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Out in the frontier there are people living an everyday existence and struggling to survive. You can find these Strangers out in the wilderness or in the local towns. They are marked by '?' on your map, and can be spoken to when not busy with a mission.
Their tasks can be as simple as finding a friend or loved one, picking some flowers, hunting some animals, or delivering items across the dangerous frontier. Violence can often solve these problems, but think hard before letting your gun speak first.
Unlike narrative missions, Stranger's tasks can be started and finished at any time. Active tasks will be tracked for you on the map. This journal will record the name of the task, as well as the objectives for each stage.
Journal description
Jenny's Faith Location

Location of the "Jenny's Faith" stranger side-mission

Strangers are special NPC characters featured in Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Red Dead Online, who give missions to the player. Unlike story missions, these side-missions can be initiated and completed at any time. Stranger missions are usually much shorter and simpler than the story missions.

In Redemption, strangers are represented on the map by a question mark "?" icon. These cons only appear on the map when the player is close to their locations, and the mission is triggered when the player approaches the person in question. In Redemption 2, strangers are represented by white circle on the mini map with a question mark. In Online, the icon is changed to an orange icon containing the silhouette of a man, but the concept is the same.

If a character has more than one mission, then in subsequent encounters their name will appear on the map instead of "Stranger", since the player has already met them. Some stranger missions involve a choice that the player has to make, which will affect their honor. Additionally, the successful completion of these activities will often reward players with cash and other bonuses.

Stranger missions contribute towards 100% Completion. In Redemption, all missions except "I Know You" need to be completed. In Redemption 2, only 10 stranger missions strands are required for 100% Completion.

Quick Answers

What types of tasks do the Strangers typically assign in RDR2? toggle section
In Red Dead Redemption 2, Strangers are unique non-playable characters who assign various tasks to the player. These tasks, known as stranger missions, can be started and completed at any point. They often involve delivering items across the frontier, sometimes leading to violent encounters. The player's progress in these tasks is tracked on the map and recorded in the journal, detailing the task name and stage objectives. Achievements like 'Strange Things are Afoot' and 'People are Still Strange' are linked to completing these tasks.
Provided by: Fandom
How can you identify a Stranger on the map in Red Dead Redemption 2? toggle section
Strangers in Red Dead Redemption 2 are marked on the mini map with a white circle and a question mark. These markers only appear when the player is in proximity to the Stranger's location, and a mission is initiated upon approaching them. If a Stranger has multiple missions, their name replaces 'Stranger' on the map in future encounters. In Red Dead Online, the Stranger icon is an orange male silhouette, maintaining the same principle.
Provided by: Fandom
What are some possible outcomes of completing stranger missions in RDR2? toggle section
In RDR2, stranger missions yield multiple outcomes. Post the initial encounter, the stranger's name replaces the 'Stranger' label on the map. Certain missions involve choices impacting the player's honor. Completing these missions typically grants cash and bonuses, contributing to 100% game completion. Specifically, in Red Dead Redemption 2, completion of 10 stranger missions is required.
Provided by: Fandom
How many stranger missions are there in RDR2? toggle section
Red Dead Redemption 2 features 31 stranger side-missions. Players have the flexibility to complete these missions in different sequences. However, only 10 stranger mission strands are necessary to achieve 100% game completion.
Provided by: Fandom
What is the role of violence in solving stranger missions in RDR2? toggle section
In Red Dead Redemption 2, Strangers are unique NPCs offering side-missions, which can be initiated and completed anytime. These tasks, simpler than main story missions, include locating individuals, gathering flowers, hunting wildlife, or delivering goods across the frontier. Violence can be a solution in these missions, but players are advised to consider alternatives. The significance of Strangers in their own missions can diminish after the initial player interaction.
Provided by: Fandom

Red Dead Redemption[]

The following is a list of stranger missions in Red Dead Redemption. Next to them are the names of the characters that give said missions. Some missions are split into multiple parts, with each given by the same or a different character. Some missions require reaching a certain chapter in the main story to be unlocked.

