GURPS Autoduel

**Mulsiphix** · 01-21-2008, 02:27 AM

Anybody played this or the original Car Wars? If so, have any comments about it? Maybe a recanting of a memorable game session?

**MortonStromgal** · 01-21-2008, 11:39 AM

Yes and it was too long ago to remember. I just remember it was ok but no my cup of tea

**Drohem** · 01-21-2008, 11:45 AM

We ran short 3e GURPS campaign using the Autoduel book. I created a motorcycle riding character. It was more of a Mad Max feel to it. He had leathers and a .357 Magnum.

**Freejack** · 01-21-2008, 12:08 PM

Heh, we just played Car Wars on Saturday, on the previous Wednesday, and I'm signed up to run a three arena tournament at Genghis Con next month.

Great stuff though. Nathan roared out towards me, we met in a head on which (after several shots prior) killed me. After which Wendy shot up Nathan who was killed. His car slowly rolled into the wall. Brian and Wendy dropped a bunch of flaming oil and spikes before Brian killed Wendy.

Good game. We played some tetris like board game (bloxit or something) and then Cosmic Encounters.

Carl

**Mulsiphix** · 01-22-2008, 12:07 AM

Sounds a lot like Quarantine. I think I'll pick it up and give it a read. Is it basically just driving around in cars shooting at each other with guns or are the cars modified with lots of weapons like machine guns, rockets, and buzz saws?

**Drohem** · 01-22-2008, 12:10 AM

It provides extra character generation rules. It also provides rules for guns and vehicle modifications.

**Mulsiphix** · 01-22-2008, 12:18 AM

What is the main premise of the game though? Is it like a wargame or? I know it was very popular but I'm trying to figure out what a similar product would be that it could be compared to so I have a "general" idea.

**Drohem** · 01-22-2008, 01:47 AM

The main gist of the book is to emulate the Car Wars campaign. The campaign description is of Autoduel America. It describes the roads, the gangs, the arenas, the vehicles, etc.

**Mulsiphix** · 01-22-2008, 04:09 AM

Perhaps some info on what Car Wars gameplay is like then?

**gdmcbride** · 01-22-2008, 05:42 AM

When I was a young tyke (junior high and high school), I played the HELL out of Car Wars. We made designing cars into an art form.

Car Wars is a war game. It does not seek to make cars that are accurate to the real world (although sometimes it gets kind of close). It doesn't have a lot of plot (at least before Autoduel came out). America ... its a Mad Maxian waste land! Fight! That's pretty much the background for basic Car Wars. As they started to add more supplements, the plot became more and more intricate and there were leagues and the AADA and arenas. But still, my favorite Car Wars battles were the simple ones.

I still remember an early battle where me and my friend had spent hours designing super death cars. We started the battle charging right at each other. We were playing chicken. Neither of us flinched. Head on collision at a cumulative 135 MPH. Both cars go boom. Then we reset and tried it again.

Great game.

Gary

**Mulsiphix** · 01-22-2008, 06:50 AM

Originally Posted by gdmcbride

I still remember an early battle where me and my friend had spent hours designing super death cars. We started the battle charging right at each other. We were playing chicken. Neither of us flinched. Head on collision at a cumulative 135 MPH. Both cars go boom. Then we reset and tried it again.

LOL sounds like a lot of work just to smash your stuff up. Then again I'd spend days designing a mech just so I could walk out into the middle of a group, take heavy damage, and then take a few people out with me when my nuclear reactor blew. Its always awesome to see mechs running from a dying mech. Then there is the always fun "Death From Above" when your on the verge of exploding. Good times

**tesral** · 01-22-2008, 10:16 AM

Lead soldiers don't bleed.

**Maelstrom** · 01-22-2008, 02:44 PM

I picked up Car Wars a ways back but was only able to get one session together. Most of what I did was designing my own vehicles and playtesting against myself.

You could probably relate it to Battletech in your background... vehicle based wargame, but Car Wars has much faster action and more emphasis on physics, collision, and handling (to be expected from racing cars driving down the road).

You could build anything from a motorcycle with a sidecar to a semi truck, and they had some rules for helicopters as well.

Usually, combats worked along a road, so vehicles went one direction or the other, with crazy bootlegger turns and such to face off again.

As far as RPG elements, the cities are fortresses and outlying areas are full of bike gangs and car-pirates. Despite the danger, Big Rigs still make shipping runs.... armed to the teeth and well organized, the Truckers helped each other out and worked together to keep the freight movement. They had heavily fortified truck stops where civilization didn't reach. Occasionally, of course, a bandit group would get the best of a Trucker and acquire some valuable cargo.

Very interesting post-apocolyptic world.

**Freejack** · 01-22-2008, 03:34 PM

And they'd send out security vehicles occasionally. These things were just armored battlewagons sent out to trick bandits into attacking them in which case they'd be decimated and the truckers would have an easier time of it for a bit.

Carl

**Skunkape** · 01-22-2008, 04:03 PM

Played both of them and if you're looking for a beer and pretzels style night of entertainment, go with Car Wars. If you're looking for something with more meat on it, go with Autoduel or some other more complex rules system.

Car Wars is great for one offs where you're interested in vehicle vs vehicle, but the character creation is lacking. If you want any kind of character development, go with something more, like Autoduel although the GURPS system will work just as well.