Gamehelpformulad

10-Second Explainer of Formula D

New to Formula D?

This 10-second explainer will get you started:

1. Your car will start in 1st gear.
2. At the start of your turn, your first decision is whether to stay on your current gear, or go up 1 gear or go down. You can go down 1 gear without penalty.
3. After choosing a gear, you will roll the appropriate "gear die". The higher the gear, the bigger the die.
4. Once you have rolled, you must move the number of spaces rolled, although you may choose which path you take.
5. Corners are areas marked in red. To drive around corners without penalty, you must finish at least 1 turn in them.
6. Some corners are particularly slow and may require that you finish at least 2 or even 3 turns in them.

That's it! There's a lot more to it than that, but this covers the absolute basics of driving safely around the track.

Important: BGA Rule Variations

The BGA Adaptation of Formula D uses a number of variations from the Masters (Tournament) rules.

At the end of these rules, you will find a list of all differences from the published game rules.

Basic Rules

Aim of the game

FORMULA D is a car race. The aim is to win a race (of one lap) and be the first to cross the finishing line. There are all sorts of risks involved and you have to anticipate what will happen during the course of the race. You must decide on your strategy, trust to luck, keep to the rules and always keep an eye on the technical condition of your car.

The gears

The cars have 6 gears. Each gear has its own die. The numbers on the dice tell you how many spaces to move the car. The higher the gear you choose, the faster and further the corresponding die will allow the car to travel. You are not allowed to skip gears when accelerating (e.g. changing straight from 1st to 3rd gear). You are allowed to skip 1, 2 or 3 gears when braking (e.g. from 6th to 4th or from 4th to 1st gear); however there is a penalty for doing this.

Gear	Die	Movement (Number of spaces)	Face distribution
1	Yellow d4	1-2	1,1,2,2
2	Orange d6	2-4	2,3,3,4,4,4
3	Red d8	4-8	4,5,6,6,7,7,8,8
4	Green d12	7-12	2 of each
5	Purple d20	11-20	2 of each
6	Blue d30	21-30	2 of each
7	Black d20 damage	1-20	1-20 (1-4 will cause damage)

Driving

As in real life the car starts in 1st gear. Then you shift up to 2nd gear and so on up to 6th gear, in order to move as fast as possible. When it is a driver’s turn they announce which gear they have chosen, move the gear stick on their dashboard accordingly and then rolls the die which corresponds to the chosen speed. They then moves their car forward the number of spaces indicated on the die. When the move is finished the car “stops”. This notion is important especially in the corners.

Order of play: In each round the drivers play according to their car position on the track.

Example: During a round of play car A overtakes car B which was in 1st position. When the next round starts, car A, now in 1st position, will play before car B.

Driving Code

The cars drive in the track lanes. Different driving codes apply to corners and straights. It is generally not allowed to go over other cars – they must be driven round. Driving backwards is also not allowed.

Driving code in the corners

To drive through a corner a car must stop a minimum number of times (indicated in the yellow box) within the limits of the corner. After the requisite number of stops, the car may proceed and exit the corner on its next move.

To make it easier to drive through the corner, the driver should consider the indicated number of spaces. The number in the green box refer to the longest path, the numbers in the red box refer to the shortest path.

Driving code on the straights

Straights are the portions of track between corners. Depending on the length of each straight, cars may need several rounds before entering the next corner.

Important: The maneuver must be completed using the smallest number of spaces possible.

Wear points (WP)

They reflect the capability of the car to stay on the track and survive events during the race. In the Basic Game, each car has 18 WP at the beginning of the race. The players use these points to survive various incidents and risky maneuvers.

Preparation for play

Start formation

Every player rolls the black die in order to determine the starting position of his car. Whoever rolls the highest number gains pole position. The other cars are positioned in decreasing order according to the numbers rolled. In the case of a tie, all involved players re-roll the die.

Start

Before engaging 1st gear, every player rolls the black die to see how successfully he can start.

Number rolled: 1 – poor start. The player has stalled the motor of his car. He cannot engage 1st gear and so he has to wait till the next round. Then he can start in 1st gear without having to roll the black die again.

Number rolled: between 2 and 16 – normal start. The player can start normally. He rolls the die for 1st gear and moves his car forward according to the number rolled.

Number rolled: between 17 and 20 – great start! The player makes a fantastic start. He moves his car forward 4 spaces immediately, although he is still in 1st gear. The car can change one or two lanes to avoid other cars. The driver may shift to 2nd gear in the next round.

