So I ended my last session with a bad guy running away after a combat that did not go his way, and it seems likely that the party will pursue and try to catch him. I’ve reviewed the rules in the DMG for chase scenes, and they seem great except I’m not sure how they succeed in catching the bad guy. My Druid, for instance, is in boar form and thus has a speed of 40 compared to the quarry’s 30, so she will catch up to him probably her next turn, but with using the dash action won’t actually have an action to take. Is this just part of the challenge? Getting there with enough room to spare to get a spell or a grapple check off? The boar has a grapple ability with its attack, but she needs an action to do it. Do they “win” when they catch up to him or it is up to obstacles and exhaustion to put him within a short enough distance to get an attack? Between the monk, the druid, and the rogue they’re going to have no problem catching up to him but it’s not clear to me if they just have to run until someone is exhausted or fails a check, which seems kinda boring if they never get a grapple check
Well there are restrictions to using the Dash action as well as complications that could arise every turn. So the chase shouldn't be that cut and dry (the rules were created specifically to prevent boring chases).
The chase ends if the quarry is able to get out of sight long enough, becomes too exhausted to move, or is prevented from moving by the pursuers (via grapple, shoves, spell effect, or just plain surrounding them).
Well there are restrictions to using the Dash action as well as complications that could arise every turn. So the chase shouldn't be that cut and dry (the rules were created specifically to prevent boring chases).
The chase ends if the quarry is able to get out of sight long enough, becomes too exhausted to move, or is prevented from moving by the pursuers (via grapple, shoves, spell effect, or just plain surrounding them).
So does it matter if the pursuers have more movement than the quarry? The Druid is 10 ft behind the quarry as we left it last game. Next turn she will catch up and the turn after have 10 ft ahead , but still not have an attack action. What’s to prevent it from simply being a constitution roll-off to see who’s exhausted first?
Well there are restrictions to using the Dash action as well as complications that could arise every turn. So the chase shouldn't be that cut and dry (the rules were created specifically to prevent boring chases).
The chase ends if the quarry is able to get out of sight long enough, becomes too exhausted to move, or is prevented from moving by the pursuers (via grapple, shoves, spell effect, or just plain surrounding them).
So does it matter if the pursuers have more movement than the quarry? The Druid is 10 ft behind the quarry as we left it last game. Next turn she will catch up and the turn after have 10 ft ahead , but still not have an attack action. What’s to prevent it from simply being a constitution roll-off to see who’s exhausted first?
Being faster does give you an advantage (as it should). The quarry could change direction if they are headed off. They could also try to improvise to create an obstacle to slow down the pursuers (see every chase scene for any action movie/game ever). Each character also has a 50% chance of a complication every turn, so there is a lot of RNG mixing it up.
Is suspect the rogue and/or monk are going to be the biggest factors rather than the druid because of their BA dash so they can still use actions to attack/grab/etc.
Usually the chase ends the way you expect it to end (the faster one winning), but is a bit more interesting in between.
Next turn, either the enemy dashes away - causing an opportunity attack from you - or disengages, which means that the rest of the party are more likely to catch up since they can still dash.
Next turn, either the enemy dashes away - causing an opportunity attack from you - or disengages, which means that the rest of the party are more likely to catch up since they can still dash.
The DMG specifically states that there are no opportunity attacks in a chase, so the quarry can still use their dash rather than disengage.
Well there are restrictions to using the Dash action as well as complications that could arise every turn. So the chase shouldn't be that cut and dry (the rules were created specifically to prevent boring chases).
The chase ends if the quarry is able to get out of sight long enough, becomes too exhausted to move, or is prevented from moving by the pursuers (via grapple, shoves, spell effect, or just plain surrounding them).
So does it matter if the pursuers have more movement than the quarry? The Druid is 10 ft behind the quarry as we left it last game. Next turn she will catch up and the turn after have 10 ft ahead , but still not have an attack action. What’s to prevent it from simply being a constitution roll-off to see who’s exhausted first?
Being faster does give you an advantage (as it should). The quarry could change direction if they are headed off. They could also try to improvise to create an obstacle to slow down the pursuers (see every chase scene for any action movie/game ever). Each character also has a 50% chance of a complication every turn, so there is a lot of RNG mixing it up.
Is suspect the rogue and/or monk are going to be the biggest factors rather than the druid because of their BA dash so they can still use actions to attack/grab/etc.
Usually the chase ends the way you expect it to end (the faster one winning), but is a bit more interesting in between.
