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Old 02-07-2019, 07:47 PM   #81
Blue Ghost
 
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Default Re: Roleplaying experiences without a GM in Car Wars?

I think we talked about those earlier in the thread. I do believe they were a CW compatible product, but strictly a TSR product and not from ADB. There were two others, Ultraforce and their version of SJGames road tiles. I do have to say that the TSR road tiles were okay for what they were, but the printing wasn't that good. Still, they added road segments for anyone's road combat game, CW included.
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Old 02-07-2019, 08:05 PM   #82
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Default Re: Roleplaying experiences without a GM in Car Wars?

AutoVentures 1: TurboFire was published in 1984. The supplement contained rules for Car Wars, Battlecars, and Highway 2000.

In 1984, Car Wars was published by SJ Games, Battlecars was published by Games Workshop, and Highway 2000 was published by Threshold Games.

All six AutoVentures had rules for the three game systems mentioned, including rules how to convert statistics from one game system to another.

The first three AutoVentures were first published by the company AutoVentures that was established by Aaron Allston. Task Force Games became the publisher starting with AutoVentures 4: The Road.

TSR, former published of Dungeons and Dragons and many other games, was not involved with AutoVentures. I have not seen a reference to TSR in all six of the AutoVentures supplements.

Car Wars is still being printed. SJ Games is still in business.

Battlecars is out of print. Games Workshop is still in business.

Highway 2000 is out of print. Threshold Games is no longer in operation.

AutoVentures is out of business.

Task Force Games is out of business.

Aaron Allston passed away in 2014. I do not know who is in control of his literary works, and how they are being handled.

With these facts and challenges, I doubt it will be possible to reprint the AutoVentures products.

I agree AutoVentures 4: The Road was a nice set of road sections for Car Wars, Battlecars, and Highway 2000.
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Old 02-08-2019, 12:01 AM   #83
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Default Re: Roleplaying experiences without a GM in Car Wars?

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Originally Posted by Blue Ghost View Post
I think we talked about those earlier in the thread. I do believe they were a CW compatible product, but strictly a TSR product and not from ADB. There were two others, Ultraforce and their version of SJGames road tiles. I do have to say that the TSR road tiles were okay for what they were, but the printing wasn't that good. Still, they added road segments for anyone's road combat game, CW included.
*EDIT* I meant TFG for Task Force Games, not TSR.
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Old 02-10-2019, 09:53 PM   #84
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Default Re: Roleplaying experiences without a GM in Car Wars?

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I should think a bigger problem is: At least two of the three games Autoventures covered haven't been in-print for cursed-near three *decades* now. (I know whoever made _Highway 2000_ hasn't existed in that long.) IMSMC: _Autoventures_ was published by Amarillo Design Bureau/Task Force Games; and they still exist in some form....

At any rate: If they can be found, _AV _Hell On Wheels_, _Street Fighter_, and _The Gauntlet_ do allow for RP.
ADB as a legal entity was not involved in any non-SFB projects; Starfire was SVC before he formed ADB, as was the first iteration of SFB.

As for the others, TurboFire is a great GM adventure.

As for HW2000 and Battlecars... well... Battlecars wasn't great. And I've never been able to catch HW2000.

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Old 02-11-2019, 02:53 PM   #85
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As for HW2000 and Battlecars... well... Battlecars wasn't great. And I've never been able to catch HW2000.
1st.-ed _Battlecars_ is a little clunky, to be sure; I had to adapt it to use graph paper, and pencils; the use of counters to mark damage tended to be disrupted by someone bumping the table.

_H-2000_ is playable, but only just -- it doesn't even allow for the existence of corners; and the damage system involves a few too many random rolls to determine when a car finally is destroyed. (A couple of rules which blatantly rip-off "Why Johnny Can't Speed" doesn't help.)
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Old 02-12-2019, 06:04 PM   #86
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Default Re: Roleplaying experiences without a GM in Car Wars?

