TEXT: WAV
  Game Design by Chad Irby and Steve Jackson
  Additional Material by Aaron Allston, Stephen Beeman,
  Keith E. Carter, Scott Haring, David Ladyman,
  Charles Oines, Ken Scott and David N. Searle
  Cover by John Dismukes
  Illustrated by Dan Carroll, C. Bradford Gorby, Denis Loubet and Kim Strombo
  Loyd Blankenship, Managing Editor; Carl Anderson, Production Manager
  Layout and Typography by Monica Stephens
  Production by Carl Anderson and Don Arbuni
  Print Buying by Kerry Havas
  Playtesting, helpful comments and creative interference: Karen Bingham,
  Loyd Blankenship, Ian J. Brotzman, Christopher Burke, Carl Cravens, Scott Mercer,
  Mike Montgomery, Charles Oines, Mike Piacsek and Tim Ray
  Fourth Edition. Copyright © 1990 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Car Wars, AADA, Autoduel,
  Uncle Albert's and the all seeing pyramid are registered trademarks, and the AADA logo and Boat
  Wars are trademarks, of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
  INTRODUCTION 
  3
  Chronology 
  3
  System Support 
  4
  The AADA 
  4
  1. GETTING STARTED 
  5
  Game Setup 
  5
  The Game Maps 
  5
  Vehicle Selection 
  6
  The Referee 
  6
  2. MOVEMENT 
  7
  Movement Chart 
  7
  Straight-Line Movement 
  8
  Maneuvers and Speed Changes 
  8
  Using the Movement Chart 
  8
  ISBN 1-55634-185-7
  Acceleration and Deceleration 
  8
  Handling Class 
  9
  Handling Status 
  9
  Regaining Handling Status 
  9
  The Control Table 
  10
  Maneuvers 
  11
  Bend 
  11
  Drift 
  . 12
  Swerve 
  12
  Controlled Skid 
  12
  Bootlegger Reverse 
  13
  T-Stop 
  13
  Pivot 
  14
  Deceleration 
  14
  Evening-Out 
  14
  Reverse Movement 
  14
  1 2 
  3 4 5 6 7
  10
  STEVE JACKSON GAMES
  
  Fishtail 
  14
  Hazards and Road Conditions 
  15
  Tire Blowouts 
  15
  Banked Curves 
  15
  Jumping and Falling 
  15
  The Crash Tables 
  17
  Crash Table Modifiers 
  17
  Crash Table Results 
  17
  Crash Table 1: Skids & Rolls 
  17
  Crash Table 2: Fishtails 
  18
  Collisions 
  18
  Collision Damage Table 
  19
  Collision Types 
  19
  "Conforming" Movement 
  19
  Collision Procedure 
  20
  Concussion from Rams (Optional) . . . . 21
  Fixed Objects 
  22
  Debris and Obstacles 
  22
  Off-Road Duelling 
  23
  Ditches and Gullies 
  24
  Water 
  24
  Jumping Out of Vehicles 
  24
  Rolling 
  24
  Pedestrian Movement 
  24
  3. COMBAT 
  25
  Rate of Fire 
  25
  General Combat Procedure 
  25
  Line of Fire 
  25
  Car Targeting 
  25
  Cycle Targeting 
  26
  Trike Targeting 
  26
  Rolling to Hit 
  26
  Targeting Modifiers 
  27
  Range 
  27
  Movement 
  27
  Vehicle Targets 
  27
  Specific Target 
  27
  Visibility 
  27
  Miscellaneous 
  27
  Damage 
  28
  Burst Effect 
  28
  Area Effect 
  28
  Recording Damage 
  28
  Damage Location 
  28
  Collision Damage 
  29
  Combat Results 
  30
  Injury to Drivers 
  30
  Fire and Explosion 
  30
  Odds and Ends 
  31
  Automatic Fire 
  31
  Dropped Weapons 
  32
  Paint and Smoke 
  33
  Linked Weapons 
  33
  Hand Weapons 
  34
  Range 
  34
  Firing Penalties and Bonuses 
  34
  Grenades 
  34
  Buildings 
  36
  Breaches and Collapsing Buildings . . . . 36
  Cover 
  37
  Height Modifications 
  37
  Missed Shots 
  37
  4. CHARACTERS 
  38
  Skills 
  38
  Beginning Skills 
  38
  Earning Skill Points 
  38
  General Skill Points 
  39
  Spending Points to Improve Skills . . . . 39
  Using Skills 
  39
  Contests of Skill 
  39
  Skill Descriptions 
  40
  Prestige 
  42
  Wealth 
  43
  Pedestrians 
  43
  Pedestrian Movement 
  43
  Equipment and Encumbrance 
  44
  Combat 
  44
  Pedestrians and Vehicles 
  45
  Pedestrian Equipment 
  45
  Hand Weapon List 
  47
  5. VEHICLE DESIGN 
  48
  Cars 
  48
  Body Types 
  48
  Armor Types 
  48
  Chassis 
  49
  Suspension 
  49
  Power Plants 
  49
  Range with Electric Power Plants 
  50
  Tires 
  50
  Weapons 
  50
  The Human Element 
  50
  Cargo 
  51
  Acceleration & Top Speed 
  51
  Vehicle Diagram 
  51
  Repair and Salvage 
  52
  Modifying Vehicles 
  52
  Cycles 
  52
  Suspension 
  53
  Power Plants 
  53
  Tires 
  53
  Weapon Placement 
  53
  Cycle Accessories 
  53
  Trikes 
  53
  Construction 
  53
  Reversed Trikes 
  54
  Trike Combat 
  54
  6. WEAPONS 
  55
  7. ACCESSORIES 
  57
  8. SAMPLE VEHICLES 
  60
  9. SCENARIOS 
  62
  ABBREVIATIONS 
  63
  INDEX 
  63
  
  Introduction
  Since Car Wars was first released in
  1981, it's become one of the most popular
  adventure games ever written. This box is
  intended to be a basic rule set... to let you
  get into the world of Car Wars quickly.
  The rules in this set are 100% upward-
  compatible with the second edition of the
  Car Wars Compendium. In other words
  . . . if you want more rules and more detail,
  you can get the Compendium, and you
  won't have to "unlearn" anything.
  Chronology
  Car Wars is set 50 years in the future.
  The "now" of the Car Wars world moves
  ahead as the real world does. It was 2031
  when the game was first published. As
  these words are written, it is mid-2040. It's
  arough world . . . and "Drive Offensively"
  is its motto.
  2000: Federal government moves to na-
  tionalize dwindling supplies of oil and natu-
  ral gas production. Legislatures in Texas,
  Oklahoma and Louisiana react by seceding,
  and nationalize these resources themselves.
  Pitched battles with federal forces follow,
  resulting in the destruction of several
  oilfield sites on both sides of the newly-es-
  tablished border.
  2003: U.S. forces stopped in the hills of
  central Texas, ending bloody "Gulf or
  Bust" campaign. Rebel forces begin to re-
  take lost territory.
  2004: Texarkana Accords are signed,
  ending the Second Civil War. Oklahoma,
  Texas and Louisiana become three separate
  sovereign nations, referred to as the Free
  Oil States.
  2012: Grain blight breaks out in Ne-
  braska, spreading rapidly to neighboring
  areas. A simultaneous blight takes root in
  the Ukraine. Accusations fly, charging de-
  liberate biological war, followed by nuclear
  warheads. To everyone's surprise, satellite
  defenses stop most of the missiles. Mean-
  while, the world's stock of grains, exclud-
  ing barley and sesame, has been dev-
  astated. Severe food shortages spring up
  across the globe. The U.S. is in better
  short-term shape than most, since the blight
  apparently has no effect on foods with pre-
  servatives in them.
  2016: The Food Riots. "Fortress"
  towns develop. National government fails
  to keep order throughout much of the U.S.
  2018: Gangs rule most of the U.S. out-
  side of the fortress towns. Country real es-
  tate becomes worthless; algae farms make
  up lost food production.
  2020: Many large cities totally aban-
  doned. National government regains au-
  thority but enforcement decentralized.
  Economy weak but stable, with food ra-
  tioned and unemployment at 37%.
  2022: Supreme Court decision decrimi-
  nalizes manslaughter in arena games.
  "Death sports" become popular. Televi-
  sion becomes nation's number-two indus-
  try, just after food production.
  2023: "Crazy Joe" Harshman wins
  Fresno destruction derby by mounting a
  surplus .50-caliber machine gun in his
  Chevy. Term "autoduelling" first used by
  sportswriters.
  2024: Armadillo Autoduel Arena opens
  on site of former shopping mall in Austin,
  Texas.
  2025: Autoduelling becomes most popu-
  lar TV sport, edging out combat football
  and private wars. Eight more autoduel are-
  nas open in North America. The American
  Autoduel Association (AADA) is formed.
  2026: Utah autoduellists form vigilante
  group to counter Badlands cycle gangs.
  AADA holds first sanctioned "National
  Championship" in Austin, Texas. AADA
  also begins issuing area advisories and help-
  ing duellists organize against cycle gangs
  and other hazards, upsetting local police
  forces.
  2027: Police admit inability to deal with
  duellist-armed vehicles in highway use. In-
  formal duels increase in numbers.
  2028: Many localities legalize vehicular
  weaponry of a "defensive nature" — very
  loosely defined. Duelling outside city limits
  Introduction
  
  now legal in 14 states and tolerated in most
  others.
  2029: A variety of weapons becomes
  available as "factory options" on all U.S.
  makes of cars and several imports.
  2030: Statistics show "smash-and-
  grab" cycle and car gangs much reduced.
  Rural real estate begins to rise in value.
  Law-enforcement officials credit vehicular
  weaponry of private citizens, but most point
  out that "The gangs that are left are now
  better armed than we are . . .". Autoduell-
  ing now legal in 39 states, as well as the
  Free Oil States.
  2033: Autoduel Quarterly, "The Jour-
  nal of the American Autoduel Associa-
  tion," is first published. Autoduelling now
  legal in all 47 states in the U.S., as well as
  Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, most Cana-
  dian provinces, the Republic of Quebec,
  Australia and Mexico.
  2036: Gas-powered racing and duelling
  events begin to grow in popularity.
  2037: Armed and armored boats be-
  come popular among coast-dwellers. Piracy
  rises dramatically but drops again by the
  end of the year as more and more boats
  have "defensive" modifications added.
  2038: AADA recognizes boats and
  other watercraft events.
  2040: In response to the increasing num-
  ber of "sport" flyers armed with duel
  weaponry, the AADA sponsors several
  "aeroduel" events on a trial basis.
  System
  Support:
  With over 200,000 copies of Car Wars
  sold since its 1981 release, and over a mil-
  lion and a half Car Wars products of all
  kinds now in print, the game has a huge
  base of players. Steve Jackson Games pro-
  vides several different kinds of support for
  the world of Car Wars, and we are always
  interested in your suggestions.
  Nearly 50 different Car Wars supple-
  ments have been published, including both
  "straight" rules material and the AADA
  Road Atlas and Survival Guide roleplaying
  series. While some supplements are out of
  print, many are still available. Check at
  your local hobby store.
  Autoduel Quarterly
  Autoduel Quarterly is the official Car
  Wars magazine. It appears four times a
  year, with new rules and variants, scenarios,
  background information, fiction, and other
  Car Wars material. If you can't get it at your
  hobby store, write Steve Jackson Games for
  subscription information. Our address is
  Box 18957, Austin, Texas 78760-8957.
  The llluminati BBS
  For computer users, SJ Games runs a
  multi-line bulletin board with an active Car
  Wars discussion area. The number is 512-
  447-4449; you can log in at 300, 1200, or
  2400 baud, 24 hours a day. This is another
  good place to get news about new releases.
  Errata Support
  Errata sheets for Car Wars products arc
  available free from Steve Jackson Games;
  please enclose a long stamped self-ad-
  dressed envelope with your request. If you
  locate new errata, please let us know!
  Jlillllk
  The AADA
  The American Autoduel Association is
  an international network of official Car
  Wars clubs. Check Autoduel Quarterly for
  a list of existing chapters you can join, and
  information on starting one of your own.
  The AADA has two yearly World Champi-
  onship events: duelling, with the finals at
  Origins, and racing, with the finals at Gen-
  Con. Any AADA member can enter.
  There are other benefits open only to
  AADA chapters, so write us for more infor-
  mation.
  4
  Introduction
  
  1. Getting Started
  In order to play Car Wars, you will need
  this set; several 6-sidcd dice; pencil and
  paper; and a table big enough to play on.
  The game can be played solo, but is
  more fun with an opponent. It is probably
  best with 4 to 6 players. A game with over
  8 players can take a very long time.
  Dice
  Car Wars uses 6-sided dice only. These
  rules use abbreviations to indicate what dice
  are to be rolled. For instance, "2d" means
  "2 dice." "2d-l" means "roll 2 dice and
  subtract 1 from the result." "3d+2" means
  "roll 3 dice and add 2." And so on.
  Some weapons do "Vid" of damage, or
  a ' 'half-die.'' This means to roll one die and
  divide the result by 2, rounding up.
  Game Setup
  To start playing Car Wars:
  (a) Decide what sort of scenario you
  want to play (see p. 62). Spread out one of
  the maps — we recommend that you tape it
  down — or draw up a map of your own.
  (b) Select vehicles. Make a record sheet
  for each car. Pick a counter (or a miniature
  or model) for it. Set beginning speed and
  handling status for each vehicle. Mark them
  on the record sheet or a piece of paper.
  (c) Roll for each driver's reflexes (see
  Handling Class, p. 9). Reflexes of charac-
  ters other than drivers do not count.
  (d) Place all vehicles in starting position
  — and go!
  The Game Maps
  This set includes two different maps, de-
  scribed below. Players can create their own
  maps. See Scenarios, p. 62, for more infor-
  mation.
  Arena Map
  This arena has six gates. The heavy
  black areas are concrete walls. Cars can't
  cross them, and pedestrians can't climb
  them. They have 80 DP (damage points —
  see pp. 28 and 36) which means that noth-
  ing can shoot through them and almost
  nothing can crash through.
  The black squares marked with a B are
  pedestrian bunkers. Any pedestrian who
  can enter the white "notch" on the side is
  automatically safe (but out of the event).
  The white areas represent low walls.
  Vehicles may shoot over these walls but
  may not cross them (treat as a regular wall
  in case of a collision). A pedestrian may
  cross a low wall without stopping. A pedes-
  trian who lies down behind a low wall can-
  not be hit by shots fired from the other side.
  To change the arena, treat the low walls
  as regular walls — or the regular walls as
  low walls — or both.
  Racetrack Map
  The racetrack map can be used for sce-
  narios in which cars have to follow a certain
  path or complete a certain number of laps.
  The winner is the first one to complete the
  path, regardless of what condition he's in
  when he finishes! Before the game starts,
  decide whether the track will be used in
  "oval" or "figure-8" configuration.
  The boundaries of the racetrack are
  heavy walls with 80 DP. Cars cannot see or
  shoot through them. The dashed lines at in-
  tersections are merely lines on the road, and
  don't affect movement or combat.
  The black dots at the road-forks repre-
  sent crash barriers. If a car hits one of these,
  it takes only half damage.
  Highway Chases
  The racetrack map may also be used for
  highway scenarios. Most such scenarios in-
  volve pursuit. When the lead car in a pur-
  suit comes to a fork in the road, ignore it if
  the angle is more than 90 degrees, and take
  the straightcr path. If it is less than 90 de-
  grees, roll one die. On a 1-2, the leader
  takes the right path. On a 3-4, the leader
  takes the left path. On a 5-6, the leader can
  choose which he wants. Other cars must
  follow or be lost.
  When a fork appears and a 6 is rolled,
  the pursuing player can take 6 debris mark-
  Getting Started
  
  ers and drop them in front of the lead car
  from a foot over the map. Any that lands
  closer to 6" from the lead car is dropped
  again, to give him a chance to avoid it!
  The gray Vi" areas at the edge of the
  road are shoulders in a highway game. At
  the players' option, the shoulders may have
  no effect... or they may give +D1 to any
  maneuver . . . or worse. A car that leaves
  the shoulder is "off-road" — see p. 23.
  Vehicle Selection
  The "stock car shopping list" (see Chap-
  ter 8, Sample Vehicles) gives several vehi-
  cles designed according to the construction
  rules (see Chapter 5, Vehicle Design). You
  will want to use "stock" cars the first few
  times you play. A sample car description:
  Hotshot: Luxury, x-hvy. chassis, hvy.
  suspension, super power plant, 4 puncture-
  resistant tires, driver, 2 MGs linked front, 2
  FTs linked back, 1 FT right, 1 FT left,
  Armor F20, RIO, L10, B20, T10, U10.
  Fire ext. Accel. 5, top speed 100, HC 3;
  6,600, $14,600.
  Options: Remove any or all flamethrow-
  ers and replace with MGs. Each FT replaced
  by an MG saves enough weight to allow an
  extra 30 points of armor. For each FT re-
  placed by an MG and 30 points of armor, the
  cost goes up by $ 1,350. One rear FT may be
  replaced by a minedropper and 30 points of
  armor, at an extra cost of $850.
  Explanation: Car size is given first; then
  chassis, suspension, power plant and tires.
  The number of people the car can hold is
  given. Weapons are listed, with the position
  in which each is mounted. Next is the num-
  ber of armor points on each of the vehicle's
  six sides: Front, Right, Left, Back, Top and
  Underbody. Accessories are listed last. Ac-
  celeration and handling class are explained
  in Chapter 2. Weight is a vehicle's total
  weight with all seats filled and a full load of
  ammunition. Price is the vehicle's "sticker
  cost," and includes a full load of ammo.
  Options are quick changes a player can
  make in a car; they've already been
  checked. If no price differential is given, an
  option does not change a car's cost. Note
  that some changes (e.g., computers, differ-
  ent suspensions) affect only a car's price —
  not its weight or available space.
  After a car is selected, make up a record
  sheet for it as shown. This will show any
  modifications, options, ammo remaining,
  damage taken, etc., in a pictorial fashion.
  The sample record sheet below shows a
  Hotshot (stock, no options) after a brief
  combat. All the armor on the right side has
  been destroyed, and the right FT has taken
  1 hit of damage. The right front tire has
  taken 3 hits, and the front armor has taken 4
  hits. There is no other damage. The front
  MGs have fired three times each, and the
  right FT has fired twice (shown by tally
  marks). The driver has no body armor, so
  he can take only 3 hits — therefore he is
  shown with only three damage boxes.
  The Referee
  A referee is never necessary. However,
  especially in a multi-player game, it can be
  good to have an arbiter and Game Master.
  The referee has three functions:
  (1) He is the final arbiter of the rules. He
  may also double-check players' records,
  and has the final say one what bonuses the
  characters get while firing, etc.
  (2) He keeps the movement chart, telling
  each player when to move his vehicle(s).
  (3) In an arena scenario, he can serve as
  master of the arena, determining the sce-
  nario and setting prizes.
  Refereeing can be as much fun as play-
  ing. Likewise, a big scenario moves faster,
  and is more fun, with a good ref to provide
  sports commentary and arbitration.
  Getting Started
  
  2. Movemen
  The road sections and maps used in Car
  Wars are marked with a square grid to con-
  trol movement. The scale is Kiso; one inch
  equals 15 feet. The heavy lines are 1" (15
  feet) apart. The light lines are VA" (3.75 feet)
  apart. Each turn represents one second.
  Each turn is divided into five "phases" of
  1/5 second each.
  A vehicle's speed determines both how
  many times it will move each turn and when
  it will move, as shown on the Movement
  Chart below. There arc five "phases" dur-
  ing each turn. During each phase, vehicles
  of certain speeds may move. For instance,
  vehicles going 30 mph will move 1" during
  phases 1, 3 and 5, as shown by the " l " s on
  the chart.
  If a car is moving at an "even" speed
  (10, 20, 30 mph, etc.) below 60 mph, then
  all its moves will be "ordinary" 1" moves
  during which it may maneuver. These are
  shown by a " 1" on the chart.
  If a vehicle is moving at an "odd" speed
  (5, 15, 25 mph, etc.), then one of its moves
  each turn will be a "half-move." The vehicle
  must move straight ahead Yi", and cannot
  maneuver. {Exception: See Pivot, p. 14.)
  Vehicles traveling more than 50 mph
  will move more than 1" in some phases. In
  the phases marked by a " 2 " on the Move-
  Speed
  0
  5
  10
  15
  20
  25
  30
  35
  40
  45
  50
  55
  60 
  ;
  65 
  ;
  70 
  ;
  75 
  ;
  so 
  :
  85 
  ;
  90 
  ;
  95 
  ;
  100 
  :
  105 
  :
  110 
  :
  115 
  :
  120 
  :
  125 
  :
  130 
  :
  135 
  :
  140 
  ;
  145 3
  1 
  :
  Vl
  1
  Vl
  I
  )
  >
  >
  ;
  ;
  2
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  1
  1
  1
  7
  2
  2
  Vl
  :
  ;
  :
  vi 
  :
  :
  :
  :
  :
  Movement Chart
  Vl
  Vl
  _
  IVl
  *
  1
  IVl 
  3
  3
  3
  3
  3
  4 
  <
  Vl
  1
  1
  1
  1
  1
  1
  1 
  ;
  1 
  :
  1 
  ;
  IVS 
  ;
  2 
  :
  2 
  :
  2 
  :
  2 
  :
  2 
  :
  Vz
  Vl
  2 
  2V>
  2 
  3
  2 
  3
  2 
  :
  2Vi 
  3
  Ram
  0
  ld-4
  ld-2
  ld-1
  Id
  Id
  Id
  2d
  3d
  4d
  5d
  6d
  7d
  8d
  9d
  lOd
  lid
  12d
  13d
  14d
  15d
  16d
  17d
  18d
  19d
  20d
  21d
  22d
  23d
  24d
  150
  155
  160
  165
  170
  175
  180
  185
  190
  195
  200
  205
  210
  215
  220
  225
  230
  235
  240
  245
  250
  255
  260
  265
  270
  275
  280
  285
  290
  295
  300
  Movement
  3
  3Vi
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4Vz
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5Vl
  6
  6
  6
  6
  6
  6
  6
  6
  6
  3
  3
  3
  3
  3
  3
  3
  3Vl
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  41-5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5Vl
  6
  6
  6
  3
  3
  3
  3Vi
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  AVi
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5Vi
  6
  6
  6
  6
  6
  6
  6
  3
  3
  3
  3
  3
  3
  3
  3
  3
  3Vl
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4V4
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  SVi
  6
  3
  3
  3
  3
  3
  M
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4
  4Vl
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  5
  SVl
  6
  6
  6
  6
  6
  25d
  26d
  27d
  28d
  29d
  30d
  31d
  32d
  33d
  34d
  35d
  36d
  37d
  38d
  39d
  40d
  41d
  42d
  43d
  44d
  45d
  46d
  47d
  48d
  49d
  50d
  51d
  52d
  53d
  54d
  55d
  7
  
  ment Chart, a vehicle must move 2". A
  vehicle traveling at an "odd" speed greater
  than 50 (55, 65, 75 mph, etc.) must make a
  half-move during the phase indicated by a
  " Vi," in addition to its other movement dur-
  ing that phase.
  Straight-Line Movement
  The basic move in Car Wars is a straight
  line — usually 1". Since the maps are
  gridded, it is easiest to figure movement
  when the cars travel in straight N-S or E-W
  lines. However, a vehicle's straight-line
  movement can be calculated precisely, even
  if it is moving at an angle to the grid lines.
  This is because each car counter is exactly
  1" long (the distance normally moved in
  one phase), while each cycle counter is Vi"
  long. By setting one counter in front of an-
  other, you can determine where each vehi-
  cle will go on a straight course — even if the
  vehicle isn't following N-S or E-W lines. A
  ruler, or the Turning Key (see p. 11), can
  also be used to keep a car going straight.
  Maneuvers and Speed Changes
  A vehicle may only make one maneuver
  per phase. A maneuver (see p. 11) replaces
  1" of ordinary forward movement. If a ve-
  hicle is moving at more than 1" per phase,
  the owner determines during which 1"
  move (if any) it will take its maneuver.
  Once per turn, at the beginning of a
  phase, a vehicle may either accelerate or
  decelerate any amount up to its maximum.
  This is done before any movement is made;
  the speed change is immediate. Any control
  rolls are made before movement as well; all
  Crash Table results are handled in this
  phase.
  Using the Movement Chart
  The referee should have a copy of the
  Movement Chart and a control marker rep-
  resenting each vehicle. This control marker
  is placed along the edge of the Movement
  Chart, at the number representing the
  vehicle's speed, and moved whenever the
  vehicle changes speeds. A marker is then
  placed at the top of the chart at Phase 1 and
  moved along. When a mark appears in the
  row for a vehicle's speed, that vehicle
  moves in that phase. The referee keeps
  track of this, calling out the moves; i.e.,
  "Phase3. Car 12 moves, then6, then 10."
  If a vehicle is moving at an uneven speed
  (e.g., 12.5 mph), its control marker is put
  between the bracketing speeds. It moves on
  the line below it, but goes only 1/4" in the
  half-move phase.
  Often, vehicles of different speeds will
  move during the same phase. For instance,
  all cars traveling 45 mph or faster will move
  in Phase 4. When vehicles move during the
  same phase, the faster one moves first. For
  vehicles traveling the same speed, the one
  whose driver has the faster reflexes (see
  Handling Class, p. 9) may choose when he
  wants to move.
  When vehicles are moving at high
  speeds in close quarters, it may be desirable
  to move the cars in alternating 1" incre-
  ments during each phase, until that phase's
  movement is done. Keep in mind that each
  vehicle is still limited to one maneuver per
  phase.
  A vehicle must move when the Move-
  ment Chart tells it to, and may never move
  at any other time.
  Acceleration
  and
  Deceleration
  At the beginning of each phase, any ve-
  hicle that has not accelerated or decelerated
  during previous phases of the turn may
  change speeds. A vehicle may only change
  speeds once per turn.
  Acceleration: A vehicle's maximum ac-
  celeration is determined when it is built; see
  p. 51.
  Deceleration: Any vehicle can deceler-
  ate up to 10 mph each turn without danger.
  Greater deceleration is possible, but risky
  (an Antilock Braking System, p. 59, helps).
  If control of a vehicle is lost due to rapid
  deceleration, roll on Crash Table 1 to deter-
  mine effects.
  Deceleration of 15 mph: Difficulty 1
  (Dl) maneuver (see Maneuvers, p. 11).
  Deceleration of 20 mph: D2 maneuver.
  Deceleration of 25 mph: D3 maneuver.
  Deceleration of 30 mph: D5 maneuver.
  8
  Movement
  
  Deceleration of 35 mph: D7 maneuver,
  and each tire takes 2 hits of damage (see
  Recording Damage, p. 28).
  Deceleration of 40 mph: D9 maneuver,
  and each tire takes Id damage.
  Deceleration of 45 mph: Dl 1 maneuver,
  and each tire takes ld+3 damage.
  Deceleration of more than 45 mph in
  one turn is impossible without special de-
  vices. Continue the pattern for progression
  of difficulty ratings.
  Handling
  Each vehicle has a handling class (HC)
  which determines how maneuverable it is.
  The higher the handling class, the easier it
  is for the driver to keep control. A vehicle's
  basic handling class is determined by its
  suspension (see p. 49). Some tires and ac-
  cessories can change HC.
  Handling class is modified as follows:
  Reflexes: Any vehicle driven by a char-
  acter with very good reflexes will have an
  improved handling class. At the beginning
  of each combat, every driver of a vehicle
  rolls 1 die. This is called a reflex roll. A 5
  or a 6 indicates exceptional reflexes. On a
  5, the HC of the vehicle is raised by 1 for
  the duration of the combat; on a 6 (or
  higher), the HC goes up by 2.
  Skill: The reflex roll can be modified by
  the skill of the character driving the vehicle
  (see Driver, p. 40). A Driver +2, for exam-
  ple, would get to add 2 to the die roll. The
  Cyclist skill is used when driving a motor-
  cycle.
  Attempting to drive a vehicle without the
  proper skill results in a penalty to the han-
  dling class (see specific skill descriptions).
  Lost tires or wheeb: Not only is losing a
  tire a hazard (see below), but it affects the
  vehicle's handling class permanently. All
  damage done to tires by maneuvers, debris,
  obstacles, spikes, mines, enemy gunfire,
  etc., is assessed against the damage points
  of the tire. If the final damage that destroys
  the tire comes from mines, grenades or
  enemy gunfire, then the entire wheel is con-
  sidered lost.
  A vehicle that loses all its wheels in one
  position (usually just one wheel, but 6-
  wheeled vehicles can have paired rear
  wheels) has its HC reduced by 3 perma-
  nently, starting on the next turn. If only the
  tirefs) are lost, HC drops by only 2. This
  loss will affect the number of points of han-
  dling status recovered each turn; see below.
  Any vehicle that loses wheels on two
  corners (or any trike or cycle that loses one
  wheel) goes to Crash Table 1. It can no
  longer steer, accelerate or brake. It must
  decelerate by 30 mph each turn.
  Handling
  Each vehicle record sheet includes a
  Handling Class chart, with a line for each
  game-turn. Mark on this chart (or keep
  track on a separate piece of paper) to show
  the vehicle's current handling status. This
  is a measure of how "in control" the vehi-
  cle is at that moment.
  Each vehicle starts with a handling sta-
  tus equal to its handling class, as modified
  by the driver's reflexes. Each maneuver or
  hazard reduces handling status — for in-
  stance, a D3 hazard reduces status by 3.
  And each time handling status goes down,
  the player must roll on the Control Table (p.
  10) to see if he loses control. If he loses
  control, he will have to roll on one of the
  Crash Tables (see pp. 17-18).
  Thus, frequent maneuvers, as much as
  extreme ones, lead to danger.
  Regaining Handling Status
  Each vehicle's handling status is ad-
  justed upward at the end of each turn — that
  is, once per second. This simulates the
  driver's ability to regain control of a vehicle
  over time. Increase handling status by a
  number equal to the vehicle's modified
  Handling Class (given by suspension type
  — see p. 49) plus the bonuses or penalties
  above. Thus, a vehicle with Handling Class
  2 and a Driver +1 would regain 3 points of
  handling status at the end of each turn.
  Each vehicle will always recover at least
  1 point of handling status at the end of each
  turn. However, a vehicle's handling status
  can never be adjusted above its starting
  Handling Class, as modified for the driver's
  skill and reflexes.
  Movement
  
