I do not own Fallout. If I did, this is how I'd do it.

Fallout: Orleans

War. War never changes.

When atomic fire the earth, many of those who survived did so in great, underground vaults. When they opened, their inhabitants set out across ruins of the old world to build new societies, establish new villages, form new tribes amongst the ruins and survivors of those not so fortunate.

As the centuries passed, what had been the American Gulf Coast were reclaimed by the Bayou, a massive swamp born from the Might Mississippi and the pollution of the pre-war. Expansive, oppressive, and radioactive, few tribes could survive outside the relative safety of the few pre-war cities to not be overwhelmed by the Bayou. With few resources and fewer prospects, no societies formed even as small states and empires began to rise and struggle elsewhere in the Wasteland.

No societies until Orleans, a ravaged and ruined city rejuvenated by one man, the First Consul. Uniting the many tribes and neighborhoods of the city in a vision of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, the First Consul dedicated his vision to old-world values of freedom and progress of the French Enlightenment. As progress grew, so did the city: streets were cleared, neighborhoods reclaimed, the Bayou beaten back from the city as friends and allies were won over from across the Bayou. It was a golden age of enlightenment and progress, with visions of future liberalism and exploration soon to be squandered by the First Consul's heir and daughter.

Taking the name Napoleon in the model of both Caesar and in tribute to the conqueror of old, she saw a different path to glory. Soldiers were raised, nobility established, a declining slave trade revived as the Orleans Republic became the Orleans empire. With ambitions of expansion and domination of the Gulf Coast, Napoleon reached out to claim the ruined city Baton Rouge as her first prize. Then the Enclave attacked, denouncing Napoleon's imperialism and slavery while promising a return to a republic and old-world standards of living.

With advanced technology and support from desperate and dissatisfied locals, the Enclave soon took much of the city and the region. But Napoleon rallied, calling in allies and support from across the region, including the Gulf Coast Brotherhood of Steel who stalled the initial Enclave advance. The stalemate coalesced when a third faction arrived: an alliance of maritime merchants and pirates known as the Blue Water Monopoly. Having originally come to attack Orleans and preserve their sea-faring monopoly, the Blue Waters saw an opportunity to profit from the war by ensuring neither side could best the other. Exhausted and overstretched, neither Orleans nor the Enclave could reject the new status quo as the city was split between them along the Mighty Mississippi.

Seven years have passed since the initial invasion, and the position of all sides has solidified despite sporadic fighting. While Napoleon rebuilds her Grand Army from the French Quarter, the Enclave's Governor Hans rebuilds the region under Enclave rule in a bid for legitimacy and support from the undecided masses. Amongst it all, Blue Water merchants and mercenaries profit from the simmering conflict by selling their services to both sides while preventing either from gaining a decisive advantage. A sense of normality, if not peace, has covered the region as people try to survive in this time of war.

You are a Navigator. The captain of your own boat, you navigate the Bayous and shores of the Gulf Coast, transporting people and cargo to their destination. Just yesterday a young woman paid you handsomely to take her deep into the bayous north of Orleans, where the Orleans Empire and Enclave struggle for influence.

It should have been your lucky break. But now, as the sounds of boats approach your own, you have a feeling that your luck is about to take a turn for the worse…

Author Notes and Introduction

What is Fallout: Orleans?

Fallout: Orleans is a video game. Fallout: Orleans is not a video game. Fallout: Orleans is a tabletop RPG. Fallout: Orleans is not a tabletop RPG. Fallout: Orleans is a narrative, not a story. Fallout: Orleans isn't quite a narrative, but still not a story.

FO:O is and is not many things, and defies simple categorization. Put it all together, though, and it can be described as 'How I'd Try To Make A Fallout Game.' It is a tribute, an ambition, an outline, and a confession. It is a whole lot of ideas and imaginings and things I thought would be interesting but know would never be made. And for good reason: it's not an easy idea to tell.

I originally thought of FO:O in terms of being my outline for a video game, but there are a number of things I recognize that wouldn't be smart video game design. I tried to write it in terms of being a guide book or planning document for a tabletop RPG, but there is no established Fallout tabletop RPG that I could really use as a reference, and certainly none complex enough for some of the ideas I sketch out. This absolutely isn't a conventional story, but in sketching out so much world-building for a non-linear scenario and exploration experience it can't really qualify as a narrative either. This is like nothing I have ever done before, including Renegade Reinterpretations.

Fallout: Orleans has already been written to my satisfaction, an effort of a few years of non-continuous and infrequent effort. Since it is effectively done, updates should be regular. Not necessarily every day, but likely multiple times a week depending on the week's goal. This weekend marks the start with initial setting building.

Since most of the story will be written for a game master or developer's reference, the Author's Notes will hopefully be much shorter going forward. They will primarily be used to address questions that wouldn't otherwise get answered, note interesting or dropped ideas from the creation process, and share a random factoid suitable for the chapter.

Secret of the Bayou:

Where FO3 has the Brotherhood of Steel Paladin and FNV has the NCR Ranger, the iconic character of Fallout: Orleans is the Orleans Grenadier.

Specifically based off miniatures sold by Victrix, from the box art for the Napoleon's Old Guard Grenadiers. With a dirty and worn blue uniform suggesting wear and tear, a backpack with bed roll and x-straps on the front, and an exceptionally long rifle, Grenadiers are the elite of Napoleon's forces. With their 'musket' being a specially crafted grenade launcher, proficient with explosives of every sort, and always leading from the front with élan, Grenadiers are an explosive force on the battlefield that will given even power-armor equipped Enclave soldiers a reason for concern.