How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Monster Manual

A Primer on How to Run 5e D&D

5e is a great RPG -- probably the best edition of D&D -- but it's not great at telling you how to ::looks at camera:: run a game.

A major challenge that new and experienced GMs alike stumble over is encounter design.

Encounter design is the art of setting up a discrete, relatively isolated conflict with NPCs or monsters.

Because the conflict in D&D is usually with NPCs or monsters, there's a high risk of a fight breaking out.  At least a third of D&D encounters featuring monsters or NPCs wind up in combat, and the system for challenge rating (CR) makes estimating how hard these battles will be very difficult.

Monsters within the same CR vary wildly in lethality.  Dragons and undead don't match other monsters at their level, for different, intentional reasons.  Worse, the math you're supposed to use to determine if your encounter is Easy, Medium, Hard, or Deadly is messy, challenging, and produces wild results.

Finally, 5e D&D assumes the party will be facing two or more encounters per short rest, and more than eight per long rest, so challenge ratings are averaged out between encounter #1 and encounter #8, when we all know that the PCs have an easier time when they're full on resources than when they're down to their last spell.  Since most DMs don't create time pressure plot that demands the party fight through eight encounters a day, that assumption is broken.  It's a mess!

But that's OK.

Breathe!

You're going to be fine.

Here's why: I'm going to tell you how to GM 5e D&D without freaking out about challenge rating.

1. Encounter stakes should almost never be "kill or be killed"
2. Have "encounters" not "fights"
3. Don't make running away hard
4. Warn them about deadly foes (it's OK!)
5. Learn how to make easy encounters scary
6. Threaten things they care about, OTHER than their hp or gp
7. Start each PC turn with stakes narration

1. Encounter stakes should almost never be "kill or be killed"

Source: Pexels

It takes an enormous, personal hatred for someone to try to murder another person, at risk to their own life.  That's even true for non-sapient creatures like snakes or tigers.  A rattlesnake might kill, but only in self defense or to hunt.  It will run away and give warning before it strikes an attacker, and it will flee prey that turns out to be able to fight back.  A tiger might kill a human for the cruel sport of it, but if the tiger's life is in danger, it will run away.  People are even more thoughtful about killing each other.  Even serial killers, terrorists, and assassins avoid fighting to the death except in very specific circumstances. 

If all you use are the D&D equivalents of serial killers, terrorists, and assassins, the horror of their single-minded violence will get old, fast.  Most encounters in your adventure should be about things that one or both sides care about, and they should care about practical things connected to the antagonists' plans.  Serial killers, terrorists, and assassins care about bizarre fantasies, zealous ideologies, and political extremism.  They make great main antagonists, but to populate a dungeon, they need the fantasy equivalent of paid soldiers, faction loyalists, friends, patsies, and guard dogs.

Characters and monsters that work for your antagonist are rarely mindless killers.  And even the mindless killers have specific instructions.

Example:  Some goblins are holed up in a ruin on a ransom scheme.  They're trying to get rich trading a wealthy captive for a lot of gold.  If adventurers show up to rescue their captive, the goblins will try to chase the adventurers off; but those goblins won't die for a cut of the ransom!  That's insane!  Goblins aren't that stupid.

Example:  A necromancer has animated some skeletons to guard the crypt where she prepares the dark ritual.  She has tasked them to stay in the antechamber and then to kill any living being that enters it other than her.  PCs can split up and have a fast Rogue attack the skeletons and draw them away, or shout past them to get the necromancer to come out.

This tip is all about what the antagonists care about.  But sometimes GMs need to frame encounter stakes around what the PCs care about - see #6.

2. Have "encounters" not "fights"

When you prep your adventure, you might be tempted to think "for this fight, we'll have three bugbears."  Stop!  How do you know it's a fight?

When you're GMing, don't push to roll initiative.  Bugbears don't spend all day laying in wait, hoping some adventurer stumbles upon them.  Unless the bugbears are specifically ordered to prepare ambush (an unusual thing to do, unless there's an immediate reason), they will be acting normally.  Describe what the PCs encounter, then ask "what do you do?"  Sometimes someone will say "I charge the nearest bugbear!  Leeeeerooooy Jenkins!"

But since fights drain their resources, the PCs are more likely to try a different, smarter approach first.  You can frame that approach as hard as you want, because failing the Stealth or Deception check probably will lead to a fight.

3. Don't make running away hard

There are no less than three different systems for retreating in 5e D&D.

1. You can use the combat rules, stay in initiative, and have the players declare Disengage actions and movement to escape their enemies.  
2. You can use the optional chase rules in the DMG.  
3. Or you can narrate the result of a PC action, without using dice.  All three of those are "rules as written" ways to handle retreat.

The chase rules are pretty good.  They're a fun mechanical way to resolve a chase, which is what a retreat is if the enemy wants to pursue the PCs.  But see tip #1 - if the monsters' goal is to chase off the PCs, they win if the PCs run away. They don't have to run them down and slaughter them!

Narrating the retreat is even better:  You look at the encounter stakes (see #1 and #6) and decide what happens if the PCs forfeit by running away.  Then you narrate the result and make some notes as to what's happened while the PCs fled.

The combat system, however, is lethal.  If the PCs know the fight is too hard, staying in initiative will probably kill them and the players know it.

Example:  The PCs have to choose between Move and Dash (and eat an opportunity attack) or Disengage and Move.  If they Move and Dash, the enemy can Move and Dash and continue getting free opportunity attacks, unless the enemy is slower than them.  If they Disengage and Dash, the enemy can move and take an Action against them every turn.  Unless the PCs have faster movement speed than the monsters, retreat is suicidal.

So tell your players that your official DM policy is never to force them to use the combat system to retreat.

"Here's my policy:  If you all agree to retreat, we will drop out of initiative and either narrate the retreat or use the chase rules in the DMG.  This means retreating is a lot easier for you."

If you do that, the players will know they can run away, and so will you.  But they won't run away unless they know they're out-gunned.  So...

4. Warn them about deadly foes (it's OK!)

In real life, there is no animal that cannot be killed by a reasonably fit "first level" person with chain mail and a spear.  A "10 in every stat" human with no special combat training can kill a tiger or a hippo or a grizzly bear if they've got a spear and chain mail armor.

The "classes and levels" system of D&D introduces "high level" threats that no mere mortal can defeat.  A Commoner with chain mail and a spear has effectively zero chance to defeat an Adult Red Dragon -- or even a Dire Wolf.

Well sure, that's just how D&D is, right?

You should feel comfortable warning your players about deadly foes. Gary Gygax was! In original Dungeons and Dragons, the depth in the dungeon was the challenge level! Every time you went down a level, the monsters got harder. You knew you were facing bigger risks if you were at Dungeon Level 6. And if you were Character Level 2, that was a reason for caution. Why should the 5th edition be MORE antagonistic and secretive than the first? Just tell them when a fight is Deadly (according to the DMG's rules).

Example:  A level 1 PCs might attack an assassin, not knowing that the assassin is the Assassin from the Monster Manual -- a CR 8 foe with 78 hit points.  She can outright kill most level 1 PCs with a single blow.  She can singlehandedly "TPK" a level 1 party in as little as two rounds.  But how would your players know that? You. You need to communicate that.

You need to make it clear to the players, out of character, that this CR 8 Assassin is way out of their league, because it is not realistic that they could all beat on an assassin with greataxes and spells for twelve seconds and have approaching zero chance of killing her.

Then, ask them how they know this information, in character.

"Hey folks, OOC, this is a CR 8 foe with more hit points than you have combined, and she can do 40 damage per attack with multiple attacks.  Engage at your own risk.  How do your characters know that?"

You recruit the players to help create an in-game justification for why they know the assassin is too deadly an Assassin for them to fight head-on.  That way they have buy-in, which supports verisimilitude:  If they come up with an answer, the answer will seem more plausible to them.

If the players (A) know how hard the foe is, and (B) they know you won't make them use the combat system to retreat, then (C) they won't feel forced to fight for their lives against a foe they can't handle.

