TEXT: Salutations from the pit to all the Savages! 
  In this issue of Whispers I’ll be looking at how the chase 
  rules work, or at least how I interpret them. 
  The first thing you should do, as the rules say, is put out 
  some sort of token for each vehicle in the chase. They help 
  visualize what’s going on, which can be important for abstract 
  chases. Next decide who is being chased and who is doing the 
  chasing. In most adventures that’ll be fairly obvious.
  Chase, Not Race
  Remember, the chase rules are for chases, not races. A 
  chase is about catching the guy in front, not beating him to 
  some destination. If you get in front of the guy you’re chasing, 
  you then have to keep an eye on what’s going on behind you.
  If you want to know who gets somewhere first, just 
  make opposed rolls of a suitable trait, slap on some modifiers 
  for differences in Top Speed (or Pace), and see who gets 10 
  successes first. Every success puts the contestants a certain 
  distance apart. For instance, in a 1000 yard race, every success 
  might represent 100 yards. You can still throw in combat if you 
  want during a race. The number of successes, not the cards, 
  determines the distance. Cards merely determine order. 
  Sure, it’s not totally realistic, but I’ve watched plenty of 
  races (especially foot races) where the guy in third or fourth 
  for most of the race surges forward to win. Good initiative card, 
  good die roll.
  Ahead, Behind, Ahead…
  Okay, so as we all know, during a chase you deal each 
  vehicle an action card each round. This not only gives the 
  initiative order, it also gives relative position. Hang on, you 
  say, if I start a chase ahead of my foe, isn’t it possible that on 
  the very next round he can suddenly be ahead of me because 
  of the cards? Well, that depends on interpretation. To me, the 
  keyword here is relative.
  The lead vehicle in a chase usually always stays in front, 
  regardless of the cards (at least in ground chases). Think of 
  the cards as determining distance more than actual position.
  In the rulebook, the example states that if one car has a 
  Five and the other a Ten, the vehicles are 25” apart (difference 
  of 5 in the cards x 5” increment, just in case you’re new 
  to Savage Worlds). We’ll assume the car with the Five is being 
  chased for convenience. Next round the cards might be a Jack 
  (11) and an 8 respectively. So has the chaser somehow got in 
  front because his card is lower? Not at all—the order of the 
  vehicles is totally unchanged, the chaser remains the chaser, 
  but the difference (and therefore the gap) has closed to three 
  increments (or 15”).
  It’s up to the GM, and the players, to explain the shortening 
  or lengthening of the gap. Why does a car suddenly go from 
  being 10 increments ahead to just two, for instance? Well, that 
  naturally depends on the scenery flashing by. Maybe in a town a 
  truck pulls out in front of the lead car, forcing him to break and 
  swerve. The second car, further back, sees this happen and can 
  make allowances. (You could rule that the truck is an Obstacle, 
  but this is flavor text we’re talking about). 
  Maybe going cross country the lead car breaks hard, 
  coming almost to a halt, then turns down a dirt road, while 
  the chaser again sees this happen and takes the corner faster 
  (because he knows he going to take the corner). At the end of 
  the day it is just description, and neither players nor GM should 
  get too involved in the hows and whys.
  One easy tool to help visualize distance, at least in a 
  two vehicle chase, is to use a strip of paper marked into 14 
  increments. Put the lead car on position 1 (as determined by 
  you) and just move the chaser forward or backward as the 
  distance changes. So, if the lead card lengthens the gap by three 
  increments, move the chaser back three steps. If the distance is 
  shortened, move the chaser toward the lead vehicle.
  The Open Plains or Skies
  If you’re using the chase rules to simulate a battle in the 
  skies or on an open plain, the vehicles probably aren’t chasing 
  in the way described above. Planes dive and weave about 
  each other, tanks circle round behind each other, and so on. In 
  this instance, unless someone is Trailing, the cards really only 
  indicate distance to the nearest target. It’s easier to rule vehicles 
  can fire their main guns during the position swapping.
  Maneuvers
  Next, let’s take a quick look at maneuvers. 
  Change Position allows you to shorten, or lengthen, the 
  gap between the vehicles but doesn’t actually change their 
  true position, just the distance. In the example from the rules, 
  let’s assume the car on an Ace wants to get nearer a vehicle 
  on a Six. The current distance is 40” (eight increments). If the 
  Change Position maneuver results in a draw of a Two, the car 
  hasn’t suddenly taken the lead, as we described above. All he’s 
  done is close the gap to four increments (or 20”).
  Since you only draw one card on a success and must 
  take one of the new cards, it’s fairly obvious that you can end 
  up worse off than before. Usually a success gets you some 
  They’re Following Us!
  Whispers from the pit
  
  benefit, but Change Position is about risk, not guarantees. Few 
  chases take place over wide, open ground, so there are always 
  obstacles. Maybe the chase vehicle tried to close the gap by 
  overtaking a vehicle in front (one not involved with the chase), 
  but sees a truck heading toward him in the opposite lane. The 
  chaser has to pull back in, during which time the lead car has 
  managed to pull away.
  Flee is a very abstract maneuver, since until the third 
  successive roll nothing actually changes. Again, it’s a 
  descriptive thing. Maybe the first two rolls represent the lead 
  car looking for a way out and then pulling a hard turn down a 
  side alley. The chaser overshoots, reverses, but finds the lead 
  car has vanished (probably down another side street).
  Force is actually a tricky maneuver to handle, especially 
  when the trailing vehicle does it. How does a car 35” away 
  manage to force the vehicle in front to “make a Driving roll or 
  go Out of Control,” for example? Personally, I wouldn’t allow 
  a chaser do it for anything other than bringing side guns to 
  bear unless the vehicles were within one range increment. 
  In a two-dimensional chase, I’d only allow Trail to be 
  performed by the chase vehicle, not the lead vehicle. It’s a 
  common sense interpretation of the rules, not one keeping 
  to the letter. In three dimensions things are slightly different 
  as you can perform all manner of maneuvers designed to get 
  you behind a foe. The High-G Yoyo, for instance, is designed 
  to let a lead plane get behind his chaser.
  Shake a Tail is only getting a mention because of one 
  thing—you cannot use the Flee maneuver to escape. Once 
  someone is on your six, you have to shake them off with 
  a different maneuver. This means that any previous Flee 
  successes are automatically negated (the rules state Flee 
  requires three successive rounds) unless you take a multi action 
  penalty and try two maneuvers. If you fail to Shake the Tail, 
  you can’t try the Flee, so you have to start Fleeing again once 
  you’ve shaken them off.
  Okay, some of these suggestions will penalize the 
  characters at times. However, sometimes the heroes will 
  chase, sometimes they’ll be chased. It all balances out over 
  the course of a campaign.
  Changing Position, Not Distance
  So how does the lead vehicle get to become the chaser, 
  assuming he wants to turn the tables on his foe?
  The only time I’d allow ground vehicles to actually change 
  position (not just distance) is either with the Change Position 
  or Force maneuvers (probably the latter as it mentions putting 
  a foe at a serious disadvantage) and only if the lead car 
  specifically wanted to reverse the situation. Take the example 
  of a hero being chased by a bunch of thugs. Said hero, slams 
  on the brakes (Force), thugs drive past (failed opposed roll), 
  hero then accelerates to become the chaser. 
  In this instance, the cards stay the same but the actual 
  physical position of the vehicles changes. So, if the lead car was 
  on a Six and the chaser a 10, he would have been 20” ahead. By 
  using the Force maneuver, he is now 20” behind.
  In aerial combat (and mass tank combat), I’d say that unless 
  you do a Trail, you’re not actually chasing someone. The intro to 
  the Chase rules states that the rules can be used for chases or 
  aerial dogfights, implying (though not stating) that a different 
  interpretation of the mechanics is required.
  Time and Distance
  You shouldn’t worry about the time a round of chase 
  combat takes either, or the distance covered. If that’s a concern, 
  use the tabletop rules. Each round might only be a few seconds, 
  but that just shows the important stuff, the action on screen if 
  you like. Between rounds, the chase may cover a mile or more.
  Example Car Chase
  Here’s an example. Virginia Dare (driver) and Buck Savage 
  (passenger) have just left Doctor Strange’s house with his secret 
  blueprints. They get in their car, pull away, and Virginia sees a 
  gangster-mobile in her rearview mirror. The chase is on! Note 
  that this can easily be converted to a starship chase through an 
  asteroid belt, a sailing ship chase, or whatever you need.
  Round One: Our heroes draw a Six and the gangsters get 
  a Ten. Virginia is still in the lead, and the distance is 20” (four 
  increments). Virginia isn’t interested in anything but escaping 
  with the plans so the thugs don’t get hold of them.
  The thugs go first (highest card), and attempt to close the 
  gap so they can shoot out the tires of Virginia’s car. They make 
  a Change Position maneuver and get a success. The new card 
  is a Queen! The gangsters try to get closer, but end up caught 
  in traffic and actually lose ground. The distance is now 30”. 
  However, the goons open up with their Tommy guns using 
  the Ten for initiative but the Queen for distance. This is long 
  range (more than 24”, less then 48”) and they miss.
  Ginny tries a Flee maneuver and is successful. Buck 
  shoots at the gangsters, but their failed maneuver pushes the 
  range to long range for his pistol and his misses. Note that 
  Buck uses their new card to determine the range because his 
  action takes place after theirs.
  Round Two: Our heroes draw an Ace and the thugs 
  get a Six. After some jostling for position (covered by the 
  drawing of cards), the distance is 40”. Although Ginny has 
  the higher card, she is still in the lead. She’s just reacting first 
  this round.
  Ginny makes another Flee roll and is successful. She’s 
  twisting and turning down side alleys. The thugs decide to 
  try and Trail. They get a success but so does Ginny, and the 
  positions remain unchanged. A few more bullets fly, but none 
  hit their mark.
  
  Round 3: Our heroes get a Nine, the thugs a King. The 
  distance is back to 20” and the thugs have the initiative.
  The gangsters again try to Change Position, and this time 
  they get a raise. Their two cards are a Six and an Ace. They 
  take the Six and close the gap to just 15”. Despite now having 
  a Six for position, the thugs still open fire during the King 
  phase of the round. Bullets fly, causing a wound to Ginny’s 
  car (we’ll assume it’s a Chassis hit for ease). She passes the 
  Driving roll and doesn’t go Out of Control.
  Ginny tries to Flee again but fails! She turns onto a busy 
  street, straight into a traffic jam. Buck leans out the window 
  and blasts away, scoring two wounds to the thugs, Smoke pours 
  from their radiator.
  Round 4: Our heroes get another Six and the thugs score 
  a Two, a distance of 20” again.
  Ginny decides to head into the traffic on the other side 
  of the road and drives against the flow! The GM invokes the 
  Obstacles rule (and rightly so). Buck cringes and sinks back 
  into his seat to reload his pistol. Before any maneuvers take 
  place, Ginny has to make a Driving roll to avoid the oncoming 
  cars. She does. She then tries a Force maneuver. 
  By moving closer to the center line of the road she hopes 
  to force the traffic to cut inside her, in turning forcing the 
  gangsters behind to swerve out of their way and mount the 
  sidewalk. She beats the gangsters’ Driving roll. The gangsters 
  then have to make a Driving roll or hit an obstacle (Force 
  condition one). They fail, swerve out of the way of the traffic, 
  but drive straight into a building, wrecking their car. The chase 
  is over.
  The Other Way
  Another method I’ve seen used is to keep position and 
  initiative cards separate. Ideally you should use a second 
  deck of cards for this, but you don’t have to. At the start, deal 
  position cards from one deck and leave them on the table. They 
  don’t get changed each round—only by using maneuvers can 
  you change position card. Deal initiative cards each round as 
  normal from the second deck.
  Feet and Hooves
  Okay, so that’s a look at vehicles, but what about foot chases 
  or ones involving mounts? Well, using mount just requires 
  replacing Driving or Piloting with Riding and some creative 
  description from the GM.
  Mounted Chases
  Nothing changes in terms of initiative and position. 
  We’re still talking about chases, so the guy behind usually 
  wants to try and stay there. Only the maneuvers really need 
  reinterpreting, and then not by any huge amount.
  Change Position just represents turning to intercept your 
  rival or spurring your horse on. It may, if the roll fails, represent 
  the horse slipping, or it refusing to make a jump (for a success 
  resulting in a worse card). 
  Flee is naturally slightly harder to interpret when chasing 
  someone over an open field, but in such cases just disallow the 
  maneuver. Then again, maybe you rule the chaser slips and falls 
  (so you can escape), or his horse refuses to jump a hedge (not 
  possible in a truly vast field, obviously). As GM, you have the 
  power to interpret the rules any way you want, of course, and 
  common sense should prevail.
