How To Play Fallout The Board Game: Simple Steps

How to Play Fallout the Board Game: A Wasteland Wanderer’s Guide

Ready to explore the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout, but with dice and cardboard instead of a video game controller? Fallout: The Board Game lets you and your friends adventure through the wasteland, making tough choices and battling mutated creatures. It might seem a little complicated at first, but don’t worry! We’re going to break down everything you need to know, step by step, so you can get right into the game and enjoy the fun. Think of this as your vault dweller’s handbook for the tabletop!

Setting Up Your Fallout Adventure

Before you can wander the irradiated landscape, you need to get everything ready. This part is like setting up your base camp before heading out into the unknown. Here’s what you’ll need to do:

Preparing the Game Board

First, find the game board – it’s a big map of the wasteland you’ll be exploring. Place it in the middle of your play area so everyone can reach it. Make sure the map tiles are randomly arranged according to the instructions, to give a different layout every game. Then place the scenario card on the appropriate space. Make sure to place the appropriate amount of special encounter tokens on the board.

Choosing Your Character

Each player picks a character card. These cards represent the brave vault dwellers or wasteland inhabitants you’ll be playing. Each character has different starting skills, special abilities, and a starting gear. Look at them closely and choose the one that best fits your playing style. Make sure to take that character’s special character tokens. Once you have your character, you also grab the character miniature that matches.

Getting Your Starting Gear and Stats

Each character starts with a few basic items listed on their card, along with their starting S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats. Collect those starting gear cards (weapons, armor, and items) and tokens. Now, you’re ready to explore the wastelands.

Setting Up the Decks

The game uses several decks of cards. These cards guide the story, reveal encounters, and provide resources. Here’s what you do with them:

• Quest Deck: This is the main deck that drives the game. Separate it according to the chapter and then place them in the designated area. These cards introduce goals and challenges for the players.
• Encounter Decks (Location, Wasteland, Vault): These decks are filled with different surprises that you find when you move into a new location. Each type of location has its own special deck. Shuffle each deck separately and place them face down on the board.
• Item Deck: This is where all of the weapons, gear, and other usable item cards are kept. Shuffle and place them face down.
• Perk Cards: These cards grant abilities and advantages that can help you as you level up. Shuffle and place them face down.

Setting up the Influence Track

The influence tracks are located on the sides of the game board. These tracks keep tabs on who is doing what in the wasteland, and will affect how the game will progress.

Understanding the Game Components

Fallout: The Board Game comes with a lot of pieces! Let’s get to know them a little better. Think of these as the tools you’ll use to survive.

The Game Board

The game board is your playing field, a map of the post-apocalyptic world. It’s made up of different locations – cities, ruins, vaults, and more. You’ll move your character around this board to explore these areas. The map is made of various hexagonal tiles that are randomized at the beginning of the game for replayability.

Character Cards and Miniatures

Your character card shows you all the important details about your character, like their skills, starting equipment, and special abilities. The miniature is your game piece that shows your current location on the game board.

S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Stats

Just like in the video game, your character has a S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stat. These are Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. These stats are used when testing and will allow you to re-roll dice if you are not happy with the first result.

Tokens and Markers

There are many different tokens and markers that are used to show different things in the game. Here are some of them:

• Action Points (AP): These are used to take actions in the game. Each player will start with a certain amount of AP.
• Caps: The currency of the wasteland. These are used to buy items in the game.
• Damage Markers: These are used to keep track of the health of characters and enemies.
• Influence Markers: These are used to track how much influence your character has with the different factions.

Dice

You’ll be using six-sided dice to determine the outcome of certain actions such as combat and skills tests. They help make the game feel unpredictable.

Cards (Quest, Encounter, Item, Perk)

These cards guide the story, reveal what you find in different places, provide you with items, and give you special abilities. They’re the core of the adventure.

