Fallout

[HaukeaCanada]

So, I've been looking to see what others have come up with for a Fallout conversion, hand in the process came up with some thoughts of my own.

 

1) What to do about "power creep". Let's face it, it's an computer RPG game. Opponents are going to get more difficult, therefore weapons/armor/perks/talents will need to be stronger as you go. From what I recall of HERO (I am getting back into it here), that concept doesn't 100% mesh with the system. Part of me just wants to try and smooth things out, especially with weapons.

 

2) Keeping things true. Now, what I want to do (and have started looking at) is trying to keep all the perks and talents available to select in the game. Some are easy to convert, some I'm having a bit of trouble with, some are just pointless, some look to really cost themselves out, and some just don't seem to work at all. Should I try and 'stay true' and keep all of them in, or sort of pick and choose the most useful ones?

 

3) Source material. I've played the Fallouts up to Fallout 3 (so not New Vegas or 4). Is trying to integrate all of them a good idea?

[LoneWolf]

Weapons and armor tend to cancel each other.  So do like the game did and start them off with lower powered weapons and armor.  As it progresses introduce more powerful weapons and armor. 

 

As to the talents and perks those also scale well.  Some of the talents are expensive especially in 6th edition.  Things like weapon master or deadly blow cost quite a bit.  Most of the time starting players cannot afford them.   Start out at a lower point value and you characters will have plenty to spend their experience on.  It won’t all be on talents and perks don’t forget things like skill levels and martial arts.  Most beginning characters cannot afford everything they want.  If the beginning characters are too powerful lower the starting points. 

[Pyre-Archer]

Sorry for stepping in:

It helps that the really powerful weaponry, such as the Gatling Laser, Fat Man (or the Nuka-Pult, as I call it) and plasma weapons tend to have ammunition that is both expensive and scarce, and the weapons themselves are rather heavy by comparison. If the PCs are not paying points for their gear, it should be easy enough to keep the really damaging stuff under control. And if you want to enforce the breakage rules, you could always add Jammed or Burnout as limits on the weapons, with the rolls degrading as the weapon keeps getting used (Say, drop by 1 point per game week unless the PC spends at least an hour on weapon repairs)

 

How are you handling Radiation damage? My instinct (when I tried to do a full conversion a few months ago) was to treat it as a Drain on the PC's REC and Stun, and keep a tight limit on how high they could buy Power Defense. 

[HaukeaCanada]

12 hours ago, Pyre-Archer said:

How are you handling Radiation damage? My instinct (when I tried to do a full conversion a few months ago) was to treat it as a Drain on the PC's REC and Stun, and keep a tight limit on how high they could buy Power Defense. 

 

Hadn't gotten that far yet. Still making an outline of what I want to get done.

1) Using 5th edition. That I've decided on.

2) Do I do Fallout 1&2, Tactics, Fallout 3, all of them combined, or break them down seperately. (Leaning towards Fallouts 1, 2, and 3 - allowing for Ghoul and Super Mutant characters - ABSOLUTELY no Deathclaw characters)

3) Make package templates - so far I've got Vault Dweller, Wastelander, Tribal, Raider, Mercenary, Brotherhood and Enclave.

4) Convert Perks et al.

5) Convert Weapons and Armor.

6) Other stuff.

 

Think I'm missing anything?

[Pyre-Archer]

7 hours ago, HaukeaCanada said:

 

Hadn't gotten that far yet. Still making an outline of what I want to get done.

1) Using 5th edition. That I've decided on.

2) Do I do Fallout 1&2, Tactics, Fallout 3, all of them combined, or break them down seperately. (Leaning towards Fallouts 1, 2, and 3 - allowing for Ghoul and Super Mutant characters - ABSOLUTELY no Deathclaw characters)

3) Make package templates - so far I've got Vault Dweller, Wastelander, Tribal, Raider, Mercenary, Brotherhood and Enclave.

4) Convert Perks et al.

5) Convert Weapons and Armor.

6) Other stuff.

 

Think I'm missing anything?

I think you've got everything you need listed; there's a good 80 year gap between Fallout 1 and 2 (And about 50 between 2 and 3), so I wouldn't worry too much about trying to integrate everything. And most of the perks can be easily translated into relevant skill levels and minor powers (ie +10 Power and Energy Defense, only vs radiation, +2 Damage classes vs. opposite sex, +10 PRE when talking to Children, Karma can be handled as a Reputation) I have to confess, I'm coming from the other direction (Played New Vegas, Fallout 4, then 3, just scratched the surface of 1 and I have 2 in the offing and boy, Wasteland looks neat...) so I'm not as familiar with the older games as I really should be.

