So I tried posting this in the "forum games & RP" section, and there was a good deal of confusion with people thinking that I was trying to start a game there, so I'll try it out here...
I'm starting a table-top RPG set in the Fallout universe for a small group of players - three, to be exact. I have a number of ideas for the campaign setting, but thought it would be fun to open up the world creation process to my fellow Escapists.... Below, I will outline the ideas that I've already decided on for the setting, then if anyone has any ideas that they'd like to add, I would love to hear them.
My hope is to create a world that's more interesting and deeper than what I could create alone. So, if you have any experience with the Fallout setting, either through the video games or your own pen & paper/table-top games, please speak up!
The Story so far:
All players will start the games as humans, living in a Vault in the Pacific Northwest (greater Seattle area). They've lived there all their lives, and no one has ever left the vault. The external sensors report that the radiation levels are starting to get low enough that the survivors should be able to leave the safety of the vault soon, but that day is still at least a year away as there are still low levels of radiation topside. (Players would take 6 rads per day if exposed without protection.)
Until one day, something happens - a landslide perhaps - and the exhaust system for the vault becomes blocked. The vault Overseer deems it necessary to send a small party outside to clear the blockage, and chooses the player characters via lottery for this task. The players are sent outside with a few basic weapons and supplies, including Pip-Boys for all of them. There are not any hazmat suits available, due to a storage area of the vault being destroyed several years ago during a seismic event.
When the players leave the vault, they discover that Washington has become a muddy, radioactive wasteland. The initial nuclear exchange set off a massive geological chain reaction in the region, with both Mt. Ranier and Mt. St. Helens erupting and sending mud flows across the area. The two volcanoes are still somewhat active, occasionally sending ash plumes into the air and causing further earthquakes. An earthquake crumbled much of Seattle and Tacoma in to Puget Sound, and radioactive acid rain is common.
The players will have to deal with one or two low level encounters on their way to the exhaust port in addition to the environmental hazards. Once they fix the exhaust port, another massive earthquake will strike. When they try to return to the vault, they'll discover that the entrance is hopelessly blocked by mud, rocks, dead tress and other debris. Now they are alone and cut off from their home in the Wasteland.....
Other details: All of the factions associated with Fallout will be present. The Brotherhood of Steel will operate from a derelict nuclear submarine in the area that used to be Bremerton, and they also have access to a super-secret military base in the Cascade mountain foothills. The Enclave will be centered in what's left of Seattle, which is half submerged in the sound and half buried in mud. Pockets of super-mutants, ghouls and raiders will be peppered throughout the entire region. A group that is yet to be determined will have successfully deployed a G.E.C.K. (garden of eden creation kit) somewhere on the Olympic peninsula. This area is called "Xanadu", and will be secret and well protected. There will be a handful of small towns of survivors scattered around the area, the largest will be in the ruins of the Tacoma Dome. There is also a large slaver camp somewhere around Olympia.
So, this is what I've got so far... it's a work in progress, and I'm continuing to flesh out the setting. I am eager to hear any ideas that anyone else has to offer, and extend my thanks to anyone who does so... Feel free to ask questions if you have any.
EDIT: Any feedback is appreciated...
I'm starting a table-top RPG set in the Fallout universe for a small group of players - three, to be exact. I have a number of ideas for the campaign setting, but thought it would be fun to open up the world creation process to my fellow Escapists.... Below, I will outline the ideas that I've already decided on for the setting, then if anyone has any ideas that they'd like to add, I would love to hear them.
My hope is to create a world that's more interesting and deeper than what I could create alone. So, if you have any experience with the Fallout setting, either through the video games or your own pen & paper/table-top games, please speak up!
The Story so far:
All players will start the games as humans, living in a Vault in the Pacific Northwest (greater Seattle area). They've lived there all their lives, and no one has ever left the vault. The external sensors report that the radiation levels are starting to get low enough that the survivors should be able to leave the safety of the vault soon, but that day is still at least a year away as there are still low levels of radiation topside. (Players would take 6 rads per day if exposed without protection.)
Until one day, something happens - a landslide perhaps - and the exhaust system for the vault becomes blocked. The vault Overseer deems it necessary to send a small party outside to clear the blockage, and chooses the player characters via lottery for this task. The players are sent outside with a few basic weapons and supplies, including Pip-Boys for all of them. There are not any hazmat suits available, due to a storage area of the vault being destroyed several years ago during a seismic event.
When the players leave the vault, they discover that Washington has become a muddy, radioactive wasteland. The initial nuclear exchange set off a massive geological chain reaction in the region, with both Mt. Ranier and Mt. St. Helens erupting and sending mud flows across the area. The two volcanoes are still somewhat active, occasionally sending ash plumes into the air and causing further earthquakes. An earthquake crumbled much of Seattle and Tacoma in to Puget Sound, and radioactive acid rain is common.
The players will have to deal with one or two low level encounters on their way to the exhaust port in addition to the environmental hazards. Once they fix the exhaust port, another massive earthquake will strike. When they try to return to the vault, they'll discover that the entrance is hopelessly blocked by mud, rocks, dead tress and other debris. Now they are alone and cut off from their home in the Wasteland.....
Other details: All of the factions associated with Fallout will be present. The Brotherhood of Steel will operate from a derelict nuclear submarine in the area that used to be Bremerton, and they also have access to a super-secret military base in the Cascade mountain foothills. The Enclave will be centered in what's left of Seattle, which is half submerged in the sound and half buried in mud. Pockets of super-mutants, ghouls and raiders will be peppered throughout the entire region. A group that is yet to be determined will have successfully deployed a G.E.C.K. (garden of eden creation kit) somewhere on the Olympic peninsula. This area is called "Xanadu", and will be secret and well protected. There will be a handful of small towns of survivors scattered around the area, the largest will be in the ruins of the Tacoma Dome. There is also a large slaver camp somewhere around Olympia.
So, this is what I've got so far... it's a work in progress, and I'm continuing to flesh out the setting. I am eager to hear any ideas that anyone else has to offer, and extend my thanks to anyone who does so... Feel free to ask questions if you have any.
EDIT: Any feedback is appreciated...
