Forest Chase Scene

[Varyon]

I'm not familiar with the Chase rules (although I should probably grab the Action! series, it sounds like it has a lot of useful rules), but...

Originally Posted by ericthered

Survival (Forest) is good as a complementary roll in the forest right? Urban survival works in the city, so for a forest chase we should be good.

Yeah, Survival (Forest) should be useful to both sides of the equation, helping with avoiding hazards (or leading/chasing the other side into hazards), keeping your bearings, etc.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Its also night. I've ruled that lighting penalties apply to the people trying to find but not to the hiders. Does that sound fair? should the hider's only get half penalties?

Trying to hide in an unfamiliar environment is probably more difficult in the dark, as you can't see where paths lead very well, plus it's harder to avoid making noise when you can't see what's on the ground you're walking on. On the other hand, it being harder for your pursuers to see you is certainly a help. Half penalties for the hiders, full penalties for the pursuers, sounds about right.

Originally Posted by ericthered

I feel like night vision should help the chase in general but I'm unsure how to account for it. A simple bonus if you have it to all chase rolls is pretty darn strong.

Simply apply it to the full lighting penalties. So if you're at -4 lighting, someone with Night Vision 2 is only at -2, which gets halved to -1 if they're the ones hiding.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Is the hiking skill at all relevant?

I could maybe see a penalized Hiking roll standing in for Survival (Forest) in this regard, but that seems like it's stretching things.

Originally Posted by ericthered

The chase involves horses in the forest. I've ruled they use their move, not their top speed for the move bonus because of the thick foliage and twists and turns. Does that feel right?

Yeah, I don't see a horse being able to go full speed in the woods unless traveling on a well-maintained path. Honestly, if the woods are particularly dense, I suspect the riders would be faster getting off the horses and leaving them behind (using half the Move of the horses may not be inappropriate) - although that decision may come back to bite them if they need to leave the forest, where the speed of the horses can come back into play.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Varyon

Yeah, I don't see a horse being able to go full speed in the woods unless traveling on a well-maintained path. Honestly, if the woods are particularly dense, I suspect the riders would be faster getting off the horses and leaving them behind (using half the Move of the horses may not be inappropriate) - although that decision may come back to bite them if they need to leave the forest, where the speed of the horses can come back into play.

Riding a horse at all at night is a recipe for a broken horse - they can't see much better than you can and are liable to mis-step and break ankles and legs (which, come to think of it, is not unknown for humans running in the dark). Riding one into a forest is also a bad idea - combining the two is likely to end up with rider, horse or both injured in short order.
Either get off and lead the horse or, as stated, send them off on their own in hopes they'll lay a false trail.