 

If you're looking for lore notes, Oxhorn on Youtube has done a whole whack of Fallout videos, starting with 4 and now he's well into Fallout 3

[HaukeaCanada]

Update.

 

Been going through Traits and Perks. Some might get skipped, as they don't really have any game effect (Bloody Mess, anything with Critical hits/damage), don't necessarily work with HERO mechanics, or largely equate to a single skill/Characteristic bonus, unless there's a condition/negative attached to them. Multi-skill perks I'm looking at Skill Levels. 

 

Rad and Poison Resistance I'm still trying to convert. Leaning towards Damage Reduction/Resistance over Life Support.

 

Mind you, because of how 3d6 rolls scale, I'm wondering if giving anything more than a +/- 2 skill/roll bonus/penalty is too much?

 

One other thing I'm trying to sort out right now, Bonus Attacks (reduced Fallout AP costs) with ranged and HtH, Bonus damage with ranged and HtH. For Attacks, I'm wondering if giving a +1 to SPD (only with specific form of attack, -1/2, +OAF or Linked for weapons), and for Damage +1/2d6 HA/HKA/RKA (only with specific form of attack, -1/2, +OAF or Linked for weapons).

[Norm]

I have been looking into doing some sort of Fallout/Marrow Project game for my group.  I have been getting distracted by life and other things.  Not quite what to do about Traits and Perks.  Not really feeling the need to recreate everything or keep it all in cannon.

 

I know that you said 5th edition, but there is an old thread you may be interesting in:  

 

 

The Legendsmiths conversion has moved - http://www.legendsmiths.com/adaptations/fallout

 

Some of the other items you can find using the wayback machine (https://archive.org/web/)

 

Good luck.

 

[HaukeaCanada]

On 30/01/2018 at 10:13 PM, ngross said:

I know that you said 5th edition, but there is an old thread you may be interesting in: 

 

Mahalo. Looking over it, and it's a good basis to start on for Fallout 3 (and maybe New Vegas and 4, though never played either of them). I don't necessarily agree with this person's approach to weapons - they built weapons like powers (really miltipowers), with an extra "power" for Critical hits which I think complicate things overly, but the overall concept is good to start with. I'm going to try building weapons more like they are "traditionally" built in Hero. (I'm also working on adding uniques and add-on weapons/armor to the lists).

 

Traits/Perks I'm still looking into, some are redundant, some don't convert at all, and some I want to make just because they are neat (more of the FO1+2 ones). Was looking at "game" requirements for certain perks, was thinking of a 1/4, 1/2, or 3/4 Limitation: "Requires [xxx Attribute/Skill] (and possibly experience points)" (1/4 for lighter/lower requirements to 3/4 for heavier/higher requirements).

 

I think I'm going to ultimately use FO3 as my basis for conversion, and "convert up" my FO1+2 materials to this standard. Now if the concept of APs and how they are used so radically differently between the "old" and "new" games wasn't giving me such a headache...

[TheRealVector]

Nice to see that I wasn't the only one interested in running a Fallout game. I love the flexibility of the Hero System, and knew that was the way to go when I got the idea. I've been running a Fallout game set in the New Vegas setting for some time now. There was a good bit of work to get it off the ground. So far, I've been able to create  all the Fallout Weapons in the Hero System. Also, I've imported nearly all the Perks, and have created several new ones along the way.

 

Have you gotten you're game up and running? How are you're players liking it so far?

 

I've had an unconventional approach to adapting Fallout to the Hero System rules. What I've done, to "simulate" the experience of playing the video games, is adapt the rules to the Fallout universe where possible.

 

For example, my players have S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats, skills organized into the FO categories, and get to choose a Perk every two levels. Adapting a level mechanic to the Hero rules was easy, and has worked well so far. Like the video game, it's a very skill and equipment based campaign. The only 'powers' are found within the Perks.

 

Fire up FO3, New Vegas, or FO4, along with the creation kit, console command 'free camera' plus 'screen print' and I have endless tokens and tactical maps for roll20. Extract the sound files straight from the pc game files, and I have tons of authentic sounds for use in Syrinscape.

 

The game has been a blast so far!   

[HaukeaCanada]

I've been doing some stress testing on my Hero FO conversion and have run into a bit of a hiccup. Fallout PCs can generally take more damage than NPCs. But Hero characters, when exposed to Killing Attacks, tend to get rather fragile. Armor will mitigate this, and will working out Stimpaks now that I have a better understanding of the Healing power and rules. As will scaling weapons and armor to match each other...

 

Still looking at traits/perks though (might keep some, ignore some). The FO3 pip-boy-attack-thing (can't recall what it is, that mode that lets you target). Hoping to have an Excel with my rough concepts up before Summer.

 

Added: Realized that adding the various drugs to Hero will be immensely difficult, as I can't find any solid rules for addiction, et al. House rules here I come...

