This is a small sample of perks available in the full game. For dozens more perks, a bunch more NPCs and creatures, and tons of equipment, check out the Fallout: The Roleplaying Game Starter Set and Core Rulebook

The gear you received in your equipment pack as a starting character is enough to get going, but you’ll need more than that to survive in the wasteland. Consult the following sections when you get more equipment during your quests.

Caps

The standard accepted currency across North America, bottle caps are finite in supply and difficult to reproduce, which makes them ideal as a token of value for merchants travelling the wastelands, in the absence of the banking methods that supported pre-War currencies. All prices in this booklet are listed in caps.

Weapons

Each weapon’s type corresponds to a single skill, which is the skill used to make attacks with the weapon:

• Big Guns
• Energy Weapons
• Explosives
• Melee Weapons
• Small Guns
• Throwing
• Unarmed

Damage Rating

Damage rating is the number of Combat Dice you roll to determine how much damage you inflict upon your target. Remember, melee weapons and unarmed attacks add extra DC to their damage rating based on the wielder’s STR (see Melee Damage, Combat). A ranged weapon’s damage rating is based on the ammunition it uses; a weapon’s damage rating changes if the ammunition type changes.

Damage Effects

Damage effects are traits which affect how a weapon inflicts damage. When you roll one or more Effects in a damage roll, all your weapon’s damage effects are triggered. Some damage effects are based on the number of DC symbols which appear in your result, as described in the Damage Effects section (see Combat).

Fire Rate

All guns, and some explosive weapons, have a Fire Rate, which represents how quickly the weapon can fire. Fire Rate is a number from 0 to 6. When you make an attack with a gun, you spend one shot of ammunition simply to make the attack. You may spend additional shots of ammunition to increase the damage you inflict, adding +1 DC to the weapon’s damage rating (for that attack only) for each extra shot you spend. A weapon’s Fire Rate is the maximum number of additional shots you may spend to increase damage in this way.

Wait, Fire Rate 0?

There are a few weapons with a Fire Rate of 0. All this means is that the weapon fires so slowly, or requires reloading so frequently, that it isn’t possible to spend additional shots to boost the weapon’s damage during an attack.

Range

Ranged weapons have a listed ideal range. A weapon’s ideal range is one of the following:

• Close (C): The weapon is most effective against targets within the same zone.
• Medium (M): The weapon is most effective against targets in an adjacent zone.
• Long (L): The weapon is most effective against targets 2 zones away.
• Extreme (X): The weapon is most effective against targets 3 or more zones away.

A weapon’s range alters the difficulty of attacks against a target, depending on how distant they are to their target, as described in the Range section (see Combat). Melee weapons and unarmed attacks do not have a listed range and can only be used to attack enemies within Reach.

Qualities

Qualities are rules which describe how a weapon operates, and how it differs from other weapons.

• Accurate: If you take the Aim minor action before attacking with an Accurate weapon, you may spend up to 3 AP to add +1 DC per AP spent to the attack’s damage. If you gain damage in this way, you may not spend ammunition for extra damage. A weapon cannot be both Accurate and Inaccurate.
• Blast: When you make an attack with a Blast weapon, you do not target a single opponent. Instead, select a single zone you can see, and make the appropriate skill test to attack, with a basic difficulty of 2 (adjusted for range as normal). If you succeed, every creature (and other damageable target) in that zone suffers the weapon’s damage. If you fail, your misplaced attack is less effective: roll only half the weapon’s DC to determine the damage inflicted to creatures in the target zone and ignore the weapon’s normal damage effects.
• Close Quarters: A Close Quarters weapon is easy to use up-close, and suffers no difficulty increase for being used when within Reach of an enemy.
• Concealed: A Concealed weapon is small, or otherwise easy to hide on your person. Enemies do not spot a Concealed weapon unless you’re wielding it, or if they make a thorough search and succeed at a PER + Survival test with a difficulty of 2.
• Debilitating: The difficulty of any skill test to treat injuries inflicted by a Debilitating weapon increase by +1.
• Gatling: Ammunition is spent at ten times the normal rate by Gatling weapons: whenever you would spend one shot of ammunition, a Gatling weapon instead spends a burst of 10 shots. Whenever you spend ammunition to increase this weapon’s damage, add +2 DC per ten-shot burst (to a maximum number of bursts equal to the weapon’s Fire Rate), rather than +1 DC per shot.
• Inaccurate: When making an attack with an Inaccurate weapon, you gain no benefit from the Aim minor action. A weapon may not be both Accurate and Inaccurate.
• Mine: When a Mine is placed onto a surface and primed, it becomes a dangerous object, inflicting its damage upon anyone who comes within Reach of it (and upon additional characters, if it has the Blast quality).
• Night Vision: The sights of a weapon with Night Vision have been made to allow you to see more clearly in the dark. When you Aim with a Night Vision weapon, you ignore any increase in the difficulty of an attack due to darkness.
• Parry: When an enemy attempts a melee attack against you, and you are wielding a Parry weapon, you may spend 1 AP to add +1 to your Defense against that attack.
• Recon: When you Aim with a Recon weapon, you may mark the target you aimed at. The next ally to attack that target may re-roll one d20 on their attack.
• Reliable: During each combat encounter, a Reliable weapon ignores the first complication you roll on a test to use that weapon. A weapon may not be both Reliable and Unreliable.
• Suppressed: If an enemy is not aware of you when you attack with a Suppressed weapon, they do not notice the attack unless they are the target or they pass a PER + Survival test with a difficulty of 2.
• Thrown: A Thrown (C) weapon can be thrown, as a ranged attack with an ideal range of Close. A Thrown (M) weapon can be thrown, as a ranged attack with an ideal range of Medium. You make an AGI + Throwing test to attack with the weapon, depending on the type of weapon.
• Two-Handed: A Two-Handed weapon must be held in two hands to be used effectively; attempting to attack with a Two-Handed weapon in one hand increases the difficulty by +2.
• Unreliable: When you make an attack with an Unreliable weapon, increase the complication range of the attack by 1. A weapon may not be both Reliable and Unreliable.

