Chase Rules

Terms

The prey is the vehicle that is attempting to escape. The predator is the vehicle that is attempting to catch the prey. Range is the distance (in meters) between the prey and predator vehicles; prey vehicles attempt to increase range, while predator vehicles attempt to decrease range.

Starting a Chase

Chase rules can be declared to be in effect any time one side is attempting to escape from another; except as noted below, chases function just like any other kind of combat and proceed just as a normal combat round. Only the pilots of the chase vehicles use these rules; gunners, passengers, and any other characters involved may take any action they deem appropriate. For a random starting distance, use the last column in Table 1: Chase Conditions; of course, the Gamemaster can declare any beginning starting distance as determined by other factors.

When a pilot is in a chase, he is considered to be using two move actions every round to pilot his vehicle; he may not take any other actions (except for free actions) unless he uses Heroic Surge. Even then, he may not further increase his speed through additional move actions. Each pilot takes the following steps on his initiative.

Step 1: Determine Conditions

The chase conditions are generally determined by the Gamemaster, but the prey may have the opportunity to choose better or worse conditions as he leads the chase. Most information needed for chase conditions is found on Table 1.

Table 1: Chase Conditions

Condition	Description	Pilot DC	Cover Bonus	Starting Distance
Perfect	Highway with no traffic	5	+0	1d6x250 meters
Open	Highway with some traffic, city streets with no traffic, off-road with few obstacles (dry lake bed, plains)	10	+2	1d6x100 meters
Close	Highway with heavy traffic, city streets with some traffic, off-road with some obstacles (desert, light forest, hills), parking lot	15	+4	1d6x50 meters
Tight	City streets with heavy traffic, off-road with many obstacles (heavy forest, swamp, mountains), crowded parking lot, alley	20	+7	1d6x25 meters
Very Tight	Interior of a crowded building, cluttered construction site, junkyard, wreckage	30	+10	1d6x10 meters

Do not use Table 10-1: Conditional Modifiers to Vehicle Movement and Pilot Checks (Revised Core Rulebook, p.186). However, the following additional modifiers may change the Pilot DC:

• Tracked vehicles always treat off-road conditions as being one category better than listed (i.e., off-road with few obstacles is considered “Perfect” instead of “Open”)
  
• Walkers always have “no traffic” or “few obstacles” (regardless of true conditions) but all off-road conditions are considered to be one category worse than listed (i.e., all highways are “Perfect,” all city streets are “Open,” and all off-road is “Close”).
  
• Speeders reduce all Pilot DCs by 5 points (minimum DC 5).
  
• Wheeled vehicles use all modifiers as listed under most conditions; however, if using all-out movement (see Step 2: Declare Speed), all Pilot DCs are doubled.
  
• Poor visibility (smoke, light fog) causes a -2 penalty to all Pilot checks; very poor visibility (darkness, thick fog) causes a -4 penalty to all Pilot checks. (These penalties are doubled for a wheeled vehicle traveling at all-out speed.)

Step 2: Declare Speed

First, the pilot declares his speed to be any value up to twice his vehicle’s listed speed (in meters). In perfect chase conditions (see Table 1, below), he may declare a speed up to four times his vehicle’s listed speed (i.e., he can use all-out movement as a full-round action).

The pilot’s speed determines what penalty he takes to all Pilot checks, as per Table 10-3: Vehicle Speed and Modifiers (Revised Core Rulebook p.189, reproduced below for convenience).

Table 10-3: Vehicle Speeds and Modifiers

Current Speed (meters)	Defense Bonus	Attack/Check Modifier
0	+0	+0*
1-10	+2	+0
11-100	+4	-1
101-250	+6	-2
251-500	+8	-4
501+	+10	-8

* The driver of a vehicle that is not moving cannot make Pilot checks except to turn.

Step 3: Make a Pilot Check

Make a Pilot check against the DC listed in Table 1, modified according to vehicle type, speed, and any other penalties that may have accrued from previous rounds. Compare the results of that check to Table 2: Pilot Check Results.

Table 2: Pilot Check Results

Pilot Check	Result
Success	Add +50 meters to range for every 2 points by which Pilot check beats the DC
Fail by 1-5	Subtract 50 meters from range, -2 to Pilot check next round
Fail by 6-10	Subtract 50 meters from range, -4 to Pilot check next round
Fail by 11-15	Minor Collision: Determine collision damage based on size and speed of vehicle and divide by two, subtract 50 meters from range, -4 to Pilot check next round
Fail by 16-20	Major Collision: Determine collision damage based on size and speed of vehicle, reduce speed to zero, -4 to Pilot check next round
Fail by 21+	Catastrophic Collision: Determine collision damage based on size and speed of vehicle and double it, reduce speed to zero, -4 to Pilot check next round

Step 4: Change Range

Range changes are equal to your vehicle speed and adjusted according to Table 2: Pilot Check Results. After a major or catastrophic collision, your speed (and range change) is zero. The prey’s result indicates how much range increases, whereas the predator’s result indicates how much range decreases. Range cannot decrease below zero.

