Fallout/Character creation

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The three pre-made characters that come with the game can finish it.

First, select your name, then your age (16-35). Neither choice makes any difference in the game; they are your own preference.

Now you are ready to select your sex. You can be male or female, and the game does differ if you are a girl or a guy. It's your own choice; try beating both variations of the game. However, there are some issues regarding the sex of your character. The game really doesn't matter if you are male or female, but these are the differences. (Female is recommended for a slightly easier game.)

  • Male characters typically get knocked down and have a greater chance of you scoring a critical hit on them if you hit them in the groin. The female character doesn't have any known weaknesses in combat.
  • NPCs have different reactions if you are female or male (Killian calls you darling if you're female, Keri can have sex with you if you're male, etc.)
  • Probably to offset the male weakness thing, female characters are hated by a couple of NPCs, notably Lasher. Harry is a bit harder to chat with if you're female.
  • There are multiple "tight spots" where only female characters and male characters with the "small frame" trait can pass through. One example is found in the Macomb mission: The western building after the second gate can be passed through such a tight spot so that soldiers can go right to the exfil zone. This is quite useful as you will find almost no enemies in cover since you are attacking from the opposite direction from which they expect you.

Derived Statistics[edit]

Strength Perception Endurance Intelligence Agility Luck Charisma
ST PE EN INT AG LK CH

Derived statistics are statistics that are a direct result of the main statistics, in other words, increase and decrease a skill and see what happens. These are straight out from the Fallout manual.

Stat Description Formula Average
Hit Points The number of "life" points. If it goes to zero, you die. 15 + (2 × EN)+ ST 30
Armor Class The higher it is, the harder it is for the enemy to hit you. AG + Armor worn 5
Action Points Determines what you can do during combat. They are displayed by the green lights in combat. 0.5 × AG + 5 7
Carry Weight Mass of how much equipment you can carry, rated in pounds. You can barter for more equipment than you can carry. 25 + (25 × ST) 150 pounds
Melee Damage How much extra damage your character does in melee or unarmed attacks. ST - 5, min. 1 1
Damage Threshold How much damage your armor can withstand when you are hit. Armor
Damage Resistance How much damage your armor can resist when you are hit. The value given in the character screen pertains to normal attacks, while the value given in the inventory screen pertains to different types of attacks, including normal but also explosive, fire, laser, plasma, etc. Armor (Combat Armor has 40% DR)
Poison Resistance How much poison damage you can resist. 5 × EN 25%
Radiation Resistance How much radiation damage you can resist. Radiation can affect any character, and the only way to get maximum resistance is using RadX. 2 × EN + Armor Resistance (Combat Armor has 30% Resistance) 10%
Sequence Determines who will attack first in combat. Higher is better. 2 × PE 10
Healing Rate How much you can heal in three hours of rest. 0.5 × EN, min. 1 1
Critical Chance Chance of scoring a critical hit on the opponent. It increases up to four times with a hit to the eyes. LK 5%
  • Poison is measured in units; keep it below 25.
  • Being "radiated" qualifies as having a rem count of 75, with 300 or above being quite serious. A rem count of 5 or higher will bring symptoms of nausea; a rem count of 75 is quite serious, while a rem count of 300 or higher is fatal. If you have enough radiation in your body to necessitate attention, the message "Radiation" will appear on the screen.

Upgrading your statistics[edit]

During your adventure, you can receive some bonuses to your statistics.

  • Drugs, such as Buffout, Mentats, Psyccho, and RadX can increase them temporarily. See Chemicals for details.
  • Armor can provide a good increase in armor class, damage threshold and resistance, as well as radiation resistance.
  • Tycho can teach you some outdoorsman skill if you ask.
  • MacRae, the guard at the Blades, can teach you some fighting skills if you ask him. It's futile to ask if they're at 91%.
  • Watching the Brotherhood Initiate training can give you an increase in melee and unarmed skills.
  • The Brotherhood has computer courses that can increase your science skill by 15%.
  • Reading books can increase your skills, up to 91%. These include: Scout Handbook (outdoorsman), Big Book of Science (Science), Guns and Bullets (small guns), Dean's Electronics (repair), and the First Aid Book (first aid).
Note
It only costs $3,000 to upgrade Intelligence if it is less than 3.
  • The Brotherhood surgeon can increase all of your skills (except for charisma and luck) for a price (and long recovery time). He only can raise each skill once.
Stat Cost Recovery
Strength $2,000 3 weeks
Perception $4,000 1 week
Endurance $3,000 1 week
Intelligence $6,000 3 weeks
Agility $5,000 3 weeks
  • Patrick the Celt, the wandering bard, can increase your Charisma by 1 if you sing the Gaelic song with him.
  • Chuck, the fortune teller, can increase your Luck by 2 if you get your fortune told and choose the right conversation path.