Fallout Setting Rules


 

A collection of rules to help Savage Worlds better reflect the realities of the Fallout setting.

 

Gritty Damage: Wounding attacks cause Injuries. The damaging attack actually has to cause a Wound, not double Shaken. Unless it was a called shot, roll on the Injury Table to determine what happens.


Radiation: Radiation is a common hazard of the wasteland. It is generally encountered via environmental exposure (see Hazards in Savage Worlds), by eating irradiated food (treat as a Poison that causes a Short-Term, Debilitating disease; cumulative fatigue can result in full radiation poisoning), or as a side effect of creature attack (immediately resist a Radiation hazard). Some locations are Extreme Radiation environments, forcing Vigor checks each round.


Scavenging: Scavenging is the ability to find saleable bits or life’s necessities in the ruins of civilization. These are often in desks, lockers, closets, or hidden behind collapsed corners.
When the Game Master decides a site might have salvageable materials, each party member who chooses to search rolls Notice. With a success, the prospector finds $2d6 worth of saleable junk (4d6 on a raise) he can use as cash the next time he finds a trader. This junk is unnamed odds and ends good for nothing other than currency.
If the scavenger gets a second raise, he may also draw a single card from a fresh Action Deck. The Game Master consults the scavenging table to describe the results.

A black card (Club or Spade) indicates some kind of confrontation - rival scavengers, hostile wildlife, dangerous radiation, or some other complication that needs to be resolved to claim the item.

Card

Find

2
Hidden Vault The dream of every scav'er, one that often turns into a nightmare. You found a functional entrance to an underground facility, probably a Vault-Tec vault. The contents are a new adventure for the GM to determine, but the potential rewards are massive.
3
Power Cores A stash (1d4+1) of practically full power cores.
4
Armory An abandoned weapons storage area. Roll d20 three times: 1) 2d8 melee weapons, 2) one power fist, ripper, or super sledge, 3) 1d6 light slugthrowers, 4) 1d4 medium slugthrowers, 5) 1 heavy slugthrower (sniper rifle, light MG, heavy MG, or minigun), 6) 1d4 laser pistols, 7) laser SMG, 8) laser rifle, 9) gatling laser, 10-11) ammunition (Roll again to determine the weapon the ammunition is for), 12) portable missile launcher, 13) hand flamer, 14) heavy flamer, 15) urban warfare plasma weapon, 16) industrial plasma caster, 17) gauss rifle, 18) body armor (full suit of 1d6: 1-3 leather, 4 improvised, 5 metal, 6 hazmat suit), 19) fat man, 20) player's choice of result from this table.
5
Valuables (Art) A rare and valuable piece of artwork, usually a painting, that will sell for 2d20 x $1000.
6
Valuables (Gems & Jewelry) Mostly intact precious gems or fancy jewelry that will sell for 2d20 x $1000.
7
Valuables (Sculpture) A large and heavy (d6 x 100 lbs) statue that any settlement or location would be proud to display, that will sell for 2d20 x $1000.
8
Valuables (Documents) This stash of old documents contains scientific data, emergency cache locations, deployment orders, or similar information that is extremely valuable to many buyers. It can be pursued by the scav'er or sold for 2d20 x $1000.
9
Stealth Boy A stash (1d4-1, minimum 1) of pre-War stealth boys. Stealth boys are boxy belt-mounted single-use devices that make the wearer invisible (as the invisibility power) for one minute (10 combat rounds).
10 Prototype In a sealed safe (Lockpicking -6, one try only; or cutting torch) is a prototype weapon or device.
Jack
Explosives A cache of one type of grenade: 2d4 fragmentation grenades, 1d6 EMP grenades, 2d6 smoke grenades, 1d6 laser dispersing smoke grenades, or 1d6 thermal grenades. See the Science Fiction Companion for stats.
Queen
Armor A full suit of customized Combat Armor. This provides Armor +6 to all locations, weighs 24 lbs, and has (1d4-1) useful additional features. Example features include night vision goggles, gas mask (+4 to resist inhaled hazards, including radiation), load bearing reinforcement (increase Load Limit multiplier by two), sealed armor, laser resistant coating (negate AP 2 from lasers), ballistic weave (negate AP 2 from bullets), survival gear (+2 to most Survival rolls), and many other options.
King
Power Armor Finding a suit of functional power armor is a big deal. Roll d10; 1-3 Raider T-51; 4-6 T-45d; 7-8, T-51b; 9 T-60c; 10 Advanced/X-01 with d6-3 Mods (GM choice) or an unusual variant of a T-series power armor.
Ace
Vehicle The scav finds a damaged but functional vehicle (motorcycle, luxury car, pick-up truck, or possibly APC). Roll two critical hits (ignoring any results that would destroy the vehicle).
Joker
Beneficial Mutation The scav'er found something that changed them, mostly for the better. Roll Vigor; on a success gain a free Advance. Failure still grants an Advance but the character acquires a visible mutation to match, inflicting -1 Persuasion.


Weather: Strange weather stalks the wasteland, as the effects of a global thermonuclear war slowly dissipate. When strange weather is coming, allow the party a cooperative Notice roll. Success gives them 30 minutes to find shelter, while a raise gives one hour (halve these times at night). Every 15 minutes, a Survival roll (-2) can be attempted to find protective shelter for 2d6 people (doubled with a raise). Fatigue lost from weather is regained over four hours.

 

Settlements (Optional): Some campaigns focus on rebuilding, and these rules are to enable that.

The settlement stats are abstracted for easy interactions, but there is no reason to not populate them with interesting characters, unique problems, and customized challenges. All settlements have Parry, Toughness, Fighting, Smarts, Spirit, Strength, and Vigor ratings. Parry is 2 + half Fighting. Toughness is 2 + half Vigor + armor (see below). The five Traits are measured in die types, as usual, but they all begin untrained. Player characters can make the following checks about once a season (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter) to develop and improve their settlement.

 

Index Savage Fallout