Fallout Setting

The Fallout world is not quite our own. Somewhere along the way, it diverged. It's still recognizably our world, but with some changes. The Fallout world is historically divergent from our own and also is fundamentally different in terms of how science works. The base concept for the setting is 1950s World of Tomorrow after the bomb. This means that before the war, the Fallout world was more or less what the people of the 1950s thought things would be like in 2077. (see: Divergence for more details).

The most important event in the Fallout setting was the Great War which happened on October 23, 2077. It lasted a very brief amount of time, but was unbelievably destructive. More energy was released in the early moments of that war than all previous conflicts combined.

Fallout games take place many years after the apocalypse, as humanity struggles to pick up the pieces. Some groups have barely managed to survive above ground, either scavenging the scorched ruins of cities or surviving and adapting through mass mutation. Communities that were sealed in underground Vaults during the war are now emerging to re-populate the blasted landscape. Striving to organize and sustain the human race, these tattered remnants of civilization are threatened by psychotic mutants, rogue machines, raiders, and all manner of hostile creatures. The games take place mostly in the area known as the Core Region.

History
Main article: Timeline

Before the War
Main article: World before the War

The United Nations failed in 2052 as the planet's natural resources dried up, causing many smaller nations to go financially bankrupt and fail. Europe and the Middle East were cast into a long, drawn-out war over the few remaining productive oil fields.

In late 2053, the United States closed its borders when a new super plague was discovered, and a terrorist nuclear weapon destroyed Tel Aviv. In early 2054, the U.S. responded by creating Project Safehouse. This project, financed by junk bonds, was responsible for creating large underground survival shelters, commonly known as Vaults. This project wasn't completed when it ran out of money nine years later.

In 2060, the Middle Eastern oil fields ran dry, ending the European war.

In the winter of 2066, China attacked Alaska over what were most likely the last drops of oil in the world. The U.S. responded with force, but it would be ten years before the conflict would end. In a desperate maneuver, both superpowers invaded neighboring countries in an effort to bolster their dwindling resources. The U.S. annexation of Canada was concluded by 2076. Canadian timber provided fuel for U.S. military needs, and Alaska was reclaimed by early 2077.

In the early morning hours of Saturday, October 23, 2077, the sky was filled with nuclear missiles. No one knows who started the war, but after two hours of nuclear devastation, no one cared.

Because of frequent false alarms, few made it to the Vaults when the final alarm sounded. Most people were trapped outside the closing Vault doors.

Creatures
Main articles: Creatures, Mutations and their causes

Places
Main article: Places