Born in a settlement on the outskirts of the Commonwealth with Nat and their father, a member of the local militia, Piper's "career" in journalism started when her father was found dead under suspicious circ*mstances, and she investigated to learn that he had discovered that raiders were plotting to sack the town. His superior in the militia, Captain Mayburn, was in league with them and arranged to leave the main gate open and unguarded one night in exchange for a cut of the loot; when Piper's father caught onto his scheme, the captain murdered him to prevent word of the plot from getting out.[2] When the local authorities refused to believe or even investigate her claims about Mayburn's corruption, Piper resorted to making and distributing flyers across the entire settlement calling out his crimes. The conspicuously public accusation got the attention of the town's mayor, who accepted Piper's evidence. Outraged by his dereliction of duty, the settlers exiled Mayburn, and when the raiders eventually showed up expecting the gate to be wide open, they instead encountered prepared defenses by alerted townsfolk and were driven away.[2]
With both of their parents gone and Nat too young to work, Piper relied mainly on kindness and charity to survive. Eventually, the sisters were able to save enough money to relocate to Diamond City by paying for passage on a caravan.[3] However, life in the "big city" provided its own share of challenges; at the time of their arrival, Diamond City was plagued by corruption, lax security, and failing infrastructure. Frustrated with this state of affairs and increasingly desperate to enact change, Piper founded and ran the newspaper Publick Occurrences to raise awareness of the city’s problems.[4]
Despite her noble intentions, her career was fraught with danger and intrigue from the outset. Shortly after founding her newspaper, an article she wrote exposing the efforts of a caravan cartel to drive up food prices made her the target of their retribution. The cartel secretly arranged for Piper to be poisoned while drinking at the Dugout Inn; she narrowly survived by immediately chugging Vadim Bobrov's moonshine straight from the still to induce vomiting and remove the poison, in the meantime the assassin was apprehended by Diamond City security and the cartel members were arrested.[5] In a later incident, an investigation into irradiated drinking water at Bunker Hill led her to be kidnapped by the Church of the Children of Atom, who would have killed her as a human sacrifice if not for Piper convincingly faking a vision of Atom and being subsequently initiated into the cult.[1] Piper also regularly fell afoul of DC security herself during her investigations, to the point that their lockup came to be nicknamed "the Piper Suite" for her frequent stays in it.[6]
Piper’s activism and investigative fervor ultimately bore fruit; whether they agreed with her or not, citizens read her newspaper in droves, and many of the issues she brought to light were addressed by DC authority.[7] However, this success came at a cost to Piper’s personal life. Following the release of the paper's first edition, many in the city who Piper had once considered friends and confidants became distant, and she gained a reputation both in Diamond City and across the Commonwealth as a “nosy snoop.”[8] Public opinion of the paper slowly but surely soured, with many citizens writing in to complain about the negative tone of its reporting, and Piper began to feel deeply alienated from the community.
This alienation reached its peak with the publication of an article titled "The Synthetic Truth" in 2287. Though the article largely consisted of a retrospective on the Broken Mask incident of 2229 and an interview with the event’s last surviving eyewitness, Eustace Hawthorne, it also contained thinly-veiled accusations that the city’s mayor, McDonough, was a synth infiltrator acting on behalf of the Institute.[9] Though privately certain in her accusations, Piper lacked any solid evidence for them, and McDonough subsequently had Piper thrown out by security and banned from the city. Despite her temporary exile, Piper remains steadfast in her determination to protect the city and expose the mayor’s wrongdoings.
Piper is a rather lonely woman who feels isolated in Diamond City. She has a strong drive to better the world and does not want to be complacent, causing her to become a writer and journalist in order to try to reduce the corruption within the town. As such, Piper has a rapport with Nick Valentine, both serving as investigators in their own capacities. Her tendency to find the latest scoop and the truth can cause others to find her nosy and annoying, however, resulting in her having few friends. She tends to enjoy sarcasm.
Despite multiple death threats and at least one assassination attempt, finding herself in sticky situations is a point of pride for Piper, who feels getting into trouble is just part of chasing the truth.[6] Adding to her reckless nature, she may also be seen smoking occasionally. She is shown to not be above lying and manipulating others in order to get what she wants, such as when she tried to use the Sole Survivor to regain access to Diamond City after being banned from the town, though she generally dislikes it when the Sole Survivor lies.
While distrustful of the Institute, Piper is still sympathetic to the plight of synths, especially runaway synths, due to her interactions with Nick, even mentioning that Nick is the only synth she has met that did not seem to have a "screw loose" and at one point, says that Nick sat down to talk to her about why synths are different than typical robots.
