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Hypothetical Societies of the Wasteland [Fallout-Verse]

Kylia Quilor

Hopeless Romantic and Nerd
Author
One of the things I love most about Fallout is seeing how different societies can develop unqiue little quirks and ideas based on their time in the Wasteland, to respond to the stresses they live under - and how you can have all these different communities.

I mean, we have tribes with all kinds of strange customs, the Children of Atom, the people of Diamond City who seem to worship their wall like a god, there's Goodneighbor, there's Tenpenny Tower and Rivet City, Little Lamplight, Vault City, the various communities that arose in the Boneyard, etc. There's the Brotherhood of Technological Magpies Steel.

In the context of the Fallout Universe, what are some of the societies you think might arise or would be fun to see?

I've always thought it odd we don't have any societies (beyond that one fringe sect of the Children of Atom) that regard Ghouls as some higher stage of life - I mean, sure they're ugly, but they're immortal and immune to the terrifying scourge that is radiation (sorta). It would be fascinating to see a society that was actually ruled by Ghouls, and how favored humans might occasionally be offered the chance to prove their worth (read: expose themselves to rads until they die/become ghouls) and join the elite class. And how people might actually be raised under the system and thus think it fine and dandy.

Or maybe a community that treats books the way the Brotherhood treats tech - with an almost religious Zeal. They hoard books and sent out collection librarians (well armed) to find and recover and return lost or rare tomes. Or, perhaps they are in the true spirit of the Libraries of old, and while they don't like check books out or something maybe they let people come and read the ones they've collected or offer to make and sell copies of specific books on demand.

Another thing I'd love to see is a society where, perhaps some experiment went awry (ala Vault 22) and the whole ruined city is covered in overgrowth, and so it's a literal urban jungle they live in now - people often complain the wasteland (not the Mojave, but other parts) not being as green as it logically would be 200 years later*, so it would be fun to see a segment of the post-war world that was the exact opposite, way too much green - on a larger scale than Vault 22.

*of course, if one wants to bitch about the unrealistic lack of greenery, one can also say that most of the underlying 'science' of the Fallout verse doesn't work like actual science, so...
 
The thing with Brotherhood of Steel is that, canonically, the West Coast generally sends out those that don't agree with the dogma out on impossible and suicidal missions after the founder bit it. The 'Midwest' Chapter, the 'Lyons' Chapter, and likely many more. So you can see chapters of the Brotherhood that are successful because they realized what is needed to ensure that the BoS stays relevant in an ever-changing world.

You could have a BoS chapter that is basically Prussia in pragmatism and 'state born of an army' style creation, opening it's ranks to everyone under their aegis, not those just born into the chapter for example.
 
There was Necropolis and Vault 12 in the first Fallout game, though it would be nice to see what they are up to after the Master and his army have been defeated.
 
The thing with Brotherhood of Steel is that, canonically, the West Coast generally sends out those that don't agree with the dogma out on impossible and suicidal missions after the founder bit it. The 'Midwest' Chapter, the 'Lyons' Chapter, and likely many more. So you can see chapters of the Brotherhood that are successful because they realized what is needed to ensure that the BoS stays relevant in an ever-changing world.

You could have a BoS chapter that is basically Prussia in pragmatism and 'state born of an army' style creation, opening it's ranks to everyone under their aegis, not those just born into the chapter for example.

You could, but even the East Coast brotherhood was still big on tech. And in some ways, you can argue that Maxson's brotherhood in Fallout 4 is in fact that. Doesn't change the fact that they're also Magpies who worship tech like they're a knockoff Adeptus Mechanicus, but yes. And certainly, the Brotherhood's little state in the Capital Wasteland is probably akin to the Tuetonic-knight controlled states in the Baltic, in terms of basic structure and design.


There was Necropolis and Vault 12 in the first Fallout game, though it would be nice to see what they are up to after the Master and his army have been defeated.
Necropolis was a city of Ghouls, though. That's not the same thing as a city that worship's ghoulification or is ruled by a caste of ghouls.

I want to see a alt right red pill city
Redpilling and Knockoff Internet Nazis weren't a thing in the Fallout verse. Troll somewhere else.
 
