Diana had made the announcement - in two days, her calender would mark the beginning of a new year, and, as they did every year, Vault 29's doors would open.
Within the next two days, one worker robot would be chosen by Diana to leave the vault, and that robot would be accompanied by a group of randomly selected vault citizens. The intention being for the robot to check conditions on the exterior of and around the vault, whilst the chosen individuals would scout the surrounding area, and would report whether or not the area was habitable to Diana.
The problem being, however, that every year of the centuries Diana had done this, not a single robot nor human had ever returned. Diana surmised that this meant the outside area was uninhabitable and hazardous, and waited another year before selecting another robot, and more individuals.
Thus, being selected to leave is not an opportunity for the citizens of Vault 29, it is considered a death sentence. A very vague, uncertain death sentence, but a death sentence nonetheless. Diana recognises this, as does every vault dweller under her guidance, but Diana asserts, as she always has done, that populating the outside world is a necessity for the human race to survive.
This presents another problem. Diana claims no knowledge of the outside world, nor does she seem able to tell what year it is, where Vault 29 is located in America, or even what year she was installed into the ZAX Machine Intelligence that initially ran the vault. In fact, her measurement of yearly cycles are an approximate measurement of days since she last opened the doors. Hardly a perfect system, before even taking into account the fact that this process dooms several individuals to death. Regardless, Diana has performed this almost ceremonial process for centuries, and she is not about to stop now.
In two days, her calender will mark the beginning of a new year, and, as they do every year, Vault 29's doors will open.
Within the next two days, one worker robot would be chosen by Diana to leave the vault, and that robot would be accompanied by a group of randomly selected vault citizens. The intention being for the robot to check conditions on the exterior of and around the vault, whilst the chosen individuals would scout the surrounding area, and would report whether or not the area was habitable to Diana.
The problem being, however, that every year of the centuries Diana had done this, not a single robot nor human had ever returned. Diana surmised that this meant the outside area was uninhabitable and hazardous, and waited another year before selecting another robot, and more individuals.
Thus, being selected to leave is not an opportunity for the citizens of Vault 29, it is considered a death sentence. A very vague, uncertain death sentence, but a death sentence nonetheless. Diana recognises this, as does every vault dweller under her guidance, but Diana asserts, as she always has done, that populating the outside world is a necessity for the human race to survive.
This presents another problem. Diana claims no knowledge of the outside world, nor does she seem able to tell what year it is, where Vault 29 is located in America, or even what year she was installed into the ZAX Machine Intelligence that initially ran the vault. In fact, her measurement of yearly cycles are an approximate measurement of days since she last opened the doors. Hardly a perfect system, before even taking into account the fact that this process dooms several individuals to death. Regardless, Diana has performed this almost ceremonial process for centuries, and she is not about to stop now.
In two days, her calender will mark the beginning of a new year, and, as they do every year, Vault 29's doors will open.
And welcome to my attempt at a Fallout RP - Dastardos has transferred the doomed title of GM to me, and I'll be trying to stop it from repeating history, as it has many...many times.
The first chapter of this RP will take place within Vault 29. There are conflicting pieces of canon for this vault, so I thought I would quickly explain exactly what kind of vault you are in.
Vault 29's initial purpose in the Vault Experiment was to record separation between parents and children. The only residents of Vault 29 were families consisting of elderly or dying parents, and infant children. Yes, within a year or two of Vault 29 being sealed, all the adults, with any knowledge of the outside world, were dead. The remaining infants were raised by the robots, equipped with software prepared for such a role, and Diana.
Diana was not part of Vault 29's official purpose. In fact, Diana's origins are unknown to the residents - as soon as the vault sealed, the ZAX Machine Intelligence (An A.I. Overseer, really) received orders, with the correct security codes, to erase its primary software, and replace itself with Diana.
To Vault 29, Diana is almost a goddess - she is the omnipresent, omnipotent, all-seeing mother of the vault residents, and she has been for centuries. The first generation to grow up within Vault 29 did so with no knowledge of the outside world save for educational films, and within the next two generations, these no longer worked. Vault 29's residents have plenty of academic knowledge, as well as familiarity with anything they might encounter outside the Vault, but they have no knowledge of their history. To them, the outside world is not just an impossibility, it is a non-entity, unknowable and unreachable.
And you're one of these idiots.
If this notion hasn't already smacked you in the face due to my massive lack of subtlety in the intro, let me fill you in; you are going to be one of the lucky people selected to leave the vault. Not to worry, hundreds of years ago Harold did exactly the same thing (really, he was from 29, look it up) and he turned out just fine. Except for the whole tree business.
