Lore Reason for the Luck of the Protagonist and their Capabilities

Z

Zampanò

First time out of the vault
I've been playing through the Fallout games for the first time (just finished 1, currently playing through 2) and these are also my first experience with RPGs.

I didn't think about it much on my playthrough of 1, but is there any in-universe explanation for the luck of the protagonists? Both the Vault Dweller and Chosen One weren't very experienced with combat, yet they both managed to be one man army's. What factors came together to make this possible? In addition, the protagonists in these games seem to have some form of incredible luck. There are so many odd jobs and situations that the two of them encounter seemingly by chance. For example, in Junktown, the protagonist is capable of encountering, by chance, an attempt on Killian's life, a fight in the Skum Pitt, and a hostage situation at the hotel. Is this just an element of the universe of the games? Not sure if this is just common in RPGs in general or if there is something bigger at play here...
 
In Fallout 1 and 2 because of the distances in the world that they travelled they were bound to encounter many life or death situations. That's where their combat proficiency came from. And in FO3 and beyond the world is nothing but shooting targets, so no wonder there.
 
Well, the protagonist of an RPG is typically "The Hero". That should sum up a lot of why they are as capable as they are.
 
In a story events happen around the hero for there to be a narrative otherwise you would have a game or story where nothing happens. Also in an RPG the point is to make your character stronger with every level up. The explanation is that is a narrative and convenience is a necesary element to any story.
 
That makes sense as it is a video game after all. I was just wondering if there was more to it. I personally theorized that maybe luck and karma are on our protagonists' sides. They may be quantifiable forces in this universe.

For example, the Vault Dweller could just have strange luck, explaining why they encounter so much in their lifetime compared to other people in the wasteland. Karma could be on their side as reward for being so determined to get water to their people. I wasn't sure if there was an explanation like this present anywhere in the lore.
 
Because the backstories for the Vault Dweller and the Chosen One are vague enough to allow the player to insert substantial amounts of homemade backstory to those characters to give context to a lot that happens in the game. It's why there's three backstories you can pick before you start the game and a fourth which it's custom made by the player.

With all of that said, you can pretty much make a character that has some combat training before the start of the game, explaining why they can be effective in several situations during either game.
 
You can have 1 Luck and have a trait that makes everything you do fail and you can pick an ending that makes everyone suffer.

Not everything needs an explanation.
 
For the same reason Luke Skywalker goes from farmhand to a Master Jedi within like 2 or 3 years. It's the hero's journey. In a normal playthrough of either game I'm pretty sure usually things take about a year.
 
Zampanò said:
I've been playing through the Fallout games for the first time (just finished 1, currently playing through 2) and these are also my first experience with RPGs.

I didn't think about it much on my playthrough of 1, but is there any in-universe explanation for the luck of the protagonists? Both the Vault Dweller and Chosen One weren't very experienced with combat, yet they both managed to be one man army's. What factors came together to make this possible? In addition, the protagonists in these games seem to have some form of incredible luck. There are so many odd jobs and situations that the two of them encounter seemingly by chance. For example, in Junktown, the protagonist is capable of encountering, by chance, an attempt on Killian's life, a fight in the Skum Pitt, and a hostage situation at the hotel. Is this just an element of the universe of the games? Not sure if this is just common in RPGs in general or if there is something bigger at play here...
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It’s the same way medieval men-at-arms became killing machines; seeing combat will make you more experienced. It sounds obvious, but the most dangerous “grizzled vets” in war/combat situations usually aren’t the officers who went to military academies; it’s the men in the trenches that manage to survive having that shit thrown at them on campaign.
 
Personally, I always saw Fallout protagonists as pretty normal types, but with exceptional willpower. They are just dudes, but dudes on a mission. Until things like combat implants enter the figure, they are just merely human - sometimes a pretty innately gifted human.

Pretty normal dudes who go through loads of things and rather than breaking or dying, become super badass.
 
Slaughter Manslaught said:
Personally, I always saw Fallout protagonists as pretty normal types, but with exceptional willpower. They are just dudes, but dudes on a mission. Until things like combat implants enter the figure, they are just merely human - sometimes a pretty innately gifted human.

Pretty normal dudes who go through loads of things and rather than breaking or dying, become super badass.
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Sounds about right. Tim Cain at one point said his reference point/inspiration for the "heroic" version of the Vault Dweller playthrough in Fallout 1 was Sam from the book Lord of Light, who was basically defined by his willpower.
 
It is often called plot armor.

Otherwise, it can be attributed to luck. Historically, there are humans born every now and then who seem like they were destined to change the world.

Caesar, Shi Huang Di, Muhammad, Jesus, Ghengis, Hitler, etc. These folks with just amazing luck and skill, do exactly what most game heroes and villains do.

Born to a leadership and rich family. Capable with a very diverse skill set, and obviously, 10 luck, and 10 int to properly take maximum advantage of the former.
 
DarkCorp said:
It is often called plot armor.

Otherwise, it can be attributed to luck. Historically, there are humans born every now and then who seem like they were destined to change the world.

Caesar, Shi Huang Di, Muhammad, Jesus, Ghengis, Hitler, etc. These folks with just amazing luck and skill, do exactly what most game heroes and villains do.

Born to a leadership and rich family. Capable with a very diverse skill set, and obviously, 10 luck, and 10 int to properly take maximum advantage of the former.
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I mean, I don't know if I'd call Jesus lucky.
 
Luck can be given and taken away in the real world or AKA destiny.

Then again, Pariah Dog can fuck your luck too sooooooo. Mebbe jesus ran into pariah dog.
 
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The lore reason is determination and the experience you gained, represented by your growing exp.

The "luck" element is just the fact that stuff is always going down in the wasteland so naturally, you'll find things to do. It's not unique in that regard in comparison to any other RPG, really.

A vault dweller that gets by through talking and disguises isn't anymore unique than Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. So it also depends on how you played. If you want to be a gun prodigy, go for it. If you want to be ordinary thrown into extraordinary circumstances, go for it. It's an RPG. Any playstyle and the reason for your doing so are yours.
 
The "luck" is character build dependent. Play a character with 1 strength and 1 endurance and don't level combat skills and you will find your answers.
 
Also think about doing an ironman run of the original Fallouts. You'd get merked a lot at low levels. In canon they don't have a save and reload. They just survive by grit and gain....experience.
 
Atomic Postman said:
Also think about doing an ironman run of the original Fallouts. You'd get merked a lot at low levels. In canon they don't have a save and reload. They just survive by grit and gain....experience.
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This made me imagine the Overseer just continuously sending residents out one by one until they return with the water chip.
 
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