pwykersotz
2016-08-29, 01:43 PM
Last week, I had the opportunity to run a chase scene when a party member ran interference to keep a Crystal Golem (homebrew) away from the rest of the party which contained squishy NPC's. The resulting chase ended up being very fun, and it was the first time I've ever done something like that. I detail the chase mechanics I used below so that others might either see use in them or give me feedback to where I can improve them.
Keep in mind, these chase mechanics are not DMG based. I got them here on the forum, (which I think got them from another game) though I no doubt used them imperfectly.
Once the chase began, I set a d10 on the 6 side. I explained to the player that he could take any action he wanted to try to slow down his opponent or to try to get away. I would then have him roll based on the action. On a success, the die would move closer to 10. On a failure, it would stay where it was. Then the enemy would get a chance to act, and if it succeeded the die would move one closer to 1. When the die hit 10, the player would escape. When the die hit 1, he would be caught.
We began the chase with the player dodging into and through a building (Acrobatics 12). He succeeded, the die moved to 7.
The golem launched a series of crystalline shards from its body in an AoE attack. It decimated the building and caused shockwaves which caused the player to stumble (Attack roll vs AC, because I treated it much like the Ranger Whirlwind). The golem succeeded and the die moved to 6.
The player picked himself up again and this time skirted the edges of several buildings, trying to incentivize the larger and clumsier creature to follow without leveling the town, and he dropped a bag of ball bearings behind him. The golem tried to follow, and completely failed the check against the ball bearings. (It rolled a 5!) It plunged to the ground and the die moved up to 7.
The golem tried to make up ground as it projected spikes from its shoulders to give it the force needed to stand, then pursued a little further behind, heating its skin to incredible temperatures and melting his way through the metal of the buildings, trying to move quickly enough to keep up. (Str with advantage vs DC 20). It failed its check. The die stayed at 7.
The player then dropped behind a building and hid. Stealth check versus Perception, the player rolled a 19. The golem failed its Perception check. The die moved to 8.
The golem tried to smoke the player out, and used a poison AoE breath weapon to breathe caustic fumes. The player rolled a natural 20 versus the DC of 16 and saved. The die stayed at 8.
For the next two rounds the player didn't move, and waited. The stealth check carried over, staying at 19. The golem tried another volley of spikes (with disadvantage and missed its attack roll, die to 9), and finally tried another Perception check (failed by 1 with a 17 on the die, die to 10).
The player escaped.
You'll notice I didn't track damage through all that. This was purposeful at the time and it sped up the back and forth of the chase, but now I'm wondering about it. Since HP represents so much luck and stamina, I wonder if future chases should have damage rolled when attacks happen that would cause it.
I would welcome any thoughts about this, but otherwise I just wanted to share. The chase and the energy it created was a lot of fun.
Keep in mind, these chase mechanics are not DMG based. I got them here on the forum, (which I think got them from another game) though I no doubt used them imperfectly.
Once the chase began, I set a d10 on the 6 side. I explained to the player that he could take any action he wanted to try to slow down his opponent or to try to get away. I would then have him roll based on the action. On a success, the die would move closer to 10. On a failure, it would stay where it was. Then the enemy would get a chance to act, and if it succeeded the die would move one closer to 1. When the die hit 10, the player would escape. When the die hit 1, he would be caught.
We began the chase with the player dodging into and through a building (Acrobatics 12). He succeeded, the die moved to 7.
The golem launched a series of crystalline shards from its body in an AoE attack. It decimated the building and caused shockwaves which caused the player to stumble (Attack roll vs AC, because I treated it much like the Ranger Whirlwind). The golem succeeded and the die moved to 6.
The player picked himself up again and this time skirted the edges of several buildings, trying to incentivize the larger and clumsier creature to follow without leveling the town, and he dropped a bag of ball bearings behind him. The golem tried to follow, and completely failed the check against the ball bearings. (It rolled a 5!) It plunged to the ground and the die moved up to 7.
The golem tried to make up ground as it projected spikes from its shoulders to give it the force needed to stand, then pursued a little further behind, heating its skin to incredible temperatures and melting his way through the metal of the buildings, trying to move quickly enough to keep up. (Str with advantage vs DC 20). It failed its check. The die stayed at 7.
The player then dropped behind a building and hid. Stealth check versus Perception, the player rolled a 19. The golem failed its Perception check. The die moved to 8.
The golem tried to smoke the player out, and used a poison AoE breath weapon to breathe caustic fumes. The player rolled a natural 20 versus the DC of 16 and saved. The die stayed at 8.
For the next two rounds the player didn't move, and waited. The stealth check carried over, staying at 19. The golem tried another volley of spikes (with disadvantage and missed its attack roll, die to 9), and finally tried another Perception check (failed by 1 with a 17 on the die, die to 10).
The player escaped.
You'll notice I didn't track damage through all that. This was purposeful at the time and it sped up the back and forth of the chase, but now I'm wondering about it. Since HP represents so much luck and stamina, I wonder if future chases should have damage rolled when attacks happen that would cause it.
I would welcome any thoughts about this, but otherwise I just wanted to share. The chase and the energy it created was a lot of fun.