  The Control Table
  Speed
  5-10
  15-20
  25-30
  35-40
  45-50
  55-60
  65-70
  75-80
  85-90
  95-100
  105-110
  115-120
  125-130
  135-140
  145-150
  155-160
  165-170
  175-180
  185-190
  195-200
  205-210
  215-220
  225-230
  235-240
  245-250
  255-260
  265-270
  275-280
  285-290
  295-300
  7
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  7
  6
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  2
  2
  3
  6
  S
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  2
  2
  3
  3
  4
  5
  4
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  Safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  2
  2
  3
  3
  4
  4
  5
  4
  3
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  Safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  2
  2
  3
  3
  4
  4
  5
  5
  6
  6
  3
  2
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  2
  2
  3
  3
  4
  4
  5
  5
  6
  6
  6
  XX
  XX
  2
  /
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  2
  2
  3
  3
  4
  4
  5
  5
  6
  6
  6
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  1
  0
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  2
  2
  3
  3
  4
  4
  5
  5
  6
  6
  6
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  0
  -1
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  2
  2
  3
  3
  4
  4
  5
  5
  6
  6
  6
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  -1
  -2
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  2
  2
  3
  3
  4
  4
  5
  5
  6
  6
  6
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  -2
  -3
  safe
  safe
  safe
  safe
  2
  3
  3
  4
  5
  5
  6
  6
  6
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  -3
  -4
  safe
  safe
  safe
  2
  3
  4
  4
  5
  5
  6
  6
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  -4
  -5
  safe
  2
  2
  3
  4
  4
  5
  5
  6
  6
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  -5
  -6
  2
  3
  4
  4
  5
  5
  6
  6
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  XX
  -6
  Modifier
  -3
  -2
  -1
  0
  + 1
  + 1
  +2
  +2
  +2
  +3
  +3
  +3
  + 4
  + 4
  +4
  +5
  +5
  +5
  + 6
  + 6
  + 6
  +7
  +7
  +7
  + 8
  + 8
  + 8
  +9
  + 9
  +9
  Whenever a vehicle makes a maneuver
  or undergoes a hazard that moves its han-
  dling status downward, a control roll may
  be necessary. Refer to the Control Table,
  above. Cross-index the handling status of
  your vehicle with its current speed. Han-
  dling status cannot get worse than -6, but a
  vehicle at -6 must still roll on the Control
  Table for each new maneuver or hazard.
  The table will give one of three results:
  "Safe," "XX," or a number.
  ' 'Safe'' means the vehicle is still safe; no
  roll is necessary.
  "XX" means a loss of control is un-
  avoidable. Go directly to the appropriate
  Crash Table. Crash Table 1 is used for ma-
  neuvers; Crash Table 2 is for hazards.
  If the table shows a number, it means that
  the driver may be able to keep control. Roll
  1 die; this is called a control roll. If you roll
  the number shown or higher, you keep con-
  trol of the car. If you roll lower, you lose
  control; go to the appropriate Crash Table.
  Crash Modifier: The last column on the
  Control Table is the "modifier" column. If
  you lose control of a vehicle for any reason,
  and go to the Crash Table, refer to this col-
  umn to get the Crash Modifier for your
  speed. The Crash Modifier will be added to
  your Crash Table roll. Low speeds have a
  negative Crash Modifier; high speeds are
  much more dangerous and have a positive
  Crash Modifier.
  Example: During one turn, a car travel-
  ing 60 mph attempts three maneuvers. Its
  handling class is 2, and it started the turn
  with a handling status of 2. The first maneu-
  ver is a "drift" (Difficulty 1, or Dl). Sub-
  tract 1 from handling status, reducing
  handling status to 1. Cross-indexing 60 mph
  10
  Movement
  
  and status 1, we see that no roll is required
  for control.
  The second maneuver is a "steep drift,"
  which is D3. Subtracting 3 from handling
  status moves it to -2. The table shows that a
  control roll is required; tlie player must roll
  a 2 or better.
  The third maneuver is another drift —
  Dl again. Subtract one more from handling
  status and roll again; this time a roll of 3 or
  better is needed.
  Maneuvers
  Any change of vehicle direction is called
  a maneuver. Each maneuver has a Difficulty
  Class, expressed as Dl for Difficulty 1, and
  so on. The more difficult a maneuver, tlie
  more it will reduce the veliicle's handling sta-
  tus, and the more likely the vehicle will skid,
  flip, etc. Maneuvers at low speed are easy.
  As speed goes up, the danger increases.
  Any time vehicle weapons arc fired on
  the same phase as a maneuver, tlie D value
  of the maneuver is subtracted from tlie to-hit
  roll. For example, a vehicle fires a machine
  gun (7 to hit) in the same phase it docs a
  steep drift (D3). The player rolls a 9, then
  subtracts 3 for a to-hit roll of 6 — a miss!
  Figures 1 through 8 show basic maneu-
  vers. Where no separate cycle diagram is
  shown, use the same diagrams, with tlie
  square cycle counter in place of tlie front
  half of the car.
  Bend
  The vehicle moves 1" forward, and then
  angles to one side, keeping one rear corner
  Figure 2 —
  Turning Key
  All maneuvers and Crash Table re-
  sults can use the turning key shown
  here. To make a maneuver, place the
  key next to the counter at tlie point that
  corresponds to the desired maneuver.
  Then move the vehicle along the edge
  of the turning key. Pictorial examples
  of all maneuvers and Crash Table re-
  sults are shown below.
  The turning key makes it possible to
  play on a gridless map, allowing play in
  any scale (toy cars, Vin scale models,
  100% scale, etc.). All you need is a
  properly scaled turning key.
  Movement
  11
  
  in the same place. Figure 1 shows bends
  from 15° to 75°. A 90° bend, of course, is
  a right-angle turn.
  Bends are a Dl maneuver for every 15°
  of the bend, as shown below. See Figures
  2b and 2c for examples of bends performed
  with a Turning Key.
  Difficulty Ranges
  Up to 15° — Dl
  16 to 30° - D2
  31 to 45° — D3
  46 to 60° — D4
  61 to 75° — D5
  76 to 90° — D6
  Drift
  The vehicle moves 1" forward and Vi"
  (or less) to either side, while facing the
  same direction. This is a Dl maneuver. A
  vehicle can also do a Sleep Drift, moving
  1" forward and between Vt," and Vi" to one
  side. This is a D3 maneuver. See Figure 3.
  Figure 2a shows a drift performed with
  a Turning Key.
  Figure 3 — Drifts
  Drift (Dl)
  1
  /
  /
  /
  O
  ! ^
  si
  /
  ~i
  Steep Drift (D3)
  /
  1
  R
  i°i
  R
  !o
  1
  I
  /
  /
  Swerve
  The swerve is a Hi" drift, followed by an
  angle turn as for a bend, all in tlie same
  phase. The bend must be in the opposite di-
  rection from the drift. A swerve has the dif-
  ficulty of the equivalent bend, plus 1. The
  drift must be performed before the bend.
  Figure 4 shows a swerve made up of a
  drift to the right followed by a 30° bend to
  the left.
  ~ 
  I r
  Figure A —
  Swerve
  " This swerve is
  made up of a drift
  to the right (dotted
  outline) followed
  by a 30° bend,
  without further for-
  ward movement, to
  the left.
  Controlled Skid
  To perform a controlled skid, make any
  bend or swerve in the regular manner, and
  then immediately declare how far you wish
  to skid. Assess the difficulty of the com-
  bined maneuver (see below) and make a
  control roll if necessary.
  If control is maintained, perform tlie
  skid on your next move. Start by "skid-
  ding" for tlie chosen distance: without
  changing tlie direction in which tlie car is
  going, move it in tlie direction it was travel-
  ing before the original maneuver. If the skid
  was less than 1", move the rest of the inch
  straight ahead. For example, on a VA" skid,
  you would skid for J V , then move VV'
  straight ahead. See Figure 5, p. 13.
  Deliberate skids increase the difficulty
  of the bend or swerve that begins the skid.
  They also cause weapons-fire modifiers,
  slow down the vehicle and can damage its
  tires.
  1/4" skid — Adds +D1 to tlie difficulty
  of tlie bend or swerve, -1 to aimed weapons
  fire, no deceleration, no tire damage.
  Vi" skid — +D2 difficulty, -3 to aimed
  weapons fire, -5 mph deceleration, no tire
  damage.
  Vt" skid 
  f-D3 difficulty, -6 to aimed
  weapons fire, -5 mph deceleration, 1 point
  damage to each tire.
  1" skid — +D4 difficulty, aimed weap-
  ons fire prohibited for the rest of tlie turn,
  -10 mph deceleration, 2 points damage to
  each tire.
  12
  Movement
  
  The tire damage is ap-
  plied immediately after
  the skid. Handling status
  is reduced and a control
  roll is made (if necessary)
  after the maneuver but
  before the skid. Any de-
  celeration is applied at
  the beginning of" the next
  phase.
  The 
  weapons-fire
  modifiers are lower on
  this chart because this is a
  controlled (instead of un-
  controlled) skid.
  Bootlegger Reverse
  This is a special ma-
  neuver — the old moon-
  shiner's trick of using a
  controlled skid to reverse
  direction. Police depart-
  ments call it the "J-turn."
  It works, but it's dangerous.
  To attempt a bootlegger reverse, a vehi-
  cle must start the turn at between 20 and 35
  mph. It can't slow to 35 and then try a
  reverse, all in one turn.
  Figure 6 shows the bootlegger reverse.
  On the phase that a vehicle starts the re-
  verse, it skids from A to B. This is a D7
  maneuver, and does 1 point of damage to
  each tire. If the vehicle makes its Control
  Roll, it will automatically go to C on its next
  movement phase, and stop (speed goes to
  0), facing the way it came. Properly exe-
  cuted on a road, the J-turn leaves you in the
  correct lane for your new direction!
  If it goes out of control and/or loses a
  tire, it will roll or skid sideways next phase,
  in the direction shown by the heavy arrow,
  and will lose speed only as dictated by the
  roll or skid result.
  Figure 5 -
  Bend and
  Controlled
  Skid
  I 
  > I 
  I I
  From the original position -
  (A), the car executes a 45° bend
  to reach B. The driver announces
  that he wants to make a W con-
  trolled skid; if necessary, he
  makes a control roll. This ends
  the first phase of movement.
  On his next phase, assuming
  the control roll succeeded, he skids W to
  C. He is moving in his original direction,
  while keeping the car pointed in his new di- |-
  rection. After the skid ends, he moves his
  remaining 1/4" straight ahead to D.
  - F
  i r f
  -— — -
  1
  iB
  I
  HM4-
  4-
  Rn
  - ^
  n n
  'n'
  ap -
  —
  Once a vehicle begins a J-turn, it cannot
  fire aimed weapons until it stops moving
  (the occupants are too busy). Weapons on
  automatic (see Automatic Fire, p. 31) will
  still fire. Cycles and oversized vehicles can-
  not try this maneuver. No other maneuvers
  (skids, swerves, etc.) can be combined with
  a bootlegger.
  T-Stop
  This is an extreme maneuver used for
  emergency deceleration. It consists of rotat-
  ing your car 90° to either side and moving
  forward one inch — identical to beginning a
  roll. See Figure 7. The car then continues
  skidding sideways until it slows to a halt.
  The vehicle decelerates 20 mph per inch
  of movement. Each tire will take 1 point of
  damage for every full 20 mph of speed lost,
  immediately after each movement phase.
  The difficulty of this ma-
  neuver is a DI for every
  10 mph of deceleration,
  and the control roll is
  made when the maneuver
  is begun.
  If the control roll is
  missed, add 1 to the Crash
  Table roll for every 20
  mph (or fraction thereof)
  of deceleration — in addi-
  Movement
  13
  
  Fi( JUI- e 7
  •BOB-
  —
  T - S t o p
  .*t
  Bo
  ©!
  tion to the regular speed modifier (based on
  the vehicle's original speed) on the Control
  Table.
  Once a vehicle starts a T-Stop, it can't
  fire aimed weapons. Only vehicles which
  start the turn between 20 and 35 mph can
  perform a T-Stop.
  Pivot
  This maneuver can be made only by a
  vehicle moving at 5 mph. To pivot, a vehi-
  cle (a) moves 14" in a straight line, and (b)
  keeps one rear corner fixed at the same
  point, while pivoting about that corner any
  amount in any direction. This is
  a DO maneuver, due to the low
  speed. A vehicle traveling 5
  mph may choose between this
  maneuver and the normal Vi"
  half-move in a straight line.
  Deceleration
  Rapid deceleration counts as
  a maneuver. Handling status is
  adjusted at the beginning of the
  phase — when the deceleration is
  announced — and the control roll
  is made at the original speed. All
  this must happen before the vehi-
  cle can move or fire on that
  phase.
  Evening-Out
  After coming out of a ma-
  neuver parallel to the grid lines,
  a counter may be moved a frac-
  tion of a square in any direction
  (owner's choice) to get it ex-
  actly on the grid lines. This does
  not affect speed or handling,
  and is a DO maneuver.
  Reverse Movement
  Any vehicle except a
  cycle may move in re-
  verse at up to Vs of its
  top speed. A vehicle
  cannot go from forward
  to backward speed (or
  vice versa) without
  stopping for one turn.
  Acceleration rules are
  the same as for forward
  movement. Any maneuver may be made in
  reverse; the difficulty class is one higher.
  A cycle may be pushed backwards by
  the cyclist at 2.5 mph.
  Fishtail
  A fishtail cannot be chosen as a deliber-
  ate maneuver, for two reasons. One is that
  a fishtail combined with a bend is very sim-
  ilar to a tighter bend, and is virtually identi-
  cal to a swerve. The second is that a 90°
  bend combined with a major fishtail can re-
  sult in a controlled 120° turn — not very
  14
  Movement
  
  reasonable. Thus, the only fishtails are
  Crash Table results.
  To perform a fishtail on the square grid,
  hold one front corner still, and move the
  opposite rear corner 14" or Vi", as appropri-
  ate, on the opposite direction. See Figure 8a.
  To perform a fishtail using the turning
  key, line the vehicle up with the 15° bend
  (for a V4- fishtail) or the 30° bend (for a Vi"
  fishtail. Keeping the front corner motion-
  less next to the key, pivot the vehicle so it
  lines up with the next angle of the turning
  key. See Figure 8b; position A is the origi-
  nal location of the car, and position B is its
  location after the fishtail, lined up with the
  turning key along the dotted line.
  Hazards
  and Road
  Conditions
  Hazards are outside events (enemy fire,
  for instance) that can affect vehicles. They
  are treated like maneuvers — each one has
  a difficulty rating.
  Each enemy attack produces a separate
  hazard. If a vehicle is struck by three weap-
  ons in one turn, each attack would move the
  handling marker down and require a sepa-
  rate die roll on the Control Table. Mines are
  "enemy fire." Spikes, debris, obstacles,
  etc., are not.
  Road conditions (like oil, ice or rain)
  present no danger in themselves but add to
  the difficulty of any hazard or maneuver the
  vehicle undergoes. A few road conditions
  (such as banked curves) can reduce the dif-
  ficulty of maneuvers.
  Hazards
  Hitting curb, obstacle or pedestrian: D3.
  Hitting loose debris: Dl.
  Enemy fire does 1 to 5 hits of damage: Dl.
  Enemy fire docs 6 to 9 hits of damage: D2.
  Enemy fire does 10+ hits of damage: D3.
  Driver injured or killed: D2.
  Tire Blowouts
  Losing the first wheel or tire of a pair is
  a D2 hazard. If a vehicle has more than one
  wheel at that corner, all wheels must be
  intact (though tires may be damaged or
  lost), or handling class is reduced by 3.
  Losing the last wheel or tire on a corner
  drops the vehicle's handling status to -6 im-
  mediately. Handling class drops by 2 if
  only the tire(s) are lost, or by 3 if the whole
  wheel was lost.
  Any vehicle that loses wheels on two
  corners (or any trike or cycle that loses one
  wheel) goes to Crash Table 1. It can no
  longer steer, accelerate or brake. It must
  decelerate by 30 mph each turn.
  Road Conditions
  Off-road: adds Dl to any maneuver.
  Light rain: adds Dl to any hazard or
  maneuver.
  Heavy rain: adds D2 to any hazard or
  maneuver.
  Gravel on road: adds Dl to any hazard or
  maneuver. Note that many roads have
  gravel on the shoulder.
  Oil on road: adds D2 to any hazard or
  maneuver.
  Light snow: adds D2 to any hazard or
  maneuver.
  Heavy snow: adds D3 to any hazard or
  maneuver.
  Ice or packed snow: adds D4 to any hazard
  or maneuver.
  Banked Curves
  Many racetracks and arenas include
  turns that are specially banked to ease driv-
  ing around them. Such slopes reduce the
  difficulty of any bend or swerve made to-
  wards the inside edge of the turn by -Dl;
  bends or swerves made towards the outside
  edge are increased by +D1. Drifting out-
  ward is at a -Dl, while drifting inward is at
  a +D1. Very steep curves reduce inward
  maneuvers by -D2, but increase outward
  maneuvers by +D2.
  Jumping and
  Falling
  With a good takeoff angle (20° to 40°),
  a vehicle will fly 15 feet for every 10 mph
  of takeoff speed over 20 (30 mph yields 15
  feet of flight, 40 mph results in a 30-foot
  flight, etc.). A flatter or steeper angle (15°
  Movement
  15
  
  to 19° or 41° to 45°) will cut the distance
  traveled in half. Inclines flatter than 15 °, or
  steeper than 45°, cannot be used to launch
  a jump.
  Landing is a Dl hazard; +D1 for every
  full 30 feet of flight. Thus, a 15-foot jump is
  a Dl hazard, a 30- to 59-foot jump is a D2
  hazard, a 60- to 89-foot jump is a D3 haz-
  ard, and so on. Subtract 1 from the hazard
  if you land on a downward slope (because
  all your wheels will hit at about the same
  time). Add 1 to the hazard if you land on an
  upward slope. On landing from a jump, roll
  1 die for each tire except solids. On a 1, 2
  or 3, that tire takes 1 point of damage.
  Falling
  Whenever a vehicle drives off a cliff,
  curb or crevasse, it will begin to fall. If the
  vehicle drove off an upward slope, it will
  jump, rather than fall, as per the jumping
  rules above; if, at the end of the jump, the
  vehicle has not contacted solid ground, it
  falls anyway. A falling vehicle hits the
  ground after a certain length of time, as per
  the following table. Obviously, vehicles
  cannot accelerate, decelerate, maneuver or
  jump while in flight. Weapon fire is al-
  lowed, at -2.
  Height
  VA"
  VI"
  YA"
  1"
  1 1/4"
  1 W
  IVA"
  2"
  2V4"
  3 "
  3K4"
  3Vz"
  3Vt"
  4"
  Time
  2 phases
  3 phases
  4 phases
  1 turn
  1 turn, 1 phase
  1 turn, 1 phase
  1 turn, 2 phases
  1 turn, 2 phases
  1 turn, 2 phases
  1 turn, 3 phases
  1 turn, 3 phases
  1 turn, 3 phases
  1 turn, 4 phases
  1 turn, 4 phases
  1 turn, 4 phases
  2 turns
  Damage
  ld-2
  ld-1
  ld-1
  Id
  Id
  Id
  Id
  Id
  Id
  Id
  2d
  2d
  2d
  3d
  3d
  3d
  Height is the height from which the vehi-
  cle began the fall. Time is the elapsed time
  after which the vehicle will land. This time
  is counted beginning with the phase in
  which the last portion of the vehicle left the
  ground; the vehicle takes damage at the be-
  ginning of the first movement phase after it
  lands.
  Example: A 1" fall takes 1 second. If a
  vehicle moving 20 mph ends Phase 3 at the
  edge of a 1" cliff, it will drive completely
  off the cliff on Phase 4. It will hit the ground
  below, after 2" of forward movement, at
  the beginning of its move in Phase 4 of the
  next turn. Finally, Damage is the collision
  damage assessed to the vehicle.
  Dropping one corner over an edge has
  the same effect as losing all tires on that
  corner, except that all penalties are removed
  as soon as the corner is back on the ground.
  If a vehicle skids, fishtails or drifts so
  that both corners of one side (not the front
  or back) are unsupported, a Control Roll is
  required. On a successful roll, the vehicle
  takes collision damage to the underbody but
  doesn't fall over the edge! It decelerates at
  30 mph per turn. Under most circum-
  stances, the services of a wrecker will be
  required to get it onto flat ground again.
  On a failed control roll, the vehicle will
  roll over the edge! It continues at its original
  speed, rolling one side per movement
  phase. When it lands, assess the damage to
  that side (or to each tire if it lands on its
  wheels). Reduce handling status to -6, and
  make a control roll at the vehicle's original
  speed. If control is regained, the vehicle
  stops. If the vehicle stays out of control, it
  continues its roll normally. On a roll of 4 to
  6 on 1 die, it also catches fire.
  If a vehicle drops its two front or back
  corners off an edge, it continues at its orig-
  inal speed, flipping one facing per phase (it
  progresses from underbody to front to top
  to back to underbody). Once it lands, assess
  damage to the proper side. If the vehicle
  landed on its front, the very next phase it
  will fall forward, landing on its top (and
  taking Id damage to that location). If on its
  back, it will fall onto its tires, taking Id to
  each. The vehicle then continues on in a
  straight line, driving normally if on its
  wheels or decelerating 30 mph per turn if
  on its roof.
  For these rules, a motorcycle has two
  "corners," one each at the midpoint of the
  front and back sides. A trike has three, one
  in the middle of the front (back for a re-
  versed trike) and one at each side on the
  opposite end.
  16
  Movement
  
  The Crash
  Tables
  If a vehicle rolls on the Control Table and
  misses its roll, it has gone out of control.
  The Crash Tables show the different things
  (all bad) that can happen. A Crash Table roll
  is made on 2 dice. The higher the roll, the
  worse the result. Results may range from
  mild (a light skid) to disastrous (vehicle rolls
  and burns).
  If a car or cycle loses control during a
  maneuver, it uses Crash Table 1. If it loses
  control because of a hazard, it uses Crash
  Table 2.
  If during the course of resolving a Crash
  Table result a vehicle is again required to
  roll on the tables, he only suffers the worst
  result rolled.
  Example: Wildman Al starts to spin out
  due to an encounter with a flamethrower,
  and is hit by enemy fire. He rolls for control
  and fails; he now rolls a Minor Skid on the
  Crash Table. All Al does is keep spinning.
  Crash Table Modifiers
  Skill bonus: The driver's Driver skill
  bonus (or Cyclist, if appropriate) is sub-
  tracted from all Crash Table rolls.
  Difficulty of maneuver or hazard: The
  difficulty of the maneuver (or hazard) that
  caused the loss of control plays an impor-
  tant part in determining a crash result. Take
  the modified Difficulty rating of the hazard
  or maneuver, subtract 3, and add the result
  (negative or positive) to the Crash Table
  roll. Thus, a D4 maneuver gives a +1 to
  the roll, while a Dl maneuver gives a -2.
  Speed: Loss of control at high speed is
  more dangerous. When you go to the Crash
  Tables for any reason, add or subtract the
  number in the Control Table "modifier"
  column from your speed — i.e., at 20 mph,
  you would subtract 2 from your roll on
  either Crash Table.
  Crash Table Results
  The result of a Crash Table roll is applied
  at the beginning of the next phase in which a
  vehicle moves. A vehicle that fishtails may
  move normally after it fishtails. A vehicle
  that skids must move straight ahead for the
  rest of that phase — i.e., if it skids VA", it
  must move VA" forward (the direction its
  nose is pointing) after the skid. If a vehicle is
  on its half-move, it cannot skid more than Vi"
  A vehicle that encounters a hazard while
  skidding or fishtailing must make another
  control roll, and may lose control again,
  affecting it on the next phase it moves. No
  vehicle may skid more than once per phase.
  A vehicle that loses control will suffer a
  penalty on any aimed weapon fire for the
  rest of the turn, as shown by the asterisks on
  the Crash Table entries:
  * Any further aimed weapon fire from
  this vehicle on this turn will be at a-3 to hit.
  ** Any further aimed weapon fire from
  this vehicle on this turn will be -6 to hit.
  *** No further aimed weapon fire per-
  mitted from this vehicle this turn.
  Crash Table 1
  Skids & Rolls
  2 or less — Trivial skid. The vehicle
  keeps the same orientation, but moves VA"
  in the direction it was going before the ma-
  neuver in which it lost control. Therefore, it
  may skid in a direction other than the one it
  is pointing — see Figure 5, p. 13. *
  3, 4 — Minor skid. As above, but the
  vehicle skids Vi". Speed is reduced by -5
  mph. **
  5,6 — Moderate skid. As above, but the
  vehicle skids VA", and each tire takes 1
  point of damage. Speed is reduced by 10
  mph. It then performs a trivial skid on its
  next move. **
  7, 8 — Severe skid. As above, but car
  skids 1" and each tire takes 2 points dam-
  age. Speed is reduced by 20 mph. On its
  next move, it performs a minor skid. ***
  9,10 — Spinout. Vehicle spins, rotating
  90° and moving 1" in the direction it was
  previously traveling (before the maneuver
  or hazard which caused the spinout) per
  phase of movement required. All rotations
  must be in the same direction. If the vehicle
  fishtailed into the spinout, the rotations are
  in the same direction the fishtail took; other-
  wise, roll randomly. Each tire takes Id of
  damage at the start of the spinout. The vehi-
  cle decelerates 20 mph/turn, and the spin
  stops when the vehicle comes to a halt. A
  Movement
  17
  
  driver may try to recover from a spinout.
  To do so, roll for control at HC -6. If the
  roll is successful the spinout stops. If the
  roll is missed the spinout continues nor-
  mally. If control is regained, and the vehicle
  is facing the direction it is moving, move-
  ment continues on as usual. If the car is
  facing sideways it must perform an immedi-
  ate T-stop. It may discontinue a T-stop by
  turning "into" the direction of the skid and
  then continue the turn. If the vehicle is fac-
  ing backwards and is traveling faster than
  its reverse top speed, it must slow down by
  at least 5 mph per turn until it is under its
  normal top speed for reverse.
  11, 12 — Car turns sideways (as in a
  T-stop; see Figure 7, p. 14) and rolls. The
  driver is no longer in control. The car decel-
  erates at 20 mph per turn. Each phase it
  moves, it goes 1" in the direction it was
  traveling and rolls V* of a complete roll —
  e.g., in the first phase it moves 1", turns
  sideways, and rolls onto its side; the next
  phase it moves, it goes 1" and rolls onto its
  top, etc. It takes Id damage to the side (top,
  etc.) rolled onto each phase. When the bot-
  tom hits, each tire takes Id damage. After all
  tires are gone, the bottom takes damage
  when it hits. Occupants may jump out at any
  time, or stay inside and hope that no damage
  reaches the interior. A car or trike may be
  driven after it stops rolling if it is right side
  up and has tires on at least three corners. A
  cycle won't be drivable after a roll.***
  13,14 — As above, but vehicle is burn-
  ing on a roll of 4, 5, or 6 on 1 die. (For more
  information on burning vehicles, see Fire
  and Explosion, pp. 30.)
  15 or more — The vehicle vaults into
  the air by the side (or front) tires, the tires
  doing the vaulting taking 3d of damage. The
  vehicle will then fly through the air for 1 to
  6 inches (roll 1 die) in the direction the ve-
  hicle was traveling before the crash result,
  revolving two sides for every inch traveled.
  When it lands, the side that hits takes colli-
  sion damage at the vehicle's initial speed. If
  the attempted maneuver was a tight bend or
  a hard swerve, the vehicle will flip end over
  end. Upon landing, the vehicle will con-
  tinue to roll as per result 11 on this table.
  All occupants take 1 point of damage auto-
  matically. Body armor does not protect
  against this damage.
  Crash Table 2
  Fishtails
  1-4 — Minor fishtail. Roll randomly to
  see if fishtail will be left or right. If, for
  instance, it is left, keep vehicle's right front
  corner in the same square, and move the left
  rear corner 1 square left. Reverse for a
  right fishtail. *
  5-8 — Major fishtail. As above, but rear
  corner moves 2 squares. **
  9,10 — Execute a minor fishtail and roll
  again on Crash Table 1. ***
  11-14 — Execute a major fishtail and
  roll again on Crash Table 1. ***
  15 or more — Execute a major and a
  minor fishtail (for a total of 3 squares move-
  ment in one direction) and roll again on
  Crash Table 1. ***
  Collisions
  When a vehicle counter touches a fixed
  object or another counter, a collision has
  occurred. Even though all Car Wars vehi-
  cle counters are a minimum Vi" wide (IVi
  feet in game scale), the referee should use
  common sense when determining whether a
  collision has occurred. A motorcycle can
  squeeze into tighter spots than a truck, even
  though the counters are the same width. If a
  player wants to take his motorcycle down a
  four-foot-wide alley, let him. The driver of
  a van can't do it.
  Collision damage is based on the type of
  collision, the weight of the vehicles in-
  volved, and their relative speeds. To find
  the result of a collision, determine the type
  of collision (T-Bone, Head-On, Rear-End
  or Sideswipe) from the collision diagrams
  in Figure 9. Every collision can be classi-
  fied as one of these four types. When a ve-
  hicle is driving in reverse, rolling over,
  etc., designations of "front," "side," etc.,
  are sometimes inappropriate. A rolling car
  can have a "head-on" collision in which a
  side strikes first, for example. If a car is
  doing a bootlegger, consider the leading
  side as its "front," moving at 15 mph. In
  general, use common sense in determining
  the type of collision. Then follow the in-
  structions for that type, and the steps below,
  18
  Movement
  
