Classic: Autoduel

This is Classic material. Some conversion will be needed to use with 4e,
some of which may have been done for you.

Classic: Autoduel (Second Edition) (1996, 2018) is based on the classic Car Wars boardgame. There is also a Classic: Autoduel (First Edition) (1986).

Publication[]

A color paperback version of the 2nd edition was written in 2017 and published 30 August 2018. Prior to that there was only a black and white paperback

Setting[]

The setting is effectively an alternate timeline^{[note 1]} though the divergence is unclear.

2012 sees the appearance of a microorganism appearing in the grain fields in Nebraska and Ukraine that devastated them. Called the Blight, this quickly spread to the rest of the world.

For some reason, both the U.S. and Russia came to the conclusion that the other had bioengineered the Blight as bio-chemical warfare and launched their nuclear warheads.^{[note 2]} However, both sides have such sophisticated satellite defenses that few missiles reach their targets. This exchange is blamed for climate changes that resulted in the failure of other crops around the world.

If that wasn't enough, a computer virus called the Worm ripped though homes and businesses. Businesses saw their financial records rewritten or wiped clean while automated homes self-destructed, some literally, and killed their owners in bizarre mishaps.

Then on top of that the big one finally hit May, 2015 (8.2 on the Richter scale), followed by El Niño flooding half of the country, which was then followed by a blisteringly cold winter. The resulting food riots cause the national government to break down in terms of enforcing order.

Thirty years later the US is still trying to pick up the pieces.

Vehicles[]

See Autoduel Vehicles

Autoduel Divisions[]

Autoduel Divisions are effectively "weight classes" for vehicles, being limited by their total dollar price. There are nine divisions, with the numbers always equaling the maximum price (in thousands) that a competitor's vehicle and equipment can be.

Division	Price	Description
Division 5	$5,000	Lowest division, with light bikes and subcompacts.
Division 10	$10,000
Division 15	$15,000	Modified Joseph Specials and other such vehicles.
Division 20	$20,000
Division 25	$25,000	Division 25 is about the highest you'll see vehicles go. Above this, vehicles tend to utilize expensive upgrades, such as radar, fireproof armor, cyberlinks, etcetera.
Division 30	$30,000	The Magnum Micro Duellist and the Acme Galahad in particular. Nice trucks with lots of gadgets.
Division 40	$40,000
Division 60	$60,000
Division 100	$100,000	Only the wildest designs rank this high, with a combination of bulk and high-end parts. The Crane Technologies Wolverine battletruck is just cheap enough to fit into this category.
Above	$100,000+	While there are no official Division 101+ matches, there are plenty of ultraheavy and ultraluxe vehicles wandering the highways of North America, from the gold-plated I-44 duellers in Oklahoma City to the chicken trucks of the Brotherhood.

Finalists and Semi-Finalists[]

Driver	Series	Vehicle	Price ($)	Division
Joe and Bobby Whalen^[1]	Nationals?	--	--	--
Bill Hickman^[2]	Nationals (champion)	Amex Sizzler	4,198	5
Howard Sampson^[3]	AADA California Cycle Championship	Flash (custom)	14, 792	Unlimited
Jacques LeBlanc^[4]^{[note 3]}	Division 15 World Championship, 2028 and 2029	Hotshot (stock)	14,600	15
John Abbott^[5]	State Championship, 2035		24,???	25
Adrienne Horowitz^[6]	National (Canada), 2031	Kane Moose	22,300+	25
"Madman" Pirelli	North American Unlimited-Class Championship, 2032 (semifinalist)	FP Superflash (stock)	69,850	Unlimited

Vehicle Brands[]

see Autoduel Vehicles

Supplements[]

The Road Atlas series
GURPS Autoduel: Car Warriors (out of print)

Comment and Additional Information[]

"As alternate timelines go, Autoduel is kind of ridiculous. It reads like someone wanted nearly every cliché in the book to make a Mad Max style world without actually destroying the world in the process."

GURPS Autoduel, 2nd Edition Designer's Notes is a very enlightening article that covers many of the updates and lore fixes that fill out the setting.
Uncle Al's 2050 Catalog Supplement (4/28/2000): Car Wars
Uncle Albert's 2051 Catalog Supplement (4/27/2001): Car Wars
Cars for 2050 (01/21/2000): Car Wars
Texas Autoduel association

Notes[]

↑ Called Autoduel-1 for a Time Travel campaign.
↑ When GURPS Autoduel 2nd edition came out in 1996 this made even less sense then it originally did. There were plenty of other possible candidates and Russia was effected by the Blight as well.
↑ These two dates coincide, implying this is one entry

References[]

↑ Classic: Autoduel, p.11 (this page)
↑ AADA Vehicle Guide, p.18
↑ AADA Vehicle Guide, p.8
↑ Classic: Autoduel, p.8 (this page)
↑ GURPS Autoduel, p.81 (this page)
↑ AADA Vehicle Guide, p.24

[1] Called Autoduel-1 for a Time Travel campaign.

[2] When GURPS Autoduel 2nd edition came out in 1996 this made even less sense then it originally did. There were plenty of other possible candidates and Russia was effected by the Blight as well.

[7] These two dates coincide, implying this is one entry

[3] Classic: Autoduel, p.11 (this page)

[4] AADA Vehicle Guide, p.18

[5] AADA Vehicle Guide, p.8

[6] Classic: Autoduel, p.8 (this page)

[8] GURPS Autoduel, p.81 (this page)

[9] AADA Vehicle Guide, p.24

[note 1]

[note 2]

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[2]

[3]

[4]

[note 3]

[5]

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Classic: Autoduel

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