So my players were captured by a thieves guild that they had a bit of a scuffle(as in they killed a thief who had stolen from them), and were told they were going to be executed. The guild also confiscated the dragons toe which is a vital object in the campaign. Through a bit of charm and a bit of luck, they managed to convince the lower level thieves to not kill them, so instead the thieves dressed them up as wanted criminals from their guild. Right before they were “turned in” to the courthouse, it was discovered that the head of the guild was someone who they hated, and a fight broke out. It was tough, some almost died, but defeated her. They managed to retrieve the dragon toe and find their way out of the guild.
The thing is, they are still disguised as dangerous, highly wanted criminals, and I’m thinking they’re probably going to end up being chased by the police in this town. I’m not sure if they get caught, of course it depends on them. How would the mechanics of a police chase work? And if they get caught what would the mechanics be?
I recommend using a Skill Challenge from 4E to do the chase. Skill challenges allow the players to pick skills with which they are proficient, taking it in turns, and each one narrates how he or she is using the skill. You decide the DC based on what they described, and then they roll against the skill to determine success/failure. You keep a tally of successes/failures, and they have to get a certain number of successes before they get 3 failures (3 is always the # of failures). If they succeed at getting the requisite # of successes, they escape. If they fail, they are captured.
I have used skill challenges instead of hex crawls when traveling overland, and they work well. I also used one to close a portal of an enemy trying to summon a Shadow Dragon from the Shadowfell. That was awesome, as they got to 4-2, and the next roll was going to either succeed (5) or fail (3). They used Inspiration and the Sorcerer's lucky die to make sure they got that final success, and closed the portal. It was epic.
Colville describes a skill challenge in his Running the Game #21:
As for what happens if they get caught... well, that depends on your world. Is there a justice system? Do they go on trial? Is there a jury? If there is a trial I could see doing that also as a skill challenge, using persuade, intimidate, maybe deception.
And if they get caught what would the mechanics be?
Do mean the procedure of them being taken prisoner and put in the criminal justice system? There’s really no way to answer that. It depends on what the city is like, what the country is like, what kind of resources the force has, how disciplined/corrupt, what they think the players are wanted for, etc.
The simplest answer is that they get thrown in a dungeon and for all practical game purposes, they either get themselves out or spend the rest of their lives there.
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So my players were captured by a thieves guild that they had a bit of a scuffle(as in they killed a thief who had stolen from them), and were told they were going to be executed. The guild also confiscated the dragons toe which is a vital object in the campaign. Through a bit of charm and a bit of luck, they managed to convince the lower level thieves to not kill them, so instead the thieves dressed them up as wanted criminals from their guild. Right before they were “turned in” to the courthouse, it was discovered that the head of the guild was someone who they hated, and a fight broke out. It was tough, some almost died, but defeated her. They managed to retrieve the dragon toe and find their way out of the guild.
The thing is, they are still disguised as dangerous, highly wanted criminals, and I’m thinking they’re probably going to end up being chased by the police in this town. I’m not sure if they get caught, of course it depends on them. How would the mechanics of a police chase work? And if they get caught what would the mechanics be?
I recommend using a Skill Challenge from 4E to do the chase. Skill challenges allow the players to pick skills with which they are proficient, taking it in turns, and each one narrates how he or she is using the skill. You decide the DC based on what they described, and then they roll against the skill to determine success/failure. You keep a tally of successes/failures, and they have to get a certain number of successes before they get 3 failures (3 is always the # of failures). If they succeed at getting the requisite # of successes, they escape. If they fail, they are captured.
I have used skill challenges instead of hex crawls when traveling overland, and they work well. I also used one to close a portal of an enemy trying to summon a Shadow Dragon from the Shadowfell. That was awesome, as they got to 4-2, and the next roll was going to either succeed (5) or fail (3). They used Inspiration and the Sorcerer's lucky die to make sure they got that final success, and closed the portal. It was epic.
Colville describes a skill challenge in his Running the Game #21:
As for what happens if they get caught... well, that depends on your world. Is there a justice system? Do they go on trial? Is there a jury? If there is a trial I could see doing that also as a skill challenge, using persuade, intimidate, maybe deception.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Chapter 8 of the DMG actually has a section specific on chases.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/running-the-game#Chases
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Do mean the procedure of them being taken prisoner and put in the criminal justice system? There’s really no way to answer that. It depends on what the city is like, what the country is like, what kind of resources the force has, how disciplined/corrupt, what they think the players are wanted for, etc.
The simplest answer is that they get thrown in a dungeon and for all practical game purposes, they either get themselves out or spend the rest of their lives there.