Overshooting

If a car passes through a corner at the end of its turn without making the required number of stops, it overshoots the corner. The number of spaces the car overshot the corner by is deducted from the car’s WP as a penalty.

Corner with 2 stops: If the car has made no stops, it is automatically removed from play.

Corner with 3 stops: If the car has made no stops, or only one stop, it is automatically removed from play.

When coming out of a corner the car may not change lane, but must stay in the same lane. If the move ends in another corner, this stop does not count for the new corner. If the car is blocked by another car, he cannot drive round it and has to brake.

Braking

A player may use his WP at any time to avoid having to advance the full number of spaces shown on the die. In this way he can control his progress better, for example when the lanes are blocked by other cars.

Changing down

A driver can skip one, two or three gears when changing down, however this wears out his gearbox. The number of gears skipped equates to the number of WP his car loses as a result. Note: It is not possible to skip four gears (from 6th to 1st gear).

Collision

Whenever a car ends its move on a space next to or behind one or several cars, there is a risk of collision. A driver in this situation must roll the black die to see whether there is a collision or not. If he rolls a number between 1 and 4 his car loses 1 WP.

Motor damage

If a player rolls a 20 in 5th gear or a 30 in 6th gear, this puts a strain on his engine. After his car has finished moving he must therefore roll the black die to test whether his engine has withstood the strain. All players who are driving in 5th or 6th gear at this moment must also roll the black die. If a number between 1 and 4 is rolled, the corresponding car loses 1 WP.

Finish

The player whose car passes the finishing line first has won the race. The race ends when all cars have crossed the finishing line, in order to enable ranking.

Two-lap race

For players who have already played several single-lap games.

Whoever crosses the finishing line first after two laps wins the game. Players may make a pit stop between the first and second laps to regain the WP points they lost during the first round.

Pit stop

At the end of the first lap a player may decide to make a pit stop to regain all the WP he has lost. There is no speed limit in the pit lanes. It is also not necessary to roll the exact number needed to reach one’s own pit.

Entering pits

To enter the pits it is sufficient to roll the minimum number required or higher using the die corresponding to the selected gear. The car receives all 18 WP back and awaits his next turn to start from the pits in 4th gear (maximum).

The rules for changing down gear, collision, braking and engine damage do not apply in the pit lane. Overtaking is not possible as it is a single lane. Drivers have to be patient and wait until the car ahead of them moves forward, regardless of selected gear and with no effect on the WP.

Cars in the pit lane must wait for their turn, until the cars on the circuit between pit exit and entry have had their turn.

Advanced Rules

Basics

The gears

The cars have 6 gears, each gear has its own die. The numbers on the dice tell you how many spaces to move the car. The higher the gear you choose, the faster and further the corresponding die will allow the car to travel. You are not allowed to skip gears when accelerating (e.g. changing straight from 1st to 3rd gear). You are allowed to skip 1, 2, or 3 gears when braking (e.g. from 6th to 4th or from 4th to 1st gear); however there is a penalty for doing this.

Gear	Die	Movement (Number of spaces)
1	Yellow d4	1-2
2	Orange d6	2-4
3	Red d8	4-8
4	Green d12	7-12
5	Purple d20	11-20
6	Blue d30	21-30

Driving

As in real life, the car starts in 1st gear. Then you up shift to 2nd gear and so on up to 6th gear, in order to move as fast as possible. When it is a driver’s turn they announce which gear they have chosen, move the gear stick on their dashboard accordingly and then rolls the die which corresponds to the chosen speed. They then moves their car forward the number of spaces indicated on the die. When the move is finished the car “stops”. This notion is important especially in the corners.

Order of play

In each round the drivers play according to their car position on the track.

Example: During a round of play car A overtakes car B which was in 1st position. When the next round starts, car A, now in 1st position, will play before car B.

Same position

If two cars on the track are level with each other, the driver with the highest gear plays first.

If both cars are in the same gear, the car nearest the inside with reference to the next (or the current) corner plays first.

Driving Code

The cars drive in the track lanes. Different driving codes apply to corners and straights. It is generally not allowed to go over other cars – they must be driven round. Driving backwards is also not allowed.

Driving code in the corners

To drive through a corner a car must stop a minimum number of times (indicated in the yellow box) within the limits of the corner. After the requisite number of stops, the car may proceed and exit the corner on its next move.

To make it easier to drive through the corner, the driver should consider the indicated number of spaces. The number in the green box refer to the longest path, the numbers in the red box refer to the shortest path.