Has anyone here successfully used a "Yes/No Oracle" style mechanic and/or something like like assigning different meanings to Story Cubes to affect an impromptu, GMless session of roleplaying in Car Wars to control NPC AI and/or to provide random twists in game without the need for a referee?

I'm playing around with these concepts and wondering if anyone out there has advice on utilizing ideas like this specifically for this game?

Last edited by industrialchild; 02-12-2019 at 07:52 PM.
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Old 02-13-2019, 02:20 PM   #87
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Has anyone here successfully used a "Yes/No Oracle" style mechanic and/or something like like assigning different meanings to Story Cubes to affect an impromptu, GMless session of roleplaying in Car Wars to control NPC AI and/or to provide random twists in game without the need for a referee?
I'm not familiar with this -- can you explain in a bit more detail?
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Old 02-13-2019, 03:17 PM   #88
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I'm not familiar with this -- can you explain in a bit more detail?
Sure! An example of a simple Oracle system would be, for example, rolling any die. An even number=YES. An odd number=NO.

Just with this simple mechanic, you could (in theory), prep a table of safe/logical and desperate/dangerous behaviors for NPCs. Of course different tables, for different NCPs/moments in the game. Let's imagine that you are looking at a table numbered from 1-6 with six different behaviors outlined. The first behavior could be a standard/basic/safe tactic they could use without much risk on their part and the further this list goes down, the more random and dangerous their behavior is. Heck the 6th behavior could be even be something crazy, like moving toward you as if they were trying to ram you (whichever part of your vechile they are closest to) with guns blazing (if they haven't fired all their weapons already)!

So you would simply go down the list starting at one and roll for each NPC. Does this guy do option 1...NO. Ok, does he do 2...YES.

In the event that you get a NO for all six, you would then roll a random behavior for him off of that same list.

I hope this makes sense. :) I've seen this sort of tactic used before in a few indie solo RPGs. I'm not sure of where it originally stems from (although I am very curious about it), but it's a relatively obscure mechanic in RPGs. I think it's an interesting concept that could potentially be applied to this game to affect unpredictable NPC behavior without a referee. Sounds good on paper anyway, I won't know until I play around with it. :)

Last edited by industrialchild; 02-13-2019 at 04:08 PM.
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Old 02-14-2019, 12:27 AM   #89
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Default Re: Roleplaying experiences without a GM in Car Wars?

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Sure! An example of a simple Oracle system would be . . .
Thanks for describing that, I was curious too.

I like how each option in the table gets harder to achieve. If I did my math correctly, each option is twice as difficult (unlikely) as the previous one.
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Old 02-15-2019, 08:26 PM   #90
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Default Re: Roleplaying experiences without a GM in Car Wars?

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Thanks for describing that, I was curious too.

I like how each option in the table gets harder to achieve. If I did my math correctly, each option is twice as difficult (unlikely) as the previous one.
A more common, and simpler, form:

Whenever an NPC or Situation could be fluid, State a question as a yes or no. Randomize between them. Accept the decision. Work general to specific. (essentially, Mythic takes 20+ pages to say this...)

For example:
an NPC vehicle is in position to shoot 3 vehicles from your convoy - the Tractor-trailer, the Security 7, or the Doublecharge.

"Will the biker shoot the Tractor-trailer rig?"
Flip a coin. Heads yes, tails no. Heads.
"Will the biker shoot at the tractor?" Heads.
"Will the biker pick a specific target?" Tails.

Ok, so he shoots the side armor of the tractor.

His buddy, with the same options:
"Same as his buddy?" tails.
"Rig?" Heads
"Tires?" Tails
"Hitch?" Heads.


While I've not done it in a long time, I've used similar processes in playing Convoy and the AutoVentures line.

I do similar with targeting (but don't always tell players) in many cases in FTF play. In D&D, I'm open about randomizing initial targets.
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