Taking Your Turn: What You Can Do

Now that you know what the pieces are, it’s time to play! Each turn, you’ll use your action points (AP) to do various things. Here’s what you can do on your turn:

Moving Your Character

Use action points to move your character miniature from one location on the board to another. Movement is usually one space per action point, except if a character has a perk that changes this. Move through the wasteland and discover new locations.

Exploring New Locations

When you move into a new space on the map, you draw a card from the corresponding encounter deck. These cards will tell you what you find there and can result in various things such as combat, or an interesting interaction with a wasteland dweller. Make sure to follow the card’s instructions carefully.

Completing Quests

As you play, you will draw cards from the quest deck. This will give your character various goals to complete. Successfully completing quests is how you gain experience and progress through the game.

Engaging in Combat

Sometimes, you’ll have to fight! You’ll use dice, your character’s stats, and weapons to try and defeat your enemies. Let’s get into more details:

Starting Combat

When an encounter card instructs you to fight, you will enter a combat phase. An enemy card will show you how many damage and defense points they have.

Rolling the Dice

To attack, you roll a number of dice equal to your character’s weapon damage plus the value of any relevant skill. If the results show enough hits to match or exceed the enemy’s defense, then you deal damage. Use damage tokens to keep track of how much health has been lost.

Taking Damage

If you do not roll enough to meet the enemy’s defense, the enemy will attack your character. The enemy will then deal the number of damage indicated on its card to the character.

Using Items

You can use items you’ve collected to help you out. Some items might heal you, others might boost your combat skills. You will use action points when using items.

Gaining Perks

As you progress in the game, you’ll gain experience. With enough experience, you will earn a new perk card that will give your character a new special ability.

Trading

When you land on certain locations, you will be able to trade caps and items with other characters, or with the merchant on the board.

Understanding Skill Checks

Sometimes, you’ll have to do a skill test to succeed in a quest or encounter. This tests your character’s abilities. Here’s how it works:

What Skills are Tested?

The encounter cards or quest cards will often ask you to perform a skill check. The most common skills are: Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. You must have the required skill and you must meet the minimum score indicated on the card.

Performing a Skill Check

The card will specify how many dice to roll based on your character’s level and if a skill check is required, it will also specify which stat you’ll use. For instance, if the card says “Agility Check”, you will roll based on your character’s Agility stat, and the number of dice to roll. When you roll, you count the number of success, based on the number of successes you need on the dice to succeed.

S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Re-rolls

If you fail the check, then you may re-roll the dice based on your character’s S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stat. If you have a stat of three, then you can re-roll three times.

Winning the Game

Fallout: The Board Game is a game about completing quests and making choices that shape the wasteland. The goal isn’t just about winning, it’s about completing all the quests from your character’s chosen scenario and influencing the world. But here’s how it works:

Completing the Objectives

Each scenario has unique objectives that you’ll need to complete. These are shown on the cards associated to that scenario and will change each time you play.

Reaching the End of the Story

The game ends when a player finishes the main quest line of their chosen scenario. At the end of the game, you’ll compare your influence points and determine which character has made the most significant impact on the wasteland. Then each player adds up their individual scores, and the player with the highest number of points wins the game.

Tips for New Wasteland Explorers

The wasteland is a tough place! Here are some extra tips to help you get started:

• Read Cards Carefully: Pay close attention to what the cards say. They’ll tell you what you need to do and what might happen.
• Plan Your Moves: Don’t just run around aimlessly. Think about where you want to go, what quests you want to complete, and what resources you might need.
• Manage Your Resources: Caps, ammo, and health are important. Manage them wisely or you’ll be facing an early demise.
• Team up with Other Players: Work together if you can! Trading and helping each other can make the game easier and more fun.
• Experiment and Enjoy: There’s no one right way to play. Try different strategies and enjoy the story!

Fallout: The Board Game is a long adventure, but it’s a really fun experience. With a little patience, you’ll be exploring the wastelands like a seasoned survivor in no time! Remember, teamwork, smart choices, and a little bit of luck are all you need to thrive in this post-apocalyptic world. So grab your friends, set up the game, and let the wasteland adventure begin! Good luck out there, Vault Dweller.