Machinas Handicapping

When setting up vehicles for a race in Machinas it is possible for there to be a reasonable disparity in points. The rules themselves cover this in a way, but setting a limit on how much higher the entry cost of a vehicle can be compared to other vehicles. But I don't always find it that helpful to apply in practice, as it can require a fairly radical reworking of vehiucles to get them to fit.

In recent races I have been using a handicapping system, which allows vehicles with a range of points costs to compete with each other on terms which give the feel of being equal (even if they probably aren't).

The mechanism is to allow the possibility of extra bonus dice for vehicles with a lower entry cost. This is how I do it.

I calculate the points total of each vehicle in the race. The vehicle with the highest points total is then determined.

Each vehicle gets a number of Handicap Dice equal to (Highest Vehicle Cost in Race) - (Vehicle's Cost).

At the start of the race, roll the Handicap Dice for each vehicle.
Each dice which scores a 1 gives the vehicle 2 extra Bonus Dice
Each dice which scores a 2-3 gives the vehicle 1 extra Bonus Dice
Each dice which scores a 4-6 give no extra bonus dice.

So the handicap is random, but can give great rewards if the player is lucky.

Example: There are four vehicles in the race. A costs 12pts, B costs 17pts, C costs 13pts and D costs 16pts.

B has the highest points cost at 17.

A gets 17-12 = 5 Handicap Dice
B gets 17-17 = 0 Handicap Dice
C gets 17-13 = 4 Handicap Dice
D gets 17-16 = 1 Handicap Dice

A rolls and gets 1, 2, 3, 3 and 5. The 1 gives the car 2 Bonus Dice, the 2 and two 3s give it 1 Bonus Dice each and the 5 gives it nothing. So A gets an extra 5 Bonus Dice.

C rolls and gets 3, 4, 4 and 5, for a total of 1 extra Bonus Dice (bad luck!)

D rolls and gets 4, for no extra Bonus Dice.

Overall I don't think that this is a game-breaker, and it allows vehicles of differing levels to compete on a more equal footing.

I haven't quite worked out how to apply this to chases yet, where new vehicles can enter part of the way through the game. At present I am considering a slightly different mechanism where the dice gained at the end of each 'lap' vary depending on the relative costs of the vehicles currently in play. But I'm still working on the actual arithmetic.

Happy Racing!