Road conditions can generally be summed up as "early 30s paved roads.
Thus, you will encounter anything from reasonable asphalt to cobblestone roads in cities.
Dirt roads are rare and not exceptionally demanding.
As detailed above, if you can clear a speed bump, you’ll be fine.
The roads we are using likely are at least decently cleared (i.e. no bog-fest through loose snow. They cannot clear roads instantly upon snowfall, obviously)
@Madrias probably has more intel there.
I asked Elizipeazie about shithousery and found out that:
Addendum:
You can Roleplay the act of carrying one car with the other, but it won’t affect the event times since it takes time to load up the car and the added weight slows down the other.
The Poisoning will need approval from the people being poisoned and obviously may have consequences later on.
Johnny: OK fine ill try some local food
Johnny a few minutes later: fucking dies
Right, time to answer some of these questions.
@Vena.Sera423 Engine size, cylinder count, and aspiration limits are only for mid-engine cars. It’s to allow Pontiac Fieros, Toyota MR-2s, and other low-power “common” Mid-Engine cars, while avoiding discount supercars.
@Jaimz68 1970 trim with up to a 2010 engine if you’d like. So you could do a 1960’s car that had a last model in 1970, or a resto-mod of some crap-tastic late 40’s car that was done up in the 70’s, engine-swapped with some awful 1.6 liter turbo I4 if you wanted.
As for traveling to another world, we’ll be driving there through the Rift, an inter-dimensional “road” that links worlds together. If she can put up with some “night-time” driving conditions on a smooth road, Gran should be fine.
@IDK158 Teams provide their own food if they don’t want to eat what the locals are making. Some teams may have more food to share, so, if you want an interaction, that is a way to have it happen.
@Elizipeazie Local cuisine will be somewhat 1930’s US influenced, so… Basically, it’s “A mix of what the world eats, plus some things of our own creation.” It shouldn’t be too weird, but then again, they might have ingredients that we don’t have back home on Earth. That said, plenty of “safe” options for people to choose from, plus they do have stores where you can buy vegetables, fruits, meats, etc. in order to cook your own meals.
@IDK158 Cars on loose surfaces depends on what you consider “loose.” There’s one true “off-road” section, and if you can handle speedbumps or a potholed parking lot, you’ll get through it just fine. Some roads might have snow on them. Build a sensible street-legal car and you won’t have issues with off-roading.
@shibusu While the hosts will try to provide inspiration for what caused a breakdown, you can counter it by providing your own explanations. In other words, if the car has lore as to why it might be unreliable, we’re more likely to pick up on those flaws and use them to our advantage during the stage blurbs. Our writing is just inspiration for you to write, should you choose to do so.
@happyfireballman If you have a breakdown caused by a broken part, either you replace it with a spare you have, fix it yourself, or improvise a part. No one breaks down permanently, you can always fix the broken car. Sometimes some creativity in the repairs, however, can make things interesting.
@donutsnail As mentioned already, “Early-30’s paved roads.” Primitive asphalt, some cobblestone roads in cities. Gravel roads are well-maintained (for gravel at least) and dirt roads are rare. If you can handle a speedbump or a potholed parking lot, you’ll do fine there. They do have snow-plows, so, we’re not driving through too much snow, provided they’ve had time to clear the roads. Could be good inspiration fuel for a slow run, being “stuck behind the snow-plow.”
@Tyhikastija Yeah, you can’t really mess with other teams deliberately, but you can still have fun with some ideas. You can bring a food truck, for example, you just can’t deliberately poison people with it. But if some team has some food from your taco truck and then role-plays spending an hour in the outhouse with the Screaming Squirts, then it’s funny and an agreed-upon bit of amusement.
Likewise, you’re more than welcome to bring a fake Ambulance and go lights-and-sirens, it just won’t do anything. Your ambulance doesn’t look like their ambulances, so they know better. Most of our cars can outrun their cars, but if we break down after a 4 hour police chase, you’re spending a few hours in jail and then fixing up the broken car.
You can carry the broken car to the finish line if you want to write it that way. Just the stopwatch stops once that car drives into camp under its own power.
Looks like I’m all caught up.
