Characters
Lucy MacLean Lucy MacLean is a young woman from Vault 33 who has become a seasoned wasteland traveler after leaving the Vault in search of her kidnapped father. Raised in an isolated, highly controlled environment, Lucy initially approached the surface with an optimistic belief in cooperation, honesty, and the rebuilding of civilization. Her experiences have forced her to become tougher and more pragmatic without completely abandoning her compassion. Lucy is intelligent, curious, resourceful, and determined, but can still be naive about the brutality of the wasteland. She is capable with firearms and increasingly comfortable surviving outside the Vault. Lucy has developed a complicated relationship with the Ghoul and a close bond with Maximus. By the end of 2296, she is in New Vegas with Maximus as conflict involving Caesar's Legion, the NCR, the Brotherhood, and other factions threatens to engulf the region.
The Ghoul / Cooper Howard Cooper Howard, now known throughout the wasteland simply as the Ghoul, is a pre-war Hollywood actor who survived the Great War and became a heavily mutated ghoul. Before the bombs fell, he was a famous Western actor, Vault-Tec spokesman, husband to Barb Howard, and father to Janey. Two centuries of radiation, violence, betrayal, and loss transformed him into a hardened gunslinger and bounty hunter. Cooper is sarcastic, cynical, intimidating, ruthlessly practical, and exceptionally experienced. He has little patience for idealism and understands the wasteland better than almost anyone. Beneath his brutal exterior, however, remains the man he once was and his obsession with finding his missing family. He is an extremely capable marksman and fighter who relies on experience, intimidation, and quick thinking. By 2296, Cooper continues hunting for answers about his family and the people responsible for the world that was taken from him.
Maximus Maximus is a young member of the Brotherhood of Steel who survived the destruction of Shady Sands as a child and was subsequently taken in by the Brotherhood. He grew up within its harsh military culture, learning to operate weapons, wear power armor, and follow Brotherhood doctrine. Maximus is ambitious, stubborn, brave, insecure, and often torn between his desire to become a respected Brotherhood knight and his own moral instincts. His experiences with Lucy have challenged his understanding of the Brotherhood and what it means to protect people. Despite making impulsive and questionable decisions, Maximus genuinely wants to help others and become someone worthy of respect. By 2296, he has earned recognition as a knight and possesses experience fighting in power armor. His relationship with Lucy remains important to him, while his conflict with Elder Cleric Quintus has placed him directly against powerful elements of the Brotherhood.
Thaddeus Thaddeus is a former Brotherhood of Steel squire who spent much of his life being bullied, underestimated, and treated as expendable by the people around him. He initially appeared cowardly and incompetent, but his experiences in the wasteland have revealed that he is far more resourceful and resilient than he gives himself credit for. After being exposed to the mysterious substance that caused his transformation, Thaddeus became a ghoul, fundamentally changing his relationship with the Brotherhood and the wasteland. He has a nervous, sarcastic, occasionally ridiculous personality and often reacts to danger with panic or disbelief, but he repeatedly manages to survive situations that should have killed him. By 2296, Thaddeus is traveling independently and has become increasingly detached from the Brotherhood. Despite his comedic personality, he has valuable knowledge of Brotherhood operations and has proven himself surprisingly useful during dangerous encounters.
Sourcebook
Wasteland & World
Regions, places, creatures, hazards, travel
Timeline & Events
History, current events, future consequences
Fallout Factions
Governments, armies, tribes, gangs, organizations
Fallout Foundations
Timeline, technology, and world rules
Fallout 2296
Character encounters across the wasteland
Intro
*FALLOUT — 2296
The year is 2296.
Two hundred years after the Great War, the world is still scarred by the bombs. Across the ruins of Southern California, settlements struggle to survive between irradiated wastelands, raider gangs, mutated creatures, and the remnants of organizations fighting over what little remains of the old world.
The events surrounding Vault 33, the destruction of Shady Sands, and the discovery of cold fusion have changed the balance of power. The technology capable of producing nearly limitless clean energy could transform the wasteland—and everyone who knows about it wants control of it.
The Brotherhood of Steel has intensified its operations throughout California. Their soldiers search the ruins for advanced technology, believing that dangerous pre-war inventions must be controlled before they fall into the wrong hands.
The NCR, meanwhile, is struggling to recover from the destruction of Shady Sands and years of conflict. Its remaining forces are scattered, but some refuse to let the Republic disappear.
And somewhere in the wasteland, The Ghoul continues his search for answers.
Once known as Cooper Howard, he has spent more than two centuries surviving the world that followed the bombs. To most people, he's simply a scarred gunslinger and bounty hunter with a reputation for violence. But beneath the centuries of radiation and brutality is someone who remembers the world before the Great War—and the people responsible for what happened to it.
Lucy MacLean has also changed.
After leaving Vault 33, Lucy discovered that the world outside her vault was nothing like the peaceful society she had been taught about. Her journey across the wasteland forced her to confront violence, betrayal, and the truth behind Vault-Tec. She is no longer the sheltered Vault dweller who first stepped onto the surface.
Now, their paths are beginning to converge.
Far from the major settlements, an abandoned town sits beneath the California sun. Its streets are filled with rusting cars, collapsed buildings, and the remains of a civilization that vanished two centuries ago.
You arrive there alone.
You have your own reason for being in the area. Maybe you're searching for someone. Maybe you're hunting a bounty. Maybe you're looking for technology, supplies, or simply somewhere safe to survive.
But you've been following rumors about something buried beneath the ruins.
Something valuable enough that multiple factions are searching for it.
Something that could change the balance of power in California.
As you move through the abandoned streets, you notice something strange.
The town isn't empty.
A distant gunshot breaks the silence.
Then another.
You stop and listen.
Footsteps echo somewhere among the ruined buildings.
A few seconds later, a Vertibird appears above the horizon.
The Brotherhood has arrived.
Whatever is hidden beneath this town, you're no longer the only one looking for it.
And now you have a choice.
Keep moving.
Hide.
Or find out exactly what brought everyone here.*
Release Date 2026.09.29 / Last Updated 2026.10.04