Vault Dweller

This profile is #2 in a chronological series. So you should start with the first profile instead, right ? The series goes :

1. Vault Dweller (Jolene Hassan) chapter 1 – to Junktown.
2. Vault Dweller (Jolene Hassan) chapter 2 – roamer of the wasteland. This here profile.
3. Vault Dweller (Jolene Hassan) chapter 3 – against the Master.

This second profile directly follows the first profile, and stops just as the Vault Dweller joins the Brotherhood of Steel.

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• This profile features a sample or customized Player Character. See our video games writeups FAQ for more.
• This profile assumes a specific video game playthrough. See our video games writeups FAQ for more.
• This profile features tabletop RPG mechanics about the video game’s gameplay. See our video games writeups FAQ for more.
• The story continues to be presented in the most logical order, though the various locations and encounters in the game can be done in practically any sequence. Which also means that there are S P O I L E R S.
• This profile features non-canon hypotheses about in-game events and mechanics. See our video games writeups FAQ for more.

Background

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Powers & Abilities

The Vault Dweller has continued to develop her skills. With her superior markswomanship having hit a plateau, she focused on her edge compared to most waste dwellers. Namely, her education.

She developed her technical, scientific and paramedical skills by studying whilst travelling. Many of these improvements are gained in the studying binge that closes this era.

Gear

Assets of a more tactical nature are provided by equipment. As she frequents the dangerous and populous Hub, the Vault Dweller discovers much better ordnance. Her key pieces of equipment during much of this era are :

Infantry combat armour

This is the full monty. Women’s ballistic vest, ceramic plate inserts, helmet with goggles, armoured boots, all-weather Nomex undersuit, forearm protectors, kneepads, etc.. And cheap too, since nobody else wanted to buy one in petite size. These were standard-issue for most soldiers during the War.

.223 custom handcannon

This one-of-a-kind handgun fires assault rifle rounds with remarkable accuracy and nearly no loss of power. See the Fallout Weapons Locker on writeups.org.

Due to her low body mass, the Vault Dweller wields this impressive weapon in a modified XXI^st century Weaver stance , with the weapon closer to the body than usual.

Landscape from the Fallout 1 The Story mod .

Her right forearm protection has been equipped with two bakelite rods. These can be pulled to extend 3” past her hand, and can be locked onto by clamps added under the pistol grip. This DIY contraption helps bear the weight of the handgun in extended engagements without murdering her wrists. It also keeps a steady aim since her arms would otherwise tremble from the weight.

The bakelite rods can be fully disengaged from their sheaths under the forearm protector by pushing the gun forward with the off-hand, for instance to switch weapons, and the gun is connected to her right shoulderpad by a lanyard.

Winchester 12-gauge City-Killer

A clip-fed semi-automatic shotgun with a burst mode, used in closer engagements or when the .223 has run dry and there’s no time to reload. A burst at close-range can dispose of even a super-mutant, making it an excellent self-defense weapon.

A sniper rifle

Used earlier on (it replaced her Rangemaster), it gets phased out in favour of the pistol. This in good part because Jolene finds it difficult to carry everything.

Misc.

Her survival and travel equipment is now complete.

• Geiger counter.
• Lockpicks.
• Multitool.
• First aid kit.
• Canteen(s).
• Lots of .223 FMJ and 12- gauge 00 buckshot ammunition.
• Extra magazines and magazine springs.
• Spare trekking socks .
• Sunglasses, sunscreen, bandanna to ward off the sand and dust.
• Brass catchers .
• Etc.

History

In Junktown  the Vault Dweller allied with Tycho, a well-trained desert ranger and experienced itinerant lawman. Once the burg was firmly in the hands of mayor Killian Darkwater, the pair travelled to the Hub . The goal was for the Vault Dweller to see the wares of merchants and ask questions.

While inquiring, she also located a shop in a ill-famed corner of the Hub that sold top-of-the-line weapons and armour, and a much less threatening bookstore. The latter turned out to be what Jolene was after.

An old holodisk from one of the bookshop’s stacks held major clues. It included a commercial virtual tour of nearby Vaults, recorded years before the War. Vault 12 , located deep underground under nearby Bakersfield, was said to have a particularly robust water filtration system.

Landscape from the Fallout 1 The Story mod .

