Summary
The world ofFalloutis vast in the way of lore, enemies, and compelling characters; so it was only a matter of time before an official Fallout TTRPG game came out. The rulebook ties in the world that the games and show have already set up, although revamped for the tabletop.
It can be tempting to hop into the wastelands and set the scene for your friends to make names for themselves as raiders, peacekeepers, or just survivors. But, you may want to have an endgame they’re working towards, and with an endgame comes a final boss too. Every good adventure needs its big bad.
8Children Of Atom Confessor
Taking a page from the Winter Of Atom book, the Children of Atom make for a great enemy faction due to them being solely focused on bringing forth the end of the world through nuclear radiation (again). This means they will nearly always be aligned against your players.
Few members are as revered in the Church of Atom as Confessors. Fiercely zealous and nearly immune to all radiation, Confessors can be met in Fallout 4 and Fallout 3 in areas of high-radiation or high importance to the Children.
Equipping them with Radium Rifles or similar weapons is key, as well as making them immune or highly resistant to the radiation around them thanks to Atoms Glow. You can also equip them with some power armor for flavor, although most eschew armor altogether.
From there, add some lesser Children or even some ghouls so that way things stay tense. This is an end-game encounter that works for nearly any setting in the Fallout universe.
Remember, any ghouls you add can be healed by surges of radiation, such as Glowing Ones' aura attack in Fallout 4.
7Scorchbeast Queen
Nearly mindless, aggressive, and dangerously contagious, Fallout 76 added a great enemy type in the form of the Scorched. Part of a radiation-fueled disease brought forth by irradiated bats, they’re the scourge of the greater Appalachian region.
If your story takes place on the eastern side of the U.S., then the Scorchbeast Queen may be a great choice for a BBEG. Pretty much a giant bat with sonar and radiation-based attacks, Scorched Queens are a solid choice for the end of a high-level adventure.
Maybe you want to explore Appalachia at the table, or maybe the Scorched are encroaching on The Commonwealth? Either way, the Scorchbeast Queen and her ghoulish minions arequite a challengebetween her flying and ranged abilities seen in Fallout 76, and the feral and somewhat smart variants of the Scorched units.
For the Scorched themselves, using raiders or feral ghouls as the base and then making them a bit sturdier is key. Just keep in mind the tactics they’d be using depending on the weapons they carry.
6Enclave Officer
The Enclave are a constant enemythroughout the Fallout games. Embodying many of the worst parts of the pre-war institution, The Enclave is keen to bring the wasteland under heel once again. Whether it’s a maniacal scheme involving the FEV, or just a more heavy-handed military approach, a plot revolving around them can be a great hook.
Enclave Officers are cold, calculating, and equipped with some of the best tech still around. Start with any Raider or similar armed and armored humanoid enemy found in the core rulebook and start modifying. A plasma, laser, or gauss weapon is a great start. Power Armor for them or their henchmen is also a great way to boost their difficulty.
From there, think of the setting. A military instillation or pre-war ruins are great set-pieces for a final encounter. It should be a high-stakes, high-reward scenario where your players aren’t quite sure if they’ll walk away. They may need some NPC help too.
Look to Frank Horrigan or Colonel Autumn for poignant examples of how an Enclave Officer would act and be equipped.
5Remnant Of Master’s Army
The Master was the first antagonist for many in the world of Fallout. Their army and plot has proven to have lasting effects across the post-war Commonwealth long after the end of the first game. Why not make The Master’s Super Mutant monstrosities be your BBEG?
Super Mutants come in all shapes and sizes, as is shown in the core rulebook. Through their various immunities and Barbarian Special Ability they can be quite a force. You can situate this end-encounter for various levels depending on how many Super Mutants you add.
Behemoths are great and imposing figures that can do a lot of damage in one hit, but they aren’t the brains of the operation. They’re a great tank, but adding some Brutes, or even some average Super Mutants will make for a more varied encounter.
Super Mutants, regardless of whether they were a part of The Master’s army or not, are a deadly and malicious foe which is an easy add-in to any adventure you take your players on.
4Raider Boss
Raiders, perhaps moreso than any other faction, are a constant threat to the safety and survival of anyone in the wasteland. Your party included. Whether they’re highly organized like those from Nuka-World, or just a motley crew, Raiders are bloodthirsty.
Raiders' main goals usually involve causing as much chaos and pain as possible to anyone who isn’t them. Knowing that, the leader of such a gang would be quite the character to end an adventure fighting. Plot-wise, there are plenty of ways a Raider band could get in the way of your party.
The Raider Boss has a great entry in the core rulebook on Page 387, but it only shows them at a level of 10. You can easily up that level with a few key additions. Better weapons than a hunting rifle can be given to him. Miniguns, energy weapons, or even a Fat Man if you really want to throw your players a challenge.
Power armor instead of the standard heavy Raider metal armor will also make the challenge more stark. Keeping the Action Packed and Aggressive Special Abilities can be kept as they add the bloodthirsty nature that Raiders embody.
you may flavor your raider using various gangs too. Whether it be one of your own design, New Vegas' Fiends, or even Rust Devils in The Commonwealth.
3Non-Feral Ghoul
Ghouls are a reminder of how far people have fallen after The Great War. Feral Ghouls and Glowing Ones embody the terrible effects the bombs had on the populace, while the non-feral Ghouls may have their humanity, but they still bear the scars.
But, that doesn’t mean that non-ferals aren’t all good. Still reeling from the loss of civilization, it can be easy to see how a Ghoul may want to usher in a new world order of their own through some pretty unsavory means.
Found in any pre-war building, even civilized ghouls don’t inspire aggression from ferals. This means your BBEG may have the help of normal people or ferals. Regardless, this is a good end boss for a low to mid-level adventure. Reflavoring any Children of Atom enemy or Raider as a Ghoul is practically a one-to-one. Just make sure to include that radiation immunity.
The Fallout games are full of science gone too far. Whether they’re the scientific pursuits of a seemingly good-natured intellect gone awry, or the machinations of someone hell-bent on world domination, the deeds of a Mad Scientist must be stopped.
The sample adventure in the rulebook is a good example of this with the Institute scientist, but he isn’t quite “mad” enough. The Scientists themselves shouldn’t be the most physically intimidating of foes, instead it should be whatever experiments or underlings they have around them.
The Mechanist and to some extent The Master are good examples of this archetype, so look to them for inspiration. Robots, mutants, or something more niche are all good ideas for their plots. Just verify it’s something that will make your players intent on stopping them.
1Intelligent Deathclaw
A more wacky approach, but Fallout has never steered away from the peculiar. In fact, IntelligentDeathclaws have shown up a couple of timesin the Fallout games. Deathclaws, even the bestial ones, are a deadly foe in the established lore.
Deathclaws in the rulebook are already an imposing enemy at level 11, but making an intelligent one makes it all the deadlier. It makes for an easy enemy to alter too, as it just alters how you play it tactically in combat. The hard part is figuring out how your party finds an enemy in such a creature.