Driving code on the straights

Straights are the portions of track between corners. Depending on the length of each straight, cars may need several rounds before entering the next corner.

Important: The maneuver must be completed using the smallest number of spaces possible.

Wear points (WP)

Wear Points reflect the ability of the car to stay on the track and survive events during the race. Each car has a certain number of WP at the beginning of the race, which are divided up between six different categories. These points are distributed as follows in the game for advanced players:

WP tires:	6
WP brakes:	3
WP gearbox:	3
WP car body:	3
WP engine:	3
WP road handling:	2

Preparation for play

Start formation

Every player rolls the black die in order to determine the starting position of his car. Whoever rolls the highest number gains pole position. The other cars are positioned in decreasing order according to the numbers rolled. (ln the case of a tie, all concerned players re-roll the die.)

Start

Before engaging 1st gear, every player rolls the black die to see how successfully he can start.

Number rolled, 1 - poor start

The player has stalled the motor of their car. They cannot engage 1st gear and so have to wait till the next round. Then they can start in 1st gear without having to roll the black die again.

Number rolled: between 2 and 19 - normal start

The player can start normally. He rolls the die for 1st gear and moves his car forward according to the number rolled.

Number rolled: 2O - great start!

The player makes a fantastic start. He moves his car forward 4 spaces immediately, although he is still in 1st gear. The car can change one or two lanes to avoid other cars. The driver may shift to 2nd gear in the next round.

Overshooting

If a car passes through a corner at the end of its turn without making the required number of stops, it overshoots the corner. The number of spaces the car overshot the corner by is deducted from the car’s tire WP as a penalty.

Corner with 2 stops: If the car has made no stops, it is automatically removed from play.

Corner with 3 stops: If the car has made no stops, or only one stop, it is automatically removed from play.

When coming out of a corner the car may not change lane, but must stay in the same lane. If the move ends in another corner, this stop does not count for the new corner. If the car is blocked by another car, he cannot drive round it and has to brake.

When a car loses his last tire WP by overshooting a corner, he spins round in a circle. The car is placed on the space where his move ended, pointing backwards. The player must turn his car round again and drive off in 1st gear when it is his next turn. If he overshoots a corner again, he will again spin round in a circle. If the car overshoots the corner by more than one space, he is out of the race.

If a car loses more tire WP than it possesses, it is eliminated from the race.

Braking

A player may use their brake WP at any time to avoid having to advance the full number of spaces shown on the die. This can help to prevent losing tire WP if they would otherwise overshoot a corner.

A driver can find themselves blocked by one or more cars which they are unable to overtake. After the driver has moved their car forward as many spaces as possible, they counts how many spaces they would have moved if they had not been blocked.

If the number of spaces short of the full number 4 or greater, they may use Emergency Braking. In this case, their first 3 spaces must be paid for with Brake WP. Each additional space after that may be paid by either Brake or Tire WP.

Braking is paid for *after* Overshooting, so any Tire WPs lost to Overshooting will not be available for Emergency Braking.

If a car doesn't have enough brake WP and tire WP to stop before a blockage, it is eliminated from the race.

Gearing down

A driver can skip one, two or three gears when changing down, however this wears out his gearbox.

As a result, the car then loses a certain number of brake WP, engine WP and gearbox WP. The table below lists the corresponding wear. Note: It is not possible to skip four gears (from 6th to 1st gear).

Gears skipped	Gearbox WP	Brake WP	Engine WP
1 gear	1	0	0
2 gears	1	1	0
3 gears	1	1	1

If a car has no gearbox WP left, the driver can only change clown one gear at a time until the game is over.

Collision

Whenever a car ends its move on a space next to or behind one or several cars, there is a risk of collision. A driver in this situation must roll the black die to see whether there is a collision or not. If he rolls a 1, his car loses 1 WP.

In this adaptation the car that did not just move rolls first. If it fails the roll and is eliminated from the race as a result, the car that moved will automatically fail its roll.

If a car loses its last car body WP, it is eliminated from the race.

Motor damage

If a player rolls a 20 in 5th gear or a 30 in 6th gear, this puts a strain on his engine. After his car has finished moving he must therefore roll the black die to test whether his engine has withstood the strain. All players who are driving in 5th or 6th gear at this moment must also roll the black die. If a number between 1 and 4 is rolled, the corresponding car loses 1 engine WP.

If a car loses its last engine WP, it is eliminated from the race.

Damage and road handling

Each time a car loses a car body WP or an engine WP, a damage marker is placed on the space where the move ended.

