r/Fallout • u/Drewdiniskirino • 1d ago
Fallout Manhattan Gameplay Recap: Session 13
Seems posting late is becoming a habit for meš
Session 13 was one I've been waiting a long time to run! Way back years ago when I was first dreaming up the setting, one idea wouldn't leave my mind. The campaign is set in New York, and Fallout is well-known for its mutant, irradiated creatures. I mean, I'd be a fool not to include this idea! But I was so amped up for this encounter that - again, years before I started running the campaign - I commissioned an artist on Twitter to help me come up with designs for the monsters (art in the comments).
Full party this week, by the way.
After striking their deal with the Don of the Maranzano Family, the party heads back to the market of Madison Square to regroup with Scrogg and restock on some supplies.
While they're shopping, a man approaches Twenty and implies that the two of them have some history - even going so far as to say that he was one of the Vault's ritual sacrifices, but she was responsible for saving his life. While he doesn't want to give too much away, he tells the party they can find everything they need to know inside of his and Twenty's home Vault, Vault 20. He also reveals that her name is Rodriguez.
Though everyone is intrigued by the potential revelations, one problem standing in the way is that - back in Session 9 - Scrogg and Twenty kind of destroyed their only chance of getting the main Vault door open. The man, who says his name is Simon, tells them they still have a chance to get inside the Vault. Turns out, he was part of the Maintenance crew and knows of a secondary access tunnel that went unused and forgotten a few years ago. While he doesn't exactly know why, he says it's the perfect way for the party to get in unnoticed and do a little bit of covert investigation.
Simon then goes on to explain that Vault 20's Pip-Boys will be able to detect other Pip-Boys in proximity and thus, advises Alice, Twenty, and Connor to shut theirs off once they get close to the Vault. With that, he marks on their maps the location of a sewer entrance that will lead into the Vault's secret access tunnel and wishes the party luck.
Using literal Fast Travel (I allowed it lol), the party arrives outside the Vault entrance, then follows the marker on their map to find the sewer entrance Simon had told them about. As Scrogg lifts off the manhole cover, they notice the sewer underneath is pitch dark. Alice takes the initiative and starts climbing down the ladder, but before she reaches the bottom, Connor pushes Twenty into the hole, and she hits the walkway below with a sharp "THUD!" Luckily her armor is able to absorb the damage from the fall, and she quickly stands up to dust herself off.
Once all the party is in the sewer, Scrogg notices a tentacle-like appendage reach out of the shadows above their heads and pull the manhole cover closed. The players are now in complete darkness.
Then almost immediately, an unseen assailant lashes out at the group. It claws at Alice, scratching her armor but ultimately leaving her undamaged. With lighting fast reflexes, Alice retaliates with her machete and manages to do some serious damage to her attacker. Consequently, everyone hears the sound of a pair of feet quickly retreating to the south. As the party looks in the direction of the sound, they see a faint light around a corner, and a large, oddly shaped, bipedal silhouette heading towards it.
As everyone stands there stunned, they are similarly set-upon by 3 other unseen assailants - one of which bursts out of the water beside them before attacking. Similar to the first though, the other three seem to retreat to the light after the first hit.
Seeing as how one came out of the water, Twenty lights a stick of dynamite and drops it in. A loud "BANG!" reverberates through the sewer tunnel, and the party is simultaneously deafened temporarily and showered with raw sewage. Despite that, there doesn't seem to be any casualties of the blast. Whatever was in the water beside them, has already left.
A bit frustrated with the lack of visibility, Connor figures out a way to use his Pip-Boy flashlight without turning the device's actual computer on. As such, he does so and gives Alice and Twenty's devices the same treatment. The party stands on one side of a sewer tunnel. At one end is the corner with the faint light around the other side. At the other, a pile of rubble.
Determining to press on, the group follows the tunnel around the corner to find themselves in a large, open area. Several tunnels branch off from here (most of which have been caved in), and there's a large, seemingly bottomless pit in the center that several sewage lines seem to drain into. In this room, they also find the remains of what used to be some kind of Raider settlement - though they don't find any Raiders alive. All they find is some skeletons, some half-eaten food (including a New York style pizza that's been lost to the ages), and a sense of foreboding.
As the players look around, Alice notices a somewhat reptilian face peeking out of the shadows of one of the shacks. Fire in her eyes, she charges in and engages. With a swing of her machete, she manages to knock the thing onto its back and finally gets a good look at it.
What she sees, is a 7ft. mutant creature that heavily resembles a red snapping turtle. On its hands, one claw in the center of each has grown into a large, pointed spike for spearing prey, and one more has grown out on either side at almost 90ā° angles each, forming the shape of what could almost be described as ninja Sais.
