D&D 5E How the heck do you use the Chase rules in the DMG?

FormerlyHemlock · Oct 21, 2015

Psikerlord# said:
Yep you cant use standard moves for chasing, it's too predictable. I suggest rolling for random gain/loss distances (I like 3d10), worked well for me.

I like the 2nd edition rules. Modified for 5E:

When moving in a near-straight line (i.e. chase situation), you can use your action to make a special Dash called a Sprint, which comes in multiple levels.

Sprint 1: make a single DC 10 Str (Athletics) check to double your Dash bonus distance this round (so you'd move 90' total instead of 60'). At the end of this round, make a DC 10 Con (Athletics) check to avoid taking one level of fatigue temporarily (goes away next short rest).

Sprint 2: make a DC 10 Str (Athletics) check and a DC 14 Str Athletics (check) to increase your Dash bonus distance this round. One success = double Dash distance, two successes = triple it. At the end of this round, make a DC 14 Con (Athletics) check to avoid taking one level of fatigue temporarily (goes away next short rest).

Sprint 3: make Str (Athletics) checks of DC 10, 14, and 18 to increase Dash bonus distance up to quadruple if all succeed. Con check is DC 18.

Etc., etc.

To sprint as fast as a high school track star (15.9 mph = 139' per round), you'd need to pass all three checks on a Sprint 3 (giving you 150' movement). A Valor Bard might be able to do that pretty reliably. To run as fast as Usain Bolt (28 mph = 246' per round), you'd probably want to start off as a Mobile Wood Elf with 45' of movement and then Sprint 4, passing four checks at DC 10, 14, 18, 22 for a top speed of 270' per round, and then pass a DC 22 check to avoid fatigue.

The net effect is that a monster can hope to put on enough of a burst of speed to catch up and make an opportunity attack or two, but eventually fitness wins out. It makes combat less predictable.

Psikerlord# · Oct 21, 2015

Hemlock said:
I like the 2nd edition rules. Modified for 5E:

When moving in a near-straight line (i.e. chase situation), you can use your action to make a special Dash called a Sprint, which comes in multiple levels.

Sprint 1: make a single DC 10 Str (Athletics) check to double your Dash bonus distance this round (so you'd move 90' total instead of 60'). At the end of this round, make a DC 10 Con (Athletics) check to avoid taking one level of fatigue temporarily (goes away next short rest).

Sprint 2: make a DC 10 Str (Athletics) check and a DC 14 Str Athletics (check) to increase your Dash bonus distance this round. One success = double Dash distance, two successes = triple it. At the end of this round, make a DC 14 Con (Athletics) check to avoid taking one level of fatigue temporarily (goes away next short rest).

Sprint 3: make Str (Athletics) checks of DC 10, 14, and 18 to increase Dash bonus distance up to quadruple if all succeed. Con check is DC 18.

Etc., etc.

To sprint as fast as a high school track star (15.9 mph = 139' per round), you'd need to pass all three checks on a Sprint 3 (giving you 150' movement). A Valor Bard might be able to do that pretty reliably. To run as fast as Usain Bolt (28 mph = 246' per round), you'd probably want to start off as a Mobile Wood Elf with 45' of movement and then Sprint 4, passing four checks at DC 10, 14, 18, 22 for a top speed of 270' per round, and then pass a DC 22 check to avoid fatigue.

The net effect is that a monster can hope to put on enough of a burst of speed to catch up and make an opportunity attack or two, but eventually fitness wins out. It makes combat less predictable.

Yeah I dont mind that either - at least it makes the distances variable which is great.

Saeviomagy · Oct 21, 2015

I've used the chase rules as written. The main flaw with them is that people closely pursuing each other will get radically different complications, even when logically the second and subsequent people through an area should be encountering the same obstacle.

Other than that, things went pretty well.

I think that the best thing to do is to draw a map as the chase unfolds, and allow people to take alternate routes in the hope either no or a different complication comes up, at the expense of potentially losing their quarry/friends.

jayoungr · Oct 21, 2015

Quickleaf said:
How'd they compare to the DMG rules?

I'd call the en5ider chase rules a refinement of the DMG rules. They offer a way to keep more precise track of distances between each of the participants in a chase, without having to use a grid. They also solve this problem...

Saeviomagy said:
I've used the chase rules as written. The main flaw with them is that people closely pursuing each other will get radically different complications, even when logically the second and subsequent people through an area should be encountering the same obstacle.

The en5ider article has a way of "placing" the obstacles so that multiple people can encounter them, or pay in distance to go around them. Another way around that is to design your obstacles carefully, so that they would logically only affect one person before going away.

However, both the DMG and en5ider chase systems still require some handwaving if the chase is not happening in a straight line. Air chases in particular could be a little tricky. They should still be possible, just a little less precise.

Saeviomagy · Oct 22, 2015

I wasn't suggesting a grid - my use of the word map is a bit loose. It's enough to keep track of how far each person has moved in total, and at what distances the various obstructions are at. I like the idea of paying with distance to find an alternative route, and I'll probably add that next time around (the first obstruction rolled is for the primary route, and you can spend some movement to roll again. Each obstruction is recorded along with the movement cost to take that path, and pursuers probably also run the risk of losing their quarry if they deviate from the path that was taken).

I think that designing obstructions such that they are single shot would ruin most of the fun that I've seen the chase rules produce: mainly the option to mess with pursuers by manipulating an obstruction is lost.

CaptainGemini · Oct 22, 2015

I don't use the DMG chase rules. I just ask players what they're going to do, ask for a Dex check every so often to reflect them gaining on the enemy, and ask for the appropriate checks if they decide to do something wild. Unless that wild item happens often, then I just have them make a single check and use that result for a few rounds.

The result tends to be a quite cinematic chase, but the players have fun with it.

Quickleaf · Oct 24, 2015

We're wrapping up our first chase using the DMG rules pretty much straight out of the book, with a slightly customized wilderness complications list.

Our scenario picked up after a nasty fight with a death dog and its hound/zombie hound pack...the PCs were chasing the death dog which had a major headstart, and also the ability to turn ethereal while within fog (though it still left tracks even while ethereal). However, the PCs were mounted and had a sense of where it was located. The chase become a bit circular, with a pack of zombie dogs pursuing the PCs who were pursuing the death dog which was pursuing one of the separated PCs that was cursed by its Sign of Ill Omen! Whew!

We ruled that because of its intermittent etherealness, the death dog couldn't be attacked until it was corralled into a fog-free area or otherwise exhausted.

We also skipped the whole "the quarry makes a Stealth check" bit. Mainly because the etherealness had made the death dog a PITA to fight previously, I guess.

Our big take-away was there wasn't enough for players to do to meaningfully & interestingly change the outcome of the chase. They felt a little hammered by the complications but didn't know what they could do to stop the quarry without being able to attack.

My tongue-in-cheek response being, of course, "it's D&D, you can try what you can imagine."

But it did make me realize that some kind of chase maneuvers might go a long way. Any resources out there introduce any more structure to 5e chases, by giving the players "more to do"?

D&D 5E How the heck do you use the Chase rules in the DMG?

FormerlyHemlock

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