How to wreck a car

[Fritz_Brown]

And if you're really good, you control the vehicle remotely and run the bastard down!

You want your vehicle able to be controlled with a bluetooth connection? Or, worse, over the internet?!?!? o: Dude, you like living dangerously.......

 

[Carlobrand]

Communications laser tied to a battle-comp. I think he's a merc.

 

[Icosahedron]

Think about what would happen to the individual who would give chase such criminal barbarians.

The further we move away from the age of sword and pistol our cultural attitudes towards violence will change.

As we progress into that future HiPop HiTech world, the standard car chases will be a thing of the past (At the present rate of Hydrocarbon fuel source, it would be more expensive than the crime itself).

My rule of thumb has always been, the Higher the tech the less fun you can have.

Intolerance of violence is the way our culture is headed, for sure - at least temporarily, but induced cowardice is only one means of political control - there are others. I don't think it's inevitable that every high-tech culture will regulate its citizens to death. This is why Tech Level and Law Level have separate scales.

In a fusion-powered Hydrogen Age, with growing Terraforming capability, perpetually rising fuel costs and greenhouse scares may be things of the past, too.

Every society sees itself as the model to which all others must eventually conform as they 'develop'. Ours is no different., and it's no more likely to be 'correct'. I can see many high-tech cultures in which a car chase could take place with impunity - particularly if the chaser is a law officer.

 

[Rigel Stardin]

I'll rephase my comment a tad bit.

If a Hitech Hipop world has a police officer on every corner, then of course that will severly limit what you can and cannot do. On another world were the cops live at donut shop, you might be able to have all the fun you want. And still another world where the police belong to the Royal Grav Cyle Corp, you can get away with a heck of lot more. IT's all about location, location, location...

In a city enivornment, the police are consentrated while in a rual setting, cops are centrally located and patrol a larger area with less people. There is a big difference between a dedicated police force and a police force who has an attutide problem can also factor into response times. Even the type of police force (Paramilitary or elected) can change the scenario.

Look at the US and where there are thousand of police departments verse Britian where this is a National police department. A centralized command structure allows information to move more rapidly between regions, while a US based system compartmentizes and insulates the police forces making it hard for information move rapidly from one jurstiction to another. Then you have to look at the government type as well. On balkanized worlds, it going to vary from government to government.

The point I'm trying to make is, depending on the scenario you dream up, your PC's can expend all the ordance they want, hell they might even be able to load the Nuclear tipped RPG that they stash under the seat eons ago...

 

[Whipsnade]

Expanding on the Baron's advice about aiming at the man rather than the machine, what about aiming at those devices which either assist or replace the man?

Whether grav, ducted fans, or other agency, "flying" cars are going to have some sort of "fly-by-wire" component in their operation. A flight computer and/or avionics suite of sorts is going to really control the vehicle, translating input from the "operator" in a way that ensures the vehicle isn't placed outside of it's flight envelope. Add in the various hi-tech, hi-pop, and/or hi-law "traffic control" measures already raised and there will be more ways for this "fly-by-wire" system to further constrain or even prevent operation of the vehicle.

Such systems are going to require sensor inputs for various things like air speed, altitude, pitch, yaw, roll, inertial location, and so forth. A GPS-style system could provide most if not all of those inputs but there would most likely also be systems onboard the vehicle as back-ups if nothing else.

Even relatively "primitive" flying vehicles have onboard sensors. There's a pitot tube mounted on every Cessna, for example, which provides the pilot with their air speed indications. The tube is small enough to be easily damaged with a pistol butt or other object. While some pilots might still take off without the pitot tube working, those pilots who want to live to fly another day generally think twice.

I'm wondering if tampering with the onboard sensors linked to the flight computer/avionics suite might be the same as shooting out all four tires, smashing a distributor cap, cutting a serpentine belt, or any of the other classic ways of disabling a car. Look at the "breathlyzer" interlocks placed on the steering wheels of habitual drunk drivers. They need to blow into the device before the car will start and, if the device isn't working or has been tampered with in anyway, the car won't start at all.

Using the pitot tube analogy, I wonder if damage to a discrete sensor bundle or bundles might stop a "flying car" from taking off altogether? The pilot powers up the vehicle, the avionics systems first boots then queries it's flight sensors, determines those sensors aren't working, and shuts the vehicle down.