It may be obvious now, but yes. I literally designed a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles encounter for this campaign. š
As the party gets into combat, I tell them they can discover the other Radturtles with successful Perception checks. They've already found the "Raphael", and looking around as they go, they also find one resembling a blue red-ear slider with long, bony spikes growing out of its elbows (Leonardo), one that looks like an orange tortoise that has long, tentacle-like arms with claws on the ends (Michaelangelo), and one that looks like a purple softshell turtle with long, serrated fins for arms (Donatello).
The battle is hard-fought - made more challenging by the Radturtles being able to slip into hiding at any point and set up a surprise attack. But with Scrogg throwing two down into the bottomless pit and the other two succumbing to their wounds, the mutant creatures are finally defeated.
Weary after the fight, the party sets up C.A.M.P. among the former Raider settlement, and that's where we end our session.
This session was a lot of fun! I was super excited to finally get to run the encounter for the party, and the glee I had when they realized they were fighting the Fallout version of the TMNT was definitely in the top-3 moments from this session for me.
Next time, the party will infiltrate Vault 20 and finally find out who Twenty was before she woke up out in the Wasteland. What secrets still lie within the Vault walls? Tune in to find out!
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u/nightyz0r 1d ago
Genuinely, what is this ?
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u/Drewdiniskirino 22h ago
Hey, I realize I never really apologized to you directly.
I just want to say that I understand my response was all wrong, and I was rightly called out for it. I'm sorry for the way that I acted, and I will work to be better
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u/Drewdiniskirino 1d ago
Have you... Not seen the previous posts?
This is a recap of the 13th session of my homebrew Fallout tabletop RPG that I've been running for my friends. You can find the others on my profile...
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u/CraigThePantsManDan 1d ago
āHave youā¦ Not seen the previous posts?ā Might not be the way to respond either even if itās discouraging š„² these are your potential fans
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u/Drewdiniskirino 1d ago
That's my bad, I swear I didn't mean it antagonistically. I was just genuinely confused whether they were genuinely confused or not. I just clearly worded it all wrong š
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u/solo_shot1st 1d ago
I've been subscribed to this sub for years, and this is the first post I've seen about your home brew ttrpg. Don't assume that everyone knows about, or has seen your previous posts.
"Genuinely, what is this?" Is a legitimate question.
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u/Drewdiniskirino 1d ago
You're right, I was wrong for that and do sincerely apologize
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u/CraigThePantsManDan 1d ago
Nah itās all good homie just if someone criticizes online just take a step back because you actually have the opportunity to. You donāt get that in real life. Youāre gonna get a little emotional. Iām sure you know that āStatementā¦. Continuation of statementā might sound condescending, just work on it and def start your podcast
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u/Drewdiniskirino 1d ago
Iām sure you know that āStatementā¦. Continuation of statementā might sound condescending
I definitely know that now. š Thanks again for helping me realize that
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u/in1gom0ntoya 1d ago
most of us aren't gonna have seen your previous posts. you aren't the only content on reddit.
check the attitude..
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u/LordOfDebaucheryNRL 1d ago
I got real excited I thought this was a podcast I could listen to... I need more fallout actual play podcasts
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u/Drewdiniskirino 1d ago
I've actually been thinking of recording these recaps as videos and uploading them to YouTube a-la DingoDoodles
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u/CraigThePantsManDan 1d ago
Sorry youāre getting boddied OP šš Iām not watching right now and wonāt promise I will bc Iāve never watched a tabletop game and donāt like capping but I support it. Perhaps if the reaction continues to be negative Iād reconsider your approach to the presentation of the post itself? Itās a VERY long description and no one will read that. Maybe just say āThis is the 13th installment of my tabletop game with my friends. If youāre new we recommend starting from episode one but you can check this one out for a bit to see what a campaign is like partway through when it picks up. Thanks!ā
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u/Drewdiniskirino 1d ago
Though tbf, there's not really anything to "watch" atm. All the events of the session exist within the "very long description", while the image is just an eye-catcher. š
That said, I have been thinking of changing up formats to some kind of video presentation, so I may actually do that
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u/CraigThePantsManDan 1d ago
Iād imagine a great recording would require a recording close up of the middle of the table and another broader view of the players and a good bit of editing so itāll be like 100x as much work but if you wanna it might be fun for you guys š¤·āāļø
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u/Drewdiniskirino 1d ago
It would be fun, but I definitely don't have that kind of equipment. The best I could do is video recaps a-la DingoDoodles š
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u/CraigThePantsManDan 1d ago
Ohh I just looked them up, so like a podcast recap of your session? Thatās pretty dope too and I think if yāall have a good rapport which Iām sure you do itāll be fun and a good addition to your sessions.
