I had a situation come up when I was running Mistaken Identity. Phillipe got caught cheating and was going to run away and make a mad dash upstairs and jump off the balcony; so I asked everyone to roll for initiative.

Phillipe gets the first move as he had 3 successes to the Pc's highest of 2. Now the problem is that in the FAQ it states that an NPC can burn wounds to gain extra maneuvers. Well, he had 14 wounds (townsfolk NPC) and with that many he can "purchase" enough maneuvers to reach extreme range (and then some)!!!

I did see the paragraph on the Chase scene in the TOA but I it just seemed odd to halt the game and set up a track for a scene that wasn't going to last too long...

I handled it in story mode and just asked the PC's what they wanted to do and told them what happened without rolling dice. I guess I was stumped because I didn't really understand how long a turn is and the distances are so vague (in regards to range) that I didn't really know how far anyone can move if they tried to run.

Should I just have had the PC's who wanted to chase make athletics (running) checks with an opposed roll vs Athletics (St) and if anyone succeeded they catch him? ( even though Phillipe won initiative?) I mean even though Phillipe won initiative, could the PC's use the "Perform a Stunt" ( and I would add the reaction trait) to try and jump him before he gets too far away? Using an oppose roll between Athletics (St) vs. Athletics or maybe Athletics vs. Coordination (dodge) (Ag)?

How long is a turn? Is an NPC limited by the amount of wounds he can burn gaining extra maneuvers?

thanks

For a quick chase you can just run a progress track in your head. Have some number that represents escape. Make phillipe make an appropriate Action (probably just an Easy Athletics check (although I'd base it on the player's choice of Str and Ag or even Int) unless he wants to swing from the chandelier, or jump over tables, etc) and add the number of successes to his total. Then his pursuers can roll. If Phillippe gets to the total first he's escaped. If someone else gets it first (or perhaps gets to Phillipe's current score) then they have caught up with him.

The length of a turn or the distance between things is pretty irrelevent to a chase, coz the intensity will change with the context. If you're chasing through a bustling market or through the alleyways of a slum you want lots of little rolls to give that sort of feel. if you're pursuing the bloody disciples of Khemri across the desert you might only want one roll per day.

Interesting anyone have treat running away the same or differently?

What methods have you guys come up with to handle NPC's trying to run away?

I have cribbed a bit from Green Ronin's A Song of Ice and Fire RPG, which aimed to make chases a little more flavorful.

I set an arbitrary number 'x' either using a progress tracker or in my head. The winner must exceed their opponents by a number of successes equal to x. So, 3 for fairly straight forward, fast chases where the quarry can quickly lose their pursuer (e.g. a city, a series of twisting alleys, heavy traffic, etc.) maybe 5 for something longer terms with better sight lines (rooftops, etc.) and more for open prairie. Meaning once one side gets 3 more successes than their opponent they either escape (if they are the quarry) or they catch them (if they are the pursuer).

Everything is a straight opposed roll, all I care about is success unless the PC/NPC wants to do something. Maybe upend a vegetable cart to slow the pursuer (add a difficulty to their check, and a success there means they impose misfortune to their pursuer). A PC/NPC might try to push himself faster, in which case they can expend fatigue to gain fortune dice.

Also, like in the SIFRP, I allow the PCs to expend fortune to find clues, or advance the storyline, or put something to hand. So maybe they expend a fortune during their escape to say that they run by that vegetable cart, or perhaps there is a crowd of folks performing in the square that they can lose themselves in (giving them a bonus to their roll and a misfortune to their opponents) or something similar.

My concern about chases is to make it clear to players that we flip out of "monsters take wounds for moving faster" mode and into a test that should combine base speed and endurance as concepts (Toughness), with "lose them in twists/turns or woods" thrown in.

In short haul, Speed is what counts most, get a fortune die if you've better Toughness; in long haul, Toughness is what counts most, get a fortune die if you've better speed. In either instance, clever use of terrain, abilities to track help and hinder as well.

For the long haul, think Lord of the Rings, the overland pursuit of the orcs (book or movie) or Princess Bride and the pursuit by the masked man.

Rob

im in favor of the progress track. this allows for players to do more or less anything to catch the target, or, if they are the ones running, to lose their enemies. remember, you dont need to just keep rolling athletics(running) checks to get away. if you are in a city, you can use some sort of area knowledge to help you get away, or climb something, or stealth, or, if you are being really clever, you could use a social skill to get someone to hide you.

im always a fan of letting creativity and color ride over mechanics, so i find this way more enjoyable, it also allows characters who may not be strong runners to help out in a chase.

I use cunning as a method of getting extra manouvers each turn. As it represents how smart and orientated a creature or NPC is.

When the gambler decided to run away, by turning over the table, you could have used that incidence as a rallystep, saying that Phillipe used his rallystep action to move away. Than let the players decide what they will do for their rally step action.

next I would have used a progress tracker for chasing him down.

first create a number of spaces based on the gambler`s Cunning or AG, than place an event marker
than place a number of spaces based on the party`s highest AG or TO (to indicate the furtherst reach the PCs can achieve), followed by another event marker.

if the party used their rallystep action to anything else than make a manouvre, they are two steps behind the gambler. if they moved right away, they are only one step behind.

Than its time to make Athletic rolls, you can make individuals rolls by placing the stand-up tokens to each player on the tracker. or do the group thing. sucess means advancing one step on the tracker, three successes two steps. each double or single bane gives you a a fatigue.

If the gambler reaches the first event before the party, something bad happens to the players, like the gambler could have found time to load his pistol and can now make a free shot against his pursuers. or maybe the party cannot see him anymore, roll for observations, difficulty is the number of spaces they are behind, or that a wagon suddenly block their way, (make appropiate rolls)

if the players reachers the first event before the gambler they caught up with him. allow the party or the players that caught up with him to roll a free attack.

If the gambler reaches the end of the tracker, before the party or players, he have sucessfully skipped town or are safe from the players.
if the party reaches the end of the tracker before the gambler, they have caught up with him again. If this is the second time they caught up with him, let him run into the arms of a watchman patrol.

something like that I would have done.

Way I look at it:

If a regular "creature" type baddie is trying to run away it is already defeated, if the party does not chase it just runs off, if the do, it dies, either the players catch up and kill it, or it burns enough wounds trying to run away that it "dies" from that.

If it is a creature or NPC activley trying to evade the party, or get away, or it would matter if some normal "baddies" got away (ie a group of beastmen that run off run straight into a village of hapless citizens) or an NPC of note, then a tracker is setup.

Of course all of this is subject to circumstance and creative roleplaying by the characters, if they devise a trap or baricade to stop fleeing or escaping foes, that changes the very naure of the whole event.