This thread is dedicated specifically to talking about how the game is going to be set up, and any house rules or mechanics that should be used or included. Anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion.

Alright *rubs hands together vigorously*

Where would you like to start? What is your "vision"?

Alright here you go, first thing I want everyone to remember is this is a collaborative effort, anyone and everyone’s opinions count. If you think something would be cool say something! I’m really flexible and want input from you guys as well.

But, in regards to my vision of the game, let me get out the controversial parts first

1. The world is bleak. It’s been 210 years or so since the bombs fell and Diamond city is the best the wasteland has to offer. Super mutants kidnap and eat people, raiders murder and loot en masse, synths wipe out entire towns and then clean them out of anything valuable, and radiated mutant creatures lurk and prowl everywhere. I want there to be a focus on scavenging and survival needs, and I want combat to be something that is avoided because it is deadly. I don’t plan to kill the PCs, but if you get into a combat encounter and the dice say you died, you are stuck with making another character. Luckily for the player they will get the ability to be anything they want to be, they won’t have to be a vault dweller starting in Vault 111. I know some people grow really attached to their characters but I feel if we make it so PCs rarely if ever die, then the game loses its post apocalyptic feel. That brings me to my next point

2. PvP. I’m not going to accept players who only join the game to purposefully hunt and kill other PCs. Nobody wants that. If someone wishes to play a raider, or perhaps a Brotherhood of Steel character, there will be situations where it’s possible two PCs will come into conflict with one another. I’m not going to tell a brotherhood of steel player that they can’t attack the character they just found out is a synth. But, if you’re in Diamond city and someone attacks you, you best believe every single DC security guard is coming to the aid of the player who was attacked. So if you’re going to participate in the game I think it’s best we all agree character death can happen, but I assure everyone I’m not going to let someone into the game who has the sole purpose of disrupting other players game.

3. I hate the weapons in Fallout 4 with a passion. The design is awful, the guns look boxy and clunky, etc. I’m a fan of us utilizing more weapons than are included in the game. Hell, I’m okay if we all decide to just change the list of weapons entirely, I mean we should keep laser rifles and pipe guns and all that, but no need to limit ourselves to just those.

4. Making sure the world is a sandbox and players can play any type of character they want, and do whatever they want. That means settlement building, owning a shop or caravan, factions, crafting, etc

5. I want a working salvage/ economy, I’m still thinking about how to actually implement this but I want to avoid random shop/ loot generation and stick with merchants have a list of inventory, and that inventory only changes when the players or NPCs buy or sell something to that merchant. For role play purposes we can imagine the merchant sells to random NPCs daily but the inventory list shown is specifically what’s available to players and named NPCs

6. Weather! And world events. It would be cool to figure out how to routinely update the day/night and weather cycle. Given the nature of PbP, I know there will be some limits but I personally love that feeling that the world is alive and moves on separate from what the characters are doing.

7. At lastly, the big one for me is even though we are using Fallout 4 as inspiration, this won’t be bethesdas version of fallout 4 but rather what we would do if we made fallout 4

First off, that sounds amazing. If you can pull this off I think you will have a game to remember.

1). I think the ability to manage risk, within reason, might go some way towards establishing the wasteland as a "credible threat"

If you use Diamond City as the epicenter of your Commonwealth, the closest thing to a "green zone" available to the players, a relatively safe place to test, recover and rearm, then it might follow that the further you get from Diamond City, the more dangerous it becomes.

But, with that danger could come commeasured rewards. If the areas nearest to Diamond City are the most picked over, it might stand to reason that the further out you go, the better your chances of finding more valuable salvage.

If a player wants to take a big risk, and potentially earn a big reward, that's on them, and they should be aware that the chance of character death, being maimed, etc goes up. That way more risk adverse characters can progress more safely and surely, where as the risk takers can roll the dice and see where they land...

2). PVP is sticky. I would almost recommend that you forbid it without express permission from another player, especially if you make threads public.

