Pretendo Games

I have something of a hobby within a hobby: not just making and playing RPGs, but specifically, making and remaking hacks to play my favorite video games with friends. I’ve already made two hacks to play Fallout, and have been kicking around ideas for a third, built on the system for Exhumed. I really have to finish designing that game before I can hack it to do other things, though, so I figured I’d blog about my previous Fallout hacks to hopefully get it out of my system for a while.

WORLD OF VAULT-TEC is a hack of World of Dungeons, requiring only a couple six-sided dice to play. It worked fine when I ran it before, but if I were to do it again today, I’d probably scrap the weird crit system and possibly skills as a whole. World of Dungeons: Turbo (Breakers) would probably make a better base overall—you could just replace the talents with some extra, familiar perks, and the stats with the SPECIAL stats, and be good to go.

VAULT 20 is arguably a hack of Knave I made before I was aware of Knave—stats range 1–10 and are added to your d20 roll to test for success, usually shooting for a 16 or higher. Unlike Knave, though, most stats started pretty high (5 was average), which felt pretty unwieldy to me at the table. The players didn’t seem to mind, though, and generally agreed with my wife’s advice that adding a number to a roll is always more fun than subtracting a number from a roll, so I’m taking that lesson to heart.

Both games have some random tables for items, locations, and creatures that could be handy if you ever run your own Fallout TTRPG, regardless of system. I posted a few more to G+ that didn’t end up fitting anywhere else; maybe if I ever get around to another hack, these will go in there. For now, I present them below in advance of G+’s imminent closure.

If you’re looking for more lightweight hacks to run Fallout, you might want to check out World of Mutants (another World of Dungeons hack), and Death is the New Pink (a hack of Into the Odd that I believe existed in an earlier form as a straight-up Fallout adaptation). And if you have a favorite game you use to run Fallout yourself, please feel free to let me know in the comments!

Post edited to add yet another random list I came upon: NPCs players could hire to accompany them on their journey, from my first session of Vault 20. Open to suggestions for the last 5 entries for a full d20 table.

MacGuffins

1. New FEV strain, or its cure
2. Unreleased Nuka-Cola recipe
3. Keys to a pristine 2066 Corvega Manta Ray
4. Check on (or rescue) distant friends or relatives
5. GECK (Garden of Eden Creation Kit)
6. Plans for a large-scale environmental restoration project
7. Activation code for an orbital weapons satellite
8. Mutated plant sample in an intact flower pot
9. Cheat codes for Pipfall game cassette
   
10. The Death of Grognak the Barbarian, mint condition
11. Mia Panek’s Still Life With Nuka-Cola, in original frame
12. The Bible (Vault Boy Illustrated Edition)
13. Dangerously unstable energy weapon prototype
14. Rocket fuel and experimental engine component
15. Living brain of (or replacement body for) a pre-war genius
16. Hermetically sealed suit rated safe for a radio-wave being
17. Psychic nullifier headgear, sized for an adolescent
18. Notes for the construction of a “noosphere skimmer”
19. Excised memories, stored on implantable data chip
20. IFF transponder for OLYMPUS Base, Level Omega

Vaults

1. Warring super mutant communities, both open to aid
2. Synth refuge, preparing for courser incursion
3. Community of amnesiacs, only a few days’ memory
4. Submerged in radioactive water, colonized by mirelurks
5. Radroaches hiding intelligence, experimenting on trespassers
6. A single human nervous system spread through entire vault
7. Predator dwellers without eyes or mouths, sensitive to sound
8. Nice folk who go berserk under a set lighting schedule
9. Erratic, hulking residents on a diet of blue goo
10. Intelligent yao guai, some welcoming, some hostile
11. Glasslike statues of vault dwellers, frozen in horror
12. Floor plans seem to shift, doors moving, halls realigning
13. Recordings seemingly left by the PCs, from the future
14. Dwellers killed selves in an event notes call “The Transfer”
15. Airborne pathogen causes hallucinations or bizarre urges
16. Integrated UFO technology, housing alien/human hybrids
17. Ghouls who think they’re the last survivors on Earth
18. People with a hive mind controlled by a giant mutant bug
19. Everything is controlled by a playful, homicidal AI
20. Residents joke about “experiments,” but seem pretty normal

Vault rooms

1. Entryway, opening with a grinding squeal
2. Control room, some pencils and boring machinery
3. Residences, dressers full of identical jumpsuits
4. Hallways, the occasional Vault Boy motivational poster
5. Clinic, some gurneys and beds, some meds
6. Restaurant, styled like a classic diner, jukebox and all
7. Water purification plant, big vat in center of room
8. Power plant, occasionally crackling with energy
9. Storage, cardboard boxes and wooden crates, canned food
10. Radio station, standing mic in soundproof chamber
11. Game room, pool tables, pinball machines
12. Shop, common goods for trade
13. Classrooms, desks in neat rows, projector with GOAT
14. Fitness room, weights, pommel horse, rings
15. Locker room, sinks and showers and low benches
16. Machine shop, junk scattered about, repairs in progress
17. Open plaza, upper walkway around edge of wall
18. Security office, a couple holding cells, some riot gear
19. [REDACTED BY ORDER OF VAULT-TEC]
20. Overseer’s office

Companions

1. Berta. Ghoul technological archaeologist. Not here to listen to your shit. Possibly here to take your shit.
2. Elbow. Super mutant wrestler. Not stupid, just a little dim. Looking for someone worth taking orders from.
3. Fuuu. Protectron with a panicked grimace messily painted on. Nervously latches onto protectors. Explosives expert.
4. Gargoyle. Some kind of mutant anomaly with rocky, bumpy skin. Just looking for work, promises to take a beating.
5. Ichabod. Mr. Handy with coppery orange plating. Thruster pivots to propel him extremely fast. Will work for fuel.
6. Jellyfish. Shy fellow covered in scarf and hat to hide translucent skin. Looking for “a cure,” not just for himself.
7. Killertron Bumperama. Assaultron outfitted with bizarre rubber parts in places. “Lookin’ for a good time.”
8. Lindy. Super mutant who remembers who she was: an army sharpshooter. Takes on lost causes.
9. Mister Cashew. Top hat, monocle, stiff nutlike flesh. Merciless with a cane, but truly excels at dancing.
10. Oppenheimer. Ghoul scientist. Joins expeditions that might help struggling communities. Doesn’t talk about his past.
11. Pasty. Pale blue nightkin, leaner and weaker than most, but fast and a nimble climber. Does jobs for Med-X money.
12. Quicksilver. Chrome-plated mishmash—Robobrain head, Assaultron legs, Mr. Handy jet-butt. Along for the ride.
13. Rapunzel. Glowing one with a shock of yellow-green hair. Caravan guard and guide through ghoul-heavy areas.
14. Slushy. Dwarf mirelurk that seems to understand you and has taken a liking to you. Will fight to protect you.
15. Tattletale. Young deathclaw that talks like a child. Looking for its family. Doesn’t like to be alone.