I REALLY don't want to have to go down Murder Pass to get to Vault 87 I don't have enough caps for much ammo so I need to conserve. I consulted my Fallout 3 collector's edition strategy guide (on eBay for $12 I love it) and I found out that there is another way. You can go to a reactor shaft and there is a computer but sadly you have to find this kid named Joseph to turn on the power then you can use your Science skills to hack the computer and get to Vault 87 without going through 100+ Super Mutants. Problem is, I found Joseph but I can't find a option to ask him to turn on the power???? I have Child At Heart if that might be it or something Idk but this is in the book it should be real did any of you guys do this???

Take the direct route. Pack a whole bunch of RadAway and Rad-X, and don a Radiation Suit and just run as fast as you can towards the Vault Door, and Pop a RadAway every 3 seconds (HotKey would help there). You should be fine.

PS: I haven't tried this myself, If the Vault Door turns out to be locked from the outside, I can do nothing. Just save and give it a go.

That doesn't work; there isn't actually any door there, if I recall correctly (or it's just inaccessible).

At the OP: I think you'll just have to go through Murder Pass -- don't worry, though; the mutants might be tough be the loot is good.

The other thing you can do is rescue Penny (or whoever it is) from Paradise Falls. I may be wrong, but I think that's the only way to persuade Joseph fix the terminal.

EDIT: You said you have the Chid at Heart perk, right? If that's so, then you should be able to make Joseph fix the terminal. I get the feeling you've just ran into a nasty bug.

The radiation at Vault 87 peaks at 3000 rads per second, so you'd need a crazy amount of rad-x and radaway to survive. And the door can't be opened. A terminal in the overseer's office says I'm quite sad to report that due to a direct hit from what I presume to be a nuclear weapon on the entry area of Vault 87, we will be unable to provide the Scouting Reports as outlined in Vault-Tec's Operations Manual. The main door to Vault 87 is damaged beyond repair and we are detecting extremely high levels of lethal radiation outside and in the entry tunnel."

I think I found the best explanation on the wiki "The Vault" I quote the website

"Vault 87 can only be accessed through Little Lamplight. The player will have the option of questioning mayor MacCready about how to access Vault 87. The mayor will suggest taking Murder Pass. However, he will also inform the player that there is a broken computer terminal in Little Lamplight that will allow direct access to the Vault via a different, safer route.
To access the terminal, the player must speak to Joseph (as directed by the mayor). Joseph can fix the broken terminal, allowing it to be hacked, but he will only do so if the player has rescued Penny from Paradise Falls, if the player has a high enough science or persuasion skill, or through the Child at Heart perk. Joseph can be found in the Little Lamplight schoolhouse in the morning. The player must have a science skill of 50 to actually hack the computer to get into the Vault.
If Penny is not rescued, or if Joseph becomes upset through dialogue, entrance through Murder Pass will be the only option to get to Vault 87. Located North of the souvenir building, Murder Pass houses several super mutants armed with heavy weaponry like missile launchers and miniguns. There are also a number of traps, so be careful. Mayor MacCready will open the gate for you if asked. Murder Pass is a good choice for earning experience. It also contains several medical cabinets, a decent amount of ammunition and a Nuka-Cola Quantum."

I don't have the Child at Heart perk nor did I rescue anybody from paradise falls.
I just remember talking to Joseph who then turned the power for the computer on, then I hacked it.
I'm not sure why you can't. Might be a glitch.

This for me as well. In fact, this for me every time I'm in there.

So, what Lucky38 found in the wiki is right, but this is how it works in the game,

After you learn about the GECK and you head over to LL you need to go talk to Macready about getting into V87. He has a dialogue option about getting into it. He tells you about the monsters and the gate (Murder pass) and you can ask him about an alternate way to get in and he tells you about the computer and you can ask about Joseph. Then when you talk to Joseph he will help you use the computer (leads you there). If you don't talk to MacCready you don't get the dialogue options with Joseph.

The difficulties about getting into LL are another issue. Child at Heart makes it a cakewalk. If you have high CH/speech it can be easier (and if you want, of course, you can save first and try over and over until you pass the speech check). The quest to go to PFalls and save the kids is another way. But once you are in you need to talk to MacCready first if you want to talk to Joseph about the computer terminal. Also, once you do talk to MacCready, if you want it to be easy, and you don't want to spend an eternity looking for Joseph, there will be a marker for him on your Pipboy.

Thanks; I updated http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Joseph_%28Fallout_3%29 to reflect this information. I always thought this was accurate but wasn't 100% sure.

guys, you dont need child at heart to talk to joseph, and you dont need a high speech. all you have to do is ask mayor about the other way, he says the doors broke. and directs you to joseph

you can say to joseph "i really need to get into vault 87" or something like that

joseph says, "door works fine, computers broke,"

you say "can you turn it on?"

joseph "sure"

easy as that. no speech or child at heart required. and you dont have to rescue penny.

Yeah, we figured that out. It's probably a good idea to read the whole thread before replying. The post above yours, and the post above that, pretty much confirm what you said, though not in as much detail.

I just wished I had asked the Mayor how to get to the Vault, that's my problem I didn't ask him so now if I talk to Joseph all he tells me is to go down Murder Pass, o well. I just bought the Sgt Robot so I guess he and I will go down and get er done. BTW I highly suggest to anyone to rank up on science a lot, it really helps because most of the time you don't even have to fight robots or anything you just disable them. And the info held in a lot of computers is very valuable

Joseph will fix the terminal, you just have to talk to "Snotrag" Macready first, get him to tell you about the other door. Once you do, find Joseph, and he'll open it. You just need a 50 Science, or a 40 Science and Lesko's lab coat. And boom, you're past half the muties, and you still get the 800 XP for "Picking Up the Trail". Happy happy.

So I ended up taking Murder Pass, not because I couldn't get Joseph to do it because I locked the terminal. I didn't know then that you could just step away and try again. But Murder Pass was easier then the book made it sound maybe because Sgt RL3 killed all the super mutants basically XD. BTW when I got out of the Raven Rock base the Sgt was gone anyone know what happens to your follower??? lol it's so annoying something has happened to all of my followers before.

RL-3 should be floating around in the traffic circle in Canterbury Commons where the caravaners go to sell their wares.

Thanks dude that helps I will look for him

I'm not getting any options from MacCready to open the gate at Murder Pass.I've been all over and talked to everyone including Princess.Now what?

You ask him something along the lines of ,"I really need to get back there..." Then he tells you about monsters, you ask him about it, then repeat that you need to go there, then he tells you, "Let's get that gate open for you mungo."

I don't even get that option.

I guess I'll just start the quest over since I can't go forward.(fingers crossed)