Running a Chase

So I was thinking about how awkward chases have been in my campaigns when I had a moment of clarity! Rather than trying to measure distances and movement speeds, which can make for some interesting rules layering, we should just boil it down to a single opposed roll. The person being chased (the runner) is either trying to out distance or out maneuver their pursuers. Which means the decision for how the chase should be run is up to the runner.

If the runner chooses to out run / out pace / out last their opponent, it all boils down to an opposed strength check (athletics if we're in 5e). If the environment is somehow more friendly to one side over the other, a bonus or penalty should be applied to the appropriate side. Should the runner succeed, the pursuer gives up or breaks down. Should the pursuer win, they catch up to the runner and make an action or the runner stops out of exhaustion. A DM might decide a runner's failed strength check instead of simply a lower one might mean the runner breaks down and gives up, while a passed but lower check means the chaser gets to catch up and make an action. In 5e that could be the equivalent of getting below a 10, or rolling a natural 1. Should they tie, it becomes a question of endurance, and we switch to constitution checks, with the loser falling prey to exhaustion.

Maneuvering through a complicated environment can give an edge to a weaker runner, but we must more closely examine the area. There must be a path the runner can take that takes into account movement other than a flat run. Maybe this is a clatter through a busy market knocking people and stalls over, a frantic scramble up a rocky hill pushing rocks back down, or a parkour adventure through a residential district. Whatever it is, the escape mechanism is done by putting objects in your opponents way to prevent them from chasing you. This calls for an opposed dexterity (or acrobatics) check with bonuses or penalties applied for the environment. Things to consider would be which side is more familiar with the area, how easy is it to make the chase route difficult or impassible, and are the people in the area friendly to one side or the other, to name a few. Should the runner win, they lose the chaser. Should the runner lose they either stumble and fall (and get caught) or the runner catches up to them. A tie would mean another set of opposed checks, or maybe a decision to switch to a straight race.

We can easily add people to one side or the other. With 1 runner and 2 chasers, the runner must beat both to escape. With 2 runners and 1 chaser, the runner who fails the worst is caught first. Having more than 1 on each side gets complicated very quickly, or we could just take an average of their scores and roll for the groups as a whole (should the runners agree that they'll stick together).

I've always known that chases should be either opposed str or dex checks, but the context of a race as either the runner outpacing the chaser or the runner trying to block the chaser has granted me some clarity and comprehension of the event. I hope it helpful to others as well.

Neal