Yeah I don’t really think he has a chance of escaping between all these speedy characters, but I don’t want it to end too soon either or cheat anyone out of their moment. I think I’m confused why there’s no attacks of opportunity: it would make sense for the Druid in boar form to be able to use her excess movement to try trip up the quarry once she reaches him. Is it reasonable to make that a sort of “bonus action”?
Yeah I don’t really think he has a chance of escaping between all these speedy characters, but I don’t want it to end too soon either or cheat anyone out of their moment. I think I’m confused why there’s no attacks of opportunity: it would make sense for the Druid in boar form to be able to use her excess movement to try trip up the quarry once she reaches him. Is it reasonable to make that a sort of “bonus action”?
There are no attacks of opportunity because while it is turn based, it assumes everyone is running at the same time and not really actually catching up. From their perspective, the members of the chase are relatively stationary and the environment is moving (like how movies used to do some times with parked cars and green screens).
I wouldn't change any attacks to bonus actions, some beasts can make a bonus action attack if they dashed, so it will come down to player choice.
And again, there is a fair amount of RNG in a chase to keep things interesting. Just let it play out instead of trying to rig the results. I guarantee you, the players will surprise you.
I assume the fleeing enemy doesn't have spells, have it occasionally use its action to create difficult terrain by pulling at the environment. Be creative.
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So I ended my last session with a bad guy running away after a combat that did not go his way, and it seems likely that the party will pursue and try to catch him. I’ve reviewed the rules in the DMG for chase scenes, and they seem great except I’m not sure how they succeed in catching the bad guy. My Druid, for instance, is in boar form and thus has a speed of 40 compared to the quarry’s 30, so she will catch up to him probably her next turn, but with using the dash action won’t actually have an action to take. Is this just part of the challenge? Getting there with enough room to spare to get a spell or a grapple check off? The boar has a grapple ability with its attack, but she needs an action to do it. Do they “win” when they catch up to him or it is up to obstacles and exhaustion to put him within a short enough distance to get an attack? Between the monk, the druid, and the rogue they’re going to have no problem catching up to him but it’s not clear to me if they just have to run until someone is exhausted or fails a check, which seems kinda boring if they never get a grapple check
Well there are restrictions to using the Dash action as well as complications that could arise every turn. So the chase shouldn't be that cut and dry (the rules were created specifically to prevent boring chases).
The chase ends if the quarry is able to get out of sight long enough, becomes too exhausted to move, or is prevented from moving by the pursuers (via grapple, shoves, spell effect, or just plain surrounding them).
So does it matter if the pursuers have more movement than the quarry? The Druid is 10 ft behind the quarry as we left it last game. Next turn she will catch up and the turn after have 10 ft ahead , but still not have an attack action. What’s to prevent it from simply being a constitution roll-off to see who’s exhausted first?
Being faster does give you an advantage (as it should). The quarry could change direction if they are headed off. They could also try to improvise to create an obstacle to slow down the pursuers (see every chase scene for any action movie/game ever). Each character also has a 50% chance of a complication every turn, so there is a lot of RNG mixing it up.
Is suspect the rogue and/or monk are going to be the biggest factors rather than the druid because of their BA dash so they can still use actions to attack/grab/etc.
Usually the chase ends the way you expect it to end (the faster one winning), but is a bit more interesting in between.
You dash to catch up, and stand near the enemy.
Next turn, either the enemy dashes away - causing an opportunity attack from you - or disengages, which means that the rest of the party are more likely to catch up since they can still dash.
The DMG specifically states that there are no opportunity attacks in a chase, so the quarry can still use their dash rather than disengage.
Yeah I don’t really think he has a chance of escaping between all these speedy characters, but I don’t want it to end too soon either or cheat anyone out of their moment. I think I’m confused why there’s no attacks of opportunity: it would make sense for the Druid in boar form to be able to use her excess movement to try trip up the quarry once she reaches him. Is it reasonable to make that a sort of “bonus action”?
There are no attacks of opportunity because while it is turn based, it assumes everyone is running at the same time and not really actually catching up. From their perspective, the members of the chase are relatively stationary and the environment is moving (like how movies used to do some times with parked cars and green screens).
I wouldn't change any attacks to bonus actions, some beasts can make a bonus action attack if they dashed, so it will come down to player choice.
And again, there is a fair amount of RNG in a chase to keep things interesting. Just let it play out instead of trying to rig the results. I guarantee you, the players will surprise you.
I assume the fleeing enemy doesn't have spells, have it occasionally use its action to create difficult terrain by pulling at the environment. Be creative.