Having heard about Bakersfield  being called the “city of the walking dead” ever since Shady Sands, the Vault Dweller decided to go in armed to the teeth. To that end she raided the Khans , a small group of raiders harassing Shady Sands, and looted their loot.

As it turned out, the gang had recently kidnapped an acquaintance. It was Tandi , the daughter of the leader of Shady Sands. Thus, raiding the raiders became a narrowly successful combat rescue mission. After escorting Tandi back home Tycho and Jolene took their loot all the way back to the Hub in borrowed wheelbarrows to buy the best weapons and armours there.

Necropolis

The Vault Dweller then made a beeline for Bakersfield. There, she found the ruins underneath which Vault 12 was located. The area was crawling with ghouls – half-decomposed humans kept “alive” through radiation and FEV mutation.

From what the Vault Dweller eventually pieced together, this had been the case practically since the War. Vault 12 had “inexplicably” failed to protect its population, an oddly high percentage of Vault 12 dwellers had been mutated, and the long-”lived” ghouls had been around ever since.

Many of the ghouls were just hanging there moaning and had lost their intelligence. Yet the Vault Dweller allied with a peaceful faction hidden in the sewers. She then negotiated a more difficult alliance with Set , the leader of the more bellicose ghouls on the surface.

Victory !

Ms. Hassan then determined that there were two water circulation systems in the Necropolis. The first were ordinary pumps located on the surface. These had been the primary source of water before they broke some months before. The second was Vault 12.

Though Set was largely incoherent from brain rot, she also realised that he was in the thrall of a distant master whom he hated.

Click for a larger version.

With the help of the peaceful sewer ghouls, the Vault Dweller fixed the water pump. Jolene then agreed to dispose of six super-mutants sent by Set’s master to keep him in line. Unfortunately, her dog died charging a super-mutant armed with a huge flamethrower.

Examining the super-mutants’ corpses also revealed that another had a working laser rifle. Whoever had sent them had ample access to military stockpiles.

After killing the super-mutants and the xenophobic radioactive ghouls in Vault 12, Jolene expertly disassembled the water system’s electronic board and carried it away. A few days later, Vault 13’s water circulation and filtration system was repaired, saving the facility.

California über alles

The report about the super-mutants greatly worried the Overseer of Vault 13. Six such creatures armed with high-tech weapons couldn’t be a result of random chance.

It was likely that someone was creating, organising, training and arming mutants. This party had an interest in studying the Vaults, as had happened in Vault 12 under the Bakersfield Necropolis. The Overseer feared for Vault 13’s safety, especially since the same party might have been behind the Vault 15 invasion years before.

The Vault Dweller resumed investigating. She returned to the Hub to interview travelling merchants. While dealing with the Hub’s commercial and underworld scene, Jolene discovered that super-mutants had been attacking caravans. However, this band was killed by a monstrous deathclaw before the Vault Dweller could confront them.

She and Tycho were then persuaded by a destitute farmer to retake his farm, which had been occupied by well-armed raiders for weeks. Unexpectedly, the farmer rewarded them with an extraordinary handgun, a one-of-a-kind gunsmithing creation that had been in his family for decades.

So what do you need ? Besides a miracle.

Hassan’s investigation also led to a strange ghoul at the Hub. He told her about a military base full of awful dangers, that seemed to be the source of super-mutants.

The Vault Dweller decided to focus on this lead. But Harold the ghoul ’s description of the base led her to the conclusion that she needed more firepower and protection than even the state of-the-art ordnance she was packing could provide.

Junktown from the Fallout 1 The Story mod .

Having repeatedly heard about an organisation with extraordinary weapons and armour, she reached the Brotherhood of Steel ’s base in the Lost Hills desert. There, for the first time, Jolene saw men in working power armour  and toting heavy infantry armament such as miniguns.

Assuming that it would put her on par with the defenses at the military base, the Vault Dweller asked to join. The surprised Brotherhood tasked her with recovering data tapes in a nuked-out underground facility. It was obviously a suicide mission to get rid of her, as the place was heavily radioactive.

Mission: Impossible

Having heard in the Hub about anti-radiation drugs, Ms. Hassan returned there. She contacted an underground drugs dealer before buying a salvaged Geiger counter. Dosing heavily on Rad-X drugs was thought to provide enough protection for a brief foray into the nuked facility.

However, whilst taking contraband Rad-Away  injections to purge her body of radiation buildup from the prior weeks spent in the wasteland, Jolene developed an addiction to Rad-Away. She had taken her doses too quickly, without thinking to compensate for her modest body mass.

