Chase Scenes

[Kyle Baird]

nosig wrote:

Kyle Baird wrote:

If you're one card behind, you're 30 ft away. If you're a caster, how is it any different than if you were 30-ft away on a battlemat?

ah... on a battlemat I'll move 30' and cast the spell/give aid? On a chase, I have to take a standard action to pass the "Gate Skill Check" and a move to move to the next card... IF I pass the check.

So, no aid. If I do aid, I don't get to try to pass the "Gate Skill Check", which leaves me behind. So... one aid roll and I loose the chase.

So you believe you have to keep moving cards? Why not cast a spell directed at the guy you're chasing? Grease? Web? Slow? Meteor Swarm?

[nosig]

Kyle Baird wrote:

I somewhat disagree nosig, no matter how good the GM is, if they don't like a particular thing (encounter/NPC/mechanic/whatever), it will always be a less enjoyable time than when the same GM runs something they enjoy. The hatred for those things always bleeds through, even if it's just a little and the experience is still considered 'enjoyable' to the players.

Mr. Baird, I would feel comfortable saying that you could run a scenario that you did not enjoy - and provide a game the players would. While it is true that you would be even BETTER if you were running something that you enjoyed, I still feel that what Chris Rathunde was suggesting (that the reason his/her players were not enjoying the chase was due to the judge not enjoying it) is not correct. All I have to support this is opinion and my (limited) observations.

The reverse I am sure is not correct. I know that at least one of the chase scenarios that I have played, the judge seemed to enjoy himself, yet at least half the players felt the chase spoiled a very good scenario. I believe it is true for all the ones I've played. (the judge enjoyed them, at least half the players did not).

Again, this is just my opinion.

edit: I just realized something. Perhaps it was the fact that I was one of the players? I hope I did not spoil it for the other players... but I don't think I did. I try to RP it up as much as I can, in the back of the group, cheering on the home team...

[nosig]

Kyle Baird wrote:

nosig wrote:

Kyle Baird wrote:

If you're one card behind, you're 30 ft away. If you're a caster, how is it any different than if you were 30-ft away on a battlemat?

ah... on a battlemat I'll move 30' and cast the spell/give aid? On a chase, I have to take a standard action to pass the "Gate Skill Check" and a move to move to the next card... IF I pass the check.

So, no aid. If I do aid, I don't get to try to pass the "Gate Skill Check", which leaves me behind. So... one aid roll and I loose the chase.

So you believe you have to keep moving cards? Why not cast a spell directed at the guy you're chasing? Grease? Web? Slow? Meteor Swarm?

I'm sorry, I do not understand your reply, "So you believe you have to keep moving cards?". What moving cards?

If my PC aids another to pass a Skill Check, that is my action for that round. I still have that skill challenge ahead of me. The person I aided (hopefully) has moved on. This means that I have fallen behind in the chase, and likely can have little or no effect on the outcome. I'll still stay in there chugging away - who knows the rest of them may all brake a leg and I'll catch up. But more than likely not.

As to casting spells. Every chase I have played the PCs have started more than 1 skill check behind the target, and each time he has gone before us. Each time, due to circumstances beyond our control, we have not had spells/ranged attacks that could effect him. (Often this was due to the judges statement that we could not catch a clear view of the target, or he was to far away, or around a corner, etc.) Perhaps it is just the judges - and one day I'll sit at a table where we have a fun Chase. But I'm kind of short on scenarios now, as I have played almost everything (I think I have 6 left now). So it will most likely have to be a chase in season 5, as I think I have played all the current ones available.

[BigNorseWolf]

Kyle Baird wrote:

If you're one card behind, you're 30 ft away. If you're a caster, how is it any different than if you were 30-ft away on a battlemat?

This part

The terrain where the chase takes place might provide the target partial or even full cover or concealment, as you wish.

The few times i've seen a chase scene run that was interpreted to mean that something in between the cards broke line of sight/line of effect.

[TriOmegaZero]

Oddly enough the best chase I've ever been a part of was in an AP, and I was playing a wizard who had all the right spells. That probably was the biggest factor in my enjoyment, as the following times the characters weren't suited to it and didn't have fun.

[TriOmegaZero]

I also just ran a 'chase scene' in a high-level scenario from before chase scenes were written, and my players had a blast.

[Quadstriker]

I've had chases that were very enjoyable and chases that were a one way ticket to snoozetown and it was all due to the particular gm AND players at the table. It's a great opportunity for a *collaborative* story telling sequence if done right, and a boring "roll x skill to proceed" time if you're stuck at a table with lumps.

[Dhenn]

I'm rather ambivalent about them in general, as I've had good ones (I enjoyed the S6 one mentioned above as both a GM and a player), and terrible ones (my level one witch barely making it to the second card by the time the rest of the players finished).

I do have to say, though, that I really like the quasi-chase scene included in the Silverhex Chronicles. For those unfamiliar, PCs have 3 rounds to achieve (# of players*2) successful skill checks, encouraging the GM to accept creative solutions. For low-level characters it's much more forgiving, as even if you're trying to be well rounded, you haven't had a chance to invest in a lot of skills. There's a somewhat similar "social chase" scene in a different S6

Spoiler:

On Sharrowsmith's Trail

that I think also works quite nicely.

I hope we see more of these going forward. I think they tend to flow more naturally than traditional chase scenes, and avoid both having to explain the subsystem to new players and the groans of more experienced ones.

[Chris Lambertz]

Removed a series of posts. Please don't necro older threads just to stir up grar.

[Ascalaphus]

... I'm slightly puzzled why my post was removed.

I asked the necro dude what scenario had ticked him off, because in my experience the newer scenarios have better chance scenes.

Older scenarios often feature chases that are "every man for himself", where people get left behind. In newer scenarios I've seen much more enjoyable chases where it's more of a group effort.

So my point was, chase scenes are "RPG technology", and that technology has advanced since its debut.

[TriOmegaZero]

Posts quoting the removed post also get removed to prevent remnants of the offense from remaining.

[Ascalaphus]

I suppose that's for the best.