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Post by sparkusclark on Apr 5, 2016 23:39:44 GMT
Okay, I'm hoping to run a (brief?) wilderness chase senerio this weekend with my players. It's going to be goblins and hobgoblins vs. a party of medium characters and a ranger's wolf (i.e. 25' & 30' vs. 30' & 40').
Has anyone run a chase sequences in 5e yet? If so, do you have any advice, rule changes, or even just a story of how it all went right/wrong?
Just trying to ease the pregame/new rules jitters.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2016 1:20:40 GMT
The DMG outlines some basic chase mechanics on p.252-255 if you have access to it. It's not too complicated, though I would keep those pages handy if I were to ever run them, myself, especially for the chase complications table, which seems like fun.
I've run two chases over the last year, neither of them using that system. For the first one, I simply used contested athletics checks with increasing penalties as the chase went on, to represent exhaustion. It worked fine, but wasn't as dramatic as I'd hoped. That's why I mention the DMG system, because the mechanics at least appear to be good at adding drama to the scene.
The second one was for an Adventurer's League game and had its own embedded system. I decided to play it out on a battle mat, which was a mistake. I used it more to show orientation and positioning, as the grid lines didn't translate to actual distances, but I think it still caused some confusion at the table, especially when one of the wagons crashed and the party split up - some continuing the chase, others stopping at the crash. If I had to do it all over again, I would keep the chase totally theater of the mind, and save the minis for the fighting around the crashed wagon.
As with any complex scenario, I find that test running it is the best way to hammer out the kinks. It won't necessarily catch them all, but it gives me a lot more confidence when it comes time to run the event.
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Post by DM Windhover on Apr 6, 2016 5:14:16 GMT
While I have not run a chase myself (yet), you may find it useful to look at this article by the ever-cursing Angry GM: How to Build Awesome Encounters. It's actually part of a larger series, and he makes references back to the previous articles, but even if you don't go back and read those (which I recommend if you have time and inclination) you might find it inspirational to look though some sections of this one in particular. In the italicized sections interspersed throughout he is creating a chase scene step by step, and I find his methodology helpful and inspirational. You may as well. I especially recommend reading the Decision Points sections--that's where he really turns the chase scene he's creating into a cinematic experience. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2016 10:04:35 GMT
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Post by sparkusclark on Apr 7, 2016 23:38:25 GMT
This does sound interesting, but I'm a bit unsure of how this 'bidding' works. To me it sounds like something that would slow down the game as each player argues over how high to go. And, as DM, it seems like I could easily bid better for the npcs. I do like the idea of the group skill check that allows them to pick which skill they'd want to use. It does feel like it could be quite creative. However, I'm not too sure on the bit of gaining or loosing distance, but that may just be my fear of math making the task seem more daunting than it actually is. Although! The article did lead me to this little number here which has a looser set of rules and no bidding (Though I would probabaly encourage creative skill checks because, hey, a good History check while running in the city of Waterdeep may offer a tid-bit of information that gives you an edge!) |
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Post by sparkusclark on Apr 11, 2016 5:19:50 GMT
Ran it tonight. Things went great and they really caught on after the first round. I ended up using a mix of things, but this is what it boiled down to: RULES:-Starting distance between party and their quarry: 6d6+60 -Roll for Initiative with the quarry in a seperate initiative than the players. -On each player's turn they roll an arguably appropriate skill check* against a member of the quarry's party** -Each loss triggered an event from the DMG for the next player in the Initiative order (Had the failing player roll a d10 on the list). -Every success gave the party a d10. -At the end of every round, the number of successes were totaled up (example: 3 wins = 3d10) with each d10 roll closing the distance (3d10 rolls 15 = 15' closer to quarry)
MECHANICS:-I ignored everyone's Base Speed when it came to the actual chase, opting for them to move as a group. This let things flow smoothly as we weren't worrying about the math. -This model assumes that everyone is using the Dash Action every round. If they stopped to use an action, they would drop back one space in the initiative. Failing a DMG event would drop them back two slots in the initiative. Dropping three slots below the lowest initiative takes them out of the chase (unless they use Haste or Expeditious Retreat at your discretion to catch back up). -Each round lasts 20seconds and characters have to start making CON saves after the first three rounds. Movie chases aside, here's an example of a real life chase that takes about 28seconds at a full run.
RESULTS:-Everyone had a good time after the getting used to the rules in the first round. A couple of pratfalls befell the party members, but even the Paladin in her armor was able to jump a small ravine, though it was after taking 2d4 from running into a hornets nest. The bard dropped out but then caught back up using Expeditious Retreat (which we imagined looking like this but at a full run:  In they end, the bard was the one to end the chase by casting Sleep at 2nd level. Lemme know how it works out for you guys and gals! *I even allowed them to roll Deception to try and fool their quarry into slowing down. **i.e. Therin rolls against the hobgoblin. Ceristus rolls against the bugbear. Mereille rolls against the hobgoblin again as the quarry party has only two members. |
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Post by paulhodgson777 on Jul 1, 2016 7:44:56 GMT
Has anyone run chases at higher levels? I am thinking of putting a chase into my next adventure with my level 13 characters, but things like the Misty Step and Fly spells and the Monk's Shadow Step ability could end the chase before it gets interesting. I was thinking I could get the characters to waste a few spell slots during the chase, and then run them into a tough combat... PS. Those alternate rules at dndhackersguild.weebly.com/blog/fast-and-fun-chase-rules-for-dnd-5e look great! |
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Post by joatmoniac on Jul 4, 2016 0:20:28 GMT
High level opponents could help to make the chase more exciting through the use of spells similiar, or counter spells/dispels. That list is an awesome place to start, and now I have to put it into a game of mine!
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