-Race: Aetheriian Tiger Valraadi
-Age: 98 (149)
-Appearance: 7 feet, 9 inches tall (top of his head, 8 feet flat to the top of his horns), 450 pounds (204.1 kilograms) of muscle, has a tail as long as he is tall tipped with black, venomous quills, dark gray fur, black stripes, black lion’s mane, black ear-tufts, demon-like rearward-curved horns on his head, orange feline eyes, and the general appearance of a bipedal walking tiger demon. Courtesy of events between last year and now, he has a prosthetic shin and right foot after finding out that automotive springs bite.
Team Role: HD-GV “Carry All” Radio Operator
Notes: Shown with his prescription glasses. Yes, he has anodized purple aluminum frames. Also, shows his general fashion sense in his loud purple shirt. (Purple, after all, is their color of life, so he’s going to wear it.)
-Race: Panthirian Tigrilan
-Age: 69 (103)
-Appearance: 7 feet, 8 inches tall, 415 pounds (188.2 kilograms) of muscle, snow white fur and black stripes, blue eyes, and the general appearance of a bipedal walking tiger.
Team Role: HD-GV “Home-Unit” Radio Operator
Notes: Not much to say here. Kayden’s adapted fairly well to Earth’s clothing, favoring neutral colors and blues.
(Formerly Grayson)
-Race: Panthirian Tigrilan
-Age: 69 (103)
-Appearance: 6 feet, 5 inches tall, 175 pounds (79.3 kilograms), athletic, with snow white fur and black stripes, a shiny chrome mechanical left arm with black painted stripes matching her natural pattern, and blue eyes, with the general appearance of a bipedal walking tigress. Wears a titanium ring on her left ring finger. Her left arm is two inches longer than her right.
Team Role: HD-GV “Carry All” Mechanic / Navigator
Notes: Seen pretty much just after work. Her mechanic’s shirt is in the wash, so she’s just in her tank top. Also, be advised, her mechanical left arm is rather strong.
-Race: Aetheriian Leoni
-Age: 35 (54)
-Appearance: 8 feet, 5 inches tall, 375 pounds (170 kilograms), heavy athletic, with dark brown fur, black mane, tail tuft, and ‘beard’, calm green feline eyes, a mechanical left leg starting mid thigh made from blackened boiler steel, brass, and wood accents, with the general appearance of a bipedal walking lion. Has a really nasty looking bite scar on his left shoulder and a rather rough and ragged looking scar from his right cheek to his right temple, crossing his eye but not blinding him. Wears a titanium ring on his left ring finger.
Team Role: HD-GV “Carry All” Mechanic / “Repair Specialist”
Notes: New to Earth’s clothing, no real “fashion sense” to speak of. Owns three sets of shoes, all of them are obnoxious, and one pair of work boots in dark brown. Has a modern-ish oak cane because “Humans don’t usually walk with long sticks.” Also, a bit of a spell-caster, though he won’t likely show any true magic to anyone.
-Race: Orthrian Khalan (Khalara Five)
-Age: 51 (358)
-Appearance: 7 feet, 11 inches tall (8 feet, 1 inch to the top of his ears), 500 pounds (226.7 kilograms) of broad-shouldered, twin-headed muscle, with pure white fur, cold amber eyes, and the general appearance of a two-headed, bipedal werewolf.
Team Role: HD-GV “Home-Unit” Mechanic / Navigator
Notes: Obviously, number of heads is wrong. Seen wearing a hooded sweatshirt because it’s Earth clothing he could maybe fit into without much modification. Has reading glasses, but not seen wearing them. Is “not-so-secretly” Kivenaal’s “partner.”
-Race: Light-Aetheriian/Valraadi Hybrid (Post Fall-of-Aetherii)
-Age: 41 (62)
-Appearance: 8 feet, 6 inches tall, 520 pounds (235.8 kilograms) of muscle, with two tails as long as he is tall, tipped with black, non-venomous quills, black fur, dark red stripes, black lion’s mane, no ear-tufts, demon-like rearward-curved horns on his head, vivid purple feline eyes, four arms, and the general appearance of a bipedal walking tiger demon.
Team Role: HD-GV “Home-Unit” Mechanic / “Repair Specialist”
Notes: Yes, he does tend to dress up like a gunslinger out of a Western. Seen here as he would be at the range. Can fire a rather powerful revolver in each hand with reasonable accuracy. Can throw fireballs, or turn water into hydrogen and oxygen, often with explosive results, if needed. He’s also Malavera’s “not-so-secret” partner.
