Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines [High Casual]

[Force and Fury]

First, for some Theme music!

The Great Air Race Begins!

The year is nineteen hundred ten. King Edward VII sits upon the throne of England (but for how much longer?) and all is well within the British Empire. Nevermind those ambitious Germans, meddlesome French, reckless Yankees, and chaotic Italians. Yes, indeed. Everything is jolly good (so long as you're a white British fellow from a reasonably well-to-do family, that is)!

There is one small problem, however: those tiresome new technologies so beloved of the Americans and continentals. Britannia may rule the waves, but she does not rule the skies - at least not yet. To this patriotic end (and also to increase the circulation of his newspaper and simply because he has money to burn), the English newspaper baron Lord Worthington has decided to bankroll a great air race from London to Paris and then back again to London. As encouragement, he has offered up the princely sum of £15,000 to go to the victor, who he fully expects to be a loyal subject of the crown.

Already a dazzling assortment of aviators, mechanics, and dreamers has started to pour into the new purpose-built aerodrome taking shape in the northern suburbs of London. Whether by invitation, word of mouth, or by having read about the event in local newspapers, they have made their way to this mecca of nascent aviation with one goal in mind: win. Some are motivated by a lust for money. Some crave fame. Others have been swept up in a wave of patriotic fervour, and still others are here to prove a point, whether it be political, moral, or personal. One thing is for certain: the great air race is set to be a spectacle like nothing that has ever been witnessed before, and naturally, the presses and the public are all agog about those magnificent men in their flying machines.

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Entry Guidelines for the Interested Aviator

So, this is a lighthearted competitive RPG set during the peculiar Indian Summer of the Late Edwardian Period, four years before the First World War broke out and when flying was still new, exciting, and oh-so-glamourous. It's based on the 1965 movie of the same name and borrows a lot of thematic inspiration from it. It also has a lot in common with and is something of an homage to Wacky Races. There will be shenanigans. I fully expect a wide range of ridiculous characters, exaggerated antics, absurd contraptions, genius bodgers, and dimwitted daredevils. This is the sort of RPG that revels in poking fun at national and period-appropriate stereotypes, is more than a bit tongue in cheek, and is not averse to cleverly breaking the fourth wall. That's not to say that it isn't competitive as well. There will be a winner. However, the focus is equally on worldbuilding and developing interesting storylines and truly zany and memorable contraptions. The following are some basic rules, expectations, and bits of information.

Winners Read This

• I: Try to keep your characters and machines period appropriate and enter things that are at least somewhat mechanically viable. So, that means humans only and no magical powers, I'm afraid. In terms of machines, you can use any preexisting aircraft that would've been around as of 1910 and had been demonstrated to be airworthy. Google is your friend in that regard. You can also enter a non-canon aircraft based upon something that you've found online. It will need to have a visual, however. If you're decent at drawing either by hand or CAD, feel free to use an original piece of artwork as well. Get creative! There are also a few of us around who can CAD something simple for you if you describe it clearly enough. Even for canon aircraft, feel free to describe any custom colouration that you've added or modifications that you've made.
• II: The race will consist of three legs in each direction. The first will be 130 kilometers from London to Dover. Second will be the harrowing cross-channel dash of 45 kilometers from Dover to Calais, France. It's short, but any sort of landing during this leg will take you out of the race. The final leg is the longest and most daunting: an endurance-testing marathon of 230 kilometers across northern France from Calais to Paris, rounding the Eiffel tower within the final few kilometers.
• III: This could definitely be considered a competitive RP. However, that's not to say that you can simply claim to have a flawless aircraft with a high top speed, excellent maneuverability, bulletproof reliability and epic range piloted by the most daring, lucky, experienced, and charismatic pilot to ever test his mettle against the wild blue yonder. You will be asked to provide a set of roughly balanced strengths and weaknesses which will inform how well you respond to the challenges and opportunities that the race will present you with. If you so wish, you may also enter more than one team. This is supposed to have a large field, and the less of them that are NPCs, the better.
• IV: The usual bit about the fact that the OP is God, not metagaming, powerplaying, and being a source of drama. You're all adults (except for those of you who aren't) and you don't need to hear (see?) this all again. This is also a strongly goal-driven RPG with a clearly defined endgame. It will conclude once the last of the competitors has finished the race.

Aircraft and Pilot Specifications

Aircraft Specifications

A total of thirty points will be available to be distributed across the following five categories:

• Speed: It's simple. The more of this that you have, the faster you'll go!
• Reliability: The better that this is, the less chance that your aircraft has of experiencing a failure.
• Ease of Repair: The easier that your aircraft is to repair, the quicker that you'll be able to get back in the air!
• Range: Each point put into this gives your aircraft thirty kilometers of range.
• Ease of Control: The more points that you invest in this, the better that you'll be able to follow the terrain and make tight turns. It should help you to reach the finish line a bit quicker.

