(GM) Fallout - Smear Campaign

The Core Rulebook cover title of Fallout.

This GM play report talks about the Fallout 2d20 system. It's easy to see the inspiration the game takes from 5e, but it's also a system with some crunch.

The Stat Sheet

• Adventure: With a Bang, or a Whimper
• System: Fallout 2d20
• GM: Kati
• Player Count: 3
• My Role: GM
• Number of Sessions: 2

The Snapshot

• The party investigated the farmhouse and was attacked by Joseph.
• Returned Joseph to the Mayor who asked for help making sure there was no anti-ghoul sentiment
• Group ran a smear campaign against the mayor and had him resign
• Attacked by synths (the mayor and other townsfolk) which, after killing all but the mayor, further helped the party in their election efforts.

The System

Fallout is a 2d20 system, created and published by Modiphius. Each d20 rolled counts as one success or failure, and a difficulty from 1-5 is set by the GM. Both the players and the GM have Action Points (the players have a pool of AP) that can be bought to roll more d20's for tests. There's a lot of details in the skills, crafting, and how weapons behave. The level of crunch you want to include is somewhat optional, in my opinion.

1. What rulings that weren’t rulebook supported were made, and why did I make them?

   The effects of weapons that triggered on combat dice rolls. I had them stay stagnant and chose an effect at random rather than checking for each weapon what the list of effects could have been. I felt it slowed down combat, and I didn't have a handy table at the ready to check all weapons.

2. Did I have to work around the rules in order to facilitate play? How?

   Not really. The system is a very narrative and cinematic one. Only when specific situations like combat, travel, or crafting are triggered does more of the crunchy side of the system reveal itself. Skill tests are the primary driver in how play is facilitated.

The Module

I used the module, With a Bang, or a Whimper through Roll20 which is an introductory adventure in the back of the Fallout Core Rulebook (CRB). I previously ran the adventure last year for my one-shot group, so I was excited to run it with a new group of players.

3. What did I change about the module? Why? How successful were those changes?

   The changes I made were necessary as the group did not trust, or believe, the mayor's intentions (rightfully). I had to spend time between sessions expanding the settlement. Even thought the module encourages/wants the group to collaborative worldbuild, I felt it was a better usage of time to have those built in and allow the players to explore it naturally. Rather than the synths

4. How did I use procedures to facilitate play?

   Asking the players for skill tests when they wanted to get NPCs to behave a certain or otherwise interact with the environment in a way that might be challenging.

5. What did I modify “behind the screen”, and why?

   I made up some weapon stats that I couldn't find in the rulebook while we were in session. I probably made up some other numbers at some point too, haha.

The Party

Almost the first hour of session 1 was spent creating characters. I think this was mainly due to the fact that I couldn't share PDFs or even reference sheets in Roll20 for players to quickly create their character. I had to take screenshots of the rulebook and share that way. It was a little frustrating!

• Charles B. Lucky (Ghoul): Friends call him Chuck, has lived off their luck
• Braz (Mister Handy): Medical assistant for a while, “owned” by some raiders and did some weird surgeries, companion to a healer later and then he died, so now wandering and doing freelance labor
• Babe (Super Mutant): Carries a big ole’ bat, heard of this mythical place called Diamond City and wanting to learn Baseball

6. When did I tailor things to my table instead of randomising them?

   I created some NPCs ahead of time, since I knew the group was wanting to charm them into being against the mayor. I also added some very loose ideas of the layout of the town and a handful of buildings that existed in the settlement. Most of this was lifted from the module in some way and curtailed to what the party wanted to do.

7. Were there any pain points in the session, and how did I respond?

   The only pain points were in combat and my forgetting rules. After session 1, I had a nice refresher on procedures. I enjoy the crunch and thought I was prepared, but I had clearly forgotten some rules.

8. Were there any emotional or triumphant moments, and did I facilitate that?

   A triumphant moment was when Chuck, a very charismatic character, was able to convince the townspeople to force the mayor to resign. A successful smear campaign was executed.

9. How did I maintain pacing during this session? Did I have to work to balance attention between players?

   There were a couple moments when I needed to validate a rule which slowed the pace of the game a bit. Otherwise, the party was motivated by their own goal and came up with creative ways to achieve that goal.

The Takeaways

Pros:

• Optional crunch in a good way
• Captures the vibe of the Fallout franchise
• Great community with lots of homebrew and reference resources

Cons:

• The organization of the core rulebook makes it difficult to find the table(s) you need
• You must track your player's equipment closely to know what tables you'll need to reference (e.g. knowing how a pipe revolver behaves)
• There was no easy way to share the list of perks for players to choose from and see the requisites when creating their characters.

10. Was there any prep that felt wasted or unused on reflection?

    No prep was wasted as I went mostly improv once the players chose to deviate from the quest.

11. When did I have the most fun this session? Why did I think those parts were fun?

    The most fun was when the party framed the mayor and forced him to resign. There were many charisma rolls to determine who came out on top of the debate in front of the whole town.