It wouldn’t be a proper Bethesda game without funny random encounters with NPCs, and Starfield doesn’t disappoint. The silly little moments which crop up as you travel through the star systems are a nice touch, and a welcome break from space battles and gun fights. Of those you can find though, there are 10 in particular that we believe are the silliest and most entertaining encounters in the game. Do be aware, however, that these moments include some mild spoilers.
Honorable Mention: NPCs Getting Wrecked Mid-Convo
Though it might fall more on the side of a glitch than a funny moment, an unfortunate occurrence during dialogue interactions is undeniably one of the goofier things you can witness in Starfield.
When you and your companion talk together in the middle of the wilderness, there is a chance the NPC will be attacked by a wild alien creature mid-conversation. It will never stop being funny to see Sarah getting slammed into the ground as she nags you about how much junk you’re carrying.
This seems like a glitch that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon either, meaning you can enjoy it no matter when you choose to dive into the game.
Space Tourists Encounter
The first random encounter you may experience while jumping from system to system is the ship of tourists.
The guide who hails your ship is clearly tired and fed up with the excitable travelers. She asks if you have a few minutes to spare to answer some of their questions, but she honestly wouldn’t blame you if you refused. It is worth saying yes, though, just to answer the slightly inappropriate questions the tourists have for you.
Random Raving Parents
This random encounter is for those players who have the Kid Stuff trait. Kid Stuff gives you the perk of having supportive and generous parents who live in New Atlantis.
Most of the time they are at home, but sometimes they are out living their best lives. One of these moments you may run into them is at the Astra Lounge on Neon. Turns out mom and dad are trying some exciting new things during their retirement.
Interstellar Marriage Counselling
Another random space ship who hails you for help are a bickering married couple.
It turns out they are lost and cannot agree on which direction to go in, and need your advice on which way to fly. There are a few choices, one of which is telling them to seek a marriage counselor, so it is up to you if you send them in a random direction or to let them figure it out on their own. Who knows — maybe you will encounter them again.
Galactic Grandma
Flying through space can be lonely at times and a traveller can get a little homesick. Luckily, you have a chance of a random encounter with Grandma as she bakes cookies and explores the stars. At first it feels like it’s a trap but that’s just your space paranoia talking. Go aboard and listen to her tales and heal up with her home-cooked meals. You can even stock up on healing items before you leave. Hopefully it is not just a one-time thing as I quite enjoyed the excursion. It’ll make you want to call your own grandmother.
Space Shanty Guy
One of my personal favorite moments was grav-jumping into a new star system and hearing a space shanty drifting in over the intercom.
It is worth sticking around to listen, as it isn’t often you are serenaded as you sit among the stars. The guy finishes his song and it is up to you whether you compliment or insult him. Either way he will fly off and leave you wondering who that mysterious stranger was. If you recognize his voice I wouldn’t be surprised. The guy singing the space ditty is real-life shanty singer Nathan Evans of Wellerman fame.
Random Spaceship Insurance Salesman
A brief but wothwhile encounter in space is with a space ship insurance salesman.
The way he speaks sounds either like he is an automated service or that he is robotically reading off a script like a good sales team member. He will ask you if you want to hear about your “extended warranty”. We do not recommend choosing the “I’d like to hear more” option unless you want to listen to the full spiel trying to sell you an extended warranty. Absolutely do not pay him anything either, because it is a scam and you get nothing out of it.
Oh, and you will definitely come across this guy more than once. Those darn cold callers never leave you alone, do they?
Notable Notes
One of the great things about Bethesda games is the tiny details you might miss unless you slow down. Take your time to look around the environments and you might find fun little things you may not have noticed otherwise. Case in point: In offices, at desks, and on doors, there are sticky Post-Its and notes that can be pretty funny.
A few notable pieces we found were ones saying: “Space = big ??? (huge if true)” and “I hate space 🙁 “. Another was found on an outdoor toilet stall door and read, “Who ordered all the toilet paper?” Open up the stall, and you’ll see it absolute rammed full! There are probably loads more, so make sure you have a good look around as you explore.
Sentient AI Mission
When you become a Ryujin Operative, you will soon run into another ship trying to fight off Ecliptic. Upon destroying the Ecliptic ship and boarding the mysterious vessel you will meet two Ryujin operatives and a sentient AI named Juno.
After speaking with Juno you will be faced with a decision. It is your choice whether you help Ryujin and gain credits as a reward, or you help Juno and set her free. As usual, you can act with compassion of aggression.
Butt Jokes in Space
The briefest random encounter to be had is another stranger in a space ship; and this time, it’s a Freestar Responder.
They ask if you know the way to Uranus, and no matter what you reply with, they’ll reply with something along the lines of “I sure hope so! It’s right behind you! Smell you later!”. They will then grav-jump away before you can respond. I guess it’s the little things that get you through the day if you’re a bored Freestar ranger.
LIST Colonists Encounter
Another day, another hail from a space ship in trouble.
This time it is a group called the LIST Colonists. This group from the League of Independent Settlers are basically stranded and need your help. You can either sell them some Iron and receive 1500 Credits in return, or you can send them away to fend for themselves. If you want to help but don’t have the Iron, they are more than willing to wait while you go buy or mine some!
Have you come across any of these random encounters in Starfield yet? Let us know if you have more to share, or find extra helpful guides below.
