CREDITS

Author
ELH

Cover Art
MakkuroMurasaki

Patreon Backers
Jay Grey, Kaleb Bridges, Bogan Willyard, James Bowkett, Genesis, Daniel Fox,
Benjamin Bravo, KT WDY, Ethan Lynch, Jeffery Flint, Paweł Dąbrowski, Doug H

Version & Last Updated

V2.0 – July 28th, 2021

This content is available free of charge and licensed under a

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Neither the author (ELH) nor the content within is endorsed, sponsored, or affiliated with Bethesda, ZeniMax Media,
Modiphius Entertainment, or any FALLOUT franchise. The FALLOUT® franchise and related logos are owned and a
registered trademark of ZeniMax Media Inc.

Any trademarked names are used in a fictional manner; no infringement is intended. This is a work of fiction. Any similarity
with actual people and events, past or present, is purely coincidental and unintentional except for those people and events
described in an historical context.
Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 4
What are Intelligent Deathclaws?................................................................................................................. 5
Origin Option: Intelligent Deathclaw ............................................................................................................ 6
Brawns Variant .......................................................................................................................................... 6
Brains Variant ............................................................................................................................................ 7
Trait: Deadly Intelligence .......................................................................................................................... 7
Deathclaw Perks............................................................................................................................................ 8
Alarming Presence .................................................................................................................................... 8
Alpha/Matriarch........................................................................................................................................ 8
Chameleon ................................................................................................................................................ 8
Glowing One.............................................................................................................................................. 8
Nimble Claws............................................................................................................................................. 8
Quantum’d ................................................................................................................................................ 8
Rending Strike ........................................................................................................................................... 9
Introduction
Hello there!

My name is ELH. I’ve been a TTRPG Game Master for over a decade, with extensive experience with
Modiphius’ 2d20 system. Before this, I was an avid homebrew contributor to Star Trek Adventures, with
nearly 200 pages of content designed around the 2d20 system. I’m therefore excited to continue my
homebrewing work with the newest, official Fallout TTRPG!

Contained within this book is insight and guidance on how to play an Intelligent Deathclaw in the Fallout
2d20 system. It is not official content and should not be treated as such. It is my hope that providing
this content to you that Game Master and Player alike can enjoy a type of roleplaying experience only
hinted at back in Fallout 2. Which, by the way, is your warning that there are spoilers for Fallout 2
contained within.

For those of you returning to these rules since the April 1st release, you’ll find that many numbers and
perks have been tweaked, in addition to new rules about S.P.E.C.I.A.L. scores, new perks, and more.
These changes resulted as part of playtesting with Draxis on my Motley Heights Actual Play.

Let’s get to it!

 However, in the July 10th update of the same
What are Intelligent year, Chris Avellone, the game designer that

Deathclaws? compiled the Fallout Bible and would go onto

Like all good things, Intelligent Deathclaws are a
type of Deathclaw that were experimented on
by the Enclave in 2235. Exposing captured
Deathclaws to FEV boosted their intelligence
and gave them the ability to talk, among other
perks. It was the Enclave’s hope that these
mutated Deathclaws would be intelligent
enough to obey orders without question.
Naturally, that didn’t go so well.
Eventually the Intelligent Deathclaws would
abandon the Enclave and move into Vault 13,
which they cleared out with the Enclave in
2242. Some humans in the surrounding area
moved in to live under the Deathclaws’
protection, as well as provide a means to
interface with the Vault’s computer system
other than by voice. This was especially
important when the computer’s voice module
malfunctioned. This would eventually be fixed
by the arrival of the Chosen One (Fallout 2’s
Protagonist), but it was already the beginning of
the end.
work on Fallout: New Vegas, straight out denied
that any intelligent Deathclaws lived past the
events of Fallout 2. This sort of quasi-canon
would persist until Emil Pagliarulo, the lead
designer for Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76,
commented in 2020 that the Fallout Bible was
not entirely canon. Specifically, that writers of
the Fallout series would often use the Bible as a
supplementary source after first taking a look at
what was in the games. They would then have
to make a judgment call whether something in
the Bible was canon or not.
So, in short, it’s entirely up to your Game
Master if Intelligent Deathclaws are an option in
your game. Some may rule that they are not
canon, while others may forbid players from
playing them based on their perceived “power
level”. Both are perfectly valid, and should not
reflect poorly on any such Game Master.
However, on the chance that your Game Master
has allowed such a thing, continue to read on!

An Enclave team, led by Frank Horrigan,

massacred nearly the entire population of Vault
13. The only survivors were Goris, a possible
companion for the Chosen One, and Xarn, a
Deathclaw held captive at Camp Navarro. From
there it gets messy and into the realm of
speculation.

In the March 11th update to the Fallout Bible in

2002, the creator and designer of much of the
talking Deathclaw content, John Deiley,
indicated that both Goris and Xarn could go
onto repopulate the species. Though both male,
Deiley explained that the intelligence gene was
made male-specific and dominant, meaning any
intelligent male that mated with a non-
intelligent female would, hypothetically,
produce intelligent offspring.
Origin Option: Intelligent
Deathclaw

It’s likely that you can trace your origins to

either Goris or Xarn, the only two survivors of
the massacre of Vault 13. How you came to the
Commonwealth (or other setting location) is
something you should work out with your Game
Master.

