Games PC FALLOUT 2 User Manual

Download

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

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

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

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

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

(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.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

INTERFACE

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

Starting a

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

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

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

cannot change your name once you start the game, so pick something other than NONE, the character with no name.

Your name is the key to your character. The name you pick should represent the concept behind your game.

Your character’s age and sex will also define your character. And these attributes will have minor effects in the game world. Some non-player characters will react differently to your character if your character is male instead of female. Age, on the other hand, will rarely affect your character and there is no difference between older or younger characters. There is no penalty for growing too old, either, in the game world.

NOTES

That’s an old joke, but it’s still pretty funny!

Finishing your Character

Once you have spent all of your character points on your primary statistics, selected any optional Traits, selected your three Tag Skills, set your name, sex and age, you are ready to begin.

Click on the DONE button to start Fallout 2

using this character.

Click on the CANCEL button if you want to return to the character selection screen. The current character will be lost to time.

Alternatively, you can click on the OPTIONS

button, which will display a window with some options that are available only during character creation.

Character Screen Options

These options are only available from the character creation screen.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

SAVE - This will save the current character to a file on your computer’s hard drive. If you click this button, a save character window will appear. Enter a file name and press ENTER to save the character. Use this if you want to pass the file around to your friends, or if you want to keep a copy of your starting character for posterity. Once you start the game, you cannot use the haracter editor to modify your character.

LOAD - Click this button to load a previously saved character file. This will not load a regular save game. It will only load a character file saved through this window.

PRINT TO FILE - This will save your character in a friendly, easy to read text file version. This will allow you to post your character to the Internet, or just print it out and hang it on the wall! You will be asked for a file name. Type one in and press ENTER. Then look in the Fallout 2 directory for a text file with that name.

ERASE - If you click this button, it will erase the current character and let you start over from scratch. You will be asked for confirm this operation. For the sake of your little electron buddies that make up the current character, choose wisely.

DONE - Clicking this button will return you to the character editor screen.

Main Game Screen

This is the screen that you spend the majority of your time using. It shows your character and a view of the world around him or her.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

The screen is divided into two sections: the game view and the interface bar.

The game view is the upper part of the screen where the action takes place. Your character, and the non-player characters (NPCs) inhabit this part of the screen. It is in the game view that you perform most of your actions: moving around, grabbing items, talking to people, targeting enemy critters in combat, opening doors, exploring, and more.

The bottom part of the screen is the interface bar. You will use the interface bar to perform game-related activities: accessing inventory, selecting a weapon or weapon mode to attack with, accessing the character screen, selecting options, getting feedback from the display window, and more.

Using your mouse, you will perform actions using different types of cursors.

The Action Cursor

Fallout 2 uses an Action Cursor to show what actions can be performed at the current time. There are four basic modes the Action Cursor can be in when you are on the normal game screen.

Movement (game view only)

Command

Targeting (turn-based combat only)

Hand (inventory only)

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Normally, the only two cursor types available in the normal game screen are the Movement and Command cursors. Targeting is only available when you are in the turn-based combat mode. The Hand cursor is only available in Inventory, where it and the Command cursor are available.

Right-click to cycle between the available cursor types. Outside of combat, right-clicking will toggle between the Movement and Command cursor. In combat, the Targeting cursor is available by rightclicking when you see the Command cursor. Another right-click will cycle back to the Movement cursor.

A left-click will perform an action that is based on the cursor type.

See Combat, page 118, for more information on the Targeting cursor. See Inventory, page 45, for more information on the Hand cursor.

Movement Cursor

The default cursor is the movement cursor. It looks like a hex. Hex is short for hexagon, a sixsided polygon. Characters in Fallout 2 can be facing one of six directions. The movement cursor will control where your character can move to in the game view. Move this cursor around the screen. If you cannot move to the location under the hex, a red X will appear in the center of the cursor. There are two ways to move: walking and running. One of the preferences, Running, will change the default move type. See page 79 for more details about the preferences.

Walking

If you left-click when the movement cursor is displayed, your character will attempt to walk to that location, using the shortest path available. The shortest path to some destinations is not always the best one. If the shortest path looks dangerous to you, use small steps and walk carefully around that ticking box lying in the center of the corridor with the large red BOMB letters on it.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

The setting of the Running preference may change the default action of the left-click.

Running

If you press SHIFT and left-click when the movement cursor is displayed, your character will run to the desired location using the shortest path available. This assumes that the Running preference is set to the default of Normal. If the preference is instead set to Always, a simple left-click will make your character run, and you must hold SHIFT and left-click to make your character walk.

You can always interrupt your character while he or she is moving with another movement command.

Things that affect movement

If your character has a crippled leg or two, see Damage (page 131), your character cannot run. Movement during turn-based combat is limited and requires the spending of action points. Moving one hex requires one action point.

Command Cursor

The command cursor is the way of telling your character to interact with the environment and other people. Right-click until the command cursor is displayed.

Use this cursor to point to an object or person that you wish to interact with. If you move the cursor over an object or person, and let it rest for a brief moment, an icon will appear next to the command cursor. This icon will tell you what the default action is if you left-click the mouse button while the cursor is over this object or person. You do not have to wait for the icon to appear before you click! To perform the default action, left-click once.

To perform another action instead of the default action, move the command cursor over an object or person, and left-click and hold. You must hold the left mouse button until a list of action icons appears. One of the action icons will be highlighted.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Move the mouse up and down to change the highlighted action icon. Release the left mouse button to perform the highlighted action. The bottom action icon will always be Cancel (see below.)

Pausing the command cursor over an object or person will also display the name of the object or person in the display window on the interface bar. To get more information about that item or critter, use the Examine action icon (see below as well.)

Action Icons

USE ITEM/GET

Performing this action will attempt to pick up a small item (like a rock) or manipulate a large item (like a door.) You can only pick up inventory items, and you can only use scenery items. If you have enough room in your inventory, the item you pick up will be added to the top of your inventory. If you Get a dead body, you will have a chance to loot them for all they were worth.

You can get inventory items, loot dead bodies, and use scenery items.

EXAMINE

Using this action will give you more detail about an object or person. You will get a longer description of the item or person, often with important information (like how much ammo is left in a gun, or how wounded a person appears to be.) In the main game view, this long description will appear in the display window. In Inventory, this long description appears in the character display window.

You can examine almost anything in Fallout 2.

USE SKILL ON

To use one of your active skills on the targeted object or person, select this action icon. The skilldex will be displayed and you can select one of the skills. Some skills will not work on the targeted object or person (trying to Lockpick a

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

screaming mad ganger is pretty silly.)

You can use this action on any object or person that a skill can be used on.

DROP ITEM

Only available in Inventory. If you no longer want to carry an inventory item, especially if it is getting a little crowded in your back pocket, or wherever you keep all those guns and ammo, then use this action on an item. The dropped item will appear at your feet. Use this action carefully, since the dropped item may disappear from that location at a later date. If you drop a really important item, it may be possible that you cannot finish the game.

This works on any item in your Inventory.

ROTATE CHARACTER

To rotate your character clockwise, use this action icon. Every click of the mouse will rotate your character one hex-side. There is no Action Point cost for this action in combat. Your character will automatically rotate to face the proper direction for most actions that you peform.

This action icon only works on your character.

TALK

Use this action to start talking with an intelligent creature, or at least make the attempt to open communication. It also works on some computers, but not all. If a person has little to say, it will appear over their head in the main game view. If they want to actually listen to what you have to say, then it will open the Dialogue screen and you will be able to carry on an extended conversation with them. See page 64 for more information on the Dialogue screen.

This action icon works on people, intelligent creatures and some computers.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

USE INVENTORY ITEM ON

If you want to use an item from your Inventory on a person or object, then this action is the fastest way to accomplish that task. When you select this action icon on a legal target, a small version of your Inventory will appear. Scroll through your Inventory, if necessary, and select the item you wish to use, and your character will attempt to use it on the target. Obviously, the item must be appropriate. Using a stimpak on a door isn’t going to do much, while those lockpicks have little chance when used on a dog (unless it is a really weird dog.) This action does not Barter or Trade with a person. You must do that through the Dialogue screen.

This action will work on people, critters and scenery objects.

UNLOAD AMMO

If you want to remove ammo from a weapon, use this action icon. It will work in the Inventory screen and the loot screen, when you are pilfering from the dead. You can use this action to remove the valuable ammo from the heavy gun, or change ammo types in your favorite firearm. The ammo will be added to the top of your inventory.

This action icon only works on weapons that contain ammunition, and only in the Inventory and loot screens.

PUSH

Select this action icon when the screen is crowded and your path is blocked. It will ask all nearby critters to move out of your way. Some will respond, but others, especially guards, will not follow your directions. If that door is blocked by Ivan the Slow-witted, then this is your command.

Only available on your character, and only affects some nearby people and critters.

CANCEL

If you do not want to perform any of the above

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

actions on the target, select the cancel action and it will be as if nothing happened. This is always the bottom action icon.

Always available, from everywhere to everything.

Interface Bar

The bottom part of the main game screen is taken up by the Interface Bar. Don’t worry, this is a good thing. The Interface Bar looks like this:

The Interface Bar allows you to give many different types of commands, and see feedback on how your character is performing.

If you have a special cursor, like a combat targeting cursor, or a skill target cursor, and you move it over the Interface Bar, the cursor will disappear and change into the normal pointer. This will cancel your weapon attack or skill use. You will have to re-select that action if you still want to perform it.

The Interface Bar is made up of the following components:

Display Monitor - This monitor prints out feedback as you or other characters perform actions. These little messages are important, so try not to miss any. Fortunately, you can scroll back to older messages by moving the cursor over the display until if changes into a small arrow. At the top of the display, it will be an up arrow and left-clicking will scroll back to older messages. At the bottom of the display, the arrow points down and leftclicking will scroll to the newer messages. If

older messages are being displayed when a new message is printed, the display will automatically jump to the most recent message.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Switch Active Item Button - You can have two items prepared to immediate use. These are your active items. You prepare these items in the Inventory screen (see page 45) when you place items into the ITEM1 and ITEM2 slots. This button will toggle between the two items, effectively changing the Active Item Button (see below.) If ITEM1 is being displayed, clicking this button will switch it to ITEM2. And if ITEM2 is the Active Item, clicking this button will switch it to ITEM1.

