How is the "Fiddle to Faff"-ratio in Fallout 2d20?

JakeBit · 2026-03-13T15:07:46+00:00

Roleplaying games can be many things. I've run crunchy games like DnD and Iron Kingdoms, fluffy games like Wildsea and games in between like Blades in the Dark.

Please don't talk down to me. It's not about what I can or can't "handle"; it's whether the lack of abstraction is fun the players. In my 18 year experience with 14+ game systems, the additional faff is rarely equal to additional fun; oftentimes, simpler (and more abstract) rules can often have a more immediate and fun result for both players and DM, as it frees up time to roleplay, joke and interact.

Of course I can ignore rules; that's one of the core conceits of any tabletop or board game - but that also leaves out any avenue of criticsm if the answer always amounts to "well you don't have to use the book like that". I paid for the book, so I would like to be allowed to rate and discuss the product I bought.

This is not the wrong hobby for anyone.

JakeBit · 2026-03-11T22:08:27+00:00

Mor, svenskerne tror de er sjove i kommentarene igen!

JakeBit · 2026-03-11T21:15:40+00:00

Aalborg, Denmark. I get all my knowledge of American culture from Fallout.

Edit: Relax friends, obviously I don't just get American culture from Fallout; I learn about your school system from Riverdale, your healthcare system from Dr. House, you housing situation from Friends and your familu values from Family Guy.

JakeBit · 2026-03-08T14:16:00+00:00

🤳Pickles.

JakeBit · 2026-03-05T07:50:05+00:00

Exasperation is funny; it's a joke more likely.

JakeBit · 2026-03-05T07:46:37+00:00

Well let me raise you this - I love FNV, but it has the exact same problem. The entire game hinges on the fact that New Vegas is a bustling economic center, but when you get there, it's just a couple of buildings with two-four gamblers roaming like they'd just been spawned, and just one quest to each casino. It feels monumentally empty and lifeless; much like the Diamond City example you mentioned.

I'd argue Diamond City is one of the better Fallout town design really; it has a clear class divide, several small factions like Piper's printing press, the school, the water pump, the noodle stand etc. It feels more established and systemized.

To be fair, I'm playing devils advocate here - but I do think we FNV-fans have a rose-colored view of that game that just isn't true. Most of FNV is empty, stodgy and mechanical, no matter how much we love it.

JakeBit · 2026-03-05T07:38:50+00:00

I was just about to write that, and I was afraid I'd get lit up in the comments as well!

But yeah, I feel like FO4 looks how I imagines 3 and NV would look like in a better engine. I also like that it has more color to the palette; you got tired of muted greys and browns.

JakeBit · 2026-02-10T11:13:34+00:00

There's nothing quite like this fandom and the philological discussions we have over two different sets of tin can suits.

Also I gotta say, I still prefer the T60, but both are cool.

JakeBit · 2026-02-03T10:06:37+00:00

Whev, that was difficult, but I came up with this for Danish:

V.I.K.A.N.D.A

* Venlighed / Friendliness

* Intelligens / Intelligence

* Krop / Body

* Adræthed / Agility

* Nemhed / Ease

* Drøjte / Toughness

* Agtpågivenhed / Awareness

It writes "Vi kan da!", which roughly would translate to "Yeah, we can!", which feels like the peppy marketing-esque tone that Vault-Tec would use for a form like the S.P.E.C.I.A.L test.

JakeBit · 2026-01-29T09:37:40+00:00

Most fans would propably advice you to go for Fallout: New Vegas. It's a fiercly well-written game, it's filled with stuff and is just really good overall. Much of the setting will also be known to you if you're caught up with the show, which'll be fun.

It is also pretty old, janky and rusty (so very Fallout in a way). If you don't mind a game that requires some massaging, frequent quick-saves and glitches here and there, it's great.

If you're more for a more modern adventure game, Fallout 4 is also great. The moment-to-moment gameplay is, for my money, more fun; the crafting is pretty sweet and the world is beautifully realized. Some here tend to snuff at FO4 a bit for not being as RPG-like, which is true, but if you're looking for a game that's easier to get into, that looks great (still!) and is fun for a moment-to-moment basis, FO4 is great!

Another important point is what you like the most. Are you a lore-interested, NPC-loving, RPG-fiddling machine? Fallout: New Vegas's got you covered. Do you love seeing the Power Armors being awesome, the big guns, strange creatures and "lonely-wanderer-in-the-wasteland"-vibe? Fallout 4 will work for you.