You could, but even the East Coast brotherhood was still big on tech. And in some ways, you can argue that Maxson's brotherhood in Fallout 4 is in fact that. Doesn't change the fact that they're also Magpies who worship tech like they're a knockoff Adeptus Mechanicus, but yes. And certainly, the Brotherhood's little state in the Capital Wasteland is probably akin to the Tuetonic-knight controlled states in the Baltic, in terms of basic structure and design.
Even then, they have reasons for being tech magpies (they're an 'asshole with a point' faction both in-verse history and out of it), but the West Coast chapters were of the 'kill anyone who has a weapon more advanced than a gunpowder firearm' type. The Lyons chapter (and their splinter faction, the Outcasts) were willing to exchange tech and manuals for caps and likely later on technical support and water.

Also, the Lyons chapter (and if we take Tactics into account, the Midwest as well) are not a knockoff of the Adeptus Mechanicus in their post-Heresy state, they do innovations (does the tesla cannon (or, in the Midwest's case, their own model of power armor) mean nothing?) and utilize the technology they have.
 
Even then, they have reasons for being tech magpies (they're an 'asshole with a point' faction both in-verse history and out of it), but the West Coast chapters were of the 'kill anyone who has a weapon more advanced than a gunpowder firearm' type. The Lyons chapter (and their splinter faction, the Outcasts) were willing to exchange tech and manuals for caps and likely later on technical support and water.

Also, the Lyons chapter (and if we take Tactics into account, the Midwest as well) are not a knockoff of the Adeptus Mechanicus in their post-Heresy state, they do innovations (does the tesla cannon (or, in the Midwest's case, their own model of power armor) mean nothing?) and utilize the technology they have.
They worship technology. Even some tech-priests do improve tech, albeit it takes endless examinations by every forge world for it to be accepted, so in practice.

The Brotherhood doesn't try to understand technology, they just gather it - they needed outside help to make any use out of Liberty Prime, and the Tesla Cannon wasn't invented by them.

Fallout Tactics is of dubious canon - there certainly are no talking Deathclaws and the Midwestern Brotherhood does not rule from Chicago to Colorado. I suspect their own model of power armor is also a no.

No, they're not Adeptus Mechanicus in every way, but they are magpies who worship tech and don't really bother to understand or improve it. I mean, the Institute is evil and run by people with no common sense, but they do try to improve tech.

They don't have a point - the BoS has no endgame. There's no 'point' to what they do. They just... do.
 
Necropolis was a city of Ghouls, though. That's not the same thing as a city that worship's ghoulification or is ruled by a caste of ghouls.

Point to you. Perhaps a faction in Mexico City, some kind of outgrowth (is this a real word? Nvm) of the Day of the Dead celebration and ghouls being creatures who are both alive and dead and therefore divine or something like that.
 
Point to you. Perhaps a faction in Mexico City, some kind of outgrowth (is this a real word? Nvm) of the Day of the Dead celebration and ghouls being creatures who are both alive and dead and therefore divine or something like that.
That would be an interesting way as to how it could emerge. I like the way you think.

And yes, outgrowth is a word.
 
They worship technology. Even some tech-priests do improve tech, albeit it takes endless examinations by every forge world for it to be accepted, so in practice.

The Brotherhood doesn't try to understand technology, they just gather it - they needed outside help to make any use out of Liberty Prime, and the Tesla Cannon wasn't invented by them.

Fallout Tactics is of dubious canon - there certainly are no talking Deathclaws and the Midwestern Brotherhood does not rule from Chicago to Colorado. I suspect their own model of power armor is also a no.

No, they're not Adeptus Mechanicus in every way, but they are magpies who worship tech and don't really bother to understand or improve it. I mean, the Institute is evil and run by people with no common sense, but they do try to improve tech.

They don't have a point - the BoS has no endgame. There's no 'point' to what they do. They just... do.
Actually, they do try to understand tech (or things like the Midwest's own power armor or the tesla cannon wouldn't even exist, as they require understanding of tech and sciences)... it's just that they are left with a lot of holes in their understanding.
 
That would be an interesting way as to how it could emerge. I like the way you think.

And yes, outgrowth is a word.

Thank you. I had some thought about ghoul veneration culture arising in New Orleans or the Deep South but Voodoo or Hoodoo is more than just about zombies. There's a possibility that such beliefs and how they relate to ghouls might have sprung there but it would either be shallow as hell (therefore not a lot of depth) or could be spun into something else entirely.
 
Actually, they do try to understand tech (or things like the Midwest's own power armor or the tesla cannon wouldn't even exist, as they require understanding of tech and sciences)... it's just that they are left with a lot of holes in their understanding.

