This counting rule uses the DMG Variant in DMG 252 where diagonals are measured as 10ft every other square, and 5ft otherwise; without the variant, we can cover 25 squares. Side Note: If you went up against packed Tiny-sized enemies, each 5ft x 5ft area can fit 4 creatures in 2 dimensions. Gemstones are small pieces of mineral crystal or similar hard substance prized for their appearance and rarity. 1 Characteristics 1.1 Value 2 Uses 3 List of gemstones 3.1 Agni mani 3.2 Alamandine 3.3 Alestone 3.4 Alexandrite 3.5 Algae 3.6 Amaratha 3.7 Amber 3.8 Amethyst 3.9 Andar 3.10 Aquamarine 3.11 Aradite 3.12 Augelite 3.13 Aventurine 3.14 Azurite 3.15 Banded agate 3.16 Beljuril 3.17 Beryl. 'The caster is gone, since the spell is intended to resolve before the Mage Slayer attack (DMG, 252).' Mage Slayer is still a solid feat. Imposing disadvantage on concentration saves is amazing, and it doesn't even matter how you're dealing the damage - melee attacks, ranged attacks, a saving throw spell, a dragonborn's breath weapon, whatever.
The thief dashes through the narrow tunnels of the underground city. A loud boisterous voice yelling behind him, “Stop craven scum!” You’re running a chase. In D&D 5e chases can be rather problematic for old and new DM’s alike. While most DM’s have a sufficient grasp of the rules, chases are rarely used and often foreign aspect of D&D games. Let’s demystify engaging D&D 5e chases.
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To begin with, we’re going to breakdown what some of the most common pitfalls DM’s make.
Chases Based on Speed
This is one of the most common ways DM’s make a chase predictable and boring. A chase based on speed alone will always end predictably. If the characters are faster than the quarry they will always catch the quarry. If the quarry has the same speed, no progress will be made. Lastly, if the quarry is faster he will escape. Not exactly worth holding your breath over huh?
Don’t misunderstand however, I do believe in allowing a characters speed to increase or decrease their chances of capturing or evading. You do not want speed to be the only factor of a chase however.
Chases Based on Skills Alone
The next mistake DM’s can make is basing the result of their chase only on who rolls higher. While making a chase consist of skill checks is actually really important, if who rolls highest is all that matters, your chase will become stale quickly. You are still missing a few important elements.
How You Should Run D&D 5e Chases
Now that you know what doesn’t make your chase fun, let’s talk about what does. There are four major components of a good chase scene. These are: distance, actions, complications, and resolution.
Distance
The first thing you should do when creating a chase scene, is determine the distance between the players and their quarry. If there is more distance, the chase is likely to be considerably harder for the pursuers. On the other hand, extremely close chases will be far easier for the pursuers. This is due to the fact that one or two complications, will lead to an either abrupt capture or escape.
When accounting for distance, unless you have a good reason to make the pursuit extremely close or distant, try to keep it somewhere in the middle. My personal recommendation is keeping it between 4 to 6 turns between the quarry and pursuer in harder to escape terrains and 3 to 5 in easier to escape terrains.
The last portion of distance to keep in mind is who the lead pursuer is. This is the closest person pursuing the quarry. The lead pursuer will be used to identify if the chase is near resolution or not as you will see later.
Action
The term action when describing D&D 5e chases is referring to what action a creature decides to use on its turn in the initiative. Yes, if you didn’t know you should absolutely use initiative in chases. There are three main actions a creature will use during a chase. These are the dash action, attack action, or casting a spell. It is important to note that opportunity attacks from either party in a chase are generally not allowed though they can still suffer opportunity attacks should they provoke any from surrounding creatures.
The first action is the most used action in a chase. The dash action. According to the rules stated on page 252 of the Dungeon Master Guide, a creature can only make the dash action 3+ its Constitution modifier times before having to roll a Constitution check. If the creature fails to succeed on the check (DC 10), it suffers a level of exhaustion which can be gained back on a short rest.
The other actions a creature can use during a chase are the attack or cast a spell actions. This is pretty self explanatory. Creatures can use these actions to attempt to slow or harm their pursuers in various ways depending on how you, the DM would like to rule them. Any creature that decides to risk one of these actions does risk being caught or losing the quarry depending on the distance between them.
Complications
The next component of a successful D&D 5e chase scene is complications. These have a variety of different forms from pushing through crowds to jumping across rooftops. There is a table with sample complications on page 254 of your DMG. However, I prefer to create my own complications to be most fitting to the setting that I am using.
Complications are the bread and butter of a chase. These are what is going to separate your chase from any other chase you have seen or done before. It is also one of the largest indicators determining if the quarry escapes or not.
Resolution
The final step to a chase is concluding it. After running the characters through a chase, you need to determine if the pursuers were successful. To do this, one of these conditions must be met: the quarry escapes, pursuers catch the quarry, or one side stops.
The quarry can escape the pursuers if it has successfully made a stealth check against the pursuers highest passive perception. This check automatically fails if the quarry is in sight. Some factors like congestion, hiding places, or a trained tracker can apply advantage or disadvantage to the quarry’s stealth check as normal.
A quarry can be caught if at least one of the pursuers successfully catches up to the quarry. This can be completed due to complications, failed skill checks, or exhaustion. Lastly, if the pursuers or quarry stop their end of the chase the chase also ends.
How Should a Chase Look?
Now, let’s take a quick look at how a chase might look in your game. Your player’s have routed the local lords men, and have spotted him as he tries to make his escape through the crowds. You have initiated the chase.
First up make a small map of how the chase will look, you can do this with a mapping program or using pen and paper. As the DM, create several complication the players will experience as they chase the lord. Finally, you decide the starting distance should be around 120 feet between the two parties.
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Roll Initiative. The player’s lucked out, and have initiative. They dash toward the lord. The lord seeing that he has been spotted and also dashes. This continues for another round with neither party gaining ground. Suddenly, the lord spots a well traversed street with many merchant caravans sometimes blocking the route. He decides to try to gain ground by attempting to pass this obstacle.
A natural 17. The lord manages to slip between the merchant carts successfully. The barbarian who is currently leading gives chase, but rolls a natural 1 and gets knocked prone. Meanwhile, his rogue companion decides instead to opt for trying to go over the street and hurries into the closest building. The lord has gained ground and dashes again. He’s not quite out of sight of the barbarian yet though so he can’t escape the pursuit.
The barbarian succeeds on getting through the intersection this time, but is still far behind the lord. The rogue has climbed the stairs to the roof of the building and decides to jump across the street to the nearest building. He succeeds on his acrobatics check. He is now once again 120 feet from the lord. The lord has gained ground on his pursuers, but decides to take one more risk to ensure his escape. A quick slip down an alley.
An ally of the players! The lord gets grappled by the ally. The barbarian closes in on where the lord departed he is only 90 feet away. The rogue jumps another rooftop. He is 60 feet away!
The lord escapes the ally and dashes again right into a dead end with a wall that he might be able to scale. The party dashes again the barbarian is two turns away, and the rogue is only one! The lord attempts to scale the wall. Oh no, a 7! The lord can’t escape this turn. The rogue jumps down from the rooftop sustaining 3d6 fall damage in the process and falling prone, but corners the lord. The barbarian is now in the alley too!
The lord makes one last effort to escape by attempting the wall again. He fails. The rogue and barbarian are exhausted, but have successfully caught their quarry.
Conclusion
With that, you should now be able to run your D&D 5e chases like a pro! If you have any questions, or would like to add anything feel free! Also, if you need help making that lord feel important and real, check out how to make an epic RPG character!
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