Coconut Run

I have fleshed out the details and painted the minis for my first Machinas B Movie game titled Coconut Run.

Race type - courier. The player has to deliver a briefcase from Key West to Miami. The game starts with a bar fight(THW bar fight rules) while picking up package to determine if the police are involved at the start of the first race. 2 races of 7 laps with 4 track sections will complete the game.

Player -
Reggie - Rep 5 Brains 3 Brawn 4 Bravado 5
Attributes Savvy 4 Tech 3 Speed 2 Focused
Vehicle - Silver Sports Car equipped with a roll cage

Passenger -
Barb - Rep 4 Brains 4 Brawn 2 Bravado 3

Opponents - 
Rob - Rep 4 Brains 4 Brawn 3 Bravado 2
Attributes Savvy 2 Tech 3 Speed 4 Bumper
Vehicle - Black Trans Am equipped with spiked wheels

Sheriff - Rep 4 Brains 2 Brawn 3 Bravado 4
Attributes Savvy 2 Tech 3 Speed 4 Drafter
Vehicle - Police Car equipped with a spike belt (treat as Box of Nails)

Deputy - Rep 3 Brains 1 Brawn 3 Bravado 2
Attributes Savvy 3 Tech 2 Speed 4 Drafter
Vehicle - Police Car equipped with a spike belt (treat as Box of Nails)

B Movie Car Chase Games.

After much background research including rewatching Grand Theft Auto and Smokey and the Bandit I have fleshed out the rules for using Machinas to create car chase campaigns. Here are the rules so far. Any suggestions or fixes are more than welcome. I have yet to play test them, but now that I have sheriff and deputy minis that should happen soon.

Roll to determine the type of race for the game.
1/2 d6                                    Race style
1                                              Race
2                                              Courier run
3                                              Escape

Race - first vehicle to reach the destination wins.
Courier run - successfully deliver the package/vehicle to the destination.
Escape - be the only remaining vehicle at the end of the race.

After each Machinas race will be a non-driving event from this table.
1d6           Non-driving event
1                Gas Station encounter
2                Diner/Roadhouse encounter
3                Hitchhiker
4                Broken down car
5                Notel Motel encounter
6                Carjack attempt

Gas station encounter - While refueling your vehicle you have an encounter with 1/2 d6 people.
Diner/Roadhouse encounter - set up the encounter using the THW bar fight rules. If the police arrive they will be added to the next race.
Hitchiker - take a pep challenge to see if you pick up the hitchhiker.
Broken down car - 1-4 your car has broken down and you lose 1 attribute for the next race only. 5-6 you come across a broken down car and can use some of it to modify your car. Increase 1 attribute by 1 point.
Notel Motel encounter - While getting a quick nap you have (1-4) an encounter with 1/2 d6 people or (5-6) you oversleep and start at the back of the pack for the next stage of the race.
Carjack attempt - immediately go to combat with 1/2 d6 people.

After each encounter except Hitchhiker take a PEP challenge to see if a NPC joins you. Use the NPC table to determine who joins you.

2d6    NPC               R P F S T S    Weapon                              Attributes
1        Drifter             4 2  3  4 2 2     Knife        Roll vs PEP each encounter to see if drifter switches                                                                                 sides.
2        Superhero       3 1  2  3 2 1     N/A           Will always attempt a PEP challenge for the group.
3        Jilted Bride     1 0  0  1 1 1     N/A           -1 to PEP challenges.
4       Redneck          4 2  3  4 3 1     Dynamite   Increased ability to fix the car
5 Abandoned Racer 3 1  2  3 3 3     Tire Iron     Knowledge of 1 other car can be used to prevent                                                                                     passing.
6 Annoying Teen     2 0 1  2 1 1      N/A            -1 to PEP challenges.
7       Reporter          3 2 1  3 2 1      N/A           Contact with news helicopter can be used to avoid                                                                                  obstacles.
8       Ganger            4 2 3  4 1 3      BAP          Always tries to fight.
9    Televangelist     2 1 0  2 1 1      N/A           +1 to PEP challenges.
10      Nun                4 3 2  4 2 2      N/A           +1 to PEP challenges.
11      Killer             3 1 2 3 2 1       2x BAP      Always tries to fight.

