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NightRain
Now I'm at a bit of a loss as to how speed/acceleration is meant to work for vehicles. The vehicle stats list both a speed and an acceleration rating for vehicles. The bulldog stepvan for example has an acceleration of 5/10 and a speed of 90.

Now, the vehicle combat section says that a vehicles acceleration rate determines it's movement, and that it has a walking and running rate. That's the confusing bit though, because in that case, it's using the acceleration value for speed, rather than acceleration.

Now if we read it as written, that means that the driver has to be moving at running speeds and then make a vehicle test and achieve a total of 16 successes in order to hit the stop speed of 90. That doesn't seem right.

So perhaps I'm reading it wrong, and acceleration is meant to be used to change the speed that you're travelling at each turn, rather than being a direct measure of your speed. So if you accelerate at 10 and your speed the previous turn was 60, this turn it's 70. The problem with this is that it doesn't mesh well with tactical combat at all, and I can't then explain why a vehicle needs a walking and running acceleration rate.

Any insight would be appreciated. Also, as an aside, am I correct in my reading that, as written, speed has no effect on chase combat?
Demerzel
The way I interpreted that is during combat you’re making a variety of moves including evasive moves in and around other combatants. Therefore the flat rate on walking/running rate is just a matter of a lot of accelerating and decelerating.

So in my case, the PCs in their Bulldog Stepvan with Ork shooting his HMG out the side door, the driver was backing up to try and give him LOS, he was in combat with the stationary participants and thus just the 5/10 rate in combat. The van accelerates like the boat it is so that’s why it goes so slow. I leave out calculating real speed for game flow reasons. I’d say think of it not as a linear speed, but as a net speed…
hobgoblin
the interpretation that i believe got accepted earlier is that you use walking and running speed in tactical combat, and running x successes on a drive test to do flat out drag race acceleration (kinda like doing a sprinting test for the vehicle).

the speed is only the max safe road speed the vehicle can maintain. and im betting that arsenal will contain rules for going x1.5 beyond that but risking a later failure of the vehicle (and some other rules to).

the vehicle to vehicle combat rules seems to forgo speed fully as most of the time one will be doing stuff in a urban environment where the quick thinking and reflexes of the driver will have more to say then the top speed of the vehicle used.

hell, in a urban environment a scooter may well be more useful then a sports car as the latter could get stuck where the former can just be man (or troll)-handled past the problem (if i got the expression right that is)...
laughingowl
I tend to agree on the speed issue.

Top speed isnt normally in most shadowrun enviroments a concern during tactical combat.

Now if out in the open and trying to just outrun.

I look at the acceleration (to see how fast they could get to top speed) and then the relative top speeds.

Unless somebody failes a drive check for some reason I presume the two vehicles pull apart at their relative speed differences.

Range increase until effectively out of LOS and/or Combat ranges.


For 'open' area pursuits GM discredition comes more into play but a scooter shouldnt be able to outrun a yellow jacket.
NightRain
Thanks for your input guys. I figure for chase combat, I'll just wing modifiers to the rolls depending the vehicles comparative speed, acceleration and the environment they're in...
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