Hi, everyone. I'm on my first playthrough, and I'm gaming on a 360. I have had the following NPC experiences. (I'll try to eplain in a non-spoiler way).

Walter fell from his platform and died.

I went to see Sonora with about 50 items, and she ran around the polace like a madwoman, then ran outdoors right into a Giant Radscorpion--I've never found a body, so I don't know what happened to her.

While I was somewhere else, Dominic was killed by a radscorpion.

Is this usual? In Walter and Sonora, I lost my two best Karma sources. I don't care one way or the other about Dominic, but I do feel bad for Machete...

Most puzzling. Any help or explaination would be apperciated. Thanks!

Welcome to the forums!

Yeah, Sonora is a well known problem. Her AI is a mess and with so many spawns around the building it means that she always goes into flee mode.
Unfortunately she still thinks that she is inside when she is still outside, thus she doesnt want to return once she runs away.

Some find her hiding beneath the broken overpass. Do a sweep and you should find her.

Welcome to the forums.

Walter leans against the only creaky railing in Megaton... He dies fairly early on for me as well. If I am using him for caps and karma (and I never do anymore, you will find far better places and ppl for this going forward) I reverse-pickpocket armor on him as fast as I can. Even just crappy Raider armor that you can't repair well, get it on him and it just might cushion his fall.

You have to clear the area around Sonora's HQ. Cover about a 200 yard radius, THEN go inside, and she shouldn't freak out. Otherwise yes, as the Wolf pointed out ^, she is cowering under the overpass every time for me.

Thanks to both of you for the welcome, and the information. I got a lot more guidance than I expected.

I also noticed the Search feature shortly after I had posted, so you shouldn't be getting any more inane questions from me (probably).

Thanks again.