She also has an open dislike for the Brotherhood of Steel due to their self-serving nature, technology hoarding, anti-synth policies, and in her eyes, lousy fashion sense.[10][11] Thus she will react negatively to any pro-Brotherhood choices.
The player character may find copies of Publick Occurrences written by Piper throughout the Commonwealth. They will first find Piper locked outside Diamond City by Mayor McDonough, extremely frustrated. She will then try to loop the player in to a scheme to open the gate pretending they are a merchant caravan. The player has the option of playing along or not. Either way the ruse works, and the gate is opened. Alternatively, starting a fight also causes the gate to open, skipping Piper's dialogue.
At the entrance Mayor McDonough confronts Piper over her latest article, with the players opinion on newspapers is brought up. Noticing someone new, Mayor McDonough changes topics and tries to put a friendly face. Piper decides that the player represents a fresh set of eyes on Diamond City and requests an interview. In exchange she offers to help follow the player around in the Commonwealth.
When showing up at her home/office for the interview, Piper reveals she intuited the player is a Vault Dweller, and over the course of the interview discovers that they are from the pre-war era. The interview is later published in Publick Occurrences, and Piper is available as a companion.
In the main quest, Piper can be seen arguing with Geneva demanding access to the mayor as the player visits the office to obtain the key to Kellog's house. After having dealt with Kellog at Fort Hagen, the next stage of the main quest starts with Nick Valentine and Piper meeting in Publick Occurrences and discussing what to do next, where they decide to try talking to Dr. Amari in Goodneighbor.
As Piper travels with the player through the Commonwealth, she'll reveal the troubles she's had running her newspaper, how she was inspired following the death of her father by a corrupt town guard, and her adventures in investigation and reporting, but also how her reporting has alienated her within Diamond City. However her primary concern is how her little sister Nat seems to be taking after her, and with the dangerous lifestyle that Piper leads, what that entails for her.
- Likes
- Helping innocent civilians.
- Successfully picking unowned locks.
- Joining the Minutemen.
- Attempting to avoid violence in dialogue.
- Giving the Vault-Tec rep a new home.
- Joining the Railroad.
- Asking Bobbi No-Nose to leave during The Big Dig
- Giving the mysterious serum to Emogene during Emogene Takes a Lover.
- Giving the experimental serum to Brian Virgil.
- Using sarcasm against Finn in Goodneighbor.
- Being sarcastic to Ann Codman.
- Respond sarcastically or say 'sounds like anarchy' to Hanco*ck after he killed Finn.
- Accepting the quest Public Knowledge from Daisy in Goodneighbor.
- Convincing Mama Murphy to stop doing chems.
- Two occasions during the Arts random encounter: the first upon persuading human Art to put down his gun and the second upon helping him kill his synth doppelganger after successfully interrogating him.
- Telling Vadim Bobrov that he was an idiot for dealing with Tower Tom's gang when rescuing him at the end of Confidence Man.
- When conferring with Honest Dan after gathering evidence during Human Error, choosing to respond with "Maybe" and then "That's fair" when he tells the Sole Survivor they work as equal partners or not at all.
- Persuading Jacob Orden to communicate ahead to The Compound that the Sole Survivor is coming during Human Error.
- Attempting to talk down Doc Crocker during The Disappearing Act.
- Returning the deathclaw egg to its mother or demanding more money from Wellingham during The Devil's Due.
- Telling Desdemona that Sole Survivor shall risk life to save the synths.
- Telling the truth about Deacon's embellishments regarding the operation at the Switchboard during the quest, Tradecraft.
- Giving Sheffield a Nuka-Cola.
- Saying "No" when Vadim asks if you have experience in fights.
- Being supportive of Travis Miles in Confidence Man. Multiple opportunities throughout the quest.
- Getting H2-22 to safety at Ticonderoga during Boston After Dark.
- Telling Preston Garvey and Sturges you already have the fusion core during When Freedom Calls.
- Telling Phyllis Daily at Egret Tours Marina about Shaun upon first meeting.
- Asking Phyllis Daily at Egret Tours Marina "Anything else?" after her story.
- Asking Phyllis Daily at Egret Tours Marina to join the Minutemen.
- Informing Desdemona about the Institute's plans before joining The Battle of Bunker Hill.
- Telling Paul Pembroke to solve his own problems when he asks for help to confront Henry Cooke. You can trigger this twice, once when he initially asks for your help and a second time when you reinitiate dialogue with him.
- Telling Paul Pembroke "Don't Shoot" during the bar scene in Diamond City Blues.
