Chases

A chase is a moving encounter with a clear question: does the quarry escape, get caught, or force a new complication before either side wins?

Chase Checklist

Define the quarry, pursuers, starting distance, and what escape means.
Choose the route's pressure: crowded streets, rooftops, forest, sewer, storm, battlefield, or planar weirdness.
Put meaningful obstacles between turns: crowds, gates, carts, drops, mud, animals, guards, smoke, or unstable paths.
Let characters solve obstacles with ability checks, spells, equipment, speed, clever shortcuts, or teamwork.
End the chase decisively when one side catches up, escapes, hides, bargains, crashes, or reaches a protected location.

Keep It Moving

Resolve each turn around one clear decision. Do not let a chase become six rounds of identical dash actions.

Use Complications

Complications should change route, risk, visibility, distance, or public consequences, not only impose damage.

Reward Creativity

Let strong plans bypass checks or create advantage. A chase should reward reading the scene, not only speed.

Clean End States

Before the first roll, know what happens on success, partial success, and failure. The party might catch the target, lose them but find a clue, arrive late to a second scene, or force the quarry to abandon something valuable.

Distance As Tension

Use bands, not exact math, when it helps. Close, near, far, and gone can be easier to run than measuring every street corner.

Let obstacles move the bands. A clever shortcut, failed check, blocked alley, spell, mount, or crowd surge should visibly change the chase state.