COMBAT
CONFLICT
CHALLENGE
CHASES AND RACES Not done yet
Many vehicle activities involve one or more vehicles trying to catch up with or outpace each other, often through difficult terrain or circumstances. Whether it is a “death race” across the surface of an alien planet or a car chase through the streets and back alleys of a modern city, these situations can be handled using a challenge sequence.
This works like any other challenge in that the challenger must acquire a number of degrees of success before three or more degrees of failure. For a standard pursuit, the required degree of success is three as well, although the GM may modify this depending on circumstances.
The traits used in a pursuit challenge are typically those involving maneuverability (Vehicles skill or Acrobatics for characters), knowledge of the terrain (Expertise), and so forth, although players can potentially find uses for traits like Deception, Stealth, and various power effects.
A key element is speed rank: characters within one rank of each other have no modifier to their challenge checks. Two ranks of difference gives the character with the higher rank a +2 circumstance bonus, while three or more ranks of difference gives the character with the higher rank a +5 circumstance bonus.
Example: A hero piloting a Speed 7 hovercycle is taking part in a death race to test a variety of participants, promising a mysterious prize to the winner … and an eternity in limbo to the losers! The hero has a Vehicles skill bonus of +6. Most of the other vehicles in the race have Speed ranks within 1 of each other, although there is a saucer-pod with Speed 10, giving them a +5 circumstance bonus on their checks. The GM rules that the saucer-pod pilots have a +4 Vehicles skill bonus. They’re clearly the competitors to beat! The GM says five accumulated degrees of success are needed to win the race, before three accumulated degrees of failure, which put a competitor out of the race (and into the Gamemaster‘s limbo realm).
Upping The Ante
In addition to making checks to accumulate successes towards winning the contest, participants can choose to “up the ante” by performing difficult, daring, or dangerous maneuvers: moving at high speed through tight terrain, crowding out other vehicles, and so forth. In this case, the maneuvering pilot chooses a Difficulty Class for the skill check in that round of the challenge, with a minimum equal to the DC set by the GM. That becomes the new DC for the round and all contestants must roll against it to generate their successes.
Example: Unable to shake the saucer-pod, the hero decides to up the ante, maneuvering his hovercycle through narrow gullies and canyons, and taking the DC of the contest this round from 15 (set by the GM) to 20. The hero’s player then elects to spend a victory point on the Vehicle’s skill check, rolling an 8, but then adding 10 (for the victory point) plus the hero’s Vehicles bonus of +6 for a 24. The GM rolls for the saucer-pod (with an effective Vehicles bonus of +9) and gets a 10, just missing the DC. The pilot of the saucer-pod has to make a control check to keep the saucer-pod from crashing into the cliff-face, and the hero pulls ahead!