Jumping Obstacles - player must decide to jump the obstacle before rolling. Immediately take Out of Control test. If successful take Avoiding Wreck test. After passing the test the player vehicle is placed ahead of the obstacle in the same lane.

Up on Two Wheels - after passing an Avoiding Wreck or Out of Control test the player can briefly drive on two wheels. Roll 1d6 - a result of 5 or 6 recovers all bonus dice used during the previous test, a result of 1 removes 1 bonus die.

Once the police have joined the chase any future obstacles will be police roadblocks (1-4), (5-6) player allies such as big rigs, a funeral procession, bikers or blocking cars. Unsuccessfully avoiding roadblocks will immediately lead to an encounter with the police. Big Rigs or blocking cars will automatically let allied players pass without challenge.

B Movie Police Chase.

I am starting to play around with creating a campaign using Machinas (a THW racing game) and various other rules from THW based on various 70/80s car chase movies like Smokey and the Bandit. Here is an AAR based on a quick game I set up.

Game Setup using Atlas for the route.

The cars -
Black Trans Am with Spiked Tires (Savvy 3, Tech 3, Speed 4 Cruiser)
Cop I with Spike Belt aka Box of Nails (Savvy 3, Tech 4, Speed 2, Luckless)
Cop II with Spike Belt aka Box of Nails (Savvy 3, Tech 3, Speed3, Loner)

Of course I am driving the Trans Am. The game was to be a pursuit from Boston to Providence using a road atlas as the markers, unfortunately disaster struck on the second round when the Cop that passed me successfully deployed a Spike Belt as I was trying to pass. Of course I then rolled no successes on the out of control table causing me to wreck. At least I was able to walk away from the wreck with only the loss of 1 Tech. The GIF below illustrates what happened Hollywood Explosions were not added for the sake of my ego.

Post Campaign Game Notes.

Here are the charts and a map from my campaign if anybody else wants to run their own campaign.  All the other rules came from After The Horsemen, 5150:NB and 5150 Infestation.

The Final Episode.

Table setup.

After Sam's success defending against the Hishen slavers, he tries to capture the Hishen shuttle. The board was set up with the shuttle in the center and Sam entering from section 7(Lower Left Corner). I followed the rules for the rescue scenario from Infestation that could be applied. Two Hishen crew members were on the ramp outside the shuttle. The Razor and the four remaining Hishen crew members were inside. All the Hishen were Rep 3 armed with pistols and the Razor was Rep 5. For possible captives inside the shuttle I used the list of inmates that I started the campaign with on the belief that they would likely be the ones captured in the area by slavers.

1 Hishen down, 1 to go.

Sam got to move first in both the in sight test and activation. Since the ramp closes after three activations time is of the essence. Sam fast moves closer to the Hishen and fires. His first shot knocks one Hishen out of the fight and he misses the second shot. The remaining Hishen returns fire and misses. After a few more missed shots from both parties Sam kills the remaining Hishen. Sam then climbs the entrance ramp and pauses on the threshold before entering. A Razor and four Hishens still remain to be dealt with. (The cinematic pause for dramatic effect was actually caused by a missed activation roll.)

Sam enters the shuttle.

Sam enters the empty cabin and starts searching the cells for possible help before any crew arrive. The first cell he checks is empty. Suddenly a Hishen enters the cabin from the hall to the cockpit, Sam fires and the Hishen falls to the floor obviously dead. A second Hishen crew member bursts in to the cabin, Sam misses his shot and luckily so does his foe. Sam makes the next shot count and the Hishen is out of the fight. Sam makes quick work of the remaining two Hishen to enter the cabin.

Dead Hishens litter the floor.

The next cell he checks is also empty. As he is emerging from the cell the Razor enters the cabin stepping over the pile of dead Hishen. Sam recovers from the mental blast of the Razor, again making good use of star dice. He fires at the Razor. She uses bullet time to dodge the bullet but ducks back into the hall to regroup. She enters the cabin and fires a mental blast at Sam. He fires at the Razor who uses bullet time to dodge the bullet. The fight continues for a while longer until the Razor ducks back into the hall to regroup.

The Razor enters the cabin.