The first chapter of this RP will take place within Vault 29. There are conflicting pieces of canon for this vault, so I thought I would quickly explain exactly what kind of vault you are in.
Vault 29's initial purpose in the Vault Experiment was to record separation between parents and children. The only residents of Vault 29 were families consisting of elderly or dying parents, and infant children. Yes, within a year or two of Vault 29 being sealed, all the adults, with any knowledge of the outside world, were dead. The remaining infants were raised by the robots, equipped with software prepared for such a role, and Diana.
Diana was not part of Vault 29's official purpose. In fact, Diana's origins are unknown to the residents - as soon as the vault sealed, the ZAX Machine Intelligence (An A.I. Overseer, really) received orders, with the correct security codes, to erase its primary software, and replace itself with Diana.
To Vault 29, Diana is almost a goddess - she is the omnipresent, omnipotent, all-seeing mother of the vault residents, and she has been for centuries. The first generation to grow up within Vault 29 did so with no knowledge of the outside world save for educational films, and within the next two generations, these no longer worked. Vault 29's residents have plenty of academic knowledge, as well as familiarity with anything they might encounter outside the Vault, but they have no knowledge of their history. To them, the outside world is not just an impossibility, it is a non-entity, unknowable and unreachable.
And you're one of these idiots.
If this notion hasn't already smacked you in the face due to my massive lack of subtlety in the intro, let me fill you in; you are going to be one of the lucky people selected to leave the vault. Not to worry, hundreds of years ago Harold did exactly the same thing (really, he was from 29, look it up) and he turned out just fine. Except for the whole tree business.
Whilst you are welcome to carry over a previous character from whatever Fallout RP you may or may not have played, I have changed the system when it comes to skills and points. To you, the system will mostly be the same, with somethings removed, some things added, but the determination of success and combat have been changed...hopefully for the better...ish.
Firstly, decide on your basic info and background - if you're carrying over a character, then you already know all this, but for anyone creating anew, here's a very, very basic template;
Okay, so providing you know who your character is and what kind of person they are, look below for how to translate their skills and personality into stats.
You have 33 points to spend in SPECIAL, all attributes starting at the lowest of 1. So, all of your stats start out at 1, and you have 33 points to spend in raising them to a maximum of 10. Therefore, seven 1s + 33 = 40. So, your total stats by the end of spending will be 40.
To clarify - you have 33 to spend, up to a total of 40 SPECIAL points.
This is the same as Pie's original system...mainly because it is in fact the one S.P.E.C.I.A.L. uses. So if you're carrying over a character, you need not make any changes here.
Name: Captain Obvious.
Gender: Shouldn't be too tricky.
Vault Occupation: The same as Way of the Wastes, something that clearly shows where your talents lie, from Public Relations to Security Officer, or even chicken-soup-dispenser repairman.
Biography and Appearance: Biography needs to at least show the bare essentials - obviously you haven't got much of a life story, seeing as you've been living in a vault, but try to include your character's personality, psychology, attitudes to living and working in Vault 29.
Gender: Shouldn't be too tricky.
Vault Occupation: The same as Way of the Wastes, something that clearly shows where your talents lie, from Public Relations to Security Officer, or even chicken-soup-dispenser repairman.
Biography and Appearance: Biography needs to at least show the bare essentials - obviously you haven't got much of a life story, seeing as you've been living in a vault, but try to include your character's personality, psychology, attitudes to living and working in Vault 29.
Okay, so providing you know who your character is and what kind of person they are, look below for how to translate their skills and personality into stats.
Your base statistics, along with an outline of how they will affect your character in this RP;
Strength: Determines a base additional damage modifier with melee weapons, as well as your skill in close combat. Note; has NO effect on combat with fist weapons or unarmed combat.
Perception: Determines your sequence* in combat - a high perception allows you to attack before others in combat. Also determines your ability to detect enemies. Finally, modifies the Energy Weapons, Explosives and Lockpick skills.
*(In RP terms, this means you're more likely to shoot an enemy before he shoots you, potentially avoiding damage if he snuffs it. Furthermore, no matter who posts first, or if two player actions conflict, the highest Sequence will act first in combat. There are other ways to improve Sequence, however, so it is not essential to spend points in PE.)
Endurance: Modifies your base hit points, as well as modifying your Big Guns and Unarmed skills. Also determines resistance to radiation and poisons.
Charisma: Modifies your Speech and Barter skills. Speech is fairly self expalantory, Barter will allow you to gain discounts (Yessum, the currency of Caps will be present) with traders.
