I like Fallout. So I took a break from running Delta Green, to run a hack of Delta Green set in the Fallout universe. Variety is the spice of life.
The module I used, Fallout Two Sun, isn't my own. Mellonbread wrote it back in 2021. I've just made some changes here and there. The game was a lot of fun, we had a nice mix of combat, political intrigue, exploration and roleplaying.
The first session was 6.5 hours long, and I imagine the later sessions will be similar, so I'll be splitting these AARs into a day-by-day format.
DAY ONE - THE BOOT
Two Vault Dwellers found themselves handcuffed and surrounded by armed guards at the exit of Vault 24. Someone had bombed the Overseer's office, and their heads were on the chopping block.
- Ghale Perez, the Vault's chief reactor technician and a revolutionary anarchist in all but name. He'd tried to assassinate Overseer Barnabas with an microfusion cell IED, but had only blasted the tyrant's leg off. The Overseer couldn't prove it, but was exiling him all the same.
- Bobby Lopez, a druggie fuckup who had no involvement with the plot. But he had shot up all of this month's Med-Ex ration right before the Overseer's surgery. So in a fit of pain-addled rage, Barnabas also sentenced him to exile. Bobby wasn't even conscious for the kangaroo court, still drooling on the floor in an opioid coma.
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| The Vault Door |
While the Overseer was being stitched up in an Auto-Doc, the security guards debated beating the Exiles to death here and now. They knew how to induce internal bleeding so the pair of criminals would die within minutes of being thrown out of the Vault.
The sound of a 12.7mm AE round being chambered stopped them. Old Man Dan Watanabe, three-time Exilee and murderous drunk, stumbled out of his favourite drinking nook beside the Vault door. The security guards took their cue to have a smoke break, leaving Watanabe alone with the Exiles. The adventurer uploaded map data to the Exiles' Pip-Boys. He drunkenly explained the state of the Arizona wastes to Ghale - the previously anarchic city of Two Sun had been conquered by a tribal army of crimson-clad soldiers. They called themselves the Legion, and killed all those that opposed them.
In order to get back in the Vault and overthrow the Overseer for good (something Watanabe was all for, so long as the new world order let him get shitfaced), they'd need to bring something back so valuable that the security department would force Barnabas to open the Vault door. Last time, Watanabe had bribed security with a massive supply of mezcal stolen from a wasteland trader. But the Legion killed anyone caught with alcohol or drugs, so that wasn't a great option nowadays. Unable to offer more help, and suffering a crippling hangover, Watanabe stuffed a fistful wasteland currency in the Exiles' packs (Nuka Cola bottlecaps) and made himself scarce.
After some skin grafts and using half the Vault's supply of Stimpaks, Overseer Barnabas approached the Exiles in a motorised wheelchair - flanked by a dozen jackbooted thugs. The autocrat read out charges of high treason through gritted teeth and then had them thrown into the pitch blackness. It wasn't until the Vault door sealed behind them that Bobby became cognisant of his situation, but Ghale managed to calm the bewildered drug addict - promising him they'd get back inside.
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| Fallout 1 Opening |
The inside of Colossal Cave was littered with Pre-War junk. Soda bottles, tin cans and plastic wrapping crunched under foot as the Exiles ignited their Pip-Boy lights and crept through the cave. A giant cockroach skittered across the sand in front of them, their introduction to the wasteland's wildlife.
The Exiles soon entered the Visitor's Centre. Once a state park under the Arizona Commonwealth, ownership of the caves had been sold to Vault-Tec to raise funds in America's war against the Red Chinese. There should've been nothing left to loot, after decades of other Exiles picking the place clean, but Bobby found something - a dead guy crushed beneath a vending machine.
The week-old corpse was wearing red-painted football gear and clutching a rifle. After prying the weapon and ammunition from the corpse, Ghale noticed pidgin Latin carved into the rifle's stock.
"THIS MACHINE KILLS PROFLIGATES"
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| Legion Scout |
The scuttling of more roaches brought the Exiles' attention away from the soldier. Seeing a dozen more bugs creeping towards them, they broke a hasty retreat into the Arizona wasteland.
