So my wired Samurai, with Reaction 13, gets a call to rush to the aid of the team.

Jumping in his Eurocar Westwind (Handling 3), in the Alley behind his house (Tight Terrain +3), on one of those rare Seattle days where it's raining hard (Bad Weather +2), he quickly starts the engine and tries to step on the gas.

Since this is urgent but not critical, the GM assigns a Stressful Situation penalty of +0 to the test. The TN for his accelleration test before defaulting to Reaction appears to be 8. Therefore he's unable to default to Reaction (Limits on Defaulting, SR3 p. 85). Therefore he can't move the car. Apparently he either has to wait for the rain to let up, or drive to the Stuffer Shack for a Pepsi before going to the aid of his team.

right, except that normal driving doesn't require any tests. if you want to try any stunts, you'll automatically fail, but just driving around town isn't test-worthy. i'm 99.9% sure that you can find this written down somewhere.

Yeah, I'd probably rule that he stalled the car by slamming on the gas so fast. Try driving normally. Don't try to be the Dukes of Hazzard when you have no vehicle skills.

Remember that being unable to default doesn't so much mean you can't try as you have no hope of succeeding. For instance, I'd let someone without Pistols skill fire as many shots as they wanted at a target off in the distance (TN 9), I'd just never bother rolling for it because all it would ever do is just use up bullets. You can drive in the rain, you just can't drive in directions that don't happen to be into some object.

~J

SR3 pg 134, first sentence. you don't need to make driving tests for normal driving.

That's very true. I had assumed that there was some other issue requiring the test.
Out of interest, how would going for the pepsi help?

~J

I have no idea. Except if it's the NEW PEPSI X ENERGY DRINK!!!!11122oneoneonetwo in which case it will help you get lots of hot model chicks.

Jooky! It's a party in a can!

How about this: if youre going to drop the necessary cash to get a Eurocar Westwind, and team is going to rely on your speedy arrivals to save their skins, how about you get some actual skill in driving a car?

I dont think its unreasonable to expect you to crash when youve apparently never taken the time to learn how to drive and you intend to be driving really quickly in the rain.

I can't crash. It doesn't accelerate enough to crash. I either flood the engine, stall the engine when I shift, or spin the tires, but the car doesn't move. I can not attempt the Accelleration Test, so I don't speed up.

No, because as previously mentioned unless the act of pulling out of the alley is somehow strenuous and unusual enough to require a test you are assumed to succeed automatically. It's like firing a gun. It doesn't matter if you're in full darkness with no vision mods, you can still pull the trigger; you only have to roll for it if you want to do something difficult, like hitting someone or something.

~J

I don't have my books handy at the moment... do the suppressing fire rules in CC require a skill test?

Not at first. First people in the area of effect make dodge tests. If they fail, *then* you get to make a normal attack test.

So I guess suppressing fire from an unskilled person isn't really going to hit, so much. But I'd say most of the TN mods for taking the shot directly - movement, lighting, etc - wouldn't apply to this one.

No books handy so this is off the top of my head.

D'oh! You forgot to put the car in gear. Take a deep breath, pull into the street like a normal driver before trying to burn rubber, chummer.

You're all missing the real point. And that is..... drum roll please.....

Why isn't the Wired Sam flying dow nthe street on a bad ass black on black race bike?

But then again why Doesn't the same have a vehicle skill? I always make sure to have at least a mild vehicle skill so I can get the hell out of dodge when Murphy's Law hits the fan.

HAHA sorry I'm in a silly mood tonight. Peace out my shadow brothers.

Oops almost forgot About hte killer and unlocking doors thats why I never lock my doors I figure the one time I worry about my stereo getting stolen will be the one time that Ted Bundy is chasing me to my car... so better safe than worry about a crappy sound system.......

IMO speeding is driving normally. Here in New York we all like to feel like the most aggressive motherfuckers anywhere behind a wheel, so I let quite a bit slide under "normal driving". Going over medians (especially when you're just a few feet past the damn exit ramp), bullying cabbies into curbs, pinning them behind parked cars, and cutting off semis aren't rare events when I'm on the road.

HAHA Zazan don't go thinking that you are all badasses in NY . COme to Chicago some time and do the loop run at rush hour. Makes the war in cambodia look like a circus carnival.

Rereading the original post, we've missed yet another point. Defaulting is forbidden for TNs over 8. The wired streetsam defaults to Reaction just fine. Gets a success about a third of the time, but still can default.
And regarding driving, I have but one word for you both: Boston.

~J

While I didnt really feel like working out the math, I did have some dice handy so I went ahead and rolled 13 dice 20 times. On 5 of those rolls I generated at least one success at TN 12 (remember, thats TN 8 *before* defaulting to reaction... defaulting to an attribute adds +4 to the TN).

