*Designing...*
For most racers, a lucrative sponsorship deal is the first goal of their career-a company slaps a sticker on their kart, and gives them a bunch of coin for it. What would be a better deal?
A racer who takes a sponsorship is considered to be Sponsored (ok that's a bit obvious)-a Karter can only have ONE sponsor.
Racers are valued primarily by their prestige and ability to take home trophies-this produces profits for the company who sponsors them. Winning races will thus attract good coin paying contracts.
Sponsors are also concerned about image-the more your racers image aligns with a certain companies designs, the more valuable you become to their CEO, especially if said CEO is in hot water with his bosses for some reason. All drivers begin with 0 image in every stat-regardless of their backstory, their public persona for the purposes of MKL is purely tied to that of their driving career. Racers without personal media divisions have difficulty altering their image by themselves-as they often can only choose to do so reactively, during events-this usually comes about from being 'molded' in public opinion by a particular sponsor.
Your relationship with your employer, and other sponsors, is affected by various events-working with Team Rocket will damage your relationship with Silph Co., for example. Sponsors will always offer exclusive contracts to those with better relationships first, and if a driver is dropped for whatever reason, they will likely come to you as a replacement. A worse relationship may still offer a contract, but it is far more likely to choose you for sabotage instead.
...
Alongside sponsors exists the Mouser Mafia (other criminal groups may exist)-who manipulate, scheme and wheedle for coin, cheese and power. While there are shady sponsors, all of them are effectively public personas. The Mouser Mafia strictly works underground and thus deals with a different set of rules.
A racer who takes a Mafia deal is considered to be Contracted and can be employed by any family.
Most deals with criminals are in coin, but the cost to do business is sometimes exchanged in a system known as favors and obligations. An obligation is something you owe one of the families, a favor is something they owe you, and it can be paid on a one by one basis, or with an equivalent cost usually being 3 coin for a obligation and 2 for a favor (mousers always skim off the top and will always take one extra coin from any deal-cheese ain't cheap, pal). For example, completing a bounty of ten coins, may instead offer 2 coin and 4 obligation-you could then ask for 8 coins from the family for a 'gift' as a favor, or exchange it for a 12 coin value in obligation. Paying back obligation with favors, and cultivating a certain image earns you Respect, the ultimate currency among the families.
The Mafia can benefit from high prestige racers, but also those willing to help them manipulate the system.
The Mouser Mafia offers many new services to the cheating inclined!
Important note: Suspicion gain in a race is limited to one point per illegal mod you have-once you've used it, you can use your dirty weapons as much as you like, you'll only ever face one suspicion. All items can be activated and deactivated at will-you can specify if you wish to succeed on a roll at the cost of using an illegal item. Not using an item will not generate any suspicion.
If you're ever facing a scandal, however, your kart may be impounded and the items used as evidence against you.
<Illegal Mods>
((All mods costs 1 coin unless otherwise indicated, and can also be traded for one favor to a Mouser Mafia Family))
Dirty Weapons-Whenever this Kart does direct momentum damage to another kart, via an opposed roll such as a projectile or ram, inflicts a 'Black Mark'. On the following turn, the owner of the Mark can 'cash in' on any amount of marks to any amount of racers-the Karts affected suffer a mid-race hiccup upon activation if the driver succeeds on a 1d6 roll for each target. If he fails, he gains 1 suspicion after the race, but only a maximum of 1. A karter can gain any number of Marks a turn. Marks not cashed in fade away, the turn following.
Certain items that go out of a racers direct control, defined as any item that triggers a non-opposed roll, are defined as 'red marked'-their status is determined when launched, and my be inoperative or defective, but if successful always deliver a hiccup to the target. Red marked items can harm anyone, even the user-and do not trigger any suspicion. The driver gains no suspicion for sabotaging himself. Some items may go haywire when rolling either a nat 1 or a nat 6, and this always triggers suspicion.
Illegal Mod Slot-Add an extra mod slot to your kart that can be filled with either a legal mod or an illegal one. using a legal mod in an illegal slot does not gain any suspicion. Considered an addition to the kart, and does not come with a hiccup. Additional slots may be available at cost...
