Games PC FALLOUT 2 User Manual

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS.................... 5

INTRODUCTION .............................. 7

THE VAULTS ...................................... 8

LIFE ON THE OUTSIDE ............................ 9

ENEMIES OF THE STATE ............................ 10

THE MASTER ...................................... 11

THE VATS ........................................ 12

MY RETURN TO VAULT-13 .......................... 13

THE TRIBE ...................................... 13

INTERFACE .................................. 15

MAIN MENU ...................................... 16

STARTING A NEW GAME ............................ 17

PRE-GENERATED CHARACTERS ........................ 19

Modifying Pre-generated Characters .......... 20

CREATING A CHARACTER ............................ 20

How to create your Character ................ 21

Character Concept ............................ 21

Primary Statistics .......................... 22

Derived Statistics .......................... 24

Traits........................................ 26

Tag Skills .................................. 28

Name, Age and Sex ............................ 30

Finishing your Character .................... 31

Character Screen Options .................... 30

MAIN GAME SCREEN ................................ 32

THE ACTION CURSOR .............................. 33

1

MOVEMENT CURSOR ................................ 34

Walking ...................................... 34

Running ...................................... 35

Things that affect movement .................. 35

COMMAND CURSOR .................................. 35

Action Icons ................................ 36

INTERFACE BAR .................................. 39

SKILLDEX ........................................ 44

INVENTORY........................................ 45

Cursors ...................................... 45

Moving or Dropping Multiple Items ............ 46

Inventory Screen ............................ 46

Other Inventory Actions ...................... 49

CHARACTER SCREEN ................................ 49

Basic Info and Statistics .................... 51

Hit Points and Medical Information .......... 51

Skills........................................ 54

Perks, Karma & Kills ........................ 54

Information Card ............................ 56

Print, Cancel and Done ...................... 56

THE HOLY ROBCO PIPBOY 2000 ...................... 57

Functions of the PIPBoy 2000 ................ 58

The Clock and Calender ...................... 58

Status........................................ 59

Automaps...................................... 59

Archives...................................... 60

Close ........................................ 60

MAPS ............................................ 60

World Map .................................... 60

World Map Movement .......................... 61

Terrain ...................................... 62

Random Encounters ............................ 62

Town Map .................................... 63

Automap ...................................... 63

NPC INTERACTION ................................ 64

DIALOGUE ........................................ 64

Chatting Dialogue ............................ 65

Extended Dialogue ............................ 66

2

BARTER .......................................... 68

How to Barter ................................ 69

Price Influences ............................ 70

PARTY MEMBERS .................................. 71

Party Member Inventory ...................... 71

Party Member Combat Control .................. 72

OPTIONS.......................................... 76

Save Game .................................... 76

Load Game .................................... 78

Preferences .................................. 79

CHARACTER REFERENCE .................. 84

INTRODUCTION .................................... 85

STATISTICS ...................................... 85

Primary Statistics .......................... 86

Derived Statistics .......................... 88

SKILLS .......................................... 91

KARMA............................................ 99

Karma ........................................ 99

Reputation (Town) ............................ 100

Reputation (Special) ........................ 101

PERKS............................................ 101

The Perk List ................................ 102

EXPERIENCE ...................................... 115

Skill Points ................................ 117

Spending Skill Points ........................ 117

COMBAT ...................................... 118

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH ......................119

STARTING COMBAT ................................ 119

TARGETS.......................................... 120

3

ACTION POINTS .................................. 121

Actions in Combat ............................ 121

Movement...................................... 122

Attacking .................................... 123

Inventory .................................... 124

Other Actions ................................ 124

PROBABILITIES.................................... 124

RANGED WEAPONS .................................. 126

Weapon Modes ................................ 126

MELEE WEAPONS & HTH COMBAT ......................128

TARGETED SHOTS .................................. 130

DAMAGE .......................................... 131

ARMOR............................................ 134

ENDING COMBAT .................................. 136

Victorious in the Battle

and Looting the Dead ........................ 136

APPENDIX 1: Tutorial ...................... 138

APPENDIX 2: Hints and Tips ................ 141

APPENDIX 3: Credits ........................ 143

APPENDIX 4: Technical Support .............. 150

APPENDIX 5: Warranty ...................... 153

APPENDIX 6: World Wide Web Site ............156

APPENDIX 7: “The Big One” Pancake ..........158

APPENDIX 8: “Carrion Kabobs” ..............159

APPENDIX 9: Quick Keys ....................160

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INSTALLATION

Thank you for purchasing Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear
Role Playing Game from Interplay Productions. You
are about to enter a world of mutants, radioactivity,
big guns and vacuum tubes. Before you can start
playing, you need to install Fallout 2 on your
computer and do a very simple setup procedure.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