  to find damage, final speed, and final posi-
  tion for both vehicles.
  1) From the Collision Damage Table
  (below), find the Damage Modifier (DM)
  corresponding to your vehicle's weight. A
  Shogun 100 (800 lbs.) has a DM of Vs. A
  Killer Kart (2,300 lbs.) has a DM of Vs. A
  Hotshot (6,600 lbs.) has a DM of 1. (Figure
  weight at the beginning of a trip; don't
  bother recalculating every time you expend
  a shell.) A pedestrian has a DM of Vs.
  2) When a collision occurs, determine
  the collision speed according to the formula
  given under each type of collision. The
  number of dice of damage a collision of that
  speed will cause can be found in the far
  right column of the Movement Chart (see p.
  7), under the heading "Ram." Multiply the
  "ram" damage rolled on the dice by your
  Collision Damage Table
  Vehicle Weight
  0-2,000
  2,001-4,000
  4,001-8,000
  8,001-12,000
  12,001-16,000
  16,001-20,000
  20,001-24,000
  Damage Modifier
  V3
  Vs
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  Figure 9 — Collisions
  9a:
  HEAD-ON
  9b:
  REAR-END
  9c:
  T-BONE
  9d: SIDESWIPE
  (same direction)
  DM increases by 1 for every additional
  4,000 lbs.
  Collision Types
  A Head-On collision occurs any time
  one vehicle collides with another from with-
  in the 90° shaded arc of Figure 9a.
  A Rear End collision (Figure 9b) is sim-
  ilar to a Head-On, except
  that the two vehicles are
  heading in roughly the
  same direction.
  A T-Bone collision oc-
  curs when one vehicle
  collides with another from
  within the 90° shaded arc
  of Figure 9c.
  There are two types of
  Sideswipe. In one case,
  the vehicles are traveling
  in the same direction,
  nearly parallel to each
  other (i.e., within the 45 °
  shaded arc of Figure 9d).
  The second type is sim-
  ilar, except that the vehi-
  cles are going in opposite
  directions, but still nearly
  parallel to one another
  (see Figure 9e). Fishtails
  are a major cause of both
  types of Sideswipe.
  9e: SIDESWIPE
  (opposite direction)
  vehicle's DM. That is the damage you
  cause to your opponent. The damage you
  sustain is the product of his DM multiplied
  by the same base damage rolled.
  Example: A Killer Kart (DM Vs) collides
  with a Hotshot (DM 1) at a net speed of 40
  mph. A 40-mph collision results in 3d dam-
  age, and a 14 is rolled. The Kart gives the
  Hotshot (14 X Vs) = 9 points of damage
  (rounding down). The Hotshot gives the
  Kart (14 X 1) = 14 points of damage.
  "Conforming" Movement
  When one vehicle pushes another one
  out of the way, the second vehicle is
  "conforming" to the first. A vehicle con-
  forms to another by pivoting on one corner
  until, through regular movement, the two
  vehicles are no longer in contact. The driver
  of the conforming vehicle selects an appro-
  priate pivot corner from the choices shown
  in Figure 10. In each case, V2 is "con-
  Movement
  19
  
  forming" to VI. During its own movement
  phase, V2 does not pivot; it moves normally
  as its driver maneuvers it (or as required by
  the Crash Table, if it is out of control).
  If a collision occurs and it is on the bor-
  der of two types of collisions, the defender
  decides what type of collision it is. For ex-
  ample, if Car A is hit by Car B on the line
  between a Rear-End and a T-Bone, Car A
  gets to decide which of the two it will be.
  Note that subsequent phases in which
  the vehicles are still in contact are not new
  collisions. Do not assess additional damage
  or adjust speed again unless a vehicle hits
  something else. For example, a car might
  sideswipe a trailer, slide along its side
  (accumulating no new damage) and then
  collide with the tractor, which had turned
  into the car's path (a new collision). Or a
  car might sideswipe a building and then
  have a new collision with a projecting wing
  of that same building.
  Collision
  Procedure
  Head-On Collisions (Figure 9a)
  1) A Head-On collision affects the front
  armor of both vehicles.
  2) Collision speed is that of VI plus V2;
  apply ram damage at this speed, as modi-
  fied by each vehicle's DM.
  3) (a) Compute the "Temporary Speed"
  for VI and V2 from the Temporary Speed
  Table (TST) on p. 21.
  (b) Subtract the speed of the slower ve-
  hicle from the speed of the faster vehicle.
  The faster vehicle is now moving at this
  new speed; the slower has speed 0.
  (c) Adjust the markers on the Movement
  Chart.
  (d) If the phasing vehicle is still moving,
  complete this movement phase.
  Figure 1O — Conforming Movement
  V2\
  VI
  V2
  VI
  (e) The slower vehicle (now at 0 mph)
  "conforms" itself to the faster one.
  4) Check for concussion (see p. 21).
  5) Reduce the handling status of each
  vehicle by 1 for every 10-mph change in
  speed (rounding up) and make a control roll
  for each one at its original speed. Apply at
  least a Dl hazard to each one, even if it lost
  no speed.
  Rear-End Collisions (Figure 9b)
  1) A Rear-End collision affects Vl's
  front armor and V2's back armor.
  2) Collision speed is that of VI minus
  V2; apply ram damage at this speed, as
  modified by each vehicle's DM.
  3) (a) Compute "Temporary Speed" of
  VI and V2 from the TST.
  (b) Add these two speeds together. Both
  VI and V2 are now moving at this speed.
  (c) Adjust the markers on the Movement
  Chart.
  (d) If Vl's DM is higher than V2's DM,
  complete its movement for this phase. Oth-
  erwise, do not complete its movement.
  4) Check for concussion effects (see p.
  21).
  5) Reduce the handling status of each
  vehicle and make a control roll for each as
  described for Head-On collisions.
  T-Bone Collisions (Figure 9c)
  1) A T-Bone collision affects Vl's front
  armor and V2's side armor.
  2) Collision speed is that of VI; apply
  ram damage at this speed, as modified by
  each vehicle's DM.
  3) (a) Compute Vl's "Temporary
  Speed" from the TST. This becomes its
  actual speed after the collision; adjust its
  marker on the Movement Chart. V2 does
  not change speed as a result of this collision,
  even though its direction may be shifted by
  VI 's subsequent movement.
  (b) If Vl's new
  speed is above 0, and
  it was making its
  move when the colli-
  sion took place, it
  completes this phase's
  movement, and V2
  "conforms" to Vl's
  movement. If V2 was
  VI
  20
  Movement
  
  making its move when the collision took
  place, and if V2's DM is higher than Vl's
  DM, complete V2's movement for this
  phase. Otherwise do not complete V2's
  movement.
  4) Check for concussion effects (see
  below).
  5) Reduce handling status for both vehi-
  cles and make a control roll for each vehicle
  as described for a Head-On collision.
  Sideswipes (figures 9d and 9e)
  1) A Sideswipe affects the side armor of
  both vehicles.
  2) (a) Determine the net speed of the
  Find
  Temporary Speed Table
  your vehicle's
  cross-index it with
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  collision. If both vehicles are going in the
  same direction (Figure 9d) subtract the
  lower speed from the higher. If they are
  going in opposite directions (Figure 9e),
  add the two speeds.
  (b) Divide net speed by 4, rounding up
  to the nearest 5 mph. This is the collision's
  "Swipe-Speed."
  3) Apply ram damage at the "Swipe-
  Speed," as modified by each vehicle's DM.
  4) If the phasing vehicle's DM is lower
  than the other vehicle's DM, it finishes its
  movement by sliding along the other vehi-
  cle.
  5) Reduce the handling status of each
  vehicle by 1 for each
  10 mph of "Swipe-
  Speed," and make a
  control roll for each.
  6) If either vehi-
  cle fishtails as a re-
  sult of this control
  roll, the fishtail will
  be in the direction
  away from the colli-
  sion which just oc-
  curred.
  7) A Sideswipe
  does not affect the
  actual speed of ei-
  ther vehicle.
  Concussion
  from Rams
  (Optional)
  When any vehi-
  cle is involved in a
  collision, all occu-
  pants must roll for
  concussion effects
  from the ram. Take
  the speed change
  that resulted from
  that ram (in T-Bone
  collisions, take the
  speed change of the
  ramming vehicle
  and apply it to both
  vehicles), divide
  that speed by 10
  (thus, a 35-mph
  speed change from a
  70-mph 
  T-Bone
  Movement
  21
  
  would yield a 4) and roll 2 dice for each
  crew member involved. If the roll is equal
  to or higher than that number, the crewman
  is unaffected. If the roll is lower, that crew-
  man is stunned (unable to do any firing ac-
  tions or operate any vehicle controls) for as
  many phases as he missed the roll by (at
  least to the end of the turn). Safety seats add
  +1 to the roll, as do Impact Armor and Roll
  Cages. Stunning a driver adds a D2 to the
  total collision hazard.
  fixed Objects
  A fixed object will cause exactly as
  much damage as it takes, up to the point at
  which the fixed object breaks. All fixed ob-
  jects have a DP rating, which is the number
  of Damage Points they can take before they
  are destroyed.
  Example: A 20-point tree gets in the way
  of a luxury car going 40 mph. The "ram"
  damage at 40 mph is 3d, and a luxury car's
  DM is usually 1. A 12 is rolled on 3 dice,
  and multiplied by 1 for a result of 12. That's
  how much damage the car does to the tree,
  and it's also how much damage the tree
  does to the car.
  Now, let's send the same car into the
  same tree at 80 mph. The "ram" damage at
  that speed is lid, and this time the total is
  41. The tree only has 20 DP, so it is de-
  stroyed. But the car also only takes 20
  points of damage.
  For each collision, determine the colli-
  sion type — Head-On or Sideswipe — and
  apply damage, speed change, concussions
  and hazards accordingly. Of course, in a
  Head-On, if the obstacle is not destroyed or
  breached, the vehicle stops. If the obstacle
  is destroyed, the vehicle's "Temporary
  Speed" becomes its new speed. If a Side-
  swipe does not destroy it, the vehicle
  finishes the phase by sliding along the
  obstacle.
  Note: A building breach is generally Hi"
  wide (see Buildings, p. 36). A vehicle ram-
  ming a building or wall must create two
  breaches in order to break through. Thus,
  when ramming a 6 DP building, a vehicle
  must do 12 points of damage to create a
  double breach and continue through. In ad-
  dition, each Vi" section of wall will return
  damage, up to its full DP value.
  Debris 
  and
  A "road debris" counter may represent
  any sort of junk on the road. Debris can be
  part of a scenario (appearing already drawn
  onto the road) or it can appear as a result of
  combat.
  A debris counter is Vi" X 1/4". It may
  show debris in two squares or in only one.
  Place it on the board so its squares align
  with those on the road, showing exactly
  which map squares contain debris.
  Hitting Debris
  A vehicle hits debris the first time any
  part of the vehicle counter touches a debris
  square. Debris can be hit only once per
  phase, regardless of how many debris
  squares are entered. If a vehicle starts the
  phase on top of debris, that debris does not
  affect it; it has already been hit.
  Debris affects all of a vehicle's tires.
  Roll 1 die for each tire, and subtract 3 from
  the result, to find the damage to that tire.
  Thus, on a roll of 1 to 3, the tire is undam-
  aged. Hitting debris is a Dl hazard.
  Producing Debris
  When a car takes 10 or more points of
  damage during one phase, pick one debris
  counter randomly. Place it next to the car,
  at the point hit. (A car is not affected by its
  own debris unless it drives back through it.)
  Debris for top/bottom damage goes behind
  the vehicle. If a car explodes, choose five
  random debris counters, and drop them
  onto the board from a height of one foot
  over the explosion site. (If one misses the
  board, or hits any other counter, drop it
  again.) Align counters with the road grid as
  closely as possible at the point where they
  fall. Debris and other obstacles (below) re-
  main until the game ends.
  22
  Movement
  
  Hitting Obstacles
  An obstacle counter represents a pot-
  hole, loose wheel or other larger item. Strik-
  ing an obstacle is a D3 hazard. Determining
  whether or not an obstacle is struck is done
  in the same way as for debris. An obstacle
  does the same damage to each tire as debris
  does. A vehicle may hit more than one ob-
  stacle in a phase, and must roll for each.
  Producing and Moving Obstacles
  If a car loses a wheel (not just a tire) or
  takes 20 or more hits during one phase, or
  loses one or more points of metal armor, an
  obstacle is placed as described above for
  debris. In some scenarios, debris or obsta-
  cles may be thrown from buildings, vehi-
  cles, etc. Note that an obstacle is bulky,
  equivalent to one space in size, and no vehi-
  cle will be able to carry very many.
  A pedestrian may move any obstacle
  that can be moved; potholes, for example,
  can't be moved. It takes one turn to pick an
  obstacle up and a pedestrian may move one
  square per turn while carrying it. A pedes-
  trian cannot use a weapon while carrying an
  obstacle. It takes one turn to drop an obsta-
  cle. A typical obstacle will weigh between
  50 and 100 lbs.
  Off-Road
  Duelling
  Many of the most demanding combat sit-
  uations take place away from roads and are-
  nas. A beach battle, with cycles and buggies
  flying over the dunes . . . a cat-and-mouse
  hunt in a Louisiana swamp . . . a Badlands
  raid, with pickups swooping down from the
  hills to intercept a convoy . . . all of these
  are possible in off-road duelling.
  AH maneuvers (but not hazards) off-road
  are at an additional Dl difficulty. All Crash
  Table rolls are at a -3, due to the vehicles'
  tendency to slide and skid while off-road.
  Off-Road Hazards
  Off-road suspension (see p. 49) is avail-
  able for 4- and 6-wheeled vehicles, to lift
  the underbody off the ground and cushion it
  from shocks.
  Any vehicle can go off-road without
  modifications — but the handling class of an
  unmodified vehicle is reduced:
  Motorcycle (with or without sidecar):
  -2HC
  Trike: -1 HC
  Car (4 or 6 wheels): -3 HC
  The handling bonus for radial tires does
  not apply while off-road. Special off-road
  (OR) tires are available (see p. 50).
  In addition, most vehicles are subject to
  damage when going off-road. At the begin-
  ning of every turn a standard car, pickup or
  van is off-road and traveling faster than 10
  mph, roll 2 dice. On a 2 or 3, the underbody
  takes 1 point of damage. On a 4 or 5, one
  tire (roll randomly to see which one) takes 1
  point of damage. If the vehicle is going over
  30 mph, roll twice per turn; over 50 mph,
  roll 3 times; and so on. Once the underbody
  is gone, the internal components take no
  damage.
  Exceptions: solid and off-road tires take
  no damage.
  Vehicles with Off-Road suspensions, as
  well as all cycles and trikes, are built higher
  off the ground and do not take underbody
  damage.
  Off-Road Terrain
  Off-road should not be taken to mean the
  dirt on the edge of the road; the shoulder is
  usually no great hazard. "Off-road" means
  open country — fields, desert or park.
  Grass and open fields: This is the stan-
  dard off-road terrain. No extra penalties
  apply —just the normal +D1 difficulty for
  off-road travel.
  Trees: Small ones are a D2 or D3 haz-
  ard. Larger ones would be fixed barriers
  and could have 8 to 20 DP, or even more.
  Boulders: Small ones (about a foot
  across) should be treated as obstacles. Those
  1 to 2 feet across are fixed barriers with up
  Movement
  23
  
  to 25 DP. Boulders are usually knocked out
  of the way (rather than destroyed) if they
  take more than their DP value from a colli-
  sion. Larger boulders would have even
  greater DP values — a four-foot boulder
  would be worth at least 50 DP.
  Ditches and Gullies
  Small ditches (less than 2 feet across)
  are a D3 hazard at 20 mph or less, but only
  a Dl hazard at greater speeds — vehicles
  fly right over them. Ditches between 2 and
  4 feet across are impassable at less than 20
  mph — if a vehicle tries to cross one, it will
  fall in and collide with the far wall at full
  speed, taking full damage for its speed. At
  25 to 40 mph, such a ditch is a D3 hazard.
  At 45 mph or greater, it is a Dl hazard
  again; you fly right over. Wider ditches
  should not be jumped without a ramp (see
  above). Very wide gullies, unless they are
  full of water, can be crossed by driving
  down one side and up the other.
  Water
  Vehicles without off-road (OR) suspen-
  sion cannot cross water deeper than lvi
  feet. Vehicles with OR suspension can take
  on water up to 3 feet deep. Vehicles in
  deeper water drown out and stop working
  — the effect is the same as if the power plant
  had been destroyed. The plant takes no ac-
  tual damage, though — once the vehicle is
  out of the water (how you get it out is your
  problem), it will dry out and be usable again
  in Id hours.
  Hitting standing water deeper than Vi
  foot is a D2 hazard. Traveling in water de-
  celerates a vehicle by 5 mph per turn per
  Vi foot of water — you must accelerate by 5
  mph just to stay at the same speed. Vehicles
  with OR suspensions decelerate 5 mph per
  turn per Yi foot of water over 1 Vi feet deep.
  Radical maneuvers are impossible in
  water — no maneuver with an original, un-
  modified difficulty over D3 can be per-
  formed. There is no additional penalty for
  those maneuvers which can be performed.
  Dropped weapons may be used in water,
  to mixed effect. Oil will not be effective;
  flaming oil will ignite, but it will also dis-
  perse and be ineffective; spikes and mines
  will be hidden under the water. Every time
  a dropped weapon is used in water, roll 1
  die. On a 1 or 2, water backs up into the
  system while the port is open, and the
  weapon takes ld-3 points of damage.
  Tires cannot be targeted in over a foot of
  water; they are at an additional -2 to hit
  when in over 6" of water.
  Jumping Out of Vehicles
  Anyone jumping out of a vehicle, or off
  a cycle, when off-road will take reduced
  damage. Figure the damage as though the
  driver has been hit by a sideswipe from a
  car traveling 30 mph slower than the speed
  at which he actually hit the ground.
  Rolling
  When a vehicle rolls in an off-road situ-
  ation, each side that hits the ground takes
  ld-2 damage, instead of Id of damage.
  Tires, likewise, take ld-2 damage in an off-
  road roll. It is quite possible to roll a vehicle
  on soft ground and drive it away afterward
  — if you can get it upright.
  Movement
  Pedestrians move at 1 square per phase;
  they can move every phase. Pedestrian
  movement is covered on p. 43.
  24
  Movement
  
  3.
  Combat may occur during any phase,
  after movement. To attack, a player simply
  announces that he is firing, and names the
  weapon being fired and its target.
  Results of all attacks during a phase are
  applied simultaneously. The referee may
  wish to have players declare fire secretly,
  by writing their fire/no fire order down on a
  slip of paper and handing it to him, or by
  some other method.
  A given weapon may never fire more
  than once per turn. A given character may
  never fire more than once per turn, unless
  he does so by triggering linked weapons.
  Rate of Fire
  Usually, the above restrictions mean
  that each vehicle will only fire once per
  turn. Exceptions occur when (a) a weapon
  is on "automatic," (b) a vehicle has addi-
  tional occupants, such as gunners, who may
  also fire, or (c) linked weapons are used.
  General Combat Procedure
  Briefly, the procedure for resolving a
  normal weapon attack is (a) make sure that
  there is a line-of-fire from the weapon to the
  target; (b) roll 2 dice to see if the weapon
  hits (see Determining Hits, below); (c) if the
  weapon hits, determine damage location
  and amount (see Damage, p. 28); (d) alter
  the vehicle's handling status and/or place
  debris or obstacle counters if required.
  Dropped weapons are an exception to the
  above and are discussed on pp. 32-34. All
  damage for the phase is resolved simulta-
  neously at the end of the phase.
  Line of Fire
  To fire at a given target, there must be a
  line of fire (LOF) from the firing counter's
  center (for a turret weapon) or middle of the
  side where the weapon is located (for other
  weapons) to some part of the counter repre-
  senting the target. Buildings, vehicles, pe-
  destrians, etc., block LOF; debris and
  obstacles do not. Smoke and paint reduce
  chances of hitting but do not block LOF
  except for lasers.
  Furthermore, the LOF must be traced
  within the arc of fire for that weapon posi-
  tion. Arcs of fire for vehicle weapons are
  shown in the diagram below. Pedestrians
  and turret weapons have a 360-degree arc of
  fire. Hand weapons fired from a car, truck
  or sidecar have a right or left arc of fire,
  depending on which side they're fired from;
  hand weapons fired by a cycle driver have a
  360-degree arc of fire.
  Right Weapons Only
  Front
  Weapons
  Only
  Rear
  Weapons
  Only
  Left Weapons Only
  Car Targeting
  Targeting is choosing what you're going
  to shoot at — whether it's the side of a vehi-
  cle or a specific part, like a tire.
  A car has front, back, right, left, top and
  underbody "sides." When you fire at a ve-
  hicle, you can only hit a side that is facing
  you. Unless the target car is lined up ex-
  actly perpendicular to you, you will be able
  to choose between two sides. However,
  only if you are in a particular side's arc of
  fire may you attack that side with no pen-
  alty. If the firing vehicle is on the dividing
  line between two of a target vehicle's arcs
  of fire, it may target either side without pen-
  alty. If you target a side on which you have
  line of fire without being in the target side's
  arc of fire, you suffer a penalty of-2 to your
  to-hit roll. You may choose which side you
  wish to target. If you score a hit, any dam-
  age you do will be taken by that part of the
  vehicle (see Damage Location, p. 28).
  You can never target a vehicle's under-
  body with normal weapons (note: under-
  body is a relative term — if a car has rolled
  Combat
  25
  
  and is sitting on its left side, that side is now
  the "underbody")- The underbody is auto-
  matically the target of a mine.
  A vehicle's tires may be targeted. Each
  tire is a separate target; subtract 3 from the
  to-hit roll when shooting at tires.
  A vehicle's turret may be targeted. All
  top armor protects weapons in the turret. If
  a vehicle has no turret, the top can only be
  hit if something is dropped (or fired) from
  above or if the vehicle rolls. Targeting a
  turret is at a-2.
  Cycle Targeting
  Compared to a car, a cycle is a small
  target, but every part is exposed. Therefore,
  after firing on and hitting a cycle, roll on the
  table below. Only one component of a cycle
  can be hit in each attack — the rest of the
  damage passes through the cycle and has no
  effect, unless it has a sidecar on the opposite
  side. In this case, roll 1 die. If the number
  rolled is equal to, or less than the number of
  spaces the sidecar has, it is hit. Otherwise
  the damage passes out harmlessly.
  Attacking from front or rear — Roll 2
  dice. On 2 to 10, you hit armor (if the armor
  is gone, roll again on the "side" table
  below for remaining damage). On an 11 or
  12, you hit the exposed wheel.
  Attacking from the side — Roll 2 dice. On
  2 to 5, you hit the driver; 6 or 7, the power
  plant; 8 to 10, a weapon. Roll randomly if
  the cycle has more than one weapon; roll
  again if there are none. On 11 or 12, you hit
  a tire — roll randomly to see which one.
  Sidecar targeting — A sidecar can only
  be hit from the side on which it is mounted.
  Imagine a line running lengthwise down the
  center of the cycle counter — if you're on
  the same side of the line the sidecar is on (or
  on the line), you can shoot at it. If you're
  not, you can't. Targeting a sidecar carries a
  -2 penalty to your to-hit roll. If you're just
  shooting at the cycle as a whole and you are
  on the sidecar side, roll 1 die. On a 1 to 4,
  the cycle was hit; use the tables above. On
  a 5 or 6, the sidecar was hit. Treat a sidecar
  as a tiny automobile, with armor in front,
  back, underbody, and both sides. It has one
  wheel (plus some small coaster-type wheels
  for stability if it ever rolls free), maybe one
  or two weapons, and possibly a rider. Once
  armor on part of the sidecar is lost, any fire
  hitting the exposed area has an equal chance
  of hitting each of the interior components.
  Trike Targeting
  Because trikes are low to the ground,
  their tops can be fired upon. Any attacker
  can choose to fire at the top of a trike if he
  has a line of sight on the front or either side.
  (A trike's top cannot be hit from behind, but
  its turret can be targeted.) Because the top is
  steeply sloped, any attack at the top is at an
  additional -2 to hit. Thus, for example, a
  shot at the top of a light trike (see table, p.
  27) from the front would be at a -5, plus or
  minus any other modifiers that may be in
  effect. However, if a trike has a turret, any
  successful hit on the top armor strikes the
  turret automatically with no further penalty.
  When a trike is struck in the front by
  weapon fire, roll 2 dice. On an 11 or 12, the
  front wheel is hit. Any remaining damage is
  lost. On a 2-10, the front armor is hit. Any
  remaining damage after the armor is de-
  stroyed will affect internal components in
  the same way as cars are affected (see Dam-
  age Location, p. 28).
  For reversed trikes, all the above holds
  true — just reverse "front" and "back."
  The only exception is that an attacker still
  cannot hit the top of a reversed trike from
  behind, as the back is still the highest part of
  the trike.
  Rolling to 
  Hit:
  When a normal weapon (anything but a
  dropped or gas weapon) is fired, the attack-
  ing player rolls 2 dice to see if he hit his
  target. He must make the to-hit roll, or bet-
  ter, for that weapon (see Chapter 6, or the
  Weapon Table on the insert sheet). Thus, to
  hit with a machine gun, a player must roll a
  7 or better on 2 dice. The lower a weapon's
  to-hit roll, the more accurate it is.
  Targeting Modifiers
  Accuracy is affected by a number of fac-
  tors, including the skill of the firer, range,
  weather, and size and speed of the target.
  Consult the following list, and add all the
  factors that apply to the to-hit roll. All mod-
  ifiers are cumulative.
  For example, a machine gun has a base
  26
  Combat
  
  to-hit roll of 7. If the firer was using a tar-
  geting computer ( + 1) at point-blank range
  (+4) and was trying to hit the tire (-3) of a
  cycle (-2) at night (-3), there would be a
  total modifier of-3; the firer now has to roll
  a 10 or higher. No matter what the roll
  needed, a roll of 2 on the dice is an auto-
  matic miss. A roll of 12 is not an automatic
  hit. If, after all modifiers, a player needs a
  13 or higher to hit, he cannot hit the target,
  but may still fire for sustained fire bonuses.
  If a driver has made a maneuver or suf-
  fered a hazard in the phase he fires a
  weapon, the difficulty of the maneuver or
  hazard is subtracted from his to-hit roll.
  When trying to hit a vehicle with a
  weapon's burst effect, or trying to place a
  burst of fire in front of a vehicle, the at-
  tacker gets the bonus for targeting the
  ground, plus all applicable speed modifiers
  for both vehicles. Use common sense; the
  referee has the final say. If the to-hit roll is
  missed while attempting a shot at the
  ground or wall near an enemy, use the gre-
  nade scatter rules (p. 34) to determine
  where the shot actually hit.
  Targeting
  Modifiers
  Range
  Point Blank (less than 1" away):
  Long Range: -1 for every full 4"
  4" to 7.99" is -1
  8" to 11.99" is-2
  12" to 15.99" is-3, and so or
  Movement
  +4
  l
  Firer is in 
  Target is in Hrer's
  Target's 
  Front arc
  Kront arc 
  Vi Target
  Speed
  Back arc 
  Vl (T Speed
  F Speed)
  Side arc 
  Target
  Speed
  Back arc
  Vl (T Speed
  F Speed)
  - Vl Target
  Speed
  Target
  Speed
  Side arc
  - Vl Target
  Speed
  Vl Target
  Speed
  T Speed -
  F Speed*
  * If cars arc moving towards each other, the
  modifier is the target speed. If a vehicle
  is in more than one arc, rule in the
  defenders' favor.
  Target is not moving: +1
  Firer is not moving: +1
  Firing pedestrian is braced against solid ob-
  ject: + 1
  Target is moving 30 to 37.5 mph: -1
  Target is moving 40 to 47.5 mph: -2
  Target is moving 50 to 57.5 mph: -3
  Target is moving 60 to 67.5 mph: -4
  Target is moving 70 to 77.5 mph: -5
  Target is moving 80 mph or faster: -6
  Vehicle Targets
  Compact or Subcompact: -1
  Car: -1 from front or rear
  Motorcycle or Sidecar: -2 from side, -3
  from front or rear
  Trike (any size): -2 from top
  Light Trike: -3 from front/back, -2 from
  side
  Medium Trike: -2 from front/back, -1 from
  side
  Heavy Trike: -1 from front/back, -1 from
  side
  X-Hcavy Trike: -1 from front/back, no pen-
  alty from side
  Specific Target
  Pedestrian: -3, or -4 if prone.
  A pedestrian cannot be hit if he is prone
  and fully behind solid cover. If he is
  fully behind solid cover but has his head
  up to fire, the penalty is -6. If he is firing
  out a door or window, see p. 37.
  Vehicle Tire: -3
  Turret: -2
  Motorcycle Rider (from side only): -3
  Lamppost: -6
  Building: +10
  Searchlight: -3
  Ground: +4
  Visibility
  Firing through smoke or paint: -2 per
  counter
  Rain: -2
  Heavy rain, fog or night: -3
  Target in rubble area (see p. 37): -4
  Firer blinded by searchlight: -10
  Miscellaneous
  Targeting Computer used: +1
  Hi-Res Computer used: +2
  Combat
  27
  
