Dan Reviews: Fallout

The new Fallout RPG is such a faithful adaptation of the video game that it feels like a labor of love, but it's ALSO based on a proven tabletop game engine and runs as smooth as silk. Wonderful core systems, a fantastic scavenging system, and some exquisite crafting rules.
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[@TheJDough1]

Another amazing review! Thank you Dan. I hope all is well with you and cant wait for you to come out of semi review retirement and review Pendragon 6e!!!

[@Maehedrose]

Yeah, I am a real fan of the 2d20 system, it does a great job at keeping the flow of encounters moving and I really appreciate that your extra successes do not go wasted - as I've always hated to see that, as a player. I'm glad you gave a shout-out to the crafting system, as I loved their looting and crafting system so much that even should I play another post-apoc rpg I would likely use this crafting system. Have you checked out "Mutant Year Zero"? It's basically Fallout in Sweden and shares a lot of the same ideas - so much so that I would treat them as the same world in my games.

[@Droogie128]

Did a Fallout campaign about 10 years ago using the Deadlands Hell on Earth system. It's honestly a 1:1 conversion. Perfect fit.

[@JohnDretired]

Fallout is now available as a ruleset on Fantasy Grounds... thanks so much for making this video.

[@BaconDrive]

That's good to hear the systems adhere to the old games. It means the creators did their homework, I'd like to give this a try someday

[@vankook]

This makes me thankful I used to play Pinnacle's Deadlands system in the late 90's. I'm used to the hit location die. :)

[@fwbean119]

Loved the classic deadlands system! Now as a gamer dad, I appreciate faster combat, but back in the day when we would play for 8 hours on Saturday nights, that system ruled!

[@MagnumPopeye]

Also a major fallout isometric fan as well..Was always disappointed there was no car with a trunk to store your Goody's in..Not one in all of the remakes. BTW just bought the startrek adventures core book 2 days ago didn't think I would like the 2d20 system but I was very surprised how good it was.. Major storytelling awesomeness been watching your reviews, videos on some good games.. Only good thing about COVID It was the era of game playing and bringing back the family game night...

[@suthobay]

You explain this well. I'm relatively new to tabletop and am looking at hosting as gm. Haven't watched the whole vid but besides the beginner campaigns in the book, are there any other campaigns out there? Can Wasteland Warfare campaigns be used for this?

[@danwells9305]

As far as I'm aware, this is the only book published so far for the RPG. There will certainly be more coming, I assume, but I don't know what they'll be and I doubt that Wasteland Warfare is compatible.

[@suthobay]

@@danwells9305 thanks mate! Seems like the book has a bit of a learning curve to know all the ins-and-outs, though not THAT complicated to begin with... but it seems worth it

[@Christopheromoan]

In a sense yes but only with tinkering. If you are so inclined you can port any game system or module to another but you need to be aware of what will Segway effortlessly and what won’t. Want to play a Pathfinder 3e module on DND 5e? Go for it. Keep the dungeon names, locales, etc no problem. But you gotta know what perks or talents or abilities are interchangeable. If Wasteland Warrior has a buncha neat stuff in it, locales, people, encounters you could use it in any system you want but if there’s stuff that’s game specific you need to be able to finagle it into what ever your doing. It’s not terribly hard, as you as the GM can fudge stuff you want but you need to have a fair understanding of what your porting from and porting to as to not make it game breaking by completely unbalancing something.

[@nw42]

Great review, I’ll have to check it out! From your description, it sounds like they borrowed _a lot_ from Fallout 4, particularly the crafting system & the Commonwealth map. That’s fine (I think those were both strengths of Fallout 4) but it made your video a little surreal… at points it seemed almost like you were doing a review of the video game itself! In that way, the RPG actually sounds like a pretty good bridge between the old isometric games and the newer Bethesda FPS games. Which raises a question: are there any settlement building mechanics?

[@hakeem2656]

there aren't any in the corebook as far as i'm aware, but the included quest/adventure has the GM ask the players a number of questions regarding their settlement like its name, founding principles, types of groups and factions living there, its government and laws, etc...