You should have the following in your Fallout 2
survival kit:

* Fallout 2 Game CD-ROM
* The Fallout 2 Manual
* Interplay Productions Reference and

Troubleshooting Guide

The basic requirements to run the game are:

* IBM or 100% compatible Pentium™ 90 w/16 Megs

of RAM
* Windows® 95/98/NT w/ DirectX 3.0a or higher
* DirectX certified SVGA card
* 4X CD-ROM drive
* 100% Compatible Microsoft Mouse required
* DirectX certified sound card

WIN95/98/NT INSTALLATION
INSTRUCTIONS

If you have Win95/98/NT installed on your computer,
you should install the Win95 version of Fallout 2.
DirectX must be installed prior to running SETUP.

To install the Win95/98/NT version of Fallout 2,

follow these steps:

(1) Insert the Fallout 2 CD-ROM into your CD-ROM

drive.

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(2) If you have Autoplay enabled, then you will

shortly see an Autoplay menu. Click on the
Install button.

(3) If you do not have Autoplay enabled, open the

CD-ROM and double-click on the SETUP icon.

(4) If necessary, you will need to install

DirectX 3.0a or higher. You can install it
from the Autoplay menu, or run DXSETUP.EXE
from the DirectX directory on the CD-ROM.

To Uninstall, go to the Control Panel ->

Add/Remove Programs, select FALLOUT 2 and click on
the Add/Remove button. The uninstaller only
removes the files installed by the installer. Any
files created after install (config files, save
games, etc.) must be removed by hand.

README FILE

The README.TXT file on the CD contains up to date
information that was not available when the manual
went to press. We suggest you view the README to
get the latest information and changes. You can do
this from the Win95/98/NT Autoplay menu by clicking
on the View Readme button.

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INTRODUCTION

The one good thing about
growing old is that you get

your way. The new leaders of

the Tribe (they refuse to call

themselves Elders until I have

passed on, which should be soon, if

I’m lucky) want me to record my
knowledge for future generations.

Bah! What knowledge they need is
to be found with sweat and blood,
not some letters on a page. But

the future is a great unknown,

and they may have a point. To

make them happy, I’ve written
down what I feel will be

important. (The important words

being “what I feel will be

important.”)

They want me to write my
memoirs. Fine. I’ll do it.

But as the song goes, I’ll do

it my way. And I’m old

enough that I will get my way.

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The Vaults

Like all of the original

NOTES

The War

I know little about the
War, but it doesn’t
really matter. A lot
of people died when a
lot of atomic bombs went
off and nearly destroyed
the world. If you
don’t know what an
atomic bomb was, then
imagine the worst thing
possible. Atomic bombs
were worse than that.

some far away. These Vaults were to be used as
safe places in case of atomic war. As you may
guess, when the War came your ancestors made it to
a Vault. Vault-13 to be specific.

For several generations, your ancestors and mine
lived within the Vault. As best as they could
figure, it was too dangerous to try and leave the
Vault. They grew their own food, recycled their
waste, read, worked, slept, had families, and even
purified the necessary water within the Vault. I
was born in the creche, and was raised by the
community (and a robot). It was a good life, but
all good things come to an end. About three
generations after the War, the water-purification
chip the Vault relied on to create the fresh water
broke down. All the spare parts were missing or
busted, and without the water-chip the Vault was
doomed. Something had to be done.

The Overseer gathered the healthy of us between
a certain age and made us draw straws. Guess what?
I drew the short one. Wouldn’t be much of story if
I didn’t, would it?

