Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Toaster]

I'd totally IN that, but with the caveat that it should have a strict timetable for races so they don't drag along.  Perhaps a 24 hour window, with the expectation that if you don't submit an action, you default to defensive driving or somesuch.  Certainly allow actions in advance if you expect to be away.

Between race turns would be slower and allow everyone in, since they're more important to the game as a whole.


Concerning the Invitational idea, perhaps have a "charity" race that the players who didn't qualify for the Invitational could race in for free.  Sponsors would be watching this one, but it'd be the Tim's Used Car Emporiums instead of the Ferraris.  That way, players aren't sitting out.

[Scelly9]

stuff

I'm in.

[Nicholas1024]

I'd also /in for the Mario Kart RTD, especially if the bounty ideas and such were implemented.

[ExKirby]

I use my position of thread ruler to in for the Mario Kart. I just LOVE Mario Kart.

Bonus points if I can be a sponsor.

[10ebbor10]

I'll also join Mario kart.

[Gatleos]

In as well, if it wasn't evident by my first post on it. Retroactive in.

Bonus points if I can be a sponsor.

Maybe this could be an activity for the waitlisters? Everyone on the waitlist is a sponsor the players can sign up with. Not sure what they'd do, though.

[monk12]

I'd totally IN that, but with the caveat that it should have a strict timetable for races so they don't drag along.  Perhaps a 24 hour window, with the expectation that if you don't submit an action, you default to defensive driving or somesuch.  Certainly allow actions in advance if you expect to be away.

Between race turns would be slower and allow everyone in, since they're more important to the game as a whole.

Assuming a 5 segment track, and assuming nobody breaks away to complete multiple segments in one turn, a 3 lap course would take ~15 turns to resolve a single race. Having spent some more time investigating the different tracks on the MK Wiki, it looks like 5 is a good average size for tracks (maybe more like 6,) and I think 15 turns per race is a reasonable thing. The default "defensive driving" action is a good idea, so I think I will roll with the 24 hour posting window during races. Not sure how important not-racing turns are going to be though, we'll see.


Yesterday I spent cogitating on the race rules I posted that night, and today at work I invested my time in Metagame Shenanigans.

Spoiler: Character/Kart Information Redux (click to show/hide)

Characters have 5 associated stats- Points, Fame, Coin, Crowns, and Cups. Points are earned in races, are indicative of career racing achievement and are used for qualification purposes. Fame is similar to Points, but is much more difficult to earn, can be lost through misdeeds or poor PR, and is useful in different situations. Coin represents the finances of the character- Coin is used to enter races, improve Karts, and perform certain other actions. Unlike the other stats, a player's Coin supply is hidden by default. Crowns are earned for winning a race, and Cups are the most prestigious award available.

Each character drives a Kart- by League Rule, each Kart is standardized for competitive balance, and any offenders caught in violation of these rules are subject to heavy fines. Of course, caught is the operative word there...

Drivers start play with a base Kart and 5 Coin. The rules allow each Kart to be augmented with ONE Module per race- a player may own any number of Modules, but only one may be installed for each race. Modules, unfortunately, are inherently unique, unstable, and react unpredictably with Karts. When you buy a Module, you may choose the Benefit- however, there is always a randomly associated Hiccup that is permanently tied to that Module. Modules cannot be resold, although they can be traded between Players.

Some special races allow more than one Module to be used, but some villainous drivers cheat, using multiple Modules even in Races that prohibit such skullduggery. The specific method of cheating varies- sometimes the driver simply bribes the inspection official for 5 Coin, and sometimes the driver's sponsor uses its corporate leverage in exchange for... extracurricular activities. More information on sponsors in the Setting tab.

Benefits

Item Bonus- Cost 3 Coin, Karts with an Item bonus get +1 on Item Rolls.

High Acceleration- Cost 3 Coin, Karts with high Acceleration get +1 Momentum any time they start a turn with Zero Momentum. This applies at the start of a race, before Rocket Starts.

