Chapter I:

Introductio
n
"Imagine all the
people, living in
harmony."- John
Lennon,
ImagineImagine for a
moment a world
without
politics.Imagine a
world without
religions,
wherepeople's views
no longer mattered,
where therewas no
longer any distinction
between old
andyoung, rich and
poor, Atheist or
Believer, liberalor
conservative. Imagine
a world where
everyperson was
equal regardless of
skin colour orethnic
background.The
United States and
Russia have over
30,000nuclear
devices in their
arsenals as of
February2001. It
would take 800 such
devices to endmost
human life on this
planet. In the half-
hourbetween the
launch of the missiles
and thedetonation of
the last bomb, it
would not bedifficult
to imagine a world
where racial,religious,
class, and national
distinctions nolonger
mattered. In the
days and weeks after
thebombs, the
remaining people
would struggle
tosurvive in a vastly
different
environment.
TheEarth as well as
humankind would bear
the scarsof that
wound for hundreds
if not thousands
ofyears.Fallout is a
post-nuclear RPG set
sometime aftera
great nuclear conflict
in the year 2077.
99% ofhumanity and
a good deal of other
life perishedin the
nuclear war. Of
course, millions
stillsurvived, although
some were altered
beyondimagination.
One can play Fallout
either as acampaign-
oriented RPG, with a
series of
smalleradventures in
a larger story, or as a
single-storygame with
a minimum of
involvement in
thelarger workings of
the world. It can be
played ona single
Saturday night with
two or three
friendsor in a group
of 7 or 8 two or
three times a
weekfor months on
end. The only limits
arescheduling and the
bounds of
imagination.
Equipment for
Gameplay
Each player needs a
set of percentile-dice
(twoten-sided dice,
with one die
representing
the"ones" column and
the other
representing
the"tens" column of a
two-digit number).
TheGamemaster
needs a set of normal
RPG dice aswell (d4,
d6, d8, d10, d12,
d20). The group
mightwant to have a
pool of extra 10-
sided dice forease of
play and rolling burst
attacks all at once,as
well. Each player also
needs a character
sheet(provided in a
separate file),
a pencil, and a bit
ofimagination. The
Gamemaster needs
this bookand a little
more imagination. A
single hex-sheetis
helpful, although not
absolutely
necessary.Every
character can provide
their own
miniaturefigure to
use on the hex sheet,
and theGamemaster
may want to think
about getting afew
generic critter
figures and some
scenery(trees and
ruined buildings,
walls, etc),
althoughthese are
not necessary
either.You can pick up
dice at any gaming
store orcomic book
shop, and hex-sheets
are also
usuallyavailable at
these kinds of stores.
Other gameslike
Warhammer 40K and
Battletech use hex-
sheets, and you can
sometimes order
them from
these companies’
catalogues.
Miniatures are a
little more difficult;
for the budget-
mindedgamer, green
plastic grocery-store
armymen/cowboys
and indians work very
well, and fitperfectly
on a hex sheet (you
can also use
thevehicles and
obstacles some sacks
of these toyscome
with). For the
aesthetically-minded
gamer,you can spend
literally hundreds of
dollars ondetailed
miniatures from
model railroad
storesfor that
immersive gaming
experience.If you are
looking for detailed
miniatures, it'sbest
to look for mainly
'sci-fi' and 'western'
typeminiatures, with
a little searching, you
should beable to find
a wide array of
robots and
armouredsoldiers,
along with some
equipped with
energyweaponry (For
BOS and other well
equippedenemies)
from sci-fi miniature
sets, and thegeneral
pieces to represent
wastelanders,bramhin
, tribals and rugged
character pieces
inwestern miniature
sets.
It’s sometimes
helpful to
have a calculator for
the mathematically-
challenged, especially
when firing guns in
burstmode.