The first game (Simple)

[Emanuel]

EASY EXAMPLE​

If you never have played a game like that before, then this example race will provide everything, that you need to know. We only use one optional value (the weather), but no other special settings, just the standard tables and also just two horses for a better overview. And don't be afraid - I will explain each step!

Step P - Name of horses and track​

This is really easy! We just select two random horses of the provided Horse Table and write down their names. Keep in mind, that the names are also connected to some values, but we don't need them now. On the top of the Scorecard we will note the name of the selected track, the distance (fields) and the surface. You can find this details in the tracks table. We also roll the two dices now the first time and we get the result 10 (6+4). We look at the Weather table in the first column and we can see, that we will have a "hot" day. Alright!

Step S - Let's start the race​

Good. Let's put away some dramatic moments for now and just focus on the needed steps. But I will post another big race with more horses and some more emotional moments soon. But for now we roll the two dices for Shadowflash and take a look at the Start table. This tells us the reaction of the horses after the start signal. We roll a 9 (4+5) and so we get a 1 and write it into the first column after the start position column, marked with the S for Start. We repeat the same process for Charger, so throw the dices.... alright, we have a solid 4 (1+3). We look at the Start table and can see, that Charger have slept a little bit and just get a minus 1. We write that down too and we have finished the start!

Step 1 - The horses are running​

We roll the dices for Shadowflash, get 8 (2+6) and now we look at the Run table. We can see, that our dice result gives us 11 fields of progress on the track! BUT Shadowflash had a good start before with 1, we will add this start value to the Run result. So we add 11 + 1 = 12. So our horse has moved 12 fields forward and we note that down in the scorecard.

Now we do the same for Charger, roll the dices, get a 10 (5+5) and look into the Run table... we can see in the first column, that Charger moves only 9 fields forward AND we also have to adapt the result with the (bad) start value. So we have to subtract the -1 from the Run result and finally we note 8 into the first run field of the scorecard.

Both horses are now in the race!

 

[Emanuel]

Step 2 - Keep running​

Shadowflash has a good start, Charger has already some challenges now. But let's move forward on the track. We roll the dices again, get 6 (3+3), take a look on the Run table and can see, that Shadowflash moves another 11 fields forward - a good progress. But be careful, we don't write down just the result, we always add it to the result before. Shadowflash is on field 12 at the moment, now we add the 11 and our result for the scorecard is 23 (12+11).

Again we do the same for Charger. We roll 7 (2+5), so our horses pushes a little bit and our Run table gives us a progress of 12 fields for that roll. Great! Again we add it to the result value before, in this case 8 and this means we write 20 in the field. Charger is still behind.

Step 3 - On the way​

We have gained some speed... let's see, what Shadowflash is doing now. We roll the dices, get a 6 (from now on, I don't write down always the results of each dice, only the sum) and if we look at the Run table we get a 11, again we add it to the value before and we have a progress of 34 fields on the track. Now Charger, we also roll a 6, so he will also move the same amount of fields forward, which gives us 31.

Shadowflash leads the race, Charger is doing... something. Come on!

 

[Emanuel]

Step T - Track condition​

Every horse has also it's preferences... some of them like a specific surface or a temperature for example. We take now a closer look on the track surface during the race, for the Charlestown Race Track it's "Dirt". We use our horse table and look for the specific column with the value for TD = Track Dirt. The given value for this column and specific horse is used to adjust the progress of each horse. So for Shadowflash we have a 4, this means this horse loves the surface and for Charger we get just a 1, so today it's not his best day. We adjust the run results of the last step and write the new value in the column T in the scorecard. Between both horses we have now a big gap!

Step 4 - Running again​

We will continue our race and roll the dices for Shadowflash, we have a 6 and after a look on the Run table we can add 11 additional fields for the progress. Charger rolls a 8, so this gives us the Run table value 11 too. No distance change between both horses for now and we already close to the middle of the race!

Step 5 - Still running​

We move on, Shadowflash rolls a 9 with her dices, after using the Run table we can see, that she moves 10 additional fields forward. Chargers again has some bad luck with his hooves and rolls a 10, so moves just 9 fields forward. Again, we note the progress in our scorecard.

 

[Emanuel]

Step W - The weather conditions​

Now we have the same adjustment with the temperature/weather, like we had with the track conditions. We know, that it's very hot today, so we look again at the horse table and adjust the actual progress of the horses with the given value for WH = Weather hot.

