
GM Armadillephant |

Glancing over everyone's character sheets during this posting lull, I noticed a few things...
Darius and Gergg: Not sure what formatting template you guys are using, but it's very confusing for me to look at it. If you'd like a template like the ones I use (and the others as well, I believe), I can send you one.
Deirdre: You don't seem to have doubled the HP of your first level's hit die; you should have 16 max. This'll also help with how much HP you have left right now--I was thinking that 5 seemed a bit small.
Terry and Kora: Funnily enough, our two Brotherhood boys seem to have the same issue. Your AC is too high, guys! It looks like you've added the Defense bonus to it, but you only get that bonus if you're not wearing armor--which you are. That's the trade-off: heavy armor mitigates a lot of damage, but it does make it harder to get out of the way quickly.
Winter: Only issue I see is that your DR is too high. I'm gonna roughly call the Merc Outfit in your link equivalent to the Merc clothing from Fallout 3, so your DR is 6.
I've received word from the recruit, so we will be getting a 7th PC in this group to help keep everyone alive!

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I copied the top portion from Deidre's character sheet, let me know if anything else is wrong.
Also, looking at the info on my weapons, it seems the ranges for some of my weapons are listed in meters instead of feet, so I just multiplied them by 3 for simplicity. I could use some direction as to my frag grenades as well: from my sheet it looks like they've got a 30 ft. range and an AOE of 15 ft?

GM Armadillephant |

Uhm, let's call them a 30 ft. range and an AoE of 10 feet. Even that seems a bit much, but we'll work with it for now. I definitely need to get a new document up for weapons.
No problem, Kora, it's not a big deal. As for the critical fail, it works similarly to a critical hit. You immediately roll again, and if the second roll would also be a miss, then the weapon is severely jammed, and most likely broken--there will be some cases when I'll rule otherwise. Each individual shot is independent.

GM Armadillephant |

Ah, yes... I'm gonna rule you can drop Deadeye in favor of the Flash and Shock OR Up Close and Deadly deed, Darius.

Deidre Rose |

So hey. I think for my reconfig, I may switch to Ranger(Trapper/WildStalker) and multiclass with Alchemist (Herbalist/Chiurgeon) so I can be effective in combat and healing. I have to say though, the Herbalist bomb variation is terrible. With Arma's permission, I would like to retain the alchemist's regular bomb feature. Also, would you count Ranger Traps (such as the exploding or damage causing traps) to be a die higher like with the alchemist bombs? If so, I would definitely consider switching to that build, as not only do I think I'd be a more effective combatant and healer, it also fits her personality more. Anyone else think they may reconfig? I'm interested to see.

GM Armadillephant |

Sorry for the slight absence, being seventeen I'm occasionally at the mercy of my parents' whims/plans, and I was traveling without access to the internet for a bit.
Deirdre--I'm guessing the kinda crappy version of the bomb that the herbalist gets is for balance, but I'm going to allow you to keep a normal bomb in this game. Knockout bombs are interesting flavor-wise, but I don't see the point here.
As for bombs, I don't recall actually increasing the damage die; they just count as being large for purposes of overcoming DR. I'd allow the same thing for traps.
Yes, keep in mind you can reconfigure up until you hit level 2, which won't be long now. I'll just say it--you reach level 2 upon entering the actual Vault proper, and it's not long until that happens.

Deidre Rose |

Oh right on. Yeah, there's nothing to really balance though. The Herbalist is really just an alchemist with a different context and mode of alchemy. But thank you regardless! I may consider that route then. I wish there was a ranger with a rogue-ish archetype.

Knight Apprentice S. Morrow |

Since we are playing Fallout, I thought I would update Fallout Canon ... ;-)
"War. War never changes. The Romans waged war to gather slaves and wealth. Spain built an empire from its lust for gold and territory. Hitler shaped a battered Germany into an economic superpower. But war never changes.In the 21st century, war was still waged over the resources that could be acquired. Only this time, the spoils of war were also its weapons: Petroleum and Uranium. For these resources, North Korea would invade Alaska, the US would annex Canada, and the European Commonwealth would dissolve into quarreling, bickering nation-states, bent on controlling the last remaining resources on Earth. In 2013, the storm of world war had come again. In two brief hours, most of the planet was reduced to cinders. And from the ashes of nuclear devastation, a new civilization would struggle to arise. A few were able to reach the relative safety of the large underground Vaults. Your family was part of that group that entered Vault Thirteen. Imprisoned safely behind the large Vault door, under a mountain of stone, a generation has lived without knowledge of the outside world. Life in the Vault is about to change."