Intelligence: Modifies your Repair, Science and Medicine skills.
Agility: Modifies your Small Guns and Sneak skills.
Luck: Gives a very small bonus to all skills, as well as modifying your chance of critical hits in combat. A very high or low luck will also, at times, affect minor events*. If a bomb explodes miles away, a character with a luck of 1 can expect bits of debris to somehow land on his head.
*(This is more for plot elements, comic relief etc. - you'll never die of bad luck, nor will you be stumbling over gatling lasers if you've got a luck of 10.)
Strength: Determines a base additional damage modifier with melee weapons, as well as your skill in close combat. Note; has NO effect on combat with fist weapons or unarmed combat.
Perception: Determines your sequence* in combat - a high perception allows you to attack before others in combat. Also determines your ability to detect enemies. Finally, modifies the Energy Weapons, Explosives and Lockpick skills.
*(In RP terms, this means you're more likely to shoot an enemy before he shoots you, potentially avoiding damage if he snuffs it. Furthermore, no matter who posts first, or if two player actions conflict, the highest Sequence will act first in combat. There are other ways to improve Sequence, however, so it is not essential to spend points in PE.)
Endurance: Modifies your base hit points, as well as modifying your Big Guns and Unarmed skills. Also determines resistance to radiation and poisons.
Charisma: Modifies your Speech and Barter skills. Speech is fairly self expalantory, Barter will allow you to gain discounts (Yessum, the currency of Caps will be present) with traders.
Intelligence: Modifies your Repair, Science and Medicine skills.
Agility: Modifies your Small Guns and Sneak skills.
Luck: Gives a very small bonus to all skills, as well as modifying your chance of critical hits in combat. A very high or low luck will also, at times, affect minor events*. If a bomb explodes miles away, a character with a luck of 1 can expect bits of debris to somehow land on his head.
*(This is more for plot elements, comic relief etc. - you'll never die of bad luck, nor will you be stumbling over gatling lasers if you've got a luck of 10.)
You have 33 points to spend in SPECIAL, all attributes starting at the lowest of 1. So, all of your stats start out at 1, and you have 33 points to spend in raising them to a maximum of 10. Therefore, seven 1s + 33 = 40. So, your total stats by the end of spending will be 40.
To clarify - you have 33 to spend, up to a total of 40 SPECIAL points.
This is the same as Pie's original system...mainly because it is in fact the one S.P.E.C.I.A.L. uses. So if you're carrying over a character, you need not make any changes here.
This is essentially the same as the previous systems, with the removal of certain skills - for reference, I am using Fallout 3's list, which, whilst more compact, is much easier to use in an RP, in my opinion. Basically, I'm taking out skills I believe will be irrelevant.
You have a total of 39 points to spend here, giving you an average of 4 for each skill. Assume all skills are at 1 for this. Your total for all skills after spending 39 will be 52.
As with previous systems, the maximum without traits is 7, and the minimum without traits is 1.
The difference here is not just that you are strictly limited to how many points you can spend - I am using the special system for skills, too - the points you spend here will relate to how high your skill is out of 100 for determining success. However, for you it is exactly the same as before, albeit with a few skills taken out, and a limit on the points you can spend.
Again, after spending 39, the total will be 52.
Combat Skills:
Small guns:1
Big Guns:1
Energy weapons:1
Unarmed:1
Melee Weapons:1
Explosives:1
Active:
Sneak: 1
Lockpick:1
Science:1
Medicine:1
Repair: 1
Passive:
Speech:1
Barter: 1
You have a total of 39 points to spend here, giving you an average of 4 for each skill. Assume all skills are at 1 for this. Your total for all skills after spending 39 will be 52.
As with previous systems, the maximum without traits is 7, and the minimum without traits is 1.
The difference here is not just that you are strictly limited to how many points you can spend - I am using the special system for skills, too - the points you spend here will relate to how high your skill is out of 100 for determining success. However, for you it is exactly the same as before, albeit with a few skills taken out, and a limit on the points you can spend.
Again, after spending 39, the total will be 52.
Combat Skills:
Small guns:1
Big Guns:1
Energy weapons:1
Unarmed:1
Melee Weapons:1
Explosives:1
Active:
Sneak: 1
Lockpick:1
Science:1
Medicine:1
Repair: 1
Passive:
Speech:1
Barter: 1
Again, slightly different, as the rules are changed.