Location Mission Name Characters Involved
New Austin "I Know You" Strange Man
Leland Byers
Mother Superior Calderón
"Jenny's Faith" Jenny
"Funny Man" Jimmy Saint
"California" Sam Odessa
"American Appetites" Grace Anderson
Ralph Anderson
Jeremy Parsons
Beryl Parsons
Randall Forrester
"Let No Man Put Asunder" Alma Horlick
Peter Turner
Nathan Harling
Rose Harling
"Lights, Camera, Action" D.S. MacKenna
Silas Spatchcock
"Water and Honesty" Andrew McAllister
Clyde Evans
"Flowers for a Lady" Billy West
Annabel West
"Who Are You to Judge?" Jeb Blankenship
Ann Stephenson
Lucy
Nuevo Paraíso "Aztec Gold" Basilio Aguirre Olmos de la Vargas
"Deadalus and Son" Charles Kinnear
"Eva in Peril" Eva Cortes
Mario Alcalde
"Love is the Opiate" Zhou
Juan de la Vara
"Poppycock" Uriah Tollets
Juan de la Vara
West Elizabeth "American Lobbyist" Mr. Philmore
Aldous Worthington
"The Prohibitionist" Abner Forsyth
Oliver Philips
"The Wronged Woman" Clara LaGuerta
Harold Thornton
Elizabeth Thornton
"Remember My Family" Howard Sawicki
Emily Ross
Phillip Ross
Edgar Ross

Red Dead Redemption 2[]

The following is a list of stranger missions in Red Dead Redemption 2. Next to them are the names of the characters that give said missions. Some missions are split into multiple parts, with each given by the same or a different character. Some missions require reaching a certain chapter in the main story to be obtained.

Chapter Mission Name Characters Involved
Horseshoe Overlook "The Noblest of Men, and a Woman" Theodore Levin
Jim "Boy" Calloway
Emmet Granger
Flaco Hernández
Billy Midnight
Black Belle
"The Smell of the Grease Paint" Miss Marjorie
Bertram
Magnifico
"All That Glitters" Máximo Cristóbal Valdespino
"American Dreams" Edmund Lowry Jr.
"Arcadia for Amateurs" Albert Mason
"A Better World, A New Friend" L. Hobbs
"A Fine Night For It" Old Cajun
"A Fisher of Fish" Jeremy Gill
"A Test of Faith" Deborah MacGuiness
"Fundraiser" Fundraiser Woman
"Geology for Beginners" Francis Sinclair
"Smoking and other Hobbies" Phineas T. Ramsbottom
"To the Ends of the Earth" William
Clemens Point "He's British, of Course" Margaret
Sally Nash
Zebra
Lion
"The Iniquities of History" Jeremiah Compson
"No Good Deed" Alphonse Renaud
Saint Denis "Oh, Brother" Proetus
Acrisius
Helen
"A Bright Bouncing Boy" Marko Dragic
"The Mercies of Knowledge" Andrew Bell III
"The Artist's Way" Charles Châtenay
"Duchesses and other Animals" Algernon Wasp
"Idealism and Pragmatism for Beginners" Henri Lemieux
Jean-Marc Mercier
"Help a Brother Out" Brother Dorkins
"Brothers and Sisters, One and All" Brother Dorkins
Sister Calderón
"The Ties That Bind Us" Sampson Black
Wendell White
Guarma "The Wisdom of the Elders" Obediah Hinton
"The Widow of Willard's Rest" Charlotte Balfour
Beaver Hollow "The Veteran" Hamish Sinclair
Buell
"Of Men and Angels" Sister Calderón
Pronghorn Ranch "The American Inferno, Burnt Out" Evelyn Miller

Red Dead Online[]

The following is a list of strangers featured in Red Dead Online. Next to them are the type of missions that they can offer to the player. Unlike in previous instalments, there isn't a limited number of stranger missions. The player's honor may increase or decrease depending on the mission type.

Positive Honor[]

Stranger Name Tasks Involved
Alden Carruthers Repossessions / Deliveries / Hunting / Caravan Escorts
Angus Elliston
Bonnie MacFarlane
Hector Barlow
Hamish Sinclair Repossessions / Deliveries / Hunting / Rescues
Jake & Sadie Adler
Thomas Repossessions / Deliveries / Hunting
Sheriff Freeman Repossessions / Caravan Escorts
Anthony Foreman Rescues
Josiah Trelawny Caravan Escorts / Rescues / Hunting
Sean MacGuire Hunting
The Boy
Flaco Hernández

Negative Honor[]