My quick math shows that he'll succeed only 30.6% of the time.

When you say "should" do you mean "should reasonably" or "should probably"? The former is accurate and is reflected by the fact that we've all been saying that if what he told us is all there is, it shouldn't have been a test in the first place. The latter, on the other hand, is inaccurate. (Thanks to Zazen for the more accurate number; my estimate was off by 2.7333%)

~J

Really? *Digs out rulebook*
Edit: Meesh, you're right. "Eight or higher". My brain is going (to the extent that it was ever here).


~J

Why the sam doesn't turn on his autonav is beyond me.

But hey, maybe that's your answer. His autonav recognizes the sam's obvious distress, and red flags him. Since Sam the Sam doesn't have any Car skill, he doesn't know how to override it properly. I can see it now:

"OhFragOhFragOhFragOhFrag I gotta hurry!"

"Pardon me, sir, but our galvometric monitors have detected that your pulse rate is unacceptably high. Would you like us to call the paramedics?"

"No, you stupid junkpile! I gotta get there fast!"

"Pardon me, but we have detected that you have attempted to travel at an unsafe velocity. Your command has been automatically overriden. Do you wish to program a location into the autonav?"

"No, you fragging hunk of junk! We gotta fly!"

"Pardon me, but we have detected that you have attempted to travel at an unsafe velocity. Your command has been automatically overriden. Do you wish to program a location into the autonav?"

*Pound* *Pound* "Just" *pound* "start" *pound* "moving!"

"Pardon me, but we have detected that you have attempted to travel at an unsafe velocity. Your command has been automatically overriden. Do you wish to program a location into the autonav?"

"Damn it! How do I shut off this damn computer! Maybe if I grab those wires..."

BEEP BEEP BEEP. "Pardon me, but our sensors have determined that there is a possible intrusion in this vehicle. For your safety, all functions have been terminated. Please remain seated, and the proper authorites will be notified. We apologize for any inconvenience. In the meanwhile, for your comfort, we will be providing a selection of light music. Would you prefer a selection of Manilow or Baccarach?"

"ARRRGGGGHHHH!"

"I'm sorry, we don't appear to have any music by 'Arrgh' in memory. Would you prefer a selection of Manilow or Baccarach?"

If he has never driven before, he makes a test to 'start' the ar - that test is not modified by all those pesky TN penalties. Only stressful situation applies. Once he has started the car, he can calmly drive out of the alley. Now, if he tries to speed out of it and make a handbrake turn onto the street, he will fail and has to make a crash test. Which he also will fail.

Also, if he has never driven before you might want to have him make a test to arrive at his destination (assuming he isn't having the car drive there, of course) and maybe a test to stop how and where he wants to.

But once he has the hang of the basic stuff, he won't need to make those pesky tests unless he needs to do something other than normal driving.

As long as you drive relatively safely (no more than 20% over the posted speed limit), you shouldn't be required to make a vehicle check, whether you possess the skill or not..

Oh, and if you want to have fun, try driving in downtown Houston, chumps.. Don't forget that the south has more cars per person than the north.. And Houston much larger (and has a much more complex infrastructure) than New York, Boston, or Chicago.

Our cars are all the weapons we'll ever need, southerner.

~J

Postscript: I've seen Houston driving while down there visiting my girlfriend. The occasional crazy, but it's pretty tame IMO.

Depends what part of Mexico. I've seen places that aren't that bad.
Italy or Greece, now... Bostonians learned their driving from the folks in the North End, but that doesn't mean we were taught all the tricks.

~J

Edit: and in Greece... well, there's a custom of putting little shrines on the roadside next to a place where someone has died in a car accident. It's creepy to come to tight turns next to sheer drops where the roadside is packed thick with shrines, and people STILL insist on taking the turn at speed.

I think I read somewhere that the worst major city to drive in is Paris (probably determined by the ratio of people to accidents). I can believe it, honestly. When I was in Caracas, they made 3 lanes into 5, but at least there were rules (SUVs always got right of way, followed by buses, normal cars and trashy cars, you can hit anyone except for motorcycles, etc.) but Paris doesn't even have that much! Too crazy, high strung and crowded makes it a not nice place to drive.

Ok, I will relinquish the comment, because having seen rush hour in rome... *shiver* and to think I power a 2 ton v8 around...
Drove to Montreal once, odds are Ill take a small car next time.

From personal experience, Paris in general is bad but not really legendary. What pushes the entire city over the edge is the road around L'Arc De Triumph.

~J

I suggest your sammie a new racing bike like here. Under the given circumstances he would have a TN 3 before defaulting to Reaction, so he can roll his 13 dice vs. TN 6. Of course he only needs to roll, if he is not "normal" driving, i.e. is at a wild chase through the backalleys...


PS: