RPG Design & Arduous Research

I just wanted to share a general exasperated grumble at the arduous nature of the research I'm currently doing. I've been locating stats and specs on a range of iconic vehicles over the last 60 years or so. I'm only halfway through - lots of vehicle types to do yet. Some info is easy to find, but for older vehicles I sometimes spend ages trying to track down the 0-60 of a 1952 motorbike or the weight of a 1970s tractor trailer. Most of the info will just be fluff text anyway -- I'm distilling the figures down into a few simple stats. Finding the original price of older vehicles? Nigh impossible! It's easy to find the cost of new vehicles. It's also easy to find the cost of used vehicles. But the cost of a specific new vehicle in 1979? That's a frustrating task!

Half of this table is research as opposed to the final stats you'd see in WOIN. Some derive into others or get combined. But the raw data needs gathering first!

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[lyle.spade]

Ummm...that seems like a lot of work. I do wonder how much use players and GMs will get out of it.

Although the fact that you included Ecto-1 and the A-Team Van is cool. I'm not so sure about the multiple Herbies, though. And something else: are you factoring the cost of the proprietary Ghostbusters technical equipment on Ecto-1? I mean, that stuff's got to cost a lot....probably push the overal pricetag up a bunch.

 

[turkeygiant]

This is really interesting, what's going to be your criteria to say, "well my math says this vehicle should have this stat, but common misconceptions or just plain cool factor says give it a big boost"?

 

[Morrus]

Ummm...that seems like a lot of work. I do wonder how much use players and GMs will get out of it.

Although the fact that you included Ecto-1 and the A-Team Van is cool. I'm not so sure about the multiple Herbies, though. And something else: are you factoring the cost of the proprietary Ghostbusters technical equipment on Ecto-1? I mean, that stuff's got to cost a lot....probably push the overal pricetag up a bunch.

No, it's just the vehicle. The notes column is just for me. Players would have to add the special equipment - that's literally the bare van.

 

[Morrus]

This is really interesting, what's going to be your criteria to say, "well my math says this vehicle should have this stat, but common misconceptions or just plain cool factor says give it a big boost"?

I'm just cataloging the actual vehicle specs right now - at least as far as I can find them. I'll let players customize them with turbo boosts and bulletproof windshields and oil slicks and the like. These are just - to the best of my ability - the actual vehicles.

 

[lyle.spade]

No, it's just the vehicle. The notes column is just for me. Players would have to add the special equipment - that's literally the bare van.

Perhaps then I'll have to do some research to find out how much all the anti-ghost equipment would run!

 

[Shane H not Hensley]

I admire this research -- really delving into the iconic vehicles of the past century's legendariums.

 

[neobolts]

Kudos to you for all this vehicle research. I put of fraction of the effort your expending into various gun stats for a homebrew system. The NSA probably has me on a list now, LOL.

 

[Morrus]

Kudos to you for all this vehicle research. I put of fraction of the effort your expending into various gun stats for a homebrew system. The NSA probably has me on a list now, LOL.

Oh, man, I did gun research earlier this year! It was easier, but still hard work!

 

[Gilladian]

If you go to the public library and ask for the bound periodicals, or periodicals on microfilm, you'll be able to find advertisements that should have prices for just about everything; just figure out which magazines or newspapers had car ads in them, and half your work will be done. Won't help with the weights or the 0-60 speed, but prices, yeah...