slaguru666andClaude Opus 4.8
9a8a331635
- rules/RUNDOWN.md: the complete system, self-contained - reference/obstacle-ladders.md: eight six-rung ladders across foot, ground vehicle and spinner terrain - reference/converting-from-raw.md: switching from the published chase rules mid-campaign or mid-chase, plus rulings the conversion needs - reference/rundown-gm-sheet.html: one-page printable GM sheet - gm-utility/rundown-console.html + modules/rundown.js: touch console matching the REP-DETECT panel style, no dependencies, runs from file:// Console logic verified by gm-utility/test/rundown.test.js — 42 assertions driving the real module through a stub DOM, covering LEAD movement and clamping, round capping, Overtime drift, undo, Collateral pips and every outcome band. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
4.8 KiB
Converting From the Published Chase Rules
For GMs who already run the core rulebook's chase subsystem and want to swap in RUNDOWN — mid-campaign, mid-session, or mid-chase.
This file assumes you own the core rulebook. It does not reproduce its rules.
1. What maps to what
| Published concept | RUNDOWN equivalent |
|---|---|
| Range categories (Engaged → Extreme) | LEAD, a 0–8 number |
| Maneuver selected in secret | Role, declared in the open |
| Obstacle drawn or rolled | Ladder rung, authored and played in order |
| Pursuer group collapsing to one roller | Everyone rolls, side total takes the highest Runner |
| Chase runs until someone breaks off | Six rounds, then the outcome table |
| Consequences narrated ad hoc | Collateral, a 0–6 track spent after the scene |
Range → LEAD
If you need to convert a position mid-chase:
| Published range | LEAD |
|---|---|
| Engaged | 0 |
| Short | 2 |
| Medium | 4 |
| Long | 6 |
| Extreme | 8 |
Read it the other way for the reverse. The mapping is deliberately coarse — LEAD carries more resolution than five categories do, which is the point of the change.
Maneuver → Role
Players who know the published rules will reach for the maneuver names. Answer in roles:
| They say | They mean |
|---|---|
| "I chase them" / "I run" | RUNNER |
| "I try to cut them off" | CUTTER |
| "I shoot" / "I shout at them" / "I call it in" | PRESSURE |
| "I watch where they're going" / "I look for a shortcut" | SPOTTER |
| "I hide" | Not a role — see §4 |
| "I block the alley" | PRESSURE using Force, GM's call |
2. Switching mid-chase
You can do this at a round boundary without stopping play.
- Convert the current range to LEAD using the table above.
- Say the round number out loud. If you are three rounds in, you have
three rungs left before the Terminator — write three obstacles, or take rungs
4, 5 and 6 from a ladder in
obstacle-ladders.md. - Have everyone declare a role. Anyone who does not is a Runner.
- Carry Collateral forward at 0. Do not retroactively bill anyone for what happened before the switch — narrate it instead.
The one thing you cannot carry over is a maneuver already selected in secret. Discard it and let them declare openly. Nobody has ever complained.
3. What you are giving up
Be honest with your table about the trade, because it is a real one.
You lose the bluff. The published chase's simultaneous hidden selection creates a rock-paper-scissors read — guessing whether they will break left or turn and fight. RUNDOWN deletes that. In exchange you lose the 30–60 seconds per round it costs, and the choice moves from guessing what they will do to deciding what this obstacle is worth to you.
You lose per-maneuver specificity. Four roles cover less ground than the published maneuver list. Anything not covered is a Pressure roll with the GM choosing the skill, or a Gambit.
You gain a table that all rolls. This is the trade that motivated the whole system. If your group is two players, the published rules work fine and you may not need this. At four or more, the difference is the entire scene.
4. Rulings the conversion needs
"I hide." Hiding is not a role, because RUNDOWN has no hidden state. Treat an attempt to break line of sight as a Gambit on a Runner roll using Stealth: succeed and you double your successes (you are simply gone that round); fail and you are out of the chase, spotted, at whatever LEAD stands.
"I stand and shoot." That is PRESSURE with Firearms. It moves LEAD and it costs Collateral. If a player wants a lethal shot rather than a suppressive one, stop the chase and resolve it as combat — RUNDOWN abstracts gunfire into pressure, and a killing shot is a different scene.
"I ram them." PRESSURE with Force or Driving, minimum 2 Collateral on a success, and ask whether they are ending the chase deliberately. Often they are.
Vehicles against pedestrians. Use §9 of the rules — each side rolls its own terrain layer, Collateral takes the higher rate. A spinner over a runner on foot starts at LEAD 5 and closes fast; that is correct, and the ladder is what keeps it interesting.
Prey with no relevant skill. An unathletic target who bolts is not a chase, it is a capture. Do not roll. RUNDOWN is for when the outcome is in doubt.
5. Running both
Nothing stops you keeping the published chase for two-hander scenes and using RUNDOWN when the whole table is involved. They share the same dice, the same skills, and the same fiction. The only cost is remembering which one you called.
If you do, tell the players which system is live before they declare — that is the only place the two get confused in practice.