Fallout Setting

Overview:  Although events in the Fallout universe and the real world diverge around the late-1940s, the defining moment of the Fallout universe was the Great War of 2077. Dwindling petroleum reserves across the planet led to a series of regional wars for resource control, and economies began to collapse as most nations were left without this vital lifeline. Alternative sources of energy were explored, leading to the maturation of nuclear fission technology, as well as various innovations in solar and hydroelectric power, and even nuclear fusion, but none of these options were sufficient to serve the global population's ever-growing need for energy.

With the available reserves of crude oil in the world diminishing, the communist government of the People's Republic of China declared war on the United States of America, invading Alaska in the hope of capturing the few remaining sources of crude oil there. The Sino-American War, as it came to be known, raged for eleven years, eventually culminating in a full nuclear exchange between China and the United States. Both nations had built up huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons over the years, and the mutual attack drew in enemies and allies from all across the globe, igniting a powder keg that had been building throughout the century-long cold war. Although the conflict lasted only two hours, the destruction it brought was staggering and utterly complete. More energy was released in the early moments of this exchange than in every previous global conflict combined. This global nuclear conflict came to be known as the "Great War".

What little remained when the smoke cleared was harsh and unforgiving. Ninety years after the Great War, humanity struggled to survive. On the surface, bandits and organized gangs fought over the crumbling remains of once-great cities, and mutants prowled the irradiated wastes, taking refuge in places too tainted for human habitation. Underground, a “fortunate” few enjoyed the relative safety and comfort of the Vaults, designed before the war with the stated purpose of protecting residents and their descendants from nuclear annihilation. Some planned to keep the world out, others sought to connect with and repopulate the outside. Wherever humanity survived, it was under constant threat by ravenous mutants, rogue machines, vicious raiders, and all manner of hostile mutant creatures.