More RP from the next Fallout.

[Bastian_Hugo]

I would like to see a more roleplay element to the next Fallout. I would like the choice of who your character is and where s/he comes from. In Fallout NV you were told you were a courier and in fallout 3 you were the son of a scientist but you filled a number of roles: gunslinger, medic, politician, mechanic etc.

I would like the choice at the start of the game of who you are and for this post I shall use the example of a medic. So, if the next fallout begins in a vault similar to fallout 1, you could be sent out on a mission to collect information or some item but who you are is your choice. If you choose a medic there would be a certain way you could play the game, namely providing medical assistance to fellow wastelanders. This would allow you to develop skills in a way perhaps similar to skyrim.

I like the idea of random events. In fallout 1 & 2 you traverse across the wasteland with no idea what you could face. This provided a reminder that you were entering the unknown. In skyrim you are constantly reminded that you are the dragonborn, the music comes on you kill the dragon you absorb the soul, it feels pretty good! In fallout 3 & NV you know where and when encounters will occur, would it not be cool if you could have a random encounter with a death claw at a low level while looking for some brahmin, you would have to run away! Also random events could be solved by your class.

An example:

'You find a man under-fire in the wastelands.'
(i) in a soldier class you may return fire and eliminate the threat, then you may aid the man back to the followers who would fix him up.
(ii) as a medic you could provide some first-aid, your friend could remove the threat and you could provide further medical support following.

either option could open more quests but either option could end your encounter with this man


(iii) a third situation could be that your class could not aid this man and he either dies or some other survivor of the wastes sorts him out!

This would open up a new role for companions. In my example of a medic you may require a soldier to support you when under-fire or perhaps a politician to gain you entrance into a particular faction. I do like the idea of special companions (Boone, FNV) but I think you should have to work hard to get them, possibly based on some kind of reputation.

This moves on nicely to factions. I am currently on a play-through of FNV and with the brotherhood (who are on lock-down), they just let you in and remember your just some courier. Seems unrealistic. You should have to work hard to enter their ranks but as a specific role you can each offer something different. Possibly you should start at the bottom as with most factions in previous games you go and talk with the head-honcho and he sends you on a incredibly risky and important mission.

Back to the different roles, each would provide you with different clothes, tools and weapons not accessible by other classes. This would make multiple play-throughs essential to gain the complete experience.

I think cross-over might also be an important element as not everyone will want to be a pure medic but may want some of the benefits (possibly self-healing). So they could have medic/soldier who would be able to resolve some fire fight situations but might not be able to storm a base on the other hand. So, the player could pick the soldier class the start but visit someone who could offer some medical training. With crossing over you would not be able to gain 100% of the skills, weapons or achievements of one of the classes.

For a different point, I think pipboys should provide less information regarding missions which would require the player to think more creating a more engaging experience.


Thanks for reading.
Hope you found my opinions interesting, if you have any questions, criticisms or ideas please don't hesitate to reply.

BH

 

[Joelzania]

I think one of the main joys of Fallout is tagging skills and then making your backstory up. I do however agree that your idea of a medic or certain other profession would be fun. I enjoyed it in Fallout New Vegas when you could have chosen to help out Caesar and help the NCR soldiers in hospital at Nelson. I would have loved to see more ways in which this could be implemented, like when telling followers to heal, you could just end up healing them, or something along those lines similar to the original Fallouts.

A point on Skyrim random encounters, though. I have found several points where you can actually save and reload to encounter different random encounters, like in Fallout 3/NV. The random encounters would have to have a pretty in depth re-imagining, in my opinion.

When you mention factions, you seem to want a system more akin to the Elder Scrolls factions. I always felt that factions within Fallout were different, as you mostly dealt with small towns and settlements. However, now that the Fallout world is dealing larger and larger factions and societies this could be implemented in a more frequent and in depth way.

I like your ideas.

 

[Walpknut]

One cool, but simple mod is "A Role Players History" it let's you choose traits that specify a background for your character, like choosing being a Frumentarii, you get certain bonuses in both Stats and in dealing with the Legion, of course this is all very superficial because, being a mod, it can't alter NPC reactions or change the story according to that.

A more in depth system would be a rather cool addition to Fallout. Like with Age of Decadence.