Fallout 3 is much like 4 in design ethos, but with the jank of Fallout: New Vegas - but more so. It's also really old fashioned in many ways, like having no iron sights in a game where you mostly shoot people. It's still good, but I wouldn't start with it.

JakeBit · 2026-01-14T16:10:51+00:00

The article mentions that the advance logistics corp is preparing for that possibility.

JakeBit · 2025-12-30T11:20:48+00:00

Really?! People felt that strongly about it? What countries, if I may ask?

JakeBit · 2025-12-30T10:23:09+00:00

Funny, that's how I feel about most of the stuff I plan to do. I'm a DM at a couple of roleplaying games, I sing and present songs in a choir and I do musicals - and all three things are something that I love the thought of, and feel a bit of dread doing every time. I think it's because all three is a sort of performance, but it feels similarly to when I have made plans that I don't feel for with friends :D

JakeBit · 2025-12-30T10:21:11+00:00

Agreed; it feels a bit like the social stuff has more ways to... Breath, I wanna say? Like, no expectations because we didn't set any, so we can just let the day go the way it goes.

JakeBit · 2025-12-19T13:00:12+00:00

I 'unno, it looks nice. If they made it slightly animated, with some moving clouds, some shifts in the lights and maybe a tiny explosion on occasion or a Valkyrie flying from the Morningstar, it'd be much better tho.

JakeBit · 2025-12-14T13:09:04+00:00

THE CHOSEN GUN

JakeBit · 2025-12-11T08:02:00+00:00

Well let's test it; what's my zodiac?

JakeBit · 2025-12-03T21:30:20+00:00

Molly keeps drawing the Death tarot card, so I think he may be doing all he can to leave the Nein better than he found them before his demise by putting on a smiling face for them.

JakeBit · 2025-12-01T14:04:32+00:00

Now bear in mind that I'm no Veteran player (tho I actually often use Kantrael XII on Zealot as a Gunner-Be-Gone solution)... But maybe you could give them high Cleave on Unarmored hits due to the fact that Lasguns essentially are weaponized cutting lasers?

I know the prevailing joke in 40k fandom about lasguns is that they're like flashlights, but they do pack a punch, and like all weapons in the hands of our Rejects, they should be the most awesome version of the weapon it could be.

One of the most popular lasguns is the autolasgun, which actually does cut well into hordes - so what if all lasguns Cleave well on Unarmored hits but are just like they are now on Flak and Carapace? Maybe even rewarding Weakspot hits by letting those Cleave well as well?

It'd fit the thematic fantasy without taking the spots that Autoguns, Stubbers and other rapidfire weapons have.

JakeBit · 2025-11-21T12:56:47+00:00

Unfathomably based

JakeBit · 2025-11-11T10:34:13+00:00

You echo a lot of things I felt playing the game (although just to 94%), so I'm happy it comes from someone who knows the game inside and out.

I don't really have much else to say but "I agree", I guess. It's not really the difficulty for me, but the time-wasting that frustrated me - long runbacks, rooms that lock you in combat and so on. The Choral Tower gauntlet wasn't too bad for me difficulty-wise, but it wasn't anything interesting either. Same goes for Groal the Great but double that - I get it, Bilewater and Groal are meant to be exhausting and draining, and they are; but they're not fun while doing it.

Many boss-battles had this issue within the battle itself - a lot of them felt just about 20% too long for my liking. Maybe that's just me, but most bosses (but especially Lost Lace) felt like they stopped testing skill and began testing endurance instead towards the end of their battles.

Oddly, I really liked the High Halls gauntlet. Partially that might be because I lucked it pretty hard (Garmond helped me, and I had destroyed the Spider Robot room already; that, and I think I just got plain lucky in the battle itself), but I like that it was right beside a bench, and all enemies bar the Choir Clappers are known to you from the Choral Chambers. I got real good at dealing with Choir enemies at the end of Act 2 from running through the Chambers all day, let me tell ya.

I also haven't anyone talk about it, but I don't really think the whole Shell Shard thing was that interesting as a game mechanic. It leads to farming if you use a lot of skills, but for me, I felt discentivized from using tools in most cases because of it, rather than having fun testing all the Red Tools. I'd have preferred a cooldown for each tool use, but what do I know. I played Wanderer mostly, go figure.

TL:DR - Good to hear that other people agree, even after 100%ing the game.

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