The sight was awe-inspiring. Sunlight, real sunlight, not that simulated UV shit, streamed onto their pale faces. The intoxicating smell of actual woodsmoke filled their nostrils, carried on irradiated winds from the sprawling city of Two Sun lying in a shallow valley in front of them. The Exiles were shocked to see the city illuminated not just by cooking fires, but electrical street lights.
Considering that to their South was a jagged field of irradiated glass and to their North was a mountain range, the Exiles decided to walk along to road into Two Sun. They stopped to loot some destroyed suburbs, where Bobby found another hunting rifle locked in a Pre-War gun safe.
As they exited the suburbs, the Exiles spotted the first wastelanders they'd ever seen. A ragtag group of men and women, protecting gigantic Javelina hogs laden with water jugs and sacks of maize, also walking the highway to Two Sun.
The traders were amazed to meet real Vault Dwellers, and bombarded the Exiles with questions about the Vault. But after Ghale gave them a story of tyranny and the strangling of democracy, they laughed in his face. They'd had the best deal in the world. Clean water, food, power, safety. And they'd abandoned it for meaningless words on the pages of a book.
The laughter soon turned to stoney silence after Bobby revealed he was both carrying Chems and had looted a Pre-War building. The traders told the Exiles that the Legion killed drug addicts and broke the legs of any unauthorised prospectors. Before Ghale could smooth things over, the traders drew guns and told the Exiles to fuck off. Bobby saw the source of their sudden discomfort - a Legion checkpoint a few hundred metres away. The farmers obviously didn't want to be crucified by association.
Now separated from the traders, the Exiles briefly debated fleeing into the wastes, but noticed a legionary watching them through a pair of binoculars. Not wanting to appear guilty, the Exiles decided to hide their Chems, deface the Legion graffiti on the hunting rifle and hope Stimpaks weren't haram.
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| By Elijah McNeal, on Artstation |
Seven soldiers armed with throwing spears and motley collection of firearms guarded a makeshift checkpoint made from an upturned truck and tire piles. An SMG-toting legionary with a headdress of vulture feathers and aviator sunglasses stopped the Exiles, introduced himself as Decanus Batista, and asked their business in Two Sun.
Ghale said they were a father and son duo, repairmen from the South looking for work. Surprisingly, Batista broke out a clipboard and duly noted down their explanation for his logbook. He asked them if they had anything to declare - illegal Chems or stolen goods. The Exiles nervously asked if Stimpaks counted. Batista grumbled, and explained that whilst they spoke of a degenerate moral, spiritual and physical character - no, they didn't.
Relieved, the Exiles made it through the checkpoint without further incident. The Legion weren't suspicious of their illegal rifles, nor did they find their hidden Chems. Batista even gave them a bottle of sarsaparilla for the road, brewed by his slave wives and chilled via evaporative cooling. He advised the Exiles go to Global Solar and speak to the men in white if they were looking for work as repairmen.
The Exiles soon spotted signage for the Poseidon Energy solar plant, noting a weird crucifix symbol painted on the roadsign.
Global Solar was an impressive sight. A field of glittering mirrors tended to by a small army of slaves, guarded by legionaries and overseen by a small group of white-clad men. The Exiles weren't planning to stop by, until they saw an elderly slave drop a solar panel on the concrete - breaking it.
With a roar of anger, a legionary moved to club the offending labourer to death with a lead pipe. But one of the strange doctors stepped in the way, verbally daring the soldier to strike him down. Grumbling, the red-skirt backed down and walked away from the confrontation. Interest piqued, the Exiles approached the man - who immediately recognised them as Vault Dwellers.
But the wasteland technician, Barry Wurst, wasn't some yokel impressed by spandex-clad cave dwellers. He resisted being squeezed for information, and told the Exiles to fix the broken panel as a show of good faith. The Exiles easily repaired the panel, even boosting its power production. Barry begrudgingly thanked them, and brought them into his airconditioned office for a cup of Nuka Cola.
He explained that he and his fellow scientists were Followers of the Apocalpyse, a cult of doctors from California. They'd mounted an expedition to Arizona to try and help Two Sun, but they got encircled by the Legion's siege of the city and were forced into collaboration.
