Driving Default: Yesterday I reality-checked it . . .

[trans]

I've hit 210 kph a couple of times on the German autobahns, but generally 160-165 kph is fast enough for me.

Edit: and if I've got an economy rental car and the whole family on board then 120-130 kph is just fine, too.

All the same, I can't drive 55!

[Alden Loveshade]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

I consider myself as having a DX of 8 or 9 (I'm clumsy), and an IQ of 10 to 11

I have no idea about your DX, but considering your posts and work, I think your GURPS IQ would be higher than 10 to 11.

I do have two friends who, on standard IQ tests, scored in the 90s and 101 (exact average being 100). Their scores may be accurate for standardized IQ tests which do not measure drive, originality, creativity, conceptualization, etc.--learning disabilities can lower your score as well.

But one of those friends taught himself how to program a computer, and helped me develop a time travel concept. The other is a playwright who has had several plays produced. I wouldn't put their GURPS IQs at 9 and 10.

And thanks for your contributions.

[pawsplay]

Originally Posted by Gollum

Exactly !

And that is what say GURPS rules.

Driving license, 20 to 100 hours. Default level.

But there is also experience. Someone who drives just half an hour a day (to commute work, to go to the shopping, etc.), drives about 180 hours a year.

This is Learning on the job (Basic Set, page 293: "most of the time ... is spent doing what you already know, not learning new things"), 800 hours are required for a Character Point...

Which gives 1 point in learning skill every 4.5 year. And which means for a average DX 10 man...

18.0 years old, driving license: Driving - 05 [0] *
22.5 years old, driving license: Driving - 09 [1]
27.0 years old, driving license: Driving - 10 [2]
31.5 years old, driving license: Driving - 10 [3]
36.0 years old, driving license: Driving - 11 [4]
40.5 years old, driving license: Driving - 11 [5]
45.0 years old, driving license: Driving - 11 [6]
49.5 years old, driving license: Driving - 11 [7]
54.0 years old, driving license: Driving - 11 [8] **
58.5 years old, driving license: Driving - 10 [9] **
63.0 years old, driving license: Driving - 09 [10] **
67.5 years old, driving license: Driving - 08 [11] **
72.0 years old, driving license: Driving - 07 [12] **
76.5 years old, driving license: Driving - 05 [13] **


* I started from 18 years old because, in France, 18 is the legal age to pass the driving license.
** For aging, I simplified things a lot: one roll failed every 4 rolls (HT + TL-3, as explained in the Basic Set, page 444, gives an effective HT of 12, which gives about 75% chance of success).

That's okay up to a point, but you stop getting "on the job" training at some point when you never have to perform tasks that involve any risk of failure for you.

[smurf]

Originally Posted by Ze'Manel Cunha

Well, sometimes you wish you had a faster car, last weekend I was coming back to Napoli from Firenze, and cruising* down the A1 at a comfortable 170-185 kph (105-115 mph), staying to the right, except when passing of course, when as I came into the left lane to pass a few vehicles and a car wooshed up behind me.

Naturally, I immediately floored it while signalling out of the left lane, moving right to allow the car to pass, he wooshes by me, while I continue to accelerate to try to keep up with him, but as I hit 210-225 kph (130-140 mph) my passengers commented that we weren't even coming close to reducing the speed at which it was leaving us in its dust as it wooshed away, it had to be doing at least 275 kph (170 mph), and my friends commented that my windshield wipers weren't going to be very happy if I went much faster, so I slowed down back below 200 kph (125 mph).

It was pretty nice Ferrari that passed me like I standing still, they ride real well at 200-300 kph, I'm going to have to go rent one for a drive at real speeds.




*When cruising the A1 along Italy one has to slow down from time to time to 130 kph (80 mph) as one passes speed cameras. They also have a "Tutor" camera system which averages your speed out and fines you for exceeding speeds between different cameras, so it's very possible that even though I slowed for the cameras I'll still get a nice fat fine in the mail for this little trip. I may just take the train next time.

When you have your family in the car you tend not to speed. Even if I only have a 138bhp diesel... the problem is the UK car on a 'continental' road. Snow last year was fun to drive in and some drivers were just useless.

[Ze'Manel Cunha]

Originally Posted by smurf

When you have your family in the car you tend not to speed.

Oh I know, but it would be nice to rent a Ferrari and take it through its paces, just to feel how those things handle at 300+ kph...

[trans]

And to pick up on what Bruno says, driving as slow as 55 mph (= 88-89 kph) would generally be unsafe on the autobahn. Even 65 mph (almost 100 kph) is kind of dicey. Maybe if there is a column of trucks to hide behind.

[trans]

Warning, I'm going to ramble a bit here.

For better or worse, in contrast to some US interstates, on German autobahns it is generally impossible to relax at any time. Granted most of my experience is limited to the A8 which runs east-west across Southern Germany, and mostly has only two lanes in each direction (though it is being expanded).

Either you are stuck in the right lane behind trucks at 90 to at most 120 kph (if they are pushing it), or you pull into the left lane and then some Porsche or Ferrrari comes up behind you like Ze described recently. Then they put on their left-hand blinkers or even flash their high beams at you. I'm old enough not to get into any testosterone-fueled rage about that, but it isn't very relaxing, either.

[Gollum]

Originally Posted by pawsplay

That's okay up to a point, but you stop getting "on the job" training at some point when you never have to perform tasks that involve any risk of failure for you.

Contrary to Call of Cthulhu, in GURPS, improvement through study doesn't require any roll. It is automatic, as soon as the good amount of time is spent.

And not requiring a roll because it is a "mundane, non adventuring job" doesn't mean that the character doesn't risk to fail from time to time. We often fail ordinary tasks in our real life. We even sometimes fail utterly trivial tasks ("Damned! Where did I put my keys?"). Not requiring a roll just means that it is not important enough to be played in detail during the game.

[Kyle Aaron]

Originally Posted by Gollum

Contrary to Call of Cthulhu, in GURPS, improvement through study doesn't require any roll. It is automatic, as soon as the good amount of time is spent.

To be fair, in that system you get to check after every "adventure" (in practice with most GMs, every game session), as well as after study, and you get a chance to improve any skill you used in that adventure/session - but then only by a few percent.

By contrast, we've seen that the most generous GMs in GURPS give a 1-6CP for each game session, meaning that you could improve one good skill by one level (4CP) or a few poor skills by 1-2 levels (1-2CP each). And with most skills in the 8-16 range, improving by one level is quite a big jump in the chances of success.

So in BRP you have the chance of improving several skills a small amount, vs in GURPS the certainty of improving one skill a lot.

[Þorkell]

Originally Posted by Ze'Manel Cunha

Oh I know, but it would be nice to rent a Ferrari and take it through its paces, just to feel how those things handle at 300+ kph...

I think you'd require some instruction first. A Ferrari Italia has 562hp, the Ferrari 599 has 612hp. This is what, five or six times more than your average family car?