Give me some chase obstacles

[Eltab]

- Slow-moving train at railroad crossing. One boxcar has both doors wide open so you could get through the train that way. (Must abandon your vehicle unless you are The Dukes of Hazzard)
- Train approaching railroad crossing. Must play "Beat The Train" to keep chasing target who already went through
- Train approaching railroad crossing, if you time it just right you can "Beat the Train" but the guys chasing you can't.
- Wagon version of above: caravan moving on cross-street is sticking together and inhibiting traffic on your street
- Magical forest with a taste for blood - you want to look up in awe of the giant redwoods; the thorn bushes below take a whack at you when you wander near
- Mangrove swamp has roots sticking out sideways from the trees and into the bayou path
- Some mangrove roots are just barely below the surface and mess with your shallow-draft boat
- Traffic cop stops the guy you are chasing. Do you want to walk over and draw his attention?
- Traffic cop stops the guy you are chasing, who uses Persuasion on him to try to get the cop to bust you too
- Another chase from a different direction gets in the way of yours.
- Somebody dumps a chamberpot from a third-floor window. If you don't get splattered you must dodge the mess or might slip in it. If you do get splattered, penalty to CHR until you clean up

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

- Another chase from a different direction gets in the way of yours.

I was getting ready to post the exact same thing.

 

[GMMichael]

6. Space herpes.

Sounds like cause to give up the chase.

Let's not forget the venerable cut off by steam train/subway train/mag train.

 

[Eltab]

Harry Turtledove wrote a series of novels based on "What If the South survived the Civil War?"
Something he didn't address but could be used here: the gauge (width) of the road.
Most Union railroads had gauges between 4' 8" and 4' 10" (and the cars rocked dangerously side-to-side even if they had wheels wide enough to cover the difference). The Erie RR famously had a 6' gauge until they realized they could not share cars - or customers - with anybody else. In contrast, Confederate railroads all had a 5' gauge.
So when the automobile becomes a big thing, the manufacturers adopt the same gauge as the local railroads.
A Union driver on a Confederate highway thinks he has plenty of elbow room, but a Confederate driver on a Union highway thinks the road is narrow and cramped.

You can see a similar effect today when you drive from county-to-county or state-to-state or side-street-to-main-thoroughfare, based on how much shoulder the road has. So we finally get to the obstacle:
- You run into a narrow section that impedes traffic, or a wider section that offers space to gain speed and time.

- The guy in front deliberately sideswipes somebody else to make HIM into an obstacle for you as the victim tries to regain control of his vehicle.

 

[Ancalagon]

- Another chase from a different direction gets in the way of yours.

I did something a bit like that except it wasn't another chase, it was another fight. On tatooine, during a blaster fight, a bunch of jawas used the commotion to attack and capture/steal bystander droids...

 

[AnimeSniper]

Well you could have a sick spellcaster or elemental bloodline holder suddenly sneeze causing them to either cast a spell/drop a potion or merely freeze/shoot a jet of their elemental across the street... commotion ensues

 

[PieAndDragon]

I want to make a few random lists of chase obstacles. I'll keep the system-neutral for now, as this sort of thing can be used for any game, but it would be cool to have lists for different genres.

Morrus, would you mind me putting these in an OGRE generator? Or have you got other plans for these?

 

[Morrus]

Morrus, would you mind me putting these in an OGRE generator? Or have you got other plans for these?

They don’t belong to me!

 

[Eltab]

Space obstacles:
- Prime Directive interference, as the locals have launched a Voyager I and II style probe to flyby / investigate the gas giant where you are lurking / observing
- Millennium Falcon and the asteroid belt: a bunch of rotating rocks moving not-really-randomly
- BBEG travelled down to the planet and his spaceship left without him (as a diversion). You have to land too and figure out where he went on the surface so you can chase him again.
- You and the target shared a Traveler passenger liner which was attacked by pirates. He takes an escape capsule in the confusion; so did a lot of other people.
- Dive on a planet for a flyby and course change. The guy in front drops explosive mines or just big metal masses for you to crash into. You must stay close to his path or you will depart on wildly different vectors.
- Can you locate and hide in the Genesis Cave deep inside an otherwise-unremarkable XL rock?

 

[ajanders]

More suggestions

Fantasy wilderness

• Bees. The first group through is fine, but they're ready for the second group.
• A migrating heard of Perfectly Normal Beasts (tm), elephants, dire elk. or even normal caribou. Too busy to attack, but not going to get out of the way. Too many to fireball, too big to stop without a major wall spell.
• The tide came in...the sand was dry ten minutes ago!
• For aquatic PC's or boat chases, the tide went OUT.
• Your quarry throws a comb behind them and it transforms into a giant oak forest. Then they throw a pebble behind them and it transforms into a mountain. It would be nice if Baba Yaga kept track of her things.

Fantasy Urban

• A street illusionist is performing a show. The party has to sort out what's real and what's not as they barrel through the one illusionist version of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead".