Fallout Setting

The Fallout world exists in an alternate timeline that diverged from the real world timeline after World War II. From this split until the Great War in 2077, a stylized representation of 1950s American culture (with more advanced technology) dominated the Fallout world. The science fiction anthology Worlds of Tomorrow, released during the Golden Age of Science Fiction in the 1950s, heavily influenced this representation.

Overview
Although the Fallout universe and the real world share a common timeline until about 1945, the defining moment of the Fallout universe was the Great War of 2077. On October 23, 2077, the United States, China, and other nuclear-armed countries commenced a brief but rapid exchange of nuclear weapons. Although the conflict lasted only two hours, the destruction it wrought was staggering and complete: more energy was released in the early moments of the war than in all previous global conflicts combined. The world that remained was harsh and unforgiving. 90 years after the Great War, humanity survived but struggled to do so. Above ground, small bands fought over the crumbling remains of once great cities while mutants prowled the irradiated wastes. Underground, a fortunate few enjoyed the relative safety and comfort of the Vaults. Some fought to keep the world out, others to connect with and re-populate it. Wherever humanity survived it was under constant threat by psychotic mutants, rogue machines, vicious raiders, and all manner of hostile mutant creatures.

Most of the events of the series took place in the United States. The first two games - Fallout, Fallout 2 - were set in the Core Region: the remains of the West Coast. The Master and the Enclave are the region's main threats. The third game, Fallout Tactics, took place in the Midwest- between the city of Chicago and Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. The fourth game, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, took place in northern Texas in the town of Carbon and the ghoul city of Los. The fifth game, Fallout 3, was set on the East Coast of the United States in an area called the Capital Wasteland; this included the remains of Washington D.C., parts of Virginia, Pittsburgh and Maryland. The sixth game, Fallout:New Vegas, took place in the Mojave Wasteland which included parts of California, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada.

Before the Great War
For most of human history, the Fallout universe and the real world shared a common timeline. However, in 1945, significant political and technological differences in the Fallout timeline set it on a different course. In 1947, the transistor was not discovered and miniaturization of electronics was neglected. Sometime before 1969, in an attempt to mitigate the influence of Communism, the United States adopts a system of 13 Commonwealths. In 1970, China fails to adopt any free market reforms and remains similar to what it was under Mao. In 1991 the USSR did not collapse.

No major international conflicts would take place until the middle of the twenty-first century. In 2052, the oil rich Middle East nations raised oil prices causing the economic collapse of many smaller nations. The European Commonwealth (analogous to the real world European Union), similarly dependent on oil imports from the Middle East, begins the Resource Wars by responding with military force. The United Nations, weakened by its inability to prevent the conflict, attempts to intervene. Many of its member nations respond by withdrawing and the UN disbands that year.

The United States, being supplied by oil from Texas and Mexico, escaped any direct impact from the European conflicts. They were, however, to have their own problems. In 2052, the Texas oil fields were exhausted, making the Americans vulnerable to their own energy shortages. In 2053, the New Plague begins to savage the US population, causing two-hundred thousand deaths and prompting the closure of her borders. Nuclear fears grip the country when, in the same year, Tel Aviv is destroyed by a terrorist nuclear weapon and, in the following year, warring nations exchanged nuclear weapons in the Middle East. In response, the Americans begin Project Safehouse: a series of underground Vaults designed to survive nuclear war or biological plague.

In 2059, oil resources become increasingly scarce. In order to secure the Alaskan oil fields, the United States ramps up its military presence in that state creating the Anchorage Front Line. Relations with Canada are strained as the Americans press to have their military units guard on Canadian soil to guard the Alaskan pipeline.

In 2060, the Middle East oil fields run dry. This not only ends the Resource Wars in Europe, but the European Commonwealth as well. Without a common enemy, the European nations begin fighting among each other for the remaining resources. Fossil fuels become too expensive to use in automobiles and alternatives begin to appear in the market. Advances in nuclear technology allow its use as automobile engines.

In 2066, the Resource Wars shift to the other side of the globe. China, her oil reserves exhausted and her economy near collapse, invades Alaska. America strongarms Canada into allowing troops and planes to move across Canadian territory on their way to the Alaskan theater. Relations between the neighboring countries would continue to worsen as the Americans help themselves to Canadian resources, ignoring Canadian protests. Many Americans begin referring to Canada as "Little America." Their comments do not help the situation.

In 2072, the Chinese-American war grinds on. While American power armor proves effective in localized conflicts, they are insufficient to completely dislodge the Chinese. US continues to demand more resources from Canada. When an attempt is made to sabotage the oil pipeline, the Americans (officially) begin annex Canada. In 2076, the annexation is complete. Also that year Americans deploy the T-51b power armor to the Chinese mainland. The suits are highly effective and American troops cut a swath through Chinese territory.