There are two variants that starting Intelligent

Deathclaw characters can choose from: Brawns
or Brains. The table at the bottom of the page
breaks down the differences in starting
S.P.E.C.I.A.L. scores and their limits. Further
differences are as follows:

Brawns Variant
You are a creature feared throughout the
wasteland, made even more deadly thanks to
the Enclave exposing your ancestors to the
Forced Evolutionary Virus (F.E.V.). With vicious
claws and horns, a stature that towers over
most humans, terrifying speed, and intelligence
comparable to humans, you are truly an apex
predator.
• Your Melee Bonus Damage is
considered to be one category higher
(i.e. if you have Strength of 7-8, your
bonus is +2 rather than +1)
• Your tough hide grants 3 natural
Damage Resistance (All)
• You cannot have any ranks in Lockpick,
Medicine, Pilot, Repair, or Science due
to having inhuman claws for hands that
you only know how to use for
slashing/mauling. This can be negated
by taking the Nimble Claws perk.

S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Brawns Starting Brawns Limit Brains Starting Brains Limit

Strength 8 (+3) 13 6 (+1) 11
Perception 5 10 5 10
Endurance 8 (+3) 13 6 (+1) 11
Charisma 2 5 3 7
Intelligence 5 10 6 (+1) 11
Agility 5 10 6 (+1) 10
Luck 2 5 3 6
Brains Variant
• Thanks to practice with your claws, you
can take ranks in Lockpick, Medicine,
Pilot, Repair, and Science (up to the
limit of 4). However, the complication
range for these skills is increased by 2
(18-20). This can be negated by the
Nimble Claws perk.
• You start with one of the following skills
tagged: Lockpick, Medicine, Pilot,
Repair, or Science. This chosen skill can
be raised to a maximum of 6, rather
than the base 4 limit. This does not
count against your starting three tags.
• Your tough hide grants 1 natural
Damage Resistance (All)
With that in mind, all Intelligent Deathclaws
receive the following Positives and Negatives as
part of their Trait:
• You may not have more than 4 ranks in
any Skill unless otherwise stated
previously.
• You cannot tag the Big Guns, Energy
Weapons, or Small Guns skills. You may
still allocate ranks to them.
• If you are not adequately disguised
(such as wearing a loose robe), Humans
will more than likely shoot you on sight
or go running screaming in the opposite
direction.
• Your torso is considered to be a weak
spot. If an attacker chooses to target
your torso specifically (i.e. not targeted
due to random chance) then their
damage ignores your natural Damage
Resistance.

Trait: Deadly Intelligence

Positives:

• You start with the Unarmed Skill

tagged. This does not count against
your starting three tags.
• You are completely immune to
Radiation
• You receive +1 Health Point per Level
• You are capable of lifting and throwing
objects as large as a standard car
• Thanks to your keen senses, you reduce
the difficulty of all PER tests by 1 to a
minimum of 0. You may also detect
creatures or objects that characters
normally cannot.

Negatives:

• Due to your immense size, your Art by Endermoonfur

Defense is locked to being 1. You can
also only wear armor that has been
made to fit a Deathclaw.
Deathclaw Perks
The following are Deathclaw-specific Perks.
Other origins may not take these Perks (unless
your Game Master says otherwise).
Alarming Presence
Ranks: 2
Requirements: STR 7, CHA 4, Deathclaw, Level
3+
This perk functions the same as the Terrifying
Presence perk found in the Core Rulebook. Each
time you take this perk, the level requirement
increases by 3.
Alpha/Matriarch
Ranks: 1
Requirements: STR 11+, END 11+, Deathclaw,
Level 8+
You have truly become an apex predator. You
now only suffer a Critical Hit if an attack inflicts
7+ damage (after damage resistance) in a single
hit, rather than the normal 5+. This stacks with
the Adamantium Skeleton perk. You also now
gain +3 Health per level instead of +1.
In addition, both Intelligent and Non-Intelligent
Deathclaw will consider you a peer worthy of
respect. They will not actively attack you or
your allies unless you attack them first.
Chameleon
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Deathclaw, Level 1+
Your hide is capable of displaying vibrant colors
based on your mood and activity. As a free
action, you may change your hide’s color.
Glowing One
Ranks: 3
Requirements: END 10, Deathclaw, No Ranks in
Quantum’d, Level 5+
Exposure to extreme levels of radiation has left
you glowing green in the dark. In addition to
providing light within Close Range, you inflict 2
Combat Dice of Radiation damage to anyone
(including allies) within Reach, and your
unarmed attacks gain the Radioactive damage
effect.
Each rank in this perk increases the Radiation
damage per Effect rolled by +1. At Rank 3, you
inflict Radiation damage to anyone (including
allies) within Close Range.
Each time you take this perk, the level
requirement increases by 5.
Nimble Claws
Ranks: 1
Requirements: AGI 7, Deathclaw, Level 3+
After many hours spent practicing, you are able
to finely manipulate your claws to approximate
the range of a normal human’s.
If you are a Brawns variant, you may now
perform tasks requiring fine motor control
(such as computer use), as well as begin to put
ranks into the Lockpick, Medicine, Pilot, Repair,
and Science Skills. However, the complication
range for these skills is increased by 2 (18-20).
If you are a Brains variant then your
complication range increase is removed
completely.
Quantum’d
Ranks: 1
Requirements: END 8, Deathclaw, No Ranks in
Glowing One, Level 5+
Similar to the Glowing One Perk, consumption
and/or exposure to copious amounts of Nuka
Cola Quantum has left you glowing blue in the
dark. In addition to providing light within Close
Range, you are now immune to Poison and may
roll one less Combat Die when determining if
you become addicted to chems, to a minimum
of 0. If taken with one Rank in the Chem
Resistant Perk, you become immune to
addiction.
Rending Strike
Ranks: 1
Requirements: STR 10, Deathclaw, Level 2+

You are capable of delivering a lethal blow more

easily with your claws. You may increase the
Difficulty of an unarmed attack by +1. If
successful, the attack’s damage increases by +2
Combat Dice.