LFG So. You want to be a podracer?

[Progflaw99]

GALACTIC MOTORSPORT FEDERATION

GALACTIC PODRACING CHAMPIONSHIP

INTEREST CHECK // INAUGURAL SEASON

Hey! I've been kicking around the idea of putting together a proper professional podracing circuit, and I wanted to see whether there would be enough interest to turn it into something larger.

The simplest way I can describe the idea is:

Formula One, but in Star Wars.

The working setup would have the Galactic Motorsport Federation — the GMF — acting as the governing body, with the Galactic Podracing Championship, or GPC, as its premier series.

Rather than filling the championship with NPC teams, I'd like the grid itself to be built by writers.

For the inaugural season, I'm thinking we start relatively small: six teams, with two dedicated racing characters per team. That gives us a twelve-driver grid without making the championship difficult to manage right out of the gate.

Teams would be free to develop their own identity — constructor, sponsors, colors, engineering philosophy, personalities, rivalries and whatever else makes them distinct. Drivers would be dedicated racing characters rather than existing characters occasionally climbing into a pod.

HOW WOULD RACING WORK?

The big thing I want to avoid is having races decided by dice.

Instead, a race would be divided into a small number of phases. During each phase, racers would make a few simple decisions: push harder, conserve the machine, attack another driver, defend, sit in the draft, prepare an overtake, spend limited boost, and so on.

Those decisions would be made before the phase is resolved.

That means you might know the driver ahead has an overheating engine, but you don't know whether they're finally going to back off — or decide they'd rather risk blowing the thing apart than let you past.

The uncertainty comes from the other racers, not RNG.

If two drivers want the same piece of track, their choices determine who gains the advantage. If someone continually abuses their podracer to maintain position, eventually they'll have to manage the consequences. If another racer patiently spends several phases setting up an opponent instead of immediately forcing a pass, that should matter too.

Race Control would mostly keep track of positions and resolve those decisions consistently. It wouldn't exist to arbitrarily decide who gets to win.

The mechanics are there to answer one simple question:

"What happens when two writers both want to win the same corner?"

Everything around that remains roleplay.

MORE THAN JUST THE RACE

I'd also like the championship itself to develop into something writers can tell stories around.

Drivers' standings. Constructors' standings. Qualifying. Team orders. Sponsorships. Manufacturers. Mechanical development. Contract negotiations. Rivalries. Controversial incidents. Media appearances. Team principals blaming absolutely everyone except themselves.

The whole circus.

The tone would be that this is a legitimate major galactic sport, not just a collection of underground races.

Big teams. Expensive machines. Famous drivers. Corporate money. Dangerous circuits.

And twelve people making extremely questionable decisions at several hundred kilometers per hour.

For now, though, this is just an interest check.

I'm curious who would be interested in running a team, creating a racing character, or simply helping build the championship into something worth writing around.

If there's enough interest, the next step would be opening the initial team slots and putting together a very simple set of racing rules and an inaugural calendar.

SIX TEAMS // TWELVE DRIVERS // ONE CHAMPIONSHIP

WHO WANTS TO GO PODRACING?

 

[Ronhar Tane]

This is interesting! But when you say two people per team, you mean two drivers or like a driver and support staff? What about customer pod racers, which I have one?

 

[Progflaw99]

Yeah, two drivers - which would be the primary "Drivers" but you could for sure have support staff RP'ing your own stuff. My idea would be in the official race threads, you'd have two "drivers" but we would allow for a build up so "Mechanics/engineering staff could be part of it too. Trying to keep it somewhat simple at the start and we can develop over time!

Two drivers is the idea, support staff can add instructions over the radio or activating various stuff over the course of the race (within reason)

 

[Ronhar Tane]

The reason I ask is because most, if not all podracrers, are single pilot only, so I wanted to clarify

 

[Starlin Dinn]

Heck yeah, sign me up (not Starlin, since you want dedicated drivers) This sounds like a hoot

 

[Progflaw99]

Yep! Single pilot, probably 2 pilots per "team"

So it'll require some collab so that each team has 2 pilots - but since it's in interest check I'm absolutely willing to shift for an inaugural season etc

It'd be lucky if we could get 6 x 2 racers, so I'm happy if we have 8 racers from 4 "teams"

 

[Aren Vellin]

Racer #213 standing by

Even if this goes nowhere, I'm excited to dip my toes into a more sporty/jock type character so thanks for that

 

[Mellifluous Magenta]

I'm interested in this! I'll see if I can't put together a quick character concept!