Inventory Button - Pressing this button, cleverly marked INV, will open the Inventory screen. If you do this before combat, it is free. If you do this during combat, it will cost you Action Points. Moral of the story: use Inventory outside of combat if you can help it. See page 45 for what you can actually do on the Inventory screen.

Action Points - This row of lights will tell you how many Action Points you have remaining. Action Points are only used in combat, during which time they will glow. Glowing lights mean that it is currently combat and currently your turn. When you use Action Points, the lights will blink off one at a time. When you get your full complement of Action Points at the start of a combat turn, the row of lights will light back up. While it is possible to have more than ten Action Points, only the first ten Action Points are actually displayed with this monitor. The lights will not start to blink off until you actually start using your last ten Action Points.

Options Button - This button will display a list of options available as you play Fallout 2:

SAVE GAME - This button will display the Save Game screen, where you can save your progress. This allows you to return to the game at a later date or restore any progress you have made in case of death or Other Nasty Things. See page 76.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

LOAD GAME - This will allow you to load a previously saved game by displaying the Load Game screen. See page 78.

PREFERENCES - This button displays the Preferences screen, where you can alter the way Fallout 2 plays. See page 79.

EXIT - Quit the current game and return to the main menu. You may want to save your game before you do this, so Fallout 2 will remind you before you actually go back to the main menu.

DONE - Return to your current game of Fallout 2.

Active Item Button - This is where

the current active item is displayed. You can have two items prepared, ITEM1 and ITEM2. See the Switch Active Item button (above) for details on how to switch items.

Left-clicking this button will use the active item or weapon. Right-clicking this large button will switch weapon modes.

Besides the graphic of the current active item or weapon, additional important information is also displayed on this button.

The Action Point (AP) cost to use this item or weapon in combat is displayed in the lower lefthand corner. In combat, if you do not have more AP than this number, you may not use this item or weapon until you gain additional AP.

The mode, or how this item will be used, is displayed in the upper right-hand corner of the button. You can sometimes right-click to change this mode.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Some weapons can also make targeted shots. If you do not have the Fast Shot trait, you will see a targeted shot icon appear in the lower right-hand corner as you switch modes on the weapon. If you have selected the Fast Shot trait for your character, you cannot make targeted shots, and you will never see the targeted shot icon.

Ammo Bar - If the active item is a weapon that requires ammo, or an item that requires charges, then this bar will be displayed next to the active item button. This bar will give you a rough idea of how many shots or uses remain, before the weapon or item runs dry.

If the bar is full, stretching from the top to the bottom of the button, then the ammo or charges are maxed out. As you use rounds of ammo, or charges of energy, the bar will drop. When you are dry, the bar will disappear completely.

For more detailed information about the number of rounds or charges remaining, use an Examine on the weapon or item.

Hit Point Counter - This counter displays your current Hit Points (HP) remaining. The color of the counter will give you a rough idea of your current health:

WHITE - Healthy YELLOW - Hurt RED - About to Die

If your HP ever reach 0, you die and the game

ends. You will have to reload a previously saved

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

game, or start the game over from the very beginning. You should save often, and in different save game slots, to make sure that you don’t have to start over from the very beginning. You should monitor this display, and use skills or items to increase your HP when they get low.

Armor Class Counter - This counter displays your current Armor Class (AC), based on your character statistics, traits, and currently worn armor. During combat, this counter will go up and down. If you have any extra Action Points at the end of your combat turn, they are automatically converted to a bonus to your AC. Don’t panic if your AC constantly changes.

Skilldex Button - Pressing this button will display the Skilldex window. See page 44.

Map Button - When you press this button, it will open and display the Automap window for the current map and level. See page 59 for more information on Automaps.

Character Button - The CHAR button can be pressed to switch to the Character screen. This is the screen that shows all of your characters statistics and skills. Very useful, and should always be used when the display monitor prints a message that you have gained an experience level. See page 49 for more information about the Character screen.

PIPBoy Button - Pressing this button will display the RobCo PIPBoy 2000, a personal data assistant that will help record information about your travels. See page 57 for details about this wonderful machine.

Combat Buttons - Outside of combat, this section of the Interface Bar is covered by a panel. When you are involved in combat, the panel will slide back to reveal two combat buttons: END TURN, which will end your current turn and let the next person or

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

creature have a chance to act, and END COMBAT, which will attempt to stop all hostilities. The End Combat button will not work if there are nearby hostile critters that want to continue doing bad things to you. Green lights around the combat buttons mean that it is your turn. Red lights mean that someone else is getting a chance to do bad things.

Skilldex

Some skills are used automatically. When you shoot a gun in combat, the proper gun skill will automatically be used. Other skills require that you actively use them. These skills are available through the Skilldex.

Click on the Skilldex button on the Interface Bar, or use the Use Skill On action icon to access the Skilldex.

The Skilldex will display a list of all the possible skills that you could use in this situation. Not all skills will apply, so you must pick the proper skill.

There are a total of eight skills that you can choose from on the Skilldex. Each skill name is a button. Next to the button is a counter, showing your current level in the skill on the adjacent button. As usual, high numbers are better and show your percentage chance of succeeding in the use of that skill. The skill level is before modifiers, so it’s possible to have a really high skill and still fail.

Click on a skill button to use that skill. All skills, except for Sneak, will require you to pick a target. If you accessed the Skilldex through the command cursor with the Use Skill On action icon, then the target has already been chosen. If you use the Skilldex button off the Interface Bar, you will have to choose the target. In this case, the cursor will change to a targeting cursor. Move it

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

over the target, and leftclick. To not use the skill after all, right-click or move the cursor over the Interface Bar.

The Sneak skill does not require a target, since you can be the only target. Instead, the Sneak skill works like a toggle. If you are not sneaking, use the Sneak skill to start sneaking around. If you are sneaking, use the Sneak skill again to stop sneaking. While you are using the Sneak skill, a little indicator will appear just on top of the Interface Bar.

NOTES

You can

also press the 1 through 8 keys on your keyboard to access the skills quickly, without having to resort to the Skilldex. This can save your valuable time, especially if you are doing a repetitive action.

Inventory

The Inventory screen is used to keep track and use items that you come across during the course of your adventure. It also allows you to equip your character with items or weapons. You are limited in the number of items that you can carry. Every item has a specific weight. The maximum number of items you can carry is based on your Carry Weight statistic. You can Examine an item to determine the items weight.

Cursors

There are two cursors that you can use on this screen: The Hand cursor and the Command cursor. Right-click to switch between them.

The hand cursor will allow you to pick up and move items around. With

the hand cursor visible, move it over an item,

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

left-click and hold the mouse button down. Move the cursor around. Release the left mouse button to drop the item into its new location. If you are moving more than one item, a special window will appear and ask you how many of the items do you wish to move.

If you move completely identical items on to each other, they will “stack.” Stacked items show only one picture, but the number of items in the stack will appear. This is more convenient than having many items take up space in your inventory list. In the case of ammunition, it will show the total number of rounds in all of the magazines in this stack. When you move ammo, you move it by magazine, not individual rounds. Guns must have the exact number of rounds remaining, and the ammo must be of the exact same type. Stacking guns that are not unloaded is rare.

Moving or Dropping Multiple Items

The picture shows the items being moved. The counter shows the current number of items being moved. Press the + and buttons to increase or decrease the number of items being moved. You can also type the number of items, up to 99999, on your keyboard. If you are moving a bunch of items, type the number instead of using the +/- buttons.

If you want to move all the items, press the ALL button.

If you are happy with the number of items being moved, press DONE.

If you decided not to move any items at all, press CANCEL.

If you use the Drop Item action icon on a stack of items, you will also get this window.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Inventory Screen

The Inventory screen is divided into five parts:

Inventory List - This is a list of all your inventory items that your character is carrying. As you pick up new items, they will be added to the top of the list. If you Use an item from this list, it will automatically be used on your character. If you Examine an item, the long description will appear in the inventory screen Display Window (see below.)

You can use the Home, End, PgUp, PgDn keys on your keyboard to quickly move the inventory list from top to bottom, and back.

The arrow buttons will also scroll the list. When an arrow is white, the list can no longer be moved in that direction. When the arrow is colored yellow, you can press it to move the list in that direction.

NOTES

Remember that you must rightclick to change between the hand and action cursor. It is only with the action cursor that you can drop, examine, or use items.

Character Portrait - This window will change to show what armor your character is wearing, and

weapon is equipped.

Display Window - This window normally shows the current status of your character. At the top of the window is your character’s name. Below that you find some numbers and abbreviations.

ST, PE, EN, CH, IN, AG, LK - Your

character’s current statistics, which will include any modifiers for radiation, chems or other effects.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Hit Points - Current HP/Maximum HP. When the first number drops to 0, you are dead and the game is over.

Armor Class - This area shows the current Armor Class (AC), Damage Resistance (DR) and Damage Threshold (DT) for the armor you are currently wearing. The different types of DR/DT are:

Normal - Bullets, knives and other blunt or

sharp objects.

Laser - Damage from laser weapons. Reflective

armor will have higher DR/DT in this type of damage.

Fire - Damage from flamers and other sources of

heat.

Plasma - Damage from plasma weapons, which use

super-heated matter almost on the point of becoming pure energy. Pretty advanced stuff.

Explode - Explosions of all types. Concussion

and blast damage.

AC is the negative modifier applied to people or critters attacking you.

DT and DR are the amount of damage that the attack is reduced by.