The same applies whenever a car is eliminated from the race for whatever reason. These spaces are judged to be "dangerous" from then on.

If a car passes over one of these spaces or lands on it, the driver must roll the black die. If the result is between 1 and 4, the car loses one road handling WP. The dangerous spaces can be avoided by changing lanes.

If a car loses its last road handling WP, it is eliminated from the race.

Slipstreaming

If a car drives in the wake of another car, this is called slipstreaming.

For the two concerned drivers, slipstreaming is possible from the 4th gear on.

The car must be driving as fast or faster than the car in front.

If a car wants to profit from slipstreaming after moving, it has to stop directly behind another car. From this position he can then add 3 spaces onto his last move. He can move forward 3 spaces in the following way:

• change a lane, overtake the car in front and return to the original lane.
• change a lane and move two spaces in a straight line.
• change two lanes and move one space in a straight line.

The player must move a total of three spaces in any case. (However, the driver may use brake WP in order to reduce this number of spaces.) If slipstreaming brings a car up immediately behind another car, he can carry on slipstreaming (and so on).

IF a car is carried into a corner by slipstreaming, he loses a brake WP (without the number of spaces being reduced).

In a corner, a slipstreaming car must follow normal driving code (eg. following the arrows).

Braking in order to take advantage of slipstreaming in the wake of another player's car is not allowed.

Drivers do not have to slipstream!

Pit stop

At the end of the first lap, a player may decide to make a pit stop to regain all the tire WP he has lost. There is no speed limit in the pit lanes. It is also not necessary to roll the exact number needed to reach one's own pit.

To enter the pits it is necessary to roll the minimum number required or higher using the die corresponding to the selected gear. As soon as the car enters the pits, it receives all its tire WP back. The player now rolls the black die, in order to see how fast his mechanics work.

Result between 1 and 10: quick pit stop

The player divides the number shown on the black die by two (rounding it up if necessary). The result is the number of spaces the car is allowed to move when the car leaves the pit in 4th gear.

Result between 11 and 20: slow pit stop

The car remains in the pit until the next round. Then the car moves on in 4th gear (or a lower gear).

The rules for gearing down, collision, braking and engine damage do not apply in the pit lane. Overtaking is not possible as it is a single lane. Drivers have to be patient and wait until the car ahead of them moves forward, regardless of selected gear and with no effect on the WP.

Cars in the pit lane must wait for their turn, until the cars on the circuit between pit exit and entry have had their turn.

Finish

The player whose car passes the finishing line first has won the race. The race ends when all cars have crossed the finishing line, in order to enable ranking.

Optional Rules

All the following rules can be used of one another.

Construction of one's own car

Every player can distribute his 20 WP between the six zones of his car at his own discretion. However, the following restrictions must be observed:

WP tires	between 1 and 14
WP brakes	between 1 and 7
WP gearbox	between 1 and 7
WP car body	between 1 and 7
WP engine	between 1 and 7
WP road handling	between 1 and 7

In this adaptation, if Construction of one's own car is used alongside Technical pit stops, then players will have 22 WPs to distribute, and may assign 0 or more points to WP repairs.

Qualifying lap with a stopwatch

All players drive a qualifying lap with stopwatch consecutively, in order to determine their start positions. The rules for moves and driving code remain unchanged during the qualifier, however the WP are not taken into account. The only exception is if a car overshoots a corner - this is penalized.

• The player whose turn it is to drive a qualifying lap places his car in the middle lane in front of the starting line.
• You may not apply the brakes at all during Qualifying. If a roll forces you to overshoot a corner, it cannot be avoided.
• You may freely Gear down any number of gears during Qualifying, with no cost or penalty.
• The player receives a total number of points over their lap:
  • 1 point for each round the player takes to complete the lap
  • 1 point for each space the player overshoots a corner by (soft tires will have their points doubled)
  • 1 point for every full real-time minute it takes the player to complete the lap

Note: The qualifying lap is over if the driver does not stop at all in corners where two or three stops are required. They then have to start the race at the back of the field from the last start position.

After that the order of starting is determined: the car which has completed the qualifying lap with the fewest points takes first position. The other cars follow on in decreasing order of points. If two drivers have the same number of points, the real time taken to complete the lap decides: the fastest player gets the better start position.

Nitro Fuel

All cars have a nitro Fuel injection, which allows instant acceleration. Players can use their nitro once a lap after rolling the corresponding gear die. They receive a movement bonus according to the gear they are using at that moment (1 space in 1st gear, 2 spaces in 2nd gear, etc.). This bonus must be used completely.

