Demo-Derby Smash-Down "NOW-To" Guide!
FREE! Click here for the PLAAY Gamer-created cards for our “V-8 Vengeance” Smash-Down, the Return of the V-8 Extermi-NATION! See last part of blog post for details on this event…
In last week’s PLAAY NOW-a-Thon YouTube stream, when it was Demo Derby Smash-Down's turn on camera, we got some questions about how to rate drivers for the game. There's not a "how-to" guide available, so I thought that would make good content for a follow-up video stream which we did 06.15.23.
But I thought we'd take it a step further! In addition to providing you with the basic information on how to create driver cards for the game, I thought we'd throw down a DDSD challenge for the community: presenting the second incarnation of the DDSD "V-8 Extermi-NATION!" Build your card, and see how you fare against OTHER drivers from the community in a grand ol' smash-em-up stream Thursday night 06.29.23! Grand prize winner earns the coveted Silver Trash Can award AND a $50 PLAAY Games Gift card! Details on how to enter at the END of this blog post.
First, we need to show you how to make your card!...
Let's start with the basic driver card "template." The card two d6 results are arranged 11 to 66, for a total of 36 different results/numbers. Each driver card gets 6 SKID and 6 CAR results, leaving 24 available numbers for everything else. We put the SKID results on white die "5" (i.e., "15," "25," "35," etc.) and the CAR results on white die "6" (i.e., "16," "26," "36," etc.) to make it easier to play. That is to say, if the white die reads "6," you (pretty much) know it's going to be a CAR without having to check the card.
It's IMPORTANT that the CAR and SKID be evenly distributed throughout all black die results (rather than grouping them together), because as the derby goes on, drivers lose moves as their cars pick up damage. We want the ratio of CAR and SKID results to stay the same regardless of how many remaining moves a driver has. (You CAN'T put all the SKID results 11 through 16, for example)
Move names: For our DDSD card sets, we gave each of the black-die number results specific moves names, echoing pro wrestling. That is to say, if you roll a black die "2" (results 21-26) for Wes Gargus, it's going to be he "Zero In" move. (IRL, they don't have this, to my knowledge, but it makes the game more fun!)
On the cards, "X's" and "!'s" Are GOOD results; "O's" and "?'s" Are BAD results. So (obviously), the better drivers get more "X's" and "!'s" and fewer "0's" and "?'s", and vice-versa for the poorer drivers.
So--How do we know how MANY symbols to give out to a driver? And where to put them?
Short answer: an average driver should get between 45 and 50 total damage symbols distributed among his/her 24 available dice rolls, average of 2 symbols per dice roll.
Long answer: The game is designed to be able to run a sixteen-car heat in about 30-40 minutes. That first round of the heat--16 cars, 16 dice rolls--will take about 10 minutes. Assuming two units of damage are done with each roll, that's 32 units of damage. Each car can sustain 10 units of damage before being eliminated (actually, 11, but easier to figure with 10, and perhaps more appropriate, details shortly). Thus, we have a total of about 160 units of damage between the sixteen cars. If each car is averaging 2 units of damage per turn, then it should take roughly five rounds/turns to generate 160 units of damage--by the NUMBERS. In practice, it will be a little longer than that, because cars will start getting eliminated resulting in less damage delivered per turn. But it's a good guideline, for a lot of reasons. Because most cars will be eliminated with max damage in ONE aspect (internal OR external, not both). So, in practice you won't need to even come close to 160 units of total damage. Probably closer to half that.
For an idea of the RANGE of assigned symbols, let's look at some drivers from the 2009 Tennessee-Kentucky "Border War" set. This set was based on the real-life TN/KY derby series that was made into a movie in 2009 ("Derby Madness"). It's one of the very few times I've been able to get any meaningful demolition derby statistics!
Wes Gargus (Driver grade "A")(Normal)
X= 34; != 11; O= 0; ?= 0; ND= 6
(45 good results, 0 bad) +45
Shane Dunaway (Driver grade "B")(Normal)
X= 29; != 14; O= 5; ?= 3; ND= 5
(43 good results, 8 bad) +35
John Niederkorn (Driver grade "C")(Aggressive)
X= 31; != 15; O= 10; ?= 6; ND= 0 (none!)