  Force maneuvers might represent high fences a horse 
  has to clear, or a patch of rough ground. The guy in front has 
  the advantage that he can see this coming, and take it into 
  consideration. The rider behind may have his vision of a jump 
  blocked by the person he is chasing, or just be at the wrong 
  angle to get a clear view. There’s no reason why chases have 
  to be in a straight line. Then again, in a city, perhaps the rider 
  gallops past a market stall and grabs the canopy, pulling the 
  stall over in front of his chaser.
  For instance, the lead rider may see a gap in a hedge, so 
  he goes for it using a Force maneuver. If the rider behind fails, 
  maybe his horse didn’t have the right angle and hit it, or he has 
  to pull up and try again (change of position cards).
  Trail and Shake a Tail are slightly more subjective in a 
  horse race. After all, a horse can perform very sharp turns or 
  stop in an instant (having no Acceleration, and therefore no 
  Deceleration). You could easy disallow this maneuver, or just 
  give the lead rider the bonus to Shake a Tail instead of the 
  chaser to represent the sudden turns. Unless the chase is in a 
  built up area, horses usually have more freedom to move where 
  they want, not being constrained by roads or buildings. 
  Obstacles, if you decide to use them, can be hedges, low 
  walls, people, rough ground, or whatever else fits the terrain 
  the chase takes place in. In a town, people (or vehicles) are 
  likely to be the biggest obstacle. In the wilds, gopher holes may 
  be a danger.
  Foot Chases
  As with mounted chases, common sense and loose 
  interpretation of the rules should be used in foot chases. Stick 
  to the letter of the rules and you will probably hit difficulties.
  What skill do you use for foot chases? Agility for 
  maneuverability? Maybe Vigor for stamina (though that’s better 
  in a long distance race, not a chase)? Notice, to spot things 
  you can use to thwart your rival or help you escape? Some 
  games have a Running skill specifically for chases, but Savage 
  Worlds doesn’t. Personally, I’d change the skill depending on 
  what the character with the initiative was doing. 
  If the chaser wants to close the distance, he can use 
  Strength for a burst of speed. If the lead runner wanted to use 
  
  Change Position, he could use Strength (for speed) or Agility 
  (to run through or leap over obstacles). 
  Force could use opposed rolls based on common sense 
  and the player’s description of the maneuver. For instance, 
  if the lead character wanted to knock some barrels into the 
  chaser’s path, I’d use Strength (to knock the barrels) versus 
  Agility (to avoid them).
  A stereotypical scene in most modern fi lms or TV shows is 
  to have the runners cross a busy road. You can guarantee that 
  one guy will leap over the hood of a car (Change Position or 
  Force) while the guy behind has to go around (for a Change of 
  Position for Force condition 3) or get run down (for a Force 
  condition 1 maneuver).
  Flee, for instance, might use Stealth versus Notice if there’s 
  suitable scenery to hide behind. In a busy city there are usually 
  plenty of vehicles or shops you can use to hide behind or in. 
  If the hero wants to hop on a passing bus or tram (another 
  common movie trick), just have the character make an Agility 
  roll. If he makes it, the chase is probably over (unless his chaser 
  is within one or two increments). Should he fail, you can either 
  carry on the chase as is or deal the character two cards and 
  make him take the less helpful.
  Trail should be used as the maneuver to end a foot chase. 
  Basically, it means the chaser has got within half the normal 
  increment, which is 0.5”—all the guy has to do is reach out 
  and he can hit you. A grapple maneuver is handy at this point 
  because if you’re chasing someone, you normally want to catch 
  them. Any idiot can blast away at a fl eeing foe with a gun if he 
  wants a body count.
  Out of Control
  The Out of Control table doesn’t work as listed for chases 
  involving animals or people. It was never designed to be used 
  that way. It’s also a reason why there’s two different set of rules 
  for chases and regular combat.
  A Roll Over or Flip indicates a fall and puts the character out 
  of the fi ght. Maybe his horse twisted its ankle, or the character 
  fell over a trash can and got tangled up. Treat Skid, Spin, or Slip 
  as a –2 penalty all their next trait roll, whatever that may be.
  Summary
  So, in summary, the chase rules are fast, furious, and fun, 
  but they requires a little interpretation from the GM to make 
  them fi t different scenarios.
  Wiggy
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Savage Worlds/Misc/Whispers from the Pit/Whispers from the Pit #05 - Chaase Rules.pdf