Fallout: Indianapolis

Fallout Recently I wrote about my plans to run several mini-campaigns in the future. The first campaign I am now working on is an Atomic Highway campaign set into the Fallout world. I didn’t want to use neither the Capital Wasteland from Fallout 3 nor the West Coast area from Fallout 1 and 2, so I decided to nuke the hell out of Indianapolis.

Why Indianapolis? Basically any American city could have worked, but it’s the only city I have been to for more than a few hours. And it’s far enough away from the areas where the computer games are set. So my campaign can retain the style of Fallout but I can also make the world my own without messing with canon.

I am a bit undecided if I should include all the Fallout tropes though. Most iconic Fallout factions like the super-mutants or the Brotherhood of Steel initially hail from the West Coast and their appearance in Fallout 3 didn’t make that much sense, if you ask me, but I think my players would become mutinous if I left them out. But both factions will probably not play a major role in the campaign.

Vault Computer My campaign will start in October 2169, which is only a couple of years after the so-called “Vault Dweller” has defeated “The Master” and almost two decades before the events of the second Fallout game. The players and their families live in one of the underground vaults, created by Vault-Tec before the Great War. Vault 82 lies somewhere in the Indianapolis area and its 498 inhabitants have survived the destruction of what was formerly known as Marion County unscathed.

But life in the vault is about to change. Three inhabitants of the vault will have to leave their safe shelter to explore the Indianapolis wasteland in order to protect their home and perhaps even build a new future for humanity as a whole!

I currently don’t want to reveal much more, but rest assured that I will post some Fallout-related material using the Atomic Highway ruleset in the near future. Aside from a Vault Dweller Rearing, I’ll still have to create a couple of iconic Fallout creatures and a few pieces of equipment.

As always I am very interested in your thoughts on that subject. Have you ever considered running a campaign based on the Fallout series? What do you think I should definitely include? Feel free to post your comments below!

5 comments

comments user
wrathofzombie

Sounds great! Can't wait to read about it 🙂 Out of curiosity, what system are you going to use?

comments user
Stargazer

I am using Atomic Highway.

comments user
wrathofzombie

Nice. Not really familiar with Atomic Highway. I have been pondering doing a Fallout game. There are some great fan made versions for Savage Worlds on Savage Heroes.com 🙂

comments user
Brian

Hi Michael,

Sounds like a fun campaign you have planned. I live in Indianapolis, and have used it as a setting for almost all of my modern campaigns, including Supers. I have also ran a Post Apocalyptic campaign based in Indianapolis as well. I used the Earth A.D. rules by Precise Intermedia.

A couple of quick points about using Indianapolis as a setting:

1. One of our main landmarks (if not our main) is the Soldiers & Sailors Monument located in downtown Indianapolis. This place is referred to as Monument Circle, and this is where we get our nickname "Circle City". Many of us in Indianapolis consider this our Statue of Liberty. Any game based in Indianapolis should include this in the imagery even if it is in ruins. It's what identifies us from other cities.

2. Indianapolis is considered a high risk target for military strikes by potential foreign aggressors. We have many companies both private and military that perform vital functions for our military operations, and emergency civilian medical response. Alison Transmission, Raytheon, Eli Lilly, and the Army Finance Center are just a view of the important operations based here. If a foreign power wanted to severely cripple our war effort, this city is good place to start. In game terms, this could also be a gold mine of supplies and technologies for the characters in your game.

I have included some links for more information. I hope this helps out a bit. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Have fun & good luck with your game.

Best Regards,

Brian

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis

http://www.allisontransmission.com/militaryproduc

http://www.raytheon.com/businesses/rms/

http://www.lilly.com/

http://www.dfas.mil/about/Locations/indianapolis….

comments user
Stargazer

Thanks for your comment, Brian! I think your tips and links will help me a lot when designing the setting and the adventures.