But both A and B are necessary for C.

5. Learn how to make easy encounters scary

Sometimes the story calls for an easy encounter.  Sometimes you thought the encounter was going to be hard, and it turns out it wasn't.  No biggie!  Learn how to make encounters seem harder than they are, then always use those tricks.

Let's face it -- your PCs will probably have one or two hundred fights in a long D&D campaign.  That's a lot of fights!

Even if you're running a "killer" campaign, only 10% of them are going to be literally lethal.  And most of us aren't running "killer" campaigns (it's not a popular style).  So if 90% or more (probably far more) of the fights aren't really a threat, your job is to make them feel scary.

This is an imagination game.  Everything is make believe.  If a monster feels scary, it is scary.

There are several ways to do that.

1. Act! This is where you try to get all Matt Mercer on your players.  Menace them.  But maybe you suck at acting.  (That's OK, so do I.)  Luckily there are a few other ways to make monsters scarier than they deserve.
2. The second way is to describe the monsters as way scarier than their stats deserve.  Part of this is revealing as little as possible about monsters' stats before battle begins.  And when you do give away the monsters' secrets, reveal their weaknesses before you reveal their strengths.  That sounds backwards, but it's not!  Something that's unknown is way scarier than something you can predict and prepare for.  
3. When you describe the battle, do the opposite:  Never describe a PC OR a monster as weak or fumbling.  If a PC misses, it was because the monster was tough, quick, or skilled.  If a monster misses, it's because the PC was tough, quick, or skilled.  And don't make a hit draw serious blood until the monster is low on hit points - below half at least.  (This is the book's official advice on describing damage.)
4. The last way is Tip #6...

6. Threaten things they care about, other than their hp or gp

Remember, even a "killer DM" is only going to kill a PC off once every couple of sessions, and you're probably not a killer DM.  So you can't try to kill the PCs every encounter, or they might notice that you're not killing them.  Then things will get boring.

So threaten things the PCs care about, other than their hit points.  Threaten things that you're willing to follow through on.

Each encounter, the opposition has a goal, and that goal should very rarely be "kill all the PCs or die trying" (see Tip #1).  Choose goals for the antagonists so that if they achieve their goal, it will make the story more interesting. The most interesting goals your villains might have are goals that directly threaten things your PCs care about.

Here's a list of encounter stakes to use as inspiration, split into ascending tiers of severity.  Your monsters can win most of those stakes, and it doesn't end the campaign like "kill or be killed" stakes do.  That list has fifty encounter stakes options, none of which is "slaughter all the PCs or die trying."

But take it a step farther:  What are the monsters after?  Whatever it is, make it personal.

That's what I mean by threaten something they care about other than their hp or gp.  The thing that drives your plot is your antagonist's plan.  Make your antagonist's plan directly conflict with things each PC cares about.

If your antagonist's plan is in direct conflict with things the PCs care about, you're running a "character-driven campaign."  If not, your campaign is not driven by the things the characters care about.  Sure, they might be saving the world -- we all care about the world -- but it's not personal.  If you want the easiest way to run a character-driven campaign, here's how to do it.

In a character-driven campaign, you set the antagonists' goals in conflict with things the PCs care about.  Look at the PCs' backstories (and in a 5e D&D game, check their Personal Characteristics) for this information.

Example: Let's go back to the goblin sentry example, from Tip #1.  The goblins care about guarding a ruin where they're holding a hostage they're trying to ransom.  In a non-character-driven campaign, the PCs are hired to go save the hostage with the promise of a reward.  The hostage's life isn't worth the ransom (or the goblins miscalculated and asked for too much), so they've offered the PCs a lower amount to rescue them.  Losing the fight or running away means the PCs' reward is in doubt.  But it's just gold.

In a character-driven campaign, you play off of their passions.  The Criminal wants to become the greatest thief in the world.  At the start of the adventure, a character-driven GM insinuates that the hostage is a priest who can help spread word of their prowess.  The Acolyte cleric owes her life to this priest who took her in when her parents died.  The Soldier's honor is her life.  She promised the Acolyte cleric that she would save the priest, so retreating from this fight is dishonorable.  The warlock is wanted for a robbery from his days as an Urchin, and the character-driven GM has insinuated that the priest's influence could get him a pardon, if he can keep his dark patron a secret.

All of a sudden, fights are exciting not because of the chess game tactical challenges, but because something the characters care about is on the line.  You can screw up encounter design and wind up with a fight too easy or a fight too hard, and it doesn't matter, because what makes it exciting is that the PCs' actions could get this priest killed.

7. Start each PC turn with stakes narration

The last problem with the CR system is that the rules assume an adventuring day with a few encounters per short rest, and more than eight encounters per long rest (fewer at lower levels, and more at the highest levels, of course).

However, in practice, having ten battles a day is not how most DMs run D&D.  The only way to do that is to create a plot with time pressure, and then put ten violent monsters in the way of achieving the plot before the clock runs out.  That can be fun, but you don't want to do it every single time.

Consequently, character classes designed to make players carefully ration a dozen spells over the course of a day usually kick ass most days, because most days, the DM doesn't actually make you face more than a few encounters.

The reason it's a problem at all that the Wizard spells and the Rogue just has the same old sneak attack is that the Wizard's highest level spells are game changers that are supposed to be limited to once every handful of encounters.  They steal the spotlight.  If the Wizard doesn't have to ration their best spells, they can use their best spells every turn.  So how do you balance for this inherent problem without becoming a master encounter (and adventure!) designer?

When the daily-refresh classes don't have to budget their resources, every encounter goes like this:  The fighter and rogue did some damage, and then the Wizard cast a big spell that turned the tide, leaving the fighter and rogue to mop up what little opposition was left.

So you don't have to give Rogues powerful spells.  You have to make every PC turn feel like a critical moment in the story.  The way you do that is to start each and every PC turn with narration that focuses the action on the current stakes, in terms of that character's perspective.  Here's a thread on how to do that in detail.

RPG Combat Gamerunning Thread

Today let's talk about a technique I learned to use to make combat more exciting.
1/

— Jon Lemich (@RunAGame) September 13, 2018

In this way, the DM can make the cleric's 4 hit point Healing Word or the Rogue's missed attack into a critical moment in the story.  Sure, the Wizard's Fireball and the fighter's big Action Surge turn are what really turned the tide, but look at this example:

DM:  Rogue, two hobgoblins are attacking Bard while Ragnar is poised to finish off the direwolf.  You can finish off the direwolf pretty safely, or go take some heat off of Bard before the hobgoblins kill him.  What do you do?
Rogue: Ug, my Flaw is I don't take risks for others, but I can't just let him go down.  I go try to take out one of the hobgoblins.  Crud.  Eight.  I miss.
DM: Hobgoblins' turn.  The one you attacked swings at you...  19 to hit for 13 damage.
Rogue: Ouch!  Down to three hit points!
DM:  You have a big gash on your sword arm.  Blood is running down your hand, dripping all over the ground.
Rogue:  I think, 'That's what I get for sticking my neck out for people!'

The DM framed the turn as a choice between self-preservation and heroism.  The Rogue acted against his nature to try to help someone, and suffered for it.  It's a character-defining moment, and also a relationship-defining moment for Bard and Rogue.  I mean, Rogue tried, right?

Summary

1. Encounter stakes should almost never be "kill or be killed"

• Problem: Need more realistic antagonists, are you willing to follow through on TPK threatening encounters?
• Skill: Creative stakes setting, worldbuilding

2. Have "encounters" not "fights"

• Problem: Jumping to combat too quickly, 
• Skill: Scaffolding encounters with multiple routes to success, improvising to accommodate creative actions

3. Don't make running away hard

• Problem: retreating in D&D while staying in initiative is suicide
• Skill: Good communication, setting table expectations, rules awareness

4. Warn them about deadly foes (it's OK!)

• Problem: CR is artificial
• Skill: Good communication, trust building

5. Learn how to make easy encounters scary

• Problem: Too-easy encounters can be dull
• Skill: Acting, description, and stakes setting

6. Threaten things they care about, other than their hp and gp

• Problem: Story is more exciting if it's about the characters - less exciting if they're just along for the ride
• Skill: Stakes setting, worldbuilding, character-driven GMing

7. Start each PC turn with stakes narration

• Problem: D&D is designed and balanced for long adventuring days, and we don't want to be forced into those, so classes get unbalanced
• Skill: Put little story decisions in every turn, when you can, to distribute spotlight more fairly

One final example 
(Regular readers know how I love examples!)