You are free to create your own traits, but do NOT assign any values - simply say what is increased and what is decreased, as I'll need to decide for myself what effectively balances it. Don't worry, I'll be fair, only reason I'm not letting you do it yourself is because you probably aren't too familiar with GURPS, Special etc.
Below are some example traits;
Finesse: Your attacks show a lot of finesse. You don't do as much damage, but you cause more critical hits.
Heavy Handed: You swing harder, not better. Your attacks are very brutal, but lack finesse. You rarely cause a good critical hit, but you always do more melee damage. This trait cannot be selected with Finesse.
Kamikaze: By not paying attention to any threats, you can rush in where angels fear to tread. You are easier to hit, but you act earlier in combat.
Lone Wolf: You work best alone. When unaccompanied or away from the group, you recieve a bonus to hit and damage. With others, however, you recieve a penalty to hit and damage.
Sex Appeal This trait increases your chance of having a good reaction with members of the opposite sex. Unfortunately, this trait tends to annoy members of your sex.
One Hander: One of your hands is very dominant. You excel with single-handed weapons, but two-handed weapons cause a problem.
Bruiser: A little slower, but a little bigger. You may not hit as often, but they will feel it when you do! You recieve a bonus to damage in melee and unarmed, but you act slower in sequence.
I've deliberately left out the numerical modifiers - again, because I don't want you to have to adjust to a new system, and because they're always -2 for +2, -1 for +1, etc. etc.
You are free to create your own traits, but do NOT assign any values - simply say what is increased and what is decreased, as I'll need to decide for myself what effectively balances it. Don't worry, I'll be fair, only reason I'm not letting you do it yourself is because you probably aren't too familiar with GURPS, Special etc.
Below are some example traits;
Finesse: Your attacks show a lot of finesse. You don't do as much damage, but you cause more critical hits.
Heavy Handed: You swing harder, not better. Your attacks are very brutal, but lack finesse. You rarely cause a good critical hit, but you always do more melee damage. This trait cannot be selected with Finesse.
Kamikaze: By not paying attention to any threats, you can rush in where angels fear to tread. You are easier to hit, but you act earlier in combat.
Lone Wolf: You work best alone. When unaccompanied or away from the group, you recieve a bonus to hit and damage. With others, however, you recieve a penalty to hit and damage.
Sex Appeal This trait increases your chance of having a good reaction with members of the opposite sex. Unfortunately, this trait tends to annoy members of your sex.
One Hander: One of your hands is very dominant. You excel with single-handed weapons, but two-handed weapons cause a problem.
Bruiser: A little slower, but a little bigger. You may not hit as often, but they will feel it when you do! You recieve a bonus to damage in melee and unarmed, but you act slower in sequence.
I've deliberately left out the numerical modifiers - again, because I don't want you to have to adjust to a new system, and because they're always -2 for +2, -1 for +1, etc. etc.
Again, this is different from previous systems. It's just a roll of a D100 to determine success; if your small guns skill is 70, then the dice roll must equal 70 or less to be a success. Critical failures are 20 or more above the value, meaning that if you use traits to raise a particular skill, that particular skill may be exempt from critical failures. A skill of 100 is always a success, but your character would need to be very one sided to approach 100.
The weapons are, again, borrowed from Fallout 3 - any non-unique weapon from that game can be found - or made - in this RP. Here's the list itself, followed by their base damage per second - so yes, you may disagree that a sniper rifle is less powerful than a chinese assault rifle, but I'm taking into account that you'll be firing 3 to 4 shot bursts with automatics.
Furthermore, keep in mind that the lower the DPS, the more likely you are to find it - yes, the highest DPS of Small Guns is far, far higher than that of melee, but you are more likely to find a Super Sledge than a Scoped 44. Magnum. To balance this, small guns also starts out with much smaller DPS than unarmed and melee.