GM Armadillephant |

By the way, I've been playing around with the idea of a system not unlike Plasmids from Bioshock, which would inject a little magic-type feeling into the game. This'd come with a new class that's a take on the sorcerer. Any thoughts/cheers/objections to the idea of maybe putting it in here at some point? This wouldn't be for some time, mind.

Deidre Rose |

Hey ya'll. I just wanted to let you guys know that I may be a little spacey the next couple of weeks. The semester is coming to a close and I have a bunch of projects I need to get completed, not to mention prepare for a potential internship this summer working with insects! (f%&* yes). My apologies for tentative flakiness.

Deidre Rose |

What I do for games where magic would be too far-fetched is I just allow everyone to have Use-Magic device, though rogue's and other classes that would normally get it can get a bonus or something (like maybe a free Skill Focus feat for Use Magic Device or a progression rate similar to Trap Sense). That way you can dish out "devices" (wands equivalents and such) that can cast the spells.

Deidre Rose |

I would be able to squeeze in posts when I can. I don't foresee me being absent for more than a week at a time, honestly. I just might not be able to post immediately like I usually am. No worries, brohemian rhapsody. ;)

Darius Darkblade aka Legionare |

As a character I think we should all take the kid back to town and rose can stay with her until we are ready to leave the area or she's back. I just instinctively rail against splitting the party. Lol. And good luck on your projects rose.

GM Armadillephant |

Terry: Sorry, I meant it more as a means to an end than actual magic. I'm thinking a skill check would work well to activate the ability, and Charisma makes sense--you're using the force of your own personality and sense of self to use an ability that resides within you.

GM Armadillephant |

Actually, Camper was a psionic character. I'm not against the idea of bringing those in as well--if anybody is interested in doing psionics, just let me know. Actually, I'd like it if you guys shoot me a PM or even just a spoiler in here with any ideas/plans for your PCs--this is your game, after all, but I'd like some continuity, especially in the way of multiclassing or plot-related events you'd like to see.
As for Psionics vs. UMD, I probably wouldn't ACTUALLY call the check either of those. It'd probably be called "Gene Activation" or something like that, but it'd basically be a skill, and in order to activate certain genetic enhancers, you'd have to make a check.
Also, I'm here letting you know that I'm going to be traveling for the next few days--I won't be home until Wednesday night, most likely (EDT). I'm hoping to have some access to the internet during my travels, but I may not. I think you guys are at a good RP point, though--taking the girl back to town is a good plan, so if you guys just want to go with that, all is well. I won't bog you down with random encounters just yet, so feel free to RP taking the girl back and talking to each other. You can get a meal (or two) and a night at the Cavern free of charge for figuring out what you have so far.

GM Armadillephant |

So... a derp on my part.
As for bombs, I don't recall actually increasing the damage die; they just count as being large for purposes of overcoming DR. I'd allow the same thing for traps.
Whereas in the first page of Recruitment, under alchemists....
Alchemists: Upgrade your bomb damage dice to d8s, rather than d6s (they count as Large, to bypass armor DR).
So, in answer to that long-ago question asked by Deirdre, YES, go ahead and figure on increasing.

Darius Darkblade aka Legionare |

H

Kora Kirion - Junior Paladin |

Oh no, I will go down that road! :D Just since we were limited in our In Town RP time I thought I would focus it on the kid and once we are back heading to the vault Kora would start questioning Darius because He is curious. Very Curious about the strange tattooed soldier but the child is his main concern at the moment. If he can he wants to see her recruited, especially if she doesn't have any family. He's driven to do what good he can and despite her being young he seriously thinks the Brotherhood would be her best bet instead of a lonely life growing up in the wastes.
Sorry didn't mean to make it seem like I disregarded your post. Not at all. Also I'm working 14 hours a day so I try and make posts really quick and go to bed. xD So depending on how Arma reacts I will probably hit you up tomorrow. ;)

Deidre Rose |

Hey guys. Terribly sorry. Shit has been whack and will be for a couple more weeks. I'm going to sneak a post in tonight though. If you have to bot me, that is okay. I trust you guys to make me look as awesome as ever. I would hate to hold you up. I'm still in this though. Too much fun. OKay. you will have post tonight.

Deidre Rose |

Thanks man. Yeah, shit has been crazy. This semester has certainly tested my knowledge and it made apparent all of my weaknesses. I think a biostatistics class is in order. I thought when I picked ecology I could just pretend I'm Aragorn and get paid, but I actually have to be a scientist and be good at math. I'm too right-brained for this shit! haha. I hope everyone is doing well.