(46 good results, 16 bad) +30
Tommy Kenson (Driver grade "D")(Normal)
X= 23; != 10; O= 11; ?= 8; ND= 3 (all on "Scrape and Escape" move--sort of a specialty)
(33 good results, 19 bad) +14
Josh Pensyl (Driver grade "D-")(Cautious)
X= 15; != 7; O= 7; ?= 6; ND= 6
(22 good, 13 bad) +7
You can see that Gargus is incrementally better than everyone, significantly better than the bottom drivers. His strength is in his lack of self-damaging results ("O" and "?"), which means he is not going to take himself out of a derby, ever. Dunaway is very solid, a nudge below Gargus. Niederkorn is a dangerous driver--he'll do a lot of damage, to others AND to himself. Kenson is notable for having an extra SKID result, which can help him if he gets more success (and increases his driver grade), but is reckless and takes a lot of unnecessary damage. Pensyl is a cautious driver--his best chance to win is to lay low, keep his car running, and hope the other drivers take each other out.
That's a look at a few cards we've rated, now how about rating your own cards? Here are some suggestions.
• In giving "X" and "!" Symbols, aim for ratio of around 2-1 (2 "X" for every "!")
• In giving "O" and "?" Symbols, aim for a more or less even number of each.
• HOW to place the symbols: It's a necessarily arbitrary process. You can group them for maximum effect (XXX!!) or disperse them (X) or (!) for more consistent results. NOTE you will have to do at least SOME grouping in order to average 2 symbols per result, 48 symbols distributed among 24 numbers. I feel like it works best to think about the driver's consistency. The more consistent the driver, the more even the distribution of symbols. Inconsistent/erratic drivers can be given widely varying results.
• Awarding ND results: Again, subjective, based on driver personality. An "ND" ("no damage") result keeps a driver from being damaged, and there's a certain personalty/strategy at play here (defensive in nature). Anywhere from zero to six ND results for a driver is acceptable.
• Targeting symbols: Again, subjective, based on driver personality. An even three-way split (star, burst, no symbol) is OK. Some results can be "un-targeted" or "choice." Higher KILL rate might warrant more "burst" targeting symbols (going for the weakest); high driver confidence might warrant more "star" symbols (targeting the stronger cars). But in the end, it's up to you how to assign these.
• Awarding SKID or CAR results: Generally, stick with six of each, put them on the "5s" and "6s." We don't stray far the standard template, especially with CAR results, no more than 7, no fewer than 5, most get six.
For example, in our TNKY set, three drivers (Herbie Tabors, Denny McCaig, Jerry Darnell) got 5 SKID results, one driver (Robert Hamilton) got 7. Everyone else got 6. ALL drivers in the set were given six CAR results.
Now that we've showed you how to make cards, let's invite you to put this knowledge to work...
The Demo Derby Smash-Down "V-8 Extermi-NATION," returns!!
We originally ran this as a five-week series on our YouTube channel in 2020, with PLAAY gamers making up the driver field--we had over 80 people sign up, so many that we had to pair up drivers for the elimination round! After we pared the field to sixteen, we ran weekly events with point totals based on finish, and each week's stream would end with the bottom two drivers getting kicked off the show! Our winner? (I won’t spoil it, in case you want to watch the championship event, here…)!
Two weeks from tonight, the mayhem returns for ONE night only!
We want you to make your OWN driver card, using the guidelines I'm about to give you. After you've created the card, e-mail us the card (or the card info), and we'll enter you in our derby. NOTE: because this will be a one-week show, we're limiting it to the first sixteen entries. We'll then stream the derby LIVE on the PLAAY Games YouTube channel, 6pm MDT 06.29.23. Winner will get a $50 PLAAY Gift card AND our "Silver Trash Can" Trophy!
Here are the guidelines...
• Please use the standard template for CAR and SKID results (will help us generate results faster on the stream); CAR results on all of the white die "5s," SKID results on all of the white die "6s."
• Your card must have 49 damage symbols, as follows...
30 X's
10 !'s
6 O's
3 ?'s
• You may assign your damage symbols any way you want, with a maximum of FIVE symbols per dice result. EXAMPLE: "XXX!!" Is acceptable. “XO!?” is acceptable. "OOOOOO" is NOT acceptable!
• You may assign targeting symbols however you want, or not at all, your choice.
• You may use up to six ND results, but you may choose to use fewer, or not to use them.
• It's not necessary to choose move names, but feel free to do so!
• Deadline for submission will be 6pm MDT, Tuesday June 27th or when we receive the sixteenth entry, whichever comes first. We will conduct a pre-derby “inspection” to make sure all cards comply with the guidelines! Good luck!!