Fixing Fallout 3

A

aac013

First time out of the vault
Apologies for the misleading title, but this is more of a fan canon construct of how things in DC were to cause things to seem like they were ten minutes after the bombs dropped.

As a Fallout PnP game master, I use DC as a setting to get my vices out on what I hate about the game. For example towns are about twelve sizes larger, a little more far apart, and a little less isolated.

One of the major flavours I add in is the fact that DC is the Capitol territory for all raiders of different clans and tribes gather in a Pirates of the Caribbean 3 way of sorting out territorial disputes. I use that to explain away the massive number of raider encounters for such a small area. This obviously means towns can be under certain "gangs" protection for extorting supplies and goods.

So does anyone else enjoy this outlook? I can go on with other factions and territories, if you'd like? Feel free to chip in your two cents as well.
 
For example, the Children of Little Lamplight. Where do the kids come from? Obviously the teens and adults of Big Town would respectfully return children they have with wastelanders to Lamplight if they see themselves unfit to care for the kids. Alternatively Lamplight would have scouting parties and scavenging groups as well, so what if we had children stealing newborns in multiple settlements in a Kid's Next Door fashion? Imagine the detective quests you could get in Megaton when the children of the wastes go missing?
 
Thank you, but not all of my ideas are good. For example 20 or so years before the enclave returns in Fallout 3 they used DC as they're main hub before the "Super Mutants", Raiders, and brotherhood eventually arrived. Still haven't worked out the details on this one, but it is to explain why the older sub-humans and maybe some of the pure humans seem to have a little respect for the Enclave.
 
However, one of my better ideas is the fortifications of the Temple of the Union. Chances are they would naturally have slavers stumble upon them, and the matter of killing the slavers before word could spread would be of upmost importance. Obviously the Temple of te Union would pay caps and make deals with raiders to misdirect slavers, but you can't really trust Raiders.

Chances are they would need to contract military aid in the form of Talon's Company. Talon Company needs a stronger presence in DC than just "mercs who kill you if you are good." I believe the Dj does mention "they take the contracts others won't" and certainly to Talon Company they will do whatever they can for being payed, and I imagine them being a bit more trustworthy than raiders.

Temple of the Union probably can only afford fortifications of their temple, snipers in the nest on the top floor. Alternatively they convince Bounty Hunters to keep an eye on those who know of their location, or maybe sending out one of their own wastelanders?
 
On topic of 3dog, he wouldn't have such a personal obsession with the player. His job is to play music and reporting news. The best improvement I can think of is a "Raider Forcast" for local areas, and as advice to wastelanders on how to survive.

If we think about how long he was there before the bad brotherhood arrived to play hero, chances are 3dog was a raider, probably using his radio for informing his old clan, maybe even misdirecting caravans into raiding grounds for his raiders and avoiding others. Obviously after the Brotherhood of Lyons' arrive, 3dog changes his tune and "fights the good fight with his voice on GNR," Brotherhood probably rolling through his clan.
 
I was hoping to hear other people's ideas as well, but in the mean time I'll keep going.

The Republic of Dave, and the title of the town from previous generations, is a little better fortified. If Dave is-was a "great mercenary," he would gave an idea of fortification, wheatear something he builds as a watchtower, or repurposing that large rock to the east as such.

Also I don't know how the deathclaw came to be at Old Olney, but I like the idea of before they arrived that it was a town under the reign of Dave or one of his predecessors, before whatever civil war took place to bring Dave into presidency. The idea is kind of borrowed from a hybrid of the ghouls that inhabit there post Broken Steel, and the fact Dave plans to annex the location under his rule in the vanilla game. Maybe he was born there? Or am I alluding to Hitler too much?

I also like the idea of a political rival for Dave that constantly does what he can to become president under Dave's own law. Something along the lines of improving trade routes or opening the Republic to wastelanders immigration, and developing towns, but Dave's own past successes convince those who would otherwise vote against, to keep the president in chair.

Perhaps Dave territories would be the only Raider-free territory, as far as bribery to keep the town afloat goes. Maybe that would make Dave territories more often to be raided on their outskirts and trade routes?