-Race: Khalan (Khalara Five)
-Age: 25 (175)
-Appearance: 8 feet, 10 inches tall (9’0” to the top of his ears), 645 pounds (292.5 kilograms), relatively muscular torso with sturdy-looking mechanical limbs replacing both arms at the shoulders, and both legs slightly below mid-thigh. Limbs are made of titanium, no specialized plating. Golden amber lupine eyes, gray fur resembling the average American Gray Wolf, has a gold ring on his left ring finger. General appearance of a bipedal, cybernetically-enhanced werewolf.
Team Role: HD-GV “Home-Unit” Driver
Notes: Seen not wearing his usual military uniform, and instead in more casual wear, doing what he enjoys the most: taking lots of black-and-white digital pictures. Has a fighting-stick in a sling across his back in case he needs to break up a fight. Incredibly strong, even compared to Malavera or his son, Kasiya.
-Race: Khalan (Khalara Five)
-Age: 10 (70)
-Appearance: 10 feet, 0 inches tall, 1100 pounds (500 kilograms), lean frame with a fair bit of muscle. Golden-amber lupine eyes, black fur with some patterning of an American Gray Wolf hidden in it. General appearance of a black-furred bipedal werewolf.
Team Role: HD-GV “Carry All” Driver
Notes: Kasiya is large enough that he has to make all of his own clothing. As a result, it’s all usually loose-fitting and comfortable, as well as dyed in neutral colors.
(Dummy scaled to 5 feet, 11 inches, for scale. AKA: The “Default” setting.)
The crew plans to use two Khalan built Heavy-Duty Ground-Vehicles for their transportation. As we’re not competing this time, we are breaking a few of our own rules, but considering we’re carrying camp lights, tents, tires, and tools, among other things, we’re preparing for just-about-anything. The big refrigerated box truck is known as the HD-GV Carry All, a nickname they earned in military service because they “Carry all the shit.” The RV converted bus, on the other hand, is the HD-GV Home-Unit. Sleeping accommodations for 4, plus climate control, and a microwave.
These two huge ten-wheel-drive behemoths are our way to make sure everyone makes it to the end safely, even if they are a little tricky to drive.
So, I’m running through some concepts for teams to myself, and one of my thoughts sparked a question;
How open would this event be to media coverage, such as a YouTube Vlog, or similar sort of thing? Would the travel to a different realm cause issue with such coverage? Does the event wish to be considered more “underground” and avoid such attention?
Well, there’s no internet connection past the Rift (you were there for the last one, but if you need an explanation again, just ask), but, if you wanted to record events and save to local storage to upload once you returned, I’m sure the hosts wouldn’t mind.
This year, after all, should be safer than last year.
I mean, we have someone on our crew (Takaraya) who takes pictures, and another one (Kasiya) who is an archaeologist and historian who will be writing a lot of stuff down. It’s safe to say we’re far from “underground” at this point.
The characters below are less critical to the team’s integrity and thus less well polished. They are recruits under direct command of Constantin and partake as part of a ‘special training mission’. (read: they are inept at being soldiers and this is their last chance to go at it)
Have an edited picture, with every character to scale with each other:
Here’s some intel regarding what they might be wearing at different temperatures:
From Left to Right:
+30°C
+20°C
+10°C
0°C
-10°C (may include invisible additional changes)
Valentin Schrant (left leg of pants is rolled down to the ankle at all times. the right remains as pictured. in addition, a small QR code is tattooed onto his chest just below the left collarbone)
Njordal Eikeland
Constantin Schrant (right-most represents dress uniform and is not linked to temperature.)
note:
this scale will also apply to the minor characters with little change. Mary will retain a shirt at all times for modesty.
The primary car in use will be a heavily re-engineered Anhultz Dione V (registered as VS221S-01), propelled by a reciprocating steam engine through an electric transmission. Robert will also be powering camp for the duration of the event. The addition of Constantin and the recruits necessitated the addition of more vehicles, thus sparking similar copies in Rainer, Ramona and Regina (VS221S-02 through 04 respectively). Let’s look over each:
Author’s Note:
yes, i am aware that i have four cars and thus am breaking my/ our own ruleset.