Unarmed/Fist Weapons;
Brass Knuckles - Base Damage 9
Spiked Knuckles - Base Damage 14
Power Fist - Base Damage 27
Deathclaw Gauntlet - Base Damage 28
Melee Weapons;
Police Baton - Base Damage 9
Knife - Base Damage 11
Baseball Bat - Base Damage 12
Tire Iron - Base Damage 13
Switchblade - Base Damage 14
Lead Pipe - Base Damage 20
Combat Knife - Base Damage 20
Chinese Officer's Sword - Base Damage 23
Sledgehammer - Base Damage 30
Ripper - Base Damage 30
Super Sledge - Base Damage 37
Small Guns
Chinese Pistol - Base Damage 3
B.B. Gun - Base Damage 3
10mm Pistol - Base Damage 16
Hunting Rifle - Base Damage 16
Sawed-Off Shotgun - Base Damage 24
Assault Rifle - Base Damage 32
10mm SMG - Base Damage 35
Combat Shotgun - Base Damage 35
Sniper Rifle - Base Damage 42
Chinese Assault Rifle - Base Damage 44
Scoped .44 Magnum - Base Damage 63
Energy Weapons;
Laser Pistol - Base Damage 11
Laser Rifle - Base Damage 21
Plasma Pistol - Base Damage 23
Gauss Rifle - Base Damage 29
Plasma Rifle - Base Damage 42
Big Guns
Missle Launcher - Base Damage 36
Minigun - Base Damage 50
Flamer - Base Damage 64
Gatling Laser - Base Damage 80
Fat Man* - Base Damage 443
*(You'll only be getting one of these babies if a Behemoth is charging towards you. So no, don't pick Big Guns for the Fat Man. Furthermore, all big guns are rare, and dangerous to go up against, it is not recommended to only be proficient with Big Guns)
Furthermore, keep in mind that the lower the DPS, the more likely you are to find it - yes, the highest DPS of Small Guns is far, far higher than that of melee, but you are more likely to find a Super Sledge than a Scoped 44. Magnum. To balance this, small guns also starts out with much smaller DPS than unarmed and melee.
Unarmed/Fist Weapons;
Brass Knuckles - Base Damage 9
Spiked Knuckles - Base Damage 14
Power Fist - Base Damage 27
Deathclaw Gauntlet - Base Damage 28
Melee Weapons;
Police Baton - Base Damage 9
Knife - Base Damage 11
Baseball Bat - Base Damage 12
Tire Iron - Base Damage 13
Switchblade - Base Damage 14
Lead Pipe - Base Damage 20
Combat Knife - Base Damage 20
Chinese Officer's Sword - Base Damage 23
Sledgehammer - Base Damage 30
Ripper - Base Damage 30
Super Sledge - Base Damage 37
Small Guns
Chinese Pistol - Base Damage 3
B.B. Gun - Base Damage 3
10mm Pistol - Base Damage 16
Hunting Rifle - Base Damage 16
Sawed-Off Shotgun - Base Damage 24
Assault Rifle - Base Damage 32
10mm SMG - Base Damage 35
Combat Shotgun - Base Damage 35
Sniper Rifle - Base Damage 42
Chinese Assault Rifle - Base Damage 44
Scoped .44 Magnum - Base Damage 63
Energy Weapons;
Laser Pistol - Base Damage 11
Laser Rifle - Base Damage 21
Plasma Pistol - Base Damage 23
Gauss Rifle - Base Damage 29
Plasma Rifle - Base Damage 42
Big Guns
Missle Launcher - Base Damage 36
Minigun - Base Damage 50
Flamer - Base Damage 64
Gatling Laser - Base Damage 80
Fat Man* - Base Damage 443
*(You'll only be getting one of these babies if a Behemoth is charging towards you. So no, don't pick Big Guns for the Fat Man. Furthermore, all big guns are rare, and dangerous to go up against, it is not recommended to only be proficient with Big Guns)
Obviously this is a lot to read, one massive wall of text, but I assure you it is mostly the same as the previous games, and things like the weapon lists are just for later reference.
I have many locations planned, a lot of room for free roaming of the wastes, and, well, a loose but good plot. So, yes, I dumped tons of text, but it is worth joining, just in case this one suceeds.
All are welcome, remember the humans-only rule for now. PM me with questions, suggestions, sheets and requests to be ghoulified/super mutant...ified during the plot.
Not to say that if you don't PM me, it can't happen, but if you WANT to be a ghoul, tell me so.
As before, remember to show your skills as 7 (8) etc. if they're affected by a trait, and, well, do the sheet the same as you would with previous installments of this seemingly doomed series.
...Hopefully this'll be fun!
I have many locations planned, a lot of room for free roaming of the wastes, and, well, a loose but good plot. So, yes, I dumped tons of text, but it is worth joining, just in case this one suceeds.
All are welcome, remember the humans-only rule for now. PM me with questions, suggestions, sheets and requests to be ghoulified/super mutant...ified during the plot.
Not to say that if you don't PM me, it can't happen, but if you WANT to be a ghoul, tell me so.
As before, remember to show your skills as 7 (8) etc. if they're affected by a trait, and, well, do the sheet the same as you would with previous installments of this seemingly doomed series.
...Hopefully this'll be fun!
lemme whip up a character sheet.
