Last week, I complained about how it would have been easier to play Fallout in Troika than to read the (rather awful) 2d20 Modiphius Fallout Starter Set. This week, I’m writing that hack to prove my point!
SPECIAL vs Backgrounds
Strength. Perception. Endurance. Charisma. Intelligence. Agility. Luck.
If you’ve played Fallout, you know the base attributes in that game. If you wanted to hew as close as possible to OG Fallout design, you could replace Troika’s single skill attribute with five different attributes (making Endurance Stamina and leaving Luck as is).
Let’s not do this!
Let’s keep it simple. Twelve (d26) Backgrounds, rolled in the usual Troika style, with one small caveat: we’ll attach Skills, Staminas, and Lucks directly to Backgrounds. This will differentiate them a bit more and help with balance.
11. Vault Dweller (Control)
Skill: 6 Stamina: 20 Luck: 11
Advanced Skills: Science 1
Repair 1
Speech 1
First Aid 1
+ 3 Tag Skills
Possessions: Vault Suit
10mm Pistol
6 10mm Rounds
Geiger Counter
Special: Starts without Caps.
12. Vault Dweller (Experiment)
Skill: 5 Stamina: 22 Luck: 10
Advanced Skills:
+ 3 Tag Skills
Possessions: Vault Suit
10mm Pistol
6 10mm Rounds
Geiger Counter
Special: Add +3 ranks to one Tagged Skill.
13. Raider
Skill: 5 Stamina: 24 Luck: 11
Advanced Skills: Small Guns 1
Melee Weapons 1
Sneak 1
Lockpick 1
+ 3 Tag Skills
Possessions: Leather Jacket (Light Armour)
10mm Pistol
6 10mm Rounds
Special: 1-in-6 chance of being unwelcome in a random settlement.
14. Tribal
Skill: 5 Stamina: 24 Luck: 10
Advanced Skills: Outdoorsman 1
Melee Weapons 1
Sneak 1
Throwing 1
Traps 1
+ 3 Tag Skills
Possessions: Spear
Healing Powder
d6 Gecko Skins
15. Ghoul
Skill: 4 Stamina: 24 Luck: 7
Advanced Skills: First Aid 1
Sneak 1
Unarmed 1
+ 3 Tag Skills
Possessions: 10mm Pistol
6 10mm Rounds
Special: 4-in-6 chance of being unwelcome in a random settlement.
Radiation heals Ghouls rather than damaging them.
Feral Ghouls won’t attack Ghouls.
If a Ghoul would die, they can test their Luck to return to full health instead.
16. Super Mutant
Skill: 6 Stamina: 24 Luck: 8
Advanced Skills: Strength 3
Melee Weapons 3
Big Guns 2
+ 1 Tag Skill
Possessions: Sledgehammer
Minigun
Minigun Ammo
Bag of Meat
Mutant Skin (as Light Armour)
Special:5-in-6 chance of being unwelcome in a random settlement.
No damage from radiation.
21. NCR
Skill: 5 Stamina: 22 Luck: 11
Advanced Skills: Small Guns 1
Speech 1
Barter 1
+ 3 Tag Skills
Possessions: Uniform (Light Armor)
Rifle
4 Rifle Rounds
d66 NCR Dollars
22. Brotherhood of Steel
Skill: 5 Stamina: 20 Luck: 10
Advanced Skills: Science 2
Energy Weapons 1
Repair 1
+ 3 Tag Skills
Possessions: Power Armour (Heavy Armor, +2 Strength)
Fusion Core
Laser Pistol
12 Energy Cells
23. Robot
Skill: 4 Stamina: 24 Luck: 8
Advanced Skills: Science 3
Repair 3
Doctor 2
Lockpick 2
+ 1 Tag Skill
Possessions: Robot Skin (as Medium Armor)
Blade Attachment (as Sword)
Special: 1-in-6 chance of being unwelcome in a random settlement.
Takes damage from EMPs. No damage from Radiation.
24. Legion
Skill: 5 Stamina: 24 Luck: 9
Advanced Skills: Throwing 1
Melee Weapons 1
Sneak 1
First Aid 1
+ 3 Tag Skills
Possessions: Light Armour
Machete
2 Frag Grenades
d66 Denarii
Special: 1-in-6 chance of being unwelcome in a random settlement.
25. New Vegas / New Reno
Skill: 5 Stamina: 22 Luck: 12
Advanced Skills: Small Guns 1
Gambling 1
Steal 1
Lockpick 1
+ 3 Tag Skills
Possessions: Nice Clothes
10mm Pistol
6 10mm Rounds
3d6 Caps
26. Sentient Deathclaw
Skill: 4 Stamina: 24 Luck: 10
Advanced Skills: Unarmed 5
Outdoorsman 3
Sneak 3
Strength 3
Possessions: Gigantic Cloak (+2 Disguise)
Deathclaw Skin (as Modest Armour)
Special: Presumed to be unwelcome in most settlements if disguise fails.
Deals Unarmed Damage as a Large Beast.
Tag!
In the old GURPs-based Fallout Games, you chose three Tag Skills. We’ll keep that; players pick three skills from the list, take two ranks in each, and roll 3d6-keep-the-highest-two when advancing those skills.
What’s on the list? We’ll crib directly from Fallout 2 because it’s inarguably the best one. Inargue about that in the comments!
Small Guns
Big Guns
Energy Weapons
Unarmed
Melee Weapons
Throwing
First Aid
Doctor
Sneak
Lockpick
Steal
Traps
Science
Repair
Speech
Barter
Gambling
Outdoorsman
Starting Possessions
Knife. Backpack. Flashlight. Battery. Six Provisions. 2d6 Bottlecaps.
Roll a Background. Pick Tag skills. You’re off to the races.
Pros and Cons
So what advantages does this Troika hack have over the character creation rules in the 2d20 Fallout Starter Set?
For starters, this exists.
The starter set is curiously devoid of character creation rules. You’d think this is exactly the kind of thing you’d want to have in a set meant to get you started, yet here we are. Premade characters don’t cut it! Anyway, don’t buy it, ignore uncritical reviews, and play Troika instead!
Honestly, the Starter Set is bad enough to deserve a more critical look. Stay tuned to our YouTube channel for an unboxing video and analysis, coming soon! Or, if you prefer to do your own criticizing, tell me what’s wrong with this hack in the comments below!