Fallout Ideas?

[Shadowhunter]

Ok, so I want to try the Shadowrun gaming system, because as a former 40k player the notion of rolling plenty of D6 sends me into a deep-seated sense of satisfaction. But Shadowrun has - A LOT - of information and rules to assimilate and it won't work for my gaming group.

So, I've decided to borrow the system, change up some skills, kick out some parts and all in all just modify it for my desire to do a Fallout-esque scenario/short campaign.

I've recently started playing Fallout 2 and I have at this point in time 297 hours of gaming time clocked on my Steam for Fallout: New Vegas, so I'm sure you can see that I'm a fan of romanticized post-apocalypse rpg's. I'm going to be the GM and I have 4 players, two of which I have no idea what they want to play yet. One wants to play a classic scavenger/prospector and the other guy just want to play the big, dumb muscle friend.

I'm not forced to keep to any official Fallout canon, I'm going to steal as much as I like but not necessarily anything specific. So with that in mind, I really can do pretty much anything I can think of as a scenario.

So if anyone of you have any ideas for scenarios, scenes or campaigns, I would be very happy to hear them. Everything is welcome, right now I'm just trying to create a nice scenario with a good balance of survival/action/social/vault-delving/other so that the group can say that I offered a "full-course meal" so to speak.

The tone I'm after is resource-gathering and survival through interesting scenarios and an overall sense of Adventure.
For now, I'm thinking some local political intrigue, be it between rival gangs or something bigger like NCR vs Legion.
Naturally some vault-delving and some ruin-searching, a good 'ol proper Dungeon Crawl.

I'm keen on instilling a sense of satisfaction for managing to achieve things that might not be so impressive by other genre standards but which is invaluable in this game. For example, using a mixture of social skills, technological feats and some clever combat to net themselves resources enough to secure a bi-weekly supply of Bhramin meat from a cattle Baron will be something to be quite proud of and something worth celebrating. The same thing if they somehow managed to get a reliable source of energy and/or drinking water.

I tend to be overly generous and to ramp up the superlativity rather quick when I GM and I'm trying to tone it down this time. It's the same principle that I like E6, one can be heroic and awesome if one just shifts the perspective a bit.

One idea I have is for them to come across a dead body with a Pip-Boy (or something similar to it) that can give clues to a safe haven or useful stuff, but it requires some technical skills to get to the information. Information they'll get over time, so that other interesting stuff can happen whilst they're waiting for more information.

My end goal for now is for the group to be in a much better shape than when they start, with somewhere to live, with more food and water, ammo and medical supplies, maybe a friendly robot and some good tech, maybe some social connections to friends that can help in the future, etc.

Simply put, they'll start at square one and work their way up through a combination of smarts, muscle and luck.
 
Any and all ideas are welcome, the scenario is still in it's infancy so there's very little settled.

[Wrex]

Although not neccesarily what you are llooking for, the d20 Modern suppliment Apocalypse has the Atomic Sunrise campaign, which is Fallout with the serial numbers barely filed off. The Epoch Legion is the BoS, The government of New Texas is the Enclave, the Enforcers are the regulators ( but not horribly corrupt) and so on and so forth. The book is a good source of ideas, and contains a more formallized barter system. It is based off TU's, which stands for trade units, and 1 TU is equal to one days survival. A Gallon of Gas, a 9MM round, and a pound of Brahman jerkey are all 1 TU items.

[littha]

I would end up doing something with the FEV and the wildlife around Mariposa but that is just me.

[sirpercival]

If you want to stick to 3.5, you could try out Magipunk, which has similarities to Shadowrun.

[Bozwevial]

Are you aiming for the Atomic-Era feel, with pulpy science and the occasional wacky hijinks mixed in with your post-post-apocalyptic future setting? I know you're set on Shadowrun, but this is an acceptable alternative.

At any rate, you can milk an awful lot out of the Science! aspect of the setting. Vault exploration is always good (that can go toward either end of the seriousness scale, depending on the conditions of the Vault in question).

Where and when are you planning to set this? West or East Coast makes a fairly major difference.