Free Item- Cost 3 Coin, driver starts race with an item. The Item Roll to determine what item they start with is made with no bonus, even if another Module has the Item Bonus Benefit.

Compensator- Cost 3 Coin, cancels out a Hiccup.

Rubber Band Forward- Cost 3 Coin, gives a +2 bonus to avoid Falling Back

Speedy- Cost 3 Coin, allows a maximum Momentum of 6 (normally 5)

Ramming Speed- Cost 5 Coin, provides +1 on Ram Checks.

Nitrous- Cost 5 Coin, gives ONE Momentum on a successful Powerslide in addition to other effects.

Highly Maneuverable- Cost 5 Coin, gives a +1 bonus on Driving Aggressively.

Hiccups

Featherweight- -1 on Ram Checks.

Low Loot- -1 on Item Rolls.

Slow- This Kart's Maxiumum Momentum is 4 (standard is 5)

Banana Magnet- This Kart suffers an additional -1 penalty to avoid Bananas.

Rubber Band Back- Racing Checks made to Pull Ahead take a -1 penalty

Sticky Wheel- When Driving Aggressively, a roll of 2 results in the loss of ONE Momentum

Not Aerodynamic- When Drafting, you must have higher Momentum than the Kart ahead of you.

Spoiler: Grand Prix (click to show/hide)

Races occur in tournaments of four related races known as a Grand Prix- the first three are intended as qualifying races for entry to the fourth, the Cup event. The first race is the Underdog Open, populated by drivers with the fewest points (starting with rookies.) The second race is the Crown Invitational, populated by drivers with the highest Fame. The third race is the Comeback Open, with dibs going to the racers who haven't been able to compete for the longest- if every driver has participated in the current Prix, then precedence goes to fewest points. The winners of the first three qualifiers are automatically entered into the Cup race, two slots go to drivers with the most career Points, and the final slot goes to whoever has the highest Fame of the remaining drivers.

Rewards for Standard Race

1st- Crown, 3 Coin, 2 Fame, 9 Points
2nd- 2 Coin, 1 Fame, 7 Points
3rd- 1 Coin, 5 Points
4th- 3 Points
5th- 1 Point
6th- Consolation Non-abrasive Tissue

A Cup does not cost any Coin to enter, and the Coin and Fame rewards are doubled.

While most Prix use the standard rules, some may use alternate rules, allowing more powerful Karts, teams, or other quirks.

Spoiler: Setting (click to show/hide)

Kart Racing was once the national past time of the Mushroom Kingdom, but in recent years it has exploded in popularity. Globalization of the sport has drawn involvement from many different corporations seeking to put their product before the greatest number of viewers. The sponsorship deals resulting from increased corporate involvement have greatly fueled the growth of the sport, allowing races to be conducted more frequently in ever more exotic locales. However, competition between the different sponsorship groups has greatly complicated the races and opened the door for involvement by criminal syndicates such as Team Rocket or the infamous Bounty Hunter's Guild.

All of this extracurricular activity has made the lives of the drivers more difficult. Few drivers can afford to pay the bills purely on the strength of their winnings. Drivers that accept sponsorship deals receive a guaranteed income, but are held to higher standards, and may be required to perform flashy maneuvers in the middle of a race to boost ratings, even in defiance of tactical sense. Drivers who agree to drive for Team Rocket or other shadowy organizations may find themselves required to perform... less than legal activities on the track. Drivers strapped for cash are often approached by the Bounty Hunter's Guild, who always have an underhanded mission to perform on behalf of the quarreling sponsorship groups. Bribery and corruption is rampant in the Prix, but the show must go on.

To land a sponsorship deal, a player must have competed in at least one race. Between events, a player with Fame may make a Sponsorship Check modified by their Fame score- on a success, they are offered terms of a sponsorship deal to accept or decline. The quality of the sponsor and the terms of the deal are determined by the degree of success of that Check.

A player cannot publicly ask around for information on bounties without risking loss of Fame. A player asks by PMing the GM, and a Secrecy roll is made- if the player critically fails, their attempt at skullduggery is revealed to the world. The Bounty Hunter's Guild will often approach drivers on their own initiative- when this happens, they never run the risk of being found out.