The two areas at the bottom of your display window are for your currently active items (the items in ITEM1 and ITEM2, respectively.) Basic information about the item or weapon will be displayed, like the name. Other information displayed depends on the object type. Weapons will show damage, range, rounds left/maximum and the type of ammo. Other items will have brief descriptions of important information.

Current Weight/Total Weight - The two numbers at the bottom of the screen show your current total weight for all your inventory items, and the maximum

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

amount of weight that you can carry. You current weight cannot be larger than your maximum weight.

Armor Slot - Only armor can be placed into this slot. Use the hand cursor to drop armor items into this slot. Any armor that is currently in the armor slot will be dropped back into your inventory.

Item Slots - These two slots can hold items such as weapons. Other items can be placed here and then used from the Interface Bar. ITEM1 when empty can be used for unarmed punch attacks. ITEM2 when empty can be used for unarmed kick attacks.

There is also a DONE button. Press the DONE button to return to the game. While you are in the Inventory screen, time stops in the game. You can spend as much real-world time as you want in this screen, and no time will pass in the game.

Other Inventory Actions

You can also load and unload weapons. Drag ammo of the appropriate type to the weapon. When you drag ammo to a weapon, it will attempt to load it. To load the weapon successfully, the ammo caliber must be the same as the gun (no fair trying to load 9mm into a 10mm gun, either) and ammo type (JHP, FMJ) must be the same. If the weapon is completely loaded, you cannot add additional ammo, either.

Unload ammo from weapons by using the Unload action icon. The ammo will appear in your inventory. You can also unload ammo from a loot screen. It is far easier to carry small bits of ammo, then big heavy guns.

Character Screen

Use the character screen to access all the information about your character. On this screen, you can see detailed information about all of your character’s statistics, traits, perks, skills, and karmic results. You will also use the character

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

screen to improve your character when you increase in experience levels.

You must access the character screen from the interface bar

This section of the manual explains how the character screen works. For detailed information about the characteristics (statistics, skills, traits, perks and karmic kabobs) found on this screen, refer to the Character Reference chapter, starting on page 84.

The primary purpose of the character screen is to give you information about the status of your character: am I critically hurt? if so, where? poisoned? how many experience points do I have? when do I go up a level? how many extra skill points do I have? what are my exact skill levels? and so on.

The character screen should be accessed as soon as you get a new experience level.

The character screen in the game is slightly different than the character screen you might have used if you created a new character or modified a pre-generated character. There are a couple of important differences, most notably, you cannot modify your character’s statistics, and the select Trait area has been replaced by Perks, Karma and Kills.

And you cannot change your name. Hopefully, you selected something other than NONE and it is a name that you like.

You can click on any text or object of importance on this screen, and the information card in the lower right-hand corner will change to display more information about the statistic, skill, reputation (and so on) that you selected.

If your character ever gains a new characteristic that you are not familiar with, use the information card. It helps.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Basic Info and Statistics

The top of the screen shows your Name, Age and Sex. On the right side, below that information, are your current primary statistics.

Immediately below that information is an important little box that contains your current level, experience point total, and the experience required to gain the next level. Since increasing your level will improve your skills, and occasionally give you access to new abilities called Perks (see page 101 for more information on those vital and nifty powers), you should monitor this area closely. It may be worth it to waste an additional rat (animal, human or otherwise) in order to get those last 20 points of XP.

Level - Your current experience level. The higher the better. Increasing your level is some times called “leveling”, which you can do to entire towns if you are of high enough level.

EXP - Your current experience point total. You gain experience from solving problems, completing quests, using your skills successfully, and of course, killing Those That Stand In Your Way. The higher your current level, the more XP it takes to increase levels. (The next bit of info will show you how much experience you need.)

Next Level - The total amount of experience you need before you gain a level of experience. If you’ve seen the movie, “A Bridge Too Far,” you will understand what it is like to look at this value sometimes.

Hit Points and Medical Information

Your current and maximum hit points will be shown in this area. Remember, when your current hit points get too low, you are in danger of dying an early (or just unlucky) death. Be prepared, keep healing items ready and use your healing skills as often as possible.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

The information under your character’s HP totals is very important. It shows any critical damage your character may have taken. In a perfect world, they should be dull green. In this case, bright is bad. If a line is in bright green, like the rest of the screen, you have been inflicted by something horrible and potentially life-threatening.

Poisoned - This means that you have been poisoned (by rattle-snakes, giant scorpions from Hell, or Iguana-on-a-Stick that has gone bad from sitting out in the sun too long.) Note that this is dangerous, but not necessarily fatal. Poison does damage over time. The more poison that you have been infected with, the longer you will take damage. Fortunately, as the poison starts to wear off, it takes longer and longer to damage you again.

Radiated - Everyone in the post-nuclear world has some amount of radiation. Heck, if you live on a tall mountain, you will absorb some rads every year. And don’t use those new fangled “Microwaves,” as they can be very bad for your health. When you start the game, you will have very little to no measurable radiation. You can still encounter freak areas of radiation, but you are more likely to run into radiation-infected creatures that mean to do you harm. The more accumulated radiation damage you have, the worse the effect of additional radiation on your body. Since radiation damage takes a while to truly affect you, you would be wise to monitor this characteristic. You can tell exactly how much radiation you have been exposed to by using a Geiger counter. Some doctors may be able to treat radiation damage, and there are two types of drugs that can help.

The following are specific types of damage: crippled limbs (or crippled eyes) that have a detrimental effect on your character. They can

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

only be healed with the use of the Doctor skill. First Aid has no affect on this type of damage. Generally, you can only get a crippled limb or eye from a critical hit in combat.

Eye Damage - If your character takes a bad blow to her eyes or head, she can be crippled in the eyes. Until the eye damage is healed, your character will have a reduced Perception. This will affect your character’s ability to spot things and will affect ranged combat dramatically.

Crippled Right/Left Arm - If your

character takes a serious blow to one of his arms, it may be crippled. It could be the arm, or the wrist, or the hand that is seriously hurt. In any case, if one arm is crippled, your character cannot use two-handed weapons. If both arms are crippled, your character is in a serious hurt and cannot use any weapons at all.

NOTES

If you

see messages in the display window telling you that you have been exposed to radiation, you would be a wise player to use another savegame slot until you discover what foul thing has been done to you. Radiation damage can permenately lower your statistics, do HP damage, or kill you outright. It all depends on the amount of radiation. Note, that the most lethal amount of radiation still takes a small amount of time before the really bad effects take affect. Save often, and use those different slots!

Crippled Right/Left Leg - A critical hit to your character’s leg may cause that leg to be crippled. If one leg is crippled, it will cost more Action Points (AP) to move. One crippled leg also makes it impossible to run. If both legs are crippled,

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

the AP cost to move is increased even more. Most characters, with average amounts of APs, will barely be able to move with two crippled legs. Naturally, having both legs crippled means you still cannot run. Non-combat walking speed is not affected, but this is pretty much a sham to protect your character from ruffians and other nogooddoers. Get to a doctor right quick! Well, as quick as your crippled character can...

Skills

All of your character’s skills and their current level are displayed here. Your character’s current skill point total, gained from experience levels, will be displayed on the Skill Point counter. You can spend these skill points to improve your skills, or you can save them for use at a later time. Since it costs more skill points to improve a skill as it increases in skill level, it makes sense to store a small number of skill points. Just remember that every skill point you store is one that you could be using!

To spend skill points, simply click on the skill to highlight it and move the skill point spending bar to that skill. Press the + or - buttons to increase or decrease the number of skill points you are spending on that skill. You cannot decrease the number of skill points in a particular skill below where it started when you entered the character screen at this time.

See page 115 for information about Experience Points, Levels and new skill points.

Perks, Karma & Kills

This section of the screen contains three different displays. Click on a tab to switch to that display. You can choose from:

Perks - This display shows your character’s current Perks, or special abilities that you gain every few levels. For most normal characters, every three

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

levels you will have the ability to choose from a list of Perks. Characters that have the Skilled trait must advance four levels before they can choose a new Perk. Each Perk will appear as a separate entry. If you selected the Perk multiple times to increase the ability of the Perk, that rank will appear as a number next to the Perk name. Click on a Perk to view the information card about it.

Use the arrow buttons to scroll the list up or down if you have too many Perks to view on one screen at the same time.

At the bottom of this display, you will see your chosen traits.

Karma - As the player, you will make choices for your character and those choices will have ramifications. The results of your choices will be found on this display. For good or bad, your actions will change your character. This display basically shows three types of information: Karma score, town reputations and special reputations.

Your charcter’s Karma score is kind of a oneshot indicator of the results of all the actions you have taken up to now. A positive number means that you have basically acted as a good guy. A negative number means that you have been the bad guy. Imagine it as a scale. Every good deed and bad deed that you do, regardless if it is noticed by the outside world, is recorded. Bad deeds will lower your Karma, while good deeds will raise your Karma. A Karma that hovers around zero means that you are basically neutral, or you are like a newborn child -- you haven’t had a chance to prove yourself one way or the other.

Reputation is also a measure of your deeds, but only if other people witness your actions. Each location will think of you differently, but some locations can hear about your deeds from one town or the other, and will thusly be modified by your reputation in other towns. A positive reputation is good, a negative one is bad and one that is

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

close to zero is neutral. It is possible to have a really good reputation in a town, and have a really low Karma (in this case, you are a stinker and no one knows about you, yet.) It is also possible to have a poor rep and good Karma (you do good things, but no one has noticed.)

Your character can earn Special Reputations for doing actions that are really spectacular, either good or bad. Special Reputations will modify what people think of you, and can give you additional positive or negative modifiers.

Kills - This display simply shows the number of critters (including humans) that you have slain in battle, by critter type. If you kill a bunch of rats, for example, you can refer to this card to see just how many rats you have killed since you started Fallout 2. While this does serve no real purpose, since you gain experience points for each kill and that is recorded in a different location, it does serve as an excellent tool for bragging rights.

Information Card

This card will update to show you more detailed information about the currently selected statistic, skill, perk, trait, karmic bobble, or anything else that is selectable on the character screen.