Illegal Mod-Roll up a module as normal, reducing it's cost by one level (12-6-3-1-'Free'). 1 coin illegal mods can be installed in any slot, but anything more expensive can only fit in your illegal mod slot. Can be paid back in coin or favor (4-2-1-1). Gains the ban worthy hiccup automatically, which kicks in suspicion after a race, but only if you use it.
Loot Glitcher-Used to reroll for loot items OR cause an opponent to reroll their item in the cleanup phase (their item is disabled until then). Has a chance to produce tweaked or haywire versions of items and can only be attempted once per item. Using it on an opposing racer requires a 1d6 to succeed.
Hacks into MLK's starputers to help you better items-or to rob your opponent! Results may vary.
Removed Crank-Strictor Plate-Gain a +1 to pull ahead
Crank-strictor plates were installed on all Karts as major rule change early on, slowing a Karts ability to pull ahead after Cranks 1st astounding race on Luigis speedway. Widely criticized by many as making the races boring and slow, the Mousers will help rectify this injustice.
Hidden Pet Podobo-Always gain max momentum on rocket starts.
A Podobo hiding in your engine is extremely illegal and pretty dangerous, but it gives you a nice starting boost!
Dark Star Fuel Injector-Immediately gain +1 momentum a turn, up to a max of 3. Roll suspicion every time.
Dark stars are evil, you know.
(Under the hood)
CEO/Boss
CEO:The Chief Executive Officer or leader of the company, this person is responsible for all the decisions made by a company. The CEO's only stat is Image, which functions the same as a Driver's Image (see Image below.) CEOs have relationships just like anyone else- their relationship with their own company goes up every time they gain Prestige, and down when they lose Prestige. CEOs can be removed from their position due to scandal. A CEO with a relationship of 0 or lower is constantly scandalized.
Boss: A criminal boss shares most elements of a CEO, which shouldn't come as a surprise. A boss with a relationship of 0 with his bosses is often quietly 'removed from his position', though he is just as quickly replaced by whoever ratted him out.
Prestige
CEO: Prestige is the most important stat for sponsors, because it determines the income of that sponsor. After every race, a Sponsor gains Coin = their current Prestige. Prestige is equal to 1+ Driver Fame. Prestige can be gained by sponsoring races and by having sponsored drivers win a Cup.
Boss: Criminal bosses don't gain a passive bonus from prestige, but can use a Karters prestige to dig mouseholes into places they ordinarily couldn't get too-typically they will ask for a share of the profits or influence that would have gone to your sponsor.
Coin- Coin is used for most Sponsor actions. Coin is really the true goal of Sponsors, but you have to spend money to make money, and most Sponsor actions require Coin. Sponsors don't part with Coin unless they expect to make more than they lose or minimize losses already suffered. Criminal families also, primarily, desire coin-but their coin is not tracked, but instead turned into respect.
Image- Sponsors have an image they want to project, and an image they want to avoid. Mouser Families have no public image they wish to portray-in fact, they'd very much to like avoid it-but do have an image among the underworld figures which they compete with.
All Image is calculated the same. For each Image you exactly match, +2. Off by one step, 0. Off by 2 steps, -2. Off by 3 (diametrically opposed) -4. This the maximum Image one can haves is 12, and the lowest -24.
For Racers, images generates a a stable source of coin (or generates losses) after a sponsored race equal to their image for their sponsor, up to a maximum of 12 per racer.
For CEO's, their image is added to this total for every racer being Sponsored, to a maximum of 12-essentially armor for racers misdeeds and occasional flashes of 'free will'. High PP Companies tend to have CEO's with poor images, while lower PP companies have ones that are better aligned-which naturally leads to High PP companies finding it cheaper to alter drivers than CEO's and vice versa.
For bosses, image is an untracked statistic but assumed to closely mirror that of their family. Their mechanics are similar to CEO's, but only negative-drivers with a poor criminal image reduce respect if the Boss tries to make any sort of deal with them, while those with good images are merely 'safer bets'. This is why they prefer the safely corrupted, and most preferably, those with high respect themselves-enlisting such a driver is a boon to the bosses own respect.