Weight

The weight of the weapon, in pounds (lbs.).

Cost

The cost of the weapon, in caps.

Rarity

The rarity of the weapon. Some especially rare or effective mods may increase this.

Ranged Weapons

Melee and Throwing Weapons

Explosives

Armor and Clothing

Note: Roll the hit location die for each piece of armor you find; the result indicates which part of the body the armor protects.

• Raider Arm Armor
• Raider Chest Armor
• Raider Leg Armor
• Raider Helmet
• Leather Arm Armor
• Leather Chest Armor
• Leather Leg Armor
• Leather Helmet

Pip-Boy

A Personal Information Processor manufactured by RobCo Industries. Under partnership with Vault-Tec, they were issued to many vault residents, though due to production constraints and ongoing development, different Vaults received shipments of different versions of the Pip-Boy. Many models were designed with biometric locks, preventing them from being removed while the wearer still lives. Common functions include:

• A personal status indicator showing current health and wellbeing.
• An inbuilt holotape reader.
• A compass, a radio, and a Geiger counter, and can generate light from its screen equivalent to a flashlight.

V.A.T.S.

All Pip-Boy units aid their wearer with the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. When a character equipped with a Pip-Boy makes an attack, they can ignore the normal difficulty increase for targeting a specific hit location.

Food and Beverages

Some items of food and drink are irradiated, contaminated with the radiation which is all-pervasive in the wastelands. When you consume irradiated food or drink, roll 1 DC . If you roll an Effect, you suffer 1 Radiation damage, which ignores any resistance from equipment or armor.

Food Items

Many of the beverages listed in this section are Alcoholic. All alcoholic drinks have the same effect: Until the end of the scene, you may re-roll 1d20 on STR and CHA tests, but increase the difficulty of INT tests by +1. In addition, alcoholic drinks are addictive: after drinking the beverage, roll a few DC equal to the number of alcoholic drinks you’ve consumed during this session. If 2 or more Effects are rolled, you are addicted, and add +1 to the difficulty of CHA and AGI tests while not under the effects of an alcoholic drink. The Party Boy/Party Girl perk (see Perks List) renders you immune to alcohol addiction.

Beverage Items

Chems

Many chems are addictive. When you take an addictive chem, roll a number of DC equal to the number of doses you’ve taken this session. If you roll a number of Effects that equals or exceeds that Chems addiction number (noted after “Yes” in the “Addictive?” column below), you have become addicted to that chem. Each chem lists the addiction effects in their descriptions, below. Chem duration lasts until the end of the current turn (Brief) or until the end of the current scene (Lasting).

Chem Items

Junk

When you find junk while scavenging, roll 2d20. That is the quantity of junk items you scavenge. Junk items have a weight of 2 and are worth 2 caps each in trade. You may spend 1 Luck point to increase the number of junk items scavenged by an amount equal to your LCK score. You can salvage materials from junk items and from other items you wish to dispose of to use them later for repairs and for crafting. Salvage requires that you have appropriate tools or facilities, such as a workbench. Salvaging items takes around 10 minutes and requires an INT + Repair test with a difficulty of 0. Roll 1 DC for each junk item salvaged: you receive common materials equal to the total rolled. You may roll +1 DC for every AP spent after succeeding on this test, as you salvage more efficiently and secure more materials. If you have the Scrapper perk, you also receive one uncommon material for each effect rolled. If you have 2 ranks in the Scrapper perk, you’ll also receive 1 rare material for every 2 Effects rolled. Common materials include wood, steel, plastic, rubber, cloth, concrete, bone, and ceramics; substances that are easy to find and easy to salvage. A single unit of common materials has a cost of 1 cap, and a weight of 1 lb. Uncommon materials are rarer and harder to salvage, and include copper, aluminum, lead, silver, as well as cork, glass, fertilizer, fiberglass, and small components such as gears, springs, and screws. A single unit of uncommon materials has a cost of 3 caps, and a weight of 1 lb. Rare materials are the rarest and most difficult to salvage. Asbestos, ballistic fiber, circuitry, fiber-optics, corrosive and antiseptic chemicals, and even nuclear material are found in many items, but are difficult to salvage. A single unit of rare materials has a cost of 5 caps and a weight of 1 lb.

Miscellany