It also has a cute picture depicting the chosen characteristic in action. Sometimes, cute is not the proper word to be used.

Print, Cancel and Done

The following options are available at the bottom of the character screen.

Print - Pressing this button will save the current record of your character as a text file on your own computer. Show it to your friends, or post it on the Internet. When you press this button, a window will appear. Type the name of the text file in

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

this window. When you hit the ENTER key on your keyboard, the text file will be saved. If you want, you can then copy this text file to your printer, or open it with a text editor and print it out from there.

Cancel - Returns to the game. All changes that you have made to this character since you entered this screen will be lost. If you spend some skill points, or if you purchase a Perk that you later regret, press this button and, with a wave of a magic wand, everything will be as it was!

Done - Accepts any changes that you have made and returns you to the game. The typical way of exiting the character screen.

The Holy RobCo PIPBoy 2000

One of the most holy artifacts to be found in the Fallout 2 world is the RobCo PIPBoy 2000. This Personal Information Processor is highly sought after since few functioning units remain. While your character does not start off with this

wonderful device, one of your first quests will be to retreive it.

The PIPBoy (as it is commonly called) is a handy device that you wear on your wrist. It stores information automatically for you, like a personal secretary, and also includes a clock and

calender function for keeping track of time.

Use the buttons on the left-hand side of the screen to select the primary function of the PIPBoy. All other commands will be entered directly on the screen of the PIPBoy. You can click on most lines of text to get more information.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Functions of the PIPBoy 2000

The various functions of the PIPBoy are described below. Remember that none of these functions are available until your character finds the PIPBoy.

The Clock and Calender

The upper left-hand corner of the PIPBoy screen shows the current date and time. The date is shown in Day:Month:Year format. The time is shown in military time, a 24-hour clock. When a 24-hour clock is used, an AM or PM notation is not required. Between 0000 and 1159 are the morning hours, 1200 to 2359 are the evening hours. 1300 is the same as 1 o’clock in the afternoon. 1800 is 6 o’clock, and so on.

The button between the date and the time is an alarm clock. Press this button to show a list of timer settings in the main display. Select one of the timer settings, and game time will advance quickly. During this time, your character will rest or sleep. This means that you will gain more Hit Points than if your character continued to walk around or fight. Resting is also a good way of passing the time until the sun rises or sets.

The various timer settings available:

10 minutes

30 minutes

1 hour

2 hours

3 hours

4 hours

5 hours

6 hours

Until morning (0600 / 6:00AM)

Until noon (1200 / 12:00PM)

Until evening (1800 / 6:00PM)

Until midnight (0000 / 12:00AM)

Until healed

Use the 10 minute to 6 hour timers if you need to perform a specific action at a particular time

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

of day. Some events only occur during the night or during the day. Some shops are only open during daylight hours, for example.

The “until” timers are a little more powerful. They will advanced the clock until the condition is meet. If you are low on healing items, and you don’t care if you waste some time, use the “Rest until healed” timer. This will advance the clock quickly, and it will keep your character resting until he is restored to full health. You can monitor the current/maximum number of hit points on this screen.

While your character is resting, the clock will advanced quickly. Press ESC to wake up and cancel the remainder of the timer.

Status

The primary function of your PIPBoy is to record your character’s current progress. All quests will be entered into this section of the PIPBoy when they are assigned to your character. You can press this button to display a list of the current and former quests. Quests that have been completed are crossed out. Select a quest to get more information on it.

The Status function also displays data copied from holotapes, a kind of recordable media. Select an entry to display the data. If more than one page of data is available, use the NEXT and BACK text buttons to move through the data. To copy data from a holotape, use the Inventory screen to select the holotape and then use the Use action icon from the command cursor on it.

Automaps

Your PIPBoy can display an automap for any location that your character has visited. Press this button to display the list of locations. Select the primary location to display a list of all the submaps within that location. Select a map to display.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Archives

NOTES

Leaving the map via an exit grid is a great way to end

All movies are captured on the PIPBoy’s video recorder for later playback. Select any previously viewed movie to view it again.

combat!

Press this button to power down the PIPBoy and return to the game.

Maps

The game view just shows a small section of the Fallout 2 world. There are three different types of maps besides the game view that show the world at different scales. From largest to smallest:

World Map Town Map Game View

Automap

World Map

The largest map in the game, the world map shows an overland view of the wasteland. You will use this map to move your character from town to town. You can only get to the world map by exiting a town via an “exit grid.” This is an example of what an exit grid looks like:

Note that there are two types of exit grids. Green exit grids take you from one part of a town to another, and brown exit grids take you to the world map. Step on the exit grid to be automatically

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

transported. You can use an exit grid to escape from a hostile location, but don’t expect a pleasant welcome when you return.

The world map is divided into four different sections:

Map Display - This is the view of the map. Areas that you have not explored are dark. The immediate area around your explorations is slightly illuminated. This means

that your character has seen the contents of that area, but has not yet walked through that part of the world map. Green circles are important locations, towns usually, that you can visit. Large green circles have their own town map (see below.)

Sun/Moon Display - You can see the current date and time through this indicator. This display will also show you if it is day or night at your current spot on the world map. Notice that as you move, the sun sets and rises. Many towns change depending on whether it is day or night when you arrive.

Location List - As you discover important locations, a button for that location will be added to this list. If you ever want to visit a known location, simply click on that location’s button and your character will start marching there immediately. You can scroll this list, if necessary.

Town/World Button - This button will toggle between the town and world maps.

World Map Movement

To move around the world, move your cursor over your intended destination and click. Your character will begin moving there immediately. Movement is not instantaneous and may take days or weeks of game time.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

As you explore, darkened areas of the world map

will be revealed.

You can also use the location list to select a

previously visited location to head for.

When you reach your destination, a green triangle will appear. Click on the triangle to enter that location. You can always click on a new destination, if you want to keep exploring.

The world of the wasteland is a difficult place to travel in. You have two obstacles -- terrain and random encounters. Either or both of these can slow down your travelling and make your life difficult.

Terrain

Some terrain is more difficult to travel through than others. There are four basic types of terrain:

Mountain - The most difficult to move through. Mountain areas will force your character to move the slowest.

Desert - This terrain is hot and dry. Movement is normal, however.

City - Walking through this terrain is usually the fastest way to travel. Even with the ruins, cities are the easiest to travel through.

Coastland - Similar to desert terrain. Movement is normal.

Random Encounters

When you are travelling on the world map, it is still possible to encounter other travellers or dangerous animals. These are known as random encounters, since you are never sure what you will be coming across, or when. Some areas of the map may have more encounters than others.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Random encounters are usually hostile, but not always.

Depending on your Outdoorsman skill, some Perks and whether or not you have the Motion Sensor, you may be able to detect a random encounter before it detects you. In this case, you are given the option of bypassing the encounter and continuing your journey, or going ahead with the encounter.

Town Map

The town map is a detailed representation of an important location, usually a town (thus the name.) Town maps give you an idea of what the location is, where the major buildings or points of interest within that location are, and a quick way of jumping into a town once you have explored it.

To access a town map, click on the TOWN/WORLD button on the world map. One of the locations (most likely the most previously visited location) is displayed. To change town maps, click on a known location button in the location list. You can only view town maps for places that you have visited.

The green triangles function just like the ones on the world map do. Click on one of them to jump to that part of town. To help you remember what triangle is associated with what part of that location, move the cursor over a triangle marker to reveal the marker name.

Automap

An automap is a shrunken view of a game view map. It is shrunken so you can see all of that map at once. The PIPBoy 2000 records all automaps, and can give you access to any automap that you have visited. To access the automap for the map your character is currently on, press the MAP button on the interface bar.

The automap is a window that appears. Only the current level of the map you are on is displayed. All other levels (like the basement of a building,

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

or a second story) are displayed through the PIPBoy.

Notice that the automap only displays large objects, like walls and buildings. The function of an automap is to help you find your way around town.

Your current location is marked with a solid red cross. Exit grids are orange.

If you have the Motion Sensor as an active item, you can press the SCANNER button to reveal other critters within the automap. All other critters show up as red dots. You can only scan maps that your character is currently on.

The HI/LO toggle button will change between high and low resolution. At high resolution, more detail is displayed on the map. Low resolution easier to read on some cluttered maps.

Press the CANCEL button to return to the game.

NPC Interaction

Non-player characters (NPCs) are the people besides your character that inhabit the Fallout 2 world. Much of your time will be spent interacting with them on some level or another (even if it is with the blade of your dagger, or a couple rounds of .44), and you must be prepared to do so.

There are two types of NPCs, those that are party-members and those that are not. Party-member NPCs are your friends (or at least they are pretending to be your friends) or people tagging along with you for a while. Those that are not, are everyone else in the world.

Dialogue

Talking makes the world go around. So does sex. And while you may not be able to go to bed with

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

every person in the game, at least you can talk to them. Most of the time, they will even talk back. Talking to people is an important part of your job, as an explorer, since it is one of the primary ways of getting information and quests.

To talk to a person, use the command cursor and the Talk action icon. The Talk icon is the default action, so most of the time you only have to click on a person to start talking to them. If you are in the middle of combat, and trying to blow them away, don’t expect them to start a little chat about the weather at that point. Some NPCs will also start a conversation with you, when you get close enough to them. All dialogue works the same once a conversation is started.

There are two types of dialogue: chatting and extended.

Chatting Dialogue

If an NPC has very little to say to you, and they don’t really want to hear what you have to say anyways, they will just chat with you. A line of dialogue will appear over their head in the main game view. Most of the time, this is something as simple as “Hello!”, but sometimes those sneaky game designers will put a “Hey, you’d better not move, or I will shoot you” type of line in there. In other words, most of the

time, don’t worry what that person has to say to you. Sometimes, an important clue or order could be given to you via the chatting dialogue line.