- The Legion were at war with a cult of Pre-War military remnants called the Brotherhood of Steel. Their bunker would no doubt be filled with invaluable technology, but good luck getting inside.
- The Exiles asked Barry for potential places they could find something for their Vault. He had a few recommendations, but none of them were attractive.
- The ICBM silos of Glass Valley likely had intact nuclear warheads, as several of the Titan missiles hadn't been fired. But the whole area filled with insane pre-war ghouls that shot trespassers on sight.
- The Tuscon USAF Base was similarly untouched by prospectors, but it was protected by a series of automated turrets that obliterated any trespassers.
- Their Vault could also collaborate with the Legion in exchange for food and water.
Unsatisfied by the conversation, the Exiles dismissed Barry's offer to join the Followers as technicians. He still recommended they talk to Yvette, his chief programmer, inside the main building if they were looking for work.
However, on the way to meet Yvette, the Exiles noticed the old UA Tech Park in the South of the facility. The place was plastered with the names of Pre-War military contractors, but all the doors were sealed with security shutters and the Legion appeared none the wiser to the weaponry likely inside. But as they went to approach the building, they warned off by a nearby Follower. The building's deadly treasures were off limits for everyone - including random assholes from a Vault.
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| War Never Changes |
The Exiles shrugged, and went to go meet Yvette. They found the heavily tattooed programmer cannibalising terminals to maintain the Two Sun's power grid whilst sneaking puffs of a contraband cigarette. Yvette didn't share Barry's collaborationist attitude, but felt powerless to stop the Legion. Ghale cheered her up by showing her how to make IEDs from microfusion cells.
Deciding the Exiles were on the level, she asked them to help a "friend" of hers - Samara, a Brotherhood of Steel scribe captured by the Legion. She'd been tasked with repairing the terminals in the Two Sun's slave pits to ease the Legion's bureaucratic load, and had snuck an SOS signal out. Yvette had picked up on it and started secretly texting the imprisoned scribe.
Though she convinced Barry to purchase Samara to use her technical knowledge in Global Solar, there was a hiccup. A senior legion officer, Decanus Timur, was infatuated with Samara. The idea of having a Brotherhood scribe as his concubine clearly aroused the fascist bastard, so he was trying to buy her himself. And whilst Timur was disputing their purchase, there was a risk the Followers couldn't save Samara and she'd meet a fate worse than death.
So the red skirt needed to have an accident. Happy to finally meet someone with a similar moral compass, the Exiles eagerly agreed to assassinate the Legion officer. Yvette thanked them, and passed on a copy of Programmer's Digest as a down payment.
Before the Exiles left Global Solar, they decided to take a crack at infiltrating the tech park. Ghale distracted the nearby legionaries, whilst Bobby expertly climbed his way to the top of the building. Avoiding notice, he crept across the roof and peeked into the central courtyard.
A RobCo Industries Model-2072 Sentry Bot stared back at him. Dodging backwards, Bobby barely avoided the countless crimson beams that shredded the rooftop. He scrambled back to the ground as a squad of panicked legionaries began shouting about a Brotherhood deep strike, having recognised the distinctive report of a gatling laser.
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| By Dennis Mejillones, on Artstation |
Ghale barely averted a total site lockdown by convincing the red skirts it was just discharge from the solar array. With no further laser blasts nor sightings of power-armour-clad cultists, the legionaries' officers began screaming abuse at their stupid soldiers for being so twitchy.
The Exiles beat a hasty retreat into the wastes before anyone wised up to their shenanigans.
On the road to Two Sun, the Exiles noticed the Los Reales Landfill had quadrupled in size from Pre-War times. As they watched on, some legionaries led a column of terrified slaves to the landfill's outer perimeter, whereupon a group of strange tribals wearing bloodstained hi-vis vests apparated from the piles of junk and refuse.
Despite their pleas, the slaves had trashbags thrown over their heads and were dragged out of sight. The mystics of trash and violence dumped a wheelbarrow filled with pre-war jewellery, electronics and copper cabling at the legionaries feet, before vanishing from whence they came. Clearly unnerved, the soldiers picked up their payment and carried it back towards Two Sun.
