I exited the Vault, starter pistol in hand and Vault security gear equipped, and headed straight to the town of Megaton, which was about a 60 second walk away (how convenient!). Upon entering the town I was greeted by the sheriff/mayor. I noticed he had an assault rifle on his back. I didn't have an assault rifle. Rather than feeling intimidated, I decided to antagonize him and get him to attack me. I easily murdered him with my starter pistol despite the difference in firepower and the supposed veterancy of the enemy. An unnamed townsperson was nearby and also attacked me, as well as some guy at a lookout post on higher ground. I killed them both.
On the sheriff's body I found the key to an armory. Sounded like a plan. I finished looting the corpses and walked into the main portion of town, a few steps away. No one regarded me with contempt or attacked or fled; they just gave me generic welcomes and allowed me to ask generic questions. "New in town?" Yes, indeed.
I headed up to armory and unlocked it. Inside a security robot attacked me, but the sheriff's assault rifle and a few finishing shots from my starter pistol took care of it. There I looted a great deal of guns and ammo and overburdened myself. I reduced my load by using the duplicate guns as spare parts and continued on.
Next I went to the general store. Inside I found a mercenary guard and the storekeeper, who apparently had energy weapons, a missile launcher, a special weapon plan, and lots of other useful items. I talked to her and she wanted me to go on what appeared to be a long quest chain where I would eventually receive that special item. Hrm. I attacked the mercenary and easily murdered him with my starter pistol, and the storekeeper ran away in horror and crouched in a nearby corner. I walked up to her and surprisingly was able to initiate conversation as normal; she asked me about the quest she wanted me to do, and allowed me to look at the store inventory. I murdered her and then proceeded to check the storage containers to see if they contained the items she had for sale. They did, so I looted the energy weapond and missile launcher and special weapon plans. After I pressed the "take all" button, though, the storekeeper's voice sounded out, scolding me for taking what didn't belong to me. The storekeeper was, of course, dead.
Leaving the general store, I continued exploring the town. The general population continued to regard me neutrally. I found the sheriff's home, entered, and was greeted by his young son. I took out a police baton and swung it at him, but nothing happened. Okay then, I thought, I'll just ransack the place. And so I did, looting every valuable I could find. But the child noticed, walked up to me, retrieved all the stolen goods, scolded me, and walked away. In awe, I walked back to him, crouched to enter sneaky mode, and pickpocketed all of the items back. He didn't react, and I left the house.