Of course, if a player is playing something like the aforementioned concepts, those come with additional enemies, but I think those should primarily be NPC enemies, for the health of the game.

3.) I agree. What you could do is just use real world weaponry where applicable, then supplement with the more realistic energy weapons, etc. I don't think that anybody is going to feel like their immersion is broken because they find an FN-FAL or a M1 Carbine instead of whatever weird assault rifle FO4 envisioned.

A 10mm pistol can just be a large framed pistol,like in the first games, it does not need to be the size of a cinder block.

And of course the mix of tribal weapons, super mutant make shifts, raider shivs and home made pipe rifles, can all be accurately represented using rules for Low Tech, etc. Maintenance and rare ammunition could be a very big factor should you so choose.

4) I think this is going to be mostly on your end, vetting concepts and making sure they are believable, that they fit your setting, etc.

5) I like this, and it gives the characters some agency in how resources are distributed. If they find something really valuable or useful, and they are not planning using it themselves, making sure it goes to the right person, faction, player, etc can help to establish allies, favors, all sorts of things. That back and forth could add a lot of depth, rather than just "going shopping".

6.) Weather, I love it. I think a table might actually be the way to go here, rolled for day to day based on season.

I am sure there is probably a fantasy weather generator somewhere, I am sure I have used one, but things like multi day rad storms, heat waves, hurricanes, fog etc could all have dramatic effects on the whole setting. Imagine being a farmer and worrying about your crops with a huge storm blowing in. It also gives an edge to players that can plan ahead with skills like Weather Sense or Meteorology.

7.) Nice, probably worth a big disclaimer there for players expecting a video game like experience. But borrowing the setting wholesale and cranking certain aspects up or down saves a ton of work on your part. As long as people know what they are getting into, I think it could be great.

That’s exactly how I planned Diamond City, as more or less a green zone, and then the further south you get the more dangerous things become, with the Glowing Sea being the most dangerous, but also has the most pre war loot. I like your points about PvP, and we can certainly go that direction I’m a big believe in players communicating with each other. If someone wants no part of PvP or we all collectively decide that’s something we won’t do then I can make a rule against it.

In regards to weapons, that brings up a point. So the early fallout games had weapons that resembled modern weapons, but fallout 4 went to a more ww2 style guns. Do we want to stick with a more ww2/Vietnam  era themed weapons, or more modern since technically the bombs fell in 2077 and that’s a good 50 years ahead of us currently.

Yeah I definitely wanted to include maintenance and ammunition rarity, and tie it in with the economy  since I want players to actively seek out certain merchants to sell certain items to or buy certain things from. If Abernathy farm has a surplus of food, expect food to be cheaper there then say greygarden, which might be struggling with growing crops because of raider attacks or whatever.

Yeah I’m going to get a disclaimer up in rtj thread when I make it

The question about weapons is a good one, and I think it would be fair to have the whole range of firearms presented depending on what you feel makes sense.

Guns are pretty sturdy and valuable. Just as many Americans own antique firearms for various reasons, including inheritance or sentimental reasons, so I think you could potentially find a wide variety out in the Commonwealth after the war.

Part of that Fallout charm is that contrast of mid century style with modern technology. New Vegas comes to mind, where you have single action revolvers and lever actions in use alongside home made machetes and javelins, next to NCR service rifles and stripped out looted power armor.

I would be in favor of including a wide variety of firearms personally, with the understanding that rarer calibers or energy sources are probably going to be harder to come by.

The prevalence of home made pipe rifles seems to imply to me that pre war, serviceable firearms are probably expensive, potentially owned by the more well off or those that make violence their trade. Where as your average citizen might get by on whatever they can afford, spending their hard earned caps on food, clean water, medical care, clothing, caring for loved ones, etc.

Energy weapons were pretty rare in the first couple of Fallouts, not sure how you want to handle the prevalence and maintenance there?