- Accepting 50-50 split with Paul Pembroke during Diamond City Blues.
- Apologizing to Malcom Latimer for killing his son.
- Telling Roger Warwick that he makes sense and promising him to take care of the super mutant problem, which starts the quest, Warwick Homestead: Greenskins.
- Persuading Darla to leave Skinny Malone during Unlikely Valentine.
- Choosing all positive dialogue options when talking to Kent Connolly to start The Silver Shroud quest.
- Telling Kent Connolly not to sell himself short when bringing him the costume during The Silver Shroud.
- Threatening AJ "as the Shroud" during the The Silver Shroud quest.
- Killing Eddie Winter at the end of Long Time Coming.
- Giving a friendly response to Barney Rook after activating the turrets.
- Digging up Shem Drowne's grave.
- Agreeing to find a bloatfly gland for Doctor Duff in Diamond City's Science! Center.
- Choosing "Sounds Like Anarchy." when speaking with Hanco*ck after entering Goodneighbor for the first time.
- Choosing the 'donate crops' speech option, or choosing to pay 1000 caps during Feeding the Troops.
- Ask Hanco*ck for more money.
- Giving purified water to the thirsty settler in the random encounter.
- Offer to help Ellie Perkins find Nick Valentine.
- Agreeing to help Moe Cronin and beginning Out in Left Field.
- Agreeing to help Solomon by finding a mutated fern at Forest Grove marsh.
- When first meeting Abbot Tell him "I won't" after he asks you "Don't touch the paint"
- Agreeing to help Abbot and beginning Painting the Town.
- Give Abbot the green paint.
- Responding 'Happy to help' to Abbot after completing Painting the Town.
- Agreeing to help Sheng Kawolski in Clean the Water Supply.
- Choosing the 'Guard' reply when first talking with Hawthorne in Diamond City.
- Responding 'Just a traveler' in response to Scott Edwards when asking for entry into Vault 81.
- Subverting the quest giver's intended goal during Children of Atom quests on the Island.
- Note that she dislikes accepting the quest, but working against the Children of Atom usually results in a net gain of affinity in the long run.
- Telling Jule the truth about herself during The Price of Memory.
- Telling Small Bertha she is remarkable
- Offering support on hearing The Mariner's diagnosis in Hull Breach 2
- Saying 'Anything for family' when talking to Mitch and Debby in the Last Plank
- Telling Avery you wanted to 'help with friends'
- Convincing Tektus to leave rather than killing him during Reformation.
- Saying that Ada is being helpful, she is an individual and do not think that way when she ask about Jezebel's head.
- Saying "some good in there" to reconstructed Jezebel when talking about the Mechanist.
- Comforting Isabel Cruz if she was spared during Restoring Order.
- (Repeatable) Accepting requests to hunt down Mechanist robots during Rogue Robot
- Loves
- Killing the super mutants outside of Diamond City.
- Demanding that McDonough stand trial during the climax of the quest In Sheep's Clothing.
- Stopping to give Danny Sullivan a stimpak before confronting McDonough in In Sheep's Clothing.
- Giving Austin the whole cure during the Hole in the Wall quest in Vault 81, instead of keeping it for themselves or asking for it to be split into two doses.
- Deciding to side with Honest Dan and free Amelia Stockton during Human Error.
- Saving Kent Connolly from Sinjin during the climax of The Silver Shroud quest.
- Telling Paul Pembroke "Give Cooke a Chance" or "Calm Down" during the bar scene in Diamond City Blues.
- Telling Billy that you'll take him home during Kid in a Fridge.
- Refusing to sell Billy to Bullet during the quest Kid in a Fridge.
- Refusing to execute Paladin Danse during Blind Betrayal.
- Uncovering the truth behind the sicknesses in the Mystery Meat quest.
- Save Jules (the self-admitted synth) from being shot by his human companions (Fred and Angie) in the random encounter through peaceful dialogue.
- Rescuing the caravan prisoners from Zeller during the miscellaneous quest given by Kessler at Bunker Hill.
- Siding with the Railroad when speaking with Desdemona in End of the Line.
- Choosing "I promise" when speaking with Glory during Precipice of War.
- Telling the Mariner that "people should come together" at the end of Hull Breach 3.
- Telling Sister Aubert that you will report that she's loyal to the High Confessor Tektus.
- Telling DiMA that Far Harbor (location) has a right to the truth.
- After Nick Valentine has his conversation with DiMA, and you've acquired DiMA's memory (specifically the one involving Nick), talk with Nick again to provide proof of his origin.