Despite this, Jolene and Tycho’s expedition into the base — in an area called the Glow  — was successful. The base, a West Tek research centre hit by a nuclear warhead, was an untouched tomb. Despite the defense robots and damaged power systems it was possible to pillage a lot of technological resources and information there.

The pair made it back to the Hub, dragging their finds on an improvised travois built from demolished metallic furniture in the base. Jolene then spend several days studying in the Hub and waiting for the radiation sickness, Rad-away addiction, and the subsequent withdrawal to pass.

Brother Jolene, part 1

When the Brotherhood was presented by Jolene with the data she had been sent to find, they had to honour their word and make her an Initiate. She became Brother Jolene, the Brotherhood having for some unfathomable reason no female form of address.

However, nobody had expected her to return from the Glow – or even to actually attempt their manifestly crazy quest. Thus, they had no idea what to do with her. Furthermore the Brotherhood was both on war footing and politically divided among its Elders as to what to fight. As a result, Hassan was more or less lost in the scuffle.

The Brotherhood is descended from American soldiers stationed in Southern California. They kept maintaining all their technological resources running just as they were when the War occurred.

Landscape from the Fallout 1 The Story mod .

They are a militant order dedicated to maintaining technology, but have adopted numerous medieval-monks-sounding trappings. These include being ruled by a Council of Elders and having various ranks such as Initiate, Scribe (technical and/or academic specialist), Knight (warrior) or Paladin (heavily armed elite warrior).

Though generally reclusive, the Brotherhood is probably the best-armed force in Southern California. Its best warriors have fully working wartime infantry power armour. In some ways, the Brotherhood of Steel often comes across as a huge dragon jealously counting and re-counting its precious, precious hoard.

Brother Jolene, part 2

The Brotherhood of Steel’s underground base was nicer and even higher-tech than Vault 13. Its medical facilities, knowledge bases and tech shops were amazing. Plus, they had hot showers, which wasn’t trivial after months mostly spent in the wasteland.

The Vault Dweller and Tycho spent weeks there. Jolene underwent various small medical augmentations to improve her abilities and bring her to Brotherhood standards. Wheeling, dealing and schmoozing — plus a brutal fight with mercenaries who had captured a Brother in the Hub — also resulted in having two suits of power armour leased to them.

However, after weeks spent abusing Brotherhood hospitality and mess, persuading her new friend Dr. Lorri  to fit her in her schedule for augmentations, and many, many long showers, Ms. Hassan realised that it was time for her and Tycho to get back to work.

Description

The Vault Dweller doesn’t have any spoken dialogue in Fallout. But if they did I like to think this version would be voiced by a pre-Farscape Claudia Black .

Jolene got tired of having her non-haircut all sticky from sweat – an inevitable result of wearing combat armour in post-apocalyptic California. She hacked the tip away with a knife but it was even worse, so she ended up permanently drawing them back and high, into a small bun.

She also has significantly tanned in the wasteland. On the other hand her skin is becoming weathered by the heat, radiation, dust, etc. and she has a readily visible facial scar from a super-sledge hit that demolished her helmet above Vault 12. One the gripping hand, she is visibly more muscular.

It all combine to make her look significantly more dangerous even without her combat equipment. But then of course, being intimidating when you barely break 5 feet and a hundred pounds is considerably harder.

Personality

With her lifelong habits as an outcast, Hassan relentlessly employs the power of schmoozing. She ingratiates herself with a broad variety of folks who are useful to know. After the ice-breaking and schmoozing, though, comes the favour-trading part where Jolene offers to do something hard to solve a problem.

Landscape from the Fallout 1 The Story mod .

This is a well-oiled approach that usually works like on rails. And the Vault Dweller knows that she and Tycho can prevail against most opposition when it comes to providing quasi-mercenary services.

Still, Hassan is coming to realise that she’ll never belong anywhere.

Quotes

“Hey, you know, you’re pretty smart for a ghoul.”

“I’d really like to read about your super-mutant research. Do you have it on holodisk ?”

(After finishing counting 243 bottle caps to balance a bartering offer) “Gah !”

By Sébastien Andrivet.

Source of Character: Fallout (1997 video game).

Helper(s): Dr. Peter Piispanen, Darci.

Writeup completed on the 10^th of February, 2013.