Formule Dé Rules


Contents:


Basic Rules

A remark: As long as the following rules do not indicate otherwise the original game rules remain valid.

Introduction

Formula Dé is a car-racing game with excellent material but with rules that constantly swerve between a game of chance and an attempt at true (if simple) simulation. These house rules try to gently shift the game to the tactical side without claiming to be even near a real simulation.

The principles of the game are explained easily: cars are propelled by dice, with a different die used for each gear (cars have 6 gears, and no reverse :-). Corners slow cars down, requiring a minimum number of turns to pass them, else you suffer tire and brake wear or you even crash. Other actions and incidents also cause the cars to deteriorate by wear.
Optional rules add realism and tactical elements and allow to run racing series.

The secret of success is to go through the gears intelligently, spend wear points tactically (there is no bonus for unused wear points at race end), and force other drivers to take inconvenient lanes. And of course, to have that lucky die roll when it's needed...

Preparation for the Race

Perform these step in the order given:

Car Adjustment

Note the available wear points for your car(s) or adjust the car construction points for the actual length of the race according to the car construction rules.

Qualifying for Start Positions

The normal qualifying method is to roll the 20-sided die for each car. The car with the lowest die roll (ties are broken by additional rolls) gets start grid position 1, etc. Pit assignments (optional rule, see there for details) are chosen in reverse order, i.e. the car at the back of the start grid chooses first.

See the optional rules for another, less luck-dependent method of start position assignment.

Weather and Tyres

Players may wish to determine weather conditions and/or choose different tyre types according to their needs (optional rules). Tyres are always chosen after determining weather conditions. See the optional weather and tyre type rules for details.

Wing Setting

If you use the optional wing setting rule, players may decide now (simultaneously and secretly, and individually for each car) whether to use a standard or high downforce setting. Note the settings on the control panels.

Starting the Race

The 20-sided die is rolled for each car before it may start. On a roll of a "1" the car has stalled; it may not engage the gear and move in this turn. It may switch into first gear and move in the next turn without checking for stall again.
Otherwise, the car may switch into 1st gear immediately and roll for movement. You're off!

Movement

Cars move in order of position, leading car first. If cars are abreast and in other special situations, the following points are considered (in that order) when deciding which car is "ahead" of the other: The driver of the car rolls the special die for the current gear to find the base number of movement points which the car will have to expend that turn. This number may be adjusted by a number of optional effects (e.g. expending an engine point, taking the benefit of soft tyres and/or wing setting), thus determining the car's "voluntary" movement by which the car is now moved.
All "penalty" movement (due to rain and/or bodywork damage, etc.) is assessed at one time based on the car's position when it has completed all of its "voluntary" movement. For example, a car in the rain with zero bodywork points which ended its move in the last space of a corner would gain four more movement points (and have to pay for a four-point corner overshoot) even though the Bodywork penalty alone would be enough to move the car into the following straight. Generally, the effects of one penalty cannot be used to gain a benefit or reduce the effect of a different penalty.

Usually, one movement point will move a car one space. Some tracks may have "doubled straights", i.e. track sections where each space costs two instead of the normal one movement point. Movement in a corner always costs one point per space.

Cornering

In order to pass through a corner without penalty, a car must end its turn within the boundaries of the corner the number of times specified within the (yellow) flag. A car may reduce the required number of turns by one, in which case it pays a penalty in tyre points equal to the number of movement points it expended that turn beyond the corner boundary; a car loses one tyre toint per point of overshoot, and a car with soft tyres loses one additional tyre toint if it overshoots at all. A car which fails to spend even the reduced number of turns in a corner, or which enters a second corner without stopping in the previous one, crashes and is out of the race.

A car spins out if a cornering penalty requires it to expend one more tyre point than it has remaining. The car loses any tyre points which it did have, and is faced backwards in its final movement space. Next turn it is faced forwards again and moves away in 1st gear.

A car crashes and is out of the race if it is required to expend two or more tyre points more than it has remaining. The crashed car does not leave any debris behind on the track.

