Fallout D6: Character Species

 

What is Fallout without fun and interesting characters?  Based on the characters and companions available in the video games, I settled on a few options for players in Fallout D6: three types of humans, two mutant types, and two robot types.  I prefer the species templates in the D6 System rather than the nickel-and-dime package system presented in D6 Adventure and later, but I based their strengths and weaknesses partly on the advantage, disadvantage, and special ability rules in the latter, to give them some sense of balance. Also, I’m not too keen on a 1D-5D attribute range for humans, preferring only non-humans to display ranges beyond the 2D-4D standard, as it was back in the Star Wars RPG.  I'll be incorporating each one of these into their own character templates later.  Enjoy!

 

Humans

Description: When the bombs fell at the end of the Great War, the majority of humanity was exterminated in nuclear fire, while most that weren’t died slowly due to the subsequent, radioactive fallout.  The fortunate few that survived did so because they had purchased space in one of Vault Tec’s many underground Vaults, or had found some other safe places such as military bunkers, underground facilities, civilian fallout shelters, or even caves.  Others were just far enough away from populated areas, the bombs and the radioactive winds to live.  And so a portion of humanity relentlessly endured and adapted to their new world, much like radroaches.

Humans vary in appearance and demeanor depending on where they originate from.  Most humans, called “wastelanders” live a subsistence lifestyle: hunting, foraging, or scavenging for food and goods, or growing mutated crops and raising mutated cattle when possible.  They tend to form small communities, which rise and fall depending on the whims of the Wasteland, but successful ones have been known to grow into large trading hubs or small cities, and even form larger nations such as the New California Republic (NCR) in the West.  All but the most affluent wastelanders tend to be thin due lack of proper nutrition, and their features show evidence of harsh living in the Wasteland – exposure to the elements, radiation, and lack of proper healthcare and/or hygiene resulting in minor ailments or mutations.  

Wastelanders tend to be suspicious of strangers, and will defend themselves at a moment’s notice with whatever improvised or scavenged weapons they may have, but they are also amenable to trade, and can friendly to those who help them.

A rare, and fortunate few have led most, if not all of their existence away from the harsh environment of the Wasteland.  The primary example of these are humans who have lived for generations in the relative safety of the Vaults, but this also applies to any humans raised in safe and sealed places such as generational members of the Brotherhood of Steel, remnants of the Enclave, or the Institute in the Boston Commonwealth.  These humans tend to be in better overall health than the typical wastelander, with little or no genetic mutations.  They are more familiar with Pre-War technology, and enjoy a higher standard of education than that available in Wasteland communities.  On the other hand, they may be unfamiliar with the dangers of the Wasteland and naive to its unforgiving culture, but are equipped with the knowledge and abilities to adapt, assuming they can survive long enough to do so.

Even rarer are humans that survived in the wilderness, derisively called “tribals” by wastelanders. Many tribals were member of indigenous, American tribes, wilderness communes and fringe religious groups, trapped vacationers, or even wastelanders that adopted a “back to the land” lifestyle at some point in order to survive, and reverted to more primitive ways and cultures over time.  

Tribals tend to be in better physical shape than the average wastelander or vault-dweller, and have better knowledge of how to live off the land.  However, tribals are often unfamiliar with technology and Pre-War devices, or the strange customs of “civilized” wastelanders.  Tribals often develop cultural superstitions and taboos regarding Pre-War places, especially dangerous ones, and as a result, mostly have access to primitive tools and weapons, but some tribes have access to better arms and armor that they have scavenged, taken, or traded for.

A few tribes enjoy cordial relations with wastelander communities and engage in trade, while others are xenophobic and hostile to any outsiders encroaching on their territory.  Then there are some which are almost indistinguishable from raiders, preying on wastelander caravans, settlements, and even other tribes. 