BGA Rule Variations

The BGA Adaptation of Formula D uses a number of variations from the Masters (Tournament) rules.

The differences from the rules you will find in your own copy of Formula D are:

Braking

The original rules provide a table that describes the outcome of "Emergency Braking" (when a car is blocked by one or more cars which they are unable to overtake). The table does not take Constructed Cars into account, so to clarify, the implemented rules are:

If a player performs Emergency Braking, they must move their car forward as many spaces as possible. If they need to brake more than 3 spaces, they are required to use Brake WPs for the first 3 spaces, and each subsequent space may be paid for using Brake WP *or* Tire WPs.

Braking is paid for *after* Overshooting, so any Tire WPs lost to Overshooting will not be available for Emergency Braking.

Qualifying

Players do not roll the black starting die at the beginning of Qualifying: they just start in 1st gear.

The original rules simply state that "WP are not taken into account" during qualifying. However, the effect of this is clarified in this adaptation:

• You may not apply the brakes at all during Qualifying. If a roll forces you to overshoot a corner, it cannot be avoided.
• You may freely Gear down any number of gears during Qualifying, with no cost or penalty.

Collision Checks

In this adaptation, the active player checks for collisions only after all adjacent players have rolled. If an adjacent player fails their roll and is eliminated as a result, the active player will automatically fail their roll against that player.

Weather Rolls

In the original rules, the Weather die is thrown immediately when a player rolls the maximum number in 5th or 6th gear. In this adaptation, this roll still occurs but it is deferred until the end of the round. This way, weather can only change between rounds and not in the middle of a player's turn. If multiple players roll the maximum number, the weather die will be rolled multiple times.

Changeable Weather

The original rules have 4 steps for Changeable Weather (Good, Good - Changeable, Rain - Changeable, Rain).

In this adaptation, there are 5 steps: Good, Good - Temporary, Changeable, Rain - Temporary, Rain.

When the weather changes from one of the Temporary steps to Changeable, it continues raining or not raining as per the previous step.

The net effect of this variation is that in a Changeable race, it takes 2 full changes in the same direction to lock in either Good weather or Rain. In the original rules, it takes 2 changes to lock in Rain but only 1 to lock in Good weather.

Spinning

The original rules state that if a car on 0 Tire WP overshoots a corner then it "will again spin round in a circle. If the car overshoots the corner by more than one space, it is out of the race". In this adaptation, a car with 0 Tire WP is eliminated if it overshoots a corner by more than 1 WP. Hence, even a single space overshoot will eliminate a 0 Tire WP car on soft tires.

Skidding on Corners in the Rain

The original rules state that cars will skid in the rain "provided at least one space of the move lies within the limits of a corner". In this adaptation, skidding will only occur on any turn that counts towards a corner's completion. That means:

• Driving through a corner that you have already completed will not cause you to skid
• If you are on the final space in a corner and still need to land in it 1 more turn, you will skid on your next move even though you are driving into a straight

Braking in the Pit Lane

The original rules state that the rules for braking do not apply in the pit lane. In this adaptation, there is no braking cost for stopping immediately behind another car, or in your pit box. However, there is a brake cost for travelling any distance shorter than that.

Pit Lane

The rules for gearing down DO apply in the pit lane.

Pit Stops

The soft tire bonus may not be used when moving after a Quick Pit Stop.

If Technical Pit Stops are enabled, players may always choose to take one (and thus finish their turn) even if they have no repair points or repairs to perform.

Construction of one's own car

In this adaptation, if players have selected the option to Construct their own car then there are no limits to how many points they may assign to any given area.

In games that have also selected the Technical Pit Stop rules, then instead of having a fixed 2 WPs available for Pit repairs, a player will have 22 WPs to use in Construction and can choose how many repair points to make available, with a maximum of 2.

Road Races

The Road Race rules, including Drivers with special abilities, are not used.

Where Road Race circuits are used, all non-standard rules are ignored.

Nitro Fuel Injection is available as an option for all races.

Elimination

When a player is eliminated, the outcome is slightly different from the immediate rules.

• If the elimination was caused by the player overshooting corners or driving over a damage marker, the car is immediately removed from the board and no damage marker is placed
• If the elimination was caused by the player failing a motor damage test, the car is immediately removed from the board and a damage marker is added.
• If the player is eliminated by any other reason, a damage marker is added and the car remains on the board until the end of the round, when it is removed.