Cut To The Chase

[JimAde]

Yer darn tooting.



Yes, it does. Otherwise, I'm charging the people who bought the first one twice for the same rules. And I LOVE the people who bought the first one. They're my favourite people.

Well at least somebody likes me.

You know the first thing I used Hot Pursuit for was a foot chase. It worked fine (using Dex checks instead of skills) but I'm looking forward to the more specific stuff.

 

[barsoomcore]

Let me know what you think about it! I'm always trying to find the right balance that encourages players to have more fun.

 

[iwatt]

Corey,

my players took forever in destroying a golem last night so I didn't get to do the chase scene I wanted. I'll get to it next week (I hope :\ ).

 

[barsoomcore]

How did you find the book itself?

 

[iwatt]

How did you find the book itself?

I find the book quite explanatory and adequate as an appendix to Hot Pursuit. As I think you made clear, this was never intended as a standalone product. As in Hot Pursuit, I really liked your examples, including the witty banter between DM and Players. What I really like about the rules is that they reflect a DMing philosophy I try to follow: allowing PCs to have access to cool moves will lead to fun for everyone.

I might as well ask about what effect do you envision Spring Attack might have on the melee attack. I'm thinking it reduces the penalty for attack from -4 to -2 or 0. Ditto for shot on the run.

 

[Old Drew Id]

Barsoom - we played last week with the HP rules and enjoyed it. One question: how is Speed supposed to change throughout a chase? We couldn't find any reference for that, which seemed to indicate that once you define the chase speed at the start of the chase, you are stuck at that speed the whole time. I house-ruled that, barring other considerations, the chase would accelerate each round until it reached that maximum possible for the given terrain. I understand that changing the terrain would cause the chase speed to change, but if you change terrain from swampy close terrain to wide open, do you instantly accelerate up to crusing speed, or does it take a round or two? Also, is there an intended maneuver for a pursuer to force a change in terrain?

 

[GMSkarka]

Barsoom - we played last week with the HP rules and enjoyed it. One question: how is Speed supposed to change throughout a chase? We couldn't find any reference for that, which seemed to indicate that once you define the chase speed at the start of the chase, you are stuck at that speed the whole time. I house-ruled that, barring other considerations, the chase would accelerate each round until it reached that maximum possible for the given terrain. I understand that changing the terrain would cause the chase speed to change, but if you change terrain from swampy close terrain to wide open, do you instantly accelerate up to crusing speed, or does it take a round or two? Also, is there an intended maneuver for a pursuer to force a change in terrain?

From the Introduction:

Full Speed All The Time

The big assumption this system makes has to do with speed. Hot Pursuit assumes that all chase participants are always going as fast as they can -- at all times. Got that? It’s important, so keep it in your mind as you read on. The “Speed” chapter explains it all. We promise.

I take that to mean that the speed, being abstract, instantly changes when the terrain changes, since the participants are always going as fast as they can.

 

[barsoomcore]

GMS has the right of it. d20 generally speaking ignores acceleration -- you can be standing perfectly still one round, run flat out the next round, and stand perfectly still the next round. I stuck with that paradigm. I've tried to work with acceleration in other systems and always found it a HUGE pain.

"Stuck" at a chase speed seems like weird terminology to me so I wonder if there hasn't been some confusion. You can change the current speed category of the chase in one of two ways: either by altering the Speed of the fastest participant, or by changing the Terrain of the chase (which you can do via the Breakaway maneuver).

Your house rules sound just fine to me, though.

 

[barsoomcore]

I might as well ask about what effect do you envision Spring Attack might have on the melee attack. I'm thinking it reduces the penalty for attack from -4 to -2 or 0. Ditto for shot on the run.

You know, I never even considered it (combat != to chase in my world). Makes sense to me. Good thinking.

 

[Old Drew Id]

How about the action that would allow a pursuer to alter the terrain? I was thinking of something like this:

Corral (Pursuer only)
Range: Short
Reaction: Yes

You attempt to edge up on your prey and force them to choose between allowing you to get closer, or altering course to maintain their distance.

Declare a terrain type before rolling your check. If you beat your opponent's check, your opponent has the option of allowing you to close to point blank range, or keeping you at short range but altering the terrain to the one of your choosing.