I know threads like these have been done before. Just wanted to start a fresh one with the current people visiting the fallout 3 forum these days. Just started up FO3 again on the PC. I love the hardcoe mode in New Vegas, so i'm trying to stick to playing that in FO3. Drinking water once or twice a day, and having some food. Trying to sleep regularly too. I'm trying hard to not carry so much loot, only carrying what I need. And, no bottle caps! Its interesting so far. But just doing trades with smokes, drugs, pre-war money or maybe one valued weapon if i pick it up close to a town. Not doing a player home this time either, just sleeping on my travels.

What rules do you guys and gals apply to yourself, if anything? For a more immersive experience.

I have a few.

* My characters go indoors at night. I use a mod that makes night almost pitch black. I literally can almost see nothing. So it's imperative that we get inside before night falls or we can't move forward. As dusk approaches I begin planning ahead to get us to an indoor spot with an unowned mattress. If one isn't provided by the game I'm not above modding one in. I must have added about 15 unowned mattresses around the Capital Wastelands by now.

* My characters always walk, run or ride a motorcycle (added by a mod). We never fast travel.

* My characters take off their armor or clothes and un-equip their weapons before they swim.

* I lower the starting Carry weight of my characters by 50 pounds.

Those are about the only rules I apply to all characters. Individual characters have additional sets of rules applied.

I made a rule in one game that my character could only heal by sleeping. That made traveling across the Wasteland very strategic. It forced me to learn where all of the unowned beds and mattresses were. By the end of that game I had nearly all of them memorized.

Another character spent her entire game in DC. She was only allowed to heal through Cannibalism. And she also started off with nothing but clothes in her inventory. That was an interesting game for sure, especially during the early levels.

I like doing eccentric things in Bethesda's games.