Relationships- Sponsors keep track of relationships with all active Drivers and other Sponsors, and this has an effect on their activities towards them. Mouser families consider relationships to be something of a monolith-you share a single relationship among all criminal factions known as Respect that will incline them to work with you, or not.
Respect
For Criminal Bosses, this is the only state tracked. Respect is the only thing that keeps them feared-and valued-enough so that can hold their innumerable rivals. A boss takes all the coin he makes and feeds it into this, and takes hits to his respect when working with distrustful people and making bad calls. If his respect is too low, he's finished.
Drivers also earn respect from working in favors and obligations. A driver with high respect earns the boss respect for working with him, and is thus highly valued-and can command a higher price for his services.
Between Races there is one long Metagame turn that lasts for a few days- during this turn, each Sponsor can take TWO Actions. This is not a complete list of Actions, just a list of common activities. If you have an idea that doesn't fit under one of these categories, PM the GM.
Sponsor Race- To sponsor a Crown, a sponsor must first have 6 Coin available to pay the victors. All sponsors interested in sponsoring a Crown indicate their intent to the MKL- if multiple sponsors wish to sponsor a race, they bid on the right. Bidding starts with the sponsor with the most Prestige, or in the case of a tie the most Coin. Sponsors can collaborate with one another, splitting the cost as well as the reward. Sponsoring a Crown gives a sponsor +2 Prestige. Prestige gains are doubled if the winner of a Sponsored Race is Sponsored by the same group- if the Koopa Korp Kart wins a race sponsored by Koopa Korp, for example.
Sponsoring a Cup works a little differently- the cost of the venue is much higher, requiring 6 Coin for First, 6 Coin for Second and Third, and 6 Coin to cover driver entry fees. Because few Sponsors are interested in spending >18 Coin on a single race, the financial burden is split up into three Shares. Each Share gives a sponsor +3 Prestige and costs 6 Coin. The process of acquiring a Share is the same as acquiring a Crown- each share is bid on individually, in order. Some sponsors try to wait and get a cheap Share, and some bid early and often to secure their Share right away. Sponsors can bid on multiple Shares- the Prestige and Costs stack. Prestige gains are tripled if the winner is Sponsored by a group with a Share in the Cup, which often results in enormous pressure on the drivers from their sponsors.
Sponsor Driver- Any number of Sponsors can court a Driver at once, and the Driver chooses the offer he finds most attractive. Commonly, Sponsorship Deals include a set amount of money up front and a minimum length of Sponsorship, and may also include incentive rewards (Coin every Race won, top 3, etc.) Deals can stipulate any number of terms and conditions- the details are up to the negotiations between the CEO and Driver. Any party who breaks faith with the terms of the Deal suffers an immediate Relationship hit with the Company, loses Fairness, and may find themselves embroiled in Scandal. Often, this leads to termination of employment.
Pay Driver- Sometimes, a Driver will be strapped for cash while serving an active Sponsorship Deal. They can ask their Sponsor for help- if the CEO doesn't get involved, this involves a Relationship Check with the Company. If successful, the Driver gets the funds he asked for and suffers a Relationship hit equal to the amount of Coin given. The CEO can choose to allow or veto the request unilaterally- a Veto causes a hit to his Fairness image, while Allowing it transfers the Relationship hit from the Driver to the CEO.
Stage Publicity Stunt- Sponsors can invest Coin to improve the Fame of their drivers. Very often, such stunts also alter the image of the driver- the driver can choose to turn down the Publicity Stunt, but doing so will damage their relationship with the Sponsor. The cost and possible outcomes of a Publicity Stunt are based on the specific stunt, but a good rule of thumb is that one Fame costs 5 Coin. The outcome is determined by a roll- a 1 removes Fame, 4-5 Succeed and a 6 succeeds but also causes an Event to arise that is dealt with solely by the driver.
