Fallout random encounters

Generic encounters
The following system is used to determine generic random encounters on the world map.

Table selection
First, the game identifies which tile or map cell the player is located in. The location determines:


 * 1) the terrain type and the script the game executes (RNDDESRT, RNDCITY, RNDMNTN, RNDCOAST),
 * 2) which table is used, according to , using the following table; note that Coast and City terrain have only a single encounter table.

For reference, the letter and digit codes used to select encounter tables listed below have been included in the map to the right. A separate image, showing the specific cells affected as colored areas is included below.

Encounter rolling
Next, the game calculates the actual encounter using the values from the lower table. These are percentile chances for an encounter of a given type.

Generally speaking, encounters with numbers closer to 1 are considered worse (may include difficult combat encounters or bad happenings, such as dehydration), while encounters with numbers closer to 6 are better (free items or special NPC encounters).

Some perks may modify the odds, reducing the occurrence of bad encounters and increasing the incidence of good ones.

Encounter tables
All encounter tables are specified by scripts (see here for script dumps). Each script also includes two universal checks: Bounty hunters and the Mysterious Stranger. Note that all cap spawns are tripled with Fortune Finder and ammo is doubled with Scrounger.


 * Bounty hunters begin to spawn if the player character is a confirmed Childkiller (killed 2 or more children). Chris Avellone and his entourage will hunt the player character down to collect the 1500 cap bounty. He's armed with an assault rifle, spare 5mm AP ammo, wears combat armor, carries a super stimpak and 5-30 caps (tripled with Fortune Finder). He's accompanied by three henchmen wearing metal armor and equipped with:
 * a spear and with 5-30 caps
 * a sniper rifle, three packs of .223 ammo, two explosive rockets, and 5-40 caps
 * a Desert Eagle, 5-30 caps, and flamethrower fuel
 * Mysterious Stranger will spawn after the appropriate perk has been chosen, as long as he isn't killed in an encounter. The Stranger will carry various loadouts:
 * a ripper, two stimpaks, and 7-30 caps at the coast,
 * a brass knuckles, a frag grenade, a stimpak, and 7-30 caps in cities,
 * a spear, two stimpaks, and 7-30 caps in the desert,
 * a spear, two stimpaks, a set of Cathedral robes, and 7-30 caps in the mountains.

City
Urban areas that survived the nuclear war.

Coast
The coastline after the Great War.

North
The majority of deserts in New California, away from inhabited territories.

South
The desolate deserts to the far southeast, and fragments of the coastline.

Shady
The desert surrounding the small Shady Sands.

Raider
Khan stomping grounds.

Junk
Deserts around Junktown.

Hub
Deserts surrounding the largest city in New California.

Necropolis
Deserts around the city of Bakersfield.

Steel
Frontier controlled by the Brotherhood. Unknowingly edges into Unity territories to the northwest.

Vats
The stretch of Californian Central Valley patrolled by the Unity.

Glow
Deserts to the east and south of the Glow.

Bone
The deserts surrounding the remnants of Los Angeles Boneyard.

Death
Otherwise known as the deathclaw hunting grounds.

Mountain, Vault
Despite the name, this encounter table is used in many places, including the mountains around Mariposa Military Base, around Vault 13, three mountain squares adjacent to the Raiders camp tile, one mountain square adjacent to the Junktown tile (top left), mountains near Adytum, and the mountains adjacent to The Glow. It's essentially the default mountain encounter map.

Behind the scenes
Random encounters were created by Jesse Heinig.