Edited May 5, 2018 by HaukeaCanada
Added thoughts on drugs

[robertnownes]

addictions  might be done well by using Compound powers for the drugs,  like psycho-jet  and overdrive,  and giving them the Disadvantage(complication) side effect, the side effect being either a DRAIN to the adjusted attributes once the drug wears off, the side effect itself having an activation roll to affect the character...that increases in severity the more times drugs are used in a set amount of time. The drain can be set up to only fade(heal) with the application of more of that type of drug, or the application of Adictall or a refreshing beverage. Another approach although a bit slower acting is the side effect be a transform of equal AP to the drug that changed a healthy person to a addicted individual with a dependency(the transform being a MENTAL transform rather than a physical one).   that might work?

[HaukeaCanada]

robert - Thanks, I'll look into that. Since I'm not trying to assign them point values, I think I know what I want to do.

 

Working through the weapons, starting with already statted weapons from the books. Keeping weights and ammo counts from Fallout (for now). The one simple weapon that is causing me some issues is the sledgehammer (there is no stats as far as I've been able to see). I'm using the Maul as a base for now. Any thoughts? Will do specific weapons after I have some baselines for statted ones and look at armor (next on the list).

 

 

[Pyre-Archer]

On 3/30/2018 at 3:49 PM, TheRealVector said:

For example, my players have S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats, skills organized into the FO categories, and get to choose a Perk every two levels. Adapting a level mechanic to the Hero rules was easy, and has worked well so far. Like the video game, it's a very skill and equipment based campaign. The only 'powers' are found within the Perks.  

That’s really neat! Did you have any problems mapping the SPECIAL stats into the Hero system (apologies if I missed a post; I’m doing this on my phone) with figuring things like Combat Value, hand to hand damage, defenses and the like? And what did you do for Luck?

 

I’d love to see a character sheet!

[TheRealVector]

4 minutes ago, Pyre-Archer said:

I’d love to see a character sheet!

Here is a word file of one of the player's character sheet. Once the basics of the conversion is has been explained to the players, the idea is for the character sheet to just present useful info without the need for the player to convert anything. So, for example, all stats are expressed as S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

EZEKIEL MOREAU.docx

[TheRealVector]

12 minutes ago, Pyre-Archer said:

And what did you do for Luck?

 

I made Luck (LK) it's own stat, so my Fallout characters lose EGO (no real use in Fallout, just use Intelligence and/or Perception depending upon the exact nature of a mental attack) but gain a Luck stat. Also, players gain Luck or Unluck depending upon their Luck stat.

 

1 Luck = 3d6 Unluck

2 Luck = 2d6 Unluck

3 Luck = 1d6 Unluck

4 Luck = None

5 Luck = None

6 Luck = None

7 Luck = 1d6 Luck

8 Luck = 2d6 Luck

9 Luck = 3d6 Luck

10 Luck = 4d6 Luck

[TheRealVector]

23 minutes ago, Pyre-Archer said:

Did you have any problems mapping the SPECIAL stats into the Hero system?

 

This chart shows how I handled stats. My choices might not fit everyone's style, but it has been working very well in our game.

[TheRealVector]

On 5/5/2018 at 1:18 AM, HaukeaCanada said:

Added: Realized that adding the various drugs to Hero will be immensely difficult, as I can't find any solid rules for addiction, et al. House rules here I come...

I just used the Side Effect limitation to cover the addiction chance. Psycho for example:

 

Psycho:  +3 CSL Only To Add DCs With All Attacks, Usable By Other (+1/2), Recipient must be within Limited Range of the Grantor for power to be granted; 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Turn (-1 1/4), OAF (-1), Gestures (-1/4), Side Effects (Side Effect only affects the recipient of the benefits of the Power, Side Effect occurs when character stops using power; 20% Chance Of Psycho Addiction (-3 EN & -3 PE); Removed by more Psycho use, Fixer drug, or application of appropriate medical skills -0) plus Cannot Be Stunned

[HaukeaCanada]

So, I've finished (mostly) statting weapons for Fallouts 3 and New Vegas. Now I'm looking at the armor and trying to stat them in relation to the weapons. I decided to include armor coverage/activation rolls as an option, based on the graphics of the armor. Most clothing was left out as it served little defensive purposes and the stat/skill gains were either a) trivial in value or b) too hard to justify stat gains. Perks and Talents will be looked at on a case-by-case basis. Some will get completely statted, and some will receive 

 

New Vegas presented a minor issue with weapon mods, but they weren't that complicated and were easy to stat. Weapon/armor condition isn't something I'm going to worry about at this point.