Braking

A car may expend brake points in order to reduce its number of movement points, at a rate of one brake point per movement point.

Gear Changes

Cars must start moving (at the start of the race or after a spin) in 1st gear. For following game turns the gear marker may be freely shifted up or down by one. Gears are set at the beginning of each game turn by all players simultaneously, before any cars have moved. Greater upshifts are not possible, but a car may downshift by a greater amount if it has transmission points (and possibly brake and engine Points too) available. Skipping one gear (i.e. shifting down by two) costs one transmission point; skipping two gears costs one transmission point and one brake point; and skipping three gears costs one transmission, one brake, and one engine point. It is not possible to skip more than three gears.

Swerving

A car which has its path completely blocked by other cars must "swerve"; it may optionally make an additional downshift at a cost of one transmission point per gear immediately before making its movement roll, and then must expend brake and/or tyre points to use up any remaining unusable movement. If the car has brake points remaining, three of them (or all remaining) must be used first to cancel unusable movement, one brake point per movement point. Additional movement points, up to a total of six, may be cancelled by expending one tyre or brake point for each. If there is still unused movement remaining, the car crashes and is eliminated, leaving debris in its final space, while the blocking car ahead loses one bodywork point.

Rules of the Road

Thou Shalt Not Drive Curly

Lane changes within a corner are allowed as long as they follow the arrows which are printed within each corner space. A car moving within a straight must move each game turn in the most direct manner possible from its starting space to its end-of-turn space; this will generally restrict a car to at most two lane changes per move on a straight, unless some lanes are obstructed by other cars. Debris does not block a lane but may also be evaded. Zig-zag lane changes may not be used in order to move a car fewer spaces than it would otherwise be able to travel.

 

Collisions

A car which ends its move within a corner must check for a collision with each car in an adjacent space. Two adjacent cars each roll 1d20, and a result equal to or less than the corner number (the number in the (yellow) flag) indicates the loss of one Bodywork Point for that car. If a car has lost all its Bodywork Points its movement each turn is adjusted; if it has already completed the required number of stops within the current or most recent corner the final movement point is expended without producing any movement for the car, and otherwise (if it has NOT completed the required number of stops for the current corner) its move is increased by one movement point. (Generally this means that a car will lose a space of movement on a straight, but gain a space in a corner; however a car overshooting a corner will still have to take an extra space.) A car which is required to lose a Bodywork Point when it has none left leaves debris in its space and is eliminated from the race, and if none of the adjacent cars lost a Bodywork Point in the same check they must check again, with the lowest roll losing one Bodywork Point.

Optional Chain Reaction Rule: Regardless of the result(s) of the collision check(s) of the other involved car(s), whenever a car is eliminated due to loss of Bodywork all adjacent surviving cars make an additional roll, and the one rolling the lowest loses a Bodywork Point. The process is repeated (possibly multiple times) if that car also loses unavailable Bodywork Points and is eliminated.

A car may also receive bodywork damage due to moving into a space which contain debris. A debris marker is placed in a car's space whenever it loses a Bodywork Point, takes Engine Damage due to a failed Reliability check, or is eliminated due to Bodywork damage or Swerving. A following car which moves into that space must check with a 1d20 roll: a result of "1" - "4" ("1" - "5" during Rain) means that the car loses a bodywork Point. As with Bodywork Points, a car with no Points has its movement adjusted exactly as for the complete loss of Bodywork Points. If both Bodywork and Points have been reduced to zero, the car's movement is adjusted by two movement points instead of one. A car which is required to lose a Point when it has none left is eliminated from the race.

A car's move is not complete until after all collision checks caused by its move are complete. If its last point of Bodywork or is lost in the last space of a car's move, it must still immediately make the additional penalty move.

Car Wear

Principles of Wear

Note that I chose to use "transmission" wear points rather than "fuel consumption" points (as the category is called in the German rules). Transmission wear includes the clutch, gearbox and other power train parts. Also, I do not use the supension points mentioned in some rules variants as I did not see a sufficient difference to the use of bodywork points. So, "bodywork" includes chassis, suspension and the actual car body.

