398 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
398 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
THE CORPORATE APPROACH TO CAR WARS
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BY: MAD AL LOUD
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CANADIAN AUTODUEL ASSOCIATION
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ORIGINALLY IN: AUTODUEL QUARTERLY, VOL. 4 NO. 4
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COPYRIGHT 1986, STEVE JACKSON GAMES
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PUT INTO TEXT FORMAT BY: JIM SPRING
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Recently the head office of the Black Death Autoduel Association
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(our local subgroup of the CADA) has been swamped by requests for
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an outline of our corporate duelling system. This is a complete,
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year-round tournament system, allowing recurring characters and
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the continuity of a campaign, without the headache for the
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referee. It is the result of feedback generated over a thousand
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hours of play.
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Within the corporate system, games are pre-arranged according to
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a schedule. You, as president of your corporation, must balance
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your budget and (hopefully) show a profit at the end of the year.
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Can you manage your team to total victory this year or will you
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be another smear on the asphalt?
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The corporate concept is structured around a few important ideas.
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First, each member of the club has a team of characters. Each
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character has different strengths and weaknesses, depending on
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how you want to set up the team. These characters must be kept
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alive, because you might not be able to afford to hire a new
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player until next season, one will stand above all others in
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terms of development, prestige and wealth. Who will be the
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duelist of the year?
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Second, a schedule is drawn up and distributed to every player
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with a corporation. This schedule sets the date, time, place,
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and format of the duels in advance so that players will arrive
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ready to play. This alone has been responsible for cutting the
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average length of most duels at BDAA by about two hours.
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Attendance is also improved as people plan around the schedule
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and make the time to be there.
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Third, and most important, each corporation scores for
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participation and attendance. Points are awarded for first,
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second, and third place in each event, with bonus points for
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attendance; someone can see at a glance who runs the top
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corporate team. These standings promote additional
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competitiveness among the players as they battle it out for the
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championship.
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SELECTING A NAME
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A player may choose any name for his or her corporation, and
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these names often reflect the personality of the player. Some
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examples from the BDAA include BAAMaco, MAXXON, ROARING RIGS, and
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O.P.E.C. (Organization of People Expecting large amounts of
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Cash). At the time of this writing, there are 11 registered
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corporations in the BDAA.
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CREATING CHARACTERS
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OK, you have a name -- now you need a team. No problem. Each
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corporation can employ up to 18 characters per year. This limit
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is established so that the president of the corporation (you)
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will feel a certain amount of responsibility to keep your
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characters alive and not waste them in suicidal pursuits.
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Second, it prevents such refereeing nightmares as having a few
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players enter the arena with a platoon of pedestrians with hand
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weapons. Third, it allows concentrations of the development of
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individual team members as duelling pros.
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The characters in your corporation have received the finest
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training possible. Each new character starts their career with
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100 skill points! This is a significant difference from normal
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Car Wars and is one of the most important features of corporate
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play. Only the finest duelists survive long enough to make it to
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the professional arena as members of a corporate team -- the
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additional skill points represent experience already gained
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climbing the ladder to stardom.
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All the skills mentioned in Deluxe Car Wars are used. The are
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Driver, Trucker, Cyclist, Pilot, Gunner, Handgunner, Mechanic,
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Running, Paramedic, and Martial Arts. There are only two
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restrictions to remember when allocating your 100 points. Each
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character must have at least five of these skills at base level,
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and no more than 40 points can be spent on any one skill (so the
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maximum skill level is +3). Starting prestige is 0, and so is
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starting cash. The corporation can pay to provide hand weapons,
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body armor, and other personal equipment, as well as basic living
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expenses.
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CHARACTER SHEETS
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Each character should be kept on a neatly laid out sheet which
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can be updated. Not only does this provide a handy reference,
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but it's also a place to record the history of each character.
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In actual use, each player would record the performance of their
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character after the game. Any money awarded must be written down
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here or it mysteriously disappears. The date of the game and a
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small description of the event should also be recorded. Any new
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skill points earned are recorded on this sheet, too. At the end
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of the duelling season, characters are transferred to new sheets,
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ad are ready for the next season.
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The example <which I have not included> shows the infamous Mad
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Fred Lincoln after several duels. Note the section where each
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game date and description are recorded. Each vehicle kill (VK)
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is also noted with the game in which it occurred.
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Note the skills section. In the Trucker category, Fred has one
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skill point, which he earned in the August 10 bus duel when he
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tried to drive his team's bus after the driver was killed.
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Although he suffered the HC penalty for not having the skill to
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begin with, Fred was able to earn one point just for trying it.
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Each personal item that Fred owns is recorded in the Belongings
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category. It is possible for a character to own more than he/she
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can carry, but the sheet must make clear which items are carried
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into combat, and which are left behind.
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A running total of the character's cash is kept on this sheet as
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well. Not the $250 expenditure -- Mad Fred bought his own body
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armor after a previous set was badly damaged. Also note that the
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first set was scratched off the sheet when it was no longer
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usable.
