Riders from all over Gor are gathering in Ven’dara for a tarn race in the Stadium as part of the Harvest Festival events taking place there.
Any Goreans, Free or slaves, are invited to say which favoured rider they will be putting gold, silver or bina beads on for this big race.
Information needed is: Name of home, name of rider, name of tarn, racing colours, the ‘level’ of the rider (Champion, Veteran or Novice) and a short pen portrait of the (NPC) rider.
For example, the favoured rider of Talarius is:
Pelop of Rarir, riding Sigurd’s Hammer. A Veteran rider. Colours: red and green.
Pelop has been on the circuit some years now but has failed to fulfil his early promise since the death of his first tarn, Dara’s Dart. Though originally from Helisto he’s now a journeyman tarn racer but he does just well enough to make a living from the sport.
So – why pick a “Novice” rider?
A Champion is expected to win and often does! But should he not finish on the top four perches of the winning post and especially if any Veterans or, Priest Kings forbid, Novices, finish ahead of him, his prestige will take a bit of a hit!
A Veteran has a fair chance of winning! Not a lot to gain but not a lot to lose.
A Novice has nothing to lose! OK, this is probably his first major competition and finishing in the first 4 places is unlikely, but who knows? He’ll most likely gain prestige by finishing ahead of his peers and if he beats a Veteran or Champion then he’s on his way to fame!
Odds will be posted before the race, once the riders are known, so bets can be placed before the race takes place. Please post your ‘fancy’ for the race and or any questions.
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The mechanics of it – an optional read for those that like to know the nitty gritty.
Excel scripting is used to fully automate the race. The program takes into account the ‘level’ of each rider and adds a slight positive distance bias to “Champions” and a slight negative one to “Novices”. The race is divided into 12 stages (the hoops) and the “spread” of the field is calculated at each stage so a stage-by-stage commentary will be provided.
Prestige Points (pp’s) are what’s at stake here and determine the real winners on the day.
Prestige Points are earned by the first 4 riders to finish: Winner = 25pp, Second = 15pp, Third = 10pp, Fourth = 5pp. They are also earned or lost in the following way:
A Champion gains 1pp for every Champion he finishes ahead of but loses 1pp for every Champion ahead of him and he loses 2pp for every Veteran and 3pp for every Novice that he finishes behind. So, great chance of winning but if he does poorly ... his prestige suffers a lot.
A Veteran gains 1pp for every Veteran he beats and 2pp for every Champion but he loses 1pp for every Veteran and 2pp for every Novice he finishes behind.
A Novice gains 3pp for every Champion he beats, 2pp for every Veteran and 1pp for every Novice, though he loses 1pp for every Novice ahead of him.
