The rad status can also be checked in the Pip-Boy to see Rad Resistance and rad level. The Pip-Boy 3000's dosimeter will appear in the upper right during exposure. Radiation does not directly affect hit points, through penalties affecting Endurance, Maximum Health may be lowered. SPECIAL attributes drop at certain thresholds, and radiation poisoning kills the Wanderer at 1000 rads. Radiation can be healed by RadAway and Rad-X and Vault City Inoculations can modify Radiation Resistance.Įating and drinking most food items or entering an irradiated zone gives the Lone Wanderer rads. Also, should the character survive to maximum irradiation (1000 rads) (as in their stats do not reach zero), the character has 24 hours to use enough RadAway to get themselves below 1000 rads or they will die. If the rad count gets high enough, SPECIAL stats begin to drop, and if any of these drop to zero due to poisoning, the character dies. Merely being "radiated" incurs no penalty. As the count increases, further radiation poisoning occurs. This rad count causes the effect of "radiated" to appear. The character has a hidden radiation ("Rad") count that can be checked with a Geiger counter. In-game effects Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics Some emit radiation and have no body heat. Radiation can also cause some humans to turn into ghouls or feral ghouls, immune to the negative effects of radiation. Radiation also causes mutations in creatures, leading to the emergence of large versions of pre-War species such as radscorpions, geckos, spore plants, and brahmin. Some groups have developed religious followings revolving around radiation, such as the Children of Atom.Įxposure to background radiation can also lead to mutations at a genetic level. Radioactive hotspots appear near places that were struck directly by nuclear weapons, and regions varied in how long radiation persisted, ranging from clearing shortly after the war to remaining hundreds of years later. Ĭenturies after the Great War, some areas such as the Glow and the Glowing Sea, are still highly irradiated. Radstorms are capable of producing vortexes that are strong enough to lift people off the ground. Over the course of the storm, lightning periodically flashes and causes a brief spike of radiation in the area, inflicting 5 rads per lightning flash. Radstorms result in green overcast skies and audible winds. These storms are weather phenomena that occur throughout the Commonwealth and in Appalachia.
Radiation also affects weather systems, producing radstorms. Radiation suits are utilized to mitigate the effects of exposure, with varying efficacy. Radiation levels are measured with Geiger counters built into Pip-Boys as well as Wattz Electronics C-Radz Geiger counters. Medical treatment to alleviate damage by radiation includes care provided by Auto-Doc, Sympto-matic, makeshift archways, inoculations, decontamination arches, and system flushes.
In serious cases of radiation sickness and poisoning, living creatures will suffer from gastrointestinal bleeding, violent hemorrhaging, and death, but some life forms have adapted to the radiation in the environment. Symptoms may also include loss of hair, teeth, and skin. Ĭomprised of Gamma rays, living creatures that absorb too much of these ionizing rays may experience blood pooling in the gums, nausea, vomiting, anemia, diarrhea, and fatigue. Measured in units known as "rads" or "sieverts," sensors outside of Vaults monitors for changes in the radiation levels as a prerequisite for entry or exit and the results of sensors placed inside are announced to inhabitants. Described as tasteless and odorless, radiation or the "phantom death" is a lingering danger present in the environment caused by the detonation of nuclear missiles and toxic waste.