- Completing Open Season.
- Dislikes
- Picking owned locks and stealing.
- Intimidating, bribing, or demanding caps from people.
- Joining the Brotherhood of Steel at the end of Call to Arms.
- Lying to others, with exception to the Brotherhood of Steel.
- Saying that the synths are tools when talking to Desdemona.
- Going with Deacon's lie when reporting back to Desdemona at the end of Tradecraft.
- Lying to Malcom Latimer about not killing his son.
- Giving chems to Mama Murphy.
- Gaining entry into Covenant.
- Helping the Institute.
- Killing or releasing Lorenzo Cabot in the quest The Secret of Cabot House.
- Killing the human Art in the related random encounter.
- Humoring Tinker Tom's paranoia.
- Eating corpses.
- Asking for more than 100 caps to Supervisor Greene in the quest Troubled Waters.
- Taking more than 50% of the cut on the Diamond City Blues questline.
- Using hostile dialogue to save Jules (the self-admitted synth) from his human companions, Fred and Angie.
- Accepting Whitechapel Charlie's job offer (The Cleaner) after buying a drink from him.
- Telling her and Nick Valentine that you would gladly kill Kellogg again at the end of Reunions.
- Telling Kent Connolly that "the world sucks" when he says "The world these days, must take some getting used to" at the beginning of The Silver Shroud quest.
- Choosing the "humor him" reply when first speaking to Kent Connolly at the beginning of The Silver Shroud quest.
- Bartering down from 1000 to 500 caps during Feeding the Troops.
- Ask Ellie Perkins for more money to find Nick Valentine.
- Telling Finn to back off in Goodneighbor.
- Convincing Doctor Duff to give you more caps in exchange for finding a bloatfly gland.
- Telling Myrna that you're a synth when first meeting her.
- Asking Maria why she didn't already take care of the raiders in Special Delivery
- Being sarcastic while talking to McDonough and/or attacking and killing him during In Sheep's Clothing.
- Accepting Children of Atom quests on the Island.
- Note that subverting the quest giver's intended goal often results in several likes, netting positive affinity in the long run.
- Suggesting the destruction of Far Harbor factions.
- Not telling Jule the truth about herself during The Price of Memory.
- Telling Ada that no more time for mistakes when she ask about Jezebel's head.
- Being rude to Isabel Cruz after Restoring Order.
- Asking for more money from Sheng Kawolski in Clean the Water Supply.
- Hates
- Flirting with other characters if she's traveling with the Sole Survivor and they are in a romance with her.
- Murder.
- Killing Ashes during Here Kitty, Kitty.
- Killing Trish during the Diamond City Blues questline.
- Killing everyone else will result in her ceasing fire.
- Lying to Virgil, by telling him there was no experimental serum.
- Convincing Virgil to commit suicide.
- Killing Virgil in self-defense after giving him the serum and visiting again some days later. (Virgil turning hostile, however, is not supposed to happen. Not destroying any of his defense systems during your first visit and not wearing power armor for your return usually prevents this.)
- Killing Edward Deegan at the end of The Secret of Cabot House
- The rest of the Cabot family can be killed without consequence.
- Allowing Danny Sullivan to die at the beginning of the quest In Sheep's Clothing.
- Telling Malcom Latimer that they will kill Marowski to exact revenge for killing his son Nelson.
- Initially agreeing to harm Travis during the quest Confidence Man.
- Deciding to destroy the Railroad for either the Brotherhood of Steel or the Institute.
- Deciding to betray Bobbi No-Nose after breaking into Hanco*ck's storeroom in the quest The Big Dig.
- Retrieving Mayor McDonough's report for the Institute during the quest Political Leanings.
- Agreeing to execute Paladin Danse during Blind Betrayal.
- Killing Shelly Tiller in the quest The Silver Shroud.
- Destroying the sentry bot guarding Cabot House.
- Deciding to kill the Railroad when speaking with Desdemona in End of the Line.
- Choosing "Leave her" when speaking with Glory during Precipice of War.
- Choosing to keep the Vault 81 cure for yourself at the end of Hole in the Wall.
- Killing Jake Finch at Saugus Ironworks.
- Asking human Art to kill synth Art immediately on in dialogue.
- Leaving Danny Sullivan to die.
- Killing Machete Mike or leaving him to die.
- Killing the Hubologists by adding a fourth fusion core at the end of Trip to the Stars.
Atom Cats garage, unable to determine due to bugged content. Coast Guard Pier, either at the corner of the pier by the tower, or the center of the building. The super mutants were supposed to be wearing Coast Guard hats. 