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Fallout Hero....again


Glupii

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OK So with the loss of our incredible Herocyclopedia GM, the mantle has fallen to me among our group to pick up the game system and run with it. I have long wanted to try to run a PA game based loosly on Fallout 3/FO New Vegas. Before I try to dive headlong into an abyss I am surely to be swallowed up by, has anyone ever run one of these and have any resources that might keep me from trying to reinvent the wheel and becoming overwhelmed by this rather than enjoying it like I should? I have the Fallout wiki for the text of the stuff I need but so much left to do to convert that to hero terms. Bestiary entries that would fit well, ideas on how to handle Rad poisoning and Chem additiction, plot ideas once theyr are out of the vault, etc? I have seen many threads talk about this but nothing with anything that I can take and start off with. Not looking for someone to do the work for me, but if it was already done, I would love a starting point.

 

Many thanks for considering my request.

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Quick and Dirty?

 

PCs are Standard Hero level.

 

Raiders are built anywhere from Competent Normal to Standard Hero

 

Bots are built as needed to fill in the blanks.

 

Giant Radscorpion.  Hmmn I believe there is a Giant Scorpion template in one of the monster books. EDIT: According to my Hero Designer folder, there is a Giant Scorpion in the 5th Edition Bestiary.  Just add LS: Safe in High Radiation. To make smaller ones, just apply a different size template to them

 

Deathclaw == T-Rex. Maybe Allosaurus from the Bestiary.

 

Cazadore  Not sure if there is an official giant wasp, but there you go. At any rate, its poison would be pretty lethal. EDIT: According to my Hero Designer folder, there is a Giant Wasp in the 5th Edition Bestiary.

 

Brotherhood of Steel, Enclave, etc are all Standard Heroes with powered armor.

 

Pick a range of Damage Classes and roll with it.

 

Weapon degradation, if you really need it, can be simulated many ways. I would just use Burnout for the Quick and Dirty method.

 

Use Dark Champions for the guns. Rename as necessary/desired. Same as Body Armor. Powered Armor would be tough, but doable by just adding Characteristic Bonuses to some heavy armor. Maybe even a few Life Support options.  EDIT: I would use Ablative if you want to simulate the degradation of armor. Just make sure that you have a method by which the items can be repaired. Perhaps they can be repaired up to the characters Weaponsmith skill. Weaponsmith is just an example to use for Repair. For example: John has a Weaponsmith skill of 14-. John finds some Ranger Armor that is 6 rPD/6 rED, Ablative. After a few combats, the Activation roll has been reduced to 9-. This is never going to do, so John cannibalizes other suits of Ranger armor to begin his repairs. After taking some time, John rolls a successful Weaponsmith roll. The Activation on the Ablative is returned to 14- (the same as John's Weaponsmith score). If John improves his skill, he can improve the Activation roll even higher.  Just an example of translating Fallout concepts to Hero mechanics.

 

Use similar stats (as the guns) for lasers, plasma weapons etc. Again, Quick and Dirty, Lasers would have Armor Piercing. Plasma weapons would have Penetration. Pulse weapons would have a Limitation: Only versus Robots.

 

Kick it off that way and let it evolve as it will.

 

Pick one of the Radiation rule variants and run with it.

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Outstanding write-up Nolgroth! Thank you!

 

I thought about two other things tonight trying to run it for the first time. Here are the ideas I had to try and duplicate these things from the game, advice and comments are welcome. Trying to make it a little true to the game without getting TOO complicated.

Addiction will be handled much like the real game:

  • Will be a secret stat I will keep for each player on a spreadsheet.
  • Every chem will have an addiction rating that will be a percentage. (Med-X is 10%)
  • Every time they take an addictive med, I will apply the new % to their current total, and roll d100 to see if they become addicted.
  • For every day they do not use any chem, their addiction stat will drop by 1% per con/3 (round down).
  • If they become addicted, the last chem they took is what they become addicted to and I will treat it like a dependency until they are treated medically.
  • This may become to unwieldy but I thought I might try it and see how it works out.

