Chases (Action 2) special situation

[Barghaest]

I was planning to incorporate the Chase rules into my campaign to liven up (and make slightly less tedious) some of the pursuit situations.

Specifically in my next session (this weekend) I expect the players to be pursuing some kobolds through the sewers and felt the Chase system would be less boggy than round by round seeing if the players could keep up (as well as adding a bit more flair and taking into account cunning more than just Move rates). There are four situations that I have been considering and am looking for suggestions as how to handle them:

First, kobolds are smaller than humans and might be able to slip through areas where their pursuers cannot follow. This I would read as a Mobility Evasion, but by default Mobility Escape makes pursuers stuck with a static maneuver until they can Embark/Disembark to change mobility or spend a Lucky Break. Since the kobold didn't truly change MODE of transport, just basically employed a shortcut the pursuers can't use, the Embark/Disembark would be more finding a way around the obstacle. Rather than the players having to force a Lucky Break to continue pursuit or being stuck with a static maneuver until sheer luck allows them to close the distance, I was wonder how to handle a Mobility Delay... maybe make it stick pursuers with a static maneuver for a D6 rounds, which could be halved (rounded down) with an appropriate Area Knowledge roll?

Second, sealing the path behind you... running through a gate/door and slamming it shut and/or locking it. Would this be a form of Mobility Escape/Delay or perhaps a modification of Force where the resisted roll is the attempt to brute force or lockpick the obstacle (in this case failure causing Wipeout would represent the delay to find a way around it)?

Third, traps... the sewers are 'homefield' advantage for the kobolds and the area is laced with traps. Would leading pursuers through a trap be a form of Stunt Escape with a failure meaning they either fail to activate the trap as they pass or fail to avoid it themselves or simply a modification of Force? Should the players have to make a Per roll to notice what the kobolds tried? Would I handle them trying to follow past the trap as a simple Stunt or actually slow action down long enough to resolve it normally?

Finally... visibility. Kobolds can see in the dark, so they won't be toting light sources which means most of the PCs won't be able to see what they are doing beyond a certain range. The default Chase system seems to assume good visibility and the Pursuers know what maneuver the Quarry selects before the select theirs. How would visibility affect this? Is any situation where they break vision (such as outdistancing the party into the darkness) a Mobility Escape of sorts (possibly countered by Hearing/Smell/Tracking)? Would it allow the Quarry to hide their selection of maneuvers? Or should I simply waive this unless the party themselves is thrust into darkness (Kobolds take a Mobility Escape or Move and Attack to try and destroy their opponents light source)?

[RobKamm]

Originally Posted by Barghaest

First, kobolds are smaller than humans and might be able to slip through areas where their pursuers cannot follow. This I would read as a Mobility Evasion, but by default Mobility Escape makes pursuers stuck with a static maneuver until they can Embark/Disembark to change mobility or spend a Lucky Break. Since the kobold didn't truly change MODE of transport, just basically employed a shortcut the pursuers can't use, the Embark/Disembark would be more finding a way around the obstacle. Rather than the players having to force a Lucky Break to continue pursuit or being stuck with a static maneuver until sheer luck allows them to close the distance, I was wonder how to handle a Mobility Delay... maybe make it stick pursuers with a static maneuver for a D6 rounds, which could be halved (rounded down) with an appropriate Area Knowledge roll?

I'd treat this as a special situation for this particular chase. Decide when the kobolds will reach the small tunnel (on turn 4 or whenever). That enables them to take a Mobility Escape. Seeing that the kobolds know the tunnels they would, presumably, go for an escape route that doesn't have an easy way around it -- therefore any player who wants to come up with a Lucky Break will have to come up with something really good to get that break.

Second, sealing the path behind you... running through a gate/door and slamming it shut and/or locking it. Would this be a form of Mobility Escape/Delay or perhaps a modification of Force where the resisted roll is the attempt to brute force or lockpick the obstacle (in this case failure causing Wipeout would represent the delay to find a way around it)?

I'd call a locked door a Mobility Escape. But instead of requiring a a Lucky Break I'd allow an attempt to pick the lock/smash the door. To go extra simple you could say that the Pursuer's Chase Roll is penalized by X-MoS on a Lock Picking or Forced Entry roll (where X is a number 0 to 10 depending on the quality of the door/lock).

Third, traps... the sewers are 'homefield' advantage for the kobolds and the area is laced with traps. Would leading pursuers through a trap be a form of Stunt Escape with a failure meaning they either fail to activate the trap as they pass or fail to avoid it themselves or simply a modification of Force? Should the players have to make a Per roll to notice what the kobolds tried? Would I handle them trying to follow past the trap as a simple Stunt or actually slow action down long enough to resolve it normally?

I'd let the kobolds take a (small) penalty on their Chase Roll to activate a trap. Have a couple of sample traps pregenerated and allow the PCs the usual Traps/PER checks to spot them. Failure and they get tagged, succeed and they can choose to eat the trap or try to evade (via a Stunt) or disarm it (which you can work through normally, or simplify as above and allow the pursuers a penalty equal to X-MoS on a Traps roll.

Finally... visibility. Kobolds can see in the dark, so they won't be toting light sources which means most of the PCs won't be able to see what they are doing beyond a certain range. The default Chase system seems to assume good visibility and the Pursuers know what maneuver the Quarry selects before the select theirs. How would visibility affect this? Is any situation where they break vision (such as outdistancing the party into the darkness) a Mobility Escape of sorts (possibly countered by Hearing/Smell/Tracking)? Would it allow the Quarry to hide their selection of maneuvers? Or should I simply waive this unless the party themselves is thrust into darkness (Kobolds take a Mobility Escape or Move and Attack to try and destroy their opponents light source)?

I'd decrease the penalties for Hide maneuvers, and even allow them to be made at Close range.