NPCs will also chat during combat. These are called combat taunts. Few combat taunts are pleasant. Fortunately, you can turn them off via

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

the Preferences screen (see page 79.) Your character

NOTES

If an NPC doesn’t have a head, that is not to say they are not

will never use combat taunts. We fully expect you to scream those out loud, and frighten your neighbors.

important. And if an NPC does have a head, that doesn’t make them critical to the game.

will get a view of the NPC, see what he or she has to say, and get a chance to respond to them. This screen will also allow you to Barter or Trade with the NPC, and review the current conversation.

Some NPCs are special, and you will see a closeup of their head. Others are not so special, and you will just see a shot of this character just standing around in the game view.

If an NPC does have a head, watch their facial expressions. They will give you a clue as to how the NPC really feels about your character.

The NPCs dialogue will appear below their portrait or picture. If the text of what they have to say to you is too big to fit on the screen at once, only a small portion will be displayed at a time. The rest of the text will be displayed one screen at a time, until you see their entire speech. You can use the mouse cursor to review their speech, or advance it if you are a quick reader.

Below the NPC’s speech, you will have one or more lines that your character can say. Exactly which lines that appear are based on your character. Your characteristics are the major factor, primarily Intelligence, but sometimes what skills you excel at. What else your character has done,

Extended Dialogue

When NPCs have something to say, and you can respond to their comments or ask questions, you will enter the extended dialogue screen. From here, you

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

or talked to people about, will also modify what options you have.

If you only see [DONE], you are at the end of a conversation.

NPCs will react differently to different lines. If your character says something stupid or inappropriate, some NPCs will get upset and others will just get on with their lives. Since having a higher Intelligence means that you get to see more options, you can choose between simple grunts and well-spoken diatribes against the capitalistic war-mongers. An Intelligence of three or less means that your character can only grunt and will be unable to converse like a sentient being. NPCs will have a hard time understanding characters with super low IN.

Select a line of dialogue for your character to say by moving the mouse cursor over an option, and when the line highlights, click the left-button. The NPC will usually respond to that line of dialogue, and then you will be presented with more options. Continue making comments, or asking questions, until the NPC runs out of things to say or you really anger them and it starts combat.

Some of the lines are questionable, and can make the NPC respond one way or another. These lines usually have some sort of characteristic roll associated with them. Usually Speech, but occasionally another skill or even a statistic. The most common usage of Speech is to lie to an NPC. The quality of your lie, and their ability (or inability) to see through your lie, depends greatly on your Speech skill.

You can review an extended dialogue, to see what you or the NPC have said, by pressing the REVIEW

NOTES

Characters with a high Intelligence will have more options to select from when talking to NPCs. Something to think about when you select or create a character.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

button on this screen. A simple window will appear with the conversation printed verbatim.

If the conversation is longer than can be printed on one screen, use the arrow keys to scroll the screen. Press the DONE button to return to the conversation. You can only review the current conversation with this NPC, and as soon as you quit the dialogue, the conversation will be lost. For you programmers out there, it gets sent to /dev/null.

The only way to completely exit a conversation, however, is by getting to the end. Once you start talking to an NPC, you must see it through. One of your options will usually allow you to end the conversation at any time, and once you or the NPC run out of things to say you will see the [DONE] option, but until then you must continue to talk it out.

Barter

Barter is the exchange of goods. Without a real monetary system, and a government to back it up, most people have resorted to trading goods in order to get by.

To access the bartering interface, press the BARTER button from the dialogue screen. If the character wishes to barter with you, and most will, then the barter interface will slide up and cover the lower section of the screen.

If you decide to cancel bartering, without making the deal, press the TALK button. You will be

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

returned to the normal dialogue screen.

To barter with an NPC, you must trade an equal amount of goods. Your Barter skill will modify the worth of the items in your inventory, since you will be better at making them seem more valuable. A high Barter skill will give your loot more value. A low Barter skill means that you have to give more of your items to get the same amount of goods from an NPC.

Your inventory list is on the left-hand side of the screen. The equipment and items that the NPC is willing to barter away is on the right-hand side of the screen. The table between the two lists is where the bartering will actually take place. At the bottom of each side of the table is the total value for all items that are up for trade. As you add more items to your side, for example, the dollar value will rise. The dollar value on the NPC side of the table shows the total value of all items that you want to trade for.

NOTES

Barter is used with non-partymember NPCs only. NPCs that believe in you enough to join your cause, and your party, use a slightly different method of trading goods. See page 70 for more details.

How to Barter

Take inventory items that you are willing to give up, or no longer need, and place them on your side of the table (the left.) Take the items that you want from the NPCs inventory list and place them on his side of the table (the right.) You cannot place items directly into the other sides table or inventory list. That would be a major no-no. You must use the table.

If you move multiple items (like a bunch of ammo or Stimpaks), then you get the move multiple item window. Remember that you can type in the number of items to move, in addition to using the + and -

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

buttons. Typing a large number of items

NOTES

Not all

trade is done by pure barter. Some of the towns are printing money again. Money makes a great way to store lots of value, since it is very light-weight and takes up no real room in your inventory. When you have the chance, convert your heavy loot into portable cash.

inventory list.

If the NPC does not accept the deal, you need to place more items on your side of the table or remove items from his side. Remember to watch the dollar values of the items at the bottom of the trading table. Press the OFFER button again when you have adjusted the trade.

works well when you are dealing with cash.

Once you have balanced the two sides of the table with an equal amount of goods (or if the trade is in the favor of the NPC), then you can press the OFFER button to make the offer. If the NPC accepts, the goods will be exchanged automatically. Your new items will be added to the top of your

Price Influences

There are many things that will determine the total value of your goods compared to what the NPC will barter them for.

Obviously, your Barter skill is the single most important factor. Remember, the better your Barter skill, the more you can get for your items.

The Barter skill of the NPC comes into play. Some NPCs also just charge more for their goods (shopkeepers for example.)

Your reputation will modify the value of the trade. Having a good reputation will give you a better price break.

The NPCs personal reaction to your character will also modify the value of the goods being

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

traded. If the NPC likes your character, she is more likely to give your character a break and a better deal.

If you offer a really poor trade, it may actually insult the NPC and lower their opinion of your character.

Party Members

It is possible to have other people join your character. You may have to talk them into it, solve a quest, pay them money or otherwise convince them that your character needs their services. Non-player characters that want to join your character’s party are few in number.

The benefits of additional party members are many. They will assist you in combat, to some degree or another, and they will lend their experience and skills to yours. They can help you carry more equipment. They can offer their wisdom by giving you information and advice.

And they are another target, meaning that combat will be a tiny little bit safer for your character.

You have limited control over party members, however. You cannot control them directly in combat. You can give them orders before combat starts, but once the battle is on, they are their own person.

Using the Talk action icon on a party member will give you access to the two parts you do have control over: their inventory and their basic combat strategies.

Party Member Inventory

Talk with a party member and you will see the extended dialogue screen. Notice that the BARTER button has been replaced with the TRADE button. Press the Trade button and the trading interface will slide up over the lower portion of the screen.

Trading is similar to Barter (see page 68), but it has several important differences.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

First, the values at the

bottom of the trading table

NOTES

You should remember to keep your NPCs well stocked up on Stimpaks, ammo and other perishables.

Drag items from your inventory to the table to give them to the NPC. Move items from the NPCs inventory list to the table if you want them. Press the TRADE button when you are done moving items. Press the TALK button to cancel the current trade.

show the total inventory weight of the characters involved.

Second, and most importantly, trades do not have to be equal when you are trading with party members. Since your character is the leader of the party, you have complete control over who gets what.

Party Member Combat Control

Also on the extended dialogue screen of a party member is the COMBAT CONTROL button. Pressing it will slide the combat control interface over the lower portion of the screen.

This panel shows some basic information about this NPC. You can also select many of the buttons to adjust the way the NPC acts. You can adjust the actions of the NPC at anytime except the middle of combat.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

This information is not adjustable:

HP - Shows the current and maximum Hit Points of the NPC.

Skill - This is the best non-combat skill that the NPC knows.

Carrying - The current and maximum weight that this NPC can carry.

Melee Dam - The current Melee Damage bonus for this NPC.

APs - How many Action Points this NPC has.

You can press the following buttons:

Use Best Weapon - This will force the NPC to stop using their current weapon and use the best weapon in their inventory. The choice of the best weapon depends on the Weapon Preference of the NPC, something that is part of their Disposition (see below.) Unlike the player character, NPCs cannot use all weapon types. Individual NPCs will be trained in the use of different weapons. The newly selected weapon will be displayed.

Use Best Armor - This will force the NPC to stop wearing their current armor and use the best armor in their inventory (which could be the armor they are currently wearing.) Unlike the player character, their image will not change when they wear new armor. Trust us, they are wearing the new duds, but you just can’t see it. The display will show what armor the NPC is wearing and they will get the benefit of the armor’s Armor Class, Damage Threshold and Damage Resistance.

Disposition - This controls the way the party member acts in combat. Some NPCs do not allow particular dispositions to be set. If a really butch combat guy joins your party, he may just say no if you try and set him to the Coward disposition. Press one

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

of the following to attempt to set the NPC to that disposition:

Berserk

Aggressive

Defensive

Coward

Custom

Each of the first four dispositions are preset. The fifth disposition, Custom, allows you, the player, to individually set the components that make up a disposition. And if you are asking just exactly what those components are, here you go:

Burst - This controls how often the party member uses the selector switch on any burst-capable weapon they are using. Basically, this controls whether or not the NPC will shoot more than one round at a time, if they have a weapon that is capable of burst fire. Possible choices, in descending order of likelyhood:

Always

Sometimes, don’t worry about hitting me.

Be careful not to hit me.

Be sure you won’t hit me.

Be absolutely sure you won’t hit me.

Run Away - This determines when the party member will decide to flee from combat. It is based on the percentage of HP remaining. The less hit points remaining, the more likely it is for the NPC to stop attacking and start looking for a back door to run out or a bush to hide under. Possible choices, in descending order of likelyhood:

Abject Coward

Your finger hurts.