[Shadowhunter]

Although not neccesarily what you are llooking for, the d20 Modern suppliment Apocalypse has the Atomic Sunrise campaign, which is Fallout with the serial numbers barely filed off. The Epoch Legion is the BoS, The government of New Texas is the Enclave, the Enforcers are the regulators ( but not horribly corrupt) and so on and so forth. The book is a good source of ideas, and contains a more formallized barter system. It is based off TU's, which stands for trade units, and 1 TU is equal to one days survival. A Gallon of Gas, a 9MM round, and a pound of Brahman jerkey are all 1 TU items.

Wow, that sounds very neat. I'll plunder that sourcebook for good ideas, since this is homebrew I can modify the rules as I see fit.

I would end up doing something with the FEV and the wildlife around Mariposa but that is just me.

I might do that.

If you want to stick to 3.5, you could try out Magipunk, which has similarities to Shadowrun.

Oh my god. I am embarrassed right now. I actually was supposed to make an Aasimar Medic for your game but I totally got caught up in other stuff and forgot!

Are you aiming for the Atomic-Era feel, with pulpy science and the occasional wacky hijinks mixed in with your post-post-apocalyptic future setting? I know you're set on Shadowrun, but this is an acceptable alternative.

At any rate, you can milk an awful lot out of the Science! aspect of the setting. Vault exploration is always good (that can go toward either end of the seriousness scale, depending on the conditions of the Vault in question).

Where and when are you planning to set this? West or East Coast makes a fairly major difference.

Ok, I'm mostly stealing Shadowruns gaming system and very little of their tone or setting. I take the former from Fallout.
I've been reading SotC but I'm not to keen on it at the moment. I might change my mind, but for now I want to stick to the Shadowrun system.
Usually when our gaming group use a basic gaming system for a setting of their own we use the nWoD rules but I'm more keen on rolling d6 than d10 this time

Well yes, who doesn't love Science! 

I have not decided upon when or where, but I think I'm going to stick to the West Coast much like the original games. California and Nevada, primarily. As to what difference it makes apart from the environment, I wouldn't really know since I live by another coast a significant distance from there (Sweden).

[littha]

Well, the east coast is covered in Caesar's Legion which is solidly different from the NCR. It does depend on when you set the game because the Legion covers all the way up to about half way through nevada by the time of new vegas.

[Shadowhunter]

Well, the east coast is covered in Caesar's Legion which is solidly different from the NCR. It does depend on when you set the game because the Legion covers all the way up to about half way through nevada by the time of new vegas.

Oh yes, there's a big difference between the Legion and NCR. No doubt about that. I'll take NCR corrupt bureaucracy over Legion slavery any day of the week (though I'd rather take over New Vegas and shape it into my utopia  ). The only good use I ever had of the Legion was to constantly teach them how to disarm NCR mines for about half an hour until they worshiped me and I could fetch my stylish Lucky Glasses and some Stealth Boys. I'm planning on wiping them from the face of the Mojave soon enough, I have no need for them anymore 

Anyway, back on track:
I'm not necessarily keeping to the Fallout canon and have the same power players or factions. I might use them, I might use something else. So that is less of an issue. I am more interested in the theme and style of the games than the actual canon.
Still, you have a valid point and I can tell you right now that they'll not be in any region controlled by the Legion or any faction like them.
Either NCR/NCR-esque territory or independent.

[Arturick]

For a plot driver, you could find a badly damaged recording that talks about a functioning GECK (Garden of Eden Creation Kit) hidden in a nearby vault.

Vault themes are an amazing way to add a "feel" to the dungeons and explain what happened to the previous occupants.

-Vault was programmed to release a biochemical agent that would supress sexual urges.  It had the opposite effect and horrors ensued.

-Vault released small amounts of radiation to "immunize" the inhabitants.  Everyone died of cancer except one who developed functional immortality.  He has gone insane, turned the vault into a death trap, and jealously guards his hydroponic farm and working water purifier.  He occasionally speaks to the party via the PA system, shouting, "Nope!  Not fooling me!  I know you're dead!  Everyone's dead!"

-Vault is designed to rearrange it's passages and chambers while barely making more than a whisper.  The insane inhabitants eventually chose to stay in one place and die of dehydration.  Numerous recordings and scribbled notes say, "I know where I am.  I know where I am.  I know where I am."