Why one Vault Dweller and not two or three?

[Carib FMJ]

Always wondered this on the back of my mind. You have Albert Cole, Natalia Durbravoski and Max Stone - three individuals who are probably as unlikely 'good' Vault Dwellers (meaning they always question authority) would not have volunteered or been selected to find the new Waterchip. Albert with his silver tongue and skill; Natalia with her stealth, lockpicks and thievery; and Max Stone with his superior strength, endurance and heavy hands.

Would not a team be more effective? Considering if the Vault dweller did accumulate all the followers would be a much better chance at surviving.

 

[Atomkilla]

I always thought that when your mission begins it's basically top secret, just between you and Overseer. Nobody else knows about it for the time being, and one person being absent from the Vault for some time wouldn't attract as much attention as three or more people missing. More people missing, more questions raised, and eventually panic erupts when people realize that Vault is running out of water.
After a while, people of the Vault do find out about you, but by that time your mission is at its closure and Overseer had the time to spin the story in the right direction, so that they could kick you out.

On the other hand, Overseer might have actually sent a team after you have already left (but I don't so). Maybe he just didn't want to risk three lives instead of one for the time being. However, we find Ed's corpse just outside the Vault's door, so we're not the first one to leave. Remember, it's a single body. Talius was also sent by Jacoren before you. Maybe a policy was enforced where only person can leave at the time to ensure minimal loss of life?

Eh, regardless how you try to explain it, bottom line is that was a design decision from a pure gameplay perspective. Three characters basically exist to showcase three typical and balanced character builds and to give players who just want to jump in the game a two-click start. Never is it stated that Overseer Jacoren was making a choice between those three specific people. In the end, it's a single player game, so that was the main factor. Anything else is just headcanon.

Tim Cain kind of addressed the issue, but it's obvious the whole thing wasn't given too much thought. Basically, a single-player game, and that's it.

 

[mkba]

also from another perspective if one vault dweller fail ( like the ghoul with the followers ) the overseers while just send another one .

 

[Einhanderc7]

An interesting concept, however consider this. 3 non military personnel roaming around an extremely harsh environment are supposed to stick together and work as a team to find a water chip. What real incentive do they have to have all three of them actually participate?

In this situation I would find it very likely that some if not all of them would go rogue similar in fashion to the vault dweller trying to incite a riot to leave the vault.

I like to think the Jacoren chose the player because they are loyal, or at the very least has a reasonable amount of leverage to ensure they focus on the water chip. Otherwise what is the point of the player character actually having the mission to find one in the first place?

 

[R.Graves]

There were sent out. It would have been cool to have three vault dwellers and you could control each. And have dynamic conversations between multiple characters/companions at once. Each could die and you could talk about your loss etc... But if they all died.. Game over

 

[Mr. Deathclaw]

I very much agree with the concept @R.Graves spoke about. However, playing as a single Vault Dweller in Fallout 1 made it such a great RPG because well, you're playing as yourself, your avatar, YOUR vault dweller you've created and control. A game that involves controlling a small team would be very fun, and you'd have to work with the varying characteristics and abilities of each member to achieve an ultimate goal, as well as interacting with the game world along the way.