Vehicle Chase Speed

[kahn265]

I have been prepping for my Monday session and noted something. Does the speed of the vehicle effect the chase?

Example using real life...

Lets say Danica Patrick and I decide to race. She is a much better driver than I am, so she takes a 1970 VW Beetle (top speed of 81 mph) and I take a Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse (top speed around 233 mph).

As I read the Starfinder vehicle chase rules, because she is a better driver than I am, she would easily win even though I have a car that can go almost 4 times the speed of hers. Admittedly, the DCs of the Bugatti are likely hire than the VW, but it still seems off to me...

Am I reading that right or have I missed something?

[HammerJack]

The only place the vehicle speed directly ties into the vehicle chase rules is that having a speed advantage reduces the penalty to perform a double maneuver.

Your example falls more into the meta application, wherein there's no reason to use vehicle chase rules at all if the speeds are so far apart that there is no realistic possibility of pursuit.

[kahn265]

HammerJack wrote:

The only place the vehicle speed directly ties into the vehicle chase rules is that having a speed advantage reduces the penalty to perform a double maneuver.

Your example falls more into the meta application, wherein there's no reason to use vehicle chase rules at all if the speeds are so far apart that there is no realistic possibility of pursuit.

That's fair. Thanks for the clarification!

Danica would be able to nail the double move DCs even in the slower car whereas I likely would not do great at the regular DCs.

[gnoams]

Chase rules are intended to simulate a chase through an environment with plenty of obstacles, not an open race track. So the skill of the driver is far more important then the speed of the vehicle.

[Metaphysician]

I don't know, going with that scenario. . . well, presuming that "you" are a random individual with no significant training or skill at driving beyond ordinary usage of a typical car in typical everyday circumstances?

The most likely outcome of this hypothetical chase strikes me as something like this:

1. Danica reaches and maintains the maximum speed of her Bug in a straight line, and does so indefinitely.

2. "You" try to rev up the Veyron to high speed to catch up. Having never driven a car nearly that fast before, you suffer oscillation at high speed, lose control, and flip the car over into a catastrophic crash.

*ahem*

[Cohlrox]

Almost everyone I have ever talked to who has read the vehicle chase rules agree that they are a complete mess in RAW and have to be houseruled or overhauled entirely in some way.

Those few pages of rules in the CRB definitely feel under developed or overlooked by Paizo.

Some common changes I have seen over the years have been the following.

Lower the DC of the "Keep Pace" driver action (commonly the change is, 5+ vehicle item level) and/or remove the fall back one space penalty for failures by greater than 5.

or

Increase the DC of the "Evade" driver action and/or make the evade action not move the vehicles up one space.

Re-roll initiative every round of vehicle chase.

Increase the total number of chase zones to 5.

Add a vehicle's speed counter that tracks the approximate speed in mph/kph of the involved vehicles. "Speed Up" and "Slow Down" actions adjusts that approximate speed counter which then applies increasing driver piloting penalties for going above certain speeds or bonuses for going below that speed based on the max speed of the vehicle.

Increase falling damage for falling off a vehicle during a chase based on the approximate speed of the chase at the time.