The Exiles decided they wanted nothing to do with the garbagemen, and kept on moving.
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| LISA - The Pointless |
An hour later, whilst stopping for a water break, the Exiles noticed movement in some abandoned houses. Worried it was more trash cultists, they went to flee before noticing abandoned slave garments poorly hidden nearby. Curiosity piqued, the Exiles approached the house and found a beleaguered group of escaped slaves cowering inside.
After assuring them they weren't Legion, the slaves' leader (and only able-bodied warrior) introduced himself as Ibrahim. He'd stabbed a Radscorpion (which the Exiles had never seen before) with his spear, which the Bobby helped him cook in a smokeless fire to feed the other escapees. After burning a Stimpak to heal their injured, Ibrahim trusted the Exiles enough to open up to them.
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By Nick Wohlfarth, on Artstation
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He explained their masters, a group of foreigners, had used the slaves to run a drug manufacturing operation. They were forced to mix brahmin dung in big vats, and synthesise it into an aersolised drug. But the slaves had become addicted - riddled with respiratory issues to the point of uselessness.
Unwilling to leave loose ends lest their illegal operation be discovered by the Legion, the dealers tried to liquidate the injured slaves, but were fought off by Ibrahim's father, Yaseem, at the cost of his life. Ibrahim led the slaves out of Two Sun, hoping to escape East, but their withdrawal symptoms had stopped their progress. After confirming the location of the secret drug lab in an old highschool, the Exiles offered to help the slaves find some new clothes. Ibrahim agreed to the plan, so the trio struck off towards the Pima Air and Space Museum.
Upon arrival, the Exiles watched a horde of giant roadrunners dash past the museum into an open field. Gatling laser fire burst out from an aerospace hangar a few hundred metres away, disintegrating the birds. Assuming those were the airbase defences the Followers mentioned, the Exiles gave it a wide berth and avoided straying too far from the Museum parking lot.
Inside, they bypassed the half-blind Protectron guarding the museum and took a look around. The Exiles found plenty of Pre-War bomber jackets and flight suits on old mannequins, enough to clothe the slaves and replace their conspicious Vault Suits. Bobby also rustled up some Fixer and a toolkit.
A mimicked gecko mating call from Ibrahim alerted the Exiles to something outside. They had company. Peeking through the boarded up windows, they saw a trade caravan consisting of a dozen mercenaries guarding a trio of two-headed mutant cows. The guards were armed to the teeth with mismatched combat armour, energy weapons and automatic rifles.
After the caravan stopped for a water break, Ghale (being bilingual) overheard them conversing in Spanish. The caravan was guarding half a ton of South American coffee, being hauled up Central America to virgin markets in the Legion. The foreign mercenaries didn't stick around long, pushing onwards to Two Sun.
With the threat gone, the Exiles disabled the Protectron and looted its weapons, stashing the still-intact robot in a supply closet for later use.
Before leaving, the Exiles dropped off the jumpsuits and used a dose of Fixer to lessen the tribals' withdrawals. The tribals were enamoured by the Exiles, the first people who'd ever helped without expecting anything in return. The slaves followed Ghale's suggestion to settle inside of the Colossal Cave Visitor's Centre. They'd kill the Radroaches for food, and await the Exiles' eventual return.
(Though the visitor's centre was an objectively good hiding spot, Ghale also found the idea of a dozen wasteland savages squatting on the Overseer's doorstep hilarious.)
After more walking down the highway, the Exiles finally found themselves inside Two Sun proper. The streets became choked with soldiers, slaves, wastelanders, traders and mercenaries. They also noticed representatives of the local tribes allied with the Legion - Trashmen from the Los Reales Landfill and the Compache, a tribe of Native Americans who rode the giant roadrunners they'd seen earlier.
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| By Herckeim, on DeviantArt |
The Exiles spent a few hours selling their ill-gotten gains and talking with local hunters to get a lowdown on the local mutated wildlife. After hearing colourful stories about Deathclaws, Cazadors and Gila Dragons, the terrified Exiles bought some leather armour and a plasma grenade to bolster their combat capabilities. They ended the day sweet-talking the Followers at the Veteran Affairs Hospital into giving them an unoccupied room to sleep in.
