Written by Andy M. Evans
aevans5@csc.com
Web Posted November 14, 2002
Updated April 01, 2002
Subject: GURPS-Type Mechanic Skill
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 13:54:43 +0100
From: Andy M. Evans <aevans5@csc.com>
To: Michael P. Owen <owenmp@serv.net>
Dear Michael,
I mainly play Car Wars using GURPS-type skills. This is very easily converted using base skill (i.e. Driver) as 10 on 3d6, +1 as 11, etc. There has been a document describing this extant for several years, and I'm sure you've seen it. However, I have never seen a conversion of the Mechanic skill to use GURPS-type (i.e. 3d6) rolls, so I made one up.
From the Car Wars rulebook, this is the Mechanic table, with approximate
percentage chances in parentheses.
| Skill | Trivial | Easy | Medium | Hard | Very Hard |
| none | 2 (100) | 11 (17) | X | X | X |
| Mech | 1 (100) | 9 (28) | 11 (8) | 12 (3) | X |
| Mech +1 | 1 (100) | 7 (58) | 9 (28) | 11 (8) | 12 (3) |
| Mech +2 | 1 (100) | 5 (83) | 7 (58) | 9 (28) | 11 (8) |
| Mech +3 | 1 (100) | 3 (97) | 5 (83) | 7 (58) | 9 (28) |
I have worked through the chances of success for different difficulties and skills, and found the following to be a good fit:
Take the skill as above; i.e. Mech = 10, Mech +1 = 11, etc. and add the following modifiers to the skill before rolling for success:
Easy: no modifier
Medium: -2
Hard: -4
Very Hard: -6
Trivial tasks only fail on an automatic GURPS failure. All tasks succeed on an automatic GURPS success.
I have play-tested these rules, and they seem to stand up OK.
Regards,
Andy
Subject: Movement, Encumbrance and DP
Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 08:18:21 +0100
From: Andy M. Evans <aevans5@csc.com>
To: Michael P. Owen <owenmp@serv.net>
Dear Michael,
Following the Mechanic bit I sent you earlier, I have also been working
on movement rate and DP for characters to try and base the values on
GURPS-type attributes.
Movement Explanation
GURPS Speed is assigned as (DX + HT) / 4. This works out at a base value of 5 in yards per second. Car Wars base speed for pedestrians is 12.5 mph, which works out at 1.25" per turn, or 5 quarter inch squares per second. This is very handy, as we can use the GURPS calculation for Speed unchanged, and take the value as meaning "quarter inches per turn."
The only tweak I have to make to these rules is for sprinting, where GURPS rules say you get a +1 to speed when sprinting, I usually allow a +2 to bring it more in line with the Car Wars sprint allowance of 5 mph, or half an inch per turn.
To find out in which phase a character moves, use the same method as
in Car Wars rules, and multiply the Speed rating by 10 instead of 4, and
move one quarter inch on those phases where the movement chart says move
a full inch. I will probably make up a pedestrian movement chart in due
course.
Movement Rules
Calculate the character's Speed using the following formula: (DX + HT) / 4. This is the number of quarter inch squares the character can move in one turn. He can always elect to move fewer, but he may not normally move more. To find out in which phases the character may move, multiply the Speed rating by 10, and consult the Movement Chart for the next higher speed bracket, moving the character one quarter inch on those phases where a full inch of movement is indicated.
A character may sprint for up to two seconds at a time, followed by two seconds normal movement, with a +2 modifier to their Speed rating while sprinting.
A moving character may stop at any time without the need for deceleration,
and may restart movement at any time without the need for acceleration.
Movement Chart
I have also devised a pedestrian Movement chart using the GURPS-type
Speed rating as a key. To use it, you take the current Speed, round it
down
to an integer, and reference the chart below. The distances given for each
phase are in inches.
| Speed | Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 | Phase 4 | Phase 5 |
| 1 (2.5 mph) | 1/4 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2 (5 mph) | 1/4 | -- | 1/4 | -- | -- |
| 3 (7.5 mph) | 1/4 | -- | 1/4 | -- | 1/4 |
| 4 (10 mph) | 1/4 | 1/4 | 1/4 | -- | 1/4 |
| 5 (12.5 mph) | 1/4 | 1/4 | 1/4 | 1/4 | 1/4 |
| 6 (15 mph) | 1/2 | 1/4 | 1/4 | 1/4 | 1/4 |
| 7 (17.5 mph) | 1/2 | 1/4 | 1/2 | 1/4 | 1/4 |
| 8 (20 mph) | 1/2 | 1/4 | 1/2 | 1/4 | 1/2 |
| 9 (22.5 mph) | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/4 | 1/2 |
| 10 (25 mph) | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 |
As in Car Wars standard rules, I limit the maximum speed of a pedestrian
after all modifiers to 25 mph (or a Speed rating of 10).
Encumbrance
A pedestrian can carry up to 20 x ST in pounds. He may never carry more
than that amount, though several characters can cooperate to carry heavier
objects. The amount of wieght carried affects Speed as the following
table shows:
| Weight Carried | Running Speed Penalty |
| up to 2 x ST | none |
| 2 x ST to 4 x ST | Speed -1 |
| 4 x ST to 6 x ST | Speed -2 |
| 6 x ST to 12 x ST | Speed -3, no sprinting allowed |
| 12 x ST to 20 x ST | Speed -4, no sprinting allowed. Anyone carryting this amount must stop and rest for one turn for every other turn. |
Running Skill: Hard, Physical
This skill is based HT, and has no default. If you have not selected
Running as a skill, you may not attempt to use it. Instead, you should
elect to Sprint to gain extra Movement, If this skill has been
studied, divide it by 8, and add the result to the character's Speed rating.
Thus,
a character with Running 12 would add 1.5 to his Speed rating, bringing
it up to 6.5, or just over 16 mph for normal movement, or 21 mph when
sprinting. If the same character was humping over 4 x ST weight of
equipment at the time, his Speed would be reduced to 4.5, or 11.25 mph,
or 16.25 mph for sprinting. If he was carrying over 6 x ST in weight,
his Speed would become 3.5, or 8.75 mph, and he would be unable to increase
this by sprinting.
Character DP
Quite simply, I use HT/3 rounded down. This gives a starting DP of 3
(for a default HT of 10), and goes to DP of 4 for HT of 12-14, etc. I have
found that this works nicely in games, and allows me to use standard Car
Wars
weapons and damage rules.
I hope this is of interest.
Regards,
Andy