Cars have a credit of some points of "wear" before they are destroyed by strain or damage and eliminated from the race. Drivers may (intentionally, by mishandling or by taking a chance) cause damage to the cars which is expressed in the expenditure of wear points. If the last wear point in a category is spent, the car is either incapacitated or loses certain abilities.

Tyres

When driving on soft tyres, all the tyre point penalties are doubled (for overshooting corners). If you run a second lap without stopping at the pits for new tyres, the penalties are tripled and the +1 bonus no longer applies. If you run a third lap without stopping, the penalties are tripled and the car loses one space of movement on each move. If you drive on rain tyres during dry weather, all the tyre point penalties are doubled. (see optional rule: choice of tyres)

Transmission

The transmission can only be damaged by over-revving (see there).

Engine

There are 3 possible causes of engine wear: When a car loses its last engine point it is destroyed taken out of the race. It may coast for some spaces if you use the optional veichle inertia rule or the broken engine rule.
 

Optional Rules

Slipstreaming

This technique to keep in the slipstream of the car before you saves power and often gives a chance to overtake the opponent by suddenly emerging from the slipstream. Slipstreaming requires some minimal speed to be effective and implies the risk of car collisions because you have to follow real close.
My slipstreaming rule was inspired by the bike race game Homas Tour (Um Reifenbreite) instead of the ridiculous original rule.

 

Prerequisites

A car may use the slipstreaming advantages if it is

Procedure

The other car will now follow in slipstream if there is an empty space immediately behind the leading car; thus, the leading car may have a chance to "rub off" his follower by moving immediately before another car or obstacle and so to frustrate the attempt in slipstreaming.

Possible side effects of slipstream moves (like overshooting corners and wear) are handled exactly like those for regular moves, separately for each car.

Risk of Damage

Slipstreaming is not without dangers. Each slipstreaming driver that changed gears in this turn and all cars adjacent to him at the end of his movement must make collision die rolls (after the optional die roll). While driving in slipstream, collisions can occur in straights as well as in corners.

Training Rounds

This is an alternative and less luck-dependent method of determining the start positions. The method takes some time but also makes drivers familiar with the circuit.

Each car runs a single lap of the circuit, with no other cars present. Record the total number of turns needed as well as the total time (real time) needed. Qualifying is always done in dry weather; the usual choices of tyres, wing setting etc. are available. Cars may start in any space behind the start/finish line, and in any gear (flying start). Time measurement is started and stopped when the car actually crosses the line.

After the car has passed the line again, note the number of turns needed (including the turns used to cross the line at the start and end of the round) and adjust them by adding 1 for each full minute of real time needed, and by 1 for every 2 points of wear spent (anyway no more than six tyres wear can be spent in any one qualifying lap).

The starting positions are then assigned in order of increasing number of adjusted game turns used (lowest taking starting grid position number 1). Ties are broken in preference of the car that needed less time to finish the qualifying round.

No wear is caused by the training round (used points are restored fully before the race starts). Eliminated cars will starts with four points less (muletto) and can do another training round with a penalty of two points. Injured drivers rules are in effect.

Longer Races

If a race runs for more than one lap you should also use the optional pit stop rule.

Pit Stops

This rule should be used whenever the race runs for more than one lap.

Pit Assignment

In races with more than one lap each player has the chance to repair wear during pit stops. Pits are chosen before the race in reverse starting order, i.e. the driver starting in the hindmost position chooses first and the driver in the pole position chooses last. Pits may be chosen regardless of colour; there is no compulsion to take a pit in the colour of the car. Players note which pit they have or mark the pit with some token.

The Pit Lane

Cars may enter the pit lane, move in it, and stop at the pit in 4th gear without any penalty or wear; unused movement points are lost when stopping. A car entering the lane in 5th gear expends 1 brake point, a car entering in 6th gear 2 brake points.

The pit lane is "indefinitely wide" and any number of cars may occupy the same space. Thus, there is no blocking, swerving etc. in the pit lane.