 

[Rigel Stardin]

In those B-movies where the b-gangsters pull up outside the bank and tell the driver, "Keep the car running, we'll be back in a minute." They might have good reason to. Remember our heros are inside cashing that Imperial Check for 18 MCR. The first really payday in months and boy DO to they have plans for those credits! Get caught up on their loan payment, have the annual mantainance done on their ship, The "Pewter Pigeon" and last but not least one heck of party down at Uncle Barney's Bar and Grill...

Note: Nowhere in that narrative did I mention the Ship's vehicle? You know the one. Its been used to carry cargo since the day your granfather bought the ship, it got shot up on the last planet you were on and just haven't found the time to patch those holes from your last encounter with the Blackie and his Gang and that amusing thing Bob does to get the darn power turbine to kick over is really starting to annoy the crew...

Yes the ship's vehicle really isn't on the top of most people's list of things to get repair when the Duke of Pots drops that big paycheck for rescuing his ugly stepdaughter from Blackie and his Gang of criminals barbarians. After the night of carousing and beer at the local starport, you're really not going to given any real thought to your model A TL 8 Air Raft your grandfather traded two groats and a worn out pulse rifle for...By th Gods, I swear if he tells that story... Never mind. But you see where I'm going with this right?

The ship's vehicle is the most overlooked item on any player's to-do list. So just running outside and starting it might be the first major hurdle the players have do to in order to get their ten suitcases filled with Imperial Credits back from Sal and his b-list cohorts...

 

[Icosahedron]

I'll rephase my comment a tad bit.

If a Hitech Hipop world has a police officer on every corner, then of course that will severly limit what you can and cannot do.

Only if the police are interested in what you're doing.

I'm just playing devil's advocate here, (I like challenging players' assumptions in games, too) so although we accept that 'speeding', for example, is something that will attract police attention in most countries on Earth (provided they have the manpower and their palms haven't been greased)...

What if there is a cultural belief that speed equates to efficiency. What if it's seen as expedient, dutiful, or even a personal freedom to travel as fast as you practicably can without harming others. There is no blanket speed limit, you can travel as fast as you dare, but heaven help you if you kill someone...

In such a culture, the police would have no interest or jurisdiction in regulating your speed - though they may follow at a discreet distance like vultures waiting to pounce when you have an accident.

It may even be that a high tech culture is more likely to go that way. In a surveillance society where there is a high chance of arrest for what you have done, there is less need to arrest you for what you might do.

 

[Icosahedron]

Expanding on the Baron's advice about aiming at the man rather than the machine, what about aiming at those devices which either assist or replace the man?

Good points.

 

[BytePro]

In the U.S., I never got a speeding ticket till I moved to a state with 'absolute speed limits' (and revenue hungry)... where I grew up driving, the posted speed limit was the 'recommended safe speed limit'.

I only ever got stopped once for speeding in the state with the 'recommended' limit - I was doing over 95 mph in a 65 zone passing all the other traffic to boot (not intentionally, which, to my mind makes it even worse). Was in my early twenties, drove a luxury sedan, but was in shorts and torn t-shirt and dirty from having helped my brother with a deck. Officer used his bullhorn and had me get out of my car and join him in his... I had also failed to change the address on my Driver's License, which didn't match my Insurance, oh, and my State Vehicle Inspection was overdue. (Cha-ching!) We talked, he advised I take it slower and get things up to date then told me to exit his vehicle. He rolled down the window and asked me 'Do you know why I'm letting you off?' My response was, 'I didn't know you were, officer.' To which he replied, 'Because of your attitude. Drive safe and have a good day.'

I plan on pulling this on my players one day (if they don't get in a shoot out with the authorities who try to pull them over, that is).

 

[DangerousThing]

And of course, if the normal ammunition available to cops and PCs won't disable an air/raft easily enough, then make something new. There has been a lot of research in th modern day on new weapons to stop a car safely.

 

[Rigel Stardin]

It may even be that a high tech culture is more likely to go that way. In a surveillance society where there is a high chance of arrest for what you have done, there is less need to arrest you for what you might do.

Let's do a little mash up here: Face recognition software, scanner cameras which can search a person's body for weapons (Total Recall comes to mind) attached to a database for weapons permits and a list of "Undesirables." For this discussion we'll call the TR Cameras or TRC for short.

