Wrapping my head around Chase mechanics

Rules & Game Mechanics
1

Hi guys!

I love the chase mechanics and I’ve tried to run it for my players but we got stuck on a detail and we couldn’t really wrap our heads around it. Hopefully it’s just me who’s misunderstood a rule or two…

So, we have a PC and NPC in their respective vehicles. PS is going Speed 2 and the pursuing NPC is going Speed 3. They both roll their Competative checks and pass but the PC wins and according to the rules therefore increases the range band by one, plus speed differential so for a total of two range bands.

My players brought up this interesting point: How can the PC, who’s going slower, increase the range to the pursuing NPC, who is going faster? They both passed their checks, they’re driving on the same street, overcome the same obstacles…

How can I justify this to my players? Have I misunderstood the rules? I haven’t found a forum thread who answers this question and I would really appreciate some advice.

Regards,

Dwing

2

Is this wide open terrain or a dense urban chase?

What is clear is that the PCs continue to evade the pursuers, so regardless of speed they are not caught.

However, pursuers are faster. So if the PCs duck into an ally, or just break unexpectedly and zig while the NPCs zag, then the pursuers overshoot and the gap widens despite their speed advantage.

This is taking the differential as an absolute value. If you prefer, you can say the gap is zero (+1 + -1) = 0, but the PCs have the Advantage (per Gain the Advantage) if they want the option to attack their pursuers. That way they aren’t caught per se, but have options for interaction if the PCs desire. To decide between options you can either give them the choice or use advantages/threats to decide between those two approaches.

The chase mechanics are meant to simplify what is/can-be a rather complex dance across the terrain, rather than a straight-forward “run down the hallway”.

3

I don’t have the books with me right now, so take this with a grain of salt because it’s running off my memory and how I run things, but I believe it is RAW:

The speed differential only helps the party with the higher speed. If you’re slower, you’re never able to open more than one range band of speed.

Otherwise, the chase rules incentivize you to be as much slower than your opposition as possible. Think about it: If you’re slower, you have an easier check, AND if you win, you get their speed advantage credited to you. Being faster would only be a liability.

Two points of advice, on running chases in general:

If it’s wide-open terrain, and is basically a straightline run, don’t bother with the chase checks. If the pursuer is faster, it’s only a matter of time, and if the runner is faster, same thing. Instead, track the time and give opportunities (or let the PCs request opportunities) to interfere: Full Throttle to go faster, slicing to slow the enemy down, long-range weapons fire to disable them, Astrogation checks to make the jump to hyperspace, or even just time to prep to repel boarders.

Second, mix in non-Piloting/Athletics skills whenever you can. This works best in personal-scale chases through complex environments, but when I’m running a chase, I like as often as possible to present two options, e.g., “Athletics to run straight, or Coordination to weave through the crowd.” Social checks (“Stop that thief!”), General skill checks (Survival to recognize a good turn-off), Knowledge checks (Xenology to provoke a herd animal into creating a disturbance), etc., whatever you can think of and apply. Take player suggestions on this too. These often compete with a different skill, and the chaser/chasee will often have different difficulties.