  Cyberlink used: +3
  Gunner Skill: equal to skill level bonus
  Handgunner Skill: equal to skill level bonus
  Firing while on Oil, Gravel or Bad Road: -1
  Sustained Fire: second consecutive shot in
  as many turns at same target with same
  weapon: + 1 ; third and subsequent
  shots: +2
  Attacking vehicle does a Trivial Skid or
  Minor Fishtail: -3 for the remainder of
  the turn
  Attacking vehicle does a Minor or Moder-
  ate Skid or Major Fishtail: -6 for the re-
  mainder of the turn
  Attacker not in arc of fire of target side: -2
  Hazard or maneuver in same phase: penalty
  equal to D rating
  Damage
  When a weapon hits, calculate the
  amount of damage by rolling the number of
  dice shown on the Weapon List (insert
  sheet). The result is the number of hits
  taken by the target.
  Burst Effect
  Weapons that do additional burst-effect
  damage are identified on the Weapon List.
  Any weapon with a "radius" shown in the
  Effects column is a burst effect weapon.
  In addition to the listed damage to what-
  ever is hit, burst-effect weapons do Id dam-
  age to any pedestrian in the weapon's burst
  radius. Pedestrians under cover (behind an
  intact wall or vehicle) are not affected.
  A grenade does full damage to any pe-
  destrian within its 2" burst radius, and half
  damage to vehicle components (armor,
  tires, etc.) in a Vi" radius. No other burst-
  effect weapon will affect walls or vehicles
  (including tires) with its burst effect. Rea-
  son: The other burst-effect weapons are
  shaped charges, exploding upwards (in the
  case of a mine) or into the target (in the case
  of other weapons), and the burst effect is
  merely a bonus, not strong enough to harm
  armored vehicles or vehicular components.
  Area Effect
  Weapons which may be used against pe-
  destrians in an area effect are identified on
  the Weapon List. These are weapons that
  can sweep an area. When using such a
  weapon against several pedestrians within
  1" of one another, the firer may attempt to
  hit several at once. He must make as many
  to-hit rolls as there are intended victims.
  This determines how many he hits, but not
  who — that is determined by the defender,
  who must pick pedestrians who are standing
  next to each other. If the potential victims
  belong to more than one player, they must
  agree which ones are hit. If they cannot
  agree, the attacker chooses the victims!
  Those who are hit take half the damage
  rolled for the weapon (round up). Excep-
  tion: Flamethrowers do full damage against
  all targets!
  Example: Four pedestrians are standing
  in a line 1" long; as people this dim should
  be removed from the gene pool, an intrepid
  duellist decides to deep-fry them with his
  laser. He fires, and rolls two hits and two
  misses. The player controlling the pedestri-
  ans designates the two on the right. The
  duellist rolls a 13 on 3 dice, so each victim
  receives 7 points of damage (half of 13,
  rounded up) and is torched.
  Recording Damage
  Each vehicle component can take a cer-
  tain amount of damage, shown as "DP"
  (damage points) on the Weapon List,
  Accessories List, and vehicle design charts.
  Armor is lost a point at a time; if you start
  with 12 points of armor on the front of your
  car, and it takes 7 hits, you have 5 points
  left. Other components work at full effi-
  ciency until they take their full amount of
  DP — then they're gone. A machine gun
  (3DP) can take 2 hits and still work, but the
  hits are recorded in the boxes on the Vehi-
  cle Record. When that gun takes a third hit,
  it is destroyed. You can repair damage
  yourself, using the Mechanic skill (see
  pp. 41-42), or you can pay for repairs (see
  p. 52).
  Damage Location
  The location of weapon damage is con-
  trolled by the part of the vehicle that was
  hit. Damage is taken by the components in
  that part of the target, outermost first.
  Armor is destroyed first. When all armor is
  gone, the next component inward is hit, and
  28
  Combat
  
  so on. Components in each area of a car or
  truck, in the order they are hit by an attack
  from that side, are:
  Front: Front armor; (front-firing weap-
  ons); front motor; (driver or gunner); cargo;
  back motor; (back-firing weapons); back
  armor.
  Back: As above, but in reverse order:
  Back armor first, etc.
  Right: Right armor; (right-firing weap-
  ons); (gunner, driver, cargo or motor);
  (left-firing weapons); left armor.
  Left: As above, but in reverse order:
  Left armor, etc.
  Uiiderbody: Underbody armor; (motor,
  driver, gunner or cargo); turret weapons;
  top armor. Tires may also take damage.
  Top: As above, but in reverse order.
  Turret: Top armor, then turret weapons.
  If the turret was targeted from the side,
  "leftover" damage will pass above the car,
  hitting nothing else.
  Tires: Targeted tire/wheel only. "Left-
  over" hits have no effect.
  Many vehicles will not have every com-
  ponent listed. If a component is not present,
  just skip it! Few cars will have both front
  and rear power plants (motors); many will
  have no gunner, turret or cargo. Passengers
  count as cargo. For a more complete guide,
  refer to the Vehicle Record Sheet example
  on p. 6, which has components in most of
  the possible locations. In case of a dispute,
  the referee's decision is final.
  After going through armor and weapons
  mounted to the appropriate side, there are
  three (and only three) possible internal loca-
  tions. These are crew compartment, power
  plant, and cargo. Power plant is your pri-
  mary power plant. Crew compartment is any
  driver, gunner or passenger — any human
  being in the car. Cargo is everything else.
  These three locations may be placed in any
  order from front to back (not side by side).
  The locations of drivers, gunners and pas-
  sengers must still be stated for determining
  their firing arcs.
  When a weapon penetrates from the
  front or back, the damage goes to each in-
  ternal location in order. Only one actual
  item in each location can be damaged by a
  single shot. When a weapon penetrates
  from the side, roll randomly to see which of
  the three locations is hit. Re-roll for any
  nonexistent location. A location that is de-
  stroyed (such as a destroyed PP) is still a
  location which damage can hit and pass
  through. A car with unused space does have
  a cargo location, even if it doesn't have any
  actual cargo.
  Note that some weapons cannot be hit by
  certain attacks. There is no way, for exam-
  ple, to damage a front-firing weapon by an
  attack from the right — though you can hit
  it from behind by shooting through the car.
  Where two or three components are
  listed in parentheses, only one will be hit by
  each attack. Roll randomly for each sepa-
  rate attack to see which one is hit.
  Example: A mine explosion that pene-
  trated the underbody armor would affect ei-
  ther the motor, driver, gunner or cargo —
  but only one. If that component took
  enough hits to destroy it completely, further
  damage from that explosion would go
  directly to the turret weapon or, if there was
  no turret, the top armor. A subsequent mine
  explosion might get a previously-unhit tar-
  get, or hit in the same place, bypassing the
  other internal targets, and hit the turret or
  top again.
  Similarly, if a vehicle takes "front-
  weapon" damage and has two or more front
  weapons, roll randomly for each attack to
  see which of the weapons is hit. If there are
  two or more front weapons, each attack will
  hit only one. Leftover damage from that
  attack goes "inward," not "sideways" to
  other front weapons.
  Collision Damage
  Damage from a collision is handled dif-
  ferently. It is divided evenly among all ex-
  posed (i.e., "outside") components on the
  affected side. For instance, if a car with two
  front MGs had no front armor left, and took
  3 points of damage from enemy fire, you
  would roll randomly to see which MG took
  the 3 hits. However, if that same car took 3
  points of collision damage to the front, it
  would be divided evenly between the ex-
  posed systems (the weapons) — 2 hits on one
  and 1 on the other. Thus, collision damage
  cannot penetrate to the interior of a vehicle
  until all armor on that side, and all compo-
  nents "outside" the one to be affected, have
  been completely destroyed.
  Combat
  29
  
  Metal armor is 3 times more effective
  than its listed value against collision dam-
  age; 1 point of armor is lost for every 3
  points of damage absorbed (rounded up),
  and the most points the armor can lose on
  that side is half the total on the side involved
  in the wreck (rounded up).
  Example: A vehicle with 8 points of
  front metal armor hits a brick wall at a
  pretty good clip, and 7d of damage are
  rolled, yielding 29. The front armor will
  stop up to 3 times its value, which is 24 (3
  X 8). The remaining 5 points of damage go
  to the interior of the vehicle and are distrib-
  uted in the normal way for collisions. If the
  car survives, it will still have 4 points (half
  the original value) of armor on the front.
  In a collision from the front or the back,
  all damage is divided by the number of indi-
  vidual items in that internal location (power
  plant, crew or cargo) and applied sepa-
  rately. Any remaining damage goes on to
  the next location. In a side collision, the
  damage is first divided by the number of
  internal locations and then is divided
  equally among the items in each location.
  Empty cargo space (or a previously de-
  stroyed location) still counts as a location —
  all of its damage just passes through to the
  opposite side.
  Combat
  Results
  Injury to Drivers
  Humans have 3 DP; they are wounded
  by the first hit, knocked unconscious by the
  second, and killed by the third. Standard
  body armor, when worn, also has 3 DP.
  Body armor takes damage first, effectively
  doubling a character's hit points. Hits taken
  by a driver's body armor are no hazard, but
  if a vehicle's driver is wounded or killed, it
  is a D2 hazard. A wounded crew member's
  skills are at -2. When a vehicle's driver is
  unconscious, dead or stunned, all Driver
  skill and reflex bonuses are lost until the
  driver recovers (if possible).
  Uncontrolled Vehicles
  If a motorcycle's driver is killed or
  knocked unconscious, the cycle goes to
  Crash Table 1 immediately, adding 4 to its
  roll. Any passengers must jump or suffer
  the consequences of the roll. Any other
  ground vehicle (including a cycle with a
  sidecar) will continue in a straight line if the
  driver is incapacitated. It decelerates 5 mph
  each turn, moving in a straight line until it
  stops or hits something.
  Substitute Drivers
  If a cycle's driver is incapacitated, a
  sidecar passenger can steer the cycle, but
  cannot use the brakes or accelerator. He
  can fire any weapon, but not on any turn
  that he steers the cycle.
  If a larger vehicle's driver is incapaci-
  tated, a front-seat gunner or passenger may
  attempt to take control. (Note: No vehicle
  may have more than two seats in front.) He
  may operate all vehicle controls, or the
  weapons, but not both in the same turn.
  Each maneuver he makes has an extra D2
  of difficulty.
  If a driverless vehicle can be stopped, it
  will take 5 turns (5 seconds) to push the late
  driver out or off and move any other occu-
  pant of the vehicle in as a new driver. On
  the 6th turn, the new driver may start to
  accelerate and/or fire.
  Fire and Explosion
  A vehicle which crashes may catch fire
  (see Crash Tables, Chapter 2). A vehicle hit
  in combat may also catch fire from certain
  weapons (see below), or on a 2 in 6 chance
  on any turn that the vehicle's power plant,
  flamethrowers or flaming oil jets arc hit by
  enemy fire; a 4 in 6 chance if those items
  take damage from laser, flamethrower, or
  flaming oil jet fire.
  If a vehicle has a fire extinguisher, there
  is a 3 in 6 chance the fire will go out at the
  end of each turn (4 in 6 if the vehicle has an
  improved fire extinguisher). If the fire is not
  put out at the end of the turn, the fire docs
  one hit of damage to each occupant (body
  armor will take damage first), each vehicle
  component (including tires), and the armor
  on each part of the car.
  A burning vehicle may explode if it con-
  tains any type of flamethrower, flaming oil
  jet, any type of rocket or missile weapon, or
  AT gun. If the fire is not extinguished, roll
  30
  Combat
  
  1 die at the end of each turn. On a roll of 1,
  the vehicle explodes, scattering debris. All
  occupants are killed. Pedestrians or vehi-
  cles within 2" take Id damage to the ex-
  posed side (if there are two exposed sides,
  the owner picks which side takes the dam-
  age).
  If a vehicle's tire catches on fire, but the
  vehicle has FP armor, the car will not catch
  on fire. The tire will continue to burn, how-
  ever, and fire extinguishers (except a PFE)
  have the normal chance of putting it out.
  The sequence of rolls is as follows. If the
  vehicle has taken damage that could cause a
  fire, roll at the end of the turn to see if fire
  breaks out. If fire breaks out, and the vehi-
  cle has a fire extinguisher, then roll to see if
  the fire extinguisher puts out the fire. If the
  fire extinguisher succeeds at this point, no
  damage is taken from fire. If it fails (or the
  target didn't have one), each vehicle com-
  ponent takes one hit of damage as outlined
  above. If the fire is still burning after the
  roll, then make one more roll for possible
  explosion as outlined above.
  Starting Fires
  Every weapon that has a chance to set a
  vehicle on fire is rated on the Vehicular Fire
  Table (above) for two factors: "Fire Modi-
  fier" and "Burn Duration." Fire Modifier
  is the number the attacker must roll (or roll
  under) to set the target vehicle on fire. Burn
  Duration is the number of turns after the
  initial hit the Fire Modifier is in effect. All
  Fire Modifiers are cumulative.
  Example: On turn 1, our intrepid duellist
  gets hit by a single flamethrower shot. The
  FT has a fire modifier of 4, so the attacker
  needs a 4 or less on 2 dice to set the target
  vehicle on fire. He rolls an 11, which isn't
  even close. The next turn, the flamethrower
  misses, but our hero gets hit by a laser. The
  laser has a fire modifier of 1, but this is also
  the first turn of the flamethrower's 3-turn
  burn duration — that's 4 more for a total of
  5. The attacker, needing a 5 or less to start
  a fire, rolls a 6 — tough luck.
  On the third turn, the flamethrower
  misses again, but the laser hits for the sec-
  ond time, and our hero drives through some
  flaming oil. The fire modifiers are 1 (for the
  laser) plus 3 (for the flaming oil) plus 4 (for
  the second turn of the FT's burn duration),
  Vehicular
  Table
  Weapon 
  Fire
  Modifier
  Flamethrower 
  4
  Flaming Oil Jet 
  3
  Light Laser 
  0
  Medium Laser 
  1
  Laser 
  1
  Heavy Laser 
  2
  Thermite Grenade 2
  White Phosphorus
  Grenade 
  2
  Fire
  Burn
  Duration
  3
  2
  0
  0
  0
  0
  1
  1
  for a total of 8. The attacker, needing only
  to roll an 8 or less, comes up with a 7. Our
  hero's on fire — let's hope he has a fire
  extinguisher.
  Fireproof armor remains just that —
  fireproof — under these rules. If fireproof
  armor is breached and damage is taken by a
  power plant, flaming oil jet, or flame-
  thrower takes damage, determine the
  chance of fire as above.
  Odds & Ends
  Automatic fire
  If a weapon is placed on "automatic," it
  will fire each turn until it runs out of ammo
  or is taken off automatic. Putting a weapon
  on automatic is a firing action, as is taking it
  off automatic. Letting it fire during the in-
  tervening turns is not a firing action. If you
  have a weapon on automatic, you may fire
  an additional weapon that turn.
  This advantage, however, is offset by
  the inaccuracy of automatic fire. A weapon
  on automatic is not being aimed by the
  driver or anything else. It fires straight
  ahead (or behind, or to the side, depending
  on where it's mounted). A weapon in a tur-
  ret cannot be put on automatic. A weapon
  on automatic cannot target an opposing
  vehicle's tire, turret or any other specific
  target, nor does it benefit from targeting
  computers. Putting a weapon on automatic
  breaks sustained fire, and subsequent auto-
  matic-fire shots do not get a sustained fire
  bonus.
  Combat
  31
  
  When a vehicle lays down automatic
  fire, calculate the attack from that weapon
  at the end of all movement for that turn.
  Draw an imaginary line straight out from
  the middle of the side the automatic weapon
  is on. If a target (vehicle, pedestrian, build-
  ing) crosses that line, figure all the standard
  modifiers and roll the dice. Putting a
  weapon on automatic is very effective for
  doing property damage and dealing with
  large groups of opponents; if you're duel-
  ling with just one or two other vehicles, au-
  tomatic fire is probably a waste of ammo.
  Dropped and gas weapons are very useful
  as automatic fire (see below).
  Dropped Weapons
  Minedroppers, Spikedroppers, Oil Jets,
  and Flaming Oil Jets are dropped weapons.
  Dropped weapons do not require to-hit
  rolls. If a car is moving and fires a dropped
  weapon, the counter is aligned with the car.
  Where the front of the counter is placed
  depends on where the weapon is mounted.
  Front: Centered, aligned with the front
  of the car.
  Uiiderbody: Centered, with the counter
  front in the center of the car.
  Top: Same as underbody.
  Side: As underbody, but Vi" off to the
  side.
  Back: Centered, aligned with die rear of
  car.
  If the car is moving in reverse, reverse
  the "front" and "back" designations above.
  If the car is stationary, rear-mounted
  weapons remain the same, side-mounted
  weapons are placed straight out from the side
  of the car, front weapons are placed straight
  out from the front of the car, and top/under-
  body weapons are centered on the car.
  If the weapon is in a turret, the counter
  may be placed as if it were mounted in any
  of the above locations.
  The smoke cloud from the flamethrower
  is always aligned along the line of fire.
  If a dropped weapon is put on automatic,
  a counter of the appropriate type is placed
  behind the vehicle every phase the vehicle
  moves. It will continue to do this until it runs
  out of ammo or is taken off automatic. If a
  vehicle is not moving, a dropped weapon on
  automatic will fire once per turn.
  The counters for mines and spikes show
  approximately where they are. If a vehicle
  crosses a tire-spike counter, roll 1 die. On a
  roll of 1 to 4, each tire takes Id damage. If a
  vehicle crosses any square adjacent to the
  counter (see diagram below), roll 1 die; on a
  1 or 2, the tire takes Id damage. Spikes will
  stay on the road indefinitely. Solid and plas-
  ticore tires take half damage from spikes.
  Mine counters work the same way, ex-
  cept that if any wheel of a vehicle crosses the
  counter, the mines will go off on a roll of 1
  to 4. If the vehicle only crosses an adjacent
  square, the mines explode on a 1 or 2. Each
  tire within 1" of any edge of the mine
  counter takes Id damage, and the underbody
  of the vehicle that set the mines off takes 2d
  damage. The Spear 1000 mine works the
  same way, except that tires only take ld-3
  points of damage, while the underbody takes
  2d+3! After a particular set of mines has
  been set off, the counter is removed.
  Mines may also be remote controlled,
  either by radio or by cable. Setting off
  mines in this way counts as a firing action,
  but the mines go off when you want them to.
  If you want mines that will go off either by
  remote control or when they're run over,
  double the cost.
  An oil slick is defined by the edge of the
  counter. When any part of a vehicle crosses
  an oil slick counter, it adds D2 to the diffi-
  culty of any maneuver attempted; it also
  adds D2 to the severity of any hazard en-
  countered (such as enemy fire). It is not a
  hazard in itself. Flaming oil slicks are a Dl
  when driven over and add a D2 to any ma-
  neuver or hazard and also cause damage to
  the underbody and tires, as described in the
  individual weapon descriptions. Oil slicks
  last indefinitely, but flaming oil disappears
  after five turns.
  Each vehicle checks only once for each
  counter — on the phase it first runs over the
  counter, or (if it's just going to touch the
  adjacent square area) the first phase it enters
  32
  Combat
  
  an adjacent square. Of course, if the vehicle
  returns to the counter's location, it will have
  to roll again.
  For dropped liquids and dropped gases
  that do damage to a vehicle, roll for damage
  to the vehicle every five phases that the ve-
  hicle remains in contact with the damaging
  substance.
  Paint and Smoke
  Paint and smoke may be produced by
  rear-mounted or side-mounted weapons
  (see diagrams above). Do not try to line up
  a cloud with the grid lines. Orient it accord-
  ing to the vehicle's position. Smokescreens
  and paint clouds remain stationary. The life
  of a smoke cloud is one minute (longer than
  most battles will take). The life of a paint
  spray is one second. Remove it at the end of
  the turn after the one in which it is fired.
  Any vehicle trying to trace a line of fire
  through paint or smoke must subtract 1
  from its to-hit roll for each Vi" of cloud in
  the way. Lasers cannot fire through smoke
  or paint at all.
  When a smokescreen or paint spray is
  placed on automatic, it fires once every
  phase the vehicle moves. This produces a
  continuous line of paint or smoke counters.
  It will continue to do so until it runs out of
  ammo or is taken off automatic. If the vehi-
  cle is not moving, a smokescreen or paint
  spray on automatic fires once per turn.
  Tear gas can be loaded in a smokescreen
  (CPS 50, WPS 1). Tear gas affects targeting
  the same way regular smoke does, as well
  as having serious effects on any unpro-
  tected pedestrians (for a full description of
  tear gas, see the grenade rules on p. 36).
  Any vehicle which comes into contact
  with a paint cloud gets paint on its windows.
  The vehicle will make all to-hit rolls at a -2
  for the rest of that turn and the next three
  turns; after that, the windshield washers
  will have cleaned it off. Both paint and
  smoke are available in just about any color.
  Linked Weapons
  Another way to get more firepower per
  turn out of your vehicle is to link weapons.
  A weapons link costs $50, and has no space
  or weight requirements. Two or more iden-
  tical weapons firing from the same side (or
  in a turret) may be linked, aimed and fired
  together. It is not necessary
  for linked weapons to be
  fired together — a link is es-
  sentially a third button, in
  S 
  addition to the first two, that
  fires both weapons simulta-
  neously. You can still press
  one of the first two buttons to
  fire a single weapon, if you
  want.
  When linked weapons are fired, make a
  separate to-hit roll for each linked weapon.
  All modifiers — negative or positive — that
  affect one linked weapon affect them all,
  including targeting computers, gunner skill
  and range.
  Links can themselves be linked, pro-
  vided all the weapons are identical. Four
  heavy rockets, linked in pairs that are also
  linked, gives the firer a number of options
  — fire any one, fire either of two pairs, or
  fire them all — at any time. Only identical
  weapons may be linked and aimed together.
  Weapons that are not identical can be
  linked, but only one can be aimed. The
  other weapon(s) are treated as if they are on
  automatic (except they fire when the button
  is pushed, and not at the end of the turn).
  The firer can pick which weapon he wishes
  to aim, and which one will be treated as
  automatic (see above for rules on automatic
  fire). If two identical weapons are linked
  with a third, different, weapon, then the two
  identical weapons may be aimed together
  and the third is treated as if it were on auto-
  matic. Weapons with a turret cannot be
  linked and aimed with weapons in the main
  body of the vehicle, or in another turret,
  unless the weapons are smart-linked
  ($500). Any type of dropped weapon or
  paint/smoke weapon can be linked with
  anything with no penalty, since they do not
  require to-hit rolls. A common tactic is to
  link a number of minedroppers and
  smokescreens together and fire them to-
  gether to discourage pursuit.
  Combat
  33
  
  Any number of weapons can be linked
  together with one link. For example, a pair
  of rear-mounted minedroppers can be
  linked to a pair of spikedroppers mounted
  on the sides, all to fire at the same time as
  the turreted machine gun. This is one link;
  when it is triggered, all five weapons must
  fire. If you just want the two spikedroppers
  to fire, that requires another link. The same
  is true for the two minedroppers.
  Hand
  Weapons
  Any character (driver, gunner, passen-
  ger or pedestrian) may use a hand weapon
  any turn he or she does not fire a vehicle
  weapon. For game purposes, hand weapons
  take up no weight or space. However, no
  character may carry more than six grenades
  or grenade-equivalents of equipment. A pis-
  tol counts as a grenade-equivalent; a rifle,
  shotgun or SMG counts as two. As cargo, a
  box of 12 grenades weighs 50 pounds and
  takes up one space (it takes 1 turn to get a
  grenade from cargo space). For complete
  stats on hand weapons, see p. 47.
  Hand weapons do not get bonuses for
  computer aiming, but all other modifica-
  tions for vehicular weapons apply. Hand-
  gunner skill is used with hand weapons,
  instead of the Gunner skill.
  Hand weapons have full effect on tires.
  Most will not affect other vehicle compo-
  nents except at point-blank range (see Haiid-
  to-Hand Combat on p. 45). A few hand
  weapons will work (either half effect or full
  effect) against vehicles; seep. 47.
  Range
  A grenade may be thrown up to 5" (see
  below for more on grenades). Other hand
  weapons have a maximum range of 20" for
  game purposes.
  Firing Penalties and Bonuses
  The driver of a moving vehicle must
  subtract 3 from his to-hit roll with any hand
  weapon. Gunners or passengers subtract 1.
  Pedestrians or stationary characters fire at
  the listed values. In certain situations,
  pedestrians may get bonuses for firing from
  a non-moving position. Firing from inside a
  moving vehicle is not considered station-
  ary, but firing from a stopped vehicle is.
  Grenades
  Grenades come in a number of types,
  but all share some similarities. They have a
  simple time-delay switch (1 to 5 seconds),
  and an activation switch. Setting the time-
  delay takes 1 second, but they can be set
  ahead of time. Changing the time delay also
  takes 1 second. The timer may be replaced
  with an impact fuse, which sets the grenade
  off the instant it lands.
  To throw a grenade, simply start the
  timer by pressing the activation switch, and
  throw it. The grenade will go off at the end
  of the turn in which the timer stops. If you
  set the timer at 1, it will go off at the end of
  the turn after the turn in which you press the
  switch. Grenades fired from launchers are
  automatically activated upon firing.
  Thrown and launched grenades take ex-
  actly 1 second to reach or impact their tar-
  get; if you fire a grenade launcher in turn 1
  on phase 3, it will hit the ground on phase 3
  of turn 2. The to-hit roll is not made until
  the grenade touches down.
  The to-hit roll for a thrown grenade is 9
  or better on 2 dice. But that's misleading,
  because even a successful roll will not put
  the grenade in the exact square you were
  aiming for, unless you roll a natural 12. On
  a 12, the grenade lands in the exact vV'
  square you were aiming for. Any other die
  roll is a miss of one degree or another.
  Any grenade toss that is less than the
  best possible (a 12), will deviate from the
  intended target. This deviation has two
  components — Direction and Distance. Or,
  to put it another way, which way did it go,
  and how badly did you miss?
  Grenade Direction Table
  Roll 1 die, and consult the following:
  1 —Off to the right.
  2 — Off to the left.
  3 — On line, but short.
  4 — On line, but long.
  5 — Off to the right, and long or short
  (roll randomly).
  6 — Off to the left and long or short (roll
  randomly).
  34
  Combat
  
  Grenade Distance Table
  How far the grenade lands from the in-
  tended spot depends on how badly you
  missed your to-hit roll. If your grenade was
  both offline and long/ short, roll separately
  for each distance.
  Made your roll or higher but rolled less
  than 12 — ld-3 VA" squares in each di-
  rection called for by the direction roll.
  Missed by 1 — ld-1 (treat a 0 result as 1)
  squares in each direction called for.
  Missed by 2 — ld+1 squares in each direc-
  tion called for.
  Missed by 3 — 2d-2 (treat a 0 result as 1)
  squares in each direction called for.
  Missed by 4 or 5 — 2d+3 squares in each
  direction called for.
  Missed by 6 or more — 3d squares (8
  squares minimum) in each direction
  called for.
  If the line of flight for the grenade is
  diagonal to the grid lines, just remember
  that each square is vi", and use a ruler to
  determine the final location of the grenade.
  Example: George thinks an enemy vehi-
  cle is about to slip out a side alley, so he
  wants to toss a grenade into the open area
  where the alley intersects the street. George
  picks a target square and rolls the dice. He
  needs a 9 or better to hit, but rolls an 8. Not
  bad, but a miss. Next George rolls on the
  Direction Table, and gets a 5 — off to the
  right, and either short or long. He assigns
  "evens" to long, and rolls another 5 — in-
  dicating the grenade came up short, too.
  Next, George consults the Grenade Dis-
  tance Table — "missed by 1" means the
  grenade is off by ld-1 squares in each di-
  rection called for by the first set of rolls,
  rolled separately. George's grenade is both
  to the right and short of his intended spot.
  George rolls a 2, then a 3 — so the grenade
  ends up one square (2-1) to the right, and
  two squares (3-1) short of the intended tar-
  get.
  If a grenade hits a large solid object —
  like a building or a car — while in flight, it
  will bounce ld-1 squares and stop. The di-
  rection it bounces is determined by the angle
  at which the grenade hits the solid object. If
  the grenade hits the object squarely, it
  bounces straight back toward the thrower. If
  it strikes at an angle, it will bounce off at the
  same angle, away from the thrower. Gre-
  nades with impact fuses will not bounce;
  they will blow up at the point of impact.
  The maximum range for a thrown gre-
  nade is 5", and standard range penalties
  apply — that is, if your intended spot is 4"
  to 5" away, there is a -1 penalty to hit, and
  if your intended spot is less than 1" away,
  there is a +4 bonus. If your intended spot is
  less than 1" away, you cannot miss by
  more than two squares in any direction. In
  no case can a grenade end up behind the
  thrower— if the distance "short" is greater
  than the distance first attempted, place the
  grenade at the thrower's feet. A thrower
  may place a grenade in his own or any adja-
  cent square without having to roll at all.
  A grenade may be thrown from a mov-
  ing vehicle at -2. There is no "automatic
  hit" for adjacent squares, but the +4 point-
  blank bonus would apply. A grenade
  dropped or thrown from a vehicle could go
  in any direction. A roll of 2 or 3 indicates
  disaster — the grenade is dropped inside the
  vehicle and rolls under the seat — or some-
  thing equally nasty.
  Grenade Types
  A wide variety of grenades are available
  for the discriminating duellist. When car-
  ried, they are all 1 GE each.
  Concussion Grenade — $40. Does 1
  point of damage to all pedestrians and ex-
  posed cyclists in a 1" burst effect radius,
  but has an additional effect on people within
  a 2" radius. Roll 1 die:
  1,2 — Victim unconscious for 10 min-
  utes.
  3 — Victim unconscious for 1 minute
  and stunned (unable to operate vehicle or
  weapon controls) for 2 more minutes.
  4 — Victim unconscious for 10 seconds
  and stunned for 2 more minutes.
  5 — Victim stunned for 30 seconds.
  6 — Victim stunned for 10 seconds.
  7 or more — No effect.
  Characters inside a vehicle with intact
  armor between them and the blast are safe
  from the effects. Characters with a build-
  ing, wall or other solid object between them
  and the blast add 5. Characters in a door-
  way or window, or in a vehicle which has
  breached armor between them and the
  blast, add 3 to their roll.
  Combat
  35
  
