A community effort

[Hassknecht]

As many would agree, the outlook for future Fallout videogames that satisfy the tastes of a more classically oriented roleplayer is not all that good. Bethesda is not suddenly going to go back to making hardcore roleplaying games, and it is unlikely that they'll outsource another game to Obsidian.
The question is, what can we do about it? Well, Fallout is a translation of a Pen&Paper RPG to the computer, so doesn't it make sense to create a PnP ruleset for Fallout? This, of course, has been done before, but personally I'm not all that satisfied with either of them.
This is where the community effort of the title comes into play:
How about NMA creates its own PnP? Instead of whining and moaning that Fallout isn't the way it used to be, why not make our own Fallout the way we want it (possibly with blackjack and hookers)?
So this is what I propose. I know there are some talented artists and writers active in this community, and quite a few Pen&Paper enthusiasts.
First of all I'd like to know how many people would be interested in making and playing a PnP at all, and how many are willing to and capable of helping and designing.
Based on the outcome of that poll I'll see if we can set up a new subforum for further discussion and idea exchange.
What I personally would like to see as an outcome of this whole thing in the future is
a) a full sourcebook in the form of a nice PDF file with a full ruleset and basic lore
b) at least one campaign with a full set of lore, locations, history, and NPCs
(c) if we're really fancy, 3D models for use in Tabletop Simulator or as base models for 3D printing?)
This, of course, needs quite a bit of work.

Let's make Fallout great again!

 

[Knight In Leather Armor]

I'd love that. It sounds perfect for NMA. If we could all come together and make a Fallout our own way, that'd be pretty cool in my opinion. I don't have that much of a technological know-how(3D Models and such) but I'm a pretty good writer and I enjoy Fallout, so writing the story, lore, and everything would be fun.

 

[Izak]

I assume this Fallout P&P game would be called No Mutants Allowed, right? Would it use GURPS, a homebrew system, or some other ruleset?

possibly with blackjack and hookers

It better fucking have blackjack and hookers, Reno (and Vegas) here we come!

 

[Hassknecht]

I assume this Fallout P&P game would be called No Mutants Allowed, right? Would it use GURPS, a homebrew system, or some other ruleset?

It better fucking have blackjack and hookers, Reno (and Vegas) here we come!

I'd love to call it No Mutants Allowed, sounds perfect for a PnP.
The ruleset used is among the first decisions that will have to be made.
If the idea is liked enough I'll ask to get a subforum set up where we can discuss the pros and cons of all the options we have.
GURPS, BRP, Fallout PnP, d20 Apocalypse, extension of Fallout: Warfare, there's a lot of options.

 

[Jogre]

I believe there already was an attempt at a Fallout PNP
http://falloutpnp.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

It seems to be based very heavily off of the original GURPS.

 

[Hassknecht]

I believe there already was an attempt at a Fallout PNP
http://falloutpnp.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

It seems to be based very heavily off of the original GURPS.

Yes, as I mentioned, Fallout PnP is an option. Personally, I don't like it that much. It's not based on GURPS, though, it's an almost literal transcription of the computer game to the tabletop, making it very math-heavy with lots of percentile rolls.
GURPS uses nothing but six-sided dice, Fallout PnP gives you the option of using skill-based combat (using two ten-sided dice for almost everything) or a d20 style combat.
But yeah, there are quite a few efforts already. Exodus started out as an official Fallout P&P, there's Fallout PnP, there are some Fallout PnP rules somewhere in the NMA archives (dunno if it's the same Fallout PnP as the wikia [edit: It's an earlier version]), there's Fallout: Warfare (a miniature wargame), and probably half a dozen unknown homebrews rotting in some basement.
We could probably ask JE Sawyer or someone else from the original team what they used in their design sessions, too.

 

[Einhanderc7]

I would love to help and I have experience making games as a modder / fledgling game developer.

I have actually thought about this and I came to this conclusion that would best fit all aspects of the game.

From my observation and internal debate I have identified the most viable systems that would be applicable for a fallout style pnp. For combat I was very interested in the style the 40k universe is set up to as it would allow the greatest freedom with various combat styles as well adaptable to allow even the most unorthodox play styles.

Gurps is indeed viable for non combat roles as well forging a character but, considering we are talking about a new "game" here I would strongly suggest pulling away from all conventional styles and adapting or creating our own rule set that only pulls a few things from here and there. That way if it ends up to be good enough it could be marketed. (Not saying that we have to market it)

I'm at work right now so I can't get into to much of this atm, I will reply again when I have more time.

 

[Atomic Postman]

I fully expect there to be conflict over setting design. A divide between the Sawyer esque "post-post apocalypse" types who want the Wasteland to be fully recovered and the more Chris Avellone "post-nuclear" types that want the Wasteland to be more pulpy and genre defining.

 

[Mutant Screg]

Although I'm not the best writer out there, I'd love to assist Knight In Leather Armor with the writing.

 

[Mutant Screg]

I fully expect there to be conflict over setting design. A divide between the Sawyer esque "post-post apocalypse" types who want the Wasteland to be fully recovered and the more Chris Avellone "post-nuclear" types that want the Wasteland to be more pulpy and genre defining.