I left the Vault the next day.

members of the Tribe, I
came from the Vaults.
Before the War, the
government of the United
States, which numbered
in the thousands of
villages, and had many,
many tribesman per
village, paid to have
these huge holes dug in
mountains and huts of
metal and stone built
underground. There were
many Vaults. Some were
close to cities, and

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Life on the Outside

My first few days were harrowing to say the least.
I fought off some giant mutant rats that were more
interested in eating me than they should have been.
My only clue was the location of another Vault,
number 15. I spent a couple of days stumbling
through the desert before I came upon a small
settlement. I stopped there for help, and
encountered the little town called Shady Sands. I
helped them, and they helped me. Understand that
survival requires that you work together, even with
people you may not trust. I did earn the trust,
however, of two prominent citizens of Shady Sands ­Tandy, and her father, Aradesh.

With their knowledge, and the help of a man
called Ian, I continued on my way to Vault-15. The
ruins of Vault-15, to be more specific. Ravaged by
the elements, scavengers, and time itself, Vault-15
was no help for my people. The control room that
contained their water-chip was buried under tons of
fallen rock, and I had to move on.

After a small problem with some Raiders, who
would continue for years to plague not only myself,
but the Tribe, I found myself in Junktown. It was
here that I learned the most important rule of all:
doing a good thing sometimes means being a very bad
person. My memories of Junktown are tainted, and I
feel no remorse for my actions in that place. It
was there that I came across a dog, who adopted me
and was my faithful friend from there on. I miss
Dogmeat to this day.

While Junktown was a city of traders (and
traitors), it did not have a water-chip. I was not
desperate yet, as there was still time for me to
recover the chip and return to my home, but I
needed to move on. Fortunately, they pointed me in
the direction of the Hub, the largest city in the
wasteland.

The Hub was a larger city than both Junktown and
Shady Sands combined. You could drop the Vault in
there, and you probably would not notice. But the

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people of the Hub had no life, and it was a
desolate place just the same. It eased my mind,
however, to hire some merchants to bring water to
the Vault. Looking back, it was probably a mistake
to do so, but I was still innocent of the evils
that lurked through the ruins of civilization.

A small clue led me to the city of the ghouls,
the place they called Necropolis. It was there
that I encountered large mutants, armed with
weapons of an unknown origin. It is with heavy
sadness that I say that Ian lost his life in the
city of the dead. A super mutant burned him to
death with a flamethrower. The passage of time is
no proof against the memory of burning flesh. His
sacrifice was not in vain, as I did find the water­chip buried beneath the city. It was with easier
steps that I returned to Vault-13.

Enemies of the State

While the Overseer was obviously happy to see me
returned to the Vault, alive and with the necessary
water-chip, he was distrought at my description of
the super mutants. It is here that I realized the
mistake I had made with the water-merchants. I had
pointed them, and others, in the direction of our
home. Without the protection of anonymity, the
Vault could easily have been destroyed. The
knowledge of the fate of Vault-15 did not help.

The Overseer tasked me with a new mission. Find
and destroy the danger of the super mutants.

Once again, I left the Vault. This time, it was
was easier on my heart. Looking back now, I
realize it was also the first time I should have
seen the true hearts of the other vault-dwellers
and the Overseer.

I returned to the Hub, looking for clues. Some
time was spent there, and I discovered a shady
underworld amongst the hustle and bustle of that
large city. They thought they could manipulate me,
but I proved them wrong and used the crooks
instead. I did rescue a young man who belonged to

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the Brotherhood of Steel. A few trouble-makers
tried to stop me, but I learned much about survival
since leaving the Vault.

It was in my best interest to leave town for a
while. I journeyed to this Brotherhood. Thinking
they would have the knowledge I sought, I tried to
join them. They required me to go on a quest
before they would let me in. Thinking it would be
a short and easy quest, I agreed and set off for
the place they called the Glow. The horror of
atomic war was never so obvious to me until then.

The Brotherhood was surprised to see me, and
even more surprised to see that I had not only
survived their quest, but succeeded. They gave me
the information I required and some of their
technology, and I set off in search of the Boneyard.

On my way, I took a detour and stopped by
Necropolis in order to see some old friends.
Unfortunately, that place was now truly the city of
the dead. All the ghouls had been slaughtered.
Large mutants roamed the streets. I found one
survivor who told me that the mutants had attacked
shortly after I had left. Before he died, the ghoul
told me that the mutants were looking for pure
strain humans, and one in particular. The ghoul’s
description of the mutants’ special target fit me
perfectly. It was with a heavy heart and a cold
burning on my soul that I continued on to Boneyard.

