For example:
They are all races where the ultimate goal is to get across the finish line the most quickly. However they have different levels of interaction.
Mind you, at least HQ gives you some tools for this....I recall in RQ doing a chariot race by using Circus Maximus and just fudging the stats over.
In the first case I'd be inclined just to use a simple contest. In the second I might use a series of simple contests, adapting the carry-over rule to modify the latter contests. In the third case I think a standard group extended contest works, provided enough narration, as it may well be something like a process of elimination. But it could also be done as a series of simple contests with carry over I suppose.
The problem with doing any sort of race with an extended contest, is that the purpose of an extended contest is to eliminate people. In a race type situation there is not (generally) eliminations. That is why you need some other progressive structure, which is where I'd consider the carry-over idea to be reasonable.
Also useful in racing would be some development of that "take a wound
to get a bonus" rule to model things like "I push too hard, knowing
I'll get winded, to beat him to the turn and get the better position"
(or "I whip my horses within an inch of their lives to beat him to
the turn").
--Bryan
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