D&D 5e Chase Scenes

A chase scene in any scene in which one party attempts to chase down the other.

Base Movement

• Each turn, characters move their base movement, as normal.

Sample Chase

This chase takes place through the crowded streets of Waterdeep's Dock Ward on a cold winter night. Line of Sight is assumed to be 20', due to the close-packed nature of Waterdeep's grungiest streets. If the quarry reaches the finish line at 530', he escapes behind a door which he locks.

• Fallen Crates Block the Path (20 ft): Large Obstacle: Dexterity (Acrobatics) DC 15 to get past. On a failure, lose 15 feet of movement; on a successful save, lose 5 feet.
• Patch of Ice (70 ft): Difficult Terrain: Bypassing this terrain counts as 20 feet of movement.
• Group of Drunken Sailors, Singing Badly (140 ft): Crowd: Strength (Athletics), Dexterity (Acrobatics) DC 15 to get through crowd. On a failure, lose 10 feet of movement; on a success, lose 5 feet.
• Switchback Alley (180 ft): Sharp Turn: Dexterity save, DC 12. On a failure, collide with terrain, causing 1d8 damage and losing 10 feet of movement; on a success, lose 5 feet of movement.
• Thinly Boarded Up Doorway (230 ft): Breakable Barrier: Make a Strength (Athletics) DC 13 check; this is reduced by 2 for every person who has already broken through it, eliminating it entirely once it is DC 8 or lower. Those who pass through it must make Dexterity saves (DC equal to the obstacle's current DC) or take 1d10 slashing damage. On a successful check, lose 5 feet of movement; on a failed check, lose 15 feet of movement.
• Cluster of Nervous Streetfolk Around a Makeshift Fire (330 ft): Crowd: Strength (Athletics), Dexterity (Acrobatics) DC 15 to get through crowd. On a failure, lose 10 feet of movement; on a success, lose 5 feet.
• Gang of Brawling Street Thugs (360 ft): Dangerous Crowd: Strength (Athletics), Dexterity (Acrobatics) DC 12 to get through crowd. On a failure, lose 10 feet of movement and take 1d12 damage as well; on a successful check, only lose 5 feet of movement.
• Group of Lost Foreigners (450 ft): Crowd: Strength (Athletics), Dexterity (Acrobatics) DC 13 to get through crowd. On a failure, lose 10 feet of movement; on a success, lose 5 feet.
• An Overturned Cart (480 ft): Large Obstacle: Dexterity (Acrobatics) DC 13 to get past. On a failure, lose 15 feet of movement; on a successful save, lose 5 feet.
• Down A Sudden Stairwell (530 ft): Sharp Turn: Dexterity save, DC 10. On a failure, collide with terrain, causing 1d8 damage and losing 10 feet of movement; on a success, lose 5 feet of movement.

Dash (Action)

Characters may still take the Dash action, as normal.

• However, a character may only do this a number of times in a row equal to 5 + their Constitution modifier (min 1). Once a character hits that number, they are said to have met their Dash Threshold.
• Any round in which the character does not take the Dash Action reduces the effective number of times they've used that action in that encounter.
  • For example, Ahmadar has a Constitution 15 (+2). Thus, he can Dash for 7 consecutive actions in a row. If he Dashes for four rounds, and then rests for one, his Dash Threshold drop from 4 to 3.
• Dash Threshold: Any character that meets their Dash Threshold must make an immediate Constitution save (DC 10) or take a level of Exhaustion.
  • For each Dash action after that, the character must make another save, at +1 DC per additional Dash action.
  • Once a character has taken a level of Exhaustion, his Dash Threshold resets to 0. If reached again, the DC for the save becomes 10 + 2 per level of existing Exhaustion.

Attacks

• Characters that are in range of an enemy may make an attack as normal.
• Anyone involved in a chase that is hit by an attack must make a Strength save (DC 10 or half damage taken, whichever is greater) or be knocked prone as a result of the injury.
• Characters making ranged attacks must have line of sight, which is abstracted depending on the environs in question:
  • Large open areas (wide open plains or crop fields): Automatic line of sight
  • Open areas with some cover (rolling terrain or light forest): Must be within 80' of target
  • Areas with significant cover (heavy forests, streets of a town): Must be within 40' of target
  • Densely packed areas (subterranean, streets of a city): Must be within 20' of target

Complications

• Every chase has several Complications - milestones measured in feet of movement that represent the kinds of obstacles and surprises that can foul up or abet a chase.
• Complications by and large provide the means by which characters can manage to catch up to their quarry, or to escape.
• Many complications force checks and inflict damage, reduced movement, or other penalties for failure at the check, and many even include such (albeit reduced) with successful saves.

Escaping or Catching Up

• Each chase has an undeclared "finish point" - if the quarry gets to that finish point, they escape safely. The pursuers loose them in crowds, they reach the safety of a haven of some kind, etc.