The Master

The city of Los Angeles
must have been the largest
in the world before the War.
The LA Boneyard stretched
forever, the skeletons of
buildings lying under the hot
sun. Not even the wind entered this
dead city.

I found many enemies, and a few friends, in the
Boneyard. I killed when necessary and learned more
about the nature of my true foes.

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Deep under the ground, I found an evil that was
behind the mutants and their army. Within a dark
and forbidding Vault, where the walls dripped with
human flesh, and the screaming of dying echoed
through the halls, I found many evil creatures and
mutants.

Walking among the misshapen ones, I killed one
of their servants and took his clothing. Hidden
from casual searches, I made my way to the bottom
of the Vault. The deeper into the Vault I went,
the more gruesome the journey. More and more flesh
was to be found, integrated into the very walls.
The worst part of it was that the flesh was still
alive, and even aware of my presence.

After a while, I found myself in the presence of
the most hideous sight yet. I still cannot bring
myself to write of this discovery, but let it be
known that when I left, the Beast was dead and the
Master of the mutant army was no more.

The Vats

My job was still not finished, for I still had one
task remaining. The Master had literally built his
army one mutant at a time. Humans, preferably with
little radiation damage, were to be captured and
sent to the Vats. There they were dipped in
something called FEV, which transformed them into
the large, grotesque mutants.

I had to find these Vats, and put them out of
action as well, lest another take the Masters place
and continue to build the mutant army.
Fortunately, my friends at the Brotherhood had a
few clues, and helped me reach my goal.

Invading the Vats, I came across more mutants
and robots. None could stand in my way. I had a
mission. I had a goal. I had a really large gun.
It was here that Dogmeat fell, a victim of a
powerful energy forcefield. I miss that dog.

I destroyed the Vats that day, and with it, the
mutant army. The last I heard, they splintered and
disappeared into the desert.

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My Return to Vault-13

I was not treated to a heroe’s welcome when I
returned to Vault-13. The overseer met me outside
the massive Vault door, and told me point blank
that while my services to the Vault will always be
remembered, he could no longer trust me or what I
had become. He said something along the lines that
I had saved the Vault, and now I must leave.
Bastard.

So, I left.

The days and weeks that followed were hard on
me. I had met few true friends outside the Vault,
and they had died following me. Now, my family had
kicked me out and said that I could never return.
I screamed. I cried. Slowly I came to realize
that the Overseer may have been correct. I had
changed. Life outside the Vault was different, and
now I, too, was different. But I have never
forgiven him for doing what he did to me.

I wandered the desert, but never moved far from
the mountains that shielded the Vault from the rest
of the world. Perhaps I wanted to return, and
force my way in, or plead for them to take me back.
Fortunately, it did not come to that. I found a
few wretched souls, a small group of Vault­dwellers, who upon hearing of what happened to me,
had decided to leave the Vault and join my side.
They knew little of the outside world, and would
have died if it were not for my assistance.

Together, our little group moved north, away
from the Vault, and away from that old life.
Slowly, I taught them what experience had taught
me. And together we learned to thrive.

The Tribe

Over time, our ragtag group turned into a tribe. I
fell in love with one of them, and we raised a
family, like all of our tribespeople.

We founded the Village, beyond the great cliff.
It is a secure home thanks to our hard work. We
would send scouts back towards the Vault, to help

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others who thought like ourselves, but that slowly
came to an end. We no longer head in that
direction. I often wonder what became of Vault-13,
and the other Vaults, but I never had the time to
go exploring again.

I taught the others the skills they would need
to survive and grow strong. Hunting, farming and
other skills to feed us. Engineering and science
to build our homes. Fighting to protect what was
ours.

My love and I led the village and the Tribe.
The Tribe grew, and grew strong with our help. But
all things come to an end. Our sons and daughters
are now the leaders. I’m sure that the Tribe will
continue to grow strong under the leadership of our
children.

My love perished years ago, and not a day goes
by that I do not think of Pat’s
face. I see it everytime I look
at our children. This journal is
our legacy to them, to their
children, and to the rest of
the Tribe.

That is my story, and I
am sticking to it.

