Chase

A chase is an encounter in which one side tries to get away and the other tries to catch it: a thief fleeing across rooftops, a mount bolting through a market, a skiff racing a storm. It sits between exploration and combat. Distance and terrain matter as they do in exploration, but every moment counts as it does in a fight. Like any encounter, a chase the party completes earns Aethyr Points, whether they catch their quarry or escape.

Run a chase with these rules when the outcome is in doubt and the getaway itself is the interesting part. If one side is plainly faster and nothing stands in its way, just describe the result.

The Lead

Track the gap between the two sides as a lead from 0 to 6:

Lead	Meaning
0	Caught. The chase ends and the scene becomes a fight, a negotiation or a surrender.
1–2	Close: within reach of a thrown weapon or a short-range spell.
3–4	In sight, but out of reach of most attacks.
5	Barely in sight.
6	Escaped. The quarry is out of sight and the pursuers have lost the trail.

A chase usually starts at a lead of 2 or 3. Start it at 1 if the quarry is only just breaking free, or at 4 if it has a head start.

Chase Rounds

A chase round is as long as the scene needs: a few seconds in a crowded alley, a minute in open country. Each round, every participant chooses one of these, then each side’s results are compared:

• Run. Make a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, whichever suits the ground. A rider uses Wisdom (Animal Handling), and a pilot or driver uses their vehicle proficiency (see Mounts and Vehicles).
• Shake them off. The quarry only. Make a Dexterity (Stealth) or Charisma (Deception) check to slip into a crowd, double back or lay a false trail.
• Read the ground. Make a Wisdom (Survival) or Intelligence (Investigation) check to spot a shortcut or, for the pursuers, to keep the trail.
• Act. Attack, cast a spell or use a feature, if the lead brings a target within range. Spells and features that block, slow or speed up movement can count as a success for the caster’s side, at the GM’s discretion.

The GM sets one DC for the round from the terrain: 10 for open streets or roads, 15 for crowds, rooftops or broken ground, 20 for treacherous ground such as a collapsing tunnel or a storm-lashed deck.

Resolving a Round

Each side succeeds if at least half of its members who rolled succeed. Then:

• One side succeeds: the lead moves 1 in its favor.
• Both succeed: the side with the faster speed for the terrain gains 1. If the speeds are equal, nothing changes.
• Both fail: nothing changes, and the GM rolls a complication for each side.

A creature that beats the DC by 10 or more counts as two successes for its side.

Tiring

A creature that chooses Run three rounds in a row must succeed on a Constitution saving throw at the end of the third round, and every round after that, or gain Exhaustion 1 (see Conditions). The DC is 10, plus 2 for each earlier save it made during this chase. A round spent doing anything else resets the count.

Complications

When a side fails, or whenever the scene calls for it, the GM can introduce a complication. Roll a d6 or choose:

d6	Complication
1	Crowd. A press of bodies, beasts or carts. Dexterity saving throw against the round’s DC or become Off Balance.
2	Obstacle. A wall, gap or barricade. Strength (Athletics) check against the round’s DC or lose your next round.
3	Bad footing. Ice, mud, loose stone. Dexterity (Acrobatics) check against the round’s DC or fall Prone.
4	Dead end. The side’s next Read the Ground has disadvantage, unless someone climbs, breaks or flies their way out.
5	Bystander. Someone gets in the way, asks for help or raises the alarm.
6	The world intervenes. Weather, a patrol, a collapsing structure or a surge of wild Aethyr changes the ground for everyone.

In an Aethyrstorm or an Aethyr Rift, spells cast during a chase call for surge checks as usual.

Ending the Chase

A chase ends when the lead reaches 0 or 6, when one side gives up, or when the GM decides the situation has changed into something else. A caught quarry might fight, talk or surrender; switch to combat or a social encounter as fits.