In early 2077, the Americans reclaim Alaska but no armistice is signed. Those in positions to foresee the nuclear conflagration make final preparations: Robert House puts himself in stasis. The President and the Enclave retreat to the Poseidon oil rig. The American public, having been exposed to too many false alarms, largely ignore the warning sirens when the bombs begin to fall. Many Vaults are underpopulated as their doors are shut.

The post-War world
With the collapse of global civilization, there is little direct evidence of the state of the world outside the United States. A view from Earth's orbit shows a global catastrophe: parts of Western Europe, the USSR were bombed. The resulting nuclear winter left all of Asia and the Middle East under ice. Antarctica's ice sheet was blackened and many of the world's oceans were irradiated. The Great War's real legacy was the radiation that followed in its wake. Many of the plants and animals that survived the nuclear fire were killed by the irradiated rain that fell a week later. Of those that survived, many were mutated by 2080.

The American mainland was reduced to wasteland. All major American cities, with the exception of Las Vegas, were reduced to ruin.

Although the Vaults were never intended to preserve the entire American population, enough people and technology survived to jumpstart civilization when they opened. The Core Region benefited the most from these early openings. Vault 12 established Necropolis in the Central California area. Eight years later, Vault 8 established Vault City in Western Nevada. The following year, the LA Vault established the Boneyard in Southern California.

The Mojave Wasteland was another incubator of civilization. It had received fewer bombs than any other area due to the foresight of Robert House. Its infrastructure was so far advanced that by 2281 it was within a century of being able to launch a colonization spaceship.

In the east, the Capital Wasteland was also left surprisingly intact. Although unable to compete with New Vegas in the Mojave Wasteland, it was able to support a radio station, a water purification plant and a working Steelyard.

As these regions rose from the ashes, so, too, did new groups. The New California Republic was established in 2186 and would control the Core Region a century later. The Brotherhood of Steel was founded days after the Great War and would become a technological powerhouse by 2150. The Enclave - descendants of the United States government and military-industrial complex - made its presence felt in the Core Region in 2237 and then in the Capital Wasteland in 2277.

Creatures


The distinctive creatures in the Fallout world arose after the Great War and were the result of exposure to radiation or the Forced Evolutionary Virus.

Radiation led to the spontaneous rise of may new species three years after the bombs fell. The new species were larger, hardier and more dangerous than the animals and insects they mutated from. Radscorpions, Giant ants, and brahmin descended from scorpions, household ants and cows, respectively.

Heavy exposure of radiation mutated some humans, who possessed a particular genetic trait, into ghouls. Although their decaying skin gives them a frightening, almost inhuman appearance, they generally retain their intelligence. Paradoxically, their condition grants them heightened senses and longer lifespans.

Varying degrees of exposure have given rise to diversity within the ghoul community. Prolonged radiation poisoning causes their intelligence to erode resulting in a feral ghouls. Longer periods of radiation exposure results in Glowing ones who literally glow in the dark.

The remainder of mutations were caused by the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV). Its origins lie in the years preceding the Sino-American War. In an effort to defend against a Chinese biological attack, defense contractor West Tek initiated the Pan-Immunity Virion Project. The goal was simply to make the human immune system strong enough to resist any pathogen, natural or engineered. Some of the side effects, discovered during testing, were increased size and strength. The US Army seized the project in an effort to create a super soldier. They moved the project to the Mariposa Military Base. They also sent a large sample to Vault 87 on the East Coast as part of the Vault Experiment.

Following the Great War, Mariposa was abandoned - the surviving leadership having left to form the Brotherhood of Steel. After laying dormant for 30 years, the base was rediscovered by Richard Moreau, an exile from Vault 8. After realizing that the FEV could be used to create Super Mutants, he attempted to raise an army but was defeated by the Vault Dweller.

Despite the destruction of Mariposa base, a sample of its FEV would be claimed by the Enclave. Kidnapping residents from nearby Redding and forcing them into slavery, the Enclave excavated Mariposa. Those slaves inadvertently exposed to the FEV mutated into a new batch of Super Mutants.

On the East Coast, the The FEV sent to Vault 87 would be used to create that area's own variety of Super Mutants and Giant Ant.

Core Region


The basic Core Region stretches from Baja in the south to Klamath in the north. It covers most of the West Coast of the United States, including California and parts of Oregon and Nevada. It is a largely inhospitable region, which is why most people have chosen to seek refuge in the ruins of the old cities, where they have found (relative) safety in numbers. However, as resources grew more and more scarce, people and creatures came to consolidate into groups of their own kind, so locations are far more homogeneous than one might expect from a world ravaged by mutation.

The ghoul population of the Core Region Wasteland was mostly clustered around old Bakersfield (Necropolis), but were scattered after an attack by the master's army. Most of the surviving ghouls eventually found a home in Gecko or Broken Hills along with humans and super mutants, both far to the north-east of their former home.

