Foot chase rules?

[specks]

Are there any rules for foot chases in the system? If not, I'd like your houserules regarding this idea. I think it would also make a nice Digital Hero article.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Foot chase rules?

 

Hey there, specks!

 

Well, there are no rules specifically for a foot chase, but it's easy enough to adapt the rules for chases using vehicles to anything else. I often use those rules for chases involving supers with lots of Flight or Running and a vehicle; I don't see any difference between the same and another character.

[Sociotard]

Re: Foot chase rules?

 

As Dustraven said, there are no official rules on the matter, but I do have a set of fun houserules for the occasion. I can't claim I thought of them myself, but here they are.

 

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21597

How about you take their full segment non combat movement divide it by 5 rounding down anything left over.

 

Now what you do is you set up how far you want them to go in inches.

 

now you just have them roll there respective number of dice according to their speed on every segment they go.

 

Allow them to attemp any pushing they want, adding 1 die in heroic and 2 in super heroic settings.

 

Count up how much body each one rolls on the dice and multiply by 2.5" and rounds it up to the nearest inch. This is how far each one of the characters have gone in inches each segment.

 

Both characters expend endurance equal to the amount of movement they are trying to use each segment as apposed to what they end up moving.

 

Describe the process of getting from point a to point be over the course of the turn or however long it takes for one of them to cover the distance. while totaling up how far they both have gone. the one who covers the alloted distance or the most distance in the alloted amount of time wins

 

Recoveries would be by Gm's choice (i wouldnt do it because the characters are suposed to be going all out.)

Except, I let the characters take their segment 12 recoveries unless they push.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Foot chase rules?

 

This is the way I usually handle, races in my games. It is kind of a White Wolf type approach, but I like it. It takes into consideration the characters' physical finess and has a great dramatic feel. I do this in heroic games, but it could work well in superheroic games as well (possibly with a little modification).

 

I consider initial position and the starting Segment first, so that if one character gets a head start they will have a lead. I use opposed Str rolls for a few Turns, then switch to opposed Con rolls. I keep a cumulative total of the amount by which the winning character is beating the other, which goes toward a character's side by the amount they win a Turn's contest. I make rolls Turn-by-Turn, and I give the character with the lower velocity=Speed*Movement a -2 for each halving of the other character's similar product they have (-1 if the other character has half-again the slower character's velocity).

 

The number by which the chased character is winning is the number of hexes (s)he is ahead (so a head start gives some initial success). For a race the amount of time it takes to get to the end is going to be based on the average velocity of the characters, and the one who is succeeding at the end wins. If there is an action to take at the end (such as grabbing something), the character in the lead has a free attempt if they won by more than half the other character's Movement; otherwise there is an opposed Dex roll to see who acts first, with a penalty for the character who lost the race equal to the amount by which they were losing.

 

If one character means to catch the other, they essentially lose them when the chased character is ahead of the chaser by a Turn worth of Movement (chaser's Speed*Movement); this may vary based upon the terrain; a crowded area with little visibility may reduce the required distance, while a wide open setting such as a desert might increase it. On the other hand, the character chasing must be winning by half their Movement to make an attack the next Turn (this doesn't necessarily mean they are ahead; it just means they have caught up with enough advantage to make an attack). At that point the character fleeing has the choice (unless they are somehow surprised) of whether to try to overcome the attacker's margin of success with a single roll, attack back (opposed Dex rolls for order), or switch to a defensive action such as Dodge or Block (unless they choose to try to keep running, the chase is essentially over).

 

This system had a lot of room for characters taking advantage of terrain to make surprise maneuvers (additional successes, or temporary bonuses to the rolls), take advantage of Skills (usually Complimentary Rolls, but sometimes a major effect--e.g. the chased character runs around a fruit stand, but the chaser makes an Acrobatics roll to dive straight through it and attack, or one character makes a Breakfall roll to slide down the side of an aqueduct, but the other character must find a more convenient place to descend).

 

If I want to make things a little more complicated, I look at the amount of End each character is using, and start using Long Term End rules for long races. The slower character might be able to Push their Movement if there is a heroic goal to the chase (but in this case they are unlikely to last very long at all, so they had better do it very sparingly!).