Making Sky-Tyrant of Mars Deluxe - Act One Scene One: The Festival of Son Ra

I'm about to run the adventure module Sky-Tyrant of Mars from Adamant Entertainment and written by Umberto Pignatelli on Fantasy Grounds 2. It's a fun adventure with a fistful of action and heroic goodness. Being a fan of what the Savage Worlds Deluxe Edition has done to my favorite game I wanted to bring it up to speed with the new Chase Rules introduced in this Deluxe Edition.


Sky-Tyrant of Mars opens up in media res with chariot race reminiscent of Ben-Hur. Here is how I decided to handle the chase.


The PCs join the race during the third and final lap. The one in the lead is an NPC and the other characters (whether they've decided to race with their character or an NPC with the Driving skill) have to catch up with him and Force him out of the track. This NPC will be the only other opponent the players will have to face. He is an extra with d6 Driving. The players will have five rounds to defeat him and reach the finish line victorious. Each round represents a section of the track with it's own feature and obstacle.


Round 1: Sharp bend. No changes here.


Round 2: Imprudent child. The NPC charioteer will avoid the child. The foolish boy was distracted and talking to his mom when the chariots came out of the bend. The momentum blew the skyship shaped kite out of his hands and he is now chasing it down the track just as the rest of the charioteers come roaring by. Every other charioteer must succeed in a Driving check or automatically go Out of Control.


Notes: I realize this is extreme but I want to make this race even more cinematic. This should spark the crowd and hopefully make the characters cheers. If that can eliminate a few charioteer, the rest of the race should be even more exciting. If you are worried this might lead to some eventual crippling wounds, pretend the chariots have security feature and switch deadly damage to non-lethal damage or have the players make a Vigor and suffer some bumps and bruises. 


Round 3: Sandy road.  No changes here


Round 4: Bottleneck. Again, no changes here. Hopefully, the remaining charioteers will take advantage of this opportunity and use the Force maneuver to ram each other for some good fun!


Round 5: The module had only four scripted events for this race. You can make it a straight stretch of the road or insert it before the Sandy road stretch and make it interesting. What if the road splits. To the left, the track goes around a mound on which a broadcaster tower is placed. Straight up is the mound used a ramp to propel the steed, the chariot and it's driver through an opening in the broadcast tower. And as you guessed it, the way through the broadcast tower is a shortcut. The charioteer who chooses the shortcut gets a -2 penalty to his Driving check but if he succeeds, the lowest card or cards he can be dealt next round is an eight. Redraw any card lower than eight. I'm not sure what I will choose yet but I am leaning toward the mound shortcut feature. What would you choose?


Next, Act Two Scene One.