I think I may have put the most thought into Dave, as from Fallout 3 I thought it was the most original town and that it was such a shame for so much wasted potential.
 
With the location of Arefu, I imagine it a bit more massive, from certain angles looking like a literal city in the sky, as the Oasis lady predicts. A more symbiotic relationship with megaton, and the "vampires" acting as raiders.

Not that the vampires loot their victims, but instead only grabbing lone travellers, knocking them out with cattle prods, and sucking some blood before dropping the wanderers into the train yard opposite their tunnel to disorientate their victims. I would like if in game you saw the many residents of Arefu abandon the town in fear over a length of time rather than meet the town at the end of it's legs.

If you want me to mention a specific location or faction let me know...
 
You got good ideas. keep it up, I like them, might make for a good tabletop homebrew rpg or something

Scratch that, this'd be an AWESOME game. Mind if I borrow some of the content? Particularly the Three-Dog idea.
 
That, and if I were ever given the opportunity to write for a fallout 1/2 mod that was remaking 3 I would want to fix everything.
 
Oh, remember not to forget agriculture. People need to eat, and this was one of the most jarring faults with Fallout 3: what do they eat?
 
Birds exist, as do farms. Dave would have an agriculture center I'm sure. One thing I want to note though, is all the vaults should have a G.E.C.K. as mentioned in FO2, except maybe the virtual reality vault. After 200 years most of them would have been used by now, save the Gary Vault.

Some less hostile but still isolationistic Garys travel the wastes with their G.E.C.K. Until they find a suitable farm. They will activate the device if the player were to interact with or ask the Gary's about their device, keeping access away from the player, or maybe not understanding non-Garys.

Back to your question, I'm sure non-G.E.C.K. Created farms would also exist, like the "farm" location north of Megaton, except actually a farm owned by Megaton or Raiders? Maybe not because they wouldn't really be raiders if they worked in agriculture, would they?

Raiders are more the type to scavenge or steal food from caravaners and settlements, storing them in their "Super Duper Marts" as a hub for a couple of the gangs.

Did that help a bit? There are plenty of locations in vanilla FO3 that could have been agriculture farms but instead were "Raider Houses"
 
Now my regards to the Regulators of D.C.
I don't like the idea of "Perfect goody-two-shoe" roles and that is filled plenty enough by post-Lyons Brotherhood (some things cannot be fixed...)
The Regulators believe themselves to be paragons of the wastes, collecting their fingers from "evil" characters and completing their "contracts."

They probably set up counter-raids on caravans. However, not directly hired as bodygaurds, D.C. Regulators play a Batman character; a myth to the wastelanders and caravaners, and a nightmare to the raiders.

The regulators probably also would assult settlements that are habitats for raiders even when the "evil" characters are off the clock. Which, technically, is an act of evil? Disrupting a settlement, regardless of their karma?

Also a possible questline in game, a civil war of the Regulators, people "forging" evidence of killing "evil" characters. Basically they kill mutants and such, claiming they are evil. So a counter-group decides they shall capture their targets alive, at the risk of their myth-like status.
 
How is that fixing anything in Fallout 3? It was a great game.
 
aac013 said:
Thank you, but not all of my ideas are good. For example 20 or so years before the enclave returns in Fallout 3 they used DC as they're main hub before the "Super Mutants", Raiders, and brotherhood eventually arrived. Still haven't worked out the details on this one, but it is to explain why the older sub-humans and maybe some of the pure humans seem to have a little respect for the Enclave.
Click to expand...

I would rather see them as an autonomous chapter that were already there before the fall of the oil rig.
This would explain how they are better equiped and more numerous than their Fo2 counterpart. They weren't defeated by the chosen one and naturally expanded in the 200 years following the war.

Still about the Enclave it would be great to have Enclave civilians, as well, and more emphasis about reproduction. Like Vault 101 citizens, they don't have much outside recruitement, so they should make more babies.
 
Last edited:
I've actually though of something now too.