-The Wanderer

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INTERFACE

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Main Menu

When you start Fallout 2, after watching the
introductory movie, you will see the Main Menu.
This is probably the single most important screen
in the entire game, since without it you can’t
actually start playing.

Select from the following:

INTRO - Replay the intro movie. Use this to amaze
your friends.

NEW GAME - Start a new game. Create a character,
or select a pre-generated character, and start
playing Fallout 2 from the very beginning. If you
have just installed Fallout 2, or you have never
saved a game, you will need to press this button.
See page 16 for more information on starting a new
game.

LOAD GAME - Once you have started a game and saved
it in order to return to it at a later date without
having to start a completely new game, this is the
button for you. Pressing this button will take you
to the Load Game screen (see page 78), where you
can select from any of your previously saved games.

CREDITS - Press this button to see a list of the
fine people who have brought you Fallout 2. Your
enjoyment is all they have thought about!

EXIT - Pressing this button will return you to your
normal operating system. You will not be asked to
confirm the exit when you press this button. Zap!
One second you are playing Fallout 2, the next
second you are back to work. Life just isn’t fair.

Also displayed on the Main Menu screen is the
current version number of the game. Check the
Interplay website (see page 156) for the most
recent version.

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Starting a

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New Game

When you first start
playing Fallout 2, you
will need to start a
new game. This will
start you off with a
new character at the
beginning of the story.
A character is a
representative of you,
the player, in the
story. The character
will be your alter-ego,
and follow your
commands and pay the
consequences for those actions. Obviously, your
character is the single most important facet of the
game and you should spend some time deciding what

plusses and minuses, and we’ll leave the choice up
to you.

When you click on NEW GAME from the Main Menu,
you will see the character selection screen. This
screen will always display one of three pre­generated characters. Besides a picture of the
pre-generated character, you will see a brief
summary of their primary statistics and their
biography. You have four choices on this screen to
choose from.

NOTES

You can

bypass a movie in Fallout
2 by pressing the space
bar or the ESC key.
You should not do this
until you have viewed the
movie at least once.
Important information and
background story is
often conveyed via a
movie. Besides, they
look good.

kind of character to play.
The decision about your
character is the most
important decision you
have to make at the start
of the game.

There are two ways to
decide on a character:
select a pre-generated
character or create your
own. Both ways have their

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NEW CHARACTER - Go
immediately to the character

NOTES

You can
use the left and
right arrow buttons
underneath the
character portrait to
change between the
three pre-generated
characters.

advanced players can jump right into the character
creation screen. This is probably the most
emotionally satisfying way to select a character.
See page 20 for information on the character
creation screen.

SELECT CHARACTER - Take the currently selected pre­generated character and start the game immediately.
This is the fastest choice, as it will get you into
the game in the shortest amount of time. This
choice is recommended for beginning players. See
page 19 for a brief bio on each of the pre­generated characters.

creation screen and do not
start the game until you are
done there. This basically
gives you complete control
of your character, but at
the cost of a little more
time before you can begin
playing. Some players like
to investigate the game a
little with a pre-generated
character and then restart
and create their own
character then. More

MODIFY CHARACTER - Take the currently selected pre­generated character and go to the character
creation screen. This is a compromise between NEW
CHARACTER and SELECT CHARACTER. Once on the
character creation screen, you will see the
statistics and skills of the pre-generated
character. You can then modify that character to
suit your own nefarious needs.

CANCEL - Return to the Main Menu without starting a
new game or selecting a character.

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Pre-generated Characters

If you don’t want to spend a lot of time at the
beginning of the game before you get to play, then
start here. Pick one of the three pre-generated
characters and hop right into the action. Some
players will want to experience the game for a
little while before creating their own character,
and others will want to see the game to completion
using any character. These three characters are
all capable of finishing the Fallout 2 adventure.
Pick the character that you like the most and start
playing immediately!

Mingan

Mingan’s whisper-soft
tread and acquisitive
fingers have always aided
his natural curiosity.
Several years ago the tribe
decided that Mingan’s talents
would be best used on

someone else. Since then Mingan has been the
tribe’s most accomplished scout. However, the tents
of nearby tribes provide little challenge these
days. It’s time to scout farther afield.

Mingan is a thief character. Players that would
like to sneak around, and “liberate” items from
other characters should select Mingan.