To enter his pit the car simply enters the pit space, stops and is pulled to the side of the space to indicate that it is inside the pit now.

Repairs

Immediately on stopping, the car has all tyre points restored to the original value. The driver may also decide at this point to change to a different type of tyres (soft, hard, wet).
If the driver does not wish to make any more repairs ("fast pit stop") he then goes back into the race (see next section) immediately, still in his same turn.

Additional repairs may be done in a "long pit stop". In a long pit stop the car does not leave the pit in the same turn as it entered. For each turn of delay a total of 2 repair points plus pit crew points may be spent on repairs (for example, a car with 1 pit crew point gets 3 points of repair value in each turn of delay). One bodywork point may be regained for every 2 points of repair value, with unused repair value carrying over into further turns of delay on the same pit stop. Any unused points of repair value are lost once the car leaves the pit.
A car that delays for 1 turn leaves in the turn after it entered the pit, etc.

An eliminated car may never be repaired in the pit, even if it somehow managed to get there.

Back Into the Race

The driver rolls the 20-sided die and add pit crew points. On a modified result of 1 to 5 he starts in 1st gear, on a modified roll of 20 or more he starts in 3rd gear and on any other result in 2nd gear. The first movement point is spent to enter the pit lane space following the pit, i.e. there is no extra cost for leaving the pit.

Car and Team Construction

By the basic rules, all cars are created equal, with no differences in construction or endurance between them. This optional rule allows teams to construct individual cars and enhance the driver's abilities as well as that of the pit crew. The table shows the standard construction of cars and the available points for individual construction:
Category  Standard 
1 Lap 		 Standard 
2 Laps 		 Custom 
2 Laps 		 Custom 
3 Laps 		 Remark 
Tyres  4  6  total of 20  total of 24  max. 6 regardless of race duration 
Brakes  3  4   
Transmission  2  3   
Bodywork  2  3   
Engine  2  3   
Pit Crew  -  -  reduces repair time during pit stops (optional rule) 
Driver  -  -  allows re-rolling of die, max 6 (optional rule) 
The use of driver and/or pit crew points is optional and must be agreed upon by all players.

All cars of a team must have identical attributes, but driver points and pit crew points may differ. Car attributes may not be changed during a race series, the same car design must be used on all tracks of the series.

Cars used for a series of races (see campaign rules) are always constructed in advance for a 3-lap race.
At the start of each race you can change your base car by moving four points; no category may be reduced by more than one point and no reduction at all is allowed for driver and pit crew points.
If the race is 2-lap only you scratch points instead of moving.

Driver Points

For each point spent the car is allowed a re-roll. You cannot re-roll on a re-roll (i.e. you can re-roll for speed and for accident in the same turn, spending two driver points, but only once for each).

Choice of Tyres

There are three different types of tyres (soft, hard, and wet), and any one may be chosen for Qualifying, at the start of the race, and at a pit stop. It does not make sense to use rain tyres if you don't also use the optional Weather rule.

In dry weather, hard tyres are "normal", and have no additional benefits or drawbacks. A car with soft tyres (in dry weather) has the option of moving one additional movement point each turn, but also loses one additional Tyre Point every time it receives overshooting cornering penalties from overshooting. This bonus is not available to a car which has zero Bodywork or Suspension Points. Soft Tyres also wear out after a single lap; if a car continues on soft tyres for a second lap it loses the benefit of the optional point of movement and loses two additional Tyre Points from overshooting any corner. On a third lap on the same set of soft tyres there is a one movement point penalty on each move and three extra Tyre Points are lost if the car overshoots a corner. If wet tyres are used in dry weather, Tyre Point losses from overshooting a corner and/or Swerving (when the car's path is blocked) are doubled.

In wet weather, soft tyres have no advantage over hard tyres, although soft tyres still wear out (with penalties as above) after one lap. A car with either hard or soft tyres moves an additional three movement points if it ends its move within a corner. A car with wet tyres moves only one additional movement point if it ends its move within a corner. The chance of a collision in a corner and of hitting debris is increased by one in wet weather (e.g. debris causes Suspension damage on a 1d20 roll of "1" - 5" instead of "1" - "4").

