Quest Line · Original Adventure · Fallout: The Roleplaying Game
One-shot · Levels 1-3
Vault 41's automated systems have been throwing the same anniversary celebration for six years straight, ever since Overseer Martinez died at the podium during his speech. The vault dwellers have adapted to their endless party, but the reactor is failing, supplies are dwindling, and someone—or something—has started killing residents in the maintenance tunnels. The players must uncover what's really happening before the vault's final countdown reaches zero.
Players will be vault dwellers or recent arrivals to Vault 41. The adventure involves a society in decline, disturbing body horror elements related to radiation exposure, and themes of addiction and societal stagnation. The vault's culture revolves around enforced celebration and toxic positivity. Players should create characters with reasons to investigate mysteries or help communities. Familiar with basic Fallout mechanics: skill checks against target numbers, combat, and radiation hazards.
Choose one approach:
Concerned Dwellers: The players are long-time vault residents who've noticed the increasing number of "disappearances" during party hours. Deputy Overseer Chen privately asks them to investigate without causing a panic.
New Arrivals: The players are wastelanders who discovered Vault 41's entrance and entered seeking shelter, medicine, or technology. The contrast between the vault's forced festivities and its obvious decay is immediately apparent.
Maintenance Crew: The players are assigned to the maintenance rotation and discover evidence of the killings while performing their duties. They have access to restricted areas but are expected at the party.
The players enter or arrive at the main atrium during the anniversary celebration. Streamers hang from the ceiling—some fresh, most faded and torn from years of reuse. A crackling pre-war speaker system loops the same cheerful music. Vault dwellers dance with varying degrees of enthusiasm while others sit at tables, staring into the distance with forced smiles.
At the center stands a podium where Overseer Martinez's skeleton still sits in his chair, dressed in a fresh vault suit, a party hat perched on his skull. Nobody acknowledges this as unusual. Every hour, the automated systems play his recorded speech—it cuts off at the exact moment he died, then starts over.
The players can:
Observe the dwellers: Most show signs of malnutrition and exhaustion. Several have radiation burns poorly concealed by makeup. A successful Perception check (DN 1) reveals track marks on several dwellers' arms.
Talk to partygoers: They insist everything is "wonderful" and that the party "keeps us together." Pressing them requires a Charisma check (DN 2) and reveals their terror of what happens "in the quiet times" between scheduled celebrations.
Examine the overseer: A Medicine or Science check (DN 1) determines he died of a massive stroke approximately six years ago. His terminal is still active, logged in, displaying an unsent emergency message: "Reactor containment failing. Request immediate—"
Notice discrepancies: Intelligence or Perception check (DN 2) reveals that several dwellers mentioned at the party roster have been absent for weeks. Deputy Overseer Chen nervously deflects questions about them.
The scene is interrupted by screaming from the southern corridor. A blood-soaked dweller named Marcus stumbles into the atrium, clutching his torn abdomen, before collapsing. He gasps "it's still down there" before dying. Chen immediately calls for the "cleanup crew" and tries to resume the party. The body is dragged away within minutes.
Following Marcus's blood trail or accessing the maintenance terminals leads the players to the lower maintenance levels. The cheerful music is muffled here, replaced by grinding machinery and dripping water. Radiation warning signs flicker.
The Maintenance Tunnels: Rusted catwalks overlook the reactor chamber. Makeshift barricades have been erected and subsequently torn apart. The players find:
The Reactor Chamber: The door is sealed with an override code (Science DN 2 to hack, or found in Chen's office upstairs). Inside, radiation levels are critical. The containment vessel has a visible crack, bathing the room in an eerie green glow.
Huddled near the reactor is the creature—or rather, what remains of Chief Engineer Sarah Volkov. Six years of exposure to unshielded reactor radiation has transformed her into something barely human: elongated limbs, translucent skin, extra fingers fused together. She's been living off the "Party Time" supplies she created and, when those ran out, vault dwellers who ventured too close.
Meaningful Choice—Confronting Sarah:
The players can:
1. Fight: Sarah has 45 HP, uses jagged metal claws (2d6+6 damage), and emits radiation (all within close range take 1 Rad per round). She's fast but fragile. Combat DN 2 to hit.
