chase rules?

[Belkregos]

Are there any rules in regards to chase scenes?
Sometimes its critical if the PC’s to get away from or capture an important NPC (or group)
Sometimes we’ve used a house rule in which the difference in initiative is the distance gain/loss on a round until the difference between the parties is either 0 or too great to catch up, in any case this is something we made up but I was wondering if there are any actual rules for something like this

Thanks for the help

 

[The King]

chasing outdoor or in urban settlements?
For the outdoor, you could use the old Cthulhu rules about automobile pursuits (with some adaptation of course).

 

[Belkregos]

chasing outdoor or in urban settlements?
.

Well, right now we are playing in an urban setting, Arejun!!! :twisted:

And as you may suspect there’s some encounters with sneak attacking thieves which after the first encounter often decide to run :wink:

 

[The King]

You can use a sort of Dexterity contest between the participants (with some narration of course).
Use a map with hexagones or squares which are called "chase levels". Give an penalty of one or two hex for the chasing thieves (because there are behind).

Then proceed to Dex checks. When a check succeeds the guy in question can advance one hex forward and each time someone fails, he can't advance at all.

- If the pursuant reaches the same hex as the pursued (because the latter failed one or more checks) he can strike or grab him.

- If the pursued gains an advance of say 5 hex, one can assume that his position is such that the pursuant lost him in his line of sight and that the pursued could hide to prevent any further pursuit.

Such characters (PC and NPC) can run for a number of rounds equal to their Constitution, before being out of breath (or incurring some penalty to the check).

You can also give bonus (or malus) to the players according to their reaction to your description; e.g. you say there is many shops on the streets and one player says he knocks down one booth to cover his escape, giving thus a malus to his pursuant because of the new ground configuration.

One could use other skills but Dex is the better way to simulate all these runs, obstacles, etc. Perhaps some feats could be useful there.

Don't forget the malus because of the armour or encumbrance or bonus if a guy runs faster than the others.

 

[Bregales]

In considering the locale, take into account the time of day and population of the chase environment: night vs. day for trouble seeing. Day vs. night also affects how many people are around/in the way/making a clear line of sight a problem; in addition to obstacles such as King mentions to hamper movement, in a second you could lose your quarry altogether. Or if you're the prey instead of the predator, you are trying to lose your pursuers, not only looking for hiding spaces (as well as just outdistancing your pursuers, but pure OGL x2/x3/x4 movement doesn't allow one person to outrun another per se), so losing track of the prey is an important consideration as well.

The recommendations to DEX checks are fair ones, but if the pursuit is going on for a while, you may want to consider checking to see if either gets winded. CON checks after x number of rounds equal to the runner's CON (unless he has a feat (like Running!) to put off or negate such checks).

Just a couple thoughts. I haven't really thought about chases in this game, but always do in respect to the stories. I've had an idea to start an adventure en medias res in a chase, but as it was only an idea I haven't worked on I hadn't tried looking at either the rules or OGL license for a statement. Again, in which case I hope this helps.

 

[argo]

Are there any rules in regards to chase scenes?
Sometimes its critical if the PC’s to get away from or capture an important NPC (or group)
Sometimes we’ve used a house rule in which the difference in initiative is the distance gain/loss on a round until the difference between the parties is either 0 or too great to catch up, in any case this is something we made up but I was wondering if there are any actual rules for something like this

Thanks for the help

If you want to make chases a big part of your game and don't mind investing in learning some new rules then Spycraft has what is easily the best chase rules for d20. And they are easy to adapt for everything from foot chases to fighter-plane dogfights, from Conan to a sci-fi game.

If you only ever intend to have one or two chase scenes then your house rule is servicable enough. Maybe give the guys with the Run feat a +4 bonus to their initative check. Also maybe have them make Initative checks for the first 3 or 5 rounds then switch over to Con checks - if the quick guys don't get away at the start then the tough guys will run them down over the distance.

Later.

 

[ahzad]

Are there any rules in regards to chase scenes?
Sometimes its critical if the PC’s to get away from or capture an important NPC (or group)
Sometimes we’ve used a house rule in which the difference in initiative is the distance gain/loss on a round until the difference between the parties is either 0 or too great to catch up, in any case this is something we made up but I was wondering if there are any actual rules for something like this

Thanks for the help

If you want to make chases a big part of your game and don't mind investing in learning some new rules then Spycraft has what is easily the best chase rules for d20. And they are easy to adapt for everything from foot chases to fighter-plane dogfights, from Conan to a sci-fi game.

If you only ever intend to have one or two chase scenes then your house rule is servicable enough. Maybe give the guys with the Run feat a +4 bonus to their initative check. Also maybe have them make Initative checks for the first 3 or 5 rounds then switch over to Con checks - if the quick guys don't get away at the start then the tough guys will run them down over the distance.