Let's say you make a mistake, and you make the goblin sentries too hard.  You use two hobgoblins against a level 1 party.  Hobgoblins happen to be way too dangerous for their 1/2 challenge rating; thanks to their 18 AC and their Martial Advantage trait, two hobgoblins (not a Deadly encounter, per the rules) can kill two first level PCs in the first round of a fight if the dice go even a little in their favor.  Here's an outcome set for all possible outcomes of the too-hard encounter:

• Clear victory (unlikely):  All the PCs survive, and they kill the hobgoblins and save the priest.  A happy reunion!
• Mixed victory:  The PCs kill the hobgoblins and save the priest, but one or more of them sacrificed their lives for this.  If the goal was just to get some gold, this is a lame outcome.  If the PCs saved the priest, but the Acolyte sacrificed her life to save a man who she owes everything to, it makes a tragic, but fitting end.
• Mixed defeat:  The PCs killed one of the hobgoblins, but had to retreat.  Now they have to find out if the hobgoblins killed the hostage or just moved them somewhere more secure.
• Defeat (unlikely):  The PCs failed to save the priest, and some of them died in the fight.  The survivor(s) escaped, and will have to recruit new allies and make another rescue attempt before the hobgoblins give up and kill the hostage.
• Close TPK (incredibly unlikely):  For the encounter to end in a "total party kill," the last PC standing would have to have had enough chance to win on their last action that they thought it was better to take one last shot than to retreat.  The dice didn't go their way, they didn't beat the last hobgoblin, and they got killed by an unlucky roll.  Even this outcome is exciting, because of how close it was and how personal it was.  Also, this situation is very unlikely:  In our example, the Acolyte might die for the priest, but the Criminal and the Warlock won't die for their goals.  And the Soldier may die for their honor, but might decide it's better to retreat and try a different approach than throw their life away.
• Brutal TPK (impossible):  If the PCs' attacks are easily rebuffed and they're getting slaughtered, thanks to #3, above, they could just retreat.  There's no reason to stick around:  The hobgoblins' goal is only to guard their hostage.  There could be other chances to mount a rescue.  There's no reason for all the PCs to die here.  A brutal TPK is not possible.

See?  I just described how a lethal fight is all-but-guaranteed not to end in a TPK if you follow my advice.  You don't even have to figure out how hard the fight is.  You don't need to know that the hobgoblins are way too deadly for CR 1/2.  You don't even need to use Kobold Fight Club or a CR calculation system.  You just pick some monsters and roll with it.  The safeguards you have in place keep things fun.

Dealing with Stun Lock

Dealing with "Stun Lock"

In game systems that use initiative, nothing is worse than having your character taken out of the action.  It's bad enough that your character is either dead, dying, paralyzed, or unconscious.  But on top of that, there's 20 minutes of combat left, and you don't get to do anything.

I loved 4e, but one of my biggest gripes about it is that as you gained levels, stun-lock became an increasingly powerful player tactic and an increasingly common monster power.  When the monster loses their turn, no big deal -- the DM has other monsters.  When the player loses their turn, they've just had 5-10 minutes go by without any input into the shared fiction.  And that sucks.

So what can you do?

The pain of "not getting a turn" is the pain of not getting to contribute to the shared fiction.  The solution is to give the player input into the fiction in ways that have meaning and impact.

If there are any NPC combatants on the PCs' side in the fight, let the player whose character is out of the action play an allied NPC. 

It's less obvious what you should do if there are no NPCs in the fight they can take over.

If the player's character is out of the whole fight, such as if they're in another scene that's not in initiative rounds, or if they've been killed, let them play one or more monsters.  Players will love this.  If you only have one monster left, work with them as a team.  "Who should we attack?  Really?  Isn't it better to take out that Rogue who keeps stabbing us first?"

If the player's character lost just one turn, or if they'll probably lose only one or two turns, ask for their input on things:  "Should the lich use Cone of Cold or Confusion?  Which do you think would be best?"  They're paralyzed.  It's not going to affect them in the short term.  They should be able to keep a clear head about it. 

Smarter Theater of the Mind Mechanics

5th Edition D&D claims to be based around Theater of the Mind action.  The Starter Set doesn't come with any printed maps or miniatures, and the default mode of play is pure imagination.  The problem is that the designers describe everything you can do in terms of feet of distance.  They made no effort to overhaul the classic D&D "20' sphere" and "30' movement rate" to use actual Theater of the Mind range, movement, and positioning mechanics.

So I wanted to share with you a few ways a competing fantasy RPG - 13th Age - handles "theater of the mind" that you could house-rule into your 5e games.  13th Age is not some fan created hack (no offense to all the awesome fan hacks out there).  It was written by Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet, lead designers of 4th and 3rd edition D&D, and published by Pelgrane Press, an experienced, thriving game company with a vast library of ENnie award-winning titles, including 13th Age (which took silver for Best Rules in 2014).

Before we start, you should be aware that 13th Age has an SRD, so everything I'm talking about is publicly available at www.13thagesrd.com.  I recommend if you like what you read, that you go buy the 13th Age core book, because the art is phenomenal (you don't get that from the SRD!) and the game is great.  I like Pelgrane so much I just linked their page directly instead of using my amazon affiliate link (not that those ever generate any income, but it's the principle of the thing.)  Also, the Theater of the Mind combat rules are only one of 13th Age's interesting and innovative mechanics.  Go check it out!

On to the meat of the article.  The four things you need to consider with theater of the mind tactical combat are...

1. Range and Movement
2. Positioning, Tanking, and Intercepting
3. Area of Effect Magic
4. Retreat

This is an article for 5th Edition D&D DMs struggling with Theater of the Mind action.  So I'm going to cover how 13th Age handles these four things, and give you a tip after each that will help you improve your 5th Edition D&D game by importing some wisdom from 13th Age.    

Range and Movement

There are three ranges in 13th Age:  Engaged (you're right next to them), Nearby (you can get to them in one move), and Far Away (two moves away from enemies, possibly more).  Ranged weapons fall into three categories.  Some can only hit Nearby enemies (thrown dagger), some can hit Nearby enemies and also Far Away enemies at -2 (javelin), and some can hit Nearby and Far Away enemies equally well (bows and crossbows).

13th age doesn't measure movement down to increments of five feet.  It's designed explicitly for Theater of the Mind action (though many 13th Age groups still use minis and maps), so it cares about where people are relative to each other instead of exact distances.  They make a few sacrifices for this:  Halflings and Dwarves can move around in combat as quickly as Elves and Humans.  But on the other hand, there's no need to get into arguments about distance, track who's within 30' for your javelin, and quarrel about whether your cleric can move to the fallen ranger to heal them.  The distance between things is measured in moves, not feet.

In 13th Age, a character can move to anything that's Nearby with their move.  A character can close distance from Far Away from something to Nearby with their move.  A character can Disengage with a move.  Disengaging is different from 5e D&D.  In 5e D&D, Disengage is an action.  In 13th Age, it's a move.  You either move away and take an opportunity attack or make a roll to Disengage (like the old 3rd edition Tumble check).  If you fail, you lose your move.  Some classes get abilities that interact with the Disengage roll to make them good at hit-and-run tactics.  I actually like the 5th edition D&D Disengage rule better than the 13th Age rule (5e also gives classes Disengage mechanics - see the Rogue's Cunning Action).