Spoiler: Errata (click to show/hide)

Having slept on it, I've made a few minor changes:

Blue Shells now hit at the end of the following Action Phase, rather than the following Cleanup Phase.

Item Rolls get a +1 Bonus to Players that have Fallen Behind.

Rocket Start rules are updated so only Critical Fails receive no Momentum.

Specified that course hazards hit at the start of the Movement Phase.

Specified that Dragged items can be used at any time without using an action, however, they MUST be used before deploying another item.

Right now, I feel the metagame "as she is played" is a bit underdeveloped. I'd like to have better reasons for Sponsors/Bounties to provide, shall we say, "alternate objectives." Right now it's a bit arbitrary, and if I roll like it is now I'll probably have targets be the result of a random roll. My brain has been kicking around an idea where the different Sponsors all have their own little ranking derived entirely from the performance of the drivers they sponsor, and that would inform Sponsor actions, but I haven't worked it out to a place I like. Maybe sponsors get to choose where the next Prix is held... Any thoughts here are appreciated.

As far as the actual bounties, right now I'm thinking of two different methods of handling everything. One, I use existing mechanics to frame bounties- this would mean that the worst a bounty could do is make one person keep trying to ram another off the track, which is annoying but feasible. In this case bounties would be paid out if the target finishes in the bottom half of the leaderboard, with a bonus if they come in dead last. The plus side is that bounties are less annoying to the target, but less significant in story terms and harder to accomplish in any meaningful way.

The other option is to add mechanics for Karts to wreck. This would probably get generalized so it would happen during play- for example, a 1 on a dodge would result in damage to the Kart (inflicting a debuff for the rest of the race.)  The bounty payout would probably happen if the headhunter inflicted damage, or it might require follow-up action to force the target out of the race entirely. I'm also undecided if this would lead to situations where the player can attempt to stop and fix the problem on the track, or if repairs would only happen during the Metagame (at the cost of Coin.) The plus side is that bounties are actually a thing that matters during a race, but the downside is that the target might feel hassled. We'll see if I get any bright ideas one way or another, and if y'all have input give a holler!

I also hope the Module system A) Makes Sense and B) is Balanced. Most of the reason the Module system exists is because shady organizations can't break the rules if there are no rules to break, and Kart enhancement is an obvious one. Again, I'd like there to be more ways Sponsors can influence a match apart from scandal-drama and random objectives (e.g "whatever you do, beat character X" or "show the power of our product by Ramming X times.") In general, bounties and alternate objectives are things where there probably won't be more than one active during a given race, especially if I don't come up with more variety for them.

But yeah, I think I'm going to run this thing. I decided to accept pre-ins as the competitors in the first race. In essence, there isn't really a waitlist, merely a pool of players who aren't racing right at this moment. It's almost a Mario Kart Persistent World, to my sleep-deprived brain, anyway. The way it is set up now I think every player should have the opportunity to qualify for a given Cup, unless this gets ridiculously popular.

I think I'll give everything another look tomorrow, incorporate any bright ideas you folks have, polish up the rough edges and start the thread.

1- Yoink
2- Gatleos
3- Toaster
4- Scelly9
5- Nicholas1024
6- ExKirby
Rookie- 10ebbor10

[10ebbor10]

Maybe the more shady sponsors could try to modify the odds of their racer winning the game  by paying some people to accidentally drop something on the racing track, or try out fireflowers near the  track.

Also tracks could have a certain stat that indicates the amount of gambling focused on it. Large and important races often have more, just like races were two rivals go against each other. Some races have less, as there is a more strict security on that one. Races with a higher gambling stat have more attention of shady sponsors.

As for possible Bounties:
-Make sure player X doesn't end in the top half
-Make sure that you end third/Second...
-Make sure that you end Third and no better
-Make sure player X ends in the top half
-Make sure players X and Y End withing so much positions of each other
-....