You’re bleeding a bit.

Not feeling good.

You need a tourniquet.

Never!

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Weapon Preference - This determines what kind of weapon the party member prefers to use. If you select Melee (only), Ranged (only) or Unarmed, then the party member will not attack if they cannot use their listed preference. Possible choices:

Melee

Melee then Ranged

Ranged then Melee

Ranged

Unarmed

Distance - This controls how the party member moves around in combat. Some of these will not be available or work properly, depending on the weapon preference. Possible choices:

Stay close to me.

Charge!

Snipe the enemy.

On your own.

Stay where you are.

Attack Who - This preference controls who the NPC will decide to attack, if they have a choice. Possible choices:

Whomever is attacking me.

The Strongest.

The Weakest.

Whomever you want.

Whomever is closest.

Chem Use - This final setting controls how often the NPC will use chems. Two of these settings allow the use of any chem, while the two Stimpak settings only allow the use of Stimpaks. NPCs can only use chems that they have in their inventory, so you will have ultimate control over what they can and can’t use. Possible choices:

I’m clean.

Stimpaks when hurt a bit.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Stimpaks when hurt a lot.

Any chem some of the time.

Any chem, any time.

Options

Options allow you to save your game, load a previously saved game, change the preferences, or exit the game and return to the main menu. The various options are accessed by pressing the options button (the Big “O”) on the interface bar.

When you press the options button on the interface bar, this small window with five different options will appear. Press one of these buttons to access that option. Save Game, Load Game, and Preferences are all complex enough that they need their own sections (see below.) The other two buttons are pretty straight-forward and are briefly explained here:

Exit - This returns you the main menu. Since it does not automatically save your game, another window will appear asking you to confirm this action.

Done - Closes the options window and returns to the game.

Save Game

When you want to stop playing, or if you want to save your progress so if something Really Bad happens you don’t have to start over from the very beginning, then you want to use this option. Saving your game often is a good idea, especially if you are in a dangerous

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

NOTES

There is a philosophy about saving

games. Some people say that you should only have one savegame file, and you should rarely save to it. These people believe that this increases the danger of playing the game, and is thus more dramatic. Others claim that you should be able to save before every combat, be able to replay every action and have unlimited saves. Since the Fallout 2 development team is pretty nice, we tend to lean towards the latter. You are allowed to save up to 10 save games, using slots, at pretty much anytime. Should you save every few steps? Well, it’s up to you. We do highly suggest that you use multiple slots when you save. Start with slot 1, and then use slot 2, then slot 3 and so on. Only use slot 1 again when you have gone through all ten slots. This way, if something really bad happens to your character or savegame, you have a fairly recent backup of the game and you won’t lose much progress. But the frequency of your game saving, and how you use it to play the game, is entirely in your hands.

area or if you get a bad feeling about what is just around the corner.

There are ten save game slots. A save game slot will hold one save game file, so you can save up to ten different locations or positions at a time.

Once you save ten save games, you will have to select one of the older games to overwrite when you decide to save a new game.

When you first start playing Fallout 2, all ten slots will be empty. Each slot will say EMPTY, just to prove our point.

To see what a save game slot contains, leftclick once on a slot. A picture of where you saved

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

the game will appear, along with a small text description showing the name, game date, and time of the saved location.

To save a game, double-left-click on a slot, or select the slot and press the DONE button. Type a description that makes sense to you. Press ENTER on your keyboard, or press the DONE button. If you chance you mind, and do not want to use this slot, press CANCEL.

The game will be saved, and you will get a message informing you if the everything went well. The most common problem when saving is if you run out of free hard disk space. The longer you play, the larger the save game file will get.

Load Game

When it comes time to return to a previously saved game, then you will want to use this screen. This is also the same screen available from the main menu.

The load game screen is very similar to the save game screen.

The list of the ten save game slots is displayed on the left-hand side of the screen. A small picture of the currently selected save game is displayed on the upper right-hand side. A description of that same save game is just below the picture.

To load a game, double-left-click on the appropriate slot or left-click once on the slot to select it and then press the DONE button.

If you do not want to load a game, press the CANCEL button.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Preferences

These preferences control aspects of the game. All the preferences here can be adjusted by you, the player. In this way, you are given a chance to

modify the game to your liking.

All of the preferences below have two or more settings. One of the settings will be the default setting, which is set back at the Fallout factory by well-trained professionals. Don’t worry, however, they won’t

get upset if you decide to deviate from the norm and change the default setting.

The options are listed in the brackets following the name of the preference. The underlined option is the factory-set default option.

Game Difficultly [Easy, Normal, Hard]

This preference controls the overall difficultly of reaction and other non-combat related rolls. Negative reaction modifiers are halved, and all non-combat rolls are made with a +20% bonus if set to Easy. If set to Hard, all negative reaction rolls are increased by 25%, and all non-combat skills are reduced by 10%.

You can adjust this preference at anytime during the game. There is no penalty or reward for using any of the settings.

Combat Difficulty [Wimpy, Normal, Rough]

Controls the difficulty of combat. On Wimpy level, all opponents have a negative modifier to hit you, do less damage and take fewer targeted shots. On the Rough setting, they will hit you more often, do more damage and tend to take more targeted shots.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

There is no penalty or reward for using any of the settings, and you can change this preference whenever you wish.

Combat Speed [Slider: [Normal -> Fastest, Player Checkbox]

This slider controls how fast the non-player characters move and attack during combat (actually, just how fast they animate -- they still get their normal amount of attacks, but it just looks like they are moving quickly.)

If the Player checkbox is clicked on, then the player will also be animated quickly.

If combat is moving a little too slow for you, move the slider to the right until combat is humming along at the speed you like.

Combat Taunts [On, Off]

This preference turns the combat taunt messages on and off. If you get tired of the little quotes that non-player characters say during combat, then turn this preference off.

The player character never says a combat taunt.

Combat Messages [Verbose, Brief]

When set to Verbose, combat messages will be more detailed with “flavor” text. If set to Brief, the messages will contain the same information but they will be shorter, since they only contain the critical stuff.

Target Highlight [On, Off, Targeting Only]

When set to On, this preference will always highlight characters during combat. When set to Off, you will never get a highlight. When set to Targeting Only, the highlights will only appear when you are actually using a targeting cursor in combat.

The color of the highlight will give you detailed information about the character. See page 116 in the Combat section for more details.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Violence Level [None, Minimal, Normal, Maximum Blood]

This preference controls what happens when a character is killed in the game. On Maximum Blood, you will see the most violent, gruesome deaths possible. Normal shows most of the deaths, but doesn’t show a couple of the really bloody ones. Minimal shows characters falling over in a pool of blood. None just shows the characters falling over.

Since there is no practical difference in the game (except that it is a little more difficult to tell dead characters from unconscious characters with the None setting), you can set it to whatever setting you like.

Notice that Maximum Blood is the default setting, and Normal is not. That should be a scary indicator of what the development team considers normal...

Text Delay [Slider: Slow -> Normal -> Faster]

This preference controls how long floating text and dialogue screen messages are displayed. Slow speed text messages are displayed for twice as long as normal. Faster speed messages are only displayed for half the normal amount of time.

Language Filter [On, Off]

There is some naughty language in Fallout 2. When the Language Filter is used, this text will appear as “&^!@!” instead of the more normal “!@&^@%!”. Hmm. This manual is using a language filter. The setting of this preference is left to the user.

Running [Normal, Always]

If set to Always, your character will run instead of walk when you left-click with the movement cursor, and you must shift-click to make the character walk. Normal is the default setting, where left-click is walk and shift-click is run.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

NOTES

A note to our younger

players: If you are under the age of 17, you should look at the little black rating on the box to this game. It says Mature. We mean it. There are some really adult situations that occur in this game. There are couple of preferences that you can set to make it more likely that your parents will not kick you out of the house if they discover you playing this game. Click the Language Filter to On, and click the Violence Level to Normal or Minimal. A note to parents: If you discover your child playing this game with all the settings set to their normal Mature levels, we don’t actually suggest that you kick your kid out of the house. That would be really rude.

Master Audio Volume [Slider: Off -> Quiet -> Normal -> Loud]

This preference controls the overall volume of the audio. If set to Off, it overrides all other audio preferences. The Music, Sound Effects and Speech volume controls will all adjust their volume based on the master audio volume control.

Music/Movie Volume [Slider: Off ->>Quiet -> Normal -> Loud]

This slider controls the volume of the music and the audio during the cinematic movie sequences.

Sound Effects Volume [Slider: Off -> Quiet -> Normal ->>Loud]

This slider controls the volume of the sound effects.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Speech Volume [Slider: Off -> Quiet -> Normal -> Loud]

Controls the volume of the digitized speech some characters use.

Brightness Level [Slider: Normal -> Brighter]

This preference controls the how bright the graphics are on your screen. For some computers, video cards and monitors, you may need to turn the brightness level up a notch or two to see the darker screens better.

Mouse Sensitivity [Slider: Normal -> Faster]

This slider controls how fast the mouse cursor moves. The higher the setting, the faster the mouse.

Item Highlight [Off, On]

If set to On, when you move the command cursor over an item on the ground, that item will be highlighted. If set to Off, you will have more difficulty finding items on the ground.

Subtitles [Off, On]

This preference controls any subtitles during cinematic movie sequences. If set to On, you will see text displayed at the bottom of the movie.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

CHARACTER REFERENCE

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Introduction

This chapter will describe in detail the different characteristics that form Fallout characters. There are different types of characters in the Fallout world:

Player Character - This is your alternate ego that exists within the Fallout world. This is the single most important character in the game. If the player character (PC) is killed the game is over. PCs are also the most detailed of all the characters in the game, having access to all statistics, traits, skills, perks and karmic slices of life. Grouped together, all those things are called characteristics.

Non-Player Characters - These are the computer controlled people in the game. Every character except the PC will be a non-player character (NPC), by definition. NPCs are not as detailed as the PC, and only have a limited subset of characteristics.

