Rolling Start!

Ok, so I know Adrago isn't done yet (in the annoying fine tuning stage) but in the process of working on it I've had a few different ideas for another game. I've managed to be focused so far but this most recent idea (mixed with a chunk of free time where I couldn't work on Adrago) seemed like a really fun and easy to develop game (with much fewer components than Adrago)

So in Cyborg Rally (working title) players take part in a futuristic rollerderby/motorball type event. Players race around a randomly built track fighting for control over a ball. Whoever has the most points after a certain number of laps (how many times the ball passes the finish line, not each player) wins. Players get points for holding the ball as they cross the finish line, number of their completed laps, taking part in fight, etc...

The game starts with a blank board with several open spots for track cards to be dealt randomly. As the spots are filled with cards the track begins to take form. Cards can say stuff like "straightaway" or "hairpin curve" along with the distance it takes to cover. So say a straightaway takes 6 distance and a hairpin curve takes 2 but also a difficulty of 4, if there were cards laid out like so: straightaway, hairpin curve, straightaway; the player would need to have crossed 14 distance with 4 skill to navigate these 3 track portions. To do this a player could either roll their appropriate trait die and/or add trait cards (more on both in a bit) 

trait cards would be off to the bottom of the board. Also, depending on the track length a marker would be put on the inside track to let players know when the make a lap

After the distance is totaled by the cards that make up the track the number of laps is determined (by default the longer the track the fewer the laps) Each player places a player token both on the distance board (inside looping part) and the track board (outside perimeter that would have cards) which when combined provides information on where each racer is on the course.

After the track is built players can judge what type of racer/battler would be best for the current track.

Each player can customize their cyborg combatant with 6 trait points which then can allocate into Speed, Strength, and Skill. All traits have a default value of 1.

Speed- which determines the # of additional dice rolled for distance traveled as well as combat initiative

Strength- determines the # of additional dice used in attacks and defense

Skill- determines the # of additional dice used for navigation of track obstacles and ball handling

The number in each trait is how many die they may add to actions and the number of trait cards a player draws each turn. Cards often have beneficial actions.

They then take turns drafting cards for extra ability/weapons (max of 2) Abilities can be used once and then must be recharged (by passing a cards with a recharge icon or visiting the pit)

Here is an example racer:

Speed-2

Strength-4

Skill-0

Ability-add +2 to a attack roll

Weapon- axe +2 to all attacks

This racer seems to be built for rumbling, most likely they will be in a lot of fights and may occasionally try to steal the ball when near the finish line. Probably won't be carrying the ball for long distances (while carrying the ball a players can only draw one card for each trait)

After the track is built and players create their racer I'm also toying with the idea of placing secret bets on each player for extra Victory Points (so if you built that brawler character you may want to try and bet on somebody losing and just fight them the whole game)

Whoever is farthest from the ball is starting player (giving them a chance to catch up to the action)

Each round players draw their trait cards and then take any combination of 3 actions

Types of Actions

-roll to move (1d6 per speed rank) 

-or a player can choose to not roll for movement at all and automatically either pass the current section of the track (say there is a difficult obstacle and you have low skill, or maybe it's a really long straightaway and you have low speed) or move back one section of track (unless and obstacle permits it like a big jump)

-attack

-use an action from a card

-draw 1 extra card from any trait

-throw the ball (1d6 to determine distance thrown) either forward or backwards

Free Actions

-defend

-add weapon to attack

-use a passive ability from a trait card

-catch fumbled/loose ball

-discard ball

So theoretically a player could spend their whole turn moving to catch another player, or if they are already near a player they could attack 3 times and crush 'em.

Combat

Each player picks 2 trait types and they then roll the # of of dice and may play 1 card from each of their chosen trait types.

If a player wins by 1-2 points the loser takes damage

If a player wins by 3-4 points the loser takes damage and drops the ball

If a player wins by 5 or higher the loser takes damage drops the ball and falls back 1 card section of track

If there is a tie the ball is fumbled

In the case of  damage the player rolls a D6 and rolls to see what part of the body was hit and reduce the appropriate trait by one.

1&2 reduce Skill

3&4 reduce Strength

5&6 reduce Speed

If a number is rolled for a trait that is already at 0 the player loses one ability or weapon card (attackers choice)

Players must enter the repair pit to fix any damage (at the cost of one turn for a full repair) They may also trade in any VP tokens to purchase additional skill points, abilities, or weapons.

If all traits are reduced to 0 the player is destroyed and is out of the game until the next time the ball passes the finish line. At which point the player starts again at full strength (they were rebuilt) they also discard and then draw 4 new ability/weapon cards at random.

Whenever any combat occurs each participant receives 1 victory point token, the winner of any combat receives 1 additional VP token.

Catching a loose/fumbled ball

If the current player is the only racer in a space with the ball they automatically catch it. If there are multiple racers a conflict occurs, players roll all their speed, strength, and skill die

whoever rolls the highest skill catches the ball

whoever rolls the highest strength may roll to inflict 1 damage on the opponent of their choice (not a full combat)
whoever rolls the highest speed may choose to advance 1 track card location

Any player who rolls the highest may choose not to take the additional action.

Optional Ideas
It seems like it would be easy to implement non-player characters (NPC), just build in rules like they always advance one  card each round, always initiate combat if able, etc... and they would usually be weaker than the player characters (or maybe there would be different ranks of NPCs. That way the track would always have action.

Also you could easily add in a team mechanic to the game 2v2 seems the easiest but you could also do asymmetrical matches with 3v1 but the single player starts with much higher traits.

Instead of just putting points into skills players could actually build their cyborg from different gear. Say  each player started with 10 credits, then for an example they can then buy different legs (more expensive ones are better and maybe come with built in abilities) So do you buy a bunch of basic gear and get well rounded or buy some crummy stuff and put the majority of credits toward a piece of awesome gear. New gear could be bought by entering the pit during the race too.