Cultivate Image- Sponsors can invest Coin to alter the image of either the CEO or a Driver they sponsor. To attempt to shift one Image stat by one degree, a Sponsor spends 5 Coin and rolls a d6- on a 1 the stat shifts in the opposite direction, 4-5 succeeds and a 6 causes an Event to arise that is dealt with by whoever's Image is being cultivated.
Slander- Sponsors can attempt to discredit opposing Drivers or CEOs for 5 Coin. Slander shifts a given Image stat by one degree- on a 4-6 the Slander is credible, and the target makes a Cultivate Image check to clear their name- on a 1 they dig themselves deeper, on a 2-3 they fail to validate themselves, and on 4-6 they successfully repudiate the accusations. Now primarily handled by the Mouse Mafia.
Cause Scandal- Riskier than trying to drive a wedge between Sponsors and their employees using the Slander action, Cause Scandal involves framing opponents of crimes for 10 Coin. On a 1 the attempt to Cause Scandal is found out and the instigator suffers a Scandal of their own. On a 4-5 a Scandal is caused, and on a 6 an actual indiscretion is uncovered, imposing a -1 penalty to dealing with the Scandal for the target. Scandals are described further in the Events tab. Now primarily handled by the Mouse Mafia.
Place Bounty- Sponsors can place a Bounty through the Mouser Mafia-while outwardly known as the Bounty Hunters Guild, their operations are now the subject of fierce underworld competition for contracts. In the old MKL the guild was a monolithic entity working under the auspices of the Estrala Mouser Family-now they run by a 'wise council' of four families who have bought into the operation-they work against each other as often as with one another. The clandestine contacts a Sponsor maintains with the BHG means that such a request is never in danger of being exposed, so the Sponsor is never at risk of Scandal.
Sponsors can also offer Bounties in-house to their own Drivers. In this case, they do not need to pay the BHG anything, but must cover the cost of Bribes themselves.
A bounty is traditionally simply making sure the racer in question does not win.
Te Bounty Hunter's Guild can also perform special operations on their own to alter the conditions on the track. For example, a Sponsor might pay the BHG to stampede some cattle onto a segment of the course, causing an unexpected hazard. Sponsors can stipulate conditions that trigger such actions- for example, paying the BHG to throw Bob-ombs at the rest of the drivers as soon as the Sponsor's driver pulls away from the pack. Sponsors can either describe the effect they want to achieve or the actual event they want to happen- the extreme variability of this type of Bounty means that prices are given on a case by case basis.
Bounties are offered to anyone with a connection to any of the criminal families, and sometimes handed down by shady sponsors.
Manage Branch- Particularly wealthy Sponsors can invest their cash into a new Branch, allowing them to Sponsor additional Drivers. Founding a new Branch costs 10 Coin/Existing Branch- a new Branch may be of any Industry.
Conversely, a Sponsor may decide to liquidate their assets for Coin, or to optimize their Image. Liquidating a Branch gives the Sponsor 3 Coin/PP, and they lose the Driver associated with that Branch. Sponsors may choose to sell the Branch to another Company instead, for any price or terms they deem fair- Sponsored Drivers transfer over to the new Company, but have their Relationship reset.
Sabotage Race- To begin influencing any race, the family in question pays A variable amount of respect to begin festivities, calling in favors and holding off opportunistic rivals who wish to profit off and/or sabotage their efforts. As any number of criminal activities can be done under the umbrella of a single race, they tend to lump as many contracts as they can into one. The price is usually 10?, but can be higher or lower.
Petty Crime- Commit criminal acts and gain 1-3 respect? on a success. On a failure, the boss loses 1d6 respect. Most Bosses consider this an absolute last resort.
Build Illegal Mods- The Gang gets together to cook...modules for illegal kart racers. Usually done on order of a racer. Slapping together parts requires resources, but mousers don't actually 'spend' any coin to do this, nor does it cost their boss any respect to order them.
Dig Mousehole- A criminal family can approach a driver and exchange their prestige gains for coins and/or obligation, or as repayment for favors. These prestige gains are normally invisible to your racer, and the coins that would go to your sponsor, instead go to the family, which translates to respect for the boss. The sponsor may question the missing profits...