  Explosive Grenade — $25. Does Id
  damage to all vehicles within a vi" burst
  radius. Does Id damage to pedestrians in a
  2" burst radius.
  Fake Grenade — $5. Looks real, but is
  only plastic.
  Flechelte Grenade — $20. Does Id
  damage to all pedestrians and exposed cy-
  clists in a 2" burst radius. No damage to
  tires or vehicular components.
  Flaming Oil Grenade — $75. Creates a
  vi" X vi" slick of oil which ignites after 1
  phase, just like a standard FOJ slick.
  Flash Grenade — $150. Any person
  within 2" of a flash grenade when it deto-
  nates (night only) is blinded for 1 second.
  Effects are doubled if the victim is wearing
  LI goggles. Naturally, if a character cannot
  trace line-of-sight to the grenade, he is im-
  mune to its effects. For this purpose, smoke
  and paint block line of sight.
  Foam Grenade— $30. If this grenade is
  thrown within vi" of a fire, it puts out all
  fire in a 1" square area on a roll of 1 on 1
  die. If it goes off successfully when inside a
  car, it puts out all fire in that car, but only in
  that car. The foam grenade can also be used
  offensively, because it blocks visibility like
  paint when used on a target vehicle.
  Impact Fuse — $50 per grenade. This
  replaces the timer and causes the grenade to
  explode on impact.
  Paint Grenade — $20. Creates a 1" X
  1" paint cloud that is standard in every
  other way. Also available in colors.
  Smoke Grenade— $20. Creates a 1" X
  1" smoke cloud that is standard in every
  other way. Available in a variety of colors.
  Tear Gas Grenade — $30. Creates a 1"
  X 1" cloud that lasts one minute. Effects
  on weapon and laser fire are the same as for
  smoke. Unprotected pedestrians and cycl-
  ists must roll once each turn they are in a
  cloud. Multiple rolls don't produce cumula-
  tive results — just apply the worst result
  rolled so far:
  1 — Victim is unconscious for 5 minutes.
  2-4 — For 1 minute, victim is -6 to hit
  with any weapon, and can only crawl at 3
  squares per turn.
  5-6 — Victim is -2 to hit with any weapon
  for this turn and 3 more turns.
  Thermite Grenade — $100. Does Id
  damage to all targets (including vehicles)
  within a vi" radius; has a burn modifier of
  2/1.
  While Phosphorus Grenade — $75.
  Does Id damage to pedestrians, half dam-
  age to vehicles, within vi" of the blast. It
  creates a 1" x 1" smoke cloud on detona-
  tion; fire modifier 2; burn duration 1.
  Buildings
  Breaches and Collapsing Buildings
  A building is targeted at +10 to hit. It's
  big and doesn't move (so the +10 takes the
  "stationary" bonus into account). Each
  building has a DP value indicating the
  strength of its walls. Any weapon doing at
  least this much damage will produce a
  "breach." Lesser damage has no effect.
  Example: A building has 10 DP. A
  weapon result of 10 points damage or more
  will produce a breach at the affected spot.
  However, any number of smaller hits may
  accumulate without causing harm — there is
  no need to keep track of building damage
  that does not create a breach. A breach,
  once created, is identical to a door or win-
  dow for game purposes.
  When a building accumulates breaches
  equal to its DP value, it will collapse. (A DP
  4 building falls after four breaches. The DP
  10 building mentioned above will take ten
  breaches before it collapses.) It does not
  matter where the breaches are. When a
  building falls, it creates rubble (see below).
  The fall of a building does not affect nearby
  buildings — even those with which it shares
  a wall. However, a breach in a common
  wall will affect both buildings.
  Everyone and everything inside a falling
  building suffers as many dice of damage as
  the building has DP. For example, a 6 DP
  building will do 6d damage to anyone and
  anything inside.
  Cars will take this damage to their top
  armor. If any top armor is left after the col-
  lapse, people inside the car will be safe —
  trapped, but safe. They won't be able to get
  out for as many turns as the building had DP.
  They'll still have to deal with the rubble as
  pedestrians after they escape from the car.
  Some buildings will have two different
  DP numbers, with the second one in paren-
  theses. The first number will be the number
  36
  Combat
  
  of damage points required to create a
  breach, and the second will be the number
  of breaches needed to collapse the building.
  For many buildings, this will be the same
  number — and only one number will be
  used. But for some buildings, it's not logi-
  cal. An example is a barn — only a few
  damage points will create a single breach,
  but it will take lots of breaches to collapse
  it. A barn like this will be described as hav-
  ing 4(15) DP — it only takes 4 damage
  points to create a breach, but the barn won't
  collapse until 15 breaches are made. When
  a building with two DP numbers collapses,
  use the first to determine the amount of
  damage it does, etc. (see above).
  When a building collapses, it becomes
  rubble. No vehicles may enter rubble. Pe-
  destrians may move through rubble at one
  square per second — moving only on Phase
  1 of a turn. Rubble takes up the same
  squares that the building did.
  Rubble continues to block line-of-sight
  between roads, just as if the building were
  still there. If the firer or the target is in an
  elevated position, rubble can be sighted
  over, however. A pedestrian in rubble can
  fire as though the rubble was not there; he
  is considered "braced" and gets the +1
  bonus to hit. A pedestrian in rubble may be
  fired on, but the attack is at -4.
  Collapse of a building will also scatter
  debris. When something collapses, take a
  dozen debris counters and drop them over
  the disaster site from a height of one foot,
  redropping any that fail to land on the street.
  Cover
  A line of sight may be traced through any
  door, window or breach. Therefore, a pe-
  destrian may stand inside a building and fire
  out. He must, however, be adjacent to the
  door or window for this LOS to be traced.
  A pedestrian leaning around an edge of
  a door or window presents a very small tar-
  get. Therefore, although he may be fired at,
  he has the protection of the wall. He is not
  likely to be hit unless the wall is breached.
  Example: A pedestrian is leaning out a
  window, looking for a good shot, when a
  duellist with a laser tries to take him out.
  The duellist needs an 8 to hit, and gets it.
  The wall has 6 DP. The duellist rolls 10
  points of damage with his laser. The wall
  takes 6 points (breaching it); the other 4 go
  to the pedestrian. If the wall had not been
  breached (if it had 12 DP, for example), the
  pedestrian would have been unhurt.
  However, a very good shot can go right
  through a door or window. If the roll to hit
  is at least 2 better than needed (in the above
  example, if the duellist had rolled a 10),
  then both the pedestrian and the wall take
  full damage.
  Height Modifications
  Situations may arise where duellists in
  cars want to shoot at pedestrians on roof-
  tops; or a pedestrian gun battle may involve
  exchanging shots across a street into build-
  ings. Firing at any target that is on a higher
  level than you is at a -1 for every ten feet of
  height difference. Firing downward is at no
  penalty, but throwing things (like grenades)
  is at -1 for every ten feet of height differ-
  ence. Each level of a multi-story building is
  assumed to be ten feet high. Some heights —
  a third-story rooftop, and fourth floor or
  higher — cannot be hit by regular vehicular
  weapons on street level, unless the firing ve-
  hicle is farther away from the target than the
  target is high. Universal turrets and hand
  weapons are the only way to fire on them.
  Missed Shots
  In most cases, a missed shot rockets off
  into the stratosphere, never to be seen again.
  In a scenario involving buildings, this is
  clearly inappropriate. A missed shot fired
  horizontally goes in a straight line until it
  leaves the map or hits an obstacle, like a
  building. If another vehicle or pedestrian is
  in the exact line of fire, you can roll to hit,
  taking into account any additional range
  penalties and another -2 because you
  weren't aiming at him. When a "miss" does
  hit something, it does standard damage.
  For shots fired upward, roll 1 die. On a 1
  or 2, the shot hits one story higher than in-
  tended; on a 3 or 4, it hits two stories higher;
  on a 5 or 6, it misses the building entirely.
  For shots fired downward, a miss will
  overshoot the target by 1 to 6 inches.
  If you try to put a grenade through a
  window and miss, the grenade lands at the
  base of the building below the window you
  were aiming at.
  Combat
  37
  
  4. Characters
  Car Wars characters are identical in
  many ways. They all take up 2 spaces as
  vehicle crew members, and they all have 3
  damage points and weigh 150 pounds.
  Characters can be differentiated in three
  categories: skills, prestige and wealth.
  Skills
  Many different skills are available for
  characters. Some of these skills (Driver,
  Gunner, Cyclist, and so on) are useful in any
  Car Wars game. Others (Fast-Talk, Street-
  wise, etc.) will be important only in cam-
  paigns with a heavy roleplaying element.
  When a player wants to try something
  that isn't covered by any of the skills in use
  in that campaign, the GM should fall back
  on "roll 2 dice and pray." In other words:
  Require the player to roll 2 dice. The higher
  the roll, the better the result.
  A character with a skill at the base level
  can use it with no penalties or bonuses. Most
  skills can be attempted, at a penalty, even by
  those with no training; see below.
  With extra training and experience, a
  character with a skill at base level (for exam-
  ple, "Driver") can improve it to "Driver
  + 1," and eventually "Driver + 2 , "
  "Driver + 3 , " and so on. In the course of
  adventures, a character will gain "skill
  points." Some skill points can only be spent
  on particular skills, while others can be
  spent on any skill.
  Beginning Skills
  When first creating a character, you get
  a few base skills automatically. Each char-
  acter starts with base-level skills in Run-
  ning, Climbing, and Area Knowledge for
  his home town.
  Each character also gets a total of 30
  skill points to spend as you wish. Each base
  level skill acquired during character cre-
  ation costs 10 skill points. Each additional
  skill level costs 10 points up to Skill +3.
  Higher levels aren't possible with the be-
  ginning 30 points.
  You can spend the 30 beginning skill
  points to acquire three base level skills, or
  you can get one skill at base level and a
  second at +1. You could even sink all 30
  points into buying one skill at +2, but your
  character would be pretty one-dimensional.
  You can also use some of your initial skill
  points to improve your Running skill.
  Earning Skill Points
  Every time a character drives a vehicle
  into combat and survives, one skill point is
  earned toward increasing the ability for that
  vehicle — Driver, Cyclist, etc. (Combat is
  defined as an incident in which a vehicle
  exchanges fire with foes.) The driver of a
  vehicle that scores a "kill" in combat gets
  an additional point toward that vehicle skill.
  A "kill" is scored when an enemy vehi-
  cle can no longer move or fire, either be-
  cause of a direct attack, a crash during
  combat, surrender of the occupants, or
  other circumstance. The occupants do not
  have to die. Killing a pedestrian does not
  count as a kill. (A bully hiding behind
  armor should get no credit for zapping a
  relatively harmless pedestrian with a laser!)
  If a vehicle can no longer move, but still has
  operable weapons, it is not a kill unless and
  until it is forced to surrender.
  If the crew abandons a vehicle or surren-
  ders, that counts as a kill. If a damaged
  vehicle escapes to safety, that docs not.
  Entering combat as a pedestrian is worth
  a general skill point (sec below). If a pedes-
  trian kills another pedestrian (or knocks
  him out), he earns a point for the skill used
  in the combat; scoring a kill against a vehi-
  cle is worth 5 points! If you are firing hand
  weapons from a vehicle, no skill points are
  awarded except, possibly, as a referee
  award for heroic or miraculous shots!
  Use of other skills, as per the skill de-
  scriptions, can earn points toward improv-
  ing those skills. If no specific rules arc
  given for a skill, the referee should simply
  award a point whenever it is used success-
  fully in a combat or stress situation.
  38
  Characters
  
  General Skill Points
  In addition to the specific points
  awarded for skill use, the referee should
  award general skill points at the end of an
  adventure. These points may be applied for
  any skill, or saved to acquire a new skill at
  base level. Some suggestions for general
  skill point awards:
  Winning an arena event: +3
  Surviving an arena event: +1
  Conspicuous bravery: +2
  Risking your life to save a teammate or
  friend: +2
  Using an unusual tactic: +1
  Escaping an ambush alive: +1
  Successfully knocking out a vehicle so it
  can be salvaged: +1
  Winning a highway duel: +1
  Winning a highway duel when you're out-
  numbered: +2
  Completing a mission or adventure: De-
  pends on the length and complexity of
  the task, but anywhere from +5 to +15
  would be appropriate.
  This list is far from complete. Spectacu-
  lar escapes against overwhelming odds,
  brilliant tactics, or just plain lucky breaks
  could be situations worth extra skill points.
  While the players and even spectators are
  welcome to offer suggestions on how many
  points should be awarded, the referee's de-
  cision is final.
  Spending Points to Improve Skills
  To increase an existing skill up to Skill
  +3, spend 10 points; this improves the skill
  by one level. Higher skill levels cost 20
  points each up to Skill +6, 30 points each
  up to Skill +9, etc.
  To acquire a brand-new skill at base
  level, you must spend 10 points and pay
  $1,000 — and take 3 months off (in game
  time) for training. The only exception is the
  Mechanic skill (see below).
  Using Skills
  From time to time, the referee may call
  for a skill roll to see if a character can suc-
  ceed at some feat. If you have a skill at base
  level, you succeed on a roll of 7 or more;
  otherwise, you fail. The effect of success or
  failure will depend on the situation.
  The higher your skill, the easier it is to
  make a skill roll. Add your skill bonus to
  your die roll. Thus, if you have Mechanic
  +1, you would succeed on a natural roll of
  6, because 6+1 = 7 . However, a natural 2
  always fails.
  A character who does not even have a
  skill at base level (that is, did not spend at
  least 10 points on it) gets a -4 on any skill
  roll. He will not succeed except on an 11 or
  12.
  Depending on the relative ease or diffi-
  culty of a task, the referee may require
  some rolls to be made at a penalty or a
  bonus.
  Vehicle skills (Driver, Cyclist, etc.) are
  handled differently. In most cases, your ve-
  hicle skill simply affects any control rolls
  you must make. Occasionally, when a con-
  trol roll does not seem appropriate (espe-
  cially in a roleplaying situation), the referee
  may require you to roll against a vehicle
  skill. In this case, your vehicle's handling
  class affects your skill. If you have a HC 2
  (average) vehicle, roll normally. If its HC is
  lower than 2, subtract the difference from
  your skill. If it is above 2, add the differ-
  ence to your skill.
  So a HC 3 vehicle, for instance, gives
  you a +1 to your skill. A HC 2 vehicle
  gives no bonus or penalty; a HC 1 vehicle
  gives you a -1 to skill, and so on.
  Contests of Skill
  When two characters compete in some
  way, the referee may call for a Contest of
  Skilk. Each character makes a skill roll as
  above, adding any modifiers the referee
  feels are appropriate. If both players make
  or fail their rolls, then the contest is incon-
  clusive and may continue if the situation or
  common sense warrants. If both players
  make their rolls, but one makes it by 5 more
  than the other, he wins. Obviously, if one
  player makes the roll and the other doesn't,
  the player who made his roll wins.
  Some situations may call for a quick con-
  test of skills. In a quick contest, each player
  only rolls once, adding all appropriate mod-
  ifiers. The player with the higher score
  wins. If they tie, the contest is inconclusive.
  Example: Two duellists, after a long and
  protracted road combat, sail into the protec-
  tion of a ghost town. Larry (Driver +2),
  Characters
  39
  
  unwilling to give up the fight, spins through
  town attempting to find Curly's (Driver
  +1) car. Rather than play it out in a compli-
  cated double-blind fashion, the referee calls
  for a Contest of Driver Skills. Curly has
  been through this town before (Area
  Knowledge +1), so the referee gives him a
  + 1 on his roll. Both players roll two dice.
  Larry gets a 9 (7, +2 for his Driver skill
  bonus), poor Curly gets a 5 (3, +1 for his
  Driver skill bonus, +1 for his Area Knowl-
  edge). Thus, Larry wins the contest, and
  gets the drop on Curly. The referee sets
  Curly's vehicle out in the open, travelling at
  a reasonable urban speed, and Larry is free
  to place his car anywhere nearby, moving
  at any speed.
  General skill points may be used to im-
  prove these skills; so can any points earned
  by particularly successful or imaginative
  uses of the skill itself.
  Skill
  Descriptions
  Area Knowledge — Used to get around
  in a particular city, state, duel circuit or
  patch of untamed wilderness. A successful
  Area Knowledge roll means the character
  can answer detailed questions about the
  area known; where to find someone or
  something, where to best set an ambush,
  etc. The amount of detail will decrease as
  the size of the area increases. Better rolls
  allow better use of the information.
  All characters are assumed to have this
  at base level for their hometown. Improve-
  ments to the skill add other areas or more
  detail about a known area, at the referee's
  option.
  Climbing — Like Running, everyone
  gets this skill at base level. Climbing skill is
  used to climb trees (at -1 to skill), fences
  (-2), some buildings (-3 to -5), etc.
  Computer Tech — Most computer sys-
  tems in the Car Wars world are very easy to
  use, and no roll is required. Computer Tech
  is the computer equivalent of Mechanic, and
  is used to program a system, break through
  a computer's defenses (a Contest of Skill be-
  tween the hacker and the computer's defen-
  sive programming), etc.
  Cyclist — This is the ability to drive any
  size motorcycle or trike. Anyone without
  this skill is at -3 on the handling class of any
  cycle he tries to ride. The skill is otherwise
  like Driver (below).
  Driver — This is the ability to drive a
  standard car, pickup, van, etc. — anything
  with four or six wheels — or a reversed
  trike. Someone without this skill may at-
  tempt to drive such a vehicle, but always
  subtracts 2 from his handling class. At the
  base level, the character is an average
  driver. Each additional plus adds to his re-
  flex roll. At the beginning of each combat,
  every driver makes a reflex roll: On a 5, the
  HC of the vehicle is raised by one for the
  duration of the combat; on a 6, the HC goes
  up by 2. A Driver +2, for example, would
  get to add 2 to the die roll. Each additional
  plus is also added to the base HC of a vehi-
  cle to determine how many points are re-
  covered on the Vehicle Record Sheet at the
  beginning of each turn.
  A good driver is better at keeping his
  vehicle under control. Whenever a vehicle
  is forced to roll on a Crash Table, subtract
  the driver's Driver skill bonus from the roll.
  Fast-Talk — The skill of weaseling
  one's way out of a situation by getting
  someone else to make a snap decision in
  one's favor. To fast-talk a potential sucker,
  a character rolls against his Fast-Talk skill,
  adding any modifiers the referee feels ap-
  propriate (an enemy in a firefight will be
  more resistant to a pitch). Fast-Talk may
  also be used to resist someone else's at-
  tempt to Fast-Talk, in which case a quick
  contest of skills is required.
  Gunner — This is the ability to use the
  targeting system common to all vehicles,
  and to fire any vehicular or tripod weapon.
  A character without this skill has a -3 to hit
  with any vehicular weapon, -2 with a tripod
  weapon. Each plus adds 1 to the gunner's
  to-hit roll: a character with Gunner +3 adds
  3 to any to-hit rolls he makes. Entering a
  combat while in control of a weapon is wortli
  a Gunner skill point; each kill scored is also
  worth 1. Note that if the driver of a vehicle
  also pulls the trigger of the weapon that
  scores a kill, he gets two skill points — one
  in Gunner and one in Driver — for the kill.
  Handgunner — The ability to use hand
  weapons and grenades. Anyone without
  40
  Characters
  
  this ability has -2 to hit with all aimed hand
  weapons, but may throw grenades without
  penalty. Each plus gives a +1 to hit with all
  hand weapons and grenades.
  Luck — Each level of Luck adds 1 in
  favor of the catch-all "roll 2 dice and pray"
  method for handling odd situations. Luck
  will not help if there is another skill that can
  do the job.
  Martial Arts — This is the ability to fight
  more effectively in hand-to-hand combat
  (see p. 45). Characters with the base skill
  may attack twice per turn hand-to-hand. At
  +1, they get +1 to their to-hit roll; at +2,
  they get an additional point of damage. The
  cycle repeats beyond that: at +3, the char-
  acter gets an additional attack per turn; at
  +4, he gets an additional +1 on the to-hit
  roll; at +5, he gets an additional damage
  point; and so on.
  Mechanic — This is the ability to repair
  vehicles and components. The time it takes
  to repair something (if it can be repaired at
  all) is a function of the character's Me-
  chanic skill, as well as the difficulty of the
  job and the tools that are available.
  Repair Chart
  Level 
  Trivial Easy Medium Hard Very
  Hard
  No skill 
  2 
  11 
  x 
  xx
  Mechanic 
  1 
  9 
  11 
  12 
  x
  Mech. + 1 1 
  7 
  9 
  11 
  14
  Mech. +2 
  1
  5 
  7 
  9 
  11
  Mech. +3 
  1
  3 
  5 
  7 
  11
  To perform a given repair job, a Me-
  chanic must roll 2 dice, and get the number
  shown on the chart (or higher). He may try
  once per hour (every 30 minutes for a Me-
  chanic +3). An "x" means the job is im-
  possible at that skill level. These numbers
  assume the mechanic has a basic tool kit. If
  he is working with improvised tools (pocket
  knife, chewing gum, baling wire), subtract
  2 from all rolls. If he has only a mini-me-
  chanic (p. 46), subtract 1. If he has a porta-
  ble shop (see p. 59), add 1. If he is working
  in a regular garage, add 2. A successful roll
  repairs 1 point of damage on the item in
  question (3 points if armor is being re-
  paired), or successfully installs/dismounts/
  salvages the item in question.
  Any number of mechanics can work on
  the same vehicle, but no more than three
  can work on the same item at once. Each
  one rolls separately for success.
  Difficulty of Repair Jobs
  Impossible (cannot be attempted): Repair
  damaged tires, repair computer.
  Very Hard: Jury-rig rocket or laser.
  Hard: Jury-rig other components; repair
  laser, rocket, radio or power plant.
  Medium: Repair any weapon other than
  laser or rocket; reweld or patch armor;
  salvage radio, power plant, or computer
  from a wreck.
  Easy: Replace weapon link; salvage other
  items from a wreck.
  Trivial (even someone with no Mechanic
  skill can do this): Reload ammunition;
  replace or salvage tire; salvage spare
  magazines and unused ammunition from
  a wreck.
  Repair is the process of fixing a dam-
  aged part. Each time a successful roll is
  made, one DP is restored to the item (or 3
  points in the case of armor). If a component
  is totally destroyed, it cannot be repaired —
  only jury-rigged.
  Jury-Rigging is a temporary repair job.
  If the proper roll is made, the jury-rigged
  component regains 1 DP, putting it back in
  service. A jury-rigged component can
  never be properly repaired, and if it is dam-
  aged again, it cannot be jury-rigged a sec-
  ond time. Some items will be destroyed so
  totally that they cannot even be jury-rigged
  — like what's left of a cycle after a head-on
  collision with an 18-wheeler.
  Salvage is the removal of a part from a
  wreck. A mechanic must make the appro-
  priate repair roll to salvage any given part.
  Installation is the opposite of salvage —
  putting a new part in to replace a destroyed
  one. The old part must first be "salvaged"
  (that is, removed), even if it was totally de-
  stroyed. The roll to install any part is the
  same as the roll to repair it — see the chart
  above. When the roll is successfully made,
  the part is installed.
  Learning the Mechanic Skill
  The only way to learn or improve this
  skill is to spend game time as a full-time
  mechanic at a duel arena, truck stop or
  Characters
  41
  
  garage. Since this is not especially thrilling,
  most high-level mechanics will be the
  referee's characters, or player characters
  that started by taking Mechanic +1 or +2.
  If a character decides to drop out of
  duelling to become a mechanic, it takes a
  year (during which he also earns $6,000
  above living expenses) to get the basic skill.
  It takes 2 more years (clearing $8,000 a
  year) to get to +1,3 more years (clearing
  $10,000 a year) to get to +2, and 5 more
  years (clearing $15,000 a year) to get to
  +3. A Mechanic +3 has a fairly safe life
  and earns $20,000 a year above living
  expenses. Mechanics may rise no higher
  than +3.
  Paramedic — This skill helps save in-
  jured victims.
  If a character is at 0 DP but not below,
  and the medic can get to him within 20 turns
  of the fatal injury, a successful roll will save
  the character's life. He will remain at 0 DP,
  but will be alive. DP are healed at the rate
  of one every 2 weeks of game time. If a
  victim is below 0 DP, or the medic doesn't
  get there in time, or fails his roll (only one
  chance), the victim is dead. Every success-
  ful use of the Paramedic skill is worth 2 skill
  points toward improvement of that skill.
  If a victim has 1 DP left (that is, he's
  unconscious), a successful Paramedic roll
  will revive him for a few minutes (long
  enough to get some important information,
  for example).
  Running — Everyone starts with this
  skill at its base level. Each plus adds 2.5
  mph to a character's speed — with Running
  +3, you move at 20 mph and Sprint at 25
  mph! No character may move faster than 25
  mph (even while Sprinting). There is no
  way to earn points specifically in Running,
  but general skill points may be spent to im-
  prove the skill.
  Security — The knowledge of security
  systems — techniques and methods of con-
  struction, and ways to disarm or fool them.
  Streetwise — This skill allows a charac-
  ter to get around in the underworld, get a
  piece of the action and make the contacts he
  needs. Successful use of Streetwise lets you
  find out where any sort of illegal activity is
  going on, who can (or must) be bribed, and
  so on.
  This is a character's status among other
  autoduellists and the millions of TV autoduel
  fans. Prestige increases a character's possi-
  ble arena winnings and decreases his expen-
  ditures for new cars, parts, repairs, etc.
  Each character starts with 0 prestige.
  Arena combat always counts for prestige;
  road combat sometimes affects prestige.
  There is a 2 in 6 chance that any road com-
  bat will have been witnessed or filmed by
  helicopter TV crews, in which case it
  scores normal prestige. Otherwise, you're
  an unsung hero for that fight — no prestige.
  In some situations (inside a city, in an area
  with competing TV stations that devote
  more time to autoduelling, etc.), the chance
  of a witnessing TV crew may be higher.
  That decision is up to the referee.
  An ace is a character who has partici-
  pated in five confirmed kills — that is, arena
  kills or road kills that were witnessed. A
  double ace is a character with ten confirmed
  kills.
  Scoring
  Prestige is scored as follows:
  For entering combat: +1
  Winning an event: +2
  For each kill your vehicle scores: +2
  Your vehicle "killed" but you survive un-
  hurt: -1
  Your vehicle "killed" but you survive with
  injury: -2
  You leave your vehicle while it can both
  move and fire: -1
  You leave the arena in a vehicle that can
  both move and fire: -1
  You attack with hand weapons while out-
  side a vehicle: +1
  You kill a vehicle occupied by a character
  with prestige of 15-20: +1
  You kill a vehicle occupied by a character
  with prestige over 20: +2
  You become an ace: +5
  You become a double ace: +10
  A character may earn up to 3 extra pres-
  tige points per game for excellent play,
  lucky shots, or survival against bad odds.
  These points are awarded by majority vote
  of the players and onlookers during that
  game. The referee breaks ties.
  42
  Characters
  
