Script: Chases in GURPS

Script: Chases in GURPS

Many, if not most tabletop RPGs are filled with action. And what is an action-packed adventure without a chase? You see them in movies all the time, and maybe in real life too. Chases are thrilling, but in the tabletop medium they rarely are exciting. More often than not, it’s just a matter of comparing the movement speed of two characters. In terms of realism, it’s completely understandable – the faster person wins, but in terms of action – it’s just not fun. The worst part is if the pursuer and the quarry have the same movement speed, how do you even resolve a chase then? Fortunately, GURPS has a great subsystem for chases in GURPS Action 2: Exploits, and I’d like to introduce you to it in this post.

The system takes up only five pages – from page 31 to page 36. It can be difficult to wrap your head around the first time you read it, but it’s actually pretty simple. There are some expansions for it; I will mention them later.
 
Chases in GURPS are abstract. There is no combat map, and there are no one-second turns. It is resolved in the theater of the mind using abstract rounds instead of seconds. A round is “time enough for both sides to try something cool” – there is no specific duration. Characters not involved in the chase can perform such anything you might see in an action movie during a round – pick a lock, search a room, hack a computer, etc. Since there is no battle map, even range is abstract – it is divided into five bands – close, short, medium, long, and extreme.
 
Each round consists of the following steps:
1. Quarry chooses a chase maneuver.
2. Pursuer chooses a chase maneuver.
3. Pursuer resolves any attacks or skill rolls for his maneuver.
4. Quarry resolves any attacks or skill rolls for his maneuver.
5. If neither side wipes out badly or is too damaged to continue, roll a Quick Contest of Chase Rolls (I will explain what the Chase Roll is a bit later).
6. Adjust the range band for the Contest outcome and start the next round.
 
The most difficult part is to get used to the new set of maneuvers, a problem similar to the one you might encounter in Mass Combat. Some maneuvers can only be taken by the pursuer or the quarry, but some are available to both sides. Some maneuvers also have conditions that must be met to enable them. And all maneuvers modify your Chase Roll in some way.
 
The maneuvers are – Attack, Disembark/Embark, Emergency Action, Force, Hide, Mobility Escape, Mobility Pursuit, Move, Move and Attack, Ram, Reverse, Stop, Stunt, and Stunt Escape. There are also some special actions that can be taken by vehicle passengers, such as Board and Seize Control. I will not explain the maneuvers, you will have to read the actual book to see what they do, but in short – they allow you to perform any action you might’ve seen in a chase sequence of an action movie.
 
So, what is a Chase Roll? Each party rolls against the skill that governs their mode of travel, based on DX. So, this could be Running, Skiing, Swimming, Driving, Piloting, Riding, or anything else. If you are on foot and do not have Running, then use DX. Complementary skill rolls can help – roll against Area Knowledge or Urban Survival. If you are operating a vehicle, then add the Handling statistic. Finally, it is modified by a bonus based on your Top Speed, using the Size and Speed/Range table.
                Then both parties roll Chase Rolls as a Quick Contest. The outcome sets the range band at the start of the next round: Victory by 0-4: No change. Victory by 5-9: Winner may shift range band by one step in either direction. Victory by 10+: Winner may shift range band by two steps either way. So, when using this abstract chase system, speed matters, but it does not make you win or lose automatically.
 
                And that’s more or less it for this overview – I skipped some very specific parts, such as three-way chases, but you can read more about them in the book. I would also like to list some Pyramid articles that expand the chase rules.
                Pyramid #3-23: Action Adventures has the Chase Cards article that can be useful when learning this system.
                Pyramid #3-53: Action has the Dogfight Action! article that adapts the chase system to airplane dogfights. I haven’t really looked into this one in much detail, but this is an interesting concept.
                Finally, Pyramid #3-112: Action II has the Thrill of the Chase article. This one talks in more detail about obstacles and terrain during the chase, introduces a new maneuver – Reverse Escape, and also has a random table that lets you determine opportunities for escape, obstacles, and terrain changes randomly. If chases are important in your game, then this is a must-have article, I strongly recommend it.
 
                And that’s it. You probably know that I use very few cinematic rules in my games, but I really like this Chase system and I use it in my games. It works well and is generic and universal despite being found in the book about Action games. These rules work well in sci-fi games, and in low-tech fantasy games. So, I hope that now you know where to look to make chases more exciting in your games.