Later.

I was going to mention the spycraft dramatic conflict rules (the chase rules in 2.0, renamed and expanded to do lots more than just chases) as well. I think the chase rules from Spycraft 1.0 are in Mongoose's Ultimate Game Designers Companion as well. Argo got there before me

 

[Bregales]

I've been searching for an SRD release on chases, and all I've found a/o this writing is the following post which I got off of the Revised (v.3.5) System Reference Document: (scroll down and click the .rtf link for Carrying, Movement, and Exploration:

EVASION AND PURSUIT (page 5-6)
In round-by-round movement, simply counting off squares, it’s impossible for a slow character to get away from a determined fast character without mitigating circumstances. Likewise, it’s no problem for a fast character to get away from a slower one.
When the speeds of the two concerned characters are equal, there’s a simple way to resolve a chase: If one creature is pursuing another, both are moving at the same speed, and the chase continues for at least a few rounds, have them make opposed Dexterity checks to see who is the faster over those rounds. If the creature being chased wins, it escapes. If the pursuer wins, it catches the fleeing creature.
Sometimes a chase occurs overland and could last all day, with the two sides only occasionally getting glimpses of each other at a distance. In the case of a long chase, an opposed Constitution check made by all parties determines which can keep pace the longest. If the creature being chased rolls the highest, it gets away. If not, the chaser runs down its prey, outlasting it with stamina.

After Evasion and Pursuit is a section on Vision and Light, which while not directly what I was bringing up in my previous post, offers general rules on what you can see in what conditions of brightness and how search vs. evasion can come into play. Wish I could find a site that had web links instead of document downloads, but anyways this gives something to consider!

Hope this helps. :wink:

 

[Oly]

I cobbled together a vague system that I used to use for Star Wars D20 and now sometimes use for Conan, I think it came from a mix of Over the Edge, Unknown Armies and 7th Sea.

Basically you place the chasers a number of range increments apart. On each participants turn they get to try to close or gain distance. Gaining one bar might be a DC15 and gaining two a DC20 (or thereabouts, juggle the difficulties as need be). The player can pick the skill that they want to use (e.g. piloting, tumble, jump, bluff etc.) to make their roll but they must describe a suitable event/stunt in the chase. Something like knocking over a market stall behind them or leaping from roof to roof. The more increments they are aiming for the more impressive the stunt (and roll) they must describe.

At a certain level of increments the pursued looses the pursuers.

That worked reasonably well but does need players who are happy to think on the fly like that, I had the occasional spot of trouble there.

Another simpler system I used was just to make incrementing DC CON checks. The first to fail slows down thus either allowing the pursued to get away or the pursuers to catch up.

 

[Evil_Trevor]

Here are some suggestions to spice up a full scale chase rampage through streets and in the wild lands,.....

Start a chase like a Combat with 'Spot/Sense Motive' to see if the 'persuer' side realise that the other 'persuee' is about to run, if they miss give the persued a round to get going (like a surprise round) the Persuee might be allowed a bluff roll to set the DC

Knowlege Local can be used to avoid dead ends and places where large groups of city watchmen might be (unless he/she/they) want to find them for saftey (DC 15). Also to find short cuts to cut people off (DC 20)

Hide to find cover while the persuers go charging past opposed by spot rolls. OR Spot to see a chance followed by a Hide roll.

Spot rolls to keep the persued in view or to find him/her/them/it again if the persuers lose sight of thier quary.

Knowlege local rolls to see if the persuers realise where the persuee is going (e.g. to the barracks where there will be soldiers)

Listen To hear the sound of persuit, the noise of the whistles of the Watchmen (Messantia)

If the persuit reaches some watchmen then whoever has the best initiative might get a bluff roll on the watchmen (e.g. shout "Stop thief" or "help, thier gonna kill me") to try to get the watchmen to side with them for a round (opposed by sense motive d20+5)

If the persuers are being led into a trap a sense motive roll of dc 25 ?

In the wildlands I would add:-
Track (barbarians wilderness) as spot in a town/city

Spot/Reflex save to avoid running right into some beastie/natural hazard/pit trap (everybody)

 

[urdinaran]

Check out Cityworks by Fantasy Flight Games at your local hobby store. It has some good rules pertaining to cities, including chases.

 

[arnon]

Book of Roguish Luck (from malhavock) also has some nice and simple chase rules.

 

[Foxworthy]

Wish I could find a site that had web links instead of document downloads, but anyways this gives something to consider!

http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm

 

[Bregales]

Excellent, thank you foxworthy!!!!!