Chitsa

Chitsa has always been
able to convince others to
do things her way. Her
winning personality and
stunning good looks, have
often caused others to
underestimate the tribe’s
best trader. In the course

of her frequent journeys, Chitsa has learned to deal
with the perils of travelling the Wastes. Now the

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tribe needs help and new paths beckon to Chitsa.

Chitsa is a diplomat character. If you would
like to talk to people and wring the most information
from them without having to resort to violence all
the time, then you should select Chitsa.

Narg

Narg’s exceptional
physique has made him one of
the best hunters in the
tribe. Narg’s first, and
usually only, impulse is to
crush anything that he can’t
figure out. Narg has become
quite adept at crushing, and
slicing, and dicing. Narg
would like to prove his worthiness to lead the
tribe and he’ll let nothing stand in his way.

Narg is a barbarian fighter. If you want to
cause the most damage, select Narg.

Modifying Pre-generated Characters

From the main menu, one of the options is to MODIFY
CHARACTER. This will let you load the statistics
for the currently selected character into the
character creation screen. Here you can modify the
character to your heart’s content, or just look at
the character detail.

Creating a Character

The other option is to create your own character
from scratch. Using the character creation screen,
you will make choices that will determine how your
character will start the game.

For more information on character abilities, see
the Character chapter and the following pages:

Primary Statistics Page 22

Derived Statistics Page 24

Tag Skills Page 28

Traits Page 26

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You can also click on
any element of the
character screen to get
more information from the
info card in the lower
right hand corner of the
screen. If you want
details about any
statistic, skill or trait,
simply click on the part

in question. The card will change to show you a
graphic cartoon of the statistic, skill, or trait
and you will get a small text description.

How to create your Character

The easy way to create your character is to follow
some simple steps. The character editor does not
require that you follow of all these steps in order,
so you can branch out and make little tweaks as you
work on your character.

1. Think of a concept for your Character.

2. Select the Primary Statistics.

3. Select up to two Traits.

4. Choose three Tag Skills.

5. Select the sex of your Character.

6. Adjust the age of your Character.

7. Type your Character’s name.

8. Save your Character for future reference or
changes.

9. Start the game!

Character Concept

Start with a brief idea of what your character
should be. Determine what kind of character you
would like to play. Should the character be male
or female? Strong or weak? Smart or dumb? Good
with ranged weapons, melee weapons or martial arts?
The answers to these questions, and others, will
determine your character concept. Some characters
are very specialized, others will be good in many
different skills and be generalists.

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Primary Statistics

Adjusting the seven
primary statistics will
give you the most control
over your character. See
page 22 for more detailed
information on primary
statistics.

ST - Strength - The physical strength of your
character. This statistic affects your ability to
carry inventory items, do damage with melee weapons
and use powerful weapons effectively.

PE - Perception - The ability to see and hear. A
high Perception is critical for sharpshooting
characters.

EN - Endurance - How tough your character is.
Characters with a high Endurance can take more
damage, and they are more resistant to poison and
radiation.

CH - Charisma - The ability to look good and act
charming. If your character has a good Charisma,
it will make your relationships with non-player
characters (NPCs, see page 85) in the game easier.

AG - Agility - How well your character moves. How
far you can move in combat is directly related to
the Agility score of your character. It will also
affect the rating of many physical skills.

IN - Intelligence - How bright and smart your
character is. The number of skill points you get
each experience level, and the starting ratings of
many mental skills, is based on your character’s
Intelligence.

LK - Luck - This is the most unusual of all of the
primary statistics. It covers nothing at all, a

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little bit of some things
and everything. All at
once. Luck affects many
things in tiny amounts.

You start with a base of
5 points in all of your
primary statistics. This is
average. Primary statistics
are valued from 1 to 10,
with 1 being the worst and
10 being the best. The
following chart will give
you an idea of the
differences between the
various levels.

1) Very Bad

2) Bad

3) Poor

4) Fair

5) Average

6) Good

7) Very Good

8) Great

9) Excellent

10) Heroic

NOTES

Click the
small + and ­buttons next to a
statistic level name
to adjust the
statistic.

You also get 5 free CHAR POINTS that can be
spent on your primary statistics. You must spend
all of these free points before you can start the
game. You can spend these free points in one
statistic, spread them out over several statistics
or in any combination you desire.