 

Pipboy:

I know what all the pip boy does in the game but that does not all translate over well to a tabletop game. So here are a few things I thought of that it could do.

  • Radio receiver
  • Two Way communications radio over short distances
  • Tracking each other (only other pip boys on the same frequency; ie same vault) within a short range
  • Geiger Counter
  • Health Monitor (explains why they know how much stun and body they have, and to an extent, how much radiation in a general sense that they have taken)

 

What else would be good to consider for the pipboy?

 

Simpacks: Thoughts? I want to see if I can make them do more healing according to how well the paramedic skill is rolled?

 

Critters, I am hoping to figure out something from the beastiary for Molerats, Geckos, and Bloatflies too. You Gioy (sp?) I will likely use Grizzly bears for the base and maybe boost them. I had not thought of T-Rex for the Deathclaws, was thinking more along the lines of a Troll, but the more I think about it, the more I like your idea for them. Any thougts on Mirlurks?

 

Any other thoughts?

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Pipboy ( additional features to represent the mapping function )

  • AK: Local Area 13-
  • Navigation +2 Skill Levels

 

Critters

Molerats = Giant Rat

 

Mirelurk = Start with Gargoyle. Remove wings and flight. Add LS: Breath Underwater.  Redefine Claws as Pincers. 

 

Mirelurk King= Swamp Creature with an AoE Cone NND vs Hearing Flash Defense.  Maybe even an AVLD vs Hearing Flash Defense. I would go with the latter.

 

Yao Guai = Grizzly Bear with LS: Immune to Radiation. But then most Wasteland critters would have that sort of thing.

 

Bloatfly = Bat with Blast or low-powered RKA vs PD

 

Ghouls = Build them like Raiders but add the required Distinctive Features, LS: Immune to Radiation, Regeneration 5 Body per Turn, Limited to Radiation Level. Figure a base level of 10 Rads/Turn = 1 Body Regeneration. The full effect is not reached until the ghoul reaches 50 Rads/Turn. These numbers I pulled from my bottomside, but 50 Rads is enough to give a Normal character radiation sickness (see the Radiation Exposure chart on page 75 of PAH). 

 

Glowing Ones = Not only are these ghouls immune to radiation, they have mutated to the point where they can create a radioactive burst.  Give it a DC, I would not go too high, maybe 5 DC (or 25 RADs - keep reading the section on Radiation) Energy Blast vs ED, No Range, AoE Radius. A charge (or up to three to shake things up) is probably all you need to do to make it effective enough to worry characters. 

 

 

Chems

Rad-Away = Healing AID that translates AP into Rads removed. Basically the reverse of the AP to Rads of damaging attacks.

 

Rad-X = Damage Reduction ED, Only versus Radiation attacks

 

*Med-X = Damage Reduction PD, Stun Only

 

Stimpack = Simplified Healing, Requires a Paramedics roll. Keep it simple.

 

Super Stimpack = Healing Aid to Body. 

 

*Buffout = Aid to Strength

 

*Turbo = Aid to Speed or +1 Speed for x duration. I like the latter version because it is a cleaner build that guarantees +1 speed and nothing more.

 

*Psycho = Not sure about this one. I would probably add +2 DC to all melee attacks for x duration.

 

*Steady = Aid to Dexterity. The wiki explicitly states that this is only for steadying the aim, so you might try CSLs to Ranged combat. There is an implied boost to overall Dexterity though, so I prefer the Aid version myself

 

* Can create an addiction. This is a tough one. I would run it as an automatic Side Effect: Cumulative Transform to add Dependence: <Chem>: Incompetence (-1 to Skill Rolls) and/or Weakness (-3 to Characteristic Rolls) if <chem> is not taken every six hours. Both options are 5 point Disadvantages so they should be easy enough to buy off if the character becomes addicted. Fixer can be used as a substitute for the addicted chem with a Paramedics roll but is not reliable. Subsequent doses are less effective (-1 Paramedics roll, cumulative per dose). As a roleplaying aid, Fixer can be used in sort of the same way as a skill enhancer. It lets the character buy off an addiction for 1 less point. Depends on how "gritty" you want the game. (Note that Fixer could just be a substitute drug without error if you want it to be. I am just evolving ideas.)