Shadowflash hates the heat and looses -3 fields, so her position on the track is adjusted to 56. Charger has the same troubles and also looses the same amount of fields. So no distance change between them again.

Step 6 - The race continues​

Now you already know, what to do... roll the dices and look at the Run table for the result. Shadowflash rolls a 5 and moves 10 additional fields forward, Charger instead rolls a 6 and moves 11 fields forward. He has gained some speed again!

Step 7 - Move, baby, move!​

Shadowflash now rolls just a 4, which gives her 9 fields... could be better. Charger is now awake! He rolls a 6 and moves 11 additional fields forward. Now you can see, how quickly the situation can change... just three fields between them for now!

 

[Emanuel]

Step P1 - do you still have power?​

I think you can guess it... yes, we again adjust the progress of our horses based on their personal Power values. Like before, we take a look at the horse table and adjust the recent Run value with the P1 value.

Shadowflash is in good condition and can add 2 more fields to her progress. Charger is just running, he has at the moment no additional power, but also no break down, so he keeps just running. No changes for him. But this also means, that Shadowflash pushed again a little bit and increased the distance between them.

Step 8 - running again​

Shadowflash throws a 8 and moves 11 more fields forward. Charger has a 6 and moves 11 too. We adjust the values again.

Step 9 - the last stretch​

Shadowflash rolls a 9 and moves 10 fields to the wire, very close! But Charger throws a good 7 and can move 12 fields, so a small jump forward!

 

[Emanuel]

Step P2 - do you have enough power?​

Depending on the race track length, the game will already end here or just continues. Our track is just 100 fields long, so we have reached now the wire. But we will check the P2 Power before of each horse. Shadowflash is exhausted and is stumbling, so she loosing -3 fields in her progress! This also means, she doesn't reach the wire with this roll, wuha!

Okay, how is Charger dealing with the distance? He is also loosing some power, -3 too. So no positive development for both horses and we adjust the scorecard.

Step 10 - the wire!​

The last step, the last breath, the last roll. Our race track is 100 fields long, so everything above 100 is enough. Shadowflash has 8, so based on the Run table she moves 11 fields forward and crosses the wire. Charger throws 7 and can add 12 fields to his progress, he also has reached the end of the race!

In this case it's clear, who is the winner, BUT we still have some work to do, because if you race just with two horses, it's easy... but if you run with 12 horses and maybe additional values like falls, jumps and so on, there is much more movement and maybe a lot of horses with the same amount of fields. So maybe you have three horses with 106 and the same amount of dice rolls. How do you calculate then the winner?

F+ and the time​

But it's easy too. In the F+ field you just note down the additional fields. The track is 100 fields long from start to finish, but Shadowflash has 106, so 6 is the additional field value. So we write 6 in the F+ field. The same for Charger (103) and we write 3.

We also count now the amount of dice rolls, but we only use the normal run rolls. So if we look at the scorecard, both needed 10 rolls or steps to the wire. This is our Minute value (MM). Still a close race between them. But how to calculate the seconds?

We need now two values. The F+ one and also the last Power value for the horse, that we used in the race. For Shadowflash this means 6 (F+) and -3 (P2, you can find that again in the horse table). Charger has 3 (F+) and -3 too. Now we look into the Time table and write down the given results. I hope, I have marked in a way, that is easy to understand?

 

[Emanuel]

Finished!!! ​

Here you can see the final result. Shadowflash crosses the wire with a time of 10:36 and is the winner. Charger is very close, but still a few seconds to slow and needs 10:48 for the track. And that's it... you can see, it's a very simple and easy game, but you can also improve the values and impacts with additional/optional tables and decisions.

By the way: If you have two horses with the same time (MM:SS) and this happens multiple times with more horses on the track and during the time, than you just roll the dices again for each of these horses and use the first column of the Time table to select an additional value for the milliseconds. And so on, until you can split their position.

 

[Emanuel]

And yes... 10 minutes is a long run or a lot of time in the scorecard for this distance. But if you want to have more real time values, you can also divide the minutes result by two for example or whatever feels good for you, if you need more realism.

My target of the game is to have simple values and easy handling of all tables and the scorecard and just to have a good flow. BUT there will be some improvements during the time, so please keep in mind, that this example just shows the default way, but it could happen, that some additional or new values will be added to the run, start, weather, horses, tracks and so on tables for more improvement during the next weeks and months!