Fallout 3 SPECIAL

This article describes the features of the Fallout 3 version of the SPECIAL character system, as well as its differences from SPECIAL's implementation in previous games.

Character Development
At birth the player chooses the player character's name, gender and appearance. Later as a child in Vault 101, the PC receives a book titled "You're S.P.E.C.I.A.L.!," whereupon the player can set the PC's seven primary character points. Later in life during the teen years the PC's performance on the G.O.A.T. determines which skills of the PC are tagged (tagged means raised by fifteen points); the player can also choose which skills to tag manually via choosing particular dialog options.

Every aspect of the PC chosen during early life can be changed when the PC exits Vault 101.

The maximum level the player can achieve is 20.

Main statistics
The main statistics are the same as they were in previous games. The player's SPECIAL attributes default at 5 points per attribute, with an additional 5 points for distribution for a total of 40 points. Individual attributes cannot score lower than 1 nor higher than 10, regardless of equipment or physical ailment.

SPECIAL stands for:
 * Strength
 * Perception
 * Endurance
 * Charisma
 * Intelligence
 * Agility
 * Luck

Note: Setting attributes to 10 in the character creation is unnecessarily wasteful as none of your stats can be raised above 10 by any means including chems, clothing, etc. There are bobbleheads to be found that raise each one of your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats by one, and either perception or strength can be raised an additional point upon completion of the Those! quest. One possible exception to this rule may be Intelligence. However it is possible to achieve the Intelligence bobblehead at level 2 by traveling directly to Rivet City. This is a trade-off of 1 stat point for 1 skill point; as a stat point gives 2-6 skill points (in addition to other benefits).


 * Table showing items' influence on SPECIAL stats points.

Skills
Your S.P.E.C.I.A.L points affect your skill points.

List of Skills and corresponding S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attribute: Gambling and Outdoorsman skills were completely removed.

See Fallout 3 Skills for more information specific to Fallout 3 skills.

Perks
Your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. points affect which perks you can choose. The Player Character gains a perk every level, as opposed to every three levels like in previous games. Unlike previous games, traits that gave you both bonuses and penalties at the same time are no longer in the game. Instead, some of them were changed into perks.

Character Editor
A 3rd party character editor is available:  http://rapidshare.com/files/164984516/Fallout_3_Character_Creator_v09.rar 

Edited 18th November 2008, created by Oggy1985 (version change: MAJOR CHANGE - added character Hit Points, Action Points, Carry Weight, Melee Damage, Character level select; added auto-condition testing for PERKS and corrected few minor bugs + level verification)

Another character creator is available at: fallout 3 character calculator xls ods

Class Editor
A 3rd party Class editor is available:  http://rapidshare.com/files/169229568/Fallout_3_Class_Editor_v09.rar 

Author: Macilnar

Version 0.3 Released on 12/01/2008

The editor allows you to chose between one of 3 primary classes (Stealth, Close Combat, and Ranged Combat) and a main weapon focus (Melee, Small Gun, Energy Weapons, Explosives, Unarmed, and Big Gun). The editor then gives recommended values to skills, S.P.E.C.I.A.L, and what perks to take.

Author Notes:
 * Only the Stealth class and its weapon focuses are complete. Close and Ranged Combat will be done in the next update
 * Only works with Excel 2007 or newer (sorry for those who don't have it but it just doesn't work in the older versions. If someone wants to try to convert it go right ahead and do it just let me know.)

Builds & Commentary
Although the PC can have any possible configuration of SPECIAL points it is advisable to go with certain 'builds' or SPECIAL point configurations. 'X' marks SPECIAL attributes that are not particular to the build and are up to the player's preferences.

Monster

 * Strength: 8
 * Perception: 1
 * Endurance: 9
 * Charisma: x
 * Intelligence: x
 * Agility: 6
 * Luck: x
 * Use this build, or a variation thereof, if you want to use the melee weapons, big guns and unarmed skills. Perception is not needed because you'll often be in close range, thus no need to detect enemies early and sneak up on them. You can raise your strength two points to ten by finding the strength bobblehead in Megaton and completing the quest Those!. You may want to have a moderate amount of Agility for using Big Guns, especially on enemies that move around often.

Party Leader

 * Strength: 1
 * Perception: x
 * Endurance: x
 * Charisma: 9
 * Intelligence: 9
 * Agility: x
 * Luck: x
 * The idea behind this build is that the character will have party members do most of the fighting for him. The PC has a high intelligence because he/she will still be the one picking locks, passing speech checks, etc. You'll still want to engage in some combat if you want any experience points, thus choose moderate levels for Perception, Agility, Luck and Endurance. Strength is not needed as party members can carry much of your loot for you. This build is primarily for the player that wants to experience the world of Fallout 3 without the combat.

Sniper

 * Strength: 1
 * Perception: 8
 * Endurance: 5
 * Charisma: x
 * Intelligence: x
 * Agility: 9
 * Luck: x
 * Using this build will enable you to blast your opponents from a distance. The skills Small Guns and Energy Weapons should be concentrated on in order to provide the most damage for your weapon. You can raise your Perception two points by finding the corresponding Bobblehead and completing the quest Those!. It is easy to nerf your Strength since you won't be doing much, if any, melee damage and since your weapons won't weigh much. Endurance is not as important to this class because you will often kill your opponent before he/she gets a shot off, though in close quarters you'll need some endurance. If you're an expert at shooters feel free to lower your Agility score, if not then use V.A.T.S. often and keep your Agility high. It should be noted that sneaking does not add cumulatively with Luck based criticals, i.e. Luck won't be used to determine whether you get a critical hit or not when you're sneaking, thus you may not want both a high perception (very useful for sneaking) and a high Luck (useful for critical hits while not sneaking).