[@gabiballetje]

So weird that Athletics is paired with Strength and not Agility, it makes no sense to me though. For Lockpick i'd use Intelligence, but i can get Perception a bit. It's cool that that system was kept simple, Base score with specific skill modifier. I like the 2D20 idea. I wonder if the Perks will be as easy to implement, as in that you don't forget them maybe.

[@Critical_Pixel]

That is one of my favorite aspects of this system. You can use any Skill with any Base Score as long as you can make it reasonable in the narrative. If a player described themselves listening to the tumbler as they picked the lock - Perception would be the go to - but if they described recalling reading about this lock in an issue of Tumblers Today, I would call for Intelligence. Gives the system a lot of wiggle room in scenarios for creative players and I really dig it.

[@dkbibi]

Did you know Fallout was first written as a tabletop RPG before being made into a video game? True story! Thanks for the review!

[@mrlordbrutish]

Not quite true. Interplay licensed GURPS to use with the original Fallout game, but SJG pulled the license because of "creative differences," so the Interplay peeps had to essentially write their own TTRPG.

[@MattNeisinger]

@@mrlordbrutish Exactly. They wanted to use GURPS, but SJG failed. Hahaha! And thus, S.P.E.C.I.A.L was born.

[@MattNeisinger]

I haven't had the chance to play, yet, as I just got this game for Xmas, but as someone who has been involved with RPGs for over 30 years, I really like this. Editing errors and missing content aside, it has a good feel about it. My biggest complaint is... the crafting system. Not the system, so much, but the oversimplified scrap/junk/materials. While the games weren't perfect, I find it more interesting to collect a toaster, an umbrella, and toy car, rather than "you find 3 junk". Or to scrap an item for screws, springs, lead, steel, etc, rather than common, uncommon, and rare materials. The cooking system is GREAT! But the generic materials for everything else feels lackluster, to me. I'm certain they did this for good reason, but it personally would have preferred the more robust system found in the video games. And it seems pretty apparent that they must have toyed with that system during the beta testing of the game, because I can see the artifacts of that system in the layout of the crafting tables. I think they could have easily accommodated the complex AND simplified materials systems together (so GMs could choose based on their preference). Materials could have been displayed to include both systems, like: Wood (C), Steel (U), Ballistic Fiber (R), etc. Now, I have to create my own list. Hahaha! Honestly, that being the most "disappointing" aspect of the game is not really that bad. (I'm still a little annoyed by it, though. Haha!)

[@jonathankilby6636]

A lot of the charts you were hoping for appear to be the gm kit. Just got my pre order through

[@nicholassmith8027]

Was just about to say the same thing

[@funkkymonkey6924]

TBH, it feels like I’m playing Fallout.

[@patrickfitzpatrick2945]

Great vid! Looks kinda cool, but perhaps a little bit to close to its computer game counterpart? Anyhow, might give it a read. Thanks.

[@danwells9305]

This goes well beyond "too close to the computer game" and deep into "loving recreation of the video game in intricate detail." Which for me is a plus :)

[@patrickfitzpatrick2945]

@@danwells9305 From that angle its a definite win. Fully agree =)

[@AAron-gr3jk]

2d20 is a better system than d20

[@mrlordbrutish]

Some might say it's twice as good :-D

[@kalleendo7577]

Awesome!

[@alexsgamingshow2474]

I’d play this game with you!

[@Ashwgun]

The only thing I am not crazy about 2d20 is the movement and combat range. I am a classic rpg player, and if using the mind for combat, not a big deal. But there is a whole line of minis and I love the tactical aspect of combat, but this system doesn't work well for grid and minis combat

[@danwells9305]

Yeah, 2d20 is not great for grids, but I've found it works really well if you can lay out a battlefield in zones. Some of the Star Trek adventure supplements have some good examples of this.

[@Ashwgun]

@@danwells9305 oh yeah, despite my dislike of that aspect, I am excited for the game and to add it to my shelf of TTRPG books

[@arthurviegas8207]

It's no hard to be faithful to the video game, as the game system resemble with gurps system

[@PatrioticGestalt]

Non-PC question. You don't have to answer. Does the book avoids old-school pronouns?

[@danwells9305]

I didn't notice the pronouns either way.

[@EzEnzi]

what does this even mean

[@shogert2370]

@Anthony Lott people really having too much time to care about something as stupid as this