Now put that into the Mix of our Mythical HiPop/Tech world and there would be no crime because the first time you enter the TRC Grid your pretty mug sets off the alarm at the local police station. That pocket knife, with the six inch blade strapped to your boot tells our computerized friend you're armed and dangerous. Our heros would have to go to local government to purchase a weapon's permit and then be tracked the entire time they're on planet. Or they could buy the pocket scramble from sleeze Eddy that would fool the TRC into thinking they were someone else and that plasma rifle you have under your trench coat is artifical leg...

Now lets suppose the Planet Dread uses the TRC Grid in a much different fashion. Their citizens have the right to defend themselves from harm and their property. They don't need weapons permits because it is the right of every citizen to carry a weapon. Remember those Criminal Barbarians with the RPG, they damaged your air raft when they left the bank. You have the right to track them down, but you failed to read the pamphlet at the starport that informed you about what would happen if you injuried another person during your little spat. Curse Sister Mary Jo for not taking defensive driving courses..

TRC Grids are really not that far off when you look at the technology out there...

But this discussion is for another threat, I'm still trying to wreck you car, remember....

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Add in the various hi-tech, hi-pop, and/or hi-law "traffic control" measures already raised and there will be more ways for this "fly-by-wire" system to further constrain or even prevent operation of the vehicle.

Hmmmm. Might be easiest in a "high-control" situation to simulate a red traffic signal to the flight control computer. Unless our hero hacks the traffic control software, the vehicle isn't moving. (And, everyone he is blocking at the intersection - their traffic control software is claiming the light is green - is getting more and more irate at said hero....) :toast:

Also, you could hack the diagnostic suite and tell it there is a drastically unsafe condition, say, in the fusion powerplant. The fun begins when the vehicle not only shuts down, but sets off an audible public alarm about possible imminent meltdown........ :devil:

Edit: Now that I think about it, you did say you wanted to wreck the car.... So, you tell the hero's vehicle that he has a green when crossing traffic really has the green, so he gets creamed by cross-traffic. This has the added advantage of tying up police and such, too, as they respond to your accident.

 

[CosmicGamer]

Currently more than thirty General Motors models come with a security and navigation system installed that allow the vehicle to be shut down remotely by law enforcement officials.

 

[Rigel Stardin]

If you're a fan of those Wildest Police Chases Shows, you know the pursuer has the advantage over the person fleeing. Our criminal master minds are taking all the risks dodging normal traffic. Cops are warning traffic with their lights and sirens. Our heros are much like the bad guys in the aspect, they have no way of warning their fellow motorist that there is a car load of well armed criminals coming up on their six...

Busy highways/streets, construction zones, intersections, turns and on/off ramps are danger areas in high speed chases. They can also be choke points where everyone must slow down or run the risk of damaging their vehicles. Air rafts and other Grav vehicles will have similar restrictions in congested cities.

I'm throwing this one out there because, who needs to physical damage our stallworth hero's vehicle when this has happen:

Don't remember which show it was but the police were chasing a pickup truck along a rural highway. The driver of the Pickup truck had stolen a riding lawn mower and the cops were in hot pursue. The rural road crossed a major four lane and the pickup truck blew the red light. There is where our little pickup met mister 18 wheeler.

From the dash camera point of view, it appeared as if the pickup disappeared. There was not smoke or screeching of tires. Just one second there was a pickup and the next second you saw the 18 wheeler go by as the cop slammed on his brakes...

High speed testrone filled chases are really dangerious affairs. You don't need to damage the player's vehicle because the chances are he's going to wreck. Add into the mix weapon fire and vehicles scrambling to get out of your way, you'll be luck to survive the chase in the first place...

 

[Fritz_Brown]

True, Rigel, but then our stalwart heroes don't get to continue the chase on a mighty steed! And, it's all about getting that character on a horse while chasing a grav vehicle, donchaknow!

 

[Peter Newman]

Well, the first rule (as a GM) is "don't use the _Striker_ location tables when shooting at a ground car" - they're set up to mimic tanks, which generally have their engines in the rear...

Unless, of course, you are shooting at a ground car which, like an old VW Beatle, has its engine in the rear.