Tabletop Sim Racing
Racing Basics
Turns—Gameplay rotates from the driver who starts first, to the driver who starts last.
Goal—1st person to cross the start/finish line on the last lap wins.
The die—Each player rolls the die to determine how many spaces he or she will go. If you’re running different types of cars at the same track, it would be good to make different dice (out of clay, paper, etc.) with different numbers on them for each division. For example, street stocks go slow, so the sides would look like 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, and late models go fast, so they might go something like 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5.
Bumping—When a space behind or to the side of another player’s car, a player can choose to bump the other car. If they roll an odd number, their bump is unsuccessful, resulting in the driver they tried to bump moving ahead one space. If they roll an even number, their bump is successful, resulting in the bumping driver moving ahead of the driver they bumped.
Blocking—Each track should be at least 2 cars wide. When there is a car in front of the player whose turn it is, they must pass that car. If the player’s car can’t get through, he can’t drive until the obstructing player moves, even if the player still has spaces. If a player spins another car 90 degrees while trying to squeeze through, he or she loses a turn. If half of that player’s car is on the infield while trying to pass during their turn, the player loses a turn.
Rules can be modified to suit your needs.
Creating the cars
You can use ready-made diecast cars, or you can customize the diecasts, or make the cars out of modeling clay, polymer clay, ceramic clay, wood, paper, etc. I bet you can even put 1/64 scale slot car bodies on clay or diecast chassis and run them!
Creating the Track
You will need:
Cardboard/Foamcore/Posterboard/Wood board/ etc, Card Stock, modeling clay, a sharpie, pencil, or pen, and a printer. Model train and slot car track scenery would be nice.
1. Decide which surface of track you will make. Dirt, asphalt, concrete, etc.
2. Decide the shape of the track (draw out the shape of the track on paper, then build the track).
3. Figure out what material you’re going to use to make the track surface (Paper is real simple and easy to find and use. You can even print out sections of real race tracks from Google Earth. Wood is good, too. Paper is like an “all-purpose” material that can be used for dirt, asphalt, etc. Stoneware clay and Quikrete are good for asphalt and concrete. Papier mache, modeling clay, and even real dirt or clay from the outdoors are good for dirt.)
4. Lay out the track (glue the track onto the board)
5. Decide whether your track will be space-based or groove-based. Space based tracks have the same spaces on every section of the track. Groove-based tracks have different amounts of spaces depending on what groove of the track you’re on, like inside, middle, and outside.
6. Draw the spaces or grooves on your track. Don’t forget to make the start/finish line!
7. Put the scenery around it. You can even make all of it out of paper. Grandstands, flag stands, concession stands, billboards, fans, press boxes, fan suites, parked cars, and you can even use those bendable booklights to surround the track and race at night!
8. Race!
Fantasy Management Mode
Choose which types of cars you want to race—Anything from late models to street stocks to sprint cars to super stocks to modifieds and everything in between. They should each have unique dice.
Choose the type of program—Either a weekly program (uses a full season at one track), or a series (races a different track each week).
Make big events—Most race tracks and series have big races with more laps and more cash. You can put a few in your program.
Organize a driver roster—Pick whichever drivers you want at your track/series. A good total number is around 12-24 per division.
Make star drivers—About ¼ to 1/3 of your roster should have high-performance “star” drivers, who have better skills and more backing, and are allowed to add some spaces to each turn, no matter what they roll. There are two categories of star drivers. There’s “good” drivers who have 1 space extra, and there’s “top” drivers who have 2 spaces. When writing the driver list and scoreboard, you should add a * to good drivers’ names and ** to top drivers’ names so you can remember to give them one or two extra spaces per turn.
Race-determine the starting order. Heats, handicap, qualifying, any style you want. The turns go from the driver starting first to the driver starting last. One player can control the whole field, or multiple players can control different cars. For example, in an eight-car field with two players, each player can control two cars each.
It'd be nice for you guys to comment and tell me if you like this or if you'll try it!