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Pilot Specifications

A total of thirty points will be available to be distributed across the following five categories:

• Experience: The more experienced that you are, the fewer mistakes that your pilot will make. Mistakes cost you time! Being experienced will also help you to spot foul play on the part of the other pilots.
• Daring: Daring pilots take turns tighter, climb faster, slipstream others, and find every way to maximize their aircraft's performance. However, they're a bit more susceptible to crashing unless they're very experienced.
• Repair Skill: A skilled repairman will be able to fix problems faster (maybe even while in midair) and spot sabotage more easily.
• Charisma: Charismatic pilots get all of the ladies and the corporate backing. They're also more likely to be helped by random passerby if they're forced to land and are much more likely to get away with foul play.
• Foul Play: Some pilots will try to win by any means necessary. Being good at foul play means that you have a higher chance of succeeding when breaking the rules, whether that means sabotaging other machines, switching some convenient signposts, or smuggling in an entirely new aircraft when yours crashes!

Miscellaneous Information

• I: If this garners enough interest, an OOC will be posted on the weekend, and it will include a map of the course, some helpful links, a complete and final CS with raw code, and a handy listing summarizing each entry. We'll have to get to at least five players for me to consider running the RPG.
• II: Any questions, comments, and/or recommendations would be appreciated. If you think that we can run this without the thirty point stat aspect, please sound off below and let me know!
• III: This RPG has been crossposted on the Drowning City Forums, which mainly focuses on robotic combat RPGs. I guess we'll see which forum shows more interest.
• IV: Finally, have a skeleton CS:

Magnificence Register

Pilot or Team Name

A character quote or motto

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Age | Nationality | Aircraft Type (monoplane, biplane, triplane, airship, helicopter, or something really out there)

P E R S O N A L I T Y

❖ [ ]
❖ [ ]
❖ [ ]
❖ [ ]
❖ [ ]

So, I know that your conception of the character(s) can change as the story moves along or even as you write your CS and get a feel for them. The purpose of this is to try to think of five (or possibly more) essential traits, followed by a brief paragraph below the bullet points to summarize.

C H A R A C T E R A P P E A R A N C E

What does your character or (in the case of an airship) crew look like? How do they dress? How old are they? What are their defining features? Do they have a particularly noteworthy assistant or second-in-command? Reference pictures are welcomed and much appreciated, but not essential.

A I R C R A F T A P P E A R A N C E

What sort of machine are you flying? How have you painted it? How does it work? Does it work well at all? A reference picture should be included under a hider tag. If not, then a very thorough and clear description.

H I S T O R Y

This is your backstory. What led you to become the person who you are today: an aviator. Why did you choose to enter this race?

I N V E N T O R Y

What sort of personal items, tools, cash, or weapons (!) does your character usually carry, and what might we find stashed in their aircraft?

A I R C R A F T S P E C I F I C A T I O N S

❖ Speed:
❖ Reliability:
❖ Range:
❖ Ease of Repair:
❖ Ease of Control:

P I L O T S P E C I F I C A T I O N S

❖ Experience:
❖ Daring:
❖ Repair Skill:
❖ Charisma:
❖ Foul Play:

M I S C E L L A N E O U S

Anything not covered above goes here. You can leave this blank if you like.

Good Luck!

...though I expect you to win without it!

[Clever Hans]

This is such a fantastic idea. I am sorry that I don't have the time to do it justice as a player.

[Force and Fury]

Thanks for the encouragement, @Clever Hans, though I'd still encourage you to give it a shot if you can find the time at all, especially since this is such a niche thing. You can always crash spectacularly or take a dunk in the English Channel if you just can't keep up with the RPG or need to leave for whatever reason!

[Force and Fury]

Alright. This doesn't seem to have gained much traction, but I'll give it one more boost. If anyone's interested, then please express your interest now. Alternatively, if you're not, feel free to tell me why.

Barring responses from at least a couple of interested parties, I'll can this thing and have something new and a bit more conventional up for tomorrow.

[Publius]

Alright. This doesn't seem to have gained much traction, but I'll give it one more boost. If anyone's interested, then please express your interest now. Alternatively, if you're not, feel free to tell me why.

Barring responses from at least a couple of interested parties, I'll can this thing and have something new and a bit more conventional up for tomorrow.

@Force and Fury

I may be interested. I very, very rarely consider anything in the casual forum, and this is certainly out of my comfort zone, and I have a thousand other things that likely will restrict the attention I can give this.

But the concept is really fantastic and it certainly draws me in. Here's hoping a few others agree.

[Force and Fury]

Well, thanks for the support. I try to run things that are a bit offbeat, and I'll try to plug this one more time.

[Tojin]

This is also a bit outside of my comfort zone, but god damn does this look entertaining. Count me in!

[Force and Fury]

NGL, it's outside of my comfort zone too in terms of RPs, which is why I wanna run it. I studied this shit in school but have never RPed in this kind of setting, so I figured 'what the heck', you know?