Step 5: Stunts

Only one stunt may be performed every round. (Normally a pilot could make two because he is performing two move actions, but one stunt is assumed to be used to avoid hazards and is incorporated in the Pilot check in Step 3, above.) This stunt may be performed at any point before, during, or after movement.

Most stunts listed in Chapters 10 and 11 of the Revised Core Rulebook do not apply in these chase rules -- quick turns, avoiding hazards, and so forth are included in the simplified Pilot check in Step 3, above. However, the following stunts may be performed:

• Escape Pursuit (prey only): Conduct normally.
  
• Pursuit (predator only): Only available if range is 10 meters or less. (In this case, assume that the vehicles are actually at a range of 10 meters.) Conduct normally, but the predator must keep the range at 10 meters or less every round to maintain pursuit. A failed Pilot check (Step 3, above) also automatically ends the pursuit. (Note that establishing pursuit is one of the few ways that a pilot in a chase can make any attacks.)
  
• Sideswipe: Only available if range is zero. Conduct normally, but if the target fails the DC 15 Pilot check, apply results from Table 2: Pilot Check Results. (A success does not add any bonus to range, however.)

Additionally, the following stunts are available only for chases:

• Box In (predator only, DC 10 or opposed Pilot check): Boxing in a target traps them and gives them nowhere to run. It is very difficult to box in the prey if he is still moving – make an opposed Pilot check, with the prey adding a bonus of 10 + speed/25, round down). In the case of a prey with a speed of zero (such as one that has just crashed), the DC is only 10. (The prey can't make a Pilot check if his vehicle is not moving.) Successfully boxing in the prey ends the chase, but may be the beginning of a long firefight! Multiple predators may aid another to box in a single prey, adding a +2 bonus to the primary predator for every allied predator that successfully makes a Pilot check (DC 10).
  
• Break Contact (prey only, opposed Pilot check): Breaking contact involves quickly turning to get behind cover, traffic, or some other obstacle in an effort to break visual and/or sensor contact. The predator adds a +5 bonus to his Pilot check. If the predator loses the opposed check, he must add the difference in Pilot checks to the DC of all Spot or Computer Use checks to operate sensors this round.

Step 6: Detection (predator only)

Generally, the pursuer only needs to check to see if he can still detect the target if the DC for detection increases. (If relying on Spot checks, the DC will change if the distance between the two vehicles changes at all from one round to the next.) Note that a successful use of Break Contact will also increase the DC for detection. If all pursuers fail to detect the target, the chase ends immediately. In addition to the modifiers found in the rules for vehicle and starship sensors (Table 10-2: Vehicle Sensor Detection, Revised Core Rulebook p.187), add the modifiers from Table 3: Detection to the skill check.

Making a Spot check or Computer Use check to operate sensors in this fashion is a free action.

Table 3: Detection

Modifier	Situation
+difference in Pilot checks	Defender successfully uses Break Contact stunt
+0	Perfect conditions
+5	Open conditions
+10	Close conditions
+15	Tight conditions
+20	Very tight conditions

Step 7: Ending the Chase

The chase ends immediately if any of the following conditions are true: 1) The prey's vehicle is disabled and unable to continue movement, 2) the predator's vehicle is disabled and unable to continue movement, 3) the prey is successfully Boxed In, 4) all predators fail to detect the defender in the same round, or 5) either side voluntarily gives up. If none of these conditions is true, return to Step 1 with the next pilot in the initiative order.

Other Characters

Gunners, passengers, and other characters may take actions normally during the round, as per the normal combat rules. Note that vehicles in a chase gain the cover bonus to Defense listed in Table 1 and an additional bonus to Defense based on its speed. Gunners may delay or ready their actions normally, but it is usually easiest to assume that gunners act on the same initiative count as the pilot, at whatever point before, during, or after movement they wish.

Air and Space Chases

Air chases use these rules as written, except that terrain conditions are irrelevant (air traffic can still be a big factor, however, especially in the crowded skies of planets such as Coruscant). Poor weather (wind shears, rain) causes a -2 penalty to all Pilot checks, while very poor weather (ice, snow) causes a -4 penalty to all Pilot checks. Additionally, when attempting to use the Box In stunt, add altitude/25 to the prey’s opposed Pilot check. (The prey may choose his altitude each round during the Declare Speed phase, so long as the change in altitude does not exceed his declared speed or exceed his vehicle’s altitude limits.) Similarly, add altitude/25 to the predator’s opposed Pilot check when attempting the Break Contact maneuver – it is very difficult to hide when you’re hanging in the middle of the sky.

Space chases are a little different. In Table 2, replace all instances of “50 meters” with “500 meters” (one square in space combat). Terrain and weather are obviously irrelevant, but asteroid fields can range from “close” to “very tight” conditions. In space, it is all but impossible to Box In a target unless you are near a very, very large object such as a space station; similarly, it is almost impossible to Break Contact except in similar situations.

Finally, note that airspeeders and starships cannot use all-out movement, even under perfect conditions.