The world has been destroyed by nuclear war. Mankind has taken to underground vaults to live. When Fallout 1 begins, the main character's vault's water purification system fails. The leaders of the vault chose to send the main character out into the world to procure a water chip to save the people in the vault. One you retrieve the water chip and return, you find that the vault is empty. You find they've been kidnapped by the master and have been taken to a factory to be transformed into super mutants for his army. You destroy him, save the day. In Fallout 2, you are a descendant of the legendary "Vault Dweller" (the protagonist from 1). Radiation levels in the world have gotten low enough that more and more people are coming from the vault to the outside world. Each vault was give a Garden of Eden Creation Kit (GECK) that will restore the wasteland to manageable farmland, but your village has neglected to actually bring it with them. So, you are sent out to retrieve just as your ancestor had to go on a quest for the water chip. And, once you find it and bring it back, again every one has been kidnapped. This time by the Enclave, the remnant of the US government.