  Being killed lowers prestige: -1 for a he-
  roic death, -2 for an ordinary combat death,
  -3 for a mundane death, -5 for a cowardly
  death.
  Advantages of Prestige
  In any arena combat where cash prizes
  are offered, a character with prestige of 10
  or better earns a percentage bonus equal to
  his prestige; that is, a prestige of 17 earns a
  17% bonus. In addition, a character with
  prestige of 15 or better gets a 25% discount
  on all new car purchases and repairs (for his
  own use only); prestige of 25 or better earns
  a 50% discount. This is in return for the
  champion's sponsorship of various brands
  of ammunition, autos, weapons, etc.
  Wealth
  Each character begins with 0 wealth. He
  can get started in a number of ways. He
  could enter an "Amateur Night" arena sce-
  nario (p. 62) in which the network supplies
  vehicles for aspiring drivers, or he could be
  hired as a mercenary for a highway convoy.
  However a character gets started, there are
  several ways he can earn money:
  Selling cars: A car may be sold for sal-
  vage after it has been used. Most arena con-
  tests give a survivor the right to salvage his
  kills, too.
  Arena prizes: This is the big money. The
  referee for a continuing arena campaign
  may set cash prizes. A typical purse would
  be from Vi to 1 Vi times the total value of the
  vehicles competing.
  Road salvage: You can earn money the
  way the cycle gangs do: pick a fight on the
  road, and strip your kill for salvage.
  Perform missions: Many adventures in-
  volve doing something hazardous (deliver
  an item or person to another city, protect a
  person, steal an item) for pay. These can be
  very profitable, but the risk is high and the
  characters should be well-equipped and ex-
  perienced. This is not for beginners.
  Transactions with other players: Car
  sales, used equipment, side bets, and what-
  ever else you think of.
  Other than repairs and ammo purchases,
  the only expense a continuing character has
  is $150 per week for food, a place to stay
  and power plant recharges. A character with
  no money must sell something or starve. A
  character with no money and no car is obvi-
  ously afraid to enter the arena, so his pres-
  tige drops to zero and he's out of the game.
  Not everyone has a car. Vehicles may
  face challenges from enemies on foot — or a
  driver may leave a wrecked vehicle and
  sprint for safety. A pedestrian is represented
  by a counter that is Vi" X V*". The pedes-
  trian is considered to be in just the front half
  of the counter — a single V4" square. The
  larger counter is provided for ease of han-
  dling. Anyone firing on a pedestrian must
  trace a line of fire to the particular square the
  pedestrian is in, not just any part of the entire
  counter. Pedestrian counters should always
  be lined up with the map grid.
  Pedestrian Movement
  Most pedestrians move at 12.5 mph; that
  is, they move VA" on every phase. Pedestri-
  ans may move into any adjacent square, in-
  cluding those which are diagonally adjacent,
  in their move. They can change direction
  any time without bothering with control rolls
  or handling class (though tilings like oil and
  spikes can hamper movement).
  You may elect to go slower, and there
  are ways of going faster (see below). To
  determine the phases in which you move,
  multiply your speed by 4 and read the ap-
  propriate line on the Movement Chart, p. 7.
  Move VA" in each phase the chart indicates.
  For example, someone moving 17.5 mph
  would move VA" in each phase indicated on
  the chart for 70 mph. Pedestrians go before
  cars moving at the same speed.
  Going Faster
  Spending points to increase your Run-
  ning ability will increase your base speed.
  For short periods of time, you may also opt
  to Sprint. A Sprinting character increases
  his speed by 5 mph for up to 10 seconds.
  After the 10 seconds, he can continue to
  run, but only at his base speed, and only for
  a maximum of 10 more seconds. Then he
  must stop and rest. After Sprinting, a char-
  acter must stop and rest for 1 second for
  Characters
  43
  
  every 2 seconds spent Sprinting; if he
  Sprinted for 6 seconds, he must rest for 3,
  for example. A character who is resting can
  do nothing except catch his breath. You
  cannot Sprint up a flight of stairs, and you
  cannot fire a weapon while Sprinting — but
  if you need to get under cover fast, the extra
  speed could save your life.
  There is no limit to the number of dir-
  ection changes a pedestrian can make —
  don't bother with handling classes, control
  rolls or Crash Table rolls.
  Stairs
  Stairways are marked on Car Wars maps
  as a series of squares, with every other
  square marked with a floor number. When a
  pedestrian reaches the numbered square
  corresponding to the floor he is on, he must
  stop. On phase 1 of the next turn, he may
  move one square up or down. On phase 1 of
  the turn after that, he may move again. This
  continues until he reaches the floor he
  wants. On the turn after reaching the num-
  bered square for any floor, the pedestrian
  may move on that floor normally. The up-
  permost box of many staircases is marked
  "R," and represents a hatch to the roof of
  the building. It takes one turn to move from
  the "R" square to any adjacent square —
  then movement continues normally.
  The Running skill helps a pedestrian
  when climbing stairs. For each level of
  Running the character has above base level
  he can climb one additional square per turn,
  up to a maximum of 5. If a Runner +2 was
  climbing a set of stairs, he would climb one
  square on phase 1 of the turn, then another
  on phase 2, one on phase 3, and then again
  on phase 1 of the next turn.
  Dropping Prone, Crawling and Hiding
  A pedestrian can drop prone instantly —
  this takes no time. A prone pedestrian can
  be in the open (an extra -1 to hit), com-
  pletely safe (behind a wall, for instance), or
  covered but not completely safe (if he is
  prone in rubble, he is at a -5 to be hit). A
  pedestrian can fire from prone position.
  Being immobile gives him a +1 to hit. A
  pedestrian who is in safe cover (such as
  behind a wall) but sticks his head out to fire
  is at a -2 for cover.
  A prone pedestrian can crawl, moving
  in phases 2 and 4 only. He cannot fire while
  crawling.
  It requires a full second to stand up from
  a prone or crawling position.
  Spikes, Oil and Mines
  Pedestrians can run afoul of the nasty
  surprises dropped on city streets and in-
  tended for vehicles. When a pedestrian en-
  ters a square covered by a spike counter
  (not the adjacent area, but the counter it-
  self), he must roll 2 dice. On a 2 or 3, the
  pedestrian takes ld-4 points of damage.
  A pedestrian on oil is more likely to re-
  semble a Keystone Kop than Clint East-
  wood. When a pedestrian enters a square
  with oil on it, he rolls 2 dice. He must roll a
  5 or better to stay on his feet. If he moves
  immediately to another square with oil, he
  must roll a 7; then a 9, and then an 11 for
  each subsequent square. If a pedestrian
  falls, he can either spend an entire second to
  stand up — which also requires a roll of 7 or
  better on 2 dice to accomplish — or crawl,
  moving only during Phases 2 and 4.
  Flaming oil has the same effect as regu-
  lar oil, and pedestrians also take 1 point of
  damage at the end of every turn they're in
  it. Body armor docs protect against damage
  from flaming oil.
  The weight of a pedestrian will not set
  off vehicle-type mines.
  Equipment and Encumbrance
  Pedestrians may carry up to six gre-
  nades, or six grenade-equivalents (GEs)
  worth of equipment; see the list on pp. 45-
  47. This does not affect their movement.
  Carrying a heavier load, except with a pack
  or similar item, is prohibited.
  Combat
  Pedestrians can use hand weapons only
  (see list, p. 47). A pedestrian can only fire
  once a turn. Once a pedestrian fires, he can-
  not move for the rest of the turn. A sprinting
  or crawling pedestrian cannot fire.
  Pedestrians have 3 Damage Points — the
  first hit wounds, the second knocks uncon-
  scious, and the third kills. They can wear
  body armor, which adds DP.
  44
  Characters
  
  If a vehicle collides with a pedestrian,
  use the collision system in Chapter 2. Re-
  member, pedestrians have a damage modi-
  fier of VS. The collision system can also be
  used if pedestrians run into each other.
  Hand-to-Hand Combat
  For one pedestrian to strike another, he
  must be in a square adjacent to his intended
  victim. He must roll a 2 or higher to hit, but
  all targeting modifiers (except for the point-
  blank range bonus) are in effect, including
  the -3 for targeting a pedestrian, so the net
  effect is that — most of the time — he will
  need a 5 or better on 2 dice. A human fist
  does ld-5 damage. If the attacker has some-
  thing heavy in his hand — a pistol, an un-
  used grenade, or a rock (any debris marker
  will yield something appropriate), the dam-
  age roll is ld-4.
  If a pedestrian has moved more than half
  his movement allowance in a given turn, he
  cannot attack hand-to-hand this turn.
  A pedestrian may also make a "hand-to-
  hand" attack against an adjacent vehicle.
  He must have something to hit it with — a
  bare-handed attack against vehicle armor is
  pointless. A pedestrian with a rock or other
  object may strike a vehicle once per turn
  (no to-hit roll is needed). He does ld-5
  damage . . . that is, on a roll of 6, he does 1
  hit. A hand weapon used in this fashion will
  no longer be useful as anything but a club.
  A hand weapon may also do damage to
  a vehicle in a more conventional way. Any
  hand weapon fired from point-blank range
  at a stationary vehicle hits automatically,
  doing 1 point of damage. Any hand weapon
  that would ordinarily do more than 1 point
  of damage against a vehicle (such as the
  SMG), gets the higher damage.
  Hand weapons take one turn to reload;
  this replaces one magazine. Nothing else
  can be done while reloading a weapon.
  When a pedestrian is hit by a weapon, he
  will always take a minimum of 1 point of
  damage from that weapon.
  Pedestrians and Vehicles
  A pedestrian must stand beside a cycle
  for one full turn (one second) to get on. The
  next turn, he is astride it. He must remain
  motionless for 3 seconds, this being about
  the time necessary to get a cycle running.
  After the 3 seconds, he can move normally.
  A driver getting off a cycle (or out of a
  vehicle) must spend a full turn beside it after
  coming to a complete stop (time to dis-
  mount) and then may run normally.
  A driver or passenger may jump from a
  moving vehicle. Roll for damage as if the
  jumper were hit by a vehicle (with a damage
  modifier of 1) going 10 mph slower than the
  vehicle was going. The jumper lands in any
  adjacent square, and may move and/or fire
  beginning the next turn.
  It would take about 30 seconds to pick
  up and restart a fallen cycle of any size.
  Most combats won't last that long.
  To enter a larger vehicle, a pedestrian
  must stand beside it for one turn (opening
  the door). On the next turn, he may enter.
  The next turn he may close the door; if the
  side of the vehicle is hit while the door is
  open, half of all damage from area effect
  weapons is taken to the armor, and the rest
  is applied internally. For other weapons,
  there is a 3 in 6 change that all damage will
  bypass the armor and be applied internally.
  It takes 3 seconds to start a vehicle. It
  cannot move until the fourth turn — but it
  may begin firing weapons immediately.
  Pedestrian Equipment
  Ammo clips — $50 + cost of a full load
  of ammo for that weapon, Vi GE each for
  most weapons, 1 GE for SMGs and GLs.
  Extended Ammo Clips are available for pis-
  tols, SMGs, and rifles. $80 + cost of
  ammo, holds twice as much ammunition as
  a standard clip. Extended ammo clips take
  up 1 GE for most weapons and 2 GEs for
  SMGs and GLs.
  Backpack — $40, no GEs. The pack
  carries 5 GEs' worth of hand weapons that
  do not count toward the 6 GE limit. It takes
  a firing action to remove or don a backpack,
  and items may be added to or removed only
  from a laid-down pack. It takes Id seconds
  to add something to or remove something
  from the pack. If the pack is carried rather
  than worn, it counts as 5 GEs.
  Battle Vest — $75, 3 GEs. Holds one
  pistol, two grenades of any type, two hand-
  weapon magazines of any type, and one
  Bowie knife. Fits over body armor, but
  must be worn to gain benefits; if carried,
  counts as 6 GEs. Putting on or removing a
  Characters
  45
  
  vest counts as a firing action, but adding
  something to or retrieving it from the vest
  does not. An armored version is available
  for $225, which gives the wearer an addi-
  tional 3 DP, but only works on a 1 to 4 on 1
  die. The armored battle vest cannot be worn
  over IBA or impact armor.
  Body Armor — $250. Gives the wearer
  3 extra damage points, but does not protect
  from falling or collision damage.
  Improved Body Armor — $1,500.
  Works like regular body armor, except that
  it has 6 DP instead of 3. If the wearer is in a
  burning vehicle, roll 1 die each turn. On a 1
  to 3, the wearer takes no damage. On a 4 to
  6 the wearer takes the normal point of dam-
  age. Anyone wearing improved body armor
  must subtract 1 from his reflex roll because
  of the bulk, and pedestrians in IBA have
  their speed reduced by 5 mph (2
  squares/turn). The IBA also includes a
  built-in gas mask, and reduces the amount a
  person can carry to 5 GEs.
  Impact Armor — $2,000. Impact armor
  gives the wearer 6 additional DP and is fully
  effective against falls and collisions. Fur-
  thermore, any fall or collision damage is
  halved before applying it to the armor's DP.
  Naturally, once the armor is destroyed (by
  collision or weapons fire), these benefits
  are lost. Impact armor has the same effects
  on carrying capacity, reflex rolls and run-
  ning speed as IBA, but it doesn't give pro-
  tection from fire or gas. This item cannot be
  combined with any other form of body
  armor except for a fireproof suit.
  Blended Body Armor — $750 and up.
  Gives the wearer 3 extra DP, just like regu-
  lar body armor, but is indistinguishable
  from street clothes. Custom tailoring may
  cost more. Regular body armor of any type
  cannot be worn with this item, and a fire-
  proof suit will be obvious if worn. Im-
  proved Body Armor is also available in a
  blended version for $5,000 and up, but it
  does not offer protection from fire or gas
  (though its penalties still apply). Impact
  armor is not available in a blended version.
  Spiked Body Armor — adds $100 to cost
  of any kind of body armor. Spiked armor
  inflicts an extra point of damage in hand-to-
  hand combat, through the use of spiked
  knuckles, knees, etc.
  Fireproof Suit — $500, no weight or
  space. Worn under body armor, the suit
  will protect the wearer completely from ve-
  hicular fires for 30 turns — after that, the
  wearer takes 1 point of damage for every
  ten more seconds exposed. The suit pro-
  tects the same way against flaming oil and
  building fires. If the wearer is hit by any
  type of flamethrower fire, damage is halved
  (round down). The suit offers no protection
  from other weapons.
  Gas Mask — $30, 1 GE. Gas masks pro-
  tect against tear gas and other irritants. If
  exposed to paint, wearer has -2 to his to-hit
  rolls until the mask is removed.
  Light Intensifier Goggles — $300, 1
  GE. Reduces the penalty "to hit" for night
  combat from -3 to -1. A LIG/Gas mask
  combination costs $400, but is still only 1
  GE. Paint not only adds a -2 penalty, but
  also negates the goggles' bonus at night.
  Medikit — $1,000. Counts as a pedes-
  trian's full load when carried. As cargo, it
  takes up 2 spaces and 50 lbs., and has 3 DP.
  Gives a +2 bonus to all Paramedic rolls.
  Portable Medikit - $750, 3 GEs. Worn
  like a backpack (5 GEs if carried by hand),
  takes 2 seconds to put on or take off. Gives
  a +1 to Paramedic rolls; this cannot be com-
  bined with the bonus for a Medikit. If the
  wearer is hit, roll 1 die: on a 1, the Medikit
  is hit first, taking damage to its 2 DP.
  Mini-Mechanic — $50, 1 GE. When
  using this item for any repair job, the penalty
  for using improvised tools is at -1 instead of
  -2. Will fit like a grenade in a battle vest.
  Portable Fire Extinguisher — $150, 20
  lbs., Vi space carried as cargo, 3 GEs when
  carried. Puts out a vehicular fire on 1 to 2
  on 1 die (or a 1 for a gas burner). Can be
  "fired" 20 times before it must be refilled
  — which costs $20 and can be done at many
  truck stops, armories and hardware stores.
  Tool Kit — $600, 6 GEs. Includes
  enough tools and spare parts to allow a me-
  chanic to work in the field at no penalty.
  Has 2 DP; the first point of damage hurts
  the case, and the second point breaks the
  case and destroys or scatters the contents.
  Tripod Weapons — Adds 10% to the
  weapon's cost, 5 GEs. May mount up to 2
  spaces' worth of any vehicular weapon (or
  linked weapons). Extra magazines may be
  purchased, and do not count toward the
  46
  Characters
  
  tripod's "spaces" — they are placed on the
  ground next to the weapon. Each extra
  magazine is 2 GEs. Weapons that require
  power (e.g., lasers) will require a battery.
  A tripod gunshield can be added, adding
  1 GE to the weapon, at $10 and 4 lbs. per
  point of armor (max. weight 40 lbs.). The
  shield acts like a wheelguard: On a 1 to 4,
  the gunshield takes damage before the tar-
  get. Gunshield armor is considered to be a
  vehicular component, and thus takes half or
  no damage from many hand weapons.
  Tripod weapons cannot be used by a
  normal passenger in a vehicle. A passenger
  who wishes to use a tripod weapon takes up
  an additional space (i.e., a gunner would
  take up 3 spaces). Tripod weapons take up
  2 spaces as cargo.
  Walkie-Talkie - $250, 1 GE. It works
  like a vehicular CB and has a 3-mile range.
  Hand Weapon List;
  Weapon
  Submachine Gun
  Rifle
  Anti-Vehicular Rifle
  Heavy AV Rifle
  Assault Rifle
  Laser Rifle
  Gauss Rifle
  Shotgun
  Double-Barreled
  Shotgun
  Heavy Pistol
  Light Pistol
  Machine Pistol
  Gauss Pistol
  Grenade Launcher
  Light Anti-Tank
  Weapon
  Very Light
  Abbrev.
  SMG
  —
  AVR
  HAVR
  AR
  LR
  GR
  StG
  DStG
  HP
  LP
  MP
  GP
  GL
  LAW
  VLAW
  Anti-Tank Weapon
  Bazooka
  Bowie Knife/Bayonet
  Grenades
  —
  G
  GE
  2
  2
  3
  4
  3
  2
  2
  2
  3
  1
  1
  1
  1
  2
  2
  1
  4
  1
  1
  Damage
  Id
  3 hits
  Id
  ld+3
  ld+1
  Id
  Id
  2 hits
  2/4 hits
  2 hits
  lhit
  ld-2
  ld-2
  —
  2d
  Id
  3d
  ld-2
  var.
  To-Hit
  6
  7
  8
  8
  7
  6
  6
  6
  6
  7
  8
  7
  6
  7
  8
  8
  8
  8
  9
  Cost
  $250
  $120
  $600
  $800
  $400
  $4,500
  $1,500
  $120
  $200
  $100
  $75
  $250
  $500
  $300
  $500
  $200
  $1,500
  $50
  var.
  Shots
  10
  20
  10
  10
  10
  2
  20
  10
  10/5
  8
  8
  6
  20
  5
  1
  1
  1
  —
  1
  CPS
  12
  1
  5
  10
  15
  —
  15
  1
  1
  1
  1
  12
  5
  —
  —
  —
  50
  —
  var.
  L$
  $370
  $140
  $650
  $900
  $550
  $4,500
  $1,800
  $130
  $210
  $108
  $83
  $322
  $600
  —
  $500
  $200
  $1,550
  —
  Notes
  a
  d
  d
  a
  b,d
  a,b
  g
  a
  b
  c
  d
  d
  d, e
  f
  c
  Abbreviations: GE — Grenade Equiva-
  lent, a measure of bulk and weight that de-
  termines a pedestrian's carrying capacity.
  Pedestrians can normally carry 6 GEs of
  equipment. CPS — cost per shot. L S —
  loaded cost.
  Notes
  a. Does half damage to vehicles.
  b. This weapon requires a power pack
  ($1,000,3 GEs) to function effectively. The
  laser rifle only gets two shots without it, but
  will get 20 more with the pack. The Gauss
  rifle gets 60 shots' worth of power from the
  power pack, and the Gauss pistol gets 100
  shots' worth of power from it. Note that the
  Gauss weapons still require ammunition.
  c. See pp. 34-36 for grenades.
  d. Does full damage to vehicles.
  e. Spare bazooka shells are 1 GE each,
  and take 2 seconds to reload (1 second for
  two people). Characters reloading a ba-
  zooka cannot perform any other actions
  while reloading.
  /. Only usable in hand-to-hand combat.
  When attached to the end of a rifle, it adds
  no GEs.
  g. A double-barreled shotgun holds ten
  shells. One or two barrels can be fired each
  turn. It uses normal shotgun ammo.
  Characters
  47
  
  5. Vehicle Design
  Building a new car is complicated —just
  ask Detroit. When you first design a new
  vehicle, don't be surprised if it takes a little
  while. You must work within several con-
  straints: Space available in the body size
  you pick, weight that chassis can carry, and
  money available. You have to make sure the
  car has enough power for decent accelera-
  tion. Within all these limits, you want
  enough armor and weapons to give you a
  chance to survive. And remember to allow
  money and weight for ammunition! When
  you come up with a good vehicle design,
  save it for later reference, or add it to the
  stock car list for your local arena.
  Body Types
  There are nine types of cars available to
  duellists, from tiny subcompacts to vans.
  Type
  Subcompact
  Compact
  Mid-sized
  Sedan
  Luxury
  Station wagon
  Pickup
  Camper
  Van
  Price
  $300
  $400
  $600
  $700
  $800
  $800
  $900
  $1,400
  $1,000
  Weight
  1,000
  1,300
  1,600
  1,700
  1,800
  1,800
  2,100
  2,300
  2,000
  Max.
  load
  2,300
  3,700
  4,800
  5,100
  5,500
  5,500
  6,500
  6,500
  6,000
  Spaces
  7
  10
  13
  16
  19
  14(+7)
  13(+11)
  17(+7)
  24(+6)
  Armor
  Cost/Wt.
  11/5
  13/6
  16/8
  18/9
  20/10
  20/10
  22/11
  30/14
  30/14
  Price is the dollar cost of the body with-
  out armor, but with headlights, trim, seats,
  doors, instruments, basic targeting system,
  head-up windshield visual display, etc.
  Weight is the weight of the body and frame
  — it counts toward the total weight of the
  vehicle. Maximum load is the total weight
  (including the body and frame) the vehicle is
  allowed. Maximum load can be altered —
  see Chassis, p. 49. Spaces are the number of
  spaces available in the vehicle for equip-
  ment, weapons and people. Those vehicles
  with additional spaces listed in parentheses
  have cargo areas that can carry that number
  of spaces. Cargo areas cannot be used for
  vehicle components.
  Armor Types
  Armor cost/weight is the cost and weight
  of a single point of ablative plastic armor.
  Cars carry armor in six positions: front,
  back, left, right, top and underbody. You
  can put different amounts of armor in differ-
  ent locations, but the cost per point is the
  same, no matter the location. The cost and
  weight per point of armor does vary accord-
  ing to the size of the vehicle, however.
  There are also a few special types of armor
  available to duellists.
  Fireproof Armor (FP) costs twice as
  much as normal armor, but weighs the
  same. As the name indicates, fireproof
  armor cannot be set on fire. It takes damage
  normally from all weapons, including flame-
  throwers and lasers, but if the armor is all
  that is damaged, you do not roll for the pos-
  sibility of fire — it can't happen. If the armor
  is breached and internal com-
  ponents are damaged, regular
  fire rules apply to the inside.
  FP armor cannot be mixed
  with regular armor — the vehi-
  cle must be all fireproof or all
  regular. Repairing FP armor is
  at triple normal cost (see Re-
  pair and Salvage, p. 52).
  Laser-Reflective 
  Armor
  (LR) takes damage normal-
  ly from all weapons except
  lasers. All types of lasers do
  half damage (round down) to reflective
  armor. Furthermore, laser-reflective armor
  will not take fire modifiers from lasers
  (though it will take them from flamethrow-
  ers and other fire weapons). Once the
  armor has been breached, internal compo-
  nents are vulnerable to normal chances of
  fire. Reflective armor costs and weighs
  10% more than regular armor, and costs
  twice as much to repair as regular armor.
  Reflective armor cannot be mixed with reg-
  ular armor.
  Laser-Reflective Fireproof Armor
  (LRFP) combines the features of both types.
  It takes half damage from lasers (rounded
  48
  Vehicle Design
  
  down), and cannot be set on fire. It is 2Vi
  times normal armor cost, weighs 10% more
  than normal armor, and costs four times as
  much to repair. It cannot be mixed with
  other armor types.
  Metal Armor costs iVi times as much as
  normal plastic armor, and weighs 5 times as
  much. Normal armor is ablative — that is,
  it loses strength as it takes damage. Metal
  armor is only slightly ablative — any dam-
  age in excess of the armor value passes
  through to the interior of a vehicle, and the
  armor remains (more or less) intact.
  If the damage rolled is greater than the
  value of metal armor at the location hit, dam-
  age in excess of the armor value penetrates
  the armor to affect internal components. In
  addition, every 6 rolled on a damage die
  reduces the value of the armor by 1 point.
  Burst-effect weapons reduce the DP by 1
  point for every 5 or 6 rolled on a damage
  die. The loss of metal armor is taken after
  any damage has penetrated the armor. Metal
  armor is fireproof. Metal armor can be pol-
  ished and treated for a laser-reflective finish;
  this adds an extra 10% to the cost of the
  armor, but adds no weight.
  The chassis can be strengthened (or
  weakened) to allow a vehicle to carry more
  (or less) weight.
  Strength
  Light
  Standard
  Heavy
  Extra Heavy
  Weight Modifier
  -10%
  none
  + 10%
  +20%
  Price
  -20%
  none
  +50%
  + 100%
  The price modifier is a percentage of the
  original body price. For example, putting a
  Heavy chassis on a mid-sized car would in-
  crease the maximum load 10% — from
  4,800 to 5,280 (that's 4,800 + 480) — but
  would cost 50% of die original body price
  — another $300. Chassis strength is
  not a factor in vehicle weight or inte-
  rior space.
  Any car larger than a compact may
  have a six-wheeled chassis. It costs an
  extra $100, plus the cost of the extra
  tires. Pickups and vans with Extra-
  Heavy chassis must have six wheels.
  Suspension
  Suspension determines a vehicle's be-
  ginning Handling Class (see Handling
  Class, p. 9).
  Suspension
  Light
  Improved
  Heavy
  Off-road
  Price
  no extra
  100% of body cost
  150% of body cost
  500% of body cost
  HC
  1
  2
  3
  2
  Van
  HC
  0
  1
  2
  1
  Sub
  HC
  2
  3
  4
  3
  Light suspension is standard. Better sus-
  pensions cost in relation to the original body
  cost of the vehicle — a Heavy suspension
  for a Luxury car would cost $1,200 (150%
  of $800). Suspension adds no weight and
  takes no interior space. The HC of a van (or
  of a pickup over 5,500 lbs.) is 1 less than
  that of a lighter vehicle with the same sus-
  pension. On the other hand, the HC of a
  subcompact is 1 higher than that of a larger
  vehicle with the same suspension. Off-road
  suspensions negate the handling-class pen-
  alty for driving off-road.
  Power Plants
  There are two kinds of engine available
  in 2040: gas and electric. With gasoline un-
  available in many areas of the world, multi-
  ple-fuel-cell electric power plants are far
  more common than the old-style internal-
  combustion engines. These electrical
  "power plants" are the only type discussed
  in this book. Power plants take up space and
  weight inside a vehicle.
  DP are "damage points," the number of
  hits required to destroy the power plant.
  When the power plant is lost, a vehicle can no
  longer fire lasers or accelerate, but all other
  systems still work. The vehicle decelerates 5
  mph per turn (more if you put on the brakes).
  Power Factors are used to compute accelera-
  tion and top speed, which are more fully de-
  tailed later in this section. Cost, Weight and
  Spaces should be self-explanatory.
  Plant
  Small
  Medium
  Large
  Super
  Sport
  Thundercat
  Cost
  $500
  $1,000
  $2,000
  $3,000
  $6,000
  $12,000
  Weight
  500
  700
  900
  1,100
  1,000
  2,000
  Spaces
  3
  4
  5
  6
  6
  8
  DP
  5
  8
  10
  12
  12
  15
  Power
  Factors
  800
  1,400
  2,000
  2,600
  3,000
  6,700
  Vehicle Design
  49
  
