeGuySeries.esm for Russell.
3. Read the mod descriptions: Some, such as The Storyteller, require a fresh save.
4. Watch the load order: Companion mods usually load late, after major overhauls.
5. Test on a compatible save, preferably a separate one created for mod experiments.

Check requirements before installation, such as NVSE (Rusty, RobCo), DLC (Russell, The Storyteller), or other mods (Griffa requires The Unforgiven REDUX).

Which companion mod should you choose for another Fallout: New Vegas playthrough?

Fallout: New Vegas companion mods substantially affect a whole playthrough. They add tactical options, expand quest content, and fill Mojave journeys with lively characters who react, talk, and have stories of their own. At some point, you realize you are traveling for the next conversation or companion quest rather than loot or experience.

Companions are only part of what you can change in New Vegas. My Fallout: New Vegas mod collection covers every category, from graphics and weapons to overhauls.

Choose Russell or Crossroads for story and depth. For a lighter, stranger playthrough, try Rusty or the baby deathclaw. If you want a full squad and interesting mechanics, RobCo is the clear choice.