Suspicious Delivery- Used when a family wishes to deliver bom-ombs, threatening letters, coins, illegal mods, or who knows what else to drivers or CEO's. Rolls a 1d6-on a 1, the item is intercepted by the Mushroom Rangers or Shyguy Patrol with all the fun that can entail, often meaning a big respect hit for the boss. This action is primarily why the families like to deal in favors and obligation instead. As is tradition, Drivers may be enlisted to ferry suspicious packages across the Mushroom Kingdom, using their skills to evade-or charm-their way past obstructions.
Cultivate Underworld Image- Bosses can invest Coin to alter the criminal image of either the CEO or a Driver they wish to contract, mitigating a loss of respect for dealing with them. To attempt to shift one Image stat by one degree, a Boss spends 5 Coin and rolls a d6- on a 1 the stat shifts in the opposite direction, 4-5 succeeds and a 6 causes an Event to arise that is dealt with by whoever's Image is being cultivated. Criminal image cultivation usually comes with an inverse to one of your normal image states. They don't always ask for permission.
Perform Slander, Cause Scandal, and Place Bounty - These actions, as described in the Sponsor tab, are usually done at the behest of sponsors-though they may also be performed on those with low honor scores.
Shell Company- Particularly wealthy Criminal Families can invest their cash into a new 'legitimate business', allowing them to fully Sponsor Drivers and participate in races. Founding a shell company costs a huge amount of respect for the boss to invest himself in, and if the company ever fails or is exposed, it's unlikely they'd survive such a fallout. Thus they have every reason for that to not happen.
The Big Cheep- Done to drivers (or CEO's) with astoundingly bad respect and many outstanding unpaid favors, the Mousers attempt to make you simply 'disappear'. Comes at an astronomic cost of 25 coins to start. But for every point of favor you owe to any family, and four times as many points of disrespect, this coin cost is reduced by 1. A removed 'irritant' improves the Bosses prestige by 1 for every 5 coins spent counting the dirty rat discount. A boss who is facing his own 'Big Cheep' (his family uses this action against him) may very well opt to try and remove someone else to save himself, or merely to improve his standing among other bosses. A fully upstanding, honest citizen is immune to this action, as Mousers would never spend so much money to rub out a sucker who 'plays by the rules'-only contracted drivers are vulnerable.
If the Mafia targets you, roll a 1d6 and reduce it by any existing points of obligation you have remaining among the families. On a success, you are...removed. If the roll fails, however, deduct obligation used, and the Boss suffers an equal respect loss to what he would have gained-making it high stakes for both parties.
Between races, Events can arise. Some events are instigated by Sponsors, some arise naturally (hidden roll for each player, on a hit roll to determine what event.) Events can target Drivers or CEOs. Most are situation-specific, but the general format of each event is described in this space.
Scandal- Scandals rarely arise on their own- the most common scandals are related to poor Relationships and active mudslinging by a competitor. Every turn a driver is embroiled in Scandal, he must make a Relationship roll to maintain any current sponsorships, and he must make a roll to dodge Fame loss. Even if the driver makes both of these checks, he still takes a -1 Relationship Penalty.
CEOs embroiled in Scandal must make Relationship rolls to remain employed at their company, and if they stay they must roll to dodge Prestige loss. If the CEO of a sponsor is controlled by a player, he can step in to unilaterally decide whether to retain a driver embroiled in Scandal- retaining the driver requires the CEO to make a Relationship check to avoid both of them being fired, but also improves his Fairness Image. Even if the CEO is successful in his Relationship checks, he still takes a -1 Relationship Penalty.
How a Scandal ends depends on what caused the Scandal in the first place- minor Scandals arising from random events or enemy action commonly last one turn, Scandals arising from poor relationships persist until the relationship is mended.
Interview- You are interviewed by a media outlet, commonly the third party Lakitu Brothers but sometimes anther, less reputable news agency. Interviews are conducted through a combination of RP and standard RTD mechanics- successful interviews may improve an aspect of your image, while poor interviews may cause your image to worsen. If your interviewer is antagonistic, you suffer a penalty to your interview roll, while a helpful interviewer provides a bonus.