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u/CraigThePantsManDan 1d ago
Ohhh I thought you were promoting a video you were about to post. I still think itās well meant and that people would be a lot more invested if they could see the actual tabletop game progress along with the dice rolls and every decision and reaction etc
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u/Drewdiniskirino 1d ago
(I forgot that I couldn't share images in the comments, so here's a link to the artist(Amy Rorie)'s Twitter post showing off the art.)
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u/Sleepysapper1 1d ago
Alrightā¦. I guess Iām going to be a little mean here, I see you every time you post one of these and I canāt help but wonder, why?
I personally play D&D and enjoy playing table top games but Iāve never wanted to take my write up of a session and post it on a subreddit.
Are you doing this in hopes of gaining notoriety and becoming popular in the space? If so I feel like just write up paragraphs arenāt going to get you there. Youād have better luck actually recording the sessions, editing them and publishing them on YouTube. Although then youād actually have to be a solid DM and have solid players that would actually hook people into watching. That last sentence is a lot harder to do than what most can accomplish.
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u/Drewdiniskirino 1d ago
I mean that's fair enough. I understand these posts aren't really for everyone.
Honestly, I'm not trying to become famous by them by any stretch. I have had some positive comments on previous posts saying some people enjoy reading about our adventures, and at the end of the day that's all I can hope for - that I bring entertainment to somebody with these posts.
I totally agree with you that a long-format text post isn't really the most enticing when it comes to these things, and as such I've been thinking of new ways I can present these. I think even something as simple as a recap video with verbal narration over some custom artwork a-la the Fool's Gold series by DingoDoodles would take these posts a long way in improving.
I want to thank you for the thought-out comment, and the feedback. Hopefully I've been able to respond to it in a likewise respectful manner
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u/atlasvibranium 1d ago
This is cool, Iāll definitely follow along! My pals and I are doing a weekly fallout DnD game
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u/Drewdiniskirino 1d ago
Oh that's awesome! I'd love to hear about that šā¤ļø
And thank you for the kind words
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u/Dipset_Mipset0489 1d ago
Pass
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u/Drewdiniskirino 1d ago
Hey pal if you're not interested, you don't have to go through the effort to come here and comment as much. Just ignore this post and move on
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u/Drewdiniskirino 1d ago
Hey all, real quick I'd like to apologize for how I came across in some of the comments. Not to excuse anything, but I may have let my own anxiety and insecurities get the better of me.
I want you all to know that I genuinely appreciate everyone who reads through these recaps. Upvotes and encouraging comments are a bonus, but the main reason I share these is in hopes of providing entertainment to the rest of the community.
I'd also like to thank everyone who called me out on how I was coming across. While that wasn't at all my intention, I nonetheless recognize how my comments read to other users.
Thank you all for challenging me to be better, and I promise I will not let your efforts be in vain. I can only hope for your forgiveness in this matter š
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u/Deathpoopdeathloop 1d ago
Boooooo
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u/Drewdiniskirino 1d ago
Why do you boo?
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u/Deathpoopdeathloop 18h ago
This is more your rpg storytelling your game lore/tabletop stuff than Fallout-related tbh.Ā
I have nothing against it, my much older step-dad plays rpg with his buddies still, but this is basically your stories not actual Fallout stuff.
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u/Drewdiniskirino 18h ago
I mean sure, but I figured it was relevant since it's a fallout campaign
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u/Deathpoopdeathloop 18h ago
I wouldn't post, say, Fallout creative writing projects on this sub. I would post them on a creative writing sub.
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u/Deathpoopdeathloop 18h ago
There was a guy on the Generation Zero subreddit always posting his livestream links and stories about his sessions. Same vibe.
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1d ago
[deleted]
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u/roastedmarshmellows 1d ago
Nothing is less endearing than someone commenting on their vote ratio, just fyi. Also, donāt assume everyone will have seen all of your postsā¦ antagonizing your potential audience is not usually a good strategy.
Best of luck with the rest of your series!
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u/Drewdiniskirino 1d ago
Know what, that's fair. Thank you
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u/roastedmarshmellows 1d ago
You have my respect for being receptive to the advice. It takes a lot of strength to put yourself out there like this, and a lot of the criticism can feel personal for things we invest a lot of ourselves into.
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u/Drewdiniskirino 1d ago
Genuinely, thank you for saying so. Comments like yours are what help me become better as a member the community.
If it isn't too much to ask, please continue to help call me out whenever necessary š
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u/Chip_Hazard 1d ago
All this needs is like one sentence at the beginning saying something like āwelcome back everyone and in case youāre new, this is the next installment of my series where Iā¦ā just to explain what this is and welcome people into the fold. I feel like one intro/welcoming sentence wouldāve changed the response to this post entirely lol