Wing setting

The "wing" is the system of aerodynamic planes designed to increase the pressure the car exerts on the track surface, thereby improving the "grip" of tyres and, accordingly, control over the car. A high downforce setting increses control but reduces maximum speed due to increased aerodynamic drag.

A car with high downforce setting

Weather

Giving the drivers some more things to worry about. As the saying goes, there's no bad weather- just bad drivers. You should use the optional Choice of Tyres rule if you want to introduce changing weather conditions.

Initial Weather Conditions

The weather for a race is determined immediately after qualifying for start positions. Roll the 20-sided die and compare the result to the weather ratings for the track (as given on the circuit map).
If the initial weather is dry or rain, the entire race is run under that condition.

Variable Weather

If the initial weather is "variable", the race starts under "temporarily dry" conditions.
The weather may change, however: whenever a driver rolls an unmodified "20" or "30" on gear die  he immediately rolls the 20-sided die for a possible weather change and compares the result to the weather ratings for the track.
Weather checks continue until two consecutive checks give a "dry" or "rain" result (you may wish to prepare markers to keep track of the current weather and the last check result). When this occurs, the weather will be stable for the rest of the race; no further weather checks are made.
Otherwise, a result of "dry" or "rain" temporarily changes the weather to that value. A result of "variable" does not change the current weather but resets the count for the "two consecutive" checks to zero.

Backmarkers

You didn't think that those few player cars are the only ones that occupy the track, did you? Those others are obstacles in the way of the leader, so most players should be happy to introduce them.

At the end of a game turn in which the leader finishes a lap, a number of "backmarker" cars equal "10 minus number of started cars" divided by 2 (rounded down) is placed on the track. These are placed by the drivers in reverse order of current standing in the race, and must start in the centre lane at least one track section (straight or corner) ahead of the leading car.

Backmarkers always use 3rd gear for movement. Backmarkers drive in the middle lane if possible, but follow the movement arrows in corners and pass on the outside (of the next corner) in the straights if necessary to avoid other cars. A backmarker never ends its move in a space which completely blocks the track (in conjunction with other racing cars and/or backmarkers), but instead does not move the final space(s).

Backmarkers can cause but not receive bodywork damage, and do not leave debris. When first placed, backmarkers are considered to be the front cars, i.e. their movement rolls are made before the race leader moves. Backmarkers are removed after they have been passed by all remaining player cars as soon as it is obvious to all that they will have no further effect on the movement of any player's car. Only backmarkers already thus removed may be used in the next lap.

Backmarkers play no part in determining finishing positions, regardless of whether or not they are eventually passed by player cars (i.e. they are always considered to be many laps behind, even compared to crashed player cars).

Vehicle Inertia

Cars don't just stop, even if they just broke down. The laws of physics are against that.

In case of bodywork breakdown the inertia of a car will cause it to move in the following turn. The car moves a number of spaces equal to the number of the gear it was in.

In case of engine damage only, if the driver is unable to coast before the engine locks up completely (on a roll of 1 to 10 on the 20-sided die plus driver points), the car continues to move in subsequent turns, one less space each turn, until it stops.

Broken Engine

If the driver is able to coast he can continue moving loosing one gear each two turns. He can voluntary downgrade gear but can't upgrade anymore.

In any case, the car may stop outside of the track, or in the path of the other cars if desired. If in the track, it will remain there a certain length of time before being removed by the course marshals. At the end of the turn after its elimination (or at the end of the turn in which the broken car makes its last move, whichever comes last) the car is removed from the track. Until this moment, the driver may move on the track, and he may certainly annoy the other drivers.

A car which breaks near the finish line may still finish, perhaps in the points. However, even if a broken car was able to coast into the pits, it is not permitted to be repaired.