Party Members - It is possible for the player to find NPCs that will join the PC. These are called party members, since they are a member of your party, or group of characters. They will follow your character around, and you have a small amount of control over their actions, as compared to regular NPCs.

Critters - This term is sometimes used to describe an NPC, usually a non-intelligent animal or monster, but it can include any NPC.

Statistics

There are two types of statistics: Primary and Secondary. Primary statistics are set during character creation and will rarely change during the course of the game. Secondary statistics are derived from the primary statistics.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

NOTES

A note about dice rolls.

Dice? In a computer role-playing game? Well, Fallout 2 is a true, back to basics role-playing game. These games were originally played, and still are, at a table with paper, pencil, and dice. Fallout 2 stays true to those origins. Some parts of the manual will refer to rolls. In this case, Fallout 2 is rolling against one of your characteristics with “virtual” dice. There are two types of rolls: checks and results. Checks are rolls against your characteristics, usually to see if you can accomplish a particular task (like shooting someone in the back.) If the computer rolls below your characteristic, a statistic or skill, then you succeed. If the computer rolls above the characteristic, you fail. The computer will roll dice that are appropriate to the characteristic and there can be modifiers. There is always a chance of failure, regardless of how high the characteristic. There is not always a chance for success, especially if you have a particularly low characteristic. Results are random numbers that are generated when you succeed or fail at a task. A result may be the amount of damage done by a firearm, or how much damage you take from a trap, or how many hit points you heal by using a Stimpak. Fallout 2 will handle all of this for you. We are telling you this so you get a better idea of what is happening “under the hood.” In addition, a strong understanding of probabilities will help you succeed when you play the game.

Primary Statistics

Strength - This statistic is used in the secondary statistics Carry Weight, Melee Damage, and Hit Points. All weapons have a minimum Strength requirement, as well. If your character’s Strength

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

is not high enough to use the weapon properly, the chance to hit is modified by -20% for each point of low Strength. A high enough skill can offset the low Strength modifier. You will be warned by a message in combat if your character’s ST is too low. Examine the weapon for more details about its ST requirement.

Perception - This is used in the Sequence secondary statistic, and several skills (Lockpick, Traps, First Aid and Doctor.) The primary use of this statistic is determing the maximum distance your character can shoot a ranged weapon effectively. The better the PE score, the farther your character can shoot. Perception is also used by the computer to determine if your character notices the small details, traps and how far away you start from a random encounter.

Endurance - The Hit Point, Poison Resistance, Radiation Resistance, and Healing Rate secondary statistics are based on Endurance, which also modifies the starting level of your character’s Outdoorsman skill. Endurance is used by the computer in combat to see if you can resist the effects of some critical hits (like blows to the head) and not get knocked down, or knocked out.

Charisma - No secondary statistics are based on Charisma. It does heavily influence the Barter and Speech skills. Charisma is used to determine the maximum number of NPCs that will join your party. You can only have Charisma divided by two, round down, number of party members. It is also important in determining the initial reaction of NPCs to your character. Characters with high Charisma scores will be better liked. The game will compare your character’s Charisma to the NPC’s Charisma. NPCs with high Charisma scores will be more resistant to the charms of your character.

Agility - This statistic is the basis for the Armor

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Class and Action Point secondary statistics. It modifies the most skills as well, especially combat skills. Agility is used by the computer whenever your character must perform some physical act of dexterity (to avoid a trap, for example.)

Intelligence - No secondary statistics use Intelligence. Many of the non-combat skills use it for the base values, however. Intelligence is a very important statistic when talking to characters. It will determine what you can and can’t say to NPCs. Characters with high Intelligence scores will be able to speak intelligently and ask more profound questions. Intelligence also determines the number of skill points your character gains each level.

Luck - The Critical Chance secondary statistic is based on Luck, so is the Gambling skill. Luck is used in combat to determine how often you get critical hits, and how good those critical hits are. Luck is also used by the computer to see if good or bad things happen to you. Characters with high Luck scores are more likely to come across special random encounters.

Derived Statistics

Hit Points - This stat determines if your character lives or dies after being shot in the chest, or takes other types of damage. Your current and maximum hit points are shown on the character screen, and the interface bar shows you your current HP, since it is such an important stat to see. When your character takes damage, you will see a message in the display window. For example, “You are hit for 16 points of damage. Ouch.” If you had 30 HP when that message came up, you now have 14 HP. See that message again and you are dead unless you healed some HP damage. Skills, such as First Aid and Doctor, or healing items, like Stimpaks, can reduce the amount of HP damage

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

your character has sustained. You can never “heal” more damage than your maximum HP total.

Armor Class - This statistic reduces the chance of an opponent to hit your character during combat. If you have an AC of 30%, which is pretty high, all characters that attempt to attack you have a -30% to their chance to hit, in addition to the other modifiers (such as darkness, range, and cover.) If you never get hit, there is no chance of your character taking damage.

Action Points - This is number of actions your character can take during a single turn of combat. Individual actions have different AP costs. You can only perform an action if you have enough AP to cover the cost. Walking, for example, costs one AP per hex moved. If you have no AP remaining, you cannot move. The AP cost of using an item is listed on the active item button on the interface bar. Other actions are listed in the combat section, on page 118.

Carry Weight - This is the total amount of weight your character can carry in her inventory. Almost all items have a weight, in pounds, which you can discover by doing an Examine on the item. The total number of items, multiplied by their weight per item, equals your character’s total inventory weight. This must be below your character’s Carry Weight, or when you put an item down your character may not be able to pick it back up.

Melee Damage - This is the amount of damage added to the upper end of hand-to-hand and melee attacks. It is possible to have a Melee Damage of 5 and still do only one point of damage when you attack, based on armor and the fact that this stat adds to the maximum amount of random damage done, not the minimum. If a weapon does 1-4 points of damage (which you can see on the inventory screen), and your character has a Melee Damage of 2, that weapon

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

would do 1-6 points of damage before being modified by the armor of your target.

Damage Resistance - This is the general amount of damage that your character is strong enough to just shrug off. Every attack will be reduced by this percentage. In conjunction with armor, which will have it’s own Damage Resistance and another stat called Damage Threshold (see page 135), every attack will do less damage to your character’s Hit Point total. Example: Your character is hit for 10 points, a Damage Resistance of 10% would reduce that to 9 points.

Poison Resistance - The amount of poison your character takes is reduced by this percentage. If your character takes 20 points of poison, and has a PR of 20%, then the final amount of poison taken would be 16 points. Over time, this 16 points will be reduced to 0 and your character will no longer be affected by poison. The more points of poison that affects your character, the less amount of time before you take damage from the poison.

Radiation Resistance - This stat reduces the amount of radiation your character is exposed to by this percentage. This stat can be temporarily increased by taking Rad-X, a chem. Some types of armor will also affect the amount of radiation damage your character is exposed to. This statistic will not help against previously exposed radiation.

Sequence - The greater the value of this statistic, the more likely your character is to go first in a turn of combat. Generally, the character that starts combat gets an action and then all critters that are involved in that combat are sequenced (get it) into a list. The critter with the highest Sequence value goes first on the list, and it works its way down from there. A high Sequence does not mean that a character gets to go multiple times before slower Sequenced characters. The larger the

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

battle, the more opponents, the more valuable this statistic becomes. As new critters are added to a battle, they will be sequenced in according to their Sequence statistic.

Healing Rate - This stat determines the number of Hit Points healed when your character rests or travels. When your character rests, and can catch his wind, the current HP total will be increased by the Healing Rate every couple of hours. It is only effective when the character rests or travels. When travelling, healing is slower than while resting, too, but that usually doesn’t matter since more time is spent travelling than resting overnight.

Critical Chance - This is the base chance to cause a critical hit in combat. Characters with high combat skills, or high quality weapons, will also score more critical hits. The difference between a successful combat roll and the proper weapon skill is modified by a formula and added to the Critical Chance stat. Then another roll is made, and if it is under the modified Critical Chance, a critical hit is scored. And that is a completely different table that depends on the type of critter you are attacking, and where you hit them.

Skills

Skills are learned abilities of your character. The skill level shows how good your character is at that skill. Each skill will have its own skill level, which is expressed as a percentage. That percentage shows your chance of success, before modifiers. No skill is 100% certain, however, and all skills max out at 95% (after modifiers.)

The maximum skill level is 200%. Skill levels can be increased everytime your character gains a level, but it starts getting harder and harder to improve well-known skills. Skills can also be

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

improved by reading specific books or completing quests within the game.

Small Guns - Firearms covered by the use of this skill: pistols (both revolvers and autoloaders), sub-machineguns (SMGs), rifles, and shotguns. The skill level is your base percentage to hit. Modifiers include: weapon weight, range, darkness, and cover. This skill is used automatically in combat when you attack with the appropriate weapon.

Big Guns - Similar to Small Guns, but this skill affects much bigger weapons: rocket launcher, minigun, flamer, and other large weapons. This skill is used automatically in combat when you attack with the appropriate weapon.

Energy Weapons - Also like Small Guns, but it affects any ranged weapon that uses energy cells instead of conventional chemical propellants. This skill is used automatically in combat when you attack with the appropriate weapon.

Unarmed - The skill of punching and kicking. Very few weapons will also use this skill (the armed version of Unarmed), like Brass Knuckles. You must not have an active item in one of your slots to use this skill to its full ability, however. ITEM1 is for punch attacks. ITEM2 covers using your feet (don’t ask, it involves some weird yoga practice.) Your character starts by just being able to punch or kick, but there are more unarmed techniques than that. As your character’s characteristics improve, the type of unarmed attack will change. These improvements are automatic, as long as the requirements are met. There are two different modes for each type of attack. Right-click on the Punch or Kick button to change the mode from primary to secondary. The Unarmed skill is automatically used when you attack.