2. Communicate: A Charisma check (DN 3, reduced to DN 2 if they mention fixing the reactor) can reach the human remnant inside. She's terrified, in constant pain, and believes she's protecting the vault by preventing anyone from seeing the reactor's true state.
3. Mercy kill: She may ask the players to end her suffering if they successfully communicate. She'll provide the reactor access codes willingly.
Sarah reveals the truth: The reactor has been failing since before the anniversary. Martinez knew and tried to cover it up with the "eternal party" as a morale measure. When he died, Chen continued the charade, creating "Party Time" with Sarah to keep dwellers compliant. Sarah stayed behind to monitor the reactor, but the radiation changed her. She's been killing dwellers who discovered the truth, believing she was preventing panic.
With the reactor access codes and the truth revealed, the players must decide Vault 41's fate. The reactor will fail completely within hours. Deputy Overseer Chen, confronted with the truth, suffers a complete breakdown—he's been taking double doses of "Party Time" and genuinely believes the party is all that keeps reality together.
Possible Endings:
Evacuation: The players can convince the dwellers to evacuate to the surface. This requires a Charisma check (DN 3) to overcome years of propaganda about the "deadly wasteland." Success means saving 40+ dwellers, but they'll face the harsh realities of wasteland life unprepared. Chen refuses to leave and dies in the reactor breach. The players can escort them to a nearby settlement or let them scatter.
Repair: A Science check (DN 4, or DN 3 with Sarah's guidance if she survived) can jury-rig a temporary containment fix using parts from other vault systems. This buys 2-3 months and requires shutting down life support to non-essential areas. The dwellers stay, but must face reality: no more parties, rationed "Party Time" for withdrawal management, and hard decisions about their future. The players become heroes and are offered positions as advisors.
Controlled Shutdown: The players can safely shut down the reactor and convert the vault to purely emergency power. This means no atrium lights, no music, no amenities—but survival. The withdrawal from both "Party Time" and the party lifestyle will be brutal. Some dwellers will die. Others will thrive. The players must help establish a new social order and deal with resistance from party loyalists.
The Bad Ending: If the players do nothing or fail to act in time, the reactor breaches. Radiation floods the vault. Most dwellers die within hours. The survivors become feral ghouls, forever dancing to the automated music in their tomb.
Deputy Overseer James Chen: Exhausted middle-aged man with a permanent forced smile and trembling hands. Desperately maintains the party facade to avoid confronting his complicity in the vault's decline. Motivation: Avoid responsibility at all costs.
Chief Engineer Sarah Volkov (transformed): Once brilliant and dedicated, now a tragic monster. Remembers her humanity in fragments. Speaks in broken sentences mixing engineering jargon with animalistic sounds. Motivation: End her suffering while protecting the vault's secrets.
Marcus Webb (deceased): Curious maintenance worker who discovered the truth. His death serves as the inciting incident. Left a holotape in his quarters detailing his discoveries. Motivation: (in life) Uncover the truth.
Diane "Party" Martinez: The late Overseer's daughter, now the vault's most enthusiastic celebrant and "Party Time" dealer. Knows everything is falling apart but prefers the beautiful lie. Has influence over many dwellers. Motivation: Keep the party going forever, no matter the cost.
Thomas Grant: Former security chief, secretly been working to ration supplies and prepare for evacuation. Opposes Chen but lacks authority. Becomes a vital ally if the players prove trustworthy. Motivation: Save as many lives as possible.
Experience: Award XP milestones for discovering the truth about Martinez's death, confronting Sarah (combat or peaceful), and determining the vault's fate.
Equipment: Vault 41 maintenance suit (provides Rad resistance), Chief Engineer's toolkit (+1 to Science checks), medical supplies and chems from the hidden lab, "Party Time" samples (valuable to chem traders or researchers), Sarah's security override codes (access to vault armory).
Story Rewards: Depending on the ending, players may gain a safe haven (repaired vault), gratitude of evacuated dwellers (contacts in wasteland), or salvage rights to an abandoned vault (technology and resources). Thomas Grant may join as a companion if evacuation succeeds.
Caps: 150-250 caps worth of pre-war money, jewelry, and valuables from vault storage, plus whatever the players negotiate with Chen or salvage from restricted areas.
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