Stranger Name Tasks Involved
Hamish Sinclair Boat Thefts
Josiah Trelawny Repossessions / Horse Thefts / Destroy Supplies
The Boy Paid Killings / Destroy Supplies / Coach Holdups / Boat Thefts / Wagon Thefts / Horse Thefts / Early Releases / Rescues
Bray & Tammy Aberdeen Paid Killings / Coach Holdups / Wagon Thefts / Horse Thefts
Flaco Hernández Paid Killings / Destroy Supplies / Coach Holdups / Boat Thefts / Wagon Thefts / Horse Thefts / Early Releases
Anthony Foreman Paid Killings / Destroy Supplies / Coach Holdups / Wagon Thefts / Horse Thefts
Joe Paid Killings / Destroy Supplies / Coach Holdups / Wagon Thefts / Horse Thefts / Boat Thefts / Early Releases
Black Belle Paid Killings / Destroy Supplies / Coach Holdups / Wagon Thefts / Horse Thefts / Early Releases
Mama Watson Paid Killings / Destroy Supplies / Coach Holdups / Wagon Thefts / Horse Thefts / Early Releases
Sean MacGuire
James Langton Paid Killings / Destroy Supplies / Coach Holdups / Wagon Thefts / Horse Thefts / Rescues / Early Releases
Shaky Paid Killings / Destroy Supplies / Wagon Thefts / Horse Thefts / Early Releases

Tips[]

  • Most stranger mission strands require the player to wait a couple of in-game days before the next part of the mission becomes available. Instead of waiting the player can just save the game at any property/campsite and then reload that save, or an auto-save in case this feature is turned on.

Trivia[]

Red Dead Redemption[]

  • Several Stranger missions were cut from Red Dead Redemption before the game was released:
    • In one, John encounters a lonely dwarf with a hatred of people. John ends up feeling sorry for him and goes searching for someone to befriend the dwarf. Eventually John encounters a large man described as a giant. However, after meeting each other, the giant ends up killing someone by accidentally smothering them. The dwarf then encourages John to kill the giant and the large man's fate is left in the player's hands. Only the audio for this cut mission remains, and it can be heard here.
    • In another, John must gather four stolen holy relics for Mother Superior. The first relic is described as being in the possession of a hermit in New Austin. One was being sold in the Pacific Union Railroad Camp. The next, in possession of a criminal who lives in Tumbleweed, and finally, one by an outlaw hunted by bounty hunters. It can be heard here.

Red Dead Redemption 2[]

  • A cut character known as Señor Andreas Colon was supposed to give five missions in Guarma (referred to as "Coln" in the files) to the player, though this was cut quite early in development and there are only remnants of what would've happened. He would've been met at a table for the first four missions (though he does not seem to have a physical role in the second), and each time he would be asleep with a bottle or a glass of wine and his opium pipe. During one encounter, there would've been a camera involved. During the final encounter, the player could find him sitting down on the ground writing in a book with an umbrella before he would've stood up, and joined the player in a boat. He'd look around and get frustrated at one point, before pointing excitedly in presumably different directions. Cut text suggests he also would've given the player a map, and the opium pipe belonging to him can be found inside of a room during a random encounter in Valentine.
  • The cut character Dr. Lane Higgins was intended to be encountered on Guarma and was the subject of a stranger mission strand. Cut voicelines depict him asking the player to stop members of the Cuban Military from desecrating a sacred site in order to steal post-Columbian artifacts, which he believes "belong in a museum."

Videos[]

Xbox One Version
PS5 Version

Achievements[]

Red Dead Redemption[]

There are three trophies/achievements associated with completing Stranger tasks:

Strangethingsareafoot
10 gamerscoregamerscore
Bronze bronzebronze
Complete a task for a stranger.

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Rdr people still strange icon
25 gamerscoregamerscore
Silver silversilver
Complete 15 tasks for Strangers.

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Redeemed
100 gamerscoregamerscore
Gold goldgold
Attain 100% in the singleplayer completion stat.


Red Dead Redemption 2[]

There are two trophies/achievements associated with completing Stranger tasks:

WesternStranger
WESTERN STRANGER
30 gamerscoregamerscore
Bronze bronzebronze
Complete 10 Stranger mission strands.

----

BestintheWest
100 gamerscoregamerscore
Gold goldgold
Attain 100% Completion.


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