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Primary Punch Attacks

Strong Punch

Effects: +3 damage AP Cost: 3 Requires: Unarmed 55%, Agility 6

Hammer Punch

Effects: +5 damage, +5% critical chance AP Cost: 3 Requires: Unarmed 75%, Agility 6, Strength 5, Level 6

Haymaker

Effects: +7 damage, +15% critical AP Cost: 3 Requires: Unarmed 100%, Agility 7, Strength 5, Level 9

Secondary Punch Attacks

Jab

Effects: +5 damage, +5% critical AP Cost: 6 Requires: Unarmed 75%, Agility 7, Strength 5, Level 5

Palm Strike

Effects: +7 damage, +20% critical, armor piercing AP Cost: 6 Requires: Unarmed 115%, Agility 7, Strength 5, Level 12

Piercing Strike

Effects: +10 damage, +40% critical, armor piercing AP Cost: 8 Requires: Unarmed 130%, Agility 7, Strength 5, Level 16

Primary Kick Attacks

Strong Kick

Effects: +5 damage AP Cost: 4 Requires: Unarmed 40%, Agility 6

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

Snap Kick

Effects: +7 damage AP Cost: 4 Requires: Unarmed 60%, Agility 6, Level 6

Power Kick

Effects: +9 damage, +5% critical AP Cost: 4 Requires: Unarmed 80%, Agility 6, Strength 6, Level 9

Secondary Kick Attacks

Hip Kick

Effects: +7 damage AP Cost: 7 Requires: Unarmed 60%, Agility 7, Strength 6, Level 6

Hook Kick

Effects: +9 damage, +10% critical, armor piercing AP Cost: 7 Requires: Unarmed 100%, Agility 7, Strength 6, Level 12

Piercing Kick

Effects: +12 damage, +50% critical, armor piercing AP Cost: 9 Requires: Unarmed 125%, Agility 8, Strength 6, Level 15

Melee Weapons - This covers the use of most melee weapons. Knives, spears, hammers are all melee weapons. The skill level is the base chance to hit your opponent, modified by your opponent’s armor class. Melee weapons have a greater chance of doing a critical hit. This skill is used automatically when you attack with a melee weapon.

Throwing - Whenever a weapon is thrown, this skill gets used. Knives are melee weapons, but if you throw a dagger at your opponent, this skill will be used. Grenades are a good reason to improve this skill. If you miss, the thrown object still has to

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

end up somewhere. It’s possible to throw a weapon and have it land right at your feet. If it’s a knife, no big deal. If it is grenade, that’s a really big deal. The maximum distance a weapon can be thrown is based on your character’s Strength. This skill is used automatically when you attempt to throw a weapon.

First Aid - The skill can heal minor wounds only. When used successfully, it will heal a small amount of Hit Point damage. It can only be used a few times a day. This skill takes a few minutes to use, so it will advance the game clock by a few minutes.

If you use a First Aid kit, you will increase your chance of successfully using this skill. Using a First Aid kit on a person will automatically use your First Aid skill (with a positive modifier) on that person. The supplies in a First Aid kit will eventually run out and the item will be automatically discarded.

Doctor - This skill heals major wounds. Not only does it heal more HP damage than First Aid, it can also restore a crippled limb to full health (see page 53 for information about crippled limbs.) Like the First Aid skill, it can only be used successfully a few times a day. If all the uses of one of the healing skills are used up, it is still possible to use the other healing skill until it runs out of uses as well. Using this skill will advance the game clock by several hours.

Using a Doctor’s Bag will increase your chance of successfully using this skill.

Sneak - Sneaking makes it harder for your character

to be detected. Using this skill is a toggle. You are either Sneaking, or you are not. When you are Sneaking, you don’t actually know if the skill is working properly. When you first start Sneaking, and every minute

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

after, the computer rolls against your

NOTES

You can

actually use the Steal skill to plant items on a target. Just drag from your character’s inventory to theirs. They get a chance to notice what you are doing, of course. It works just like a normal Steal, but in reverse.

this skill on a locked door or container, the computer will roll against your Lockpick skilled modified by the difficultly o f the lock. If successful, the lock will be picked. If you fail, you just lose the time spent trying to pick the lock. If you critically fail, the lock is jammed and cannot be picked until a long period of time has passed. Every attempt takes a few game minutes.

A lockpick can be used to increase the chance of success. There are two different types of locks: mechanical and electronic. Use the proper lockpick for the type of lock. Lockpicks cannot be “used” up, but they can be broken or destroyed on a critical failure.

Sneak skill. If successful, all critters will have their Perception halved when trying to notice you. Normally, if your character runs, it will automatically turn Sneak off. You can tell if your character is trying to use this skill if the Sneak icon is displayed above the interface bar.

Lockpick - When you use

Steal - The skill level of Steal determines the

base chance of “removing” an item from another person or object without being noticed. Modifiers include: the facing of the target compared to your character (standing right in front of the target is a bad idea), the size of the object you are trying to steal (smaller objects are easier to steal than larger objects), and the number of objects you are

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

trying to steal at one time (stealing a small number of objects is easier than stealing everything a person owns.) When you use this skill on a person, you will see a loot screen. Drag as many items as you want from the target’s inventory to your inventory. Each item you move will create an opportunity for the target to notice what you are doing. Their chance to notice your Steal action depends on your skill, the result of the Steal roll after all the modifiers, and their Perception. The higher their Perception, the more likely they are to notice your character if she screws up.

Traps - This skill is used to spot, disarm, and plant traps and explosives. If you attempt to use a trapped item, you will have a chance to notice the trap based on your Traps skill or Perception (depends on the trap.) If you do not notice the trap, it will go off in your face. You can use the Traps skill to attempt to disarm the trap. If you succeed, the trap is disarmed. If you fail, you can always try again. If you critically fail, the trap goes off in your face. If you find a trap trigger on the floor, you will see the trigger appear. Use the Traps skill on the trigger to attempt to disarm it. If you find a trap on a container, or door, then you see a message in the display window. If you were attempting to open the trapped container or door, Fallout will stop you. Try again and you can set off the trap. The Traps skill is also used when you set and place explosives. To use dynamite, for example, do the following:

Open inventory. Select the explosive

and Use it.

A timer will appear. Set the time you would like the explosive to go off. A Traps roll will be

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

made. If you succeed, the trap will go off on time. If you fail, the trap will go off before you intended it to. If you critically fail, the trap goes off immediately.

This is the timer. Use the + and - buttons to

adjust the time. Press DONE when the time is set to your satisfation. Press CANCEL to not set the timer o n the explosive. Once you start a timer, you cannot stop the explosive from detonating.

You can use an explosive to trap a door or container item. Simply use an explosive that is not currently on a timer on the door or container. The game will roll your Traps skill and, if things go well, the next person to open that door will get a major case of concussion and blast damage.

Science - This skill is really used in two different ways. The active use of this skill is mostly used on computers and hi-tech pieces of equipment. This skill is also used passively to determine whether or not your character can understand or notice something scientific. This skill covers all the different types of scientific fields. Using this skill generally takes no game time.

This skill often needs to be used before the Repair skill. It will give you a general idea of what is wrong.

Repair - Use this skill to fix something that is broken, or break something that is fixed. Using the proper tool for the job will help increase the chance of success. The use of this skill will really depend on the situation you come across in the game. Some items may be easier than others to fix.

Speech - This skill is only used in extended dialogues (see page 66.) Besides being used to present a convincing argument, and getting the NPC to agree with you, it is used to present a convincing lie and getting the NPC to agree with you. The difference between an argument and a lie is that if you blow the argument, the NPC generally

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

will not want to slit your throat. You never get to use this skill actively while talking, as the lines that Speech rolls are used on are not marked. A higher Speech skill is useful for getting your way. You can use the Speech skill actively to start a conversation, but just clicking on the person is usually easier to do.

Barter - The skill of trading goods is used automatically in the barter screen (see page 68.) Your Barter skill, along with many other factors, will be used to set the value of any goods that you are attempting to trade. The only game effect of this skill is to increase the value of your goods (and to meet the requirement of a few Perks.)

Gambling - Games of chance will always exist. Whenever you come across a game of chance, this skill will be used to determine whether your character wins or loses. This skill is used automatically when you decide to have your character gamble in the game.

Outdoorsman - This is used mostly on the World Map. It will determine if you can avoid a random encounter. It is also used to determine how far away from a critter you start a random encounter, along with your character’s Perception statistic. The Outdoorsman skill may also be used in specific encounters. Outdoorsman is never used actively.

Karma

These characteristics are earned automatically based on your actions. All actions have consequences, and your actions will earn you some type of Karma.

Karma

Karma is the private result of your characters actions. Kill a good person, and your Karma heads

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC

towards the negative. Kill a bad person or monster, and your Karma climbs up.

Karma is expressed as a number.

Beginning characters start with a Karma of 0. The only other way a character can have a Karma of 0 is if they balance their actions, doing both good and bad in equal amounts. This is actually hard to do.

If the actions of your character lean towards the good, the Karma value will rise. Get a positive Karma high enough, and your character will earn a Karmic title. The higher your Karma, the better the title.

On the other hand, if your character performs bad deeds, then your Karma will drop. It can actually go negative, which means you’ve been a bad boy (or girl.) The lower it drops, the badder your character is. If the Karma gets really low, your character can earn a Karmic title. The worse the Karma, the better the title (if you like going in that direction.)

Karmic titles can have an affect on your character, but only after a certain point. It takes a lot for your character’s inner personality to shine through (or in the case of bad Karma, ooze through.)

The difference between Karma and Reputation is that no one has to watch you perform your actions to affect your Karma. Your character knows, and that’s good enough for his soul.

Reputation (Town)

If you perform deeds in front of people, you will eventually earn a Reputation. Most Reputations are based on a town, since that’s where people live and tend to watch each other do things.

Like Karma, Reputations are expressed as numbers. The higher the rep, the better it is. The lower the rep, the more notorious your character is.

Many towns will trade with other towns, or eventually communicate with them, so your

100

$50.00 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE

Games PC FALLOUT 2 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual