Fallout’s Wild Origins: Imagine Playing as a Snoring, UFO-Believing Cow Hater!

Fallout fans, get ready for a trip down memory lane that’s more mind-bending than a radiated mirelurk! We all know and love Fallout’s iconic SPECIAL system for building our wasteland heroes, right? Strength, Perception, Endurance… you know the drill. But what if we told you the original Fallout game almost let you create a character who snored loudly, believed in UFOs, or even hated cows with a passion?

Sounds wild, doesn’t it? Well, it almost happened! Fallout creator Tim Cain recently unearthed some long-lost documents that spill the beans on the game’s very first character system. Before SPECIAL became the legend it is today, the wasteland was going to be shaped by something called GURPS – the Generic Universal Roleplaying System. Yes, it sounds like something you’d take medicine for, but it was a popular tabletop RPG system back in the day.

From Fallout’s initial brainstorm sessions in 1994 all the way to early 1997, GURPS was the backbone of the game. Imagine three whole years of development hinged on this system! But then, plot twist: Steve Jackson, the mastermind behind GURPS, apparently wasn’t too keen on Fallout’s notoriously high levels of violence. So, in a dramatic turn of events, GURPS was shown the vault door, and the SPECIAL system stepped in to save the day, changing gaming history forever.

For nearly three decades, details about this “GURPS Fallout” era were locked away, lost to the sands of time (or rather, a slightly disorganised archive). Tim Cain himself thought all traces were gone, having handed over everything related to GURPS to an Interplay archivist years ago. And his own personal archive? He believed he’d destroyed it upon leaving the company. Turns out, some things just refuse to stay buried, much like a stubborn radroach! Cain recently stumbled upon a treasure trove of his handwritten notes outlining the final advantages, disadvantages, quirks, and skills meant for the GURPS version of Fallout.

So, what did this GURPS system look like? It was a fascinating beast, both simpler and more complex than SPECIAL. It had just four core stats: Strength, Health, IQ, and Dexterity. But where SPECIAL has Perks, GURPS had a massive list of “Advantages,” “Disadvantages,” and “Quirks.”

Advantages were boosts that would cost you character points, like having “Acute Hearing,” “Peripheral Vision,” or even being “Handsome” or “Very Handsome” – because who doesn’t want to be the Brad Pitt of the post-apocalyptic world? Disadvantages, on the other hand, would give you points back, but at a cost. Think “Bad Breath,” “Habitually Picking Your Nose,” a “Stutter,” or being “Hideous – the most disgusting thing ever born in the vault.” Ouch! Talk about a rough start in the wasteland!

But the real gems, the stuff that truly gives character, were the “Quirks.” These were minor traits designed to add flavour, and the game would occasionally check for them to trigger unique interactions. And oh boy, were they unique! Some were straightforward, like a “Fear of Heights” (a bit funny in an isometric game, but okay!). Others were pure Fallout gold: “Believes in UFOs,” “Snores Loudly,” or the absolute best, “Hates Cows.” Seriously, imagine your stoic Vault Dweller having an inexplicable, burning hatred for the most docile animal on the planet! That’s the kind of roleplaying gold we’re talking about.

While it’s super cool to peek into this alternate timeline of Fallout’s development, we reckon most of us are pretty glad we ended up with the SPECIAL system. GURPS sounds like it could have led to some truly hilarious character builds and unique playthroughs, but it also sounds incredibly convoluted. Given how challenging the original Fallout games can be already, adding another layer of complex character management might have made it a bit too much for new players. Still, it’s a fascinating piece of gaming history, reminding us that even legendary titles have their fair share of “what ifs”!