Fallout: Oahu

[Inerrant Lust]

A solitary radio half-buried in the sand flickered to life under the shade of an untouched beach umbrella, a soft and calming tune lazily flowing out. Beside the portable radio, an unburnt but ages-old skeleton rested, face-down on a towel sunbathing under the yellow skies. Further away, the shriveled husk of a leafless palm tree offered shade to another fleshless corpse reclining in a wooden beach chair.

In the distance, the wasted toxic soup of the Pacific cascaded on- waves tumbling over one another as they ebbed and flowed onto the beach. Past the beach, there was a debris-strewn road and boardwalk, vehicles stationary and lifeless, their occupants still skeletonized within. Rather than being obliterated and wrecked apart, every person, ever building, every thing was dilapidated and abandoned, rusted and degraded. It started to rain softly... The sound of the cascading ocean and pitter of black rain fought with the soothing music until it started to repeat, that melodious women's voice unnaturally caught in a second-long loop until the signal abruptly tuned out.

All that remained was the sound of the waves lazily rolling forth from the sea before they retreated back to the ocean. That and the gentle deluge of acid rain that steamed on contact with the earth.

War. War never changes... In the year 2077, fire rained over earth and humanity was irrevocably changed forever. Those who survived would never again live their lives as they once did, doomed to rule over the world that they destroyed. The end of civilization lasted only two hours. No one knows who shot first, but within moments most of the world was scorched in a hellstorm of radiation. Yet not all was entirely lost. On the island of Oahu, those who survived did so in great underground vaults. As they hid beneath the earth, China, only a stone's throw away, blanketed the island in a deluge of chemical and biological weapons, sparing the tropical paradise the horrors of nuclear holocaust while inflicting upon it a much more insidious fate...

One day, in Vault 88... there was someone at the door... And they were trying to get in. The sound of heavy equipment and blow torches cutting through the heavy door was an ominous reminder to the inhabitants within that they were not alone. The noises from behind the door continued for days, until at last- it finally stopped. For a week, there was nothing.

The Overseer decided that this bizarre event could not be ignored. You have been chosen to brave the wasteland, to exit the Vault through a secret hatch, reconnoiter the main vault door, and report back your findings...

OOC:

Not all players need to be from the vault. Moreover, not all players need to leave the vault. I am considering showing some life inside the vault, if I can. Maybe one player could leave and check on the main door while another anxiously awaits the news and deals with the paranoid Overseer. A third player, meeting the first one not long after he/she leaves the vault, could be their guide. Eventually, all three of them will explore the wasteland together.

Well, that's just one idea. The Overseer will likely kick the 'explorer' out, telling them to figure out what's going on as a ploy.. or just blame to prevent 'contamination', the second vault dweller could be a friend or lover who will follow him/her in exile.

So, the thing about Vault 88. When it was first closed, the inhabitants were continually given a cocktail of aphrodisiacs on a daily basis. The vault itself was designed to resemble phallic or yonic imagery and plenty of provocative reading/viewing/listening material was available. Vault-tec's experiment was all about examining the consequences of free love.

Over a few generations, the inhabitants grew a tolerance to these chemicals pumped into their system, themselves becoming walking aphrodisiacs. Vault dwellers' sweat, spit, and sexual fluids are saturated with chemicals that arouse the passions of people (or creatures) who are not accustomed to the aphrodisiacs like they are. Moreover, there is a culture of sex. Vault 88's trash incinerators are primarily burning many, many, many, many condoms.

As for what life is like outside the vault, that information is for a PC playing that role only. Though I will reveal this much; No nukes actually fell on Oahu. Just chemical weapons, and maybe a little bit of accidents involving the US Army's supply of FEV. So, day 1 after the war- everything was sill probably functioning. Automated power plants and the like... if they are nuclear- then they might have continued working for a long, long time. Of course, this is Fallout and without human intervention, something had to go wrong.

[Aiden]

You have my attention, I would like to see if this gets more interested /rolling.

[Rotochron]

I'm down but I_E knew that. ;)

[Lockepick]

Bookmarking to see how it unfolds!

[MissFire]

I'm all over anything Fallout, especially with the new game two weeks away.

[Inerrant Lust]

Ideally, I think one male and one female vault dweller would work. And maybe one benevolent stranger. ...Or three. I like odd numbered parties. :P

My inclination would be a system game, but no system really works well for Fallout, I find. Nor is there one I'd feel comforting running, to be honest. If you'd like, you could describe your character's S.P.E.C.I.A.L. and any perks that they might have, though it will strictly be used as a guideline.

[Rotochron]

Hrm, only three, or any odd numbered grouping? :O

[ShadowFox89]

 I've been poking him with a character idea.

[Rachubka]

Awwwww, just seeing this now. :O

[Inerrant Lust]

It's not first come, first served. And so far I've only gotten one character (technically two) in detail. :P

[TheFourthShade]

Seems like a legit idea to me.

