Creative Brief: Martha’s Vineyard (Fallout 4)

This is a creative brief written for The Narrative Department’s Game Writing Masterclass where I was tasked with adding a NPC, enemy, or POI to the game. I chose Martha’s Vineyard because it’s a recognizable location that could be reinterpreted through Fallout 4’s lens of post-apocalyptic irony. By turning the island into a decaying cult haven for ghoul socialites obsessed with irradiated wine, I could mix humor, horror, and thematic commentary in a way that feels authentic to the franchise.

• Game: Fallout 4

• Asset Type: POI, Island Map

• Asset Name: Martha’s Vineyard

Asset Description: Vault Dwellers gain the opportunity to visit Martha’s Vineyard after intercepting a distorted radio broadcast from the Commonwealth Wine Society (CWS), a pre-War club of socialites who have since morphed into a cult of drunken, ascot-wearing ghouls who worship “The Vintage Eternal.” Upon arrival, the player finds the once-idyllic island shrouded in irradiated sea fog, the docks cluttered with rusted yachts, shattered champagne bottles, and the faint sound of jazz bleeding from the remains of a radio tower cobbled together on top of the lighthouse.

The CWS have fortified the island’s vineyards and whaling ports, sustaining themselves on radioactively contaminated wine that grants them a grotesque form of strength and regeneration. Players must battle these ghoul aristocrats, along with mutated grape-vine abominations and territorial land-sharks that now patrol the flooded cellars and beaches. Exploration includes looting 19th-century seaside homes, finding powerful whaling equipment, and investigating distillery ruins powered by atomic stills.

Holotapes from the CWS’ (pre-ghoul) final gala, tasting menus rewritten into scripture, and a robotic sommelier who begs the player to “preserve the purity of the vintage” all serve as environmental storytelling that paints the island’s slow collapse. Players can choose to destroy the irradiated vineyards which purges the island of its cult or assist the sommelier which ensures the wine continues to flow.

Unique rewards include the Corkscrew, a modified harpoon gun that inflicts bleeding damage; Vintage ’77, a glowing wine consumable boosting Charisma but lowering Perception; and the Ascot of Absurdity, granting radiation resistance.