User Guide

86
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Primary Statistics
Strength - This statistic is used in the secondary
statistics Carry Weight, Melee Damage, and Hit
Points. All weapons have a minimum Strength
requirement, as well. If your character’s Strength
A note about dice rolls.
Dice? In a computer role-playing game? Well,
Fallout 2 is a true, back to basics role-playing
game. These games were originally played, and
still are, at a table with paper, pencil, and dice.
Fallout 2 stays true to those origins. Some
parts of the manual will refer to rolls. In this
case, Fallout 2 is rolling against one of your
characteristics with “virtual” dice.
There are two types of rolls: checks and results.
Checks are rolls against your characteristics,
usually to see if you can accomplish a particular
task (like shooting someone in the back.) If the
computer rolls below your characteristic, a statistic
or skill, then you succeed. If the computer
rolls above the characteristic, you fail. The
computer will roll dice that are appropriate to the
characteristic and there can be modifiers. There
is always a chance of failure, regardless of how
high the characteristic. There is not always a
chance for success, especially if you have a
particularly low characteristic.
Results are random numbers that are generated
when you succeed or fail at a task. A result
may be the amount of damage done by a firearm,
or how much damage you take from a trap, or how
many hit points you heal by using a Stimpak.
Fallout 2 will handle all of this for you. We
are telling you this so you get a better idea of
what is happening “under the hood.” In addition,
a strong understanding of probabilities will help
you succeed when you play the game.
NOTES