Idea

The idea I had as a flight of fancy was a niece (or other lesser relative of the Overseer who could expect a 'favor' from the boss) who works as a nurse assistant in the Vault.  It's readily apparent that she holds the position largely as a result of nepotism, due to her aversion to blood and other fluids and carefree manner around the medical bay, but she is a caring attendant and she has proven quite capable in wrestling resistant patients down.  It makes them wonder if she's hiding other facts about herself.

Really short idea but I wanted to post it here before I forgot about it.

[Inerrant Lust]

Well, my computer broke so I can't be playing Fallout 4 now..

That being said, I've only really received one detailed character sheet still. Unless anyone is still interested in this game and wants to play in it, I'm going to consider it DOA.

[Rotochron]

I'm working on a survivor!

[Inerrant Lust]

I'm not yet willing to give up on this idea...

But this will be the last bump.

[Muse]

  Don't suppose you decided to use a system for this, IL? 

[Alias]

I am very interested. I'd like to write in the vault and outside of the vault. I'm just gonna keep my eye on this and see where it goes.

[Inerrant Lust]

If I did decide to use a system, it'd probably be a version of Fallout 4's attributes and perks system. Just looking at it and I can figure out some ways to easily convert it to PbP.

Hit points could be; 80 + (END*5)
Melee Damage would be; 1 + Weapon Damage + (Strength*.1)

As I see it, the way a turn would work is... every 'post', you have a given number of action points, the same AP you use in VATS. Shooting a gun, moving, or throwing a grenade- they all cost AP. This would be on a case by case basis, but as I imagine it- automatic weapons might be fired for very little AP, but have an accuracy penalty... or just do less damage. Damage and Damage Resistance would function just as they do in the game.

How would we resolve actual combat? Well... I'd try to keep it simple. A 1d100. You'd have a 95% chance of hitting a target right in front of you, and this probably drops 1% per foot of distance. Shooting at a target behind poor cover is a 20% penalty, good cover is a 50% penalty, and you can't shoot at a target behind a wall, for instance. Your Luck determines a critical hit- with 10 Luck, you'd crit on a roll of 90 or higher. Perks like Concentrated Fire would work the same way, but others would have to be adjusted.

Everyone would start at level 1 with no real equipment, I think. At least the vault dwellers... When you level up, you can tell me what kind of perk you'd want. If it works as-is, it works. If it needs adjustment, then sure. If it's something completely unheard of, then we can even create it from scratch. When you find a trusty 10mm pistol, it will have a damage and AP cost value.

Now, that's all a very big IF I want to run this system. :p

[Alias]

I know I just put my interest in, but I wouldn't do very well in a system. just saying. :P

[ShadowFox89]

 I still argue that Savage Worlds would be the best system used. There's even a setting that is very much based on fallout.

[Vreski]

Hi! I'm interested in playing a female character.

[lore]

*emerges from a base building marathon*

I am a lifetime fan of fallout. I love this idea! I would be interested in playing a female outsider.

[Inerrant Lust]

As it is, we have perhaps a few too many ideas for outsiders...

I can easily change the experiment of Vault 88, if that is what turns people off. I thought it would be fun and dumb and just the sort of whacky thing Vault-tec would do.

Perhaps I should ask what kind of game do you guys want to play? I wrote the scenario with the idea of a more traditional Fallout-type storyline- in which the players are small spanners getting in the works of things larger than themselves (IE: The Master, The Enclave, The..Enclave again, or Ceasar's Legion/NCR) But as FO4 and Vault Shelter has proven, there might be the desire for a more community-building type game.

If that's the case, then the plot involving Vault 88 may as well be dropped entirely, though the core conflict (who was trying to get in and what kind of threat they pose) will remain. Except that's classified. ;)

[lore]

I like vault 88 and whole heartedly agree that it is 100% in keeping with crazy, amoral vault tec shenanigans.  Personally (and probably selfishly) I’d rather write someone tumbling into that world than from it.

If you need more vaultees. I could write someone descended from a control group – all the frustration of constant exposure to constant sexual subliminal messaging without the fun charismatic sex-beast powers.

[Black Howling]

If you have a lack of Vault Dwellers, I do have an idea for a male vault dweller and could possibly throw my hat into the ring. Provided I can get an idea of what your expected posting rate would be, and if I could keep up with it..

[Inerrant Lust]

That was another option I was considering- that the experiment wasn't as... mutative as I first indicated- that the vault dwellers just had a very liberated upbringing rather than being drenched in hormonal energy.

There is the possibility that I can simply take the role of the vault dweller(s?) myself, and force you as the PCs to protect them, naive and clueless as they are, while they go on their quest. Of course, you're more than just companions with a side-quest attached. Helping out the vault dwellers might have more relevance to your life outside than you might have first expected...

As for posting rate- it depends on the group really. I as a GM tend not to post for NPCs until everyone has had a turn. There's nothing so disheartening as coming into an RP where everyone else has made up their minds about something or posted 3 pages worth of dialogue where your character seemingly stood there mute and inattentive. This might be slow, as PbP is already slow... but hey, I've had a game running on E for over six years under that principle...