5e DM Tip!  If you're using theater of the mind action, it's already impossible to tell whether a Dwarf is too slow to get to a nearby enemy, unless you constantly track relative distances between each and every character in the scene.  Nobody does that.  So start describing distance in terms of "moves" instead of feet, with the understanding that one "move" is about 25 or 30 feet, if it matters.


Positioning, Tanking, and Intercepting

When you're using minis and a battlemap, the tactical movement options in 5e are wide open, but when you're using Theater of the Mind, it's impossible to keep track of the exact distance, in feet, between your character and every other relevant character and object in the encounter.  So your options for tactical positioning in 13th Age are not limited just because there's no grid.  They added a positioning system that doesn't use feet, but allows you to make declarations about where you are relative to other combatants.  That means you can keep track of a lot more information about relative positions since it's not all in exact numbers of feet.  There's no trigonometry involved.  Here are some of your positioning options in 13th Age:

You can move Far Away to avoid being attacked.  Since that takes two moves, nothing can both move to you and attack, and some ranged weapons can't hit you.

You can move Behind an ally, forcing enemies to go around the ally to get to you.  Any time an enemy tries to go around you, you can Intercept them, which lets you become Engaged with them and end their movement.

When you're Engaged with an enemy, it's hard for them to get away.  So you can "tank" by engaging with enemies.  They have to make a check to move away from you without taking an opportunity attack, and if they fail, they lose their move; or they can decide to just move away and take the attack without trying to disengage.  Protector type classes (and monsters!) have abilities that interact with the intercept, disengage, and opportunity attack mechanics to make them more "sticky."  Skirmisher type classes (and monsters!) have abilities that interact with these mechanics to make them more "slippery."

Other situations that are less clear are resolved with a GM call or an ability check if there's disagreement.  So if you rush the necromancer, and the GM says you have to go around his zombies to do it, the GM might refer to when they described the scene "I said the zombies filled the hallway shoulder to shoulder, with the necromancer behind them."  You can counter by saying "Yeah, but I can try leaping off the altar and swinging from the hanging tapestry, up out of their reach," and the GM will call for a Dex check.

5e DM Tip!  You can't copy 13th Age positioning into D&D without a lot of house rules, but you can take its advice about "Dicey Moves" -- any time a player argues that they can make a move in theater of the mind action, and you disagree, instead settle the disagreement with a die roll.  This is part of the larger "say yes or roll the dice" principle.  Any time a player wants to do something, and you think the opposition is too great, it's a disagreement over whether their character is good enough to overcome it.  That's literally what the system is for:  Let the dice decide whether their character is good enough.


Area of Effect Magic

5th edition D&D handles area of effect magic all wrong for theater of the mind.  It tells you that your character can send a streak of flame from your character's fingertip to a point you choose within 150' assuming your character has uninterrupted line of effect to that spot, at which point it explodes into a 20' radius sphere centered on that point, spreading around corners.  To know if you can hit multiple creatures, you need to know how far they are from you, how far they are from each other, how far they are from your allies, and then compute some trigonometry to figure out if you can choose a point to target that will hit as many enemies as possible without hitting your allies.  That's totally inappropriate for theater of the mind, and it results in a lot of "Haha sucker!  You also hit the fighter!  Ragnar has to make a Dex save!"

Take a look!

Fireball
3rd-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 150 feet
Components: V, S, M (a tiny ball of bat guano and sulfur)
Duration: Instantaneous
A bright streak flashes from your pointing finger to a point you choose within range and then blossoms with a low roar into an explosion of flame. Each creature in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw. A target takes 8d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
The fire spreads around corners. It ignites flammable objects in the area that aren’t being worn or carried.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 3rd.

http://ephe.github.io/grimoire/spells/fireball


13th Age is better for theater of the mind play.  It says that at any given time there are 1, 2, or 3 enemies close enough together that you can hit them, and if you're willing to cast it recklessly (which is a no brainer if your allies are not currently engaged with the enemy), you can actually get 2-6 enemies inside its explosive radius.  Instead of the GM deciding if you can hit 1 or 3 enemies, you roll a die.

Fireball
Ranged spell; Daily
Special: When you cast this spell, you can choose to cast it recklessly.
Target: 1d3 nearby enemies in a group. If you cast recklessly, you can target 1d3 additional enemies, but then your allies engaged with the target may also take damage (see below).
Attack: Intelligence + Level vs. PD
Hit: 10d10 fire damage.
Miss: Half damage.
Reckless miss: Your allies engaged with the target take one-fourth damage.
7th level spell 12d10 damage.
9th level spell 20d10 damage.
Champion Feat Casting the spell recklessly increases the number of additional targets to 1d4 instead of 1d3.
Epic Feat Increase the number of targets to 1d3 + 1 instead of 1d3.

http://www.13thagesrd.com/classes/wizard

DM Tip!  5th edition D&D doesn't have such elegant theater of the mind AOE rules.  So you have to accept player assertions, like "I can get the three skeletons fighting Ragnar without hitting him."  If you start quibbling these things, you're wasting time and setting up an adversarial relationship with the players.  


Retreat

It doesn't get more high stakes than a battle you're about to lose.  And when the stakes are high, whether or not you can successfully retreat and save your hide is a big deal.  In a game where distances and movement and relative positioning are measured in feet, it's a mess.

If you're routed in 5th edition D&D and decide to retreat, the combat system is not your friend.  Movement speeds in feet, initiative rounds, etc. all stack up against you, even if you're using a grid and miniatures.  Running away from a fight should not be that hard.

In 13th Age, it's much easier:  "Fleeing is a party action. On any PC's turn, any player can propose that all the characters flee the fight. If all players agree, they successfully retreat, carrying any fallen heroes away with them. The party suffers a campaign loss. The point of this rule is to encourage daring attacks and to make retreating interesting on the level of story rather than tactics."  (http://www.13thagesrd.com/combat-rules)

A "campaign loss" means "something bad happens in the story because you were defeated."  It doesn't mean you "lose the game."  Obviously, that's better than a TPK.  Because retreating is easy to understand and easy to do, players in 13th Age are braver and GMs can create more deadly situations without worrying about causing a TPK -- and as a result, the PCs lose more fights, but the campaign doesn't grind to a halt.

5e DM tip!  Import the 13th Age "Flee" rule wholecloth.  It'll make your PCs take bigger risks, and they'll lose more fights without ending the campaign.  It's a win-win!

Character Death

Today, I present another guest post from Reinhart at Chaos Engineering. This is a two-parter, so stay tuned next week for more on the topic!

Character death: It happens. I think we can all agree that death has a place in stories in roleplaying games, but there are few topics more contentious in gaming. There are plenty of traditionalists who enjoy how characters in D&D and The Call of Cthulhu can die suddenly and without warning. There’s also strong and vocal support across the roleplaying hobby for treating characters as protagonists who are less likely to die a senseless death. Both sides get vilified too much for what is really just a preference in playstyle.

Given the rancor on the subject, you might suspect that these playstyles are incompatible. The thing is, so long as everyone at the table is playing respectfully and talks about it ahead of time, there’s no reason this disagreement has to be a deal breaker. There’s plenty of room for compromise, and if you’re smart, that compromise doesn’t even have to be a zero-sum game.

First of all, if you’re going to find a workable compromise then you need to understand both sides in this tension. A lot of the disrespect I see around this debate is because neither side truly understands the other.

The Case for Random Death

Why would anyone prefer a random death? Well, it comes from a very basic principle of role-playing with dice: play to see what happens. A lot of players enjoy the tension that comes from being uncertain about what is about to happen to their character. Many GM’s enjoy not being in complete control of every situation, and sometimes they need to feel a little less culpable in the decision to remove player characters from the story.

Additionally, random death isn’t so random.  Some people play RPGs to play a game of make-believe instead of to tell a story.  Part of that difference is “what’s there is there.”  In the make-believe game, if there is a death trap there, it’s there; and if the PCs touch the wrong part of it, they will die.  Make-believe style play favors verisimilitude over narrative.

It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but there’s nothing wrong with wanting and enjoying this style of gaming either.