Dilemma- You are forced to choose among a set of options, normally at the expense of the other. Commonly, these are opportunities to improve your Fame, Coin, or Image at the expense of one or both of the other stats.
One-off Endorsement- You are asked to advocate for a product or ideology not directly related to one of the MKL Sponsors. Such endorsements typically pay in Coin, but sometimes affect Image, and may alter relationships with MKL Sponsors.
Image is not indicative of how a given entity actually behaves- rather, it is the public perception of that entity. Drivers, CEOs, and Companies all have an image to maintain. Certain actions and events may alter an entity's Image. Image mostly affects Relationships, although edge cases may arise.
The image of a Company is the average of the CEO and all the drivers they sponsor. Each company is trying to project a certain image based on their intended customer base. The CEO and the Drivers have different roles in Image management. The CEO has the most active approach, and can use Company funds to influence his own image or the image of any driver. The Driver has a reactive approach, and can only respond to image-altering events.
The following is a list of Images and some ways they can be altered. Ratings go -4 -2 0 +2 +4 depending on severity of rating. Events can impose temporary images not listed here, most often negative.
Fairness-This Image relates to how fairly an entity conducts itself. High ratings are Respectable and Fair, while low ratings are Crooked and Rotten. Regardless of their normal Modus Operandi, they will take steps to cover up their misdeeds.
Glamor- This Image is about how wealthy and extravagant the entity appears. High ratings are Glitzy and Ostentatious, while low ratings are Simple and Blue-Collar.
Straightforwardness- This Image reflects how direct an entity is in their dealings. High ratings are Direct and Forthright, low ratings are Sneaky and Underhanded.
Family Friendliness- This Image reflects whether an entity is popular with families and children, or sexy teens. High ratings are G and PG , low ratings are M and R
Marketability- This Image reflects how easy it is to identify with an entity. High ratings are Worldwide and Multiversal , low ratings are Local and Niche
Education- This Image reflects the education level of the entity, and determines which segment of the greater population identifies with them. High ratings are Witty and Intelligentsia , low ratings are Everyman and Simple
Criminal bosses have an image to maintain as well, it's just not a public one-at least, spoken of in good company. Racers, however, have to balance both a public life and a 'private' life. A racer only has to track their image to criminals if they actually work with them, though low scores may attract their interest. Unlike sponsors, who have varied demands on racers, all criminal families simply prefer higher ratings, which various families putting more emphasis on some than others. Having a good image doesn't necessarily making you more valuable, just less expensive to deal with to the bosses personal respect.
Fairness- This Image relates to how fairly an entity conducts itself. High ratings are Respectable and Fair, while low ratings are Crooked and Rotten. It's the only image rating shared with ordinary sponsors-even criminals like to be associated with honest folk. It makes robbery so much easier! Regardless of their normal Modus Operandi, they will take steps to cover up misdeeds.
Subtlety- This Image is about how low of an image you can maintain in your dealings, even while under media and official scrutiny. Altering your glamor can impact your Subtlety. High ratings are Shadowy and Skulking, while low ratings are Obvious and Arrest Me.
Steetwise- This Image reflects how canny you are perceived in your dealings in the underworld. Altering your straightforwardness can impact your Subtlety. High ratings are Streetsmart and Canny, low ratings are Sucker and Tourist.
Aggression- This Image reflects how it is seen that you are willing to fight for what you want, and how far you'll go to win. Altering your family friendliness can impact your aggression. Higher ratings are Warrior and Scrapper, low ratings are Wimpy and Fieldmouse
Profitability- This Image reflects how well it is believed you can produce consistent profits for the family. Altering your Marketability and Education can impact your Profitability. High ratings are Big Earner and Cheesewinner, low ratings are Loose change and Cheepfood
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Topic: Mario Kart '21 Grand Prix (Signups closed, waiting list open-next race soon!) (Read 15859 times)