Shouldn't be too hard to come up with a compromise, if it comes to that.

 

[Atomic Postman]

Because I imagine it might become a popular position, I might place my bets in for a little piece of the writer team. I won't step on anybody's shoes, but I can spitball a few things, you guys can see what sticks.

 

[Earth]

Mix of the two settings would be best. Have small cities but still a lot of wasteland out there. Just because society's managed to rebuild itself a little doesn't mean mutated monsters don't roam about.

I'm assuming this isn't actual Fallout, right? That it's its own "IP"? Considering that the title will probably be "No Mutants Allowed", maybe make the game's story centred around mutants and mutations, where you end up with Vault City situations keeping all "impure" people out, and other towns not giving a shit.

 

[Mutant Screg]

I'm assuming this isn't actual Fallout, right? That it's its own "IP"? Considering that the title will probably be "No Mutants Allowed", maybe make the game's story centred around mutants and mutations, where you end up with Vault City situations keeping all "impure" people out, and other towns not giving a shit.

Maybe a campaign based on the unfair treatment of friendly mutants? Sort of like a Witcher situation, where the nonhumans are forced to live in slums, and are often targeted by the local police/guards.

 

[Atomic Postman]

Let's not slide into "allegory for oppressed minorities in society" territory. It's boring and overdone. If we're doing "not Fallout" we want a setting/story that harkens back to classic 50's pulp sci-fi, so look to B-movies and old comics for inspiration.

 

[Mutant Screg]

Fair point.

I really think we should stick with the Fallout universe, though. Pretty much the whole point of this PnP is to tell our own vision of what we think Fallout should be.

 

[Izak]

I'm assuming this isn't actual Fallout, right? That it's its own "IP"?

My understanding was that it'd be Fallout as we want it, basically, so probably based in a Fallout universe where only 1, 2, Tactics and, NV (or Van Buren) are canon.

 

[Mutant Screg]

My understanding was that it'd be Fallout as we want it, basically, so probably based in a Fallout universe where only 1, 2, Tactics and, NV (or Van Buren) are canon.

Could consider borrowing from the Fallout Bible, as well. Should be canon for the most part if we ignore the Bethesda titles.

 

[Atomkilla]

Great idea. Hopefully it will start to develop.


As for me, well, I clicked the option about contributing and helping, but that in reality boils down to me writing some lore, and that's about it. I have some experience as a high school DM, meaning a bit of quest/NPC designer, so I could potentially contribute to the campaign design.

No clue about actual PnP design tho. I only played DnD and that was ages ago. Never tried GURPS.

 

[Black Angel]

I'd like to help. However, I'm from a country not well familiar with games/video games, especially with DnD/PnP RPGs when it was hugely popular wherever they were. Heck, I even have no experiences with DnD/PnP RPGs! Nowadays I can only remember one game that made it to Steam and get an LP by PewDiePie on Youtube, that was made by my fellow countrymen.

But, I remember back when I was in primary school/early days of middle school, I actually made a setting for a PnP RPG, without even knowing it was called 'PnP RPG' . I guess it was a product of creativity I have when I was young, and being exposed to mostly JRPGs and loving LotR. So, I'd like to help brainstorm and design the setting, since I'm not confident with writing because, now that I try to remember it, the writing I made for my PnP setting were cringeworthy at best (maybe even like Emil's ).

So, yeah. I guess I would like to help design the setting. Since it's been so long since I made my PnP setting (I can't even remember where I put those papers ), I would like to help anyone with more, better experiences in design.

Which means, please don't assign me to lead this part, I'm not confident despite my willingness to help.

Edit: Oh, oh! I forgot to add. Since we're talking about the setting, and probably gonna make a new IP, this is just me. I'd rather go for designing our own setting, instead of having it taking place in Fallout-verse. Of course, the system might follow that of a Fallout PnP's system or the GURPS as was intended by Tim Cain for Fallout back then, but for the setting I suggest we go for our own. For starters, as suggested above, the setting revolves around mutants and mutation in a post/post-post apocalyptic setting. In addition to the suggestion of having the setting revolves around the problem of Vault City, maybe we can try to make a setting that asks a question: What if an organization like the Enclave in Fallout 2 actually succeeded with their plans? Since the thing with Enclave were also related to their perspective that the inhabitants of the wastelands were mutated, despite of their human appearance.

Edit 2: I missed AlphaPromethean's post up there, so maybe turn up the setting to get a big faction of wastelanders-mutants rebuilding their own society, like Broken Hills and Deathclaw's Vault 13, but much more successful, to clash with an Enclave-like organization that succeeded with their initial plan of taking over the wasteland for themselves? Damn, it's kind of hard to stay away from Fallout stuffs...

 

[Mutant Screg]

What if an organization like the Enclave in Fallout 2 actually succeed with their plans? Since the thing with Enclave were also related to their perspective that the inhabitants of the wastelands were mutated, despite of their human appearance.

Sounds interesting. Maybe there's a town of "mutated" people hiding somewhere that's in constant danger of being discovered the Enclave. Dangers including spies, the occasional supply run, enclave patrols(on foot and w/ vertibird), etc.