 

Statting Fallout 4 on the other hand has proven to be a logistical nightmare. Piecemeal armor (which is interesting given the setting) wasn't too hard a concept at start, and the weapon list was surprisingly small by comparison, but the game's extensive use of mods (some weapons have 4 mod "slots", with as many as 10 mods in a slot) makes trying to track and stat them nightmarish at best. Plus the idea of weapons dropping with a "Legendary modifier" just made my head hurt. Great console game I'm sure, but lousy to try and turn into a PnP version. Don't know if I'm going to bother with FO4 at this point anymore or not. Hoping to have my spreadsheet for weapons/armor up early June at this point.

[ScrewySquirrel]

Not a conversion, but I did low-level (around 50 points) writeups of Chito and Yuri, the two main (and only) characters of the post-apocalyptic Girls Last Tour.  They could make godo post-apoc NPC

[Roth]

@therealvector :  What kind of  costs did you apply to the SPECIAL Stats and did the characters all get 1 to start in all stats?  Looks like an interesting adaptation.

[Norm]

Since you are using Fallout 4 as a source, how are you going to do the power armor?  I like the idea of it but was never really sure on how to do it.  Not even sure how I would write it up.

• Armor/protection options
  • Have external armor pieces that absorb a certain amount of damage and then become useless?
  • Straight resistant protection?
  • Can a barrier work somehow?  That is really what I would want.  Some sort of defense that has a certain amount of body and then will be useless.
  • Damage negation coupled with the pilots own armor?
• Vehicle or armor?
  • Treat power armor as just a fancy suit of amor?
  • Can it be a vehicle?  Certain power armor models can then be fast or slow.  The character then has to conform to the speed of the armor.  Could you then allow characters to modify power armor as you would trick out a car.

I have been thinking about having both types of power armor.  Fallout 3/New Vegas style power armor - armor with strength augmentation and resistant protection.  The Fallout 4 power armor as a vehicle (personal tank).  I just have not figured out the armor/protection option that I want.

 

[TheRealVector]

On 5/26/2018 at 10:57 PM, Roth said:

@therealvector :  What kind of  costs did you apply to the SPECIAL Stats and did the characters all get 1 to start in all stats?  Looks like an interesting adaptation.

 

I gave my players 40 "points" to distribute (just like when starting a character in Fallout: New Vegas) among their seven S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats. For this purpose, the actual Hero System character points were irrelevant. So far it's worked out very well.

 

[HaukeaCanada]

On 5/30/2018 at 12:12 AM, Norm said:

Since you are using Fallout 4 as a source,

 

Actually I'm not doing anything for FO4 at this time. Like I said, it's just too complicated.

 

As for Power Armor in general, I've built it as Hardened Armor, given it Life Support, Radiation Damage Reduction, STR bonus (0 END, no Fig Char) and a DEX reduction. -- Had a thought, reread some rules I really didn't look at. Going to have to re-evaluate STR bonuses (and remove/reduce DEX penalties) for Power Armor...

 

Armor (as a default) in general is not "Fallout 3/NV" style meaning it doesn't degrade, and in theory 100% coverage. I've included stats for coverage (based on images), activation roll (for those not wanting to use hit locations), and both levels of ablation, and combinations there of.

[HaukeaCanada]

Spreadsheet is in the home stretch here. Think I got Armor worked out, Weapons nearly done, and looking at Perks. The one thing I'm having a real hiccup on is perks that add damage. Can't seem to track down any specific rule that allows for adding Damage to existing attacks. What I want to do is be able to design something that adds, say +2 DC, versus robots only (-1). Closest I could come up with was that 1 DC equals 5 active points, and was thinking about doing it just like that, or maybe even 8 points (+1 CSL for all combat).

 

Also trying to decide what kind of limitation "Limbs Only" would be: ie Adamantium Skeleton (in Fallout) offers 50% Damage reduction to limbs. I am designing it as: Physical and Energy Damage Reduction 50%, Limbs only (-???)

 

Radiation Resistance has also become a slight sticking point, but I think I've managed to overcome that (perks, drugs, and armor-wise). In a nutshell, just add the two together, with a maximum of 95%. The values won't be correct, but the alternative would be recalculating the combined value everytime the situation changed.

[Norm]

The Deadly Blow (6E1 p113) and Weaponmaster (6E1 116) talents add 3 DC.  You could probably ratio them down to 2 DC.

 

For the Limbs Only...   I would go the route of how armor is treated by using the Requires a Roll (Activation roll) limitation.  Sorry.  Too late in the night for me to try to figure out the dice percentages using hit locations and comparing it to the dice percentages on an activation roll.  Someone mad e a percentage chart a long time ago, but I cannot find it in google right now.

 

I hope that I am making sense.  

Edited June 4, 2018 by Norm
Corrected page numbers