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AwfulLawful
2007-08-20, 02:41 PM
I'm currently GMing a campaign in which I've sent the characters out to find some missing nobles. These nobles are held captive in an Orc Fortress (classic, I know), but a short time before the PCs arrive the nobles will manage to escape and flee into the wilderness with some minor artifact-thingie they've stolen from the orcs.
As the PCs arrive the orcs (many orogs included) will be organizing hunt/search parties as they want their prisoners and treasure back. The PCs will now have to race the orcs to find the nobles first....

That was the general idea...

But how to do it? I have no clue..

Have any of you experiences with these chase type adventures? Please share your ideas.
How can I keep this fast paced and action packed, instead of just making a truck load of survival checks?

The characters is level 5, and the party consist of a paladin, a fighter, a swordsage, a wizard, a cleric and a druid. And by the way, none of the characters have the Track feat.

psychoticbarber
2007-08-20, 02:51 PM
My recommendations:

1) Plot out a possible route using a simple flowchart, a la


Start
/ \
Alligator! | Bog (reduced movement, natural danger)

Edit: This thing doesn't like the spacing, but the slashes were supposed to paths from "Start" to "Alligator!" and "Bog"



And so on until you have a number of possible connected paths in which the chase scene will take place.

2) Figure out a reasonable amount of time in which the players can decide on the next direction to travel or the next action to take (maybe 30 or 60 seconds?), and time it with an egg timer.

3) Figure out how much the Orcs and other chasers can move in the same amount of time. If your players take twice as long to make a decision, move the Orcs twice.

4) Make it clear to your players that they are working on the clock. This is extremely important.

Hope it works for you!

Falrin
2007-08-20, 03:15 PM
Countdowns work great in any situation.

Survival Checks, Constitution Checks, Nature & Geography, Ride Checks.
These determine the General speed of the characters. Every Point difference = +/- 1 min, 1 mile, whatever fits your concept best.

But this is just broing : I roll, I roll again, and again , ...


So bring in some encounters:

The orcs leave some scouts behind to delay followers.
A cliff blocks the way, the orcs have cut the bridge.
A fast moving river blocks the way.
A hungry pack of wolfs feasts on a killed orc.
A Burned down farm with a surviver.
Some hasty Traps.


In general: The party should move faster, the Orcs should know the terrain/use delay tactics. Set a certain time on each Problem and see if the Party beats it or not.


2 Notes:

A ranger will be a nice asset in these chases.
A wizard will scry/teleport/dimension door/phantom steed/fly/airwalk/overland Flight/... and catch them before they know it.

Matthew
2007-08-21, 05:52 AM
'Taking 10' will be your friend in this situation, I suspect, as there are going to be a lot of Tracking Rolls and Constitution Checks. You're also going to have to decide how quickly the Orcs will find the Nobles without Player Character interference. Basically plot out how things would transpire without the Player Characters and then build into this scheme typical reactions and results of Player Character Actions.

leperkhaun
2007-08-21, 07:31 AM
hmmm, normally Ill make a timeline. For example ill go,

1) Nobles start @ a, orcs @ b, Pcs @ c
2) after 5 minutes nobles will be at d, orcs at e,
3) after 10 minutes they will be.....

One options for the PCs is to follow a group of orcs and hope that group finds the nobles. Depending on what AC the druid has you can have the AC lead the group.

another option is to make it so that no matter what the PCs do they just end up where they need to be. I imagine something where they are running through the woods, killing small parties of orcs and gobs as they come accrose them. Along the way they find torn clothes maybe some blood..... off in the distance they can hear the Orcs as the orcs get closer to the nobles.

Basically free run it, keep the PCs running, encourage them to make quick desisive descisions without spending 5 minutes thinking about it. When they finally get to the nobles a nice tough tussle would be good.

Yakk
2007-08-21, 07:55 AM
A flow chart is the way to go.

Think of it as a (mostly) one-way dungeon, but defeating/bypassing a room accumulates chase points. This has an advantage -- you can reuse some encounters, if meeting one means that you cannot meet the other. Try to not make this obvious.

Use two colours of beads. One goes into an open bowl (the player's chase points), the other goes into a hidden bag (the orc chase points).

Delay by players gives the orcs chase points. Delaying the orcs gives the players chase points. The orc chase points are unknown (hence the bag), but you can use "I drop a stone into the orc pool" to discourage delay.

The 60 second timer at decision points is important -- every 60 seconds, drop a chase point into the orc pool, and let the players know what you are doing.

Decision points should not be completely blind.

The 5th level Paladin means that the players should be mounted -- otherwise the "Paladin charges ahead" solution is too obvious and breaks the party up. This means the orcs will be mounted.

The length of the chase changes the dynamics significantly. Is it on the level of weeks? days? Hours? Minutes?

Doing things like travelling at night should give you temporary chase points, but the next day the players get to roll lots of endurance checks, and give up chase points to the orcs. In general, sleeping at night is a must.

Funkyodor
2007-08-21, 10:28 AM
Lets see. You're not wanting to make this a 'Darn-it I don't have survival or track and I don't know the terrain (which the Orcs should since it's their fort), so I guess the nobles are done for' situation. Give them a layout of of the orc preparation to depart and then set up a moderately easy scouting mob and have at least one cowardly gobbo they can smack around for info and to "lead" them on the right path". He can take them somewhat in the wrong direction and set them up into an ambush, but low and behold the ambush spot is a watch tower that gives them a good vantage point to somewhat see the Orcs chase and where the Nobles are heading to. Give them some perilous options like "You see a fallen tree lying across a gorge" or something like that they would have to pass to intercept either the nobles or the orcs. I think you can make up the rest. No (or limited) survival checks because they know where they need to go, they are low level so no teleporting.

AwfulLawful
2007-08-21, 03:10 PM
Thanks, I can really use a lot of your ideas. Think I'll make up a flow chart, and add some encounters. Using the chase beads is a good idea, and using a weak orc scouting party should lead them in the right general direction.

As for mounts, the party all have horses, but the terrain prevents their usefulness. There's a lot of bogs, moors and swamps, and the fog is heavy all over the place. The orc won't be mounted, but will get a bit of a head start.

Thanks all