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STARTING CAPITAL
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Each corporation starts with some working capital. In our
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group's case, it's $250,000. This money will be used to build
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vehicles, repair damage, purchase hand weapons, and provide Gold
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G\Cross Coverage for your key team members. In addition, the
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money can be used to buy characters from other teams -- just like
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in professional sports today. If you run out of money, you go
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bankrupt -- a dirty topic that will be discussed alter.
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A central balance sheet should be set up to show all money that
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flows through your corporation. It should record the date of the
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transaction and the amount. It is vital that this sheet be
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accurately maintained.
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USING CORPORATE MONEY
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Corporate money comes from only one source -- prize money. Prize
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money is awarded for a first, second, or third place team finish
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in an event. Note that each character who survives an event in a
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conscious state will receive survivor money, but this amount is
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awarded directly to the characters and is recorded on the
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individual record sheet. Any other sort of prize is recorded on
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the Corporate Balance Sheet.
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Corporate money can only be used for a few specific items. New
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vehicles may be purchased, and old ones can be repaired. Body
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armor and hand weapons can be bought for team members, and Gold
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Cross coverage can be arranged for any or all members of the
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team. loans can be made to other corporations, and bets can be
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made between groups as well. You can also buy characters from
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other teams to replace dead members, but you cannot replace
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injured members. You can fire team members, too, but they cannot
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be replaced until the end of the season. You cannot buy members
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to exceed the 18 character limit, either.
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SETTING UP A SCHEDULE
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Let's assume that you and several of your friends have now set up
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their corporations. Next you need a schedule. One person in the
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group (the president, if your club is that structured) should be
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in charge of setting the schedule and determining the events.
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The events should be of the type that all the players can afford
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to play in (no $500,000 events if only on e corporation has that
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much money), and should be scheduled so that at least three
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corporations can participate. You can name any arena or track,
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any combination of vehicles, any number of characters, and any
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sort of special rules you want.
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USING YOUR TEAM
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You should now have your team of characters created, your game
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schedule set, and your balance sheet prepared. Time to fight!
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You've decoded to enter the duel coming up next week. The
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schedule says:
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Arena Event
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$20,000 -- 2 Cars
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Armadillo Arena
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First, you should choose the characters you want to use int his
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event. Then, you should select two cars whose total cost does not
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exceed $20,000. There are two ways to pay for these cars:
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Use Corporate Money. In this case, the cost is deducted from the
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Balance Sheet, and the cars become the property of the
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corporation if the survive the event. The corporation can the do
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what it wants -- pay to have it repaired, sell it for salvage, or
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just keep it in inventory as is. It cannot be used by any of
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your characters for non-corporation purposes.
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Use a Character's Money. In this case, an individual character
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buys the vehicle out of his or her own personal savings. (It's
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not likely that an individual will have the money for this until
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late in a season -- remember, the corporation cannot loan money
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to a character.) Even though the purchase price may be lower,
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use the original price for determining eligibility for the even.
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When a character buys a vehicle, the cost is deducted from his
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character sheet, the vehicle is added to the personal belongings
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list, and the car is his to use outside the arena, if he wishes.
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Also, the individual is responsible for ammo and repair costs --
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the corporation cannot pay those for him.
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CORPORATE EVENTS
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Corporate events are those in which three or more corporations
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are involved. At the BDAA, we have a schedule which is put
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together three months in advance, with a duel about every other
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week. The events range from cycle only arena combat right up to
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the ever-popular $300,000 Gasso Invitational Rid Duel, usually
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held in July. We also try to include some specialty evens like
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low-tech combat, slalom events, death matches, off-road chases
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and the like.
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CORPORATE SCORING SYSTEM
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At the end of each duel, points are awarded to each corporation
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that participated. First place gets 5 points, second place gets
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3 points, third place gets two points, and all other participants
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get 1 point. This system encourages attendance, because even
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teams that get eliminated early come away with something. At the
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end of each duel, complete corporate standings are updated, so
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everyone can see where they stand.
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CORPORATE PRIZES
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Corporate standings and individual prestige are well and good,
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but corporate autodueling is a business -- as a corporation
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president, you're in this for the money. Your characters already
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know that you can't last forever on the highway, and you can't
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make a very good living out of driving courier jobs all your
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life. The corporate arena is a perilous land of opportunity
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reserved for the best of the highwaymen.
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The total cash pot for any given event is very easy to calculate.
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It's the total number of teams participating times the team
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budget. If five teams participate in a $30,000 event (for
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example), the total cash prize is $150,000.
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Only the top three finishing corporations get any money. The
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first place team gets 50 of the pot, second place gets 30%, and
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the third place team gets 20%.
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In addition, all characters who are not killed or knocked
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unconscious get "survivor's money." This is not a great amount,
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only $1,500 per character ($3,000 if the total cash pot exceeds
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half a million dollars), but it gives characters a chance to
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improve their personal equipment without tapping corporate funds.
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A character who surrenders or leaves the arena while the duel is
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still on also receives the survivor's money.
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VICTORY CONDITIONS
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Special victory conditions can be set up for any event. But for
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standard arena battles, we use a formula that takes into account
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not only how many kills a team racks up, but how many of a team's
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vehicles and characters survive the battle.
