Good Vehicle Rules

[ComradeGnull]

I was thinking earlier today about rules for vehicles- cars, planes, ships,etc. in RPGs (ignoring horses and carts here for the time being). I've always found the rules for vehicle combat kind of clunky and unpleasant- it's really discouraged me from including those elements in games or building characters around vehicle-related concepts. I have a few positive memories of D6 Star Wars starfighter/freighter scale combat, but not much else that I remember liking.

Part of the problem always seemed to be either 1) the combat system was so different from the rest of the game and so complex that everything ironically slowed to a crawl, or 2) building a vehicle-competent character meant sacrificing too much in the rest of the game- and there just weren't that many opportunities to use the vehicle.

Anyone had a different experience- a vehicle combat system that they thought was really good and yet still fit in with the rest of the game?

 

[ValhallaGH]

I've had some fun with the Savage Worlds vehicles rules. The only down side is that if characters aren't invested in vehicles (one or two edges and maybe one skill) then they have a difficult time contributing to the conflict. One the plus side, being a quality vehicle crewman or driver has a very low investment (one or two skills, one edge; two edges if you want to be great at both).

For d20 vehicles, Hot Pursuit: The Definitive D20 Guide to Chases - Adamant Entertainment | DriveThruRPG.com is great.

 

[garrowolf]

I've been working on some vehicle rules that I think are pretty good. Check them out and tell me if they are more what you are looking for. The link is in the sig.

 

[RangerWickett]

I like Rogue Trader's ship combat rules. They have flaws, but give you a lot to do. The first two times we played we weren't sure about how to do stuff, but now we have space combat every 4 or 5 sessions, so it stays clear in our heads.

 

[ComradeGnull]

I like Rogue Trader's ship combat rules. They have flaws, but give you a lot to do. The first two times we played we weren't sure about how to do stuff, but now we have space combat every 4 or 5 sessions, so it stays clear in our heads.

That raises an interesting point- I wonder if vehicle combat is actually easier to do in space. The abstract scale and general emptiness of the terrain seems like it eliminates a couple of the big sticking points to, say, running a car vs. car combat. I wonder if that was part of why WEG SW worked for me.

I've been working on some vehicle rules that I think are pretty good. Check them out and tell me if they are more what you are looking for. The link is in the sig.

Interesting- I'll take a look.