  Range with Electric Power Plants
  The subject of vehicle range has very
  little importance in the city or in the arena.
  But on the long stretches of highway be-
  tween oases of civilization, running out of
  power is like signing your own death war-
  rant.
  Car and truck power plants have a pow-
  er capacity equal to their spaces times 50;
  cycle power plants have a power capacity
  equal to their DP times 25. These "power
  units" will last longer at lower speeds, and
  get eaten up quickly at higher ones. Power
  units (PU) are consumed at varying rates
  per mile, given by the formula (PU X Cur-
  rent speed)/(Maximum speed X 100).
  On average, a vehicle will have enough
  power to travel 200 miles at its "cruising
  speed," which will be 60% of its top speed.
  At its top speed, it will have enough charge
  to travel 100 miles.
  Speeds beyond the derived maximum
  for a given plant drain power even faster.
  Every turn spent over the maximum costs
  one power unit per full 10 mph over the
  limit. If a plant has a maximum speed of 90
  mph, there is no additional penalty at 95,
  but it costs one power unit for each turn at
  100 or 105, two power units for each turn at
  110 or 115, and so on.
  Laser fire also drains power plants.
  Every time you fire a light laser, it costs you
  one power unit. A shot from a medium or
  regular laser costs two power units, and a
  shot from a heavy laser costs three power
  units.
  Power plant recharges are readily avail-
  able in towns, but on the highways they are
  usually available only at truck stops. A
  power plant recharge takes around ten min-
  utes (most facilities can take two vehicles at
  a time) and costs $1 per five PUs.
  Tires
  To keep the bookkeeping as simple as
  possible, the weight of tires does count
  against the maximum load of the vehicle. A
  car's front tires must both be the same type,
  and the rear tires must be the same type (but
  tires needn't match front to rear). Handling
  class drops by 1 if this rule is broken.
  Tire
  Standard
  Heavy-Duty
  Puncture-Resistant
  Solid
  Price
  $50
  $100
  $200
  $500
  Weight
  30
  40
  50
  75
  DP
  4
  6
  9
  12
  Spare tires carried as cargo take up one
  space. Though they all have the same cost
  and weight, a luxury's tire (for example) will
  not fit on a subcompact. In most cases, you
  cannot mix tires from different size vehicles.
  There are two exceptions. Luxury cars and
  station wagons use the same tires, as do
  vans, campers and pickups.
  Tires may be modified:
  Steelbelting increases the cost and weight
  of any tire by 50%, and adds 25% to its DP
  (round down).
  Radial Tires — Any car, cycle or trike
  with radial tires on all its wheels has its HC
  raised by 1. Adds 150% to cost, 20% to
  weight, and subtracts 1 DP. Radial modifi-
  cations are applied after steelbelting.
  Off-Road (OR) Tires — Any car, cycle or
  trike with off-road tires on all its wheels has
  its HC raised by 1 when off-road, and will
  not take damage from normal off-road ter-
  rain. OR tires confer no benefits on the high-
  way. This modification adds 20% to cost
  and 5 lbs. to weight. Off-road benefits arc
  applied after steelbelting. No tire may be
  both off-road and radial.
  Fireproofing doubles the cost of any tire
  (after any other modifications), with no
  extra weight.
  Weapons
  Weapons are usually mounted on the
  front, back, right or left. Technically, they
  can also be mounted on the top or bottom,
  but they're not nearly as useful in those
  positions. Weapons may also go in turrets.
  No more than 1/3 of the spaces in a ve-
  hicle may be devoted to weapons pointing
  in any one direction. For complete informa-
  tion on weapons, see Chapter 3.
  The Human
  Element
  For game purposes, all humans are as-
  sumed to weigh 150 pounds. A human takes
  up one space. However, vehicle and weap-
  50
  Vehicle Design
  
  on controls (and the freedom of movement
  to use them) also take one space. Therefore,
  two spaces must be allotted for each driver
  or gunner. For more on people, see Chapter
  4, Characters.
  Each vehicle can have only one driver,
  who sits on either the right or left side (the
  player specifies at the time the car is built).
  The driver can fire any of the vehicle's
  weapons; he can also use hand weapons. A
  gunner can also fire any of the vehicle's
  weapons, or hand weapons. There can be
  more than one gunner. The driver and gun-
  ner cannot share a targeting computer; each
  must have his own if both are to get an
  aiming bonus.
  A vehicle can carry passengers either in
  cargo space or regular space. A passenger
  scat (with or without passenger) takes no
  space and adds no weight — the passenger,
  of course, weighs 150 lbs. and takes up one
  space. Passengers can use hand weapons but
  cannot fire vehicle weapons. A single pas-
  senger can ride behind a cycle's driver; he
  takes up no extra space but adds weight, and
  uses hand weapons only. Unless otherwise
  stated, a passenger is located in cargo space.
  Cargo
  Likely cargo includes spare tires and am-
  munition (for yourself, or salvaged from a
  kill). In a campaign game, consult your ref-
  eree about other "cargo" you want to pick
  up. Note that any vehicle can carry cargo if
  it has unused space, but pickups, vans and
  station wagons have a specific "cargo area"
  that can be used for nothing else. This means
  that no vehicular component can be placed
  in it except as cargo or salvage!
  Acceleration
  & Top Speed
  Once you have determined what will go
  into your vehicle, you must compute its ac-
  celeration. This will be 5, 10 or 15 mph.
  If the number of power factors in a
  vehicle's power plant is less than v6 the
  vehicle's weight, it is underpowered and
  will not move. Throw something out, or get
  a bigger power plant.
  If the power factors are Vi the weight but
  less than Vi, the acceleration is 5 mph.
  If the power factors are Vi the weight but
  less than the weight itself, the acceleration
  is 10 mph.
  If the power factors are equal to or
  greater than the weight, then the accelera-
  tion is 15 mph.
  Example: A luxury car weighing 5,500
  pounds has a Medium power plant (which
  has 1,400 power factors). Since 1,400 is
  less than 1/3 of 5,500, the car won't move!
  So we decide to get a bigger power plant, a
  Large (with 2,000 power factors). Of
  course, the larger power plant took up more
  space, weight and money than the old one,
  so some other tilings had to go to keep the
  cost the same — but that's the way things go
  when you're building a car. Because 2,000
  is between 1/3 and Vi of 5,500, the car can
  now move with an acceleration of 5 mph
  per turn. If we could find some way to cut
  the weight down to 4,000 pounds (or get a
  plant with at least 2,750 power factors), the
  acceleration would go up to 10 mph per turn
  (since 2,000 is Vi of 4,000), but a luxury car
  that weighed only 4,000 pounds would be
  so stripped down it would be nearly useless.
  So it goes. . .
  Every car will also have a top speed,
  based on the following formula: 360 X
  power factors / (power factors + weight) for
  electric power plants, rounded down to a
  multiple of 2.5 mph. hi the example above,
  the 5,500 lb. luxury car with a Large power
  plant (2,000 power factors) would have a top
  speed of 360 X 2,000 / (2,000 + 5,500) =
  96, which rounds down to 95 mph.
  Vehicle
  Diagram
  Now that you've chosen all your compo-
  nents and determined that your car has
  enough power to accelerate satisfactorily,
  you can fill out the vehicle diagram. Refer
  back to the example on p. 6. This diagram
  shows (a) what weapons the car has and
  where they are located; (b) how much
  ammo is in each weapon; (c) how much
  armor the car has in each location; and (d)
  what other components the car has, and
  Vehicle Design
  51
  
  where they are. Note that the power plant
  can be either in front or in back.
  Weapon location restriction: No more
  than 16 of the total spaces in a vehicle can be
  devoted to weapons that fire from any one
  side (round down). Motorcycles and side-
  cars are exempt from this restriction.
  The vehicle diagram is used to keep track
  of ammunition expenditure and damage.
  Also located on the vehicle diagram is a
  chart to keep track of vehicle speed and han-
  dling status each turn.
  Blank Vehicle Record Sheets are pro-
  vided on a separate sheet. You may photo-
  copy them for personal use.
  Repair and
  Salvage
  In a continuing campaign, damaged ve-
  hicles will need repair. Damage to armor
  can be repaired at $50 per hit (multiplied by
  the armor's cost modifier — e.g., fireproof
  armor costs twice as much) — or the vehi-
  cle's entire armor can be re-
  placed for its original cost (as
  per the vehicle building rules
  in this chapter) plus 10%. A 
  Light Cycle
  component that has taken only 
  Med. Cycle
  1 hit can be repaired for 10% 
  Hvy. Cycle
  of its original price; 2 hits: 
  Lt- Sidecar
  30%; 3 hits: 50%; and so on. 
  Hvy. Sidecar
  It's cheaper to replace a badly
  damaged power plant (for instance) than to
  fix it.
  Body armor cannot be repaired. Medical
  care for injured characters is free. (You're
  insured.)
  The prices above are for parts and labor.
  If you do the work yourself, cut Vi off the
  repair costs. Many repair shops will let you
  do your own work in their bays — for $50
  an hour.
  A vehicle or component may be sold for
  salvage. Salvage value is (original cost minus
  repair cost). Damaged parts may be bought
  for this value, or sold for half this value. If
  you stop on the road to strip a wreck, you can
  easily get tires, extra magazines, unfired am-
  munition, hand weapons, and cargo. Other
  components can be salvaged, but it takes time
  and requires the Mechanic skill (see pp. 41-
  42). A burned wreck is worthless.
  Frame
  Modifying Vehicles
  New weapons and accessories can be
  added to an existing vehicle between duels,
  as long as weight and space limits arc ob-
  served. Old components may be saved or
  sold. Add 10% to the cost of any parts that
  vary from a car's original design — retrofit-
  ting is expensive.
  Exceptions: New tires can be added at
  their regular cost, and chassis and suspen-
  sion cannot be changed from their original
  design.
  If any cost or weight calculations using
  the above instructions result in fractions of
  dollars or pounds, round to the nearest
  whole number.
  Cycles
  Building a motorcycle is very similar to
  building a car. A cycle can use almost any
  weapon or accessory a car docs. A medium
  or heavy cycle can also pull a sidecar — for
  one passenger, for cargo hauling, or just to
  get some extra firepower.
  Price 
  Weight Max. Spaces 
  Armor
  $200
  $300
  $400
  $300
  $450
  250
  300
  350
  200
  350
  load
  800
  1,100
  1,300
  400
  750
  4
  5
  7
  2
  3
  Cost/Wt
  10/4
  11/5
  12/6
  5/5
  5/6
  The weight of the sidecar and contents
  does not count against the load on the cycle
  frame. Instead, both the sidecar and the
  cycle must meet their maximum weight re-
  quirements separately. The weight is added
  together, however, when computing accel-
  eration and top speed (which is done the
  same way as for cars). A cycle can only pull
  one sidecar. Cycle and sidecar chassis can-
  not be modified to increase weight capacity.
  Cycle armor can be placed front and
  rear only. A sidecar is treated like a little
  car with no top. Sidecars carry armor in all
  six normal locations. Cycle and sidecar
  armor can be made fireproof or metal. All
  the armor on a sidecar or a cycle must be
  made of the same type, but an attached side-
  car can carry a different type of armor from
  a cycle.
  52
  Vehicle Design
  
  Suspension
  Suspension can be upgraded to improve
  the handling class of the cycle or sidecar.
  To determine the HC of a cycle/sidecar
  combination, add the HCs of the two sepa-
  rate items together.
  Suspension 
  Cost 
  HC
  Light 
  no extra 
  0
  Improved 
  100% of frame cost 
  1
  Heavy 
  200% of frame cost 
  2
  OR 
  300% of frame cost 
  2
  Power Plants
  Like car power plants, cycles use electric
  fuel cell systems. Like today's engines, they
  are more powerful for their size and weight
  than auto engines, but cannot be used in
  larger vehicles — they would burn up.
  Plant 
  Cost 
  Weight Spaces DP
  Small Cycle 
  $500 
  100 
  1 
  2
  Med. Cycle 
  $1,000 
  150 
  1 
  3
  Large Cycle 
  $1,500 
  175 
  2 
  4
  Super Cycle 
  $2,000 
  200 
  2 
  5
  Super Trike 
  $3,000 
  250 
  3 
  6
  Cycle acceleration and top speed is
  determined just as for cars (see p. 51).
  Tires
  Cycles need two tires; sidecars need
  one. The front and rear tires on a cycle must
  match, and if a sidecar is attached, its tire
  must match, too. Cycle tires come in the
  same varieties available for cars. Cycle
  tires cost the same and have the same num-
  ber of DP as car tires, but they weigh only
  half as much.
  Weapon Placement
  Weapons can only be placed on a cycle's
  front or rear. They can be mounted to the
  front, rear or side of a sidecar. A weapon
  on a cycle cannot be linked to a weapon on
  a sidecar, unless both are dropped weap-
  ons. If the sidecar becomes detached, the
  link is broken and must be replaced.
  Cycle Accessories
  Cycle Wheelguards — $10/2 lbs. per
  point of plastic armor, maximum 20 lbs.
  each. Only one wheelguard is required per
  tire. If the tire is targeted and hit, roll 1 die.
  On a 1 to 5, the wheelguard takes the dam-
  age. Cycle wheelguards do not lower HC.
  Jettison Joining — $300, no weight or
  space. The joining's explosive bolts allow a
  desperate cyclist to ditch a damaged sidecar
  on the run. Triggering the joining is a firing
  action, but once they are fired, the sidecar
  becomes a separate vehicle traveling paral-
  lel to the cycle (place a Vi" X Vi" counter
  next to the cycle to represent the sidecar). If
  struck, treat the loose sidecar as an obsta-
  cle. The sidecar will decelerate 5 mph per
  turn, but must roll once per turn on Crash
  Table 1 with the appropriate speed modifi-
  ers. Vehicular weapons on a detached side-
  car cannot be fired, although hand-weapon
  fire is still permitted. Firing the joining is a
  D2 hazard for the cycle, and the cycle's HC
  may be permanently reduced as well,
  Power 
  but the cycle's acceleration and top
  400 
  speed may improve.
  600 
  Cycle Blades — $50, 20 lbs., no
  800 
  space. These jagged blades add 2
  1,000 
  points to the damage any pedestrian
  takes when hit by a cycle. If the cycle
  just passes adjacent to a pedestrian,
  there is a 50% chance the blades will hit,
  doing 1 point of damage per 20 mph of
  speed. Doing this successfully is a D2 haz-
  ard for the cycle. Cycle blades are de-
  stroyed if the vehicle rolls. Fake blades are
  available, at $20 for the set, no weight or
  space. They do no damage, but they're
  great for scaring pedestrians.
  1,200
  Vehicle Design
  Trikes
  Tricycles are designed like any other ve-
  hicles. A trike counter is 1" long, like that
  of a car. A trike's arcs of fire are different
  from those of other vehicles (see p. 54); this
  should be taken into account when placing
  weapons and armor.
  Construction
  Trikes most closely resemble motorcy-
  cles in construction. They use the same tires
  and power plants as cycles, and use the
  same acceleration, top speed, and power
  consumption formulae as cars.
  A trike can have a Light, Standard,
  Heavy or Extra-Heavy chassis, at the same
  costs as for cars. Suspension works the same
  53
  
  way as cycles — Light suspension is free
  and results in HC 0; Improved suspension
  costs 100% of the frame cost and results in
  HC 1; Heavy suspension costs 200% of the
  frame cost and gives a trike HC 2. Handling
  class for all trikes is based on suspension.
  Body
  Light Trike
  Medium Trike
  Heavy Trike
  X-Hvy. Trike
  Cost
  $250
  $300
  $400
  $550
  Weight
  300
  500
  700
  950
  Max.
  load
  1,600
  2,100
  2,800
  3,500
  Spaces
  8
  10
  12
  14
  Armor
  Cost/Wt.
  11/5
  12/6
  14/7
  16/8
  Trikes carry armor like cars — that is,
  they have six armor positions: Front, back,
  left, right, top and underbody.
  Trikes can use any weapon or accessory
  a car or cycle can, with a few exceptions.
  Trikes cannot have ramplates, and they
  cannot pull sidecars. Light trikes cannot
  carry turrets; medium trikes can only use
  one-space turrets. Larger trikes can carry
  up to two-space turrets.
  Trikes can use wheelguards — car
  wheelguards on the back two wheels, and a
  cycle whcclguard on the front. Wheelguards
  do not reduce HC on a trike, but will reduce
  HC by 1 on a reversed trike. Retractable
  wheelguards can be used on the back of a
  normal trike, or on the front tires of a re-
  versed trike. A normal trike can use a
  spoiler, but not an airdam.
  Reversed Trikes
  The reversed trike design puts two
  wheels in front and one in the center of the
  back. This configuration provides greater
  stability than the traditional trike, but is not
  as efficient from a space standpoint. Re-
  versed trikes come in the same body styles
  as regular trikes, but have one less space
  and cost an extra 50% for the chassis. HC
  for a reversed trike is one higher than for a
  regular trike (maximum HC is still 3). Re-
  versed trikes can carry a ramplate, but in all
  other respects, they are the same as regular
  trikes. A reverse trike can use either a
  spoiler or an airdam, or both.
  Trike Combat
  A tricycle is not just a fat motorcycle or
  a three-wheeled car. The successful trike
  duellist (or designer) must keep the differ-
  ences in mind if he intends to survive.
  Trikes have some significant advantages,
  but they have disadvantages as well. The
  advantages include very wide arcs of fire
  and an off-road ability as good as that of any
  cycle. The disadvantages include their
  small size and the vulnerabil-
  ity of the turret.
  Arcs of Fire
  Trike weapons can be lo-
  cated front, back, or to either
  side; they can also be turreted.
  Front and back weapons have
  the same arc of fire a car's weapons do (see
  diagram below); turreted weapons, of
  course, have a 360° arc of fire.
  REAR [ML
  F;RONT
  Side-mounted trike weapons have a
  greater arc of fire than a car's side weapons
  do, because of the wedge shape of the trike
  body. A trike's side weapons can fire into
  the "normal" side arc, plus the front arc of
  fire of a standard vehicle (sec below).
  __^
  SIDK
  \ \
  \
  i
  Any target in the front arc of fire can be
  hit by weapons mounted on both sides as
  well as the front! Right-side and left-side
  weapons can be linked together, or linked
  with front weapons, and aimed together for
  fire at targets in this front arc. The linked
  weapons must be of the same type, or only
  one can be aimed, and the rest are treated as
  if they were on automatic.
  54
  Vehicle Design
  
  6. Weapons
  Weapons in this chapter are arranged
  according to the following categories:
  small-bore projectile, large-bore projectile,
  rocket, laser, flamethrower, dropped solid,
  dropped liquid, dropped gas.
  When describing your vehicle to other
  players, only the nature and location of the
  weapon's firing port must be revealed — the
  exact weapon remains unknown until fired.
  Thus, a front-mounted machine gun would
  be declared as a "small-bore projectile
  front," while a back-mounted smokescreen
  (SS) would be a "dropped gas back." The
  multi-fire rocket pod (MFR) is considered a
  single rocket for declaration.
  For more weapons — many more — see
  the Car Wars Compendium or any of Uncle
  Albert's Catalogs.
  Small-Bore Projectile Weapons
  Autocannon (AC) — To hit 6, 3d dam-
  age, 4 DP, $6,500, 500 lbs., 3 spaces; 10
  shots ($75 and 10 lbs. each); loaded cost
  $7,250, loaded weight 600 lbs.; loaded
  magazine costs $800 and weighs 115 lbs.
  Burst effect.
  Machine Gun (MG) — To hit 7, Id
  damage, 3 DP, $1,000, 150 lbs., 1 space;
  20 shots ($25 and 2vi lbs. each); loaded
  cost $1,500, loaded weight 200 lbs.; loaded
  magazine costs $550 and weighs 65 lbs.
  Area effect.
  Recoilless Rifle (RR) — To hit 7, 2d
  damage, 4 DP, $1,500, 300 lbs., 2 spaces;
  10 shots ($35 and 5 lbs. each); loaded cost
  $1,850, loaded weight 350 lbs.; loaded
  magazine costs $400 and weighs 65 lbs.
  Burst effect.
  Vulcan Machine Gun (VMG) — To hit
  6, 2d damage, 3 DP, $2,000, 350 lbs., 2
  spaces; 20 shots ($35 and 5 lbs. each);
  loaded cost $2,700, loaded weight 450 lbs.;
  loaded magazine costs $750 and weighs
  115 lbs. Area effect.
  Large-Bore Projectile Weapons
  Anti-Tank Gun (ATG) — To hit 8, 3d
  damage, 5 DP, $2,000, 600 lbs., 3 spaces;
  10 shots ($50 and 10 lbs. each); loaded cost
  $2,500, loaded weight 700 lbs.; loaded
  magazine costs $550 and weighs 115 lbs.
  Burst effect.
  Grenade Launcher (GL) — To hit 7,
  damage by grenade type (see p. 35), 2 DP,
  $1,000, 200 lbs., 2 spaces; holds 10 gre-
  nades (cost by grenade type, 4 lbs. each);
  loaded weight 240 lbs.; loaded magazine
  costs $50 plus the cost of grenades and
  weighs 55 lbs. Different grenade types can
  be mixed in the magazine, but the player or
  referee must keep strict track of the order in
  which they are loaded.
  Spike Gun (SG) — To hit 7, Id damage
  (see below), 2 DP, $750, 150 lbs., 2
  spaces; 10 shots ($40 and 10 lbs. each);
  loaded cost $1,150, loaded weight 250 lbs.;
  loaded magazine costs $450 and weighs
  115 lbs. Area effect. The spike gun can be
  fired like an oil gun to hit a specific square,
  leaving a Vi" X Vi" square of spikes that
  acts like a single normal spike counter. The
  spike gun can also be fired directly at a
  target (at a -4 penalty), doing Id damage to
  tires and pedestrians only.
  Rockets
  Heavy Rocket (HR) — To hit 9, 3d dam-
  age, 2 DP, $200, 100 lbs., 1 space; 1 shot.
  Burst effect.
  Light Rocket (LtR) — To hit 9, Id dam-
  age, 1 DP, $75, 25 lbs., Vi space; 1 shot.
  Burst effect.
  Medium Rocket (MR) — To hit 9, 2d
  damage, 2 DP, $140, 50 lbs., 1 space; 1
  shot. Burst effect.
  Micromissile Launcher (MML) — To
  hit 8, Id damage, 2 DP, $750, 100 lbs., 1
  space; 10 shots ($20 and 2v5 lbs. each);
  loaded cost $950, loaded weight 125 lbs.;
  loaded magazine costs $250 and weighs 40
  lbs. Burst effect.
  Mini Rocket (MNR) — To hit 9, ld-1
  damage, 1 DP, $50, 20 lbs., 1/3 space; 1
  shot. Burst effect.
  Multi-Fire Rocket Pod (MFR) — To hit
  9, Id damage per rocket, 3 DP (each point of
  Weapons
  55
  
  damage destroys two active rockets), $450,
  150 lbs., 2 spaces. This must be replaced
  after firing, just like a heavy rocket. It re-
  leases six rockets simultaneously — thus its
  nickname, "Six-Shooter." Roll separately
  to hit with each rocket. Treat each shot as a
  separate attack for building breaches and de-
  bris purposes, but treat it as one big attack
  for making a vehicle's control roll.
  Rocket Launcher (RL) — To hit 8, 2d
  damage, 2 DP, $1,000, 200 lbs., 2 spaces;
  10 shots ($35 and 5 lbs. each); loaded cost
  $1,350, loaded weight 250 lbs.; loaded
  magazine costs $400 and weighs 65 lbs.
  Burst effect.
  Lasers
  Heavy Laser (HL) — To hit 6, 4d dam-
  age, 2 DP, $12,000, 1,000 lbs., 3 spaces.
  Area effect. Drains 3 power units per shot.
  Laser (L) — To hit 6,3d damage, 2 DP,
  $8,000, 500 lbs., 2 spaces. Area effect.
  Drains 2 power units per shot.
  Infrared (IR) Lasers — Double the cost
  of any size of normal laser. IR lasers can
  fire through smoke and paint, but suffer a -1
  per die of damage for every Vi " of s moke or
  paint between die firer and the target.
  Light Laser (LL) — To hit 6, Id dam-
  age, 2 DP, $3,000, 200 lbs., 1 space. Area
  effect. Drains 1 power unit per shot.
  Medium Laser (ML) — To hit 6, 2d
  damage, 2 DP, $5,500, 350 lbs., 2 spaces.
  Area effect. Drains 2 power units per shot.
  Flamethrowers
  flamethrower (FT) — To hit 6, Id dam-
  age, 2 DP, $500, 450 lbs., 2 spaces; 10
  shots ($25 and 5 lbs. each); loaded cost
  $750, loaded weight 500 lbs.; loaded maga-
  zine costs $300 and weighs 65 lbs. Area ef-
  fect. Maximum range 10". When fired, any
  flamethrower creates a standard 1" X Vi"
  smoke cloud, aligned along the line of fire.
  Dropped Gases
  Paint Spray (PS) — 2 DP, $400, 25 lbs.,
  1 space; 25 shots ($10 and 2 lbs. each);
  loaded cost $650, loaded weight 75 lbs.;
  loaded magazine costs $300 and weighs 65
  lbs. Creates a 1" X Vi" cloud when fired.
  Smokescreen (SS) — 4 DP, $250, 25
  lbs., 1 space; 10 shots ($10 and5 lbs. each);
  loaded cost $350, loaded weight 75 lbs.;
  loaded magazine costs $150 and weighs 65
  lbs. Produces a 1" X Vi' smoke cloud when
  fired.
  Dropped Liquids
  naming Oil Jet (fOJ) — 3 DP, $300,
  30 lbs., 2 spaces; 25 shots ($35 and 2 lbs.
  each); loaded cost $ 1,175, loaded weight 80
  lbs.; loaded magazine costs $925 and
  weighs 65 lbs. It drops a regular oil slick
  which bursts into flame 1 phase later. The
  burning slick is treated like a regular oil
  slick and does ld-2 damage to the tires and
  underbody of vehicles that pass tlirough the
  burning slick. It burns for 5 turns. Flaming
  oil acts as a smoke cloud while on fire.
  Once the FOJ slick has consumed itself, the
  counter is replaced by a standard smoke
  cloud of the same size.
  Oil Jet (OJ) — 3 DP, $250, 25 lbs., 2
  spaces; 25 shots ($10 and 2 lbs. each);
  loaded cost $500, loaded weight 75 lbs.;
  loaded magazine costs $300 and weighs 65
  lbs. It creates a 1" X V2" slick when fired.
  Dropped Solids
  Minedropper (MD) - 2 DP, $500, 150
  lbs., 2 spaces; 10 shots ($50 and 5 lbs.
  each); loaded cost $1,000, loaded weight
  200 lbs.; loaded magazine costs $550 and
  weighs 65 lbs. Burst effect. Does 2d dam-
  age to the underbody, and Id damage to
  each tire within 1".
  Spear 1000 Minedropper (SMD) — 2
  DP, $750, 150 lbs., 2 spaces; 5 shots ($100
  and 10 lbs. each); loaded cost $1,250,
  loaded weight 200 lbs.; loaded magazine
  costs $550 and weighs 65 lbs. Does 2d+3
  damage to the underbody, and ld-3 damage
  to each tire within 1".
  Spikedropper (SD) — 4 DP, $100, 25
  lbs., 1 space; 10 shots ($20 and 5 lbs. each);
  loaded weapon costs $300 and weighs 75
  lbs.; loaded magazine costs $250 and
  weighs 65 lbs. See p. 32.
  56
  Weapons
  
  7. Accessories
  Many accessories are available to cus-
  tomize duel vehicles. Some are defensive in
  nature; some are decidedly offensive; others
  are just convenient. Restrictions apply to the
  use of many of these accessories, so read
  each description carefully.
  Body Blades — These are like cycle
  blades (p. 00), but the cost and weight is the
  same as 3 points of plastic armor for that
  vehicle. They need not match armor type.
  Fake blades are available for $20 (no
  weight or space).
  Brushcutter— $100, 20 lbs., no space.
  A front-mounted blade, this can be mounted
  with regular armor, but not with bumper
  spikes. It is destroyed when the front armor
  is destroyed, and adds 2 hits to damage
  done to any pedestrian hit by the front of the
  car. It allows the vehicle to mow down
  small trees (normally D2 or D3 hazard)
  with no ill effects, but has no effect on
  rocks, other vehicles, etc.
  Bumper Spikes — Cost and weight
  equal to 5 points of armor for that vehicle,
  and must match that vehicle's armor. They
  can be mounted on the front or back only.
  Bumper spikes add Id to all damage given
  in a collision, modified by the vehicle's DM
  (double damage to pedestrians). They can-
  not be mounted in conjunction with a ram-
  plate or brushcutter. They are destroyed
  when all armor on that side is destroyed.
  Cyberlink — $16,000, 100 lbs., 1 space.
  This computerized helmet links the wearer
  to one particular weapon, and gives the
  wearer +3 to hit, with that weapon only.
  Extra 
  Magazines 
  — $50, 15 lbs., 1
  space, plus the cost and weight of ammuni-
  tion. An extra magazine for a weapon can
  hold the same number of shots the weapon
  itself can. More than one extra magazine can
  be attached to a weapon. Each extra maga-
  zine adds 1 DP to the weapon. Extra maga-
  zines do not count against the space limita-
  tions of a weapon in a turret, but do count
  against a vehicle's space and weight limit.
  Link — $50, no weight or space. It links
  any two or more pieces of equipment, so
  that they can both be activated by a single
  firing action. It is normally used on weap-
  ons, but can be hooked to other equipment.
  For a more complete discussion of links,
  see Linked Weapons, p. 33.
  Magazine Switch — $250, no weight or
  space. A magazine switch allows the firer to
  select the source magazine for the shot
  being fired; this takes no time and does not
  count as a firing action. Shots in the se-
  lected magazine are still used top to bottom,
  so if a magazine has a mixed load, you must
  still keep track of the order of shots fired. It
  is destroyed when die weapon is destroyed.
  Weapons on automatic will fire all shots
  from one magazine until it's empty, then
  switch to another of the player's choice (as-
  sumed to be programmed before combat).
  Ramplate — Cost and weight are in ad-
  dition to the front armor of a car, truck,
  boat or reversed trike. Cost is 1 Vi times the
  cost of the front armor, and weight is half
  the weight of all the front armor of a vehi-
  cle. A ramplate can only be mounted on the
  front of a vehicle. When in a collision in-
  volving the ramplate, first determine dam-
  age the normal way. Then the other vehicle
  takes twice that amount, and the vehicle
  with the ramplate takes /ia/f that amount. A
  fake ramplate costs and weighs as much as
  5 points of the vehicle's front armor, in-
  cluding modifiers for special armor types
  Accessories
  57
  
  and sloped armor. The fake ramplate can-
  not be distinguished from the real thing
  without a close inspection. Ramplates, real
  and fake, are destroyed when the vehicle's
  front armor is destroyed; a fake ramplate
  has no effect on collisions.
  Smart Link — $500, no weight or space.
  It acts as a regular link between two or more
  weapons. In addition, it allows weapons in
  one location to be aimed and fired with
  weapons in a different location (for exam-
  ple, forward weapons smart-linked to a
  weapon in a turret). All weapons must be
  aimed at the same target — and naturally all
  must be able to aim at that target. Non-iden-
  tical weapons still cannot be aimed to-
  gether. The smart link itself can be linked.
  Targeting Computer — $1,000, no
  space or weight. It adds +1 to all to-hit rolls
  for any single vehicular position (driver or
  gunner, but not both). It is destroyed when
  the power plant is destroyed. A hi-res (HR)
  version is available for $4,000; this model
  works the same way, but gives a +2 to-hit
  bonus.
  A single-weapon computer (SWC) must
  also be set on installation to aid a single
  weapon type in a single position (VMG
  front, RR in turret, for example). Like a
  regular computer, it can only aid one crew
  member, and which crew member benefits
  is also set at installation. The standard SWC
  costs $500, and adds +1 to the to-hit roll;
  the hi-res SWC costs $2,500 and gives a
  +2. Targeting computers cannot be com-
  bined with each other or with the cyberlink
  for higher bonuses.
  Turrets — Turrets take up space in a
  vehicle, but in turn can hold a number of
  spaces' worth of weapons that do not count
  against the vehicle's space limit. A pop-up
  turret hides inside the vehicle, possibly lull-
  ing an opponent into thinking you're lightly
  armed. Raising or lowering a pop-up turret
  is a firing action and takes 1 turn.
  Subcompacts and light trikes cannot
  carry turrets. Compacts and medium trikes
  can carry only one-space turrets. Mid-sizes,
  sedans, luxury cars, station wagons, and
  heavy and x-heavy trikes can carry up to a
  two-space turret. Only vans can carry a
  three-space turret.
  One-space Turret: $1,000, 150 lbs., 1
  space.
  One-space Pop-up Turret: $2,000, 300
  lbs., 3 spaces.
  Two-space Turret: $1,500, 200 lbs., 2
  spaces.
  Two-space Pop-up Turret: $2,500, 350
  lbs., 4 spaces.
  Three-space Turret: $2,500, 300 lbs., 2
  spaces.
  Three-space Pop-up Turret: $3,500,
  450 lbs., 5 spaces.
  Universal Turrets — Adds an extra
  $1,000, no weight or space. Ordinary tur-
  rets, etc. cannot fire higher than a 45° angle.
  A universal turret can fire straight up.
  Vehicular Computer — $4,000, no
  weight or space. It is installed in any one
  crew position, just like a targeting computer.
  It gives a +1 to hit with all weapons fired
  from that position. In addition, a wide array
  of non-combat programs are available,
  stored on holographic data-storage cubes.
  The details of these are left to the referee, but
  examples include bookkeeping, data commu-
  nications, entertainment and so forth.
  Defense
  Fire Extinguisher - $300, 150 lbs., 1
  space. Roll 1 die at the end of each turn a
  vehicle equipped with this item is on fire.
  On a 1 to 3, the fire is put out. The fire
  extinguisher is destroyed when the power
  plant is destroyed.
  Improved Fire Extinguisher — $500,
  200 lbs., 1 space. It will put out a fire on a
  roll of 1 to 4 on 1 die. Otherwise, it is iden-
  tical to the regular fire extinguisher.
  Retractable Wheelguards — $250, 50
  lbs., 1 space per pair, plus the cost and
  weight of the wheelguard itself (sec p. 53).
  These perform like normal wheelguards,
  but do not affect HC when retracted. Rais-
  ing or lowering is a firing action, and takes
  one second.
  Roll Cage — $150 per armor facing,
  weighs as much as 1 point of vehicular
  metal armor times the number of armor fac-
  ings the vehicle has; takes 1 space. Thus,
  for a cycle, a roll cage weighs the same as 2
  points of metal armor and costs $300; a
  mid-sized car's would be 6 points of metal
  armor at $900. It prevents internal compo-
  nents from taking damage in a roll, and in-
  ternal components (only) take half damage
  58
  Accessories
  
