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View Full Version : Running away is the challenge



MrSandman
2018-06-21, 10:51 AM
I've been thinking about running away from something as a challenge for the past couple of days. By this, I don't mean try to sneak as an alternative to combat, or running away because you're playing a sandbox and you've found a monster too big for you to chew. I mean that the challenge of the scene is to run away and that being caught/discovered/found would effectively mean a fail. I'm thinking about something like Frodo and Sam's escape from the Nazgūl in The Fellowship of the Ring.

I think that for that to work it is important that the flight has a purpose. Sam and Frodo aren't simply running away because the hooded black guy is scary. They are running away because they've got something scary in their hands and they need to meet Gandalf in Bree. It would also require players to have some information, whether it's something that you gather on the spot (none of the present characters has significant fighting power and they see a group of armour-clad and well-armed guys coming towards them) or something that you find out beforehand (the ghost of an extremely powerful wizard warns the characters about this hideously unbeatable monster).

So, while musing these and other thoughts, I wondered if this sort of challenge would work in a role-playing game and what would be needed for it to be exciting rather than frustrating. Any thoughts?

DeTess
2018-06-21, 11:14 AM
So, while musing these and other thoughts, I wondered if this sort of challenge would work in a role-playing game and what would be needed for it to be exciting rather than frustrating. Any thoughts?

The first thing you need to consider is how you're going to deal with a failure. In a video-game, this'll just kick you back to your last save-point. IN a book the heroes won't fail, though it might get close. In a table-top game this becomes more difficult though. A similar concept was discussed a while ago, and one suggestion was to give the players a number of items that would allow them to get away in case they where caught, but using these would cost them. Another suggestion as to make the pursuit actually beatable the first (couple of) time(s) around, but also immortal. If they killed the dude chasing them, he'd just be back in a couple of days, stronger, angrier and with a couple of friends in tow.

Another thing to consider is whether the chase is going to be a one-time event (the Balrog chasing the fellowship in Moria) or a campaign-spanning chase (the Nazgul chasing the ring). If the chase is going to span the length of the campaign, then you need to find a way for the pursuit to still be a danger at the end of the campaign, without trivializing the strength the characters have gained.

If your players are expected to be heroes, don't have the chase be on 24/7. Give them the time to lay the Smackdown on actual foes once in a while too, before they have to run from something that outclasses them again.

Pelle
2018-06-21, 11:14 AM
So it's a chase?

You could try making a mini-game, or run it as a skill challenge where you have this many turns to get away before you are caught, and need to succeed on this many checks before you manage to escape.

Grod_The_Giant
2018-06-21, 01:41 PM
It's a good question, and one not a lot of systems offer much help with. You can't have things devolve into just rolling skill checks over and over again-- the key is change. You need to include choices, changing conditions, extra threats and opportunities along the way. Just like a good fight scene isn't just two guys pounding away at each other until one falls down, a good chase should involve distinct special stunts, settings, and set-piece events.

Darth Ultron
2018-06-21, 02:03 PM
This is a typical adventure plot: Do a goal that is not just be a murderhobo.

Plenty of adventures have a story goal and awards if the players do something that is not pure combat.

A escape works the same way.

A classic one would be like a prison escape or even breaking into a secure place. Even better is the ''mission impossible'' type where the heroes have to break in to somewhere, steal/copy/alter something, and not get caught..but also have to not leave even a hint they were there.

There is no reason you can't do that.