Fun Ways to Roleplay

[determinyx7]

Months ago, I quit this game.
It was my fault though, several added mods broke the game. And my computer.
It's time to play again, so what are some interesting builds and ways to roleplay?
Not combat builds, I know those and skill setouts, but something that'd help with seeing a lot of dialogue. Is it possible to roleplay as a charmer, and get through the game with minimal combat?

[Mennan]

Yes, just disguise yourself as a member of the Children of the Cathedral. If you have enough speech you can convince people your a member and then just infiltrate your way through the Cathedral and Military base and not have to fight anyone.
That being said there's a few people that can see through the disguise. Such as The Master, The Lieutenant, and Morpheus.
There's also 2 ways to defeat The Master that don't require combat.
There's a few scenarios where you always have to revert to combat if you want to maximize XP, Such as joining the Team to go kill Gizmo. Killing Deathclaw Mama(unless you plan on farming her kids for XP). Turning in Decker after you do his assassination quests. Killing the Deathclaw for finding what happened to the caravans, ETC.

[determinyx7]

Well, then it'd probably be best to make a speech-focused build with guns on the side. Anyone else have suggestions?

[Mennan]

Max stealth grab stealth boy and try sneaking around people. Its all the fun of being in a disguise but more dangerous because people still want to murder you.

[=CrimsoN=]

My most fun build yet was playing as a merchant/caravaneer. It works better in Fallout 2, since you can buy from merchants whom you have a good reputation with and sell to other merchants and actually make a profit. For example, you could buy from Percy in Gecko after doing his associated quest and he practically gives you his entire inventory for cheap. Then go to Vault City and sell it off for caps or skill books. Treat your companions like caravan guards and make sure they are equipped to help you.

[determinyx7]

Originally posted by =CrimsoN=:

My most fun build yet was playing as a merchant/caravaneer. It works better in Fallout 2, since you can buy from merchants whom you have a good reputation with and sell to other merchants and actually make a profit. For example, you could buy from Percy in Gecko after doing his associated quest and he practically gives you his entire inventory for cheap. Then go to Vault City and sell it off for caps or skill books. Treat your companions like caravan guards and make sure they are equipped to help you.

Oh, that's really interesting! Fallout New Vegas has a similar possible build. Shame then, that it's possible to gain infinite through gambling. Still an interesting idea for Roleplay though

[Jhonny G]

Ironman RP runs are fun if you can restrain yourself enough. No save scumming or exploits. Only act on the knowledge and personality of your character. And only distribute skill points on level up according to the skills you have used.

One of my favorite RP characters are the jinxed cute medic. Low luck, but high charisma and good intelligence. Starts out with the good natured and jinx trait. Tag skills are first aid, doctor, and speech. She is kind and want to help those in need, but are clumsy and accidents tend to follow her. So she tend to avoid conflict whenever possible.

It can be a tricky character to play, but alot of fun imo.

[determinyx7]

Ah, that sounds incredible. I'd probably make a glass charmer, although it's great to remember how much possibilities Fallout allows. What does Ironman mean though?

[Mennan]

Originally posted by determinyx7:

What does Ironman mean though?

Ironman usually means various things depending on game type.
In MMORPG it usually means things like not using enchanted items, not accepting help from other players, in games like that you usually also have "hardcore" Ironman where if you die you delete your character because they're dead.
On this you could probably also say if your character dies then you should delete it because it'd make sense. Usually its just a set of rules that you have to follow to make the game more challenging/interesting.

[Jhonny G]

Originally posted by determinyx7:

What does Ironman mean though?

Pretty much what Ayonked said. If you die, then it's game over. Also, you will have to accept the outcome of your actions. Meaning no save scumming to change a failed skill check or a run of bad luck to your favor. The only time I allow myself to reload a save is to circumvent bugs or recover from crashes. It's a fun way to keep old games challanging.

And regarding roleplaying.. I can highly recommend using D&D's alignment system to assign a personality to your characters. It's a very easy way to get started without having to think up complex backstories all the time. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then just google "d&d alignment chart" for an easy explanation.

[The Chosen Chad]

There is less room to roleplay in Fallout 1 than 2, except larping as a children of the cathedral member, a Mutant Slayer or a Bounty Hunter. I cant think much of what you can do.

In Fallout 2, my best RP playthrough was being a Gang Leader, raiding caravans and towns for money and ammo. + I based my entire characters personality based his triats and perks. He was big but not that agile man who would only provoke and intimidate people. So high charisma, strength and speech were my way to deal with People, I got Bruiser and Heavy Handed and perks like Master Thief or HtH Bonus Damage, I intentionaly build my character around Melee, Stealing and speech so I had a pretty good playthrough even for a casual person.
I had my own improvised player home, the Raider Base, whats funny is when I clear the area, the game said the whole game will have less raiders in the world map. Thats good because I was the new menace in the world killing and raiding towns for myself with no concurance.
I ended up being a Mademan for the Bishops and killed the Boss and essentially took his place, all the guards now treat me like the Boss and the Shark Club became one of my own player home lol.

[determinyx7]

Ironman sounds pretty interesting, and I could try using the alignment chart, I've seen it though never played D&D. Welp, time to have fun at Fallout.

[Hopper]

Ironman can change the way you view and play certain games...forever.

There's an excitement to playing for keeps, and knowing that any mistake can kill a great character. Being brave actually means something when you're playing ironman, but more often than not, you'll find yourself taking the cowardly option. But those brave moments will always feel more exciting, and those cowardly moments can become chances to redeem yourself. It makes for good storytelling.

The only problem is, it might become hard to play RPGs any other way after a while.

I would recommend a more forgiving version of ironman to start with, like maybe only reload if your character dies. Perfect stories are boring, so let your character make mistakes, let NPCs die, let quests fail, etc.

[=CrimsoN=]

Originally posted by Hopper:

The only problem is, it might become hard to play RPGs any other way after a while.

I would recommend a more forgiving version of ironman to start with, like maybe only reload if your character dies. Perfect stories are boring, so let your character make mistakes, let NPCs die, let quests fail, etc.

Yeah, this is usually how I play all the Fallout games. A semi-ironman playthrough with rules like only saving at inns/bars or only saving when entering a new area for the first time. Actually failing quests and pissing off NPCs can change the game in a profound way and sometimes open up alternative quest conditions. So it can be beneficial to not save scum.

[DespiseTheSun42]

A low (no) intelligence run is always fun. It completely changes all the dialogue in the game. My favorite kind is a super strong, super beefy, dimwit that uses fists, melee, and grenades. Drop Intelligence all the way down and Charisma as well, bam... let the fun begin.