[Toaster]

I like that idea- there's always someone wanting to throw a race.  You might be able to tell that one player is acting out of character, but you'll never be sure what their true motives are.

Perhaps another "sponsor" option would be the officials trying to get a racer to spy on another racer and figure out who's bribing them?

[10ebbor10]

I like that idea- there's always someone wanting to throw a race.  You might be able to tell that one player is acting out of character, but you'll never be sure what their true motives are.

Perhaps another "sponsor" option would be the officials trying to get a racer to spy on another racer and figure out who's bribing them?

Yup,  some thing like stay within X tiles of player Y.

[monk12]

Maybe the more shady sponsors could try to modify the odds of their racer winning the game  by paying some people to accidentally drop something on the racing track, or try out fireflowers near the  track.

Also tracks could have a certain stat that indicates the amount of gambling focused on it. Large and important races often have more, just like races were two rivals go against each other. Some races have less, as there is a more strict security on that one. Races with a higher gambling stat have more attention of shady sponsors.

As for possible Bounties:
-Make sure player X doesn't end in the top half
-Make sure that you end third/Second...
-Make sure that you end Third and no better
-Make sure player X ends in the top half
-Make sure players X and Y End withing so much positions of each other
-....

I like all of these ideas. Hooray!

[Nicholas1024]

You could also have most items be mostly safe with only a small chance of causing a wreck(say, rolling two 1's on 2d6), and have the shadier sponsors give you "modified" items to do more damage. Another possibility is hidden weaponry you could activate for a bigger advantage/bounty, but with a chance of being caught and disqualified. (I.e. Oil slicks, smoke screens, ramming someone to attach a gooey bomb, etc.)

[Caellath]

From Mario Kart to Speed Racer. Weegee plays Speed by the way.

[monk12]

Alright, farting around with things.

Spoiler: Sponsors (click to show/hide)

Sponsors each have 2 stats- Prestige and Coin. Prestige is equal to the Fame of their drivers + Sponsored Courses + 1. After every race, Sponsors receive Coin equal to their Prestige. The Sponsor with the highest Prestige before each race is allowed to Sponsor that Race, receiving a +1 bonus to Prestige in exchange for the 6 Coin needed to pay the winners. Sponsorship of a Cup provides a +3 bonus to Prestige. Prestige awards 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.

The most direct way for Sponsors to compete is to interfere with the Fame of their respective drivers- they can do this by attempting to hire the best talent (especially if they can be hired away from competition,) stage events that will boost the Fame of their own drivers, and the more nefarious Sponsors will sabotage opponents, either directly on the course or indirectly through slander and blackmail. When recruiting, different Sponsors have different strategies- some offer meager contracts to a wide stable of Drivers, some focus on turning a single driver into a superstar and face of the franchise, and every Sponsor requires more or less effort from the Driver to maintain the relationship. Typically, Drivers receive an immediate Coin influx when they sign a contract, and future cash disbursements are incentive-based.

Sponsors can use their Coin to aid their Drivers- whether they choose to do so is determined by their relationship with the Driver. The starting relationship is equal to the Fame of the Driver- success in missions and Cups improves this relationship, and failure in missions, scandal, and low profits decrease it. When the Driver asks for Coin, either to enter a Race or buy new Kart Components, he makes a Relationship Check with the relationship score as a modifier. On a success, the Driver gets the Coin and suffers a relationship hit equal to the Coin received. On a failure, the Driver gets nothing.

Now I just need to think up some Nintendo-related Sponsorship Groups- Koopa Korp, Goomba Engineering (GE) and Team Rocket are obvious choices, as well as Silph Co. I'm hoping to get about a dozen from a variety of Nintendo franchises, all starting with random Coin and 1 Prestige. Suggestions welcome!

Spoiler: Kart Damage (click to show/hide)

I did decide to take the Damage route, since it provides another Coin sink for players.

Whenever a Player rolls a 0 or lower on any check, instead of losing extra Momentum their Kart suffers a random Hiccup. In the course of a clean race, this is a fairly infrequent occurrence, since the only normal effects that impose a penalty on rolls are dropped items like Bananas, the rare Thunderbolt item, and on some courses Hazards.

