Summary
While there are many official settings inDungeons & Dragons, players will often create their own universes to play in based on pure original ideas or popular media. When taking inspiration from other sources, few are as unique and massive as the world depicted inFallout.
Playing a D&D campaign based on Fallout might seem like an odd choice, but there are many aspects of the setting that can work very well in a TTRPG. No matter if it is the idea of an apocalypse, the vaults, or an odd currency, the ideas from Fallout can translate very well into D&D.
This article is about using the rules of D&D with Fallout-esque ideas and not about the RPG systems depicted inFallout: The Roleplaying Game.
7Turn The World Into A Wasteland
You Have More Options Than Going Nuclear
The world of Fallout is defined by its name: you often explore a post-apocalyptic wasteland ravaged by a nuclear fallout. While the world of D&D doesn’t contain nuclear bombs, you have the best next thing: highly destructive magic that could easily work as a nuclear explosion.
You can even turn your version of a wasteland to be vastly different from that of Fallout while still keeping the theme of society’s destruction. You could havethe Shadowfell engulfing the Material Plane, making your version of the wasteland a realm of absolute darkness.
There Are Plenty Of Ways To Justify Them
The Vaults are one of the most iconic aspects of Fallout, so, of course, you’ll have to find a way to incorporate them into your campaign. They could be of Dwarven design, meant to protect the denizens within, and each housing a different popular D&D species, like Elves or Dragonborn.
You could also add some ofthe disturbing experimentsthat make Fallout Vaults famous. Maybe the Dwarven architect was a twisted Wizard, using the Vaults for their own dark ambitions without the dwellers being aware.
5Make The Players Be New To The Wasteland
They Shouldn’t Be Veterans If You Want To Keep The Fallout Vibes
Most Fallout protagonists aren’t native to the wasteland, either because they lived secluded in a Vault or because they come from a time before the bombs dropped. This is the perfect scenario for your players to be in as well, and thanks to the magic of D&D, you have plenty of choices as to how your players ended up stranded in the wasteland.
You could have your players be literal Vault dwellers, living their entire lives in isolation until something requires them to leave the safety of the underground. They can also be time travelers or even come from a different plane; the important thing is that they aren’t familiar with the factions and customs that inhabit the wasteland.
4Use Gods Only At The End Of The Campaign
Their Power Should Be Saved For The Finale
If you are planning to have the gods influence your campaign, you should do so carefully since players might start to wonder why the good deities didn’t stop the apocalypse in the first place. you’re able to build this into the storyline, with the players seeking godly aid to restore the wasteland to what it once was.
You can alsotake inspiration from the Time of Troubles, with the gods being once again turned into mortal beings, their influence heavily limited. The finale can have a nature god like Silvanus rise once more, giving new life to the world, so civilization can once again flourish.
3Have The Players Go To Famous Places
The Elfsong Tavern Has Seen Better Days
Part of the appeal of exploring the wasteland in Fallout is stumbling upon well-known places and seeing them destroyed after the bombs dropped. This can also happen in your D&D campaign, with the different buildings being affected by your choice of apocalyptic event.
Of course, what counts as a well-known place depends on your players and their preferences. If they are well versed in the geography of Faerun, official sources can help you, but if you all already have a custom setting with well-known places, finding out that they are somewhere they explored with previous characters will certainly awe the entire party.
2Make Magic And Technology A Scarce Resource
NPC Should Talk About How Advanced Civilization Was
The impact of the apocalyptic event should be felt greatly by the civilizations of the world since if all it did was remove a few kingdoms, in less than a hundred years, people would go back to the status quo. There needs to be something, either the artifacts of Artificers or the power of old Wizards, that used to make life easier, but it is no longer accessible.
If you decide to make magic something rare in the wasteland, any of your players with spellcasting abilities will be seen as miracle workers. Beyond that, they might also be hunted by the factions that wish to either keep all power for themselves or make sure that magic is never used again in the world.
1Replace The Currency So It Is No Longer Based On Gold
Make Your Own Version Of Bottlecaps
The economy of the wasteland shouldn’t be the same as how it was before “the world ended,” no matter how you decide to end the world. This is, in part, to reference the people of Falloutusing Bottlecaps as currency, but it is also because it wouldn’t make sense to have the same standard when civilization has technically ended.
You can potentially use something similar to Bottlecaps, maybe a famous drink or potion was being mass-produced before the apocalyptic event, and now the caps of the vials is the standard currency. But you could also ditch the currency system entirely, since it would make far more sense for people to barter in a world devoid of government.