Attribute	Min/Max Die
Strength	2D/4D
Perception	2D/4D
Endurance	2D/4D
Charisma	2D/4D
Intelligence	2D/4D
Agility	2D/4D
Luck Points:	0-1
Move:	10

Strengths and Weaknesses: Humans vary in skills and abilities depending on their background, but all are highly adaptable to their circumstances.  Most human characters have no specific strengths and weaknesses as a species.  As an option, the GM can allow the following features for human player characters (PCs,) depending on their background:

• Vault-dwellers, and members of the Brotherhood of Steel, Enclave, or Institute enjoy a +1 bonus to first aid, doctor, repair, and science totals.  In addition, they begin with a free, high-tech item at character creation such as a Pip-Boy wrist computer for a vault-dweller, or a laser pistol for a member of the Brotherhood of Steel, Enclave, or Institute.  The GM has the final say on the specific item.  However, due to their unfamiliarity with Wasteland culture, and some prejudicial views concerning outsiders, they suffer a -2 penalty to barter and speech totals with wastelanders, ghouls, super mutants, and other intelligent denizens of the Wasteland.
• Wastelanders tend to be hardy, and enjoy a +1 bonus to Endurance totals to resist the effects of radiation, disease, and toxins, but they suffer a -1 penalty to doctor, repair, and science totals when using these skills due to a lack of formal education.  They begin with a free, improvised melee or ranged weapon such as a pool cue, lead pipe, or pipe pistol, and a free item such as lockpicks, a tool kit, or 1D preserved food and drink items.
• Tribals have a +1 bonus to melee weapons, throwing, and outdoorsman skill rolls, but their cultural unfamiliarity with “mainstream” Wasteland culture may result in similar penalties to barter and speech with wastelanders or to repair and science skills totals when dealing with Pre-War technology, at the GM’s discretion. They also begin with two free, primitive weapons: a knife or hatchet plus a spear or bow and arrows.

Ghouls

Description: Some humans miraculously survived the nuclear explosions, but were nevertheless severely mutated by exposure to massive amounts of radiation.  This resulted in some perks, like immunity to said radiation, an extended lifespan, and regeneration of wounds and severed limbs, but at the expense of infertility and a burned, corpse-like appearance, becoming what wastelanders refer to as “ghouls.”  Some younger ghouls are created as well when wastelanders and other humans have been exposed to places with massive radiation.

Whether due to brain deterioration, the psychological impact of living many years isolated from humans, or excoriated by the same for their terrifying, rotting appearance, most ghouls become “feral,” and physically attack and kill any person or creature that has the misfortune of encountering them, often consuming their flesh afterward in animalistic hunger.  However, a few retain their faculties along with their humanity, living in communities of fellow ghouls or in more tolerant wastelander settlements.

Most ghouls have a wealth of knowledge from before the Great War (if their deteriorating brains can remember it) and often lend useful skills to their communities.  As former humans, ghouls run the gamut of ethical values and personalities, from the saintly to the diabolical, but most ghouls tend to have some degree of cynicism due to their circumstances, which tends to manifest in a surly wit.

Attribute	Min/Max Die
Strength	2D/4D
Perception	2D/4D
Endurance	2D+1/4D+2
Charisma	1D+2/3D+2
Intelligence	2D/4D
Agility	1D+2/3D+2
Luck Points:	0-1
Move:	10

Strengths and Weaknesses: Ghouls are immune to the effects of radiation, and can enter irradiated areas without suffering damage or negative effects.  Their mutated physiology allows them to regenerate damage quicker than humans, gaining a +1D to Endurance rolls for natural healing, with any Critical Failures are treated as a “1” rather than having a negative effect on the total.  This number is increased if radiation is present (by radiation level damage dice.)  In addition, ghouls can reattach any severed limbs, assuming they retain them.  However, due to their constant state of rot, pieces and parts of their bodies may fall off at inopportune moments, such as when experiencing a Critical Failure on a skill roll.  Some are even known to attract flies and other vermin.

Ghouls are treated with extreme prejudice by most humans due to their unsettling appearance and the reputation of their “feral” siblings, suffering a +3 to +6 to the difficulty of any barter or speech attempts with humans, depending on their level of tolerance.  They are often barred from establishments or entire communities outright.  This does not apply with fellow ghouls, super mutants, and other intelligent, mutated beings of the Wasteland.

Super Mutants

Description: Super mutants are former humans that have been mutated by exposure to West Tek’s Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV,) either by accident or deliberate experimentation.  The FEV forces severe, genetic mutations on the body that, in super mutants, result in massive physical and muscular changes beyond human limits, at the expense of infertility and diminished intellect.  Super mutants are mostly hairless, with large, muscular frames, and green to blue-gray skin, often with imperfections and growths such as warts and carbuncles, or scars from violence.

