Pennsyltucky Derby Rules
Greetings Gearheads,
Welcome, one and all, to the 3rd Annual Pennsyltucky Derby! We're here, deep in the dust-choked heart of the Cinder Trails, and the Hemlock Crossing outpost is abuzz with the roar of engines and the promise of glory. The sun is high, the roads are mean, and the only thing standing between you and the finish line is a bunch of hopped-up maniacs in scrap-metal death traps. May the best racer win, and may the rest be dust.
Here are the rules of engagement, hot off the press and slick with gear oil. Read them, learn them, and then get ready to break them.
The Rules of the Road
The Race Legs
The Pennsyltucky Derby isn't a sprint—it's a brutal, all-day grind. The race is broken into seven Legs, each lasting a two-hour block. These aren't just stretches of asphalt; they're your chance to dive into the living world of the Dystopia Rising wasteland. Think of them as a mix of high-speed chases and pit stops where anything can happen.
The action starts at 10 AM on Saturday, and the legs follow like clockwork:
10 AM - 12 PM
12 PM - 2 PM
2 PM - 4 PM
4 PM - 6 PM
6 PM - 8 PM
8 PM - 10 PM
10 PM - 12 AM
Warning: Missing a Leg is the quickest way to end your career. If you miss a Leg, your Ride is considered to have Wrecked, and you'll drop straight to last place. If you start a Leg without a working Ride (i.e., you're still on foot and haven't repaired your vehicle), you're disqualified. We don't have time for pedestrians.
Your Ride
Your vehicle isn't just a car; it's your lifeline, your weapon, and your one-way ticket to glory. To take part in a Leg, you need an Unwrecked Ride. There are four different types you can start with:
Owned Ride: This is your baby. A vehicle you've personally blueprinted and logged in your online inventory. They're reliable and come with a little extra oomph.
Bonuses: Generates 1 free Action Point per Leg and reduces the Body and Mind costs from Derby Highlights by 5.
Sponsored Ride: You've got a sugar daddy, a high-rolling NPC who believes in you. These rides come with their own unique bonuses, depending on who's backing you.
Indebted Ride: You've made a deal with the devil, or at least one of the major factions in town. These rides come with a bonus, but remember—nothing in this wasteland is free.
Dead Bird Loaner: The Dead Birds Diesel Jocks believe everyone deserves a shot at the podium. These rides are only available before the first Leg starts, and they come with some risks.
Bonuses: Generates 1 free Action Point per turn but gets a +1 to all Risk of Wreck rolls.
And if your Ride takes a hit and goes down, you're not out for good. If you spend 3 Uncommon Scraps from your online inventory, you can repair your busted vehicle into a Scrapper. It won't have any of the fancy bonuses of the other rides, but it'll keep you in the race. A Scrapper can be repaired multiple times, so don't be afraid to push it to the limit.
Action Points
Every two hours, you'll have a chance to take action. You can use up to 3 Action Points per Leg, and you can get them in a few different ways: some Rides give them out for free, NPCs might toss you a one-time-use item, and you can always get more by pushing your luck in the Derby Highlights.
Once you have your points, you can spend them on one of these high-stakes actions:
Gun it!: Push your vehicle to the limit. Spend one Action Point to move ahead one additional spot on the Leaderboard.
Attack!: Target another racer. Spend one Action Point to make them fall back one spot on the Leaderboard.
Defensive Driving: Think fast, react faster. Spend one Action Point to cancel out one Attack action targeting you this Leg.
Remember, no matter where your Action Points come from, you can never spend more than 3 per Leg.
Derby Highlights
This is where the real race happens. At the start of each Leg, we'll post a list of narrative scenarios, each a high-octane moment ripped straight from the race itself. Each Highlight can only be claimed by one racer per Leg, so you'll have to be quick.
Every Highlight has a cost—some mix of Body, Mind, Resolve, Tag skills, or even crafting supplies and items from your inventory. The higher the reward, the higher the risk.
And speaking of risk, most Highlights come with a Risk of Wreck from 0 to 3. If you choose one with a risk, a Race Runner will roll a D6 and add the risk number to the result. On a total of 6 or higher, your Ride has Wrecked. Don't worry, you can still finish the current Leg, but after that, your ride becomes a hunk of trash until you can find the scrap to repair it into a Scrapper.
A final word of advice, Gearhead: any Tag skills you spend on a Highlight won't reset until the start of the next Leg. Choose wisely, because that adrenaline-fueled move could leave you with nothing to fall back on during the mods and RP later.
Now, get out there and make some noise. The wasteland is watching
