Chasing (e.g. Purge the Unclean)

By fortuneNext, in Dark Heresy Rules Questions

Hi Guys,

I'm just playing the first "Purge the Unclean"-Adventure called "Rejoice for you are true". We came up at Theodosia's chasing scene and realized that none of us understands the chasing rules.

The part in the adventure books says (p. 26):

"Catching Theodosia consists of making a series of Opposed Agility Tests between the Acolytes and the fleeing assasin. Theodosia's augmentations effectively allow him to take two Full Actions each Round. He may make a Full Move Action (he would be running if it was not for the dense crowds in the Hustle) while continuing to take raned Attack Actions with his guns. Theodosia has an Agility Bonus of 5, since he uses a Full Move Action each Round, he consistently moves 10 metres. Acolytes chasing after Theodosia will have to decide at what Speed they'll follow him. Remember that characters who Run or Charge take their Agility Test at -20 penalty due to the dense crowd of people filling the Hustle. On the first Round, he starts ten metres away from the PCs. If he ever manages to get thirty metres or more away from the nearest Acolyte in the teeming Hustle, he succeeds in losing the party."

Okay, i think, at some point in the rules I saw something about chasing, but I can't find it anymore. So we were absolutly not clear about what to do.

- As we understand, player options are running at half speed requiring an -20 agility test per round to not fall or making a full move without a test

- Opposed Agility Tests - for what? Is the -20 penalty for them? What do they do?

- What happens if they manage to get in range of him? Later text says he throws away his case, but only if they get too near - is there away to actually stop Theodosia?

Last question came up explicitly because there is a hive-world PC in the group which easily could run to him with 24m/s without a single agility test. There must be something that I didn't see since this text absolutly doesn't tell anything about what to do and theres no reference. Idea?

Greetings

fortuneNext

- Opposed Agility Tests - for what? Is the -20 penalty for them? What do they do?

I can't find anything that mentions what the opposed Agility tests are supposed to represent. The -20 is only in relation to running/charging through the crowd, so aslong as it's not a reference to trying to catch him, the -20 won't be applied.

- What happens if they manage to get in range of him? Later text says he throws away his case, but only if they get too near - is there away to actually stop Theodosia?

Stop him from throwing the case? Probably not, but never rule out the creativity of players.

Stop him from blowing up the case? Pass the Demo test to disarm the meltabomb or prevent him from setting the charge all together.

Stop him from getting away? Later text says he's supposed to. If the players somehow manage to kill him, they're not supposed to be able to recover the body so he can make a cliche BBEG reapperance while laughing at the Acolytes for thinking they killed him (the last part may not actually be in the book.)

Last question came up explicitly because there is a hive-world PC in the group which easily could run to him with 24m/s without a single agility test. There must be something that I didn't see since this text absolutly doesn't tell anything about what to do and theres no reference. Idea?

The Hiver will have to pass a hard(-20) Awareness test, other wise Theodosia will get to move during the surprise round. If there's a surprise round and Theodosia wins initiative, he'll hit the 30m mark before the Acolytes can do anything. You'll also want to re-read the Hiver's bonus, Hive charecters will still have to make an Agility test for run/charge, there's just no penalty.

Assuming he passes all those hurdles, then it's up to the GM to get creative. Off hand I'd probably make Theodosia run a bit further before tossing the case, at which point he'll either toss the case(forcing the PCs to either abandon the chase or further split up), or round the corner where the the 3 hired guns are waiting with delayed actions to fire on the Acolytes with shotguns at pointblank range.

There is nothing new under heaven and earth ….

Se my reply in port #8 of this old thread , and see if that helps :)

Ok both that comments help alot, thanks. :-)

Still I wonder what the Opposed Agility Tests are meant to do. Aren't there any chasing rules in one of the books or do I have it from some other system? :-/

There are rules for pursuit in Chapter 9 of the Inquisitors Handbook.

I guess these are the rules referred to, as Degrees of Sucess determine whether you catch up to or fall behind your target. However, these rules do not mix well with the combat rules, where movment is given as an absolute in meters.

Humh, seems legit. Well, this does not really make sense indeed since you cant determine the real distance at a round before end. Well thanks!