Because of their mutation and affected intellect, super mutants have a tendency to be violent and brutish, relishing in savagery and mayhem unless controlled by strong-willed and powerful individuals.  In the Wasteland, super mutants form reaving warbands that hunt and feast on any flesh they find (sentient or otherwise,) saving their meals in horrific “meat bags,” which often contain the personal effects of their victims.

However, some super mutants have displayed a capacity to adapt and learn to live among humans or ghouls in communities tolerant enough to have them.  Many of these super mutants tend to develop a better set of ethics and moral compass that does credit to the vestiges of their former humanity.  A rare few have even become respected leaders in their communities.

Attribute	Min/Max Die
Strength	3D+2/6D
Perception	2D/4D
Endurance	2D+2/4D+2
Charisma	1D/3D+1
Intelligence	1D+2/3D+2
Agility	2D/4D
Luck Points:	0-1
Move:	10

Strengths and Weaknesses: Super Mutants, like ghouls, are immune to radiation damage and its effects.  Their thick-boned, muscular bodies are highly resistant to damage (+1D to Endurance to resist) and they can lift and carry 1.5 times as much as a human of similar Strength.  A super mutant’s lower mental capacity results in some difficulties with learning new things.  Super mutant characters add two (2) to the character point cost of learning and improving skills.  At the GM’s discretion, a super mutant must also fail at an untrained skill attempt before they can learn a new skill.

Super mutants have become infamous in the Wasteland for their monstrous violence, and tend to face fear and rejection in all but the most tolerant settlements.  At best, they may face higher difficulties for barter and speech skill rolls with wastelanders, or at worst, face attacks by frightened locals.

Robots

Description: By the year 2077, a variety of robots with artificial intelligence programming were ubiquitous in Pre-War America.  Companies like General Atomics and RobCo became international leaders in robotic design, and sold a plethora of models programmed for housekeeping, labor (which caused problems with people who lost jobs to them,) first response, and even military use.

Because default models were designed for different uses, they tended to be built to be rugged and reliable, and many survived the nuclear apocalypse; fully-functional well over a century later.  They continue their programmed and assigned tasks despite the lack of humans to direct them, ranging from the benign, such as maintaining empty and ruined households, factories, and office buildings, to dangerous in the case of security for military, government, or corporate installations.  Due to their artificial learning matrixes, and lack of routine updates or maintenance, many develop unique and often eccentric personalities over time and wander the Wasteland in pursuit of personal goals, which may come in conflict with wastelanders and their settlements (often with deadly consequences.)

Unlike humans and mutant characters, robots have set attribute scores and features depending on their model.  All robots, regardless of model, have some manner of maintenance panel in the back with a combat inhibitor that if switched off or destroyed, causes their IFF systems to fail, attacking even known allies unless stopped (usually by being destroyed, but the inhibitor can also be turned back on or repaired.)

Robots tend to focus on skills related specifically to their original programming; to the exclusion of all others, but they are able to learn new skills over time.  

Two options are presented as here as PCs for Fallout D6: Mr. Handy and Protectron.  

Mr. Handy (Household Model)

Attributes

Strength	3D
Perception	2D+2
Endurance	3D+1
Charisma	2D+2
Intelligence	2D+2
Agility	3D
Luck Points:	0-1
Move:	10

Features:

• Three, optic sensors with 360-degree visual detection range
• Celebrity-based voice and personality module
  
• Arm with grasping/manipulator attachment
• Arm with circular cutting tool attachment (4D damage)
• Arm with flamer tool attachment (1D damage per unit of ammo expended, up to 5D maximum; range 5; ammo 5; flamer fuel)
• Jet conveyance system with a three-meter hover/flight ceiling

Protectron (Civilian Security Model)

Attributes

Strength	3D+2
Perception	3D+1
Endurance	3D+1
Charisma	2D+2
Intelligence	2D+2
Agility	2D+1
Luck Points:	0-1
Move:	8

Features:

• Shielded, CPU “head” dome with three, forward-facing optic sensors, vocabulator module capable of synthesized speech, and backup, short-range laser emitter (3D damage, range 5/15/35/, ammo 12, energy cell)
• Two grasper arms, each with long-range laser emitter (3D+1 damage, range 10/20/45, ammo 12, energy cell)
• Hydraulic-assisted, conveyor “legs” capable of up to 80% human land speed.
• Interior calefaction system can broil food to desired temperature, or overheat to self-destruct the unit if reduced to 10% body points or both arms are destroyed (6D damage; 3/8/16 radius)