The Enhanced DnD4E Difference: Entry 1

Chases and Races in standard DnD4E vs. Enhanced DnD4E: Part I

The Scenario

There is a scene in the film, Jurassic Park, where the jeep in which Jeff Goldblum rides as a passenger is nearly swallowed by a running T-Rex. The dinosaur snaps at the jeep, giving chase until the faster vehicle finally accelerates away.

That sequence is impossible to model with the combat rules of standard DnD4E.

To see why, let’s recreate the sequence on the battle-map using both the standard DnD4E and Enhanced DnD4E rules.

For the T-Rex we will substitute a more thematically appropriate Ogre. For the jeep, we might place a wagon but the Enhanced DnD4E rules for vehicles add another interesting dimension to the scenario best considered separately. For now, let’s keep the Ogre but have it chase an Elf.

Our Ogre has a top speed of 6. Our fleet-footed Elf has a speed of 7. Our scene begins with both creatures at a stand-still and separated by 4 squares.

Running the Chase

In both the standard DnD4E game and the Enhanced DnD4E game, the Ogre and Elf roll for initiative with the winner taking the first action in the first round. In both games there will be no chase if the Ogre wins, as it will immediately close the 4 square gap to engage the Elf.

Yet in the standard DnD4E game, there will be no chase regardless of who wins the initiative roll. For if the Elf wins the initiative roll, she will immediately escape; she will run 18 squares across the board, ending her turn 22 squares distant, and the Ogre, when its turn arrives, will see it has no hope of catching her.

But over in our Enhanced DnD4E game, things look very different.

Here, the Elf has won the initiative roll and, at the end of the first round (after 6 seconds of game time), she and the Ogre have raced across the battle-grid, averaging 18 squares between them, with the Ogre now 6 squares behind. The Elf is still getting away but the Ogre is in hot pursuit. Why has the Ogre even bothered to chase the Elf when, even in the Enhanced 4E game, the Elf clearly moves faster?

The reason is this; at the top of each round, Enhanced 4E grants the Ogre the chance to turn the tables. Each running creature may make an opposed Dexterity check (much like the initiative roll) with the winner going first.

As the second round begins, the Ogre challenges the Elf for the top spot in the turn order.

Because the 6 square gap between the two creatures exactly matches the Ogre’s movement rate, the Ogre will be able to strike the Elf with a charge action should it win the opposed Dexterity check. Should the Elf win the opposed check, the chase will continue – and it will continue until the distance between the two creatures is so wide that it exceeds the Ogre’s maximum sprinting speed of nine squares. Only then will the faster Elf have truly managed to escape.

Enhanced 4E is available in print and eBook formats from Enhanced4E.com.