Well to be honest if you are really considering playing here you will need like 'tons' of ALT characters. Fighter's(sg,bg,en,throw,scout), repairman, doctor, crafter's (sg/bg/en/doc), taxi. As long as youre not using fast relogs you may play with many characters.
I only have 4 characters and none of them are for anything but fighting.You don't need alts you just gotta be smart.
Ye, you just showed how smart you are when you entered random caravan near NCR.You need crafters if you want to survive on north side.
i guess we'll just have to bring a whole batallion of 12 guys in BA's and Level 3 Tier guns next time