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