How do you run a chase in a tabletop RPG?

Chase the conclusion, not the map

Use chase rules when the question at stake is who gets there first, who escapes, or who gets caught. Use normal combat movement when positioning for attacks is the interesting decision round to round. The two modes answer different questions, and mixing them up is where most chases die: tracking exact feet per round turns a pursuit into slow combat, while resolving a pursuit with a single group check skips the part everyone came for.

If the party would rather stand and fight than run, let them. A chase nobody chose is just combat with extra narration. State the stakes openly before the quarry bolts: what escape means, what capture means, and roughly how long the table has before one of them happens.

Five pieces every chase needs

Set these up before the first roll and the chase nearly runs itself.

• A visible gap Track relative progress, not positions on a grid: the quarry is two zones ahead, the guards closed to one. A row of tokens, a simple tracker, or even spare dice works. When everyone can see the gap shrink or stretch, every roll matters.
• A finish line for each side Decide in advance what escape and what capture look like in this specific chase: the boat leaves, the gates close, the gap hits zero. Without finish lines a chase drifts until the GM gets bored, which players can always feel.
• Complications that force choices Each zone gets one obstacle with at least two ways through, each costing something different: time, safety, noise, resources. A blocked bridge the party can swim (slow), climb (risky), or bribe across (costly) is a decision; a DC 15 Athletics check repeated six times is a chore.
• A job for every character Chases stall when only the fastest character participates. Split the work: one picks the route, one watches for shortcuts, one interferes with pursuers, one handles the obstacle each zone presents. Let slower characters contribute through perception, knowledge, or sabotage rather than speed.
• Escalation each round Change the situation every round or two: the terrain shifts, new arrivals join, the stakes rise. A chase through the same unchanging street is one decision repeated; a chase where the market gives way to a canal and then a rooftop is three decisions in sequence.

Foot, mounted and vehicle chases share the frame

Only the complications and the scale change. On foot, zones are tight and crowds, doors and fences do the work. Mounted, the mount becomes a shared resource that can tire or panic, which adds a second tracker worth watching. With vehicles or ships, widen the zones, give the crew stations or roles, and let speed itself become the complication when turning or terrain intrudes.

Published systems mostly differ in how they formalise the same idea. The fifth edition Dungeon Master's Guide procedure limits repeated dashing with exhaustion and supplies urban and wilderness complication tables; Pathfinder Second Edition builds chases from obstacles and chase points with shortcut paths that suit different character strengths. Either works as a reference when adapting the frame above to a specific table.

Set up before the quarry bolts

Chases often start mid-action, so prepare these as defaults you can deploy:

• Name the stakes for escape and capture in one sentence each.
• Draw a simple gap tracker both sides can see.
• Prepare three to five complications, each with two ways through at different costs.
• Note what the pursuers can do in one line: speed, numbers, and one dirty trick.
• Decide the finish lines: where and when each side wins.
• Plan the handoff: what scene starts immediately after, whichever side wins.