better wilderness pursuit rules for B-X D&D
published : 2017.01.22
The rules around wilderness pursuit in Basic/Expert Dungeons and Dragons never made much sense. Here's a revision, where I adopted three rules based on three of the four steps from a post 18 months ago on fixing the pursuit rules in version 5e runagame.net.
Wilderness chase
Step 1. Disengage the enemy.
| Condition | Base likelihood |
|---|---|
| Prior detection | 85% |
| Surprise encounter | 70% |
| Ranged combat | 55% |
| Hand-to-hand melee | 40% |
| Suggested modifiers | |
| - 25% if the fleeing are wounded | |
| - 10% is making a fighting retreat | |
| +25% if supported by covering fire | |
| +20% conditions: fire, rain, etc |
Step 2. Flee line of sight.
| Terrain | Base likelihood |
|---|---|
| Reg desert | 5% |
| Lake | 10% |
| Grassland | 20% |
| Erg desert | 20% |
| Hills | 30% |
| Mountains | 40% |
| Ruins, badlands | 60% |
| Wetland | 70% |
| Suggested modifiers | +40% night |
| +25% heavy rain | |
| +15% light forest | |
| +15% rain forest | |
| +25% dense brambles | |
| - 25% pursuit by predator on its turf |
Step 3. Find path out of search area or distract pursuers. Monsters or player characters with a strong affinity for a certain environment will evade pursuers on 1-5 on 1d6. E.g. Erdei seeking to evade non-erdei pursuers in the wilderness. Otherwise, evading characters must successfully roll less than or equal to their WIT score on 2d8 to escape.