The Case for a Dramatic Death

Where’s the excitement in a game where you can’t die until the story demands it? If you’re seriously asking that question then you need to go read up on stakes. Just because character death isn’t a lurking threat, doesn’t mean that anything or everything else isn’t up for grabs. The problem with random death is that outside of some expensive D&D spells, it’s pretty damn final. Of all the things that could happen to a character in story, death is probably one of the least interesting because it generally closes off more possibilities than it creates.  

Just as most GM’s run with some basic scenes, challenges, and plot already prepared in mind, many players create characters with potential themes and plot points they want to explore. As a result when the dice end a character prematurely, there can be disappointment with both the player and the GM.

Don’t be a Slave to the Rules

Obviously the players and the GM can always decide to ignore the rules whenever they become inconvenient, but players can find it jarring to just “take back” a roll or consequence like that. It’s generally better to solve the problem before it even starts. Like most RPG issues, the best time to address this is at session zero.

If you and your players all hate random character death, you should probably learn and use a set of rules that don’t emphasize that element. D&D or Call of Cthulhu are great games, but they both have game mechanics that can kill characters without warning. If you don’t want to play that way then maybe pick a game like Fate to tell your story. If you don’t want to learn an entirely new set of rules then perhaps have the players collaborate on crafting their own house-rules for death and dying.

Negotiate the Stakes

Even once you and your players have decided on the rules that best fit your playstyle, there’s still a lot of leeway given to the GM as to when and how character death happens. When a player character heroically runs into a burning building, and the building collapses on them, you don’t have to roll for damage. Their life or death at that moment is should be determined by what makes sense and what is the most interesting result for everyone at the table.

Good GMs are open about the stakes that the players are risking. Let them know when you feel the scene is warranting life or death decisions. “Do you really want to run back into that building? It looks like it could collapse at any moment. It would probably kill you if you got trapped inside now.”

Likewise, during session zero, each player should be very honest about how survivable they expect their characters to be. They don’t all have to agree to this equally, either. One GM that I’ve played Delta Green with suggests that players volunteer for random death by writing “DNR” at the top of their character sheets. When the tension ramps up, those players can usually look forward to a sudden and interesting demise.

I like the DNR house-rule, but as I discussed before just because a player is against a random death doesn’t mean they’re opposed to a dramatic death. For that reason I like negotiating the terms of character death openly when discussing a player’s goals for a character:

• How do you see your character ending up in this campaign?
• What would be a suitable heroic arc?
• How could it turn tragic?

These questions aren’t just there for me to help direct the story, but also to help the player anticipate and recognize what fates are appropriate for their character. Many players accept an eventual demise better when they’ve already accomplished some of their goals and their doom conforms with how they expected their character to die.

Pacing Your Doom

Even if everyone is alright with the rules and dramatic circumstances that govern their demise, there’s still a certain combination of logistics and art to determining when to kill of a character. If your player characters really can drop out of the story at any moment, make sure that players have a developed replacement character. If you and your player characters like to have developed backstories and lead-ins for your player characters then that means perhaps there should be occasional insertions of the back-up characters into the narrative before they’re eventually needed.

Regardless of whether death in your game is random or dramatically orchestrated, it tends to leave one player with less to do and a lot less to get engaged with. For that reason it’s best to plan for death near the conclusion of a session or adventure. For those of you letting the dice determine this, that means planning and designing your adventure so that more lethal threats are introduced later and near important milestones. Players are generally more accepting of their characters being murdered by the villain of the plot than they are by a random owlbear they tripped over in the woods.

Do it Right

A player’s character is often the only way that the player can interact with the shared imagined world of your RPG.  Few systems allow players to manipulate events or storylines without a character.  So death is a big deal.  Death is “game over - at least for now” for a player.  Using session zero, thinking about what mode of character death you want to include in your game, preparing for the type of game you want to run (and doing it right), and taking care not to waste your players’ time all contribute to solid GM skills -- regardless of how you want to run character death.

This is part 1 of a two-part series. Stay tuned for Part 2: Death Omens - a house rule for nearly any RPG that might satisfy all types of players!

Chase Rules for D&D 5th Edition Part 3 - Examples, Original System, and Other Ideas

Two weeks ago, I kicked this series off with rules for escaping combat.  Last week, I gave you revised chase rules for pursuit and evasion.  Those rules are 100% player-facing and minimize the impact that "instant win" spells have on chase scenes.  Today, I'll give you examples of all three new systems and a discussion of the original chase system in the DMG.

Chase Rules: Examples  

Below are examples of the rules, above, using the example of the first encounter in Lost Mine of Phandelver, the D&D 5th edition Starter Set. This is an encounter that should be familiar to most 5e GMs.  Most of you have run it, played it, seen a YouTube video of it, or read about it on forums.  I'm using the starter set characters which you can look at, here.

I'm naming them (Dungeon World Principle #7: Name Every Person)

• Sir Stanley:  Noble Fighter
• Berwin:  Soldier Cleric
• Gladheart:  Criminal Rogue
• Silverleaf:  Acolyte Wizard
• Fletcher:  Hero Archer

Warning:  There are spoilers for the first encounter of Lost Mine of Phandelver here.

The first encounter has the PCs escorting a wagon down a road and being ambushed by four goblins.  I will do three examples:  Escape, Evasion, and Pursuit.

Example 1:  Escape

We join our heroes mid-combat.  The goblins have had some lucky rolls, and the surprise round was brutal.  It's round 2, and the casters are out of spells, the rogue is unconscious and dying, and the archer is down to one hit point.  The wizard is only alive because of Shield and Mage Armor.  None of the goblins is dead yet, though a few have taken some damage.

Berwin:  I'm out of healing.  Let's get out of here!
Stanley:  I agree.  I'll hold them off while you guys get to safety.
Gladheart (OOC):  Remember I'm unconscions.
Fletcher (OOC):  All the more reason to get out of here.  I'm at 1 hit point, myself.
Silverleaf:  Sounds good to me.
GM:  OK.  Choose a type of escape and narrate something your character does consistent with your traits, ideals, bonds and flaws.
...
Berwin:  I tend to wait for others to act.  So I look to Stanley to see what he does.
Stanley:  Like I said, "I'll hold them off while you guys get to safety!"  Stanley holds up his shield and covers the retreat.  I choose Brave Retreat, so I take 1 damage for my level.
Berwin:  OK.  Berwin says, "I was hoping you'd say that."  I'm going to do Assisted Retreat.  Berwin steps behind Stanley while arrows rain down on him, then he runs as fast as his stubby legs can carry him.
GM:  OK, Stanley, you gain Inspiration.
Stanley:  I already have it from Brave Retreat, so I'll give that Inspiration to Berwin and take this one.
Gladheart:  I'm unconscious.  I'll do Desperate retreat.  In a haze of pain, Gladheart sees Berwin running and thinks, "Oh no!  There goes my healer!"  I crawl after Berwin.  I never have a plan, right?  So I'm just winging it.  Stay by the healer!
GM:  OK, with Desperate retreat, the one who helps you takes damage.  Who is that?
Gladheart:  Would Berwin be kind enough to lend me a shoulder?
Berwin:  Yeah, I'd pause to haul you up.  I wouldn't let you die.
GM:  OK, so Berwin takes 1 damage, based on his level.  Gladheart, you get back up to 1 hit point.  Silverleaf and Fletcher?
Silverleaf:  I'll use Assisted Retreat, too.  Would Fletcher cover my retreat?
Fletcher:  Sure.  I use up a few arrows giving you covering fire.
Silverleaf:  Great, so you get Inspiration.  Oh, and since I use big words, Silverleaf is like, "Fletcher! Employ continuous fire in the direction of the southernmost goblinoids so that I can escape their overwatch!"
Fletcher:  Heh.  OK, my turn.  I have one hit point left, so I can't use Brave Retreat.  I'll also use Assisted Retreat.  I use big words too, but this is better:  I'm blind to the risk of failure, so I'm standing there shooting until Stanley grabs me by the shoulder and turns me around.  He's like "run you idiot!"
Stanley:  Heh, yeah.  Sounds like something I'd do.  And I'm giving my inspiration to Silverleaf for that word salad.
GM:  OK, after Fletcher gets moving, Stanley runs behind, keeping low...