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The formula is a weighted one. Vehicle Kills are worth 50
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Victory Points (VPs) number of surviving vehicles are worth 30
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points, and number of surviving characters are worth 20 points.
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Each participating team will get some percentage of the available
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points in each category. In the two survival categories, it's
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simply a matter of percentages. If you entered an event with two
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cars and one survived, you would receive 50%of the available 30
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points -- 15. If you entered the event with 5 characters and 3
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survived, you would receive 60% of the available 20 points -- 12.
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The Vehicles Killed category is a little more complicated. The
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team with the top number of kills gets a 100% score, good for the
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entire 50 points, and the other teams get a percentage based on
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the ratio of their kills to that top number.
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Example: Four corporations (A through D) enter an arena event,
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with each corporation entering three vehicles and five
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characters. At the end of the event, they finished like this:
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Corporation A: 2 kills, 2 surviving vehicles, 4
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surviving characters.
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Corporation B: 3 kills, 1 surviving vehicle, 2 surviving
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characters.
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Corporation C: 0 kills, 1 surviving vehicle, 3 surviving
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characters.
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Corporation D: 2 kills, 1 surviving vehicle, 3 surviving
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characters
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In the Vehicles Killed category, B set the pace with 3 kills, so
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they get the full 50 points. A and D both got 2 kills, so they
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get 2/3 of the 50, which is 33 (always round to the nearest whole
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number). C got 0 kills and 0 points.
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In the Surviving Vehicles category, A gets 2/3 of 30 -- 20
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points, and the other 3 corporations get 10 points (1/3 of 30).
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And in the Surviving Characters category. A leads with 4/5 of 20
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points -- 16; C and D receive 3/5 of 20 -- 12; and B gets 2/5 of
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20 -- 8 points.
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Totalling the scores, we get:
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Corporation A: 33+20+16 = 69 points
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Corporation B: 50+10+ 8 = 68 points
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Corporation C: 0+10+12 = 22 points
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Corporation D: 33+10+12 = 55 points
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Even though Corporation B scored the most kills, A won the match
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by keeping more vehicles and characters alive. This tends to
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keep people from engaging in suicide attacks and throwing away
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people and equipment.
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CORPORATE BANKRUPTCY
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Unfortunately, there are some teams that just can't keep their
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collective heads above water. Bankruptcy is the technical term,
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and it occurs when you run out of money. If the budget for the
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next event is more than the money you've got left, you have a
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couple of options. You can enter the event underbudgeted, and
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take your chances against more powerful foes; or you can skip the
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event, and also raise money in other ways, including selling off
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equipment, selling characters, or making side bets.
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If you do go bankrupt, you can start again with a brand new
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corporation immediately. This new corporation does not get any
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characters, however; you'll have to bid on the "free agent"
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characters that used to belong to the bankrupt corporation.
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Minimum bid is $5,000, and the other corporations may join the
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bidding if they have room on their rosters.
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YEAR-END OPTIONS
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At the end of the season (around early April for us), we hold a
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meeting of the BDAA. This meeting has a number of purposes,
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including recognizing the corporate champion of the previous
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season. But the most important event is the Player Trading
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Session.
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In the Player Trading Session, corporations can swing any deals
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t\among themselves that they wish, trading players and money in
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any combination. In addition, corporations may cut unproductive
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or unwanted players. These cut players are bid on in an action,
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with the money going to the team that cut the character (the
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corporation that cut the character may not bid on him). Any
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empty roster spots at the end of all this may be filled with
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100-skill point characters, as detailed at the beginning of this
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article.
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PRESTIGE ROLLBACK
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After a year of play, it's quite possible that you may have
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players with a ridiculously high amount of prestige. This can be
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a small problem as it gives older corporations a distinct
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advantage over a new corporation. After one such season, the BDAA
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devised a system which will "roll back" a star's prestige.
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Instead of carrying over a character's prestige from the previous
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season, determine his new prestige by the following formula:
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+1 for each vehicle kill
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+2 for being an ace
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+4 for being a double ace or better
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+1 for every event participated in
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+1 for every year experience
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-1 for every time the character died
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Example: Mad Fred Lincoln has a prestige of 75 at the end of the
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year, making him a very popular duelist. During the off-season,
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though, the inevitable whispering about Fred being "over the
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hill" starts up, and with Fred out of the public eye, his
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prestige will drop.
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But Fred has had a very impressive career. He's got 24 vehicle
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kills (24 points), which makes him a quadruple ace (4 points).
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In his three years (3 points), he has fought in 28 events (28
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points) and had to use Gold Cross services four times (-4
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points). His new prestige entering the next season is 55.
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I hope you have as much fun with this system as we have. Happy
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duelling!
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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Another file downloaded from: The NIRVANAnet(tm) Seven
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& the Temple of the Screaming Electron Taipan Enigma 510/935-5845
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Burn This Flag Zardoz 408/363-9766
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realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 510/527-1662
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Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 801/278-2699
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The New Dork Sublime Biffnix 415/864-DORK
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The Shrine Rif Raf 206/794-6674
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Planet Mirth Simon Jester 510/786-6560
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"Raw Data for Raw Nerves"
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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