Players can also suffer a random Hiccup as the result of hitting certain Hazards on the most dangerous courses- these Hazards are clearly marked, so Defensive Driving is a prudent action in those segments!

Finally, certain honorless dogs have been known to use Dirty Weapons- this is a Module Benefit that disables certain safeties in damaging items such as Bob-omb and the various Shells. When those items make an attack roll and roll a 6, they inflict a Hiccup in addition to their other effects. Dirty Weapons are, of course, banned by the League, but when has that stopped anyone? Corporate Sponsors often use their leverage to bribe officials to look the other way, provided it doesn't hit any driver other than the target. Drivers acting unilaterally (at the behest of the Bounty Hunter's Guild, or because they are assholes) must cover the cost of Bribes themselves.

Karts that suffer mid-race Hiccups have no way to cure them on-track, unless they have a Module with the Compensator Benefit that is not already Compensating for something. Hiccups persist after the Race- they can be removed for the cost of 3 Coin.

Spoiler: Course Design (click to show/hide)

Maybe you want to drive a course based on a certain franchise, or maybe you want a port of a classic Mario Kart course. As it turns out, it isn't terribly hard to design a course that I can use! When you get right down to it, a course is just a series of segments connected together. Each Segment may have unique qualities such as hazards, alternate paths, item boxes, or provide bonuses to certain actions due to their shape and placement on the course. No one segment should have too much going on, since that makes for confusing, unsatisfying turns. A good course length is 4-5 segments. Longer courses will have fewer laps (if you want to design a Rally race) and shorter courses will have more laps. You can get a feel for how to divide up a course by looking at existing courses- I will put links to existing courses in this tab as they arrive.

Aaaand, I think that's good. Pop on over to the thread, y'all!

[lawastooshort]

So, I would be interested in feedback on the following ideas which came about whilst thinking about Roll to be Father Ted.

Spoiler: Roll to be Father X! (click to show/hide)

Priestly Objective:
Each priest has an objective to complete over the episode. I haven’t decided yet if that should be public or PM based. Probably public for simplicity. But then PMs would mean more/better potential conflict.

Priestly Character Classes:
Each priest has to have something of the stereotype about him. Thus, although character classes can also be proposed, there will be a selection of classes to choose from: the Ditz, the Bore, the Novice, the Embezzler, the Drunk, the Womaniser, the Drunk-Womaniser.  Or I may give set classes for each episode, or from the beginning, and then players can choose on a first come first served basis (this would be because perhaps certain storylines need certain character types. Hmm).

Priest Points:
These are awarded primarily for accomplishing your priestly objective for the episode. They can also be awarded at the GM’s discretion for priestliness. At the end of the episode, the priest with the least Priest Points is replaced by the leading waitlister.

Shame Points:
These are awarded for causing priestly embarrassment. I can’t remember their purpose right now though. They did have one last night.

Lead Priest:
I haven’t decided about this yet, but there may be a lead priest in each episode – the X in the title Father X. Certain things may be written from his perspective but I am unsure about any game mechanics aside from this.

Waitlist:
Each episode will of course have many minor characters. Waitlisters will be encouraged to suggest actions for these NPCs, and the most successful suggester each turn will get a waitlister point. At the end of the episode, the waitlister with the most waitlister points will be the leading waitlister, and will replace the evicted priest. Perhaps this interaction will result in further Priest or Shame Points being made available.

Character Sheet:
Name:
Class:
Bio: (optional: includes either why the character is a priest, or why he has been exiled to Rolly Island)


Example Storyline:
There is a village fair this weekend. Father A wants to go on the ferris wheel, but he has priestly obligations (he has his first funeral to hold) and is scared of heights. Father B wants to see the wet tshirt competition. Father C wants the tv crew documenting his work as a rural priest to see him (and his fellow priests) in a good light. Father D needs to steal the village fair raffle takings to pay off the money he owes.