Example 2:  Evasion

GM: ...But it's not over yet!  You get a ways down the road when you see the goblins are giving chase!  [Step 1] You duck into the unfamiliar woods, but you still hear them coming.  You have to fool them somehow.  You can stick together or split up...  What do you do?
Stanley:  Half the party is badly injured. We have to stick together.
Berwin:  Agreed.  We try to lose the goblins in the woods.
GM:  OK.  [Step 2] Everyone make a Stealth check, DC 10.

Berwin and Stanley fail.  Fletcher, Silverleaf, and Gladheart succeed.

GM:  OK, you think you've given them the slip.  Now you hear them calling to each other as they search for you.  How do you get out of the area? [Step 3]
Fletcher:  I know the land here.  I'll be the guide.
GM:  OK, roll Survival.
Gladheart:  I'm going to try to cover our tracks.
GM:  OK, roll Deception.
Stanley:  I'm going to keep an eye out to make sure they don't catch up to us.
GM:  OK, that's Perception.
Berwin:  I'm going to help the party cross streams, get over rocks - go places they won't be able to follow.
GM:  That's Athletics.
Silverleaf:  I know goblin.  I'm going to listen to them and try to guide the party away from where they seem to be going.
GM:  That's Perception to hear those calls or Insight to guess what they're doing from their communications.
Silverleaf:  It's +3 either way.  We'll say it's sort of both.
GM:  OK, everyone, make a check with the skill I said at DC 15.

Berwin, Silverleaf and Fletcher fail.  Gladheart and Stanley succeed.

GM:  Bad news, guys.  Stanley hears one very close.  Silverleaf, you realize that some of them weren't shouting, and you didn't realize it.  The nearby one raises an alarm.  "Them over here!  Hurry!"  The goblins crash through the woods after you.  You take off again.  Do you still stick together?
Fletcher:  Yeah.  I blame this die, not my skills.  We can do it.  Run guys!
Others:  Agreed!  Yeah!  Don't split the party!  Not when I have one hit point!
GM:  [Back to Step 2] OK, you're still out of sight, so you can all try Stealth again.  DC 10.  If three of you fail,

Berwin fails.  Stanley, Fletcher, Silverleaf, and Gladheart succeed.

GM:  OK, you've lost them again.  Now you have to sneak out of the area before they find you.
Stanley:  Same as last time guys?
Others:  Yeah!  Stupid die, no more ones!  Yes, let's do it. OK!
GM:  OK, roll them again, DC 15.

Silverleaf and Fletcher fail.  Berwin, Gladheart and Stanley succeed.

Fletcher:  Stupid die...
GM:  But the good news is you got away.  You spend an hour covering your tracks, and you think they've given up.
Berwin:  I'm out of healing.  Let's take a long rest, OK?
Silverleaf:  Good idea.  Now I know there are goblins, I'd like to prepare Sleep.

Example 3: Pursuit

The next day, the party returns to the ambush site, this time prepared for a fight.  The wagon they abandoned has been looted, so they need to capture a goblin and find out where the supplies were taken.  They sneak around and ambush the goblins on the right side of the road.

After making quick work of those two, the ones on the left flee.  In Lost Mine of Phandelver, it seems like the PCs are meant to chase the goblins down a path that has traps in it.  The GM decides to use the Pursuit system instead.

GM:  They're fleeing down what looks like a twisty path in the woods.  In the underbrush, you can only hear them as they barrel through branches and weeds growing over the path.  Do you want to split up and try to head them off or stick together?
Fletcher:  I'm wary about splitting the party...
Berwin:  But you and Gladheart can probably cut through and get ahead of them.
Gladheart:  I'd like to give it a try.
Stanley:  OK, shout if you get in trouble.
GM:  OK, you get three tries to catch them before they get away.  Berwin, Stanley, and Silverleaf are the hammer.  Gladheart and Fletcher are the anvil.  OK, anvil:  You need to figure out where they are and sneak ahead of them through the underbrush.  Give me Stealth or Perception.

Fletcher and Gladheart both succeed.

GM:  Great!  OK, hammer.  You need to flush them out and catch up.  Roll Intimidation or Athletics.

Berwin and Stanley succeed.  Silverleaf fails.

GM.  Good enough.  That's more than half.  You've got them surrounded.  Ahead are Fletcher and Gladheart, bows drawn.  Behind are the others, blades and spells ready.  The goblins are trapped in the middle, with a boulder at their right and a thicket at their left.  Roll initiative!




Existing Chase System

The existing rules suggestion for chase scenes in 5e D&D is on page 252 of the Dungeon Master's Guide.  It uses distances and movement speeds.  Characters can Dash to get ahead, though there is a limit to how often it can be done (limiting the rogue's ability to abuse Cunning Action).  The rules don't take place in rounds, solving the Opportunity Attack and the accordion problem.  These are all good improvements.

At the end of each round, characters who passed through cover or concealment of some sort during the chase can use Stealth to hide.  The chase ends if all the quarry get away and hide.  This means that the most important stats for escaping a pursuit are Stealth and Constitution (more Dash actions), and the most important stats for pursuing a quarry are passive Perception and Constitution.  Some nice tables of Chase Complications provide fun obstacles that bring other skills and attributes into play.

There are problems with the DMG rules.  Likely the pursuers will catch the quarry.  This is because...

• The quarry will frequently need to zig and zag to move through cover and concealment, slowing their movement, while the pursuers do not need to do so ("If the quarry is never out of the lead pursuer's sight,the check fails automatically" p. 253); 
• The rules don't work for indoor chases; and
• There are many popular spells that will make capturing your quarry trivially easy.

If you are going to use the DMG chase system, you should do the following:

• Put a lot of cover and concealment in the area.  Use narrow city streets with side-alleys, doorways, laundry lines, stacks of crates, and so forth.  Or use a dark dungeon with dim light.  Or a forest with ample undergrowth as the characters race along deer trails.  This lets the quarry move their full speed without having to zig and zag any more than their pursuers.
• If the PCs are the pursuers, and you want the quarry to have any chance of escape, you have to do something about spells.  Start the quarry farther away from the PCs, so that the PC casters will only get one chance to use a spell before falling too far behind.  Give the quarry good Constitution scores so they can Dash early and often to keep the casters from getting line of sight on them.
• Use the Chase Complications liberally!  Instead of rolling 1d20 on tables where 11-20 is "no complication," consider rolling 1d10, so there's always a complication.

Like a lot of the systems in 5th edition, the chase system gives savvy DMs the ability to create an outcome that is "by the rules" but nearly guaranteed to come out exactly how the DM wants.  If you want the outcome of the chase to be nearly certain in the pursuers' favor, use the DMG chase system without the suggestions above, and give the lead pursuer proficiency in Survival, to cause the quarry Disadvantage on their Stealth rolls.  If you want the outcome of the chase to be in the quarry's favor, have it lead into an area that's heavily obscured like total darkness or thick foliage.



Other Chase Systems

Old Dungeon Master has some chase house rules.  These rules change the system more than mine do. They also don't handle the problem of attack spells and other spells that can pretty much instantly end a chase when you can target the enemy.  Breaking line of sight is the technique I use to prevent magic from instantly winning chase scenes.  You might also want to use Paizo's chase deck, and convert it to 5e.  The problem with the chase deck is spells, again.  You have to rule that the chase never quite has line of sight, and get your players to accept that premise.  If it weren't for the problem of spells, there are other RPGs you could steal chase rules from.



Navigation
This post is part of a trilogy!  Here are links to the other posts.


STAY TUNED for Part 2 and 3 coming later in June!

