Examples of Optional Chase Rules for H+I

After yesterday's post I spent a little time rolling some dice to see what sort of outcomes I might get. Here are the results for 25 chases. I continued the chase and kept rolling until either Escape or Cornered came up to end the chase.

• Each round of the chase is listed as a separate row in the table and has a sequential number. The numbers start over for the next chase.
• If the fugitives rolled a "7" I called that result "Hide" and if the pursuers rolled a "7" I called that "Melee."
• "—" denotes a round without any results.
• "Clue" denotes a result where both Escape and Cornered occur. I'll talk more about what I mean by a Clue result later.
• If the dice indicated more more than one result I listed each result.

Optional Chase Rules for H+I Examples

#	Fug	Pur	Result
1	11	66	Escape
1	61	61	Ex Fire, Melee, Hide
2	66	34	Melee, Escape
1	53	42	—
2	64	21	—
3	63	51	—
4	53	66	Cornered
1	42	62	Ex Fire
2	66	65	Ex Fire , Escape
1	11	31	Ex Fire, Escape
1	31	63	Ex Fire
2	53	33	Ex Fire, Cornered
1	43	31	Ex Fire, Hide
2	66	66	Ex Fire, Escape, Clue
1	31	42	—
2	22	51	Escape
1	21	43	Melee
2	65	42	—
3	62	44	Cornered
1	33	43	Melee, Escape
1	43	61	Melee, Hide
2	43	64	Ex Fire, Hide
3	61	21	Ex Fire, Hide
4	32	64	—
5	51	32	—
6	54	43	Ex Fire, Melee
7	51	63	—
8	41	64	Ex Fire
9	53	33	Ex Fire, Cornered
1	64	52	Melee
2	11	55	Escape, Clue
1	42	11	Cornered
1	44	43	Ex Fire, Melee, Escape
1	31	44	Cornered
1	51	63	—
2	51	31	Ex Fire
3	41	51	Ex Fire
4	44	51	Escape
1	41	33	Cornered
1	41	63	—
2	22	61	Escape
1	65	62	Ex Fire
2	53	52	Ex Fire
1	66	54	Escape
1	11	54	Escape
1	62	65	Ex Fire
2	54	64	Ex Fire
3	54	21	—
4	66	22	Escape, Clue
1	62	42	Ex Fire
2	22	43	Melee, Escape
1	51	54	Ex Fire
2	43	63	Ex Fire, Hide
3	61	65	Ex Fire, Hide
4	65	53	Ex Fire
5	41	22	Cornered
1	61	42	Hide
2	62	61	Ex Fire, Melee
3	62	51	—
4	41	32	—
5	32	42	Ex Fire
6	33	63	Ex Fire, Escape

Here are the statistics. There were 25 Chases for a total of 62 rounds. This means the average length of a chase was 2.5 rounds. However this is a little misleading since a Hide result might end the chase without an Escape or Cornered result. The 11th chase, for example, has Hide results for rounds 1, 2, and 3 before eventually ending in round 9 with Cornered. In actual play it is quite possible that one those Hide results would have succeeded in fooling the pursuers to end the chase much sooner than 9 rounds.

Result	--	Ex Fire	Melee	Hide	Escape	Cornered	Clue
Count	12	28	10	8	16	8	3
Prob	19%	45%	16%	13%	26%	13%	5%
Theory	19%	51%	17%	17%	17%	17%	3%

• "Prob" indicates the actual values based on the table. 
• "Theory" indicates the theoretical statistical probability.

Based on the examples and on and examination of the statistical probabilities I've made a few changes to the rules I published yesterday. The big change was to include all results and to order them in a specific way. To distinguish these from the original OSR rules and because it fits with my Fast Combat rules I'll name this: Fast Chases.

Fast Chases: Optional Chase Rules for H+I                                           

Once a chase or pursuit begins use the following procedure. 

1.      Make a Chase Roll. Each group or side rolls 2d6. Adjusted dice for Speed or any Tricks by the fugitives.

2.      .Compare the Dice for each chase roll with that of all other groups or sides.

2.1.   If one of the fugitives dice Match one of the pursuers dice they Exchange Fire.

2.2.   Pursuers: If dice total “7” the pursuers may Melee.

2.3.   Fugitives: If dice total “7” the fugitives may Hide. If the pursuers fail to spot them, the Chase Ends.

2.4.   Fugitives: If all dice match e.g. doubles, triples, etc. the fugitives Escape and the Chase Ends.

2.5.   Pursuers: If both dice match they Cornered the fugitives and the Chase Ends.

2.6.   If both fugitives and pursuers get doubles the fugitives Escape but they leave a Clue.

3.      If the pursuers cannot or do not continue the Chase Ends Otherwise the chase is still on. Return to step 1.

                          

·         Exchange Fire: members of either group who have a weapon ready and loaded may fire i.e. make a Ranged Attack or they may Reload, draw, or put away a weapon. The fire is snap shot so Aim Shot may not be used.

·         Melee: each pursuer may perform 1 melee attack e.g. Bladework. They may not combine this with minor actions such as Feint or Bind.

·         Hide: the fugitives manage to turn a corner or duck out of sight. Each fugitive can make a stealth check to hide. The pursuers now need to make a Savvy check which must also exceed the number the fugitive rolled for stealth.

·         Escape: The fugitives have gotten away or given their pursuers the slip. The chase ends.

·         Cornered: the pursuers have cornered the fugitives and ordinary combat ensues.

·         Clue: If both Escape and Cornered result, the fugitives may escape but leave behind a clue to their route or destination. Pursuers may make a Savvy check to spot the clue. At the GM’s option, instead of a Clue the two results simply cancel out and the chase is still on.

Order of Resolution: Resolve multiple results sequentially in the following order: Exchange of Fire, Melee, Hide, Escape, Cornered, Clue. The results of one action may affect or prevent successive actions.

Speed: If the fugitives are significantly slower than their pursuers they add 1 extra die to their chase roll for each level slower e.g. foot pursued by horsemen, the foot roll 3d6 for their chase roll. If fugitives are significantly faster than their pursuers, the pursuers only roll 1d6. In this case the pursuers cannot get a result of Melee or Cornered.

Tricks: If the fugitives narrate some clever maneuver or interference with the pursuit, then pursuers only roll 1d6. In this case the pursuers cannot get a result of Melee or Cornered.

Splitting the Party: groups of Pursuers or fugitives may split into multiple groups. Each new group makes separate chase rolls. For simplicity of play, it is suggested that the GM not split NPC groups unless they are taking a separate route, moving at significantly different speeds, etc.

Fortune Points: Spending a fortune point allows that side to roll one extra die and then choose one of their dice to discard. There may be situations where the GM will decide that 1 fortune point must be spent for each Hero in the group rather than a single fortune point for the entire group.

Get a PDF of the Fast Chase rules.