Rides & Vehicles | Ink & Mayhem Play

PDF Download the Ink & Mayhem Universe Guide 24.0 MB

Every studio has a garage. ENDS has three. The first is the transportation pool, sensible jalopies, production buses, motorcycles, the vehicles that move toons and equipment between lots. The second is the stunt bay, vehicles built specifically to crash. The third is the back lot, under a tarp, behind the prop warehouse, and that is where the rocket sleds live. That is where the giant mechanical ostrich paces its stall. That is where the Anvil Delivery Truck waits, engine running, eight-cylinder exhaust pipe in the shape of a trumpet. Sign the waiver. Take the keys. The scene opens in five minutes.

How Vehicles Work Here

Vehicles in Ink & Mayhem use the standard Exodus NDS Core Rules for operation and combat. Each vehicle has a stat block using the conventions below. For chase scenes, use the Cartoon Chase Rules later in this chapter.

Stat block reference. Each vehicle shows: Scale (size, 0-10), Speed (0-5), Handling (-5 to +5), Crew / Passengers, Armor (damage reduction/protection), Defense (ranged defense modifier), Hull Points (Elasticity-equivalent damage track), System Points (strain-equivalent), and Control Skill.

Control skill. All vehicles use Drive unless noted. Mounted living rides may alternately use Coordination or Charm (talking nicely to the ostrich).

Toons Never Die, Neither Do Their Rides

A vehicle reduced to 0 Hull Points is wrecked for the remainder of the scene. It cannot be used again this scene and its occupants are dumped out in appropriate comedic fashion (rolling tire, upside-down grille, wheels spinning). At the start of the next scene, the vehicle is whole again. The repair bill goes on the studio’s books or the driver’s tab, per GM judgment; wrecks that cost more than a session of earnings end up on the toon’s tab. Explicit destruction as a plot event still persists, but must be narrated as such.

Cartoon Chase Rules

Any scene the GM frames as a chase uses this dedicated structured-play subsystem.

The Lead Track

Every chase involves a Quarry (the one being chased) and one or more Pursuers. The chase runs along a single Lead Track of eight positions:

Position	State
+4	Escaped: chase ends in Quarry’s favor
+3	Almost gone
+2	Pulling away
+1	Gaining ground
0	Close: standard starting position
−1	Right behind
−2	Engaged: within arm’s reach
−3	Caught: confrontation begins

The Quarry’s position on the track determines the chase state. The Quarry starts at 0 by default (or wherever fiction dictates, a head start puts them higher; an ambush may put them lower).

Running a Round

Each round of the chase:

Declare intent. Quarry and Pursuer each declare their approach this round: straight pursuit, trap-setting, Bit use, weapon use, Hammerspace. Multiple Pursuers declare in initiative order.
Roll opposed checks. Each side rolls the appropriate movement check, usually Drive (for vehicles) or Athletics (on foot), opposed against the other side’s equivalent. Difficulty dice are the opposing side’s pool.
Resolve. The winner shifts the Lead Track 1 position in their favor. A Breakthrough shifts it 2 positions; a Calamity shifts it 1 position against the rolling side in addition to any other effect.
Secondary effects. Boon and Bane symbols resolve as normal: drop a wheel, spot a shortcut, catch a branch, take an anvil to the head. The GM narrates.

Ending the Chase

The chase ends in any of three ways:

Escaped. The Quarry hits +4. The scene cuts.
Caught. The Pursuer closes to −3. The chase becomes a confrontation scene, starting in whatever state the chase ended (tangled in a net, pinned against a wall, both rolling down a hill).
Exhausted. After six rounds with no resolution, the chase fizzles. Both sides take 3 Strain. The scene changes location (the chase runs off the lot, down the street, and into a train tunnel). Start the next scene as the GM judges.

Traps, Tricks, and Gags

A character may spend their round setting a trap or executing a gag instead of making a movement check. To resolve:

The acting character rolls a Hard Gag-Craft check (or the appropriate Bit’s check, if a Bit is being used).
On success, the opposing side must pass a Hard Pratfall or Coordination check on their next round’s movement, or the Lead Track shifts 2 positions in the trap-setter’s favor.
On Breakthrough, the opponent’s check is upgraded to Severe.
On Calamity, the trap catches the trap-setter; 2 positions in the opposing side’s favor.

Bits, talents, and Type abilities like The Dawdle, Crash the Scene, Improvised Booby Trap, Zoom, Elaborate Trap, Pocket Dynamite, and Sign Painter all have an obvious home inside a chase round.

Example Chase Round

**Wile E. (Pursuer, Strapped-On Jet Engine) pursues Bugsy (Quarry, on foot).** Track at **−1** (Wile E. very close).

Wile E. spends the round firing his jet engine, straight pursuit, Drive check. Bugsy instead sets a trap: paints a tunnel on a rock face (Sign Painter talent / Gag-Craft check).

Bugsy rolls Gag-Craft vs Hard, rolls a Breakthrough. The rock-face tunnel is real.

Next round, Wile E. must pass a Severe Pratfall check (upgraded from Hard by the Breakthrough) or the Lead track shifts 2 positions toward Escaped, putting it at +1. Bugsy is now gaining ground.

(Spoiler: Wile E. does not pass.)

The Motor Pool