Sam quickly checks another cell, releases Al(Rep 4) and hands him a pistol. Both parties are agreed that fighting the Razor is the first priority. When the Razor enters the cabin both Sam and Al fire immediately causing the Razor to duck back into the hall without sending out a mental blast. The Razor tries again and the shots from Sam and Al cause her to duck back into the hall for a breather. This gives Sam time to check another cell. Unfortunately it is empty so no more help is available.

Al joins the fight.

The Razor steps into the cabin and misses with her mental blast. Sam misses his shot and Al would have hit if not for that bullet time talent the Razor has. The Razor gathers her wits and sends another mental blast out. Sam survives the blast but Al is not so lucky and is out of the fight. Sam and the Razor go back and forth for what seems like an eternity, shot in cinematic slow motion with extensive editorial tricks. Finally the Razor zigs when she should have zagged and is hit and stunned. Sam quickly crosses the cabin and dispatches the Razor.

Al is out of the fight.

Sam dispatches the Razor.

Sam then checks the remaining cells and releases Sue and Jose. So now there are four members of this temporary group. Since Sam was a smuggler before being sentenced to serve time on this planet flying this Hishen shuttle should be a piece of cake. So the party quickly fires up the engines and heads out of the atmo.

Getting ready to leave the planet.

Those Pesky Hishen Slavers.

Table setup.

I finally rolled a involuntary encounter which turned out to be Hishen slavers. I used the Hishen slaver scenario and rules from Infestation. I started with Sam in section 4 of the table and the Hishen slavers in section 3. The slaver group consisted of 1 Hishen, 1 Razor and 1 Grath. I set up Sam facing away from the slaver group and rolled each activation (1-3) to see if he turned around to see the slavers approaching. Section 9 of the table was occupied by my cat.

Hishen slavers approach Sam.

After several activations Sam finally noticed the slavers approaching. He fires his Bolt Action Rifle at the Razor. Of course the Razor uses the Bullet time attribute to successfully dodge the shot. All three slavers fire back at Sam with a successful hit by the Razor's mental blast and the Hishen stun pistol. Several Star Power dice later Sam's damage is reduced to Carry on. He fires back at the Hishen missing but causing him to run to cover.

A gunfight ensues.

Sam then runs to the concealment of the nearest shrubbery instead of facing off against 3 foes on open ground. The slavers lose sight of Sam and he manages to circle behind them. He takes 2 shots from his pistol at the Razor. Again using Bullet time the Razor dodges the shots. The Razor loses the Received Fire test and retires. Obviously the pay is not good enough to go up against armed opponents who are actively fighting back. The Hishen and Grath move back into cover and try to see where the shots are coming from.

Sam circles through cover.

Sam moves to get a shot at the slavers. Both of Sam's shots miss. The Hishen slaver misses his shot, but the Grath hits. Again Sam has to use Star Power to reduce his damages. He fires his pistol again. He misses the Hishen, but hits the Grath in the head resulting in an Obviously Dead Grath. This was an extremely skilled targeted shot by Sam regardless of what others may say. The Hishen fires back and misses. Sam returns fire and the Hishen is Out of the Fight.

Sam attacks from behind.

Sam recovers the Parak Stun Pistol and a BAP. He is pretty well armed now with 2 Pistols, a Stun Pistol and a Bolt Action Rifle. The next encounter will see if Sam can commandeer the ship the slavers landed in and get off the planet.

Sam manages to take out the ramainder of the party.

A Friendly Chat.

 This was another wandering encounter. The terrain set up was a road running across the last section of the table. The remainder of the board was mostly clear. Three PEFs ended up on the road.
Sam started from the middle of the opposite side heading toward the road.

Sam heads to the road.

Reaching the center of the table PEF 2 was insight and resolved as a Old Male Neutral Pack Wolf (Rep3 Pep1) heading along the road so he was facing away from Sam. Eagerly looking forward to talking to someone Sam decides to Fast move before losing contact with the old man. PEF 1 and 3 resolved to a cases of nerves.

Sam and Hank barter and catch up on the news.

The old man decides to move towards Sam for a chat. Some barter ensues. Sam trades his Medkit for more food and catches up on the news.

Afterwards the two parties head their separate ways. This worked out to be a successful wandering encounter. One PEF was resolved as an NPC. A good roll for how the interaction with neutral NPCs led to a barter session without the need for combat.

The journey continues for both characters.