This is the Play-By-Email series that I organize. There are normally more than 60 drivers participating in this series every year. The drivers are divided up between 7 races, stewarded by a crop of volunteers and organized into 4 tiers. A season is normally 3 races and takes about a year. After each season, drivers can be promoted or demoted.
Below are some ground rules and additional information. Poke me if you are interested.
Sending In Your Moves:
- Obviously moves require at least a speed. However, Race Stewards cannot check back with you while processing a move, so
- When sending your move take a minute to think of odd scenarios that might come up and provide options in your move. This is especially important in corners where a lane may end up being blocked by a slower moving car in front or a spin. Feel free to send as many if/then statements as you’d like. You can also send basic instructions like, “do anything to get me out of the next corner.” Or “move me as far as possible without rolling dice.” Both are commonly written instructions… usually after the driver’s preferred move.
- If the Race Steward is unable to execute your move as written, they will do the best they can based on your instructions. If you were planning to spend wear, the Race Steward will try to spend that wear, maybe in a different place. But no die rolling if it can be helped. And again: If you are in a situation where you have to spend wear or roll dice, the Race Steward will always opt to spend wear. If you have to roll dice, the Race Steward will roll the friendliest dice possible and spend as much skill as you can.
- Also, if you set defaults the Race Steward will try to follow those defaults to the best of their ability.
- You may plot ahead if you’d like. Some players frequently send two or more moves at a time. That’s good. The Race Steward can save the future moves to fill in if they don’t hear otherwise on that upcoming turn.
If the Race Steward doesn’t get a move:
Setting Your Defaults
- Everyone should receive a link at the beginning of the race for setting their defaults. You can use this to set your preferred default options for choices usually made during a move. You can change them at any time, but notify your steward after turn 1.
- You can always email your Race Steward to change a default or to provide something not offered.
- If you’ve raced in this series before, your old defaults remain until you send new ones.
- Current defaults:
- If presented with an opportunity to forced pass the default is not to.
- If someone tries to forced pass you the default is to spend no skill blocking.
- If your desired path in a corner is blocked, the default is to spend the same or less wear as the desired path would have.
- In spaces before a corner, default is to land where you can take the fastest lane through the corner.
- End of move: if a car is in the row in front of you but not closest to the grey side of the track, you line up behind only if no one can reach your row this turn.
- Default: break up -3 skill chips into three -1 skill chips if needed.
- Default: spend 2 wear exceeding decel/late braking before rolling a decel test.
- Skill use defaults:
- Test Top/Accel: 2
- Test Brakes: 2
- Chance: 3
- Forced Pass: 2
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- You will NOT be given slips unless you request them.
Positioning When Slips May Be in Play Next Turn
- A car may not end its move in position to potentially give a slip unless there is some other reason to be there:
- Lining up behind someone for a potential slip next turn
- Guarding inside position
- Positioning for the next corner
Blocking and Forced Passing Defaults
- If you set a blocking/forced pass default, your car’s stat box will display the number of skill you plan to spend to block.
- However, this does not guarantee behavior as defaults can be changed and over-ridden.
Move Reports:
- Your Race Steward will send an image or PDF after every move.
- The track map with car positions and stats (speed, accel, decel, top speed, wear, skill chips). Start speed is omitted until -3 skill is gone.
- Letters above the box show blocking defaults.
- Additional notes may appear about die rolls, wear, skill use, etc.
- Stewards aim for 48 hours between moves and maintain schedules when possible.
- Extra time is allowed over US holidays and weekends.
- Stewards may warn you if a move hasn’t been received.
- Stewards are volunteers; schedules may vary.
- If a steward must run their own race, another person will receive their moves, announced before the season.
Checking Move Reports:
- Race Stewards make mistakes.
- If you think there’s a mistake, email the steward.
- They may roll back or adjust the move.
- If you believe the correction is unfair, you may appeal to Doug (doug@lucidphoenix.com).
- Wear/skill mismatches should be rare but check and notify if needed.
“Table Talk”
- “Table Talk” is allowed, but restrict conversation to compliments, criticisms, jokes, and thanking stewards. Do NOT discuss future moves. Coordinated moves are illegal.
- Friendly play is fine; repeated cooperation that appears coordinated is not.
- Penalties for coordinated play:
- First offenses (severity-based):
- Verbal Warning
- Drive Through Penalty (skip 1 turn, rejoin inside row)
- Stop And Go Penalty (skip 2 turns)
- Repeat offenses:
4. Disqualification (DNF)
5. Banned from the Series
- First offenses (severity-based):
Pencil Format Points, Promotions, Demotions, and Final Rankings
- Tier 1: P1 (10 drivers)
- Tier 2: Divoll and Reilly (max 10 each)
- Tier 3: Ascari and Fangio
- Tier 4: Clark and Moss (new drivers assigned randomly and evenly)
Point Scale:
- 1st: 23
- 2nd: 16
- 3rd: 11
- 4th: 8
- 5th: 6
- 6th: 5
- 7th: 4
- 8th: 3
- 9th: 2
- 10th: 1
- 11+: 0
- DNF: 0
Promotions & Demotions:
- Determined by season points. Tiebreakers:
- Best Finish
- Second Best Finish
- Finish in last race of the season
- End of season:
- Top 2 from Tier 2 move to P1
- Top 3 from all other tiers move up
- As many drivers as needed are demoted
- No mid-season promotions