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Pen & Paper Roleplaying Central => Pen and Paper Roleplaying Games (RPGs) Discussion => Topic started by: James McMurray on October 03, 2007, 05:12:41 PM

Title: Random Car Chase Generator
Post by: James McMurray on October 03, 2007, 05:12:41 PM
My random car chase generator (http://www.colugo.org/jmcmurra/generators/chase/chase.htm) is up and running. I'm still short a few images but everything else is working. Most of the pictures I already have, but forgot to upload before I left work yesterday.

It's designed for use with Scion, and a minor modification to the chase rules in the core book, but can work for generating scenery and cause-and-effects for any modern setting.

Check it out and let me know what you think. The turn sequence (top left) has a link to my chase rules, and at the bottom right is a link for peeking behind the curtain that will open a new window with some tables of all the possibilities in a chase.

Feedback is greatly appreciated. You can either use the links on the pages themselves, or post it here.

Thanks!
Title: Random Car Chase Generator
Post by: walkerp on October 03, 2007, 05:59:01 PM
Dude, that is awesome.  Makes me want to set up a car chase and I'm not even running a modern-day campaign!  

My one suggestion might be to have "no obstacles" as an option for a leg, maybe even having it at more frequency than obstacles.  I think obstacle after obstacle will get a bit overused, whereas if they appear every now and then, they'll have much more impact on the chase and the player's enjoyment.

I might be asking too much, but would it be possible to add an option to tweak the frequency of obstacles?

Anyways, very cool little tool.  Nicely done.
Title: Random Car Chase Generator
Post by: James McMurray on October 03, 2007, 06:27:08 PM
Thanks! :)

No Obstacle is one of the possibilities, although right now its the same as most of the rest. I agree that it should be higher. Maybe 1/3 - 1/2 of the legs should have no obstacles?

The probabilities are stored in a database then dumped into javascript. I could gve an option for changing the probabilities but it would be a pain and you couldn't save your probabilities. I was kinda hoping the Redo Leg button would get around that. :)
Title: Random Car Chase Generator
Post by: KenHR on October 03, 2007, 07:02:29 PM
Hey, this is excellent!

And the first obstacle that came up when I tried it was 2 guys walking across the street with a pane of glass!

Very handy tool, thank you for making it.
Title: Random Car Chase Generator
Post by: James McMurray on October 03, 2007, 07:09:35 PM
No problem. Well, very little problem. And it was more fun than it was troublesome. :)

And speaking of two guys carrying a pane of glass, if you ever happen to see a pic of it online, please send it to me. :)
Title: Random Car Chase Generator
Post by: -E. on October 03, 2007, 08:36:25 PM
This is super cool, man... Bookmarked!
Title: Random Car Chase Generator
Post by: Dr Rotwang! on October 03, 2007, 10:05:21 PM
RAD.  Me no Scion good (what is it?), but I can easily, you know, steal and mangle.
Title: Random Car Chase Generator
Post by: James McMurray on October 04, 2007, 09:47:43 AM
Quote from: Dr Rotwang!RAD.  Me no Scion good (what is it?), but I can easily, you know, steal and mangle.

Scion is White Wolf's modern version of Exalted. Kinda. The systems are mostly the same, although that's about where the similarities end. Scion is more of a superhero game.

However, now that I think about it, the generator could probably work for any World of Darkness setting, since they all use the same underlying dice mechanic. It might need a little tweaking because target numbers are different in Scion.
Title: Random Car Chase Generator
Post by: jrients on October 04, 2007, 10:23:55 AM
I keep clicking but Oprah Winfrey never shows up.  :(
Title: Random Car Chase Generator
Post by: Premier on October 04, 2007, 10:56:24 AM
Very interesting, but I would welcome a bit more variety of street types. I would suggest One Way (other direction), Dirt Road, Alleyway and Stairs.
Title: Random Car Chase Generator
Post by: James McMurray on October 04, 2007, 10:56:37 AM
She's in there. :)

You can click the "look behind the curtain" link to see all the possibilities.
Title: Random Car Chase Generator
Post by: James McMurray on October 05, 2007, 06:09:33 PM
Almost everything has a picture now. I'm only missing a Boy Scout Helping an Old Lady, a Couch in the Road, Piles of Dirt to Jump, and Two Guys Carrying a Pane of Glass.

If anyone happens to have seen pics of those, please let me know. Although actually, if you have any requests or suggestions at all, please let me know. :)

Someone over at White Wolf's forums suggested resizing the images so they load faster. That's on my todo list now, so you can expect faster load times as soon as I get a chance to sit down and do it.
Title: Random Car Chase Generator
Post by: James McMurray on October 07, 2007, 01:22:46 AM