Super mutants were plentiful in the Mariposa area from 2102 to 2162, and they sent patrols as far as to Los Angeles. After the master's defeat, however, most of them retreated to the east.

Humans are the dominant species of the wasteland, and their main cities in the Core Region are The Hub, Los Angeles Boneyard, NCR, Vault City, New Reno and San Francisco.

As of 2281, all of the Core Region is part of the NCR.

Mojave Wasteland


The Mojave Desert is now known as the Mojave Wasteland. The Mojave Wasteland is the second largest desert in North America, and serves as the primary setting of Fallout: New Vegas.

The Mojave occupies a significant portion of southern California, Nevada, and parts of Utah and Arizona.

Before the Great War, Las Vegas was the largest oasis of civilization in the Mojave, and New Vegas seems to maintain that reputation. 77 atomic warheads were launched at the city and surrounding areas, but due to an intricate system set in place by Mr. House, 59 were force disarmed, 9 were blasted out of the sky by a laser guided missile defense system atop the Lucky 38, and only 9 hit the surrounding desert, resulting in the local climate and wildlife being much less radioactive, if not radiation-free, than in other places in the post-atomic United States.

Most denizens attribute the region's survival to the Chinese betting against the House - and the House always wins.

The NCR is the most powerful faction in the area, with New Vegas being on the edge of the Republic's southern borders. Other significant powers are Caesar's Legion, the Great Khans, who before the NCR came, had a strong grip on the region and a surviving pocket of Mariposa super mutants, called the State of Utobitha, and the Three Families that run casinos in New Vegas. The Brotherhood of Steel also have a small secret base in the area.

East Coast


The city of Washington, DC and the surrounding area is now referred to as the Capital Wasteland. As of 2277, large numbers of Vault 87 super mutants are in a constant battle to push the remaining humans out of the Capital Wasteland and produce more of their own kind by exposing their human captives to the Forced Evolutionary Virus that first created them. The embattled eastern faction of the Brotherhood of Steel have deviated from their techno-religious goals, at the cost of troops and support from the west, and taken it upon themselves to halt the super mutant tide for the good of the wasteland people. They are, for the most part, the only reason the entire area has not been overrun, though it has cost them dearly along the way.

Rivet City, the central hub of civilization and the largest human settlement in the Capital Wasteland, is based in and around a beached aircraft carrier on the Potomac River. Other settlements across the region include Megaton, Tenpenny Tower, Paradise Falls, Underworld, Big Town, and Little Lamplight. The Brotherhood of Steel reside in the Citadel, the remains of the Pentagon.The Enclave first reside in the governmental bunker known as Raven Rock, however this location is destroyed and during the events of Broken Steel they relocate to the Adams Air Force Base. The D.C. Metro system, while partially destroyed, still provides an alternative travel route and makeshift residence, and they are often the only plausible (if not dangerous) means of traveling between the ruined sections of the city. The Jefferson Memorial houses the Project Purity Water Purifier.

Other significant regions of the East Coast include the Commonwealth, Pittsburgh PA (The Pitt), Ronto, Point Lookout Maryland and the area surrounding the ruins of Adams Air Force Base.

Factions in the Core Region
There are very few factions in the Core Region that aren't limited to one or two towns. After the defeat of the Master's super mutant army which was a major military force in 2161, the New California Republic became the most influential organization that unites several major towns, including Shady Sands (its capital, now known mostly simply as NCR), the Hub, Junktown, Maxson, and Dayglow. The NCR is actively trying to unite California under a single government.

In contrast, the Brotherhood of Steel is a mysterious techno-religious organization, with roots in the US military. While few in number, they make up for this with their arsenal of pre-War and post-war technology: They have laser weapons, power armor, surgical enhancements and combat implants. Unlike the NCR, the Brotherhood is not interested in conquests nor in saving humanity, but instead in keeping their secrecy and preserving and developing technology.

The Enclave, the descendants of the United States government that considers everyone other than themselves worthy of eradication, used to operate from an oil rig off the coast of California, but seems to have left the area after the destruction of its headquarters. It seems to have moved its base of operations from the west coast to the northwestern edge of The Capital Wasteland, inside of a sprawling underground maze known as "Raven Rock".

Factions on the East Coast
Downtown DC and the surrounding area of Capital Wasteland are overrun with an army of super mutants. Separate from the Master's army, they originate from Vault 87 on the eastern border of the wasteland.

Three other factions in the Capital Wasteland are not native to the area - the Brotherhood of Steel, led by Owyn Lyons and trying to defend the human inhabitants of the Wasteland from mutants; the Brotherhood Outcasts, who left the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood in disagreement over Lyons' change of priorities; and lastly, the remnants of the Enclave who survived the destruction of their Western headquarters.

Other known factions include slavers at Paradise Falls, the Regulators and the Talon Company mercenaries, and the residents of Tenpenny Tower, Megaton, Rivet City, Big Town, Reilly's Rangers, and Little Lamplight.

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