So, after deactivating the bomb and moving into the town, Simms asks if you want to do another quest. The quest involves going into Springvale and dealing with the raiders, when you got the school, instead of being all hostile, the raiders in the outside would be friendly, also there would be 2 to 3 raiders in front of the main entrance plus their leader, you would have a conversation with him, which would make the quest solveable trough 3 ways. First, you would say something along the lines of "I'm sure we are all tired of talking, let's finish this now." to wich the raider leader would reply "Alright, time you meet end!" , which would make all the raiders hostile, forcing you to kill them all (both inside the building and outside). Then, the second way, by passing a speech check (around 40 speech would give around 60 to 70% of suceding, it would make the raiders stop raiding Megaton and move somewhere else. The third way would be the hardest, you would not only convince the raiders to stop raiding Megaton, but also make them protect it and Springvale (more on it later), but it would require quite the abilities, around 50 to 60 in speech to get the same 60 to 70% chance of sucess.

Springvale would be a bit different. First, in place of some the ruins, a few tents, and also small farms, they wouldn't be enough to feed all of Megaton (which would be a bit bigger than in vanilla FO3) making the caravans nescessary and vital to the town's survival.

Now Megaton. As I alredy said it would be a bit bigger than now (but a metropolis), it would have a small market, a brahmin pen, butcher, a small barracks (maybe the old armory, but a bit bigger).

Now the main quest. Changes will start right at Raven Rock. You won't be able to convince Eden to self-destruct the base, and the auto-destruct code would need voice verification (It would need Autumn's voice directly). but inside of the Colonel's quarters, you would find the Adv. Power Armor MKIII, togheter with a holotape, explaining where the armor would be (Autumn's bodyguards, the Presidential Guard and Sigma Squad Leaders), apart from the one in the room. It would also be the best armor in the game, with a full set in full condition rendering 75 DR.

Then after starting Take it Back! when you get to at least that destroyed radio mast, you will see Horowitzers, they would be responsible for the rockets being fired at Liberty Prime during the battle, also, there would be at least one Sigma Squad at the purifier, the BOS would also send not only the Lyons' Pride to the battle but also a few knights and paladins too.

There will be changes to the last quest in Broken Steel, in the Mobile Crawler at the launch computer you would be able to see how many nukes you had in the satellite, it would display this:

Mini-Nukes 0/4 (fire at Liberty Prime)
Nukes 2/2

You would have the same targets, plus Raven Rock and the satellite itself (though only the Citadel, Adams AFB, RR and self-destruction would be possible), the canon way (would be estabilished in a later game) would be to hit Raven Rock and self-destroy the satellite, them the Sarah's vertibird would taake you to somewhere high and close enough to RR to it get nuked and the satellite debris fall from the sky (Maybe the roof of the Statesman Hotel or other high building in DC?).

I have some more ideas, but I'll write them later.
 
AntonioBarbarian said:
I've actually though of something now too.

So, after deactivating the bomb and moving into the town, Simms asks if you want to do another quest. The quest involves going into Springvale and dealing with the raiders, when you got the school, instead of being all hostile, the raiders in the outside would be friendly, also there would be 2 to 3 raiders in front of the main entrance plus their leader, you would have a conversation with him, which would make the quest solveable trough 3 ways. First, you would say something along the lines of "I'm sure we are all tired of talking, let's finish this now." to wich the raider leader would reply "Alright, time you meet end!" , which would make all the raiders hostile, forcing you to kill them all (both inside the building and outside). Then, the second way, by passing a speech check (around 40 speech would give around 60 to 70% of suceding, it would make the raiders stop raiding Megaton and move somewhere else. The third way would be the hardest, you would not only convince the raiders to stop raiding Megaton, but also make them protect it and Springvale (more on it later), but it would require quite the abilities, around 50 to 60 in speech to get the same 60 to 70% chance of sucess.
Click to expand...
I'd suggest a barter solution, too. Maybe even something along the lines of making a proper feud, with people giving tribute for protection and other works. Of course, that would involve convincing both parts of the conflict.
 
How the hell have I noticed this thread only now?
This is a goldmine of good ideas. Keep 'em coming, I'll post some of mine later.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top