We have decided that this was the best solution of fitting the camp defense crew into the event, as otherwise, they would not have had a reasonable way of getting their trailers to and from Nehmenweld.
I’m assuming there are no limits to how many tech pool points can be assigned to any one area.
That’s correct, yes. You can have, for example, 5 in every category in your engine tab, or two categories at 15 and the rest at 0. Where you put them is entirely up to you.
I’ve been waiting for this one!
Yeah, Yeah, things don’t really open for another few days, but I have fuck all else to do rn, and my cars are already done 
Well, The Shitbox Rally of 2022 got some buzz and word snuck around some forums. Now four friends have had a great ass idea.
Join the Rally. Record everything possible. Interview some Competitors.
Make it Big.
Urijah Hunt
Face of the Documentary/Driver of Car #1
He/Him
Renee Rush
Primary Camera Operator/Navigator of Car #1
She/Her
Victoria de la Cavallería
Sound Person/Driver of Car #2
She/Her
Maxim Tremblay
Secondary Camera Operator/Navigator of Car #2
He/Him
Ex-German Fire & Rescue Walkenhorst UtilXL. Has a lot of room for spare parts, and can kinda comfortably fit 3 people. Few issues, enough to fix.
Less old, Easier to drive, actually able to fit like 6 people without much issue. Back is more of a mobile “Film Studio” than really a back seat.
Note: This should be seen as a pre-prologue, team presentation will come later, when some more things has been explained.
Luleå, Northern Sweden
January of 2023
“Hey!”, Janne said. "Now when we are in Luleå, we should really go and take a look at what Arne is doing!
“Arne?”, Andreas said. “Has he got something interesting to his collection lately?”
“Yeah!”, Janne said. "You know when we were there last time? When he told us that he was waiting for a Sanju MDM44 “Wolverine” to arrive at the harbour? Well…seems like he has got it now. Registered and everything.
“Arne…”, Marie sighed. “Arne is so strange. I don’t know if I want to meet any strange people today.”
“Uhm, well…”, Janne said, trying to hide a smile, while Andreas was laughing so hard, he barely could breathe.
“What’s so funny?”, Marie asked.
“Not…HAHAHAHAHAHA…hing. Really nothing.”, Andreas said. “Can’t we just go there? Just avoid mirrors in case you don’t want to see anything strange.”
“What’s so strange with a mirror?”, Marie asked, while steering her 1962 Dodge Dart towards the road leading to Arne’s place, while Janne was cracking a beer open.
“That’s the most beautiful sound I know”, Marie said. “You know what? If there is going to be any of those strange rally things this year, I am going to bring my own beer that I won’t allow any of you guys to touch, and I will be drunk as a skunk for all the time and absolutely refuse any driving!”
“Uhm… I…believe you.”, Janne said, with Andreas bursting out in laughter in the back seat yet one more time.
“Nah, do you?”, Andreas asked Janne. “How can you be so sure that she is not lying?”
“Intuition”, Janne said, knowing that Andreas would not like the answer at all.
After driving for quite a long distance, the huge collection of military vehicles started to appear at the horizon. Now, they were almost at Arne’s place…
seeing bigger cars has me worrying, do I need to carry a lot of equipment?
I mean, probably not. I have a 900 kilo car and haven’t garnered any concern (except for ominous references to last year)
good cuz one of my cars is an old sports car and the others a modified old city car, for now at least
Well, to start with, getting a DNF is impossible, and there is no requirement to take part in the RPing. So, technically, you could troll the system by entering with this as a main vehicle, having no support vehicle and then put no effort into RPing.
Now, that would be a bit silly, but still legal. You would still finish. But if you’re going to RP your breakdowns, it may require some creativity. Chances are that you won’t carry a spare engine block with you in this one…
So. It is really up to you what you WANT to do and how much you want to challenge your own creativity.
Nope. You could have a Smart car if you wanted, it’d be perfectly doable for a two person team.
You’d have to get creative with fixing breakdowns, at least in the grand scheme of things, but it’s not impossible to run with a small car and minimal stuff.
Things I’d advise having at least in character: Tents, cold and hot weather appropriate clothing, and maybe a tool-kit and a spare tire or two. Everything else is for fun.
Also, if you want a small car and storage, remember, trailers exist and Nehmenweld does not, as of yet, have any trailer towing speed laws.
