Has anyone ever heard of or attempted to make rules for playing combat biker in SR tabletop? i've been deep in the idea, but i haven't taken the time to try and map out a way; was hoping to see someone else's attempt if it's been done before.

I'm not familiar with the more recent adventures, but you can check the character of Punch in A Killing Glare, SR2 #7314. SR2 stats Body 5(7), Quickness 6(, Strength 5(7), Charisma 4, Intelligence 4, Willpower 4, Essence .5, Reaction 6(10), Initiative 10+3D6. And he's an elf. His girlfriend Judy is tougher. She rides a Harley Davidson Brawler with two mounted Uzi SMGs and a mounted grenade launcher. They are Urban Brawl players for the Boston Massacre team.

There were complete rules for cycle combat in SR1's DMZ boxed set with cardboard map counters. Not statted for the rpg, but fun none the less.

Are you referring to the miniatures game or SR5?

The old boxed set FASA came out before they issued SR2, with the paperboard punch-out pieces. Still have all the contents. The box itself bit the big time.

I've always assumed it was like a cross between the bike-fight sections of Full Throttle. the maze segments of American Gladiators, the Running Man, and Capture The Flag a la Quake/Unreal/Tribes/Etc.

I seem to recall there being a lot more information available about Urban Brawl than Combat Biker - not sure why that is, though I wonder if maybe it has something to do with UB being lethal and CB not.

~Umi

A friend played a physad dwarf that rode around with a sword is that the sort of combat biker you are talking about?

Full rules for Combat Biker were in Shadowbeat. I think it was reprinted somewhere, but I can't remember where. Also, the rules were reprinted online somewhere, although you might need to use the Wayback machine to find it now,

There was an older book, 1st edition i think, called Shadowbeat that had info on combat biking.

To summarize:
Arena is 150m long, 50m wide (Shadowbeat was written in metric, consider this), designed as a maze divided into lanes (think League of Legends). Some lanes are wide enough for 3-4 bikes, others are very narrow, barely enough for 1 bike. Then there's the Skyway that runs over the middle of the field, about 3m above, no safety rails, also called 'launch pad'.
At each end of the field is a 2m goal circle. Arena designs vary and can change.

Teams are divided into 9 positions, 8 bikers and 1 goalie on foot.

• (up to)4 linebikers, armed with maces and riot guns and one additional weapon: flail, net, whip or bola. They are mounted on light, fast bikes without armor
• (up to) 4 lancebikers, with heavy armored machines, less maneuverable. Armed with 2m lances, a mace and a riot gun.
• 1 Thunderbiker on a light bike, with a grenade launcher and a mace
• goalie is heavily armored with a riot carbine, mace and a tetsubo

Riot guns have three round clips per turn, as does the grenade launcher. The riot carbine has 20 rounds

Bikes may be rigged, but it isn't mandatory, though usual.
Bikes are Rapier equivalents for the fast ones and the thunderbiker's, and Scorpion equivalents for the lancebikers
Standard equipment is: Radios, either helmet mounted or cyberware. 1 Trauma patch. Goalie armor is 6/5 (SR1 stats, IIRC), the rest wear 3/2, with helmets providing +1/+1

The goal of the game is planting a 180cm long, weighted flagpole in the opposing team's goal zone. First it must be captured from a mount on an erratically moving vehicle, then defended and placed. Thunderbikers and lancers may only enter play once linebikers have secured the flag. Every play turn is also controlled by a random timer, set to between 30 and 60secs, so goals must be made within this period. Everything above 30s is called 'jittertime' for obvious reasons.
Every quarter of a game is 10min of playing time, and clock stops between turns (called plays) for reloading, replacements, etc.

Scoring a goal counts 3 points and only players on a bike can score. Dismounted players can carry the flag but planting it doesn't count.
Having the flag in the opposing team's defense territory when the timer runs out counts for 1 point. If the flag is in your own territory (even in your possession), the opponents score one point. Doesn't matter if flagholder is mounted or not.
If the flag vehicle carries the flag into one team's territory when the timer runs out, the opposing teams scores 1 point.
If the flag is in no team's possession when the timer runs out, the last team to carry it, scores 1 point.

There are fouls, but not many:

• Deliberately releasing the flag: player is kicked out of the game and opposing team scores 1 point
• Ramming dismounted players (except the goalie)
• Riding over unconscious or disabled players
• Using unauthorized weapons

Known big league teams are:
Atlanta Rebels
Baton Rouge Red Devils
Chicago Lightning ... well, probably not anymore
Cleveland Commandos
DeeCee Shurikens
New York Marauders

Los Angeles Sabers
New Orleans Buzzsaws
Houston Mustangs
Oakland Hogs
Seattle Timber Wolves
Texas Rattlers

Enjoy!

But do not, I repeat, do not try to use standard combat resolution or vehicle combat from any edition to play the game. The results would not be consistent with the fluff descriptions ~memories of if 3 to 6 second wipe out come to mind~

good Biz thanks chummers

I do own Shadowbeat, it's very informative. I also own the novel Dead Air I think it's called (really great novel) about 2 combat bikers on the run. but they talk about a live game in that a few times, along with other details. I've also been focusing on the cultural aspect in sports in other novels, grasping how it's different from our sports today. like downloading personalities

I'm not referring to the tabletop game, though that may be easier to use then on straight paper or to use as a reference/tool. i'll cue a view, thanks!

I just think it;s a cool aspect, i'm trying to figure out how i can involve actually playing a game while GM'ing, i've got a group of neewbs who all own motorcycles. so presenting a fantasy of riding a bike both violently and as a sport is very appealing to them. esp as a , minor league progression into better skills better nuyen and biiger league & fame is intriguing. so idk, maybe i'll do some experimenting and post the results.

if we make any big news in the combat biker world, we'll tune you in

Yeah, I don't think any edition of Shadowrun has decent vehicle rules.

Depending on what edition you're using, I can suggest a few variations that might help. In SR2-3, you should chuck the Maneuver Score entirely, and just use opposed rolls to abstract things, modifying as needed for speed, terrain, that sort of thing. SR4.5 uses opposed tests already, so stick with those and toss everything else. You'll also have to abstract time a bit more: in Sr2-3, you might want to "skip" rounds, where everyone turns around and lines up for another run, for example. In 4.5, you'll need to rescale combat back to 3-second rounds, otherwise the combat scales will get out of hand.

My last SR3 campaign, I threw out the vehicle rules entirely and replaced them with drive rolls on arbitrary target numbers as determined to be dramatically appropriate after we did the math and discovered it was physically impossible to kill a pedestrian with a Chrysler-Nissan Jackrabbit at any speed.

http://www.intercom.net/user/logan1/ubl.htm

Was this it, and/or related?

Almost. That's the rules for Urban Brawl, another Shadowrun combat sport. Combat Biker is different, although they've got similar themes.

I used that site back in the day, when the runners were hired to steal a ball from an Urban Brawl game... in progress.