Time Limit

Formula Dé "simulates" a race which is, after all, a continuous movement; thus, it should be played fluently. Extended calculations, pondering and counting of spaces are detrimental to the fun.

If you use this rule, it is forbidden to touch the circuit map, especially to count spaces. If you want to count you must do this by eyesight alone (the numbers printed on the track may be useful), keeping your fingers to yourself or at least in your immediate vicinity (or in other spots openly or secretly agreed upon with other player(s) :-).

Further, the gear change phase is limited to 10 seconds. You may handle this more conveniently if you declare that once the first player has changed gears he counts to 6 (seconds, that is, e.g. "Thousand-One, Thousand-Two, ..., Thousand-Five, Thousand-Stop") and so limits the time for the other players. Try if players agree with this; if it works (i.e. players do not try to make a tactic of counting unduly slow or fast) it speeds the game and also builds up adrenalin.
On "Stop", gears remain in the current position. Extensive upshifts/downshifts incur the usual penalties, illegal shifts crash the car by transmission failure.

There is also a time limit for the move. As this is done sequentially, each player gets an interval of 30 seconds to do his move, starting at the moment the previous player's move is done and agreed upon as complete and legal. If movement points are unused at the end of the interval, the player to the left of the driver decides how they are spent. He is limited in this only by the provision that he must move the car to cause the fewest possible wear points, but he may decide which points to spent if there is a choice.

Keep in mind that this is not meant to be a nit-picking "There! You're out!" rule but a device to put spurs to players of the "hours later..." variety.

Cornering Markers

You wouldn't believe until you try how difficult the most basic bookkeeping can become in the heat of a race.

This is not really a rule but a convenient way to check if the required corner stops have been made. Prepare a set of markers for each car (5 or 6 counters marked with the name of the team should do) and place a number of them in the corners ahead of the car, equal to the number of required stops (1 marker in a corner marked with a yellow "1" flag, etc.).
While the car passes the corner, remove one marker for each stop it performed. This should end discussions of the "Yes I did", "No you didn't" type.

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Campaign Rules

These rules allow players to play a racing season as a campaign, gathering victory points towards the Driver's and the Constructor's Championship (the constructor being the player).

Series Length

Players agree beforehand on a number of races that must be run in the season. Each race is run on a different track. Also, players must decide about the qualifying procedure (which may differ between tracks) and how many laps shall be run on each of the tracks. All players may participate in all races if they wish to.

Cars are then constructed before the start of the first race. The cars may not be altered during the season but the drivers and pit crews may be assigned different cars between races (in case of drivers, this is important only if one car was eliminated).

Finishing Results

The first 6 cars to finish a race earn points towards the Driver's and Constructor's Championships. 10, 6, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point are awarded towards both championships respectively for the first through sixth-place finishers.

The Driver's Champion is the driver who has won most championship points in that series. The Constructor's Champion is the players whose cars totalled the best result. Ties are broken in favour of the driver or player that has scored the most first place finishes, or second place finishes if there still is a tie, etc.

After two completed race the driver gets one driver point. After five races gets another.

Driver Injury

Since the drivers are not as disposable in a series as they are in a single race it becomes important to keep track of any injuries they may suffer.

Whenever a car is eliminated from the race the driver must check for injury immediately. Roll the 20-sided die, add 3 to the result if the elimination was due to engine damage, and compare the total to the car's gear in the moment of elimination. If it is less than the gear number, the driver is injured and a second roll is made:

If a driver is severely injured or killed the race is stopped after all cars have had their move in the current game turn. The race ends.
If at least one full lap has been completed by the remaining cars, victory points are awarded according to their current positions. Otherwise, the current positions are used to determine the starting positions for an immediate re-run of the race. The race is shortened by one lap (to a minimum of 2 laps). Cars restore tyre points but may not change tyres or repair other damage before the race is restarted.

For killed drivers, all driver points earned by finishing are lost for good; construction driver points are only temporarily lost. The first driver points earned by the replacement driver for finishing races become permanent driver points after each race, up to the number of points the original driver had been allotted during team construction.

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