If you need more points, since you may want to
increase more than one or two statistics to higher
levels, you can always decrease any number of
statistics. You cannot lower a statistic below 1.
Any free points gained from lowering your
statistics will appear in the CHAR POINTS display.
You must also spend these points before you can
start the game.

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Lowering your statistics is a drastic measure,
however. It should be considered with care.
Lowering your Intelligence below four, for example,
can have serious consequences on what your character
can say to other people in the Fallout world.

Adjusting your primary statistics is the single
most controllable thing you can do during character
creation to define your character. The initial
level of your skills, the derived statistics, and
what you can excel at during the beginning of the
game are based on your primary statistics. Choose
wisely, as it is very difficult, if not impossible,
to permanently modify your primary statistics after
you are finished creating your character. Your
skills will increase, and you will gain equipment
that will allow your character to do different
things, but your primary statistics will rarely
change in any meaningful way.

Derived Statistics

Derived statistics are based on one or more primary
statistics. While you cannot directly adjust a
derived statistic, as you adjust
your primary statistics, you will
see the values of the derived
statistics change. See page 88 for
more information and detail about
all of the derived statistics.

HP - Hit Points - The amount of
damage your character can take
before buying the farm, croaking,
taking a long dirt nap, and
otherwise exiting the corporeal
world. Based mostly on Endurance,
but modified by ST as well.
Fortunately, as you improve and gain
experience levels, you will also gain more hit
points.

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AC - Armor Class - How likely you are to be hit in
combat. Slightly different than Damage Resistance
(see below). High AC is better than low AC. Based
strictly on Agility.

AP - Action Points - How much you can do in a
single turn of combat (see Combat, page 118). The
higher the number, the better it is. Based solely
on Agility.

Carry Weight - The total amount of equipment you
can lug around the world. Characters with high
Strength scores can obviously carry more than
characters with low Strength scores.

Melee Damage - How much bonus damage your character
does with melee weapons or in hand-to-hand combat.
Bigger is better. Based on Strength.

DR - Damage Resistance - If you do get hit, how
much less damage to you take compared to the next
fellow. Higher DR means you take less damage.
Starts at 0% and goes up from there. Not based on
any primary statistic.

Poison Resistance - How much damage you take from
poison attacks is based on this derived statistic.
The larger your poison resistance, the less damage
you take. Based on Endurance.

Radiation Resistance - The larger your resistance
to radiation, the less damage you will take when
exposed to it. Based on Endurance.

Sequence - This statistic determines when you get
to take an action in a combat turn. It is based on
your Perception.

Healing Rate - How many points of damage you heal
when you rest. Based on Endurance.

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Critical Chance - The chance of causing a critical
blow, and doing some form of additional damage, is
based on this statistic. This statistic is based
solely on Luck.

Traits

Traits are characteristics that better define just
exactly who your character is. They don’t really
fit into a single statistic or location, but are
instead just called Traits. They all have a good
and a bad impact on your character. If you want the
good side of a Trait, you must take the bad with it.

Fortunately, Traits are optional. You do not
have to take a Trait to finish your character. If
you do want to select Traits, you may select up to
two. You must do this during character creation,
since you cannot select a new Trait once you start
the game.

To select a Trait,
click on the small button
next to the Trait name.
Select Traits will be
highlighted. Click the
button of a highlighted
Trait to deselect it. You
can have at most two Traits selected at a time.

Fast Metabolism - This will increase your Healing
Rate, but reduce your radiation and poison
resistances.

Bruiser - This increases your Strength, but lowers
your Action Points. Popular with the mean and
nasty crowd.

Small Frame - At the cost of a reduced carry
weight, you gain some Action Points. You will not
be able to carry as much inventory, and this can
have a major effect after the beginning of the
game.

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One Hander - You are more likely to hit with
smaller, single-handed weapons, and less likely to
hit with larger, two-handed weapons.

Finesse - You do less damage, but have a greater
chance of doing a critical hit.

Kamikaze - You act before other people, since you
have a higher Sequence, but you lose some Armor
Class and are easier to hit.

Heavy Handed - You do more damage in melee or hand­to-hand combat. And while you have the same chance
to cause a critical hit, your critical hits are not
as good as the next fellow.

Fast Shot - You can use a projectile or thrown
weapon more often each combat turn. The AP cost to
use a weapon is reduced by one. Unfortunately, you
cannot make targeted shots if you have this Trait.
You will not even be able to switch to targeted
shot mode if you are a Fast Shot.

Bloody Mess - This has no real game effect, beyond
the fact that you will always see the bloodiest way
a person can die. This is based on the setting of
the Violence Level in the preference screen (see
page 77.)

Jinxed - Everyone in the game is more likely to
have a critical failure when fighting. That
includes you, too.

Good Natured - Your combat skills start lower than
normal, but your skills in First Aid, Doctor,
Speech and Barter start higher.

Chem Reliant - Your chance to be addicted when
using a Chem is higher, but you recover faster.

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Chem Resistant - Chems
only affect you half as

NOTES

To select a

skill to Tag, click the

long as normal, but your
chance to be addicted is
reduced by half as well.

small button next to
the skill name. The
button will be lit, and
the skill name
highlighted. To
deselect the skill, in
case you want to Tag
another skill, simply click
the button again.

skill points you receive every new level of
experience. The cost is that it takes longer to
gain Perks, additional abilities, that also come
from earning experience levels.

Gifted - You have more innate abilities than most,
but at a serious cost. All primary statistics are
improved, but at a cost of lowered base skills and
a reduced number of skill points as you advance in
experience levels.

Sex Appeal - This trait
increases your chance of
having a good reaction
with members of the
opposite sex.
Unfortunately, this trait
tends to annoy members of
your sex. Jealous twits.

Skilled - The trait
increases the number of

Tag Skills

Skills are learned abilities. You will be able to
improve your Skills as you gain experience and
learn more. All skills have a skill level,
expressed as a percentage. The higher the skill
level, the more likely you are able to succeed at
using the skill.

Tag Skills define what skills you are especially
good at. They are specializations. You must
select three Tag Skills before you can leave the
character creation screen.

Selecting what Skill to Tag is important. Tag
Skills get an immediate +20% bonus, and more

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importantly, improve faster than normal skills.
When you gain experience levels, you will gain a
number of skill points to spend. Each skill point
is doubled when spent on a Tag Skill. See page 111
for a detailed explanation of gaining experience
levels and skill points.

For more information about the various skills,
see page 91.

Small Guns - The use of pistols and other small
firearms in combat. Based on Agility.

Big Guns - The use of bigger firearms and other
massive ranged weapons. Based on Agility.

Energy Weapons - Using energy weapons in ranged
combat. Based on Agility.

Unarmed - Using your fists and feet in hand-to-hand
combat. Based off of the average of Strength and
Agility.

Melee Weapons - The use of melee weapons, like
knives and spears, in battle. Based on the average
of Strength and Agility.

Throwing - How well you can aim a thrown object.
This is used with grenades, thowing knives, and
other tossed weapons. Based on Agility.

First Aid - The healing of minor wounds. Based on
Perception and Intelligence.

Doctor - The healing of major wounds, and crippled
or broken bones. Based on Perception and
Intelligence.

Sneak - The art of moving silently. Based solely
on Agility.

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Lockpick - How skilled you are in defeating locks
and other mechanisms designed to keep you out.
Based on Perception and Agility.

Steal - The skill of acquiring what is not yours.
Can be used to steal items off of a person, or to
give a person an item without them knowing about
it. Based on Agility.

Traps - The skill in spotting and disarming traps.
Also used t o set traps and explosives. Based on
Perception and Agility.

Science - Knowledge of all things scientific, like
chemistry and computers. Also includes knowledge
of machines, but not how to repair or jimmy them.
Based only on Intelligence.

Repair - The practical side of the Science skill.
How to fix (or break) machines and other man-made
devices. Based on Intelligence.

Speech - How well you can talk to other people. A
high speech skill can improve your chances of
talking people into doing what you want them to do.
Based off of Charisma.

Barter - The skill of trading items. A good Barter
skill will allow you to trade less and get more.
Based on Charisma.

Gambling - The skill of cards, dice and other
gambling games. Based only on Luck.

Outdoorsman - The knowledge of plants, animals and
living in wide open areas. Based on Intelligence
and Endurance.

Name, Age and Sex

Click on the NONE button in the upper left hand
corner of the screen to change your name. You

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