Extended Chase

[cal585]

So I'm having a little trouble with the chase rules and was hoping someone could clear it up for me

I get the basics of chasing, of comparing distances, pushing yourself further and other actions while running. Where it gets complicated for me is when you have multiple NPCs chasing multiple PCs. I'm not quite sure how to work this. Does each NPC home in on a certain character and then only compete with rolls against that player? Or if the players are sticking together, do you need a big grid to show where everyone is in relation to everyone else?

Last time I tried it, I ended up resorting to excel to show where everyone was in contrast to everyone else but it just felt a bit slow and broke up the tension a bit.

[da professor]

Just keep track of units of distance run. If a chaser catches up with a chasee, that one is 'caught' and both are out of the chase, while remaining chasers try to catch remaining chasees. If PCs split up, then you can start to focus on which chasers are after which group, but for the most part, keep it as simple as possible.
If you're chasing a group and you're only going to catch one, you're not likely to care which one.

[cal585]

So you really need some form of extended grid to tell how far off each individual chaser is? Because you can't really have negatives... So the chase grid, your closest chaser would be directly below the grid, and then others would be further back if they've been slow?

Also, what happens if someone decides to do a stunt? Does everyone involved in the chase have to do it (all PCs and NPCs?)?

[da professor]

How about just keeping track of it on scratch paper? Initial separation x, chasee scores y, chaser scores z, basic arithmetic. People who do stunts successfully score extra points.
Keep it simple.