Winter of Atom

Winter of Atom is a quest book for Fallout: The Roleplaying Game, published by Modiphius Entertainment and Bethesda Softworks. It was announced on May 13, 2022 and released as a PDF on May 11, 2023.

Story
Winter of Atom is set in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts during a harsh atomic winter. The campaign begins with an adventure known as "The Train Job," which allows players to define their own objectives and explore the region. As the chapter advances, the main quests narrow in focus in order to launch players into the growing conflict within the Commonwealth. This culminates into "The Winter War," where players are tasked with defending various settlements and factions from a rogue sect of the Children of Atom, led by their charismatic Last Son of Atom, who seeks to convert people to his cause through doses of radiation.

Four factions are introduced to players: The Freeques, a community of ghouls residing at Big Top underneath a circus tent, which provides refuge for Ghouls, as well as Synths; Mirage, a traveling casino that is constantly on the move; The Beats, a commune of beatniks living in Beatsville which aim to spread new art, music and literature across the wasteland; and the Sisters of the Forge, a religious group of blacksmiths and mechanics who worship fire, steel and "all things mechanical" in their church, Mechminster Abbey.

With the harsh atomic winter, roads begin to freeze, negatively impacting trade routes and causing resources to run out, leaving the various factions unprepared. Factions featured in Fallout 4, such as Diamond City, Goodneighbor and the Brotherhood of Steel, reappear in the campaign. The campaign culminates into a confrontation between players and the Last Son of Atom. After the plot is resolved, players are able to continue playing, dealing with the outcome of their choices from throughout the campaign.

Gameplay
Alongside the base Fallout: The Roleplaying Game character creation origins, Winter of Atom introduces three new character origins: the Generation 3 Synth, the Protectron and the Child of Atom. The introductory chapter of the campaign allows players to utilize new tools, such as advice for designing and balancing combat encounters, enhanced traveling rules, settlement reputation rules and scaling encounters, as well as using NPCs and creatures as minions.

The campaign structure is akin to the Fallout video games, featuring a main quest, side quests, exploration, key battles and a main antagonist. Campaign elements can also be reworked by players to suit their needs, such as removing unappealing aspects, moving faction locations or introducing new antagonists or threats.

Development
Donathin Frye, who had previously wrote two adventures for Fallout: The Roleplaying Game, was enlisted to lead Winter of Atom. Donathin worked to assemble a team of people who were passionate about writing for the Fallout Series, including Gabe Hicks, Jacky Leung, Chelsea Steverson, Chris Bisset, as well as Jesse Heinig, who worked on both Fallout and Fallout 2. Modiphius were careful about what was portrayed in their Fallout campaign books, as they "never wanted to paint Bethesda into a corner."

The team wanted to ensure the campaign "felt like a Fallout game" with a main quest, as well as opportunities for side quests and exploration. The factions of the Freeques, The Beats, Mirage and the Sisters of the Forge were designed under the lead of Chesea Steverson, which all have a "quirky classic Fallout 1 and 2 feel." Donathin also wanted it to feel "as big as a Fallout video game, without contradicting anything that comes after."

The Children of Atom were chosen for a prominent role "immediately" by Donathin, who wanted players to observe how different sects of the Children of Atom differ, interact and disagree with each other's doctrines, drawing parallels to real world religious history.

Announcement
Winter of Atom was announced on the Modiphius blog post, Fallout Friday May 2022. Pre-orders were announced on April 20, 2023 and begun on May 11, 2023. All pre-order purchases included the full campaign PDF. Physical copies of the campaign book are slated to begin shipping in July 2023.

Factions

 * Freeques
 * The Beats
 * Sisters of the Forge

Locations

 * Big Top
 * Beatsville
 * Mirage
 * Mechminster Abbey
 * Stow
 * American Heritage Museum

Characters

 * D3N-Z3L
 * Dead Drop Dave
 * Last Son of Atom

Creatures

 * Gigapede

Consumables

 * Flesh Fruit

Weapons

 * The Magnumnomicon