• Chase Rules for D&D 5th Edition Part 1 - Introduction and Escape Rules - Run Away!
• Chase Rules for D&D 5th Edition Part 2 - Pursuit and Evasion
• Chase Rules for D&D 5th Edition Part 3 - Examples, Original System, and Other Ideas

Chase Rules for D&D 5th Edition Part 2 - Pursuit and Evasion

Last week I gave you a new rule for letting the PCs escape combat.  Today, in Part 2, I'm going to revise the 5e chase rules.  Next week I'll give you examples for all three systems, plus some analysis of the DMG's chase system and advice on how to use it, if you'd rather.

Chase Rules: Pursuit and Evasion

Chase scenes have four stages:  First, the quarry has to get away from the pursuer's immediate grasp, so they can't physically block the quarry's escape.  Second, the quarry has to break line of sight, so the pursuer cannot see exactly where they are.  Third, while hidden from view, the quarry has to hide or trick the pursuer so that they have a clear path to sneak away.  Fourth, the pursuer will begin searching for the quarry, so the quarry has to sneak out of the pursuer's search area.

In D&D, the combat rules tend to trump chase scenes.  Chase scenes in D&D (at least in 5th edition) are only really possible once the quarry has broken line of sight because of the power of ranged spells.  At very low levels, even partial casters like Rangers get access to spells that halt enemy movement.  Therefore, chase scenes should begin with the quarry breaking line of sight.  Starting with the quarry out of sight is the main innovation of this system.

If the PCs are the quarry, they have to get to cover before starting the chase scene.  The Escape rules above can handle that for you, if they're already in a fight.  If not, you can just let them tell you how they run away.  Hopefully they won't be foolish enough to stay out in the open for long, in a world with archers and wizards!

If the PCs are the pursuer, this means that the quarry has to start the chase near cover and get concealed before the PCs can react.  Some players may feel like this is railroading.  That's a specious objection:  You're setting up a chase scene, sure; but the players can choose how they want to handle it.  Do they even pursue?  Do they split up?  Do they recruit nearby NPCs to help?  Do they use spells to improve their odds?  They can always ignore the chase if they want.  They can ask around to see if anyone knows the quarry, sketch her likeness and put up wanted posters, or use Locate Person and find her later.  Outside of a city, they can let the quarry run, but try to follow his tracks, or enlist the aid of forest creatures, or use a trained hunting dog to help follow his trail.  Spells and skill checks can handle these situations.  The key here is that the GM needs to be prepared for both "when the players catch the quarry" and "when the quarry escapes."

These rules are "player-facing."  That means that the GM doesn't roll any dice.  It also means they're asymmetrical, which most players will appreciate, since it makes things more exciting for them and puts all the control over what happens in their decisions and the results of their dice.


When do you want to use these?

Pursuit:  When a monster flees combat, typically the PCs will either let it go or hunt it down in combat rounds and kill it.  The third option is for when an important villain tries to flee, and you think it would be fun to run a chase scene where the PCs might or might not capture the villain.  But pursuit scenes are even more likely to show up outside of combat when the PCs want to chase a thief, spy, assassin, or fugitive.

Evasion:  When the PCs flee combat, you might choose to invoke the Evasion rules below to keep the tension up or because the monsters they were fighting are not willing to let them get away.  But it has more uses than that.  If the PCs fail a Stealth check when sneaking past enemies who might give chase, you can start an Evasion scene instead of going straight to combat.  When the PCs escape prison or talk their way into trouble, you can use the evasion system.  And if the PCs get attacked by opponents they don't want to kill (such as town guards or knights who have the wrong idea), they may find it more ethical to run than to open up with fireballs.

Chase Modifiers (optional):  

Relative Speed
Movement speed is not as big a factor in a chase after line of sight has been broken as raw athletic ability.  The quarry will use rough terrain to try to break line of sight or cause their pursuers to slip up.  This means a lot of climbing, jumping, pushing through, turning on a dime, and scrambling about.  If you want to factor movement speed into the system, you can use modifiers based on relative speed:  A character whose speed is higher than the highest of the pursuers gains Advantage on their chase rolls to catch their quarry - nobody can outrun them!  A character whose speed is lower than the lowest speed of their pursuers gets Disadvantage on chase rolls to evade their pursuers - everybody is faster than them!  Using this optional modifier, a party of humans will have a very easy time catching a single fleeing halfling, but mixed speed parties chasing mixed speed parties probably won't have a lot of modifiers.

Numbers: Small Groups Get Away Easier
It's easier to get away if there aren't a lot of you trying to slip the net.  Groups of quarry larger than 3 have -1 to their chase rolls for every additional character in their group.  This gives the PCs incentive to split up early, which adds to the tension.

Numbers:  Search Party
It's easier to catch your quarry if you have a lot of people helping.  If the PCs are the pursuers, and they have the opportunity to get NPCs to help catch their foes, have one PC take the lead coordinating them.  That PC makes a Persuasion (to get the NPCs to help, if they need to be recruited) or Investigation (to give them useful orders, if they're already loyal to the PCs) check.  If they get a 10-14, they have recruited or coordinated one of the available helpers, and can claim a one re-roll during the chase.  If they get 15-19, they have recruited or coordinated three of the available helpers (if possible), and can claim a two re-rolls during the chase.  If they got a 20+ they have recruited or coordinated all of the available helpers, and can claim three re-rolls during the chase.  A re-roll lets them roll a failed chase roll again and take the new result.  The leader chooses when the re-rolls are used, and who gets to use them.

The NPCs don't make chase rolls themselves, and don't count toward relative speed modifiers (above) if you're also using that rule.  If combat breaks out, leave the NPCs out.  They're far away doing something useful like running a screen, keeping the quarry from slipping out the back, or checking a side passage.



The System

In the rules below, the letter P stands for the "highest Proficiency bonus out of all the PCs' opponents in the scene."  That is, if there are three foes with +2 Proficiency and two with +3 Proficiency, then a DC of 8+P is 11 (8 plus 3 from the highest Proficiency bonus of all the enemies).  This lets this system scale, while still letting PCs get better at it as they gain levels.  It also means tougher monsters are harder to escape and harder to capture.

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Pursuit

Step 1:  

First, narrate how their quarry ducks and weaves through tight corridors, dark halls, undergrowth, crowds, fog, or twisting alleyways.  The chase isn't interesting in D&D until the enemy breaks line of sight.

Step 2:  

The PCs have a choice.  Do they split up to try to corner the quarry, or stick together and try to catch up?

If they stick together, have them all make an Athletics or Perception check, DC 13+P, to run flat out or try to keep track of their quarry.

• If at least half succeed, they have closed on them.  Decide on the terrain and start combat with each PC no more than 10' from the enemy and roll initiative.  Note:  If the PCs are separated, roll 1d6 in secret.  That's how many rounds have to pass before the other PCs - hearing the commotion - arrive to help.
• If half or more fail, repeat step 2.  But they only get three tries.  After they have failed three times, their quarry gets away.

If they split up, they're separated into two groups.  The goal is usually to have one group head off the enemy.

Have the half coming up behind (the hammer) make a check of Athletics or Intimidation (player's choice) at DC 13+P.

• If more than half of the "hammer" succeed, they have successfully cornered the enemy.  
• If not, the enemy has given them the slip.

The other half try to cut the quarry off (they're the anvil).  Have the "anvil" PCs make a check of Stealth or Perception (player's choice) at DC 13+P.

• If more than half of the "anvil" PCs succeed, they've cut the quarry off.  
• If not, they're too late.

If both succeed, the enemy is caught.  Start combat with the two groups that have caught the quarry present.  The PCs have the quarry cornered or surrounded - the PCs have all the exits blocked.  Decide on terrain that suits a situation where the PCs have cornered their foe.  Roll initiative.

Note:  If the PCs are separated from other PCs (from splitting up before), roll 1d6 in secret.  That's how many rounds have to pass before the other PCs - hearing the commotion - arrive to help.

If either group fails (if the anvil is too late or the quarry has given the hammer the slip), the enemy has got away.  Return to Step 2.  Only now they're split into two groups!  They get three tries to catch their quarry.  If they fail at step 2 three times, their quarry gets away.

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Evasion

In evasion, the PCs are the quarry, being pursued by villains.

