Fallout: New Vegas Walkthrough -> Factions in the Game (Part 1)
The Brotherhood of Steel is a military-technological organization dedicated to the discovery and preservation of technology, as well as the spread of its influence to create a new society in a post-nuclear world. While not hostile to wasteland dwellers, the Brotherhood of Steel is extremely reluctant to accept outsiders into its ranks. The pre-war power armor worn by its paladins makes them easily recognizable and extremely difficult to defeat in combat.
In Fallout: New Vegas, the Brotherhood suffered considerable damage during the war with the New California Republic, which it lost. Furthermore, the Brotherhood plays no significant role in the game.
The Brotherhood of Steel emblem symbolizes each rank. The sword represents the Paladins, the wings represent the Elders (they control the sword's movement), the large gear represents the Knights, and the two small gears represent the Scribes and Squires, who provide the Knights with information and labor to carry out their work. The significance of the circle in the emblem is unknown.
The Crimson Caravan is one of the largest trading organizations on the West Coast. During the first Fallout, the Caravan's headquarters were located in the Hub. The Crimson Caravan was founded around 2150, and by 2280, it had been in business for approximately 130 years.
In New Vegas, the player encounters the Raspberry Caravan (and learns of its existence) during the quest "Shooting in a Ghost Town." A location marker appears on the map at the same time. Formally, the Raspberry Caravan is a traveling trader with a permanent base (a caravanners' dormitory and an office). However, the owner of the Raspberry Caravan strives for a monopoly on the trade market. She stops at nothing to achieve this monopoly. The caravan owner is a quest character (she gives several quests and is the target of several herself).
Nightkins (referred to as "Shadows" in Fallout: New Vegas) are a type of super mutant. They appear in Fallout, Fallout 2 (random encounters only), Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, and Fallout: New Vegas.
In the 2160s, they were the elite of the Master's super mutant army. They had superior weapons and equipment (including protective leather armor) and were equipped with Stealth Boys. They were also distinguished by their superior intelligence.
However, prolonged use of invisibility generators has affected their physiology: the children of the night have gray or light blue skin, atypical for super mutants. Furthermore, as shown in Fallout: New Vegas, by the 2270s, almost all children of the night are mentally unstable, with many of them being psychopaths.
The Powder Gang (translated as "Demolitionists" in the 1C version) is an organization in Fallout: New Vegas, bandits from the eastern part of the New California Republic who escaped from the NCR penitentiary.
As the New California Republic prepared to expand eastward, it needed railroads to transport supplies over long distances, especially to areas ripe for colonization. For this task, the NCR used bandits and criminals from the Black Canyon prison, who were nearing the end of their sentences.
Unfortunately, when the NKR ran into financial trouble, workers' payments began to be delayed or reduced. One day, the workers decided to solve the problem themselves, seizing all the stations and all the gunpowder they could find. They became gunpowder gangs, blowing up everything and everyone in their path—caravans and railroads.
After the riot, some of the bandits remained in the NCR penitentiary. Another group, led by the pyromaniac Samuel Cooke, who orchestrated the escape, fled north and holed up in Vault 19. A group of demolition experts, far to the south in Nipton, encountered Caesar's Legion and were almost entirely killed. The Courier encountered one of the smaller groups, led by Joe Cobb, in Goodsprings.
Sources: bethplanet.ru, ru.fallout.wikia.com
Factions in the game: (part 1) (part 2)
See also:
Fallout: New Vegas - Perks (Level 12)