  (round up) from rams. Roll cages must be
  original equipment.
  Safety Seat— $500, 25 lbs., no space. A
  safety seat can be installed in any vehicle
  except a motorcycle or a sidecar. It is a spe-
  cially padded, contoured seat which, com-
  bined with special restraining belts and nets,
  cuts the damage taken in collisions and rolls
  in half. For example, after the front armor,
  weapons and power plant have already been
  obliterated in a head-on collision, 12 points
  of damage remain to be divided between the
  driver and the gunner. The gunner has a
  regular seat, so he takes his full 6 points of
  damage. The driver, equipped with a safety
  seat, takes half damage — only 3 points (the
  other 3 are absorbed by the seat). The safety
  seat provides no protection from weapons
  fire. It takes 5 turns to get into a safety scat,
  and 3 turns to get out. If you don't engage
  the harnesses, it only takes one second to get
  in or out, but the protection is lost.
  Wheelguards — $10 and 4 lbs. per point
  of armor. Wheelguards must be bought sep-
  arately for each tire location, and have a
  maximum weight of 40 lbs. When a tire is
  targeted and hit, roll 1 die. On a 1 to 4, the
  whcclguard is hit instead. Wheelguards on
  the front wheels of a car or reversed trike
  reduce the HC of that vehicle by 1. They
  can be made fireproof, reflective, both or
  metal at the standard increases in cost and
  weight. Wheelguard armor must be of the
  same type as that on the rest of the vehicle.
  Miscellaneous
  Active Suspension — $4,000, 100 lbs.,
  no space. Adds 1 to the HC of any car, trike
  or cycle. The bonus doesn't apply off-road.
  If a vehicle loses a wheel, it suffers a D6
  hazard instead of going directly to HC -6,
  and its HC drops by 2 instead of 3.
  Antilock Braking System (ABS) —
  $1,000, no weight or space. This system
  eliminates tire damage due to rapid decel-
  eration and reduces hazards due to braking
  (rain, snow, ice, oil, gravel) by Dl. It can-
  not be used on oversized vehicles.
  Portable Shop — 4 separate cases, each
  2 DP, $1,000, 75 lbs., 1 space. A mechanic
  working in the field with a portable shop
  adds 1 to effective skill. If some of the shop
  cases are destroyed or missing, the chance
  of the mechanic finding the part he needs is
  equal to the percentage of cases left. For
  example, if three of the four cases are in-
  tact, there is a 75 % chance that the needed
  part is still available — otherwise, the shop
  is useless for the particular repair at-
  tempted.
  Searchlight — 1 DP, $200, 50 lbs., 1
  space. A searchlight used on a moving ob-
  ject can track that object with a to-hit roll of
  3 or more (plus all normal modifiers for
  range, target size and speed, etc. but not
  counting darkness modifiers); a crewman is
  required to operate the light. Any object
  thus tracked can be attacked with no penalty
  for darkness.
  A searchlight can also be used to blind
  the driver and crew of another vehicle.
  With a to-hit roll of 6 or better (counting
  modifiers as above), the gunner can blind
  his target, and the target's player must turn
  away from the board and describe subse-
  quent actions based on what he remembers
  while he is blind. He is blinded only as long
  as the searchlight hits him. A blinded char-
  acter can still fire, but with a -10 modifier;
  all maneuvers are at +D3. Searchlights can
  be targeted at -3. Searchlights have no ef-
  fect in daylight, and cannot blind people
  through smoke.
  Armored Searchlight — 5 DP, $500, 75
  lbs., 1 space. This searchlight functions just
  as above.
  Spoilers and Airdams — Each costs 25
  X the cost of 1 point of armor for the vehi-
  cle it is being put on, and weighs 10 X the
  weight of 1 point of armor for the vehicle.
  A vehicle with a spoiler or an airdam adds
  1 to its HC when traveling above 60 mph. If
  a vehicle has both a spoiler and an airdam,
  all maneuvers performed at 60 mph or
  faster have the difficulty reduced by 1.
  Spoilcrs/airdams do not have to match the
  armor type of the vehicle they are on. Spoil -
  ers/airdams have the same cost modifica-
  tions as normal armor (i.e., a metal spoiler
  would cost 62l^ X normal armor cost and
  weigh 50 X normal armor weight of the
  vehicle). A vehicle that has metal armor and
  plastic spoilers or airdams has the spoiler/
  airdam destroyed after 30 cumulative points
  of damage have been done to the front/back
  of the vehicle; otherwise they are destroyed
  when the armor on that side is destroyed.
  Accessories
  59
  
  8. Sample
  Vehicles
  For your first duels — or whenever you
  need a quick opponent — you can use these
  predesigned vehicles. Some have optional
  versions listed. Options will only list the
  changes in a vehicle. If an item is not listed,
  that means it did not change.
  Some further variations take little or no
  calculation:
  Rearrange armor. As long as the total
  number of points of armor remains the
  same, you can change the distribution any
  way you like and it won't change the cost or
  weight of the vehicle. However, if a vehicle
  has a ramplate, do not move any armor
  from or to the front location of the vehicle.
  Change armor type. Making regular
  plastic armor fireproof is simple — just dou-
  ble the cost without changing the weight.
  Converting normal plastic to normal metal
  is nearly as easy. Five points of plastic con-
  vert to one point of metal, reducing the cost
  by 50% of the plastic's cost; for FP plastic
  to metal, reduce the cost by 75%. To con-
  vert from metal to plastic, multiply armor
  points by 5 and double the cost.
  Move the weapons. Take those rear-
  mounted weapons and put them to the front
  — it won't affect the weight or cost at all.
  Just remember that you can't allot more
  than Vs of a vehicle's total spaces to weap-
  ons firing in one direction.
  Add electronics. Since most electronic
  systems (computers, for example) have no
  weight and take no space, you can add one
  at any time for the price of the system. You
  can also remove them to save money.
  Change weapons. Some weapons have
  identical weight and space requirements, so
  the only changes you'll need to make are
  the cost. For example, you can trade a
  flamethrower for a laser — it'll cost you
  $7,250. Or you can save that $7,250 by
  trading in a laser for a flamethrower. Other
  trades include replacing two HRs with a
  MD (costs $600 more), replacing a SD with
  a SS ($50 more), replacing a SD with a PS
  ($350 more) and replacing a SS with a PS
  ($300 more).
  These descriptions use quite a few abbre-
  viations, which can be found on p. 63. The
  armor descriptions list the armor position and
  how much armor is at each location — F5
  means "five points of armor in the front posi-
  tion," R8/16 means "eight points of metal
  armor over 16 points of plastic armor in the
  right armor location," etc.
  Killer Kart — Subcompact, std. chassis,
  hvy. suspension, medium power plant, 4
  HD tires, driver, MG front, Armor: F5,
  R3, L3, B3, T2, U2. Accel. 10, top speed
  135, HC 4; 2,300 lbs, $3,848.
  Stinger — Subcompact, hvy. chassis,
  hvy. suspension, small power plant, 4 HD
  tires, driver, two linked MGs front. Armor:
  F10, R5, L5, B8, T5, U5. Accel. 5, top
  speed 90, HC 4; 2,400 lbs., $5,268.
  Option I — Replace MGs with one RR,
  add 10 points of armor anywhere. $4,178.
  Option II — Replace one MG and the
  link with one HR, add 20 points of armor
  anywhere. $4,138.
  Option III — Replace MGs with one RL,
  add 30 points of armor anywhere. $3,898.
  Option IV — Replace one MG with
  smokescreen or spikedroppcr, add 25
  points of armor. $4,293 with spikedroppcr,
  $4,343 with smokescreen.
  Yellow Jacket — Subcompact, hvy.
  chassis, hvy. suspension, small power
  plant, 4 HD tires, driver, laser front.
  Armor: F5, R4, L4, B5, TO, U0. Accel. 5,
  top speed 90, HC 4; 2,400 lbs., $9,998.
  Mini-Sherman — Compact, std. chas-
  sis, hvy. suspension, large power plant, 4
  HD tires, driver, two linked MGs front, SS
  rear. Armor: F35, R20, L20, B23, T10,
  60
  Sample Vehicles
  
  U10. Accel. 10, top speed 125, HC 3;
  3,693 lbs., $8,334.
  Option — Remove one MG and link and
  smokescreen, add one RL and 5 points of
  armor; $7,849.
  Capricorn — Compact, x-hvy. chassis,
  hvy. suspension, large power plant, 4 PR ra-
  dial tires, driver, RL front, SS back, target-
  ing computer. Armor: F45, R35, L35, B40,
  T37, U35, 4 10-pt. wheelguards. Accel. 5,
  top speed 110, HC 3; 4,437 lbs., $11,451.
  Capricorn Plus — Replace RL with RR,
  replace PR radials with regular solids, re-
  move wheelguards. $11,551.
  Spitfire — Compact, x-hvy. chassis,
  hvy. suspension, medium power plant, 4
  PR tires, driver, VMG front, FT back, hi-
  res targeting computer. FP armor: F35,
  R25, L25, B35, T15, U15. Accel. 5, top
  speed 90, HC 3; 4,200 lbs., $14,550.
  Joseph Special — Mid-sized, std. chas-
  sis, imp. suspension, large power plant, 4
  HD tires, driver, ATG front, RL rear, PS
  right side. Armor: F30, R15, L15, B25,
  T15, U15. Accel. 5, top speed 105, HC 2;
  4,795 lbs., $10,340.
  Joseph Special "T" — Replace AT, RL
  and PS with two linked MGs in turret, plus
  4 HRs (two front, two back), add 3 points of
  armor; $11,238.
  Mauler — Mid-sized, x-hvy. chassis,
  hvy. suspension, large power plant, 4 solid
  radial tires, driver, AC front, FOJ back,
  spoiler, airdam, 4 10-point wheelguards.
  Armor: F50, R40, L40, B40, T15, U15.
  Accel. 5, top speed 92.5, HC 3; 5,760 lbs.,
  $22,250.
  Superzapper option — Remove AC, add
  turreted laser, remove 13 points of armor.
  5,756 lbs., $24,292.
  Hotshot — Luxury. Sec p. 6.
  Bodyguard — Luxury, hvy. chassis,
  hvy. suspension, large power plant, 4 solid
  tires, driver, 2 linked MDs (L and R), 3
  linked OJs (L, R and B), 2 linked PSs (L
  and R), "panic button" link for all weap-
  ons. Armor: F20, R45, L45, B50, T20,
  U20. Accel. 5, top speed 90, HC 3; 5,925
  lbs., $15,400.
  Bodyguard Shadrach — Convert to FP
  armor, replace OJs with FOJs. Top speed
  95; 5,440 lbs., $21,425.
  Intimidator — Station wagon, std. chas-
  sis, imp. suspension, super power plant, 4
  PR tires, driver, laser in turret. Cargo capac-
  ity: 300 lbs., 11 spaces. Armor: F25, R15,
  L15, B25, T30, U15. Accel. 10, top speed
  120 without cargo, Accel. 5 and top speed
  115 with cargo, HC 2; 5,200 lbs., $17,400.
  MG option — Remove turret and laser,
  add 3 pairs of linked MGs, upgrade chassis
  to x-hvy. Cargo capacity: 900 lbs., 7
  spaces. Accel. 5, $17,850.
  Ventura — Pickup, x-hvy. chassis, hvy.
  suspension, super power plant, 6 solid
  tires, driver, AC front, turreted VMG,
  spoiler, cargo capacity of 486 lbs. and 11
  spaces. LRFP armor: F40, R30, L30, B33,
  T25, U20. Accel. 5, top speed 90, HC 2;
  7,314 lbs. ,$31,740.
  Cycles
  Shogun 100— Light cycle, hvy. suspen-
  sion, small cycle power plant, 2 PR tires,
  cyclist, MG front. Armor: F6, B6. Accel.
  10, top speed 120, HC 3; 798 lbs., $3,120.
  Shogun 200 — Medium cycle, hvy. sus-
  pension, super cycle power plant, 2 PR tires,
  cyclist, MG front. Armor: F10, B10. Accel.
  15, top speed 180, HC 3; 1,000 lbs., $5,020.
  Trikes
  Sandcrub — Medium trike, std. chassis,
  OR suspension, large cycle power plant, 3
  OR solid tires, cyclist, VMG front, RL
  back. Armor: F12, R12, L12, B15, T9,
  U15. Accel. 5, top speed 97.5, HC 2 (3
  OR); 2,095 lbs., $9,450.
  Blustmastcr — X-hvy. trike, std. chas-
  sis, hvy. suspension, super trike power
  plant, 3 solid tires, cyclist, 2 RLs linked
  right, 2 RLs linked left, link connecting all
  4 RLs, fire extinguisher, targeting com-
  puter. Armor: F20, R20, L20, B20, T15,
  U6, 2 8-pt. wheelguards back, 1 7-pt. cycle
  wheelguard. Accel. 5, top speed 92.5, HC
  3; 2,794 lbs., $17,430.
  Sample Vehicles
  61
  
  9. Scenarios
  One reason Car Wars is so popular is
  that it allows an unlimited variety of games.
  Players can set up their own car-combat
  scenarios in any sort of background. A sce-
  nario can be a "one-shot," with drivers and
  vehicles created especially for the event —
  or part of a continuing campaign, where
  surviving characters increase their skills,
  returning to fight again and again.
  To create a scenario, you should answer
  the following questions:
  General type. Arena or racetrack combat,
  scoring points in front of the TV cameras? A
  highway chase, with a courier racing to stay
  ahead of a road-pirate gang? An off-road
  confrontation between cycle gangs?
  Starting vehicles. Decide what cars or
  cycles each side will have, or how much
  money they'll get for custom-built vehicles.
  Starting characters. How many charac-
  ters does each side get? How many skill
  points are allowed to build each character?
  Setup positions. Where does each player
  start, and at what speed?
  Objectives. How can each side score
  points? How is the final victory determined?
  Amateur Night
  This arena scenario is good for learning
  the game or for starting new characters.
  Each player starts with a duel vehicle, pro-
  vided free by the arena. Usually this is a
  Killer Kart (p. 60).
  The cars all enter at once, at any speed
  up to 20 mph, from different gates. The last
  surviving car wins. A character may leave
  by any gate (driving or running) to save his
  skin, but can't re-enter. A car may be shot
  at until it is entirely out of the arena.
  The winner gets to keep all the cars used
  in the duel, though most will be good only
  as salvage. After you win three Amateur
  Nights, you're a professional and can no
  longer compete as an amateur.
  Other Arena Events
  Most arena events are limited by value of
  the cars (e.g., "Division 20" puts a $20,000
  ceiling on cost). In most events, it's "every
  car for itself." Team play is also possible.
  The last survivor is usually the winner,
  but a scenario can also give points for kills,
  ramp jumps, and other feats. This encour-
  ages exciting play instead of "turtle" tactics.
  Road Combat
  Use the racetrack map, and the "high-
  way" rules from p. 5.
  Road Duel: Two players. Each gets a
  fixed budget to pick or build one car. Roll
  randomly to see which starts in front. Roll 2
  dice to determine the number of inches be-
  tween the cars. Both start out going the same
  direction at 60 mph. The survivor wins.
  Pack Attack: Multi-player combat. One
  player gets $17,000 to build one car. The
  otlier players share $25,000 to buy or design
  at least 5 cycles. The lone car starts with a
  12" lead; all vehicles start out at 80 mph.
  The cycles win if they destroy the car. The
  car wins if all the cycles are destroyed, if it
  can lose its pursuers at forks in the road, or
  if it increases its lead to more than 30".
  Creating Your Own Game Maps
  Many different Car Wars maps are avail-
  able. For otlier fixed-area scenarios (like are-
  nas, parking lots or obstacle courses), draw
  the whole layout on vV' graph paper and tape
  it to the table. Such a layout should show:
  Roads, parking lots, etc. Some roads will
  be littered with debris, others will be clean.
  If the road has a high curb (Dl hazard to
  hit), draw it as a heavy line. A city area will
  also have sidewalks, which arc also good for
  driving, if you're well enough armed!
  Buildings. Show the outside of each build-
  ing as a heavy line; show interior partitions as
  lighter lines. Indicate stairs (sec p. 44) where
  appropriate. Show the name and DP value
  for each building. Some buildings may have
  weapon turrets for defense!
  Off-road terrain (shoulders, parks, lamp
  posts, trees, boulders, etc.). This will be
  important when cars leave the road (sec Off-
  Road Duelling, p. 23).
  Scenarios
  62
  
  Abbreviations
  ABS — Antilock Braking
  System
  AC — Autocannon
  Accel. — Acceleration
  AR — Assault Rifle
  ATG — Anti-Tank Gun
  AVR — Anti- Vehicular
  Rifle
  B — Back
  BA — Body Armor
  CPS — Cost per Shot
  d — die (6-sided)
  D — Difficulty Rating
  DP — Damage Points
  DStG — Double-Barrelcd
  Shotgun
  F — Front
  FE — Fire Extinguisher
  FOJ — Flaming Oil Jet
  FP — Fireproof
  FT — Flamethrower
  GE — Grenade Equivalent
  GL — Grenade Launcher
  GP —Gauss Pistol
  GR — Gauss Rifle
  HAVR — Heavy AV Rifle
  HC — Handling Class
  HD — Heavy-Duty
  HL — Heavy Laser
  HP — Heavy Pistol
  HR — Heavy Rocket
  HRSWC — Hi-Res Single-
  Weapon Computer
  IBA — Improved Body
  Armor
  IFE — Improved Fire
  Extinguisher
  Imp. — Improved
  IR — Infrared
  L — Left or Laser
  LAW — Light Anti-tank
  Weapon
  LIG — Light Intensifier
  Goggles
  LL — Light Laser
  LP — Light Pistol
  LR — Laser Rifle or Laser-
  Reflective
  LRFP — Lascr-Rcflective
  Fireproof
  LtR — Light Rocket
  MD — Minedropper
  MFR — Multi-Fire Rocket
  MG — Machine Gun
  ML — Medium Laser
  MML — Micromissile
  Launcher
  MNR — Mini Rocket
  MP — Machine Pistol
  MR — Medium Rocket
  OJ — Oil Jet
  OR — Off-Road
  PFE — Portable Fire Ext.
  PR — Puncture Resistant
  PS — Paint Spray
  PU — Power Units
  R — Radial (tire) or Right
  Rev. — Reversed
  RL — Rocket Launcher
  RP — Rocket Platform
  RR — Recoilless Rifle
  SB — Steelbelted
  SD — Spikedropper
  SG — Spike Gun
  SMD — Spear 1000
  Minedropper
  SMG — Submachine Gun
  SS — Smokescreen
  StG — Shotgun
  SWC — Single-Weapon
  Computer
  T —Top
  U — Undcrbody
  VLAW — Very Light Anti-
  Tank Weapon
  VMG - Vulcan MG
  WPS - Weight per Shot
  Ablative armor, 49.
  Acceleration, 8; computing, 51.
  Accessories, 57.
  Ace, 42.
  Active suspension, 59.
  Airdani, 59.
  Amateur Night, 43, 62.
  American Autoduel Association
  (AADA), 3, 4; logo, 4.
  Ammo clips, 45.
  Anii-tank gun, 55.
  Anlilock braking system, 59.
  Arcs of fire, 25; trike, 54.
  Area effect weapons, 28.
  Area Knowledge skill, 40.
  Armor, 48; ablative, 49; metal, 49.
  Aulocaimon, 55.
  Autoduel Quarterly, 4.
  Automatic fire, 31, 33.
  Backpack, 45.
  Banked curves, 15.
  Battle vest, 45.
  Bend, 11,13.
  Body armor, 30, 46; blended, 46; im-
  proved, 46; fireproof, 56; spiked, 56.
  Index
  Body Hades, 57.
  Body types, 48; cycle, 52; trike, 53.
  Booilegger, 13.
  Breach (building), 22, 36-37.
  Bnishculter, 57.
  Buildings, 22, 36-37, 62.
  Bumper spikes, 57.
  Burn duration, 31.
  Burst effect, 28; burst radius, 28.
  Car counter, 8.
  Car design, 48.
  Car Wars Compendium, 3.
  Cargo, 51; cargo space, 30.
  Chassis, 49.
  Chronology, 3.
  Climbing, 40.
  Collision, 18, 19, 20, 29; Head-On, 20.
  Combat, 25; combat results, 30.
  Computer, 58.
  Computer Tech skill, 40.
  Concussion, 21.
  Concussion grenade, 35.
  Conforming movement, 19.
  Contests of skill, 39.
  Control roll, 10.
  Control Table, 10.
  Cover, 37.
  Crash barriers, 5.
  Crash modifier, 10.
  Crash Table, 10, 17, 18.
  Crawling, 44.
  Cybsrlink, 57.
  Cycle, 11, 52; accessories, 53; blades,
  53; design, 52; maneuvers, 11; tar-
  geting, 26; wheelguards, 53; start-
  ing, 45.
  Cyclist, 40.
  D1.D2, etc., 11.
  Damage, 28; location, 28; damage modi-
  fier, 19.
  Debris, 22.
  Deceleration, 8, 14.
  Design (vehicle), 48.
  Dice, 5.
  Difficulty Class, 11.
  Ditches, 24.
  Drift, 12.
  Driver, 40, 51; replacement, 30.
  Dropped weapons, 32.
  Encumbrance, 44.
  Abbreviations
  63
  
  Equipment, 44.
  Evening-out maneuver, 14.
  Explosions, 22, 30.
  Explosive grenade, 35.
  Extra magazines, 57.
  Falling, 15, 16.
  Fast-Talk skill, 40.
  Fire, 30, 56; fire modifier, 3t.
  Fire extinguisher, 30, 58.
  Fireproofing, 50; armor, 31, 48; suit, 46,
  tires, 50.
  Fishtail, 14, 17, 18.
  Flamethrower, 56.
  Flaming oil grenade, 36.
  Flaming oil jet, 32, 56,
  Flash grenade, 36.
  Flechette grenade, 36.
  Foam grenade, 36.
  Food Riots, 3.
  Free Oil States, 3.
  Game setup, 5.
  Gas mask, 46.
  General skill points, 39.
  Grenade launcher, 55.
  Grenade, 28, 34, 37, 55; thrown. 34;
  types, 35.
  Grenade-equivalents, 44.
  Gunner, 40.
  Hand weapons, 25, 34; list, 47.
  Hand-to-hand combat, 45.
  Handgunner skill, 40.
  Handling Class, 9, 49.
  Handling status, 9-10.
  Hazards, 15; off-road, 23.
  Heavy rocket, 55.
  Height modifications, 37.
  Hiding, 44.
  Highway rules, 5.
  Impact armor, 46.
  Impact ruse, 34, 36.
  Improved fire extinguisher, 58.
  Injury to drivers, 30.
  Installation, 41.
  Internal locations, 29.
  J-tum, 13.
  Jettison joining, 53.
  Jumping, 15; jumping from vehicles. 24;
  landing, 16.
  Jury-rigging, 41.
  Kills (scoring), 38.
  Laser, 5b; fire, 50; heavy, 56; infrared.
  56; light, 56; medium, 56.
  Laser-reflective armor, 48.
  Laser-reflective fireproof armor, 48.
  Light intensifier goggles, 46.
  Light rocket, 55.
  Line of fire, 25.
  Link, 57; linked weapons, 33; smart link,
  33, 58.
  Luck, 41.
  Machine gun, 55.
  Magazine switch, 57.
  Maneuver*, 8, 10, 11; cycle, 11.
  Map grid, 7.
  Maps, 5, 7, 62; arena, 5; racetrack, 5.
  Martial Arts skill, 41.
  Mechanic skill, 41, 52.
  Medildi, 46.
  Medium rocket, 55.
  Metal armor, 30, 49.
  Micromissile launcher, 55.
  Minedropper, 32, 56.
  Mines, 15, 44; remote controlled, 32.
  Mini rocket, 55.
  Mini-mechanic tool, 46.
  Modifying vehicles, 52.
  Movement Chart, 7, 8.
  Multi-fire rocket pod, 55.
  Obstacles, 23.
  Off-road, 23, 50, 62.
  Oil and oil jet, 32, 44, 56.
  Paint, 33; grenade, 36; spray, 56.
  Paramedic skill, 42.
  Passengers, 51.
  Pedestrians, 5, 27, 43, 44, 45; bunkers,
  5; combat, 44; equipment, 45; move
  ment, 43.
  Phases, 7.
  Pivot, 14.
  Point Hank, 27.
  Pop-up turret, 58.
  PortaHe fire extinguish, 46.
  Portable medikil, 46.
  Portable shop, 59.
  Power pack, 47.
  Power plants, 49, 50; cycle. 53.
  Power units, 50.
  Prestige, 42.
  Prone, 44.
  Racetrack, 15, 62.
  Radial tires, 50.
  Ram, 19; see also Collision.
  Ramplate, 57.
  Range, 34, 50.
  Rate of fire, 25.
  Recoilless rifle, 55.
  Record Sheet, 6.
  Referee, 6.
  Reflexes and reflex roll, 5, 8, 9.
  Repair Chart, 41.
  Repair, 41, 52.
  Retractable wheelguards, 58.
  Reverse movement, 14.
  Reversed trikes, 54.
  Road conditions, 15.
  Rocket launcher, 56.
  Roll cage, 58.
  Rolling to hit, 26.
  Rolling a vehicle, 17, 18, 24.
  Rubble, 37.
  Running skill, 42.
  Safety seat, 59.
  Salvage, 41, 52.
  Scale, 7, 18.
  Scenarios, 62.
  Searchlight, 59; armored, 59.
  Security, 42.
  Sidecar, 26, 52; targeting, 26.
  Sideswipes, 21.
  Single-weapon computer, 58.
  Six-Shooter, 56.
  Six-wheeled chassis, 49.
  Skid, 12, 13, 17.
  Skills, 38; contests of skill, 39; improv-
  ing, 39; new, 39; points, 38.
  Smart link, 33, 58.
  Smoke, 33; grenade, 36.
  Smokescreen, 56.
  Spaces, 48.
  Spare tires, 50.
  Spear 1000 minedropper, 56.
  Speed, 7; changes, 8.
  Spikes, 44; spike gun, 55.
  Spiked body armor, 46.
  Spikedropper, 32, 56.
  Spinout, 17.
  Spoilers, 59.
  Sprinting, 43.
  Stairs, 44.
  Steclbclling, 50.
  Streetwise skill, 42.
  Substitute drivers, 30.
  Suspension, 49; cycle, 53.
  Swerve, 12.
  T-Bone collision, 20.
  T-Stop, 13.
  Targeting computer, 58.
  Targeting, 25; cycle, 26; modifiers, 16-
  27; sidecar, 26; trike, 26.
  Tear gas, 33; grenade, 36.
  Thermite grenade, 36.
  Tires, 50; blowouts, 15; cycle, 53; lost
  or damaged, 9; fireproof , 50.
  Tool kit, 46.
  Top speed, computing, 51.
  Trikes, 53; combat, 54; construction, 53;
  design, 53; targeting, 26.
  Tripod giuishield, 47.
  Tripod weapons, 46.
  Turns, 7.
  Turning key, 11.
  Turrets, 58.
  TV crews, 42.
  Uncontrolled vehicles, 30.
  Universal turrel, 58.
  Vehicles, 45; design, 48; diagram. 51;
  modifying, 60; sam/>le, 60-61; start-
  ing, 45; stoik. (O.
  Veliiculur conipuler, 58.
  Vehicular Fire Table, 31.
  Vulcan nuchitte gun, 55.
  Walkie-talkie, 47.
  Walls, 5.
  Water, 24.
  Wealth, 43.
  Weapon location, 52.
  Weapons, 50, 55; placement, 53.
  Wheel, lost, 9, 23. Sec also Tires.
  Wheelguards, 59.
  While phosphorus grenade, 36.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Car Wars/Core/Car Wars Corebook.pdf