Step 1:

First, narrate how they flee to the point where they can hear their pursuers and their pursuers can hear them, but they can't see them.  Maybe they've rounded a corner or doused their lights or fled through the underbrush.

Step 2:

Next, they have to give their pursuers the slip.  The group has a choice:  Stick together or split up?

If they stick together, have them all roll Stealth, DC 8+P.

• If half or more of the player succeed, they've shaken their pursuers (go to Step 3).  
• Otherwise, the pursuers have headed them off (Go to Step 4)!

If they split up, have them all roll Stealth, DC 8+P.  This potentially splits them into two groups.  Run the two groups separately.

• Those that succeed have shaken their pursuers (go to Step 3).  
• Those that fail have been headed off by their pursuers (go to Step 4)!  

Step 3:

Characters who lost their pursuers in Step 2 can now try to sneak out of the area.  Let each one contribute a useful skill.  Most skills can be useful here.  They have to succeed at a DC 8+P check using this skill.

• If half or more succeed, they've got clear.  The Evasion scene is over.  They're far away and safe - for the moment.
• If fewer than half succeed, their pursuers get closer and they have to return to running away (Step 2).

Step 4:

Characters who were headed off by their pursuers in Step 2 are now running for it!  They have a choice:  Run or turn and fight.

If they turn and fight, set up combat and have everyone roll initiative.  The PCs start at the farthest point away from their enemies possible, but only up to 60' away at most, while still being in line of sight.

Otherwise, they can stay together or rout ("every man for himself!").

If they stay together, have them all roll Athletics, DC 13+P.

• If half or more succeed, they have got away, for now.  Go back to Step 2.  
• If half or more fail, the enemy has caught them.  Set up combat with the enemy blocking the exits.  Have everyone roll initiative, and give their enemy Advantage on their initiative rolls.  

If they rout, have them all roll Athletics, DC 13+P.

• If they all succeed, they have got away, for now. Go back to Step 2.
• If some fail, the ones who fail are caught by the enemy.  Set up combat with the enemy blocking the exits, and the PCs who got away clean hiding well outside of the area (about 60' away).  Have everyone roll initiative, and give their enemy Advantage on their initiative rolls.  The characters who are outside combat can either slip away or return to help their friends.

Navigation
This post is part of a trilogy!  Here are links to the other posts.

• Chase Rules for D&D 5th Edition Part 1 - Introduction and Escape Rules - Run Away!
• Chase Rules for D&D 5th Edition Part 2 - Pursuit and Evasion
• Chase Rules for D&D 5th Edition Part 3 - Examples, Original System, and Other Ideas

Chase Rules for D&D 5th Edition Part 1 - Introduction and Escape Rules - Run Away!

Today begins a three-part series on chases in D&D 5th edition.  This first part discusses escape rules.  Chase scenes are one of the pillars of thriller action.  To run a good chase scene, you need good "escape combat" rules.  D&D has never really had good rules for escaping combat.  

Throughout this series, I'll give you some house ruled systems to use.  None of the house rules below change existing 5th edition D&D rules.  In fact they change the 5e system a little bit less than the chase rules in the Dungeon Master's Guide!

To run the Escape rules, below, the DM simply cuts from a combat scene to frame an escape scene.  This requires ending the combat before the PCs have all been killed.  The only way for the PCs to get away from combat is for combat to end before they're all killed.  It seems self-evident!

Retreat is an opportunity for drama, heroism, and spotlighting characters' strengths and weaknesses.  Strong characters are highlighted whether they show bravery or skill, or show that they really need and appreciate their teammates.  It's a tactical choice, too; but there's not much complexity to it.

The traditional method for running a party rout is for the GM to continue running combat as normal, except that the players try to have their characters get away.  In 5e D&D, that means the Disengage and Dash actions.  But that sucks.  It becomes a fighting retreat as enemies use ranged attacks or continually move into melee and use opportunity attacks because of the clunkiness of an initiative system in a chase (characters keep getting closer together and farther apart over and over like the sides of an accordion).  Plus, if a character has already been dropped, everything gets more complicated.

Unlike in Fate, D&D characters can't concede to escape a fight, then narrate what happens.  What we need are house rules for ending a combat with PCs fleeing.

Here's the system for it.

Rules for running away: Escape

When all the players agree that their characters should flee, combat stops immediately.  Ending combat is the Dungeon Master's prerogative anyway.  This just formalizes it.  The DM should just ask the players "It sounds like you guys think you should retreat.  Does everyone agree?"  If the players all agree, say, "OK, let's narrate the end of this fight.  Here's how we're going to handle this..."

Every spell or effect with a duration in rounds or in Concentration ends immediately.  Ongoing damage or status effects (helpful or hindering) with a duration in minutes or less all end, as well.  This is because the escape takes a few minutes of time, and the PCs' actions for that time require their complete attention.

Each player must narrate an action consistent with their traits, ideals, bonds, or flaws.  Here are the choices for how they can narrate it.  Below the term "[level] damage" means "damage equal to your level," so a level 2 character would take 2 damage.  I've made a printable sheet of these options to hand out to your players.

• Brave retreat:  Gain Inspiration or grant it to someone you protect.  Take [level] damage.

• Inspired retreat:  Spend Inspiration.  Narrate how you find a cunning or skillful way to escape.  Feel free to narrate helping others, too.

• Assisted retreat:  Narrate how another character helped you escape when you badly needed it.  You have to get the other character's player to agree with your description of how they helped you.  If that player agrees, that player's character gains Inspiration.

• Tough retreat:  Spend Inspiration.  Gain 1 hit point as if you had rolled a natural 20 on a Death Saving Throw.  Narrate how you escape despite your grievous wounds.

• Desperate retreat:  Gain 1 hit point as if you had rolled a natural 20 on a Death Saving Throw.  A character who helps you escape takes [level] damage.

Design note:  This system was designed to help players spotlight one another and focus on their personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws.  It also recharges the party's Inspiration, so they at least have that resource!  The optimal strategy for any party is to have everyone who can do so use Assisted Retreat.  If characters are dying, they get a hit point back, but always at a cost.  Technically it doesn't change the rules - it just gives unconscious PCs a free natural 20 as a reward for roleplaying their character's escape.  This also solves the problem of parties being unaware that a fight is too hard until a PC is down; and then being unable to flee because a PC is down.

The philosophy behind these options is that escape has a cost.  Characters who have 0 hp can escape and gain an automatic recovery (natural 20 on a death save) at a cost: Either it's a cost borne by another player character (desperate retreat), or paid in Inspiration (tough retreat).  Other characters can get away at cost, too:  Damage (brave retreat), Inspiration (inspired retreat), or an action that spotlights another player's character (assisted retreat).

If someone gets Inspiration and already has it, they can just pass their "old" Inspiration to another character and take the "new" one.  See the example, in Part 3 (in two weeks), for how this works out.  It's totally rules-legal to do this.

It's up to the GM what happens next.

If you want to keep the heat on the PCs and keep the pace moving fast, you can transition to an Evasion chase scene (see below).  If you want to reward their sensible retreat, you can let them get to safety so they can take a rest.

If you're firm on simulation, decide what the enemy would do based on what they are.  Are they predator animals, starving carnivores, or insane killers?  They might give chase.  Are they guards or sentries?  They won't leave their post, but they'll send word to their superiors.  Are they intelligent monsters?  They might give chase if they're not hurt.  But if they're hurt, they'll rest, heal up, and redouble their defenses.  Are they programmed automatons like necromancer-controlled undead or golems?  They'll do what their programming said to do, which is probably "stay here and kill anything that comes in sight unless I say otherwise" - which means once the PCs break line of sight, they'll let them be.



Navigation
This post is part of a trilogy!  Here are links to the other posts.

• Chase Rules for D&D 5th Edition Part 1 - Introduction and Escape Rules - Run Away!
• Chase Rules for D&D 5th Edition Part 2 - Pursuit and Evasion
• Chase Rules for D&D 5th Edition Part 3 - Examples, Original System, and Other Ideas