 

That's all for now.

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Yes, I do plan to use hit locations for everything except possibly some of the tougher robots. I may buy them with no hit locations, but not sure about that yet.

I started the characters out at 75/50 to reflect their starting as young kids in the first few adventures inside the vault. But I am also being liberal with the XP's the first few sessions as we jump months or even years in time between. This will also help them develop the character more inline with how things are happening as they choose how to respond to the situations. When they exit the vault I plan on having them at 150 points.

As for the addictions, I am not sure my players would take to a situation where they would have to spend character points to buy off an addiction and they would likely not even bother with using chems, which in turn would make them worthless to spend time on. Have to give this some more thought.

I really like all your suggestions on the critters, many many MANY thanks for the help.

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I will have to check that out. Thanks Hex.


 


OK So I am in need of a different sort of help. I need a plot idea for our weekly game. One of our players will be missing so I am only running for the other two. Hense I am still running an extension of last week (our first dry run of the game). Let me explain and maybe some of you folks can help me with some sort of plot idea.


 


I am starting them out in a vault that did not have one of the social experiments in. It was just what it appeared to be, a survival vault. Last week the three characters were told that over the last 200 years, the dirt in the vault gardens (not all food is grown in Hydroponics tubs) was basically worn out. No matter how many times they compost it, the dirt just could not be fully reconstituted. This was backed up by the one character's mother (One of the chief medical personnel in the vault) who pointed to the growing deficiency in the vault dwellers for a number of key vitamins. The argument was made to open the shielding wall in one of the labs (down on the 4th level so pretty deep) and test the dirt for radiation. Despite the tyrannical Overseer's objections, it was finally tried and discovered that the dirt was actually less radioactive than the environment inside the vault (It IS powered by a reactor on the same level after all). So a cavern was dug and the dirt "harvested" was used to reconstitute the soil in the garden beds.


 


The three juveniles (they were all 16 at this point) and their friend were hanging out in the cavern as it had a distinct earthy smell they had never experienced before and it quickly became a good spot to hang out. There was also a vent pipe going through the cavern that was “discovered” when it dug out as one of the exhaust pipes for overflow cooling steam form the reactor.


 


So they were attacked by a Giant Ant which they dealt with (close call given the lack of any weaponry they had at this point). But one of the characters realized more were on their way so they burst the pipe and evacuated the cavern. The heated steam killed the ants that were coming and collapsed the tunnel for now. The entire cavern was later filled in with rubble and debris and closed off.


 


Now they are all a year older and preparing for their GOAT. I am trying to come up with a plot for this week that might feed into our next adventure where they are all going to be forced out of the vault.


 


My plan for this (to be run in two weeks) is that a band of Tribals, Raiders, or Fiends, hunting down and killing off the Anthill will find their way into the vault via this “Backdoor. And having access to explosives, can easily clear the debris and patch on the wall rather than trying to get in through the vault door. So the entire vault is going to be overrun by these fiends (or whoever) and everyone will be killed or captured to be sold to Ceaser’s Legion. The PC’s will escape from them and therefore start their adventure on the outside without any support of a vault to go back to.


 


So I need something that will allow me to deepen the flavor of the campaign for them while keeping it minor enough to be run in one night for two PC’s. Any thoughts?


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Oh wow, I just watched all the episodes in the first two seasons of Nuka Break. Very cool! Does anyone know if there are still making more? Can't find anything about a season 3. They more than doubled their goal for Season 2 so I would hope they would have incentive to start Season 3.

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I will have to watch that....  They are also running a kickstarter for a new series - Legend of Grimrock: The Series.  Only 3 days left.

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/waysidecreations/legend-of-grimrock-the-series

 

As far as anything else, the KS page points to another short show

 

Nuka Break - Red Star

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yeah I watched that after I watched the series. I was very pleasently surprised. Yeah the acting is not exactly Oscar material, but it was good enough to draw me in an immurse me into the world. And I was delighted at how true to the game world the look and feel was. Imagine what this crew could do with a real effects budget?

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