RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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My group has been enjoying the chase mechanics immensely. Underground, forest, and urban chases. My party likes having a chase at least every other session. I have been using the following skills and checks, but would like more ideas.
Acrobatics, Climb, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Perception, Stealth, Survival, and Swim are pretty easy to figure out.
Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Sense Motive
- get past guards
- read secret message to shortcut
- 'which way did it go?'
- 'better move out my way'
- follow hunch
Handle Animal, Ride
- move animals out of the way
- use animal to pass an obstacle
Knowledge
- which path best gets to objective
- which path a creature would most likely take
- spot easy to break through construction, weak vines, crumbly earthen walls
Fort, Ref, Will Saves
- ignore stench
- dodge swinging pendulum blades
- ignore 'shiny'
Abilities
- break objects (Str)
- smart way (Int)
- safe way (Wis)
- daring way (Cha)
Thank you for reminding me about the chase rules. I will be working these into next session.
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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The last time I ran a chase, I included a couple of points where you had to make a Combat Maneuver (overrun a crowd, knock a guard out of the way) or score a melee hit vs. a set AC (again, knock someone down or move something out of the way).
Awesome! I had not thought of doing that. Quite a few ideas pop into mind.
- hit drawbridge release with a ranged weapon- trample creature to avoid a hazard
- use whip/lasso/rope to swing over pit (how did i not think of that earlier?)
Has anyone made a list of hazards for people to use, sorted by terrain type? A bunch of pregen hazards would make seting up a chase much easier, and help people in not repeating.
I really(!) like these ideas and think I wouldl ove to use some of them. I've never tried running a chase before, so I'm gonne read up on that now. One thing comes to mind though: What do you do / how do you explain it, when a PC doesn't succed on a roll? For example like knocking a guard out the way / hitting a switch for a drwbridge / swinging over a river - does the chase then end? (and in the case of the guard, turn into combat?)
In a Star Wars game I was in Saturday night one of the players killed an old lady on accident by hitting her with his swoop bike at an extremely high rate of speed during a chase scene. It was.. entertaining.
I really(!) like these ideas and think I wouldl ove to use some of them. I've never tried running a chase before, so I'm gonne read up on that now. One thing comes to mind though: What do you do / how do you explain it, when a PC doesn't succed on a roll? For example like knocking a guard out the way / hitting a switch for a drwbridge / swinging over a river - does the chase then end? (and in the case of the guard, turn into combat?)
They stay stuck on that card for a turn, so they have to get past the guard somehow next turn. The rules are fairly loose, so if the player wants to try something else like escape artist past him after you failed to knock him over, then go for it, but don't make it easy. Basicly, since every player is on a different card, allong with the pursued, not advancing while the opponent does advance puts them 1 step closer to the goal than you.
I once had a chase scene through a city that was an amalgam of Chinese, Korean and Japanese people, all ruled over by Arabian style overlords. I had a part where they could run through an opium den and had to make a Fort save or be overwhelmed by the opium. The paladin made the save. The sorcerer? Not so much. And the sorcerer's character knew how to play somebody on drugs and ended up blowing up the opium den.
I had Escape Artist and CMD checks for being accosted by crazy people, beggars, guards. Handle Animal to calm a panicked horse drawing a carriage (which was killed by the sorcerer, which led partly to the blowing up of the opium den). Diplomacy to convince guards they were supposed to leave their designated area, etc. I haven't figured out how to use every skill, but I think you could easily.
A little bit of thread necromancy, as this thread is 18 months old...
I just encountered the Chase Mechanic for the first time this weekend when I was running a PFS game. My players and I -loved- it. Watching one player's barbarian PC crash through the Chelaxian ambassador's tea party was hilarious.
Anyway, a question came up pretty quickly when some of the PCs repeatedly could not make the required rolls. The player asked, "can I just go around?" There seemed to be no rules on the subject and no reason why not, so I ruled on the spot.
Reasoning that the only reasons to go -through- the obstacles were A) that it was the fastest route, and B) it allowed the PC's to keep an eye on the fleeing target, I ruled that they could avoid certain (not all) of the obstacles by taking three times as long (3 rounds) and then making a successful Perception check to pick up the trail again.
I wonder if anyone else has encountered this question and how they resolved it?