GM Armadillephant |

So, as we near you guys entering the Vault and leveling up for the first time, I find myself with some different options unfolding and I'll need to do some work regardless of choices. I'm happy to do it--it's great to have a game here, and I love how this has been going so far--but I just need to make sure where we all stand on everything.
This is mostly an interesting idea I'm considering due to a) my original plans to move away from the 50s feel, and b) Terry's excellent alteration to Fallout canon involving North Korea. Basically, I'm wondering if you guys would dislike the idea of changing Fallout 'canon' for this game, allowing for slightly more modern pre-War stuff?
I'll summarize Fallout canon and the main changes below (please don't hurt me if I get stuff wrong).
Fallout Canon Summary
The world has been at essentially a cultural standstill since the beginning of the Cold War, though progress in technology was made. Leading up to the war, China, Russia, and other Communist nations banded together very strongly, while America itself became somewhat more isolationist and self-reliant on the international scale. The United States annexed Canada in the mid-late 21st century in an effort to gain power and land, and China invaded Alaska. The U.S. forces were able to push the Reds out, but after that the nuclear warfare began in 2077, destroying the world (or at least America).
Potential Changes
Rather than sticking at a standstill, the world moves in basically the same way history has. However, perhaps Russia never breaks from the Soviet Union (or Vladimir Putin returns it to Communism as some suspect he desires to do). Either way, the crisis in North Korea escalates, and lo and behold, we find out they DO have nuclear capability--moreover, they are allied with the other Communist nations. A new Cold War starts (or the old one never ended, whichever), with America annexing Canada and combined Communist forces invading Alaska. After America manages to push them back out, the combined Communist nations launch nuclear missiles at the United States and other democratic nations. The nuclear defenses fail, and the U.S. has no option but to strike back. Total obliteration ensues.
*Note that the date of the Great War's nuclear ending will remain the same--2077--and most other elements such as RobCo and VaultTec will remain the same. The main difference here would be in the flavor of the setting, as well as (perhaps) the weapons available. Rather than an FN FAL assault rifle or AKM Chinese model, for example, one might find M16s and QBZ-95s.
Obviously, if we change the canon of Fallout, the current weapon document isn't great for that, but I'm noticing some strangeness with it already, and including the weapons rules we've discussed would also be important. I'd also like to add in some new rules for improving weapons, perhaps to help make up for the lack of magic weapons--things like attack or damage bonuses, upgrades like that.
Mainly, I'd be adding the following:
1) Any new weapons
2) Rules for full auto and semi auto weapons
3) Shotguns increase their crit threat range and deal extra damage in close quarters
4) Scopes take an action to use but improve range and crit threat range
5) Possible changes to weapons as needed to try and achieve some more balance
I'm working on adapting the perks (mainly from Fallout 3 and some from New Vegas as well) to this system. They should boost you guys' power pretty nicely.
These are the things I talked about earlier. Since there was a fair amount of interest and nothing against them, I'll be bringing them in, though probably after this quest.
Anything I'm missing? How are you guys liking the game so far? Any questions, concerns, comments, hatemail, lovemail, bland, generic statements with no opinion one way or the other?

Knight Apprentice S. Morrow |

Fallout Canon, that must be an updated one ...
War. War never changes.
The Romans waged war to gather slaves and wealth. Spain built an empire from its lust for gold and territory. Hitler shaped a battered Germany into an economic superpower.
But war never changes.
In the 21st century, war was still waged over the resources that could be acquired. Only this time, the spoils of war were also its weapons: Petroleum and Uranium. For these resources, China would invade Alaska, the US would annex Canada, and the European Commonwealth would dissolve into quarreling, bickering nation-states, bent on controlling the last remaining resources on Earth.
In 2077, the storm of world war had come again. In two brief hours, most of the planet was reduced to cinders. And from the ashes of nuclear devastation, a new civilization would struggle to arise.
A few were able to reach the relative safety of the large underground Vaults. Your family was part of that group that entered Vault Thirteen. Imprisoned safely behind the large Vault door, under a mountain of stone, a generation has lived without knowledge of the outside world.
Life in the Vault is about to change.
1. Smart Weapons - weapons with AI and guidance.
2. Multi-caliber Rifle - It has a self-adjusting chamber and can chamber any round.
3. The basic weapon list found in Fallout - Small Arms, Energy, Heavy Weapons, and explosives.
4. Adaptable Energy Weapons - Same as 2 but an energy version.
Perks - There are plenty of perks to be found at the Nexus.
I don't have any problems thus far.

Knight Apprentice S. Morrow |

What do want to do about weapon specialties and caliber ballistics? Fallout is pretty generic about this. Do we want to deal with the survival aspects too, like water gathering, temperature, weapon cleaning, weapon repair, food, and etc? In other words, Hardcore mode ... LOL