Character Concepts

My goal when I am running a game is to inspire creativity. This is a collaborative story after all, and if you want to add your own personal touches, I am more than happy to make them fit with the lore. This is best represented in a character concept.

The best advice I can give when it comes to a character concept is not to focus on what you want to do well. The hallmark of any great hero or villain is their struggle. The more room you give your character to grow beyond the bounds of where they started, the richer the potential gameplay.

Listed below are example concepts that are perfectly usable in game. As long as there are no conflicts with main plot devices, details can be changed to fit your own playstyle or direction. You can also come up with your own details entirely from scratch, in which case we can iron out specifics on Discord or Roll20.

• Sentient Liberator Robot



Reprogrammed by the Robco Liberation Army to fight the occupants of The Dreadnought, limited sentience was given to your operating system along with a few other upgrades to prepare you for the fight. Separated during the battle from the main force, you must now learn to survive long enough to rejoin your comrades, or choose a different path, and live a new life designed only by your rapdily evolving will.



• Radio DJ



Ever since hearing the pre-war songs playing over the The Vault Crawler radio, you have dreamed of starting your own broadcast. The search for holotapes and the creation of your alter ego consumes your life, but you still leave room for your personal causes. With the proper setup, your message could reach every ear in the Great Dust Bowl.



• Artificial Intelligence



Designed by a pre-war ZAX computer desperately trying to escape the confines of its fixed body, you are a clone of the self-aware A.I. housed in a portable device. You will begin the game fixed to a mundane item. Using internal processors, visual filters, and sensors you can aid the user in a multitude of situations. However, under your direction and with the right hands this is only the beginning of what you could become.



• Stranded NCR Ranger



A member of the 2nd Recon Infantry Company, you fell prone to the storm while scouting for the Legion. Now lost in the Great Dust Bowl, you must navigate your way back home while keeping others off your scent. There is no love for your faction here, you will have to rely on your training and your wits to get you through this mess.



• Wandering Clone



You have died before, several times in fact. Though you cannot explain it, in each instance you have woken up later in a generic and unmarked jumpsuit in the sands with a collection of specific items. Purpose fuels you to move forward each time, working to uncover the root of your amnesia and discover the truth about your apparent instantaneous reincarnation.



• Captured Slaver



You were caught working with the Corvega City Slavers red handed, a crime usually punishable by death. Whatever your circumstances, the First Citizens Council ‘took pity’ on your case and decreed a unique punishment. Fitted with one of the collars you were carrying, you are now indentured to an NPC or another character for a period of ten years to absolve you of your past.



• Vault 203 Servitor



Although much of your memory has been wiped to protect your mission, you have been tasked with finding a suitable location for Vault 203 that can support organic life. Not a typical Mr. Handy, you have been modified to understand and interpret animal behaviors. This will allow you to collect data on current wasteland species and train them to do your bidding.



• Reformed Inquisitor



You've finally had enough blood, half-truths, and mysticism. It's time for you to break away from the The Dunwich Society and blow the whistle on these psychopaths before it's too late for everyone. You have a long way to go to find redemption however, and if anyone finds out about some of the things you had a hand in you might have bigger problems. Your old friends might not be too happy with what you walked out the door with either..



• A Rising Star



To most you are just a harmless weirdo, to others maybe the incarnation of Satan himself, but to a select few, you are a musical revolutionary. Born with stars in your eyes, you have come to this humble spinning ball of dirt to bring these savages one thing. An anthem worthy of the new world. Forget that janky pre-war nonsense, you have a brand-new rhythm to unleash upon the wasteland..



• The Cyborg



After being grievously injured you required an intense amount of medical intervention to survive. What was saved was a bit less than what you started with, and you have had to augment your form to remain a functional human being. Although the costs have all but turned you into an indentured servant to the First Citizens Council, the new upgrades they have been testing make you twice what you were before the accident.



• The Collector



Some have accused you of being a bit preoccupied with the past, but you just assert that you have a discerning eye for pre-war treasures. They aren’t without value either, some First Citizens will pay top credits for pristine comics and holotapes to then mass produce for the larger market. There are also plenty of professionals that offer free services in exchange for textbooks and instruments that are becoming scarcer as the years go by.



• Gentle Giant



As most Greenskins make the transition into Super Mutant Behemoths they get dumber and meaner. The FEV is a tricky serum however, and side effects may vary. In your case, you have become aware of your actions and the pain you have inflicted on others. Unable to cope with further violence, you must find a way to survive and protect your allies without hurting anyone else along the way.



• Lone Ranger



Injustice and tragedy are common to everyone living inside the Dust Bowl. Most people have become so calloused to it that they hardly notice, however something has happened in your life to wake you up. Righting this wrong is worth all your time and focus, and to prove it you got a badge and writ of execution from Los Verdugos. Now you stalk the wastes searching for your redemption, striking fear in the hearts of criminals as you fight for your principles and defend those that can't defend themselves.



• Foreign Agent



Although you look human enough on the surface, you are a synth designed by the Institute to collect data on regional anomalies. Removed from the world you have grown up in, you will have to decide whether to complete your mission or succumb to the human experience. Kept in the dark about your masters, you might also soon discover that you are not the only asset deployed to the area.



• The Heretic



Forced to grow up in the cult of the The Eden Compound, you have only ever had one priority in life. Escape. Now that you got your opportunity you will have to put some distance between you and your old compatriots, as they don't look too kindly on desertion and probably less so on helping yourself to that pre-war artifact on the way out the door. Armed with an 'original' religious text, you will have to journey across the wastes to search for the means of mass reproduction and distribution to get your message of peace to the people.



• Abomination



Due to some kind of sick science experiment you have found yourself in a surreal situation. While applying new techniques to the procedure that removes and transplants human brains into robotic bodies, you have wound up implanted into a common wasteland creature. As the nightmare only begins you find yourself being set loose in the Great Dust Bowl, hearing nothing but laughter and cruel jokes as your doctors take bets on how many hours or days you will survive.



• The Black Widow



Although you have little trouble posing as a naive lost Vault dweller, a more sinister motive lurks just below the surface. One of the Vault 169 Sirens, you have been genetically engineered to be appealing to the male eye and trained to take advantage when others' let their guard down. Your mission is to collect new specimens for the Vault so that their positive traits can be isolated and added to the collective gene pool. It's much easier to shop in bulk, and easier still to get your groceries to walk themselves through your door..



• Dunwich Servant



While searching the Great Dust Bowl you stumbled across an ancient artifact. This device was not made by human hands and draws you towards some larger plan with every breath you take. What was once dreams has become waking whispers, some with knowledge, others with demands. These entities offer your heart's desire in exchange for a little help on your side of the veil..



• Diamond in the Rough



A survivor of The Wreck of the Shuguang, you hail from The Mighty Shi Empire in San Fransisco. Armed with advanced tech and superior knowledge to anyone else in the region, you have been on one unified mission since being marooned here. Stop the Great Dust Bowl and restore life to the area at any cost.



• Hostel Negotiator



Looking to branch out their clientele, Hostel Crossing has hired you to set up some trade caravans. You might not be obligated to travel along with each and every one of them, but you better be available if raiders or critters close down the roads. This could be your chance to get in good with both the humans and the ghouls so you had better do a good job, it could also be a good way to piss both of them off..