Again, Fallout Tactics is not actually canon, including that Midwestern power armor, and the Tesla cannon wasn't invented by the Brotherhood (or at least I can't find any evidence of such in the Fallout wikis). Discounting those things that aren't canon, there's not much evidence of them trying to understand the underlying scientific principles of the things they do, compared to people like the Science! center duo in Fallout 4, or Madison Li in Fallout 3, etc.
Thank you. I had some thought about ghoul veneration culture arising in New Orleans or the Deep South but Voodoo or Hoodoo is more than just about zombies. There's a possibility that such beliefs and how they relate to ghouls might have sprung there but it would either be shallow as hell (therefore not a lot of depth) or could be spun into something else entirely.

That has that as well - there's a whole plotline about the Enclave (yeah, I know, cliché) coming up with this voodoo-powered way to control all the Ghouls in the region in their war with Orleans
 
Which makes it boring. The best parts of Fallout to me are those that makes me go, "Hurm, I wonder if..." not the cheap cliché that is done with a serious tone.
 
Which makes it boring. The best parts of Fallout to me are those that makes me go, "Hurm, I wonder if..." not the cheap cliché that is done with a serious tone.
Well, the reason the Enclave goes after it because there's a native tradition of Ghoul-Voodoo in the Bayou in the first place. They basically ally with a bunch of the Bayou 'shamans' to make their device in the first place.

Fallout: Orleans has some flaws as a concept, IMO, but it's still an impressive amount of worldbuilding the guy did.
 
Fallout Tactics is of dubious canon - there certainly are no talking Deathclaws and the Midwestern Brotherhood does not rule from Chicago to Colorado. I suspect their own model of power armor is also a no.
Fallout Tactics was a dead end, and no reason to consider it a canon, but ...
Intelligent Deathclaws were a thing in a Fallout 2, and nothing in the universe suggests it is impossible to have talking Deathclaws.
 
Fallout Tactics was a dead end, and no reason to consider it a canon, but ...
Intelligent Deathclaws were a thing in a Fallout 2, and nothing in the universe suggests it is impossible to have talking Deathclaws.
I'm talking about these ones: https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Hairy_deathclaw

From what I've heard, Tactics is considered 'broad strokes canon' still... unless someone from Bethesda says otherwise.
The Midwestern Brotherhood making and designing their own model of power armor despite no other faction of the Brotherhood showing anything close to that innovation isn't a broad stroke. Broad strokes are hat there is a wing of the Brotherhood in the Midwest, which is confirmed in a passing comment in Fallout 3. Beyond that, we can't know anything for sure until/unless it is incorporated into a later game.
 
Fallout 2 Vault 13 was inhabited by intelligent, talking Deathclaws. You can recruit albino one in your party.

Fallout Tactics is full of continuity errors, ending on Tactics simply can't happen regardless, but mere existence of talking Deathclaws isn't one. There are much bigger problems
And I didn't deny that. I merely forgot about the talking Deathclaws in Fallout 2, because I was thinking about the tamed Deathclaws the Beastlords use. Or, more likely, I mixed the two up in my head, which is why I clarified what I was talking about.
 
And I didn't deny that. I merely forgot about the talking Deathclaws in Fallout 2, because I was thinking about the tamed Deathclaws the Beastlords use. Or, more likely, I mixed the two up in my head, which is why I clarified what I was talking about.
Whether you can tame a Deathclaw is up debate.

Trying to tame a Deathclaw is something people in universe would try, Enclave tried to control them too (see Fallout 3 this time), however they did so with assistance of technology Beastlords simply won't and can't have. And thus those who would try will inevitably fail

You can potentially reason with Vault 13 Deathclaws, they talk and have human intelligence, and thus coexist with them too, but those are reasonably rare offshot unlikely to be encountered
 
Whether you can tame a Deathclaw is up debate.

Trying to tame a Deathclaw is something people in universe would try, Enclave tried to control them too (see Fallout 3 this time), however they did so with assistance of technology Beastlords simply won't and can't have. And thus those who would try will inevitably fail

You can potentially reason with Vault 13 Deathclaws, they talk and have human intelligence, and thus coexist with them too, but those are reasonably rare offshot unlikely to be encountered
I'm not sure mind-controlled with tech is the same thing as 'tame' :p
 
Domesticated means we've bred it over time. In theory, one might be able to domesticate deathclaws in the long term, though it's hard to say,
 
What I want is a Fallout game that has Horses. I mean, they can't all have died? I'd love to see a game in like, Iowa or one of the other plains states that's got horses, horse drawn wagons, maybe horse-mounted bandits and Brahminboys (that is, cowboys for Brahmin). Even if the horses are two-headed or mutant in some way, it would be nice to see cavalry come back to the wasteland.
 
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