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Tech Boy
2011-05-08, 03:32 PM
Has anyone ever played the Fallout pen and paper game?

I just discovered the pen and paper today and I was wondering if anyone else had any input on it?

Friv
2011-05-08, 07:57 PM
You're going to have to be a touch more specific - to the best of my knowledge, there are quite a few Fallout games floating around out there.

If you're discussing the SPECIAL port PnP game, I have played it.

It was bloody awful.

I mean really, just bad. So bad. I'm sure someone, somewhere, would be surprised by the fact that porting a computer RPG to tabletop and refusing to change anything about how it operates in any way would be a bad idea. I mean, for Pete's sake, they even included the Fast Learner perk.

UserClone
2011-05-08, 08:53 PM
So basically, everyone takes Fast Learner?

Ravens_cry
2011-05-08, 08:59 PM
Here (http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=227) is an interesting (to me anyway) article on why porting a PnP system to a computer, and visa versa, can be a bad idea if you do not consider the strengths and weaknesses of each. Basically, computers are good at the maths.

DukeofDellot
2011-05-08, 09:00 PM
So basically, everyone takes Fast Learner?

Unless you're game is unlikely to get past sixth level (probably not completely accurate, but if I recall correctly...), then it wouldn't produce enough to be worth... one third (or fourth?) of your perks...

...

I've never played it, but I've setup a campaign in GURPS (though I no longer have the files) and realized that without the clever writing and interesting characters... Fallout has a really bland setting.

stainboy
2011-05-09, 01:49 AM
PnP SPECIAL... Wow, weapon range penalties must be a nightmare. Dealing with burst fire and all those crit tables doesn't sound much fun either.

Especially in a game without save points. Super mutant critically hits you in the eyes for 439 damage, bypassing your armor.


@Ravens cry: I like that article. I remember NWN and KotOR kind of struggling to adapt the D&D mechanics. I like both games, but d20 is too swingy and its action economy is clunky in a game that happens in real time.

FelixG
2011-05-09, 08:44 AM
I have been playing the SPECIAL version for a few years now and I have really enjoyed it.

its not too awful if you have a GM with half a brain to run the thing, and a few custom perks have made the crit table less scary

This is the SPECIAL v2 system, based on Fallout 1 and 2

haven't tried the v3 yet.

Tyndmyr
2011-05-09, 10:20 AM
So basically, everyone takes Fast Learner?

I would image. The key to winning fallout is taking that asap and having int 10. And solid agil.

Then you just win at everything forever.

Selrahc
2011-05-09, 04:18 PM
I would image. The key to winning fallout is taking that asap and having int 10. And solid agil.

In Fallout 3?

Because in Fallout 1 and 2, it's a pretty bad perk.

Conners
2011-05-09, 07:14 PM
Wasn't that because of the limited experience within the game, though?

Soylent Dave
2011-05-09, 09:18 PM
I've never played it, but I've setup a campaign in GURPS

Fun fact : the Fallout computer games were originally designed to run off GURPS, but they had licensing difficulties, and ended up having to create the SPECIAL system instead.

LibraryOgre
2011-05-10, 11:53 AM
Wasn't that because of the limited experience within the game, though?

In Fallout 3 and New Vegas, you have a hard level cap. Fast Learner doesn't help much, because once you hit the hard level cap, it does nothing.

In Fallout 1&2, it was a BIT more helpful, because there wasn't a maximum level, but XP was a bit less valuable... it was longer, IME, between levels, and the 10% shave-off wasn't worth the sacrifice.

IMO, at least.

If I were to run a Fallout RPG, I would probably use Palladium's "After the Bomb". It's not the best system, and is largely designed around mutant animals, but humans (and human mutants) are pretty easy to plug in from other Palladium stuff (I'd probably design Super Mutants from Heroes Unlimited, or maybe use some variety of mutant animal to represent them, for example). Dogmeat and his spiritual relatives could be described using Bounders from the AtB main book.

Tyndmyr
2011-05-10, 03:09 PM
In Fallout 3?

Because in Fallout 1 and 2, it's a pretty bad perk.

In 3, yeah. It's fantastic. I don't recall if it was in NV or not, but if so, you would also take it. High level cap = lots and lots of skill points gained from it.

And in NV, high int is also win. Int and either cha or agil.

Waaait. I'm thinking of the perk that gives you more skill points at each level. Not the one that makes you level faster. That ones weak because of the cap. But yeah, maxing as many skills as possible is pretty epic in any of em.

There is a perk in 3 though that boosts you to the next level. That one would probably be annoying in p&p.

Tech Boy
2011-05-11, 06:11 AM
Sorry for the lateness of my response, got away from the computer for a while.
[URL="http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_Pen_and_Paper_d20"[/URL]

That is the site I found, I was just curious if anyone had played it before. Haha.