Introduction
Note: Some Options are common to all rulesets, however for completeness this article details all of the options available to 5e users not just those specific to the 5e ruleset.
Mar 08, 2015 Playing on a Grid and Using Miniatures (PHB p192; DMG p250-252) It should really come as no surprise to anyone that I don’t want to play the game using a battle grid, miniatures or counters. The great thing about 5th edition is that it is not built around the assumption that you will use miniatures, and as such there are no rules hardwired. 252 Diagonals 253 Facing 263 Proficiency Dice 263 Ability Check Proficiency 264 Background Proficiency 264 Personality Trait Proficiency 264 Hero Points 264 New Ability Scores: Honor and Sanity 266 Fear and Horror 266 Healing: Healer's Kit Dependency 266 Healing: Healing Surges 267 Healing: Slow Natural Healing 267 Rest: Epic Heroism 267 Rest. Apr 10, 2016 And TIM there is a flanking option in the DMG if you are interested on page 251 and if you really want to make it interesting try facing DMG 252. What my group gets wrong or does not use is cover DMG p251.
NOTE: This article was written for version 3.1.3. Not all options are available in earlier versions.
You can bring up the Campaign options by clicking on the options button in the top right hand corner of the right hand menu. Although all options are visible to the players only the 'Client' options are accessible to players. All other options are set by the GM. To change an option either click on the option value or click the small left and right arrows on each option.
Client
| Option | Values | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dice: Manual Entry | Off (default) or On | Use to enable the manual dice entry feature. When on all dice rolls will be intercepted and a pop up will allow the DM to just allow the roll or edit it. |
| Chat: Ring on Whisper | On (default) or Off | Rings the bell when a whispering if On. |
| Target: Remove on miss | Multi (default), Off or On | Determines whether targets are automatically removed when missing with an attack. When turned on, targets are always removed on a miss. When set to Multi, targets are only removed on a miss if more than one target is specified for the attack roll. |
| Turn: Auto-center map | On (default) or Off | When turned on the map will auto-center on the next actor when the 'Next Actor' button is pressed in the Combat Tracker |
Game (GM)
| Option | Values | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chat: Set GM voice to active CT | Off (default) or On | When turned on, the name of any NPC which becomes active in the combat tracker will be added to the GM speaking identity list below the chat window. |
| Chat: Show all whispers to GM | Off (default) or On | When turned on, any whispers sent between players can be viewed by the GM. |
| Chat: Show GM rolls | Off (default) or On | When turned off, any rolls made by the GM are marked secret, and not shared with the players. When turned on, any rolls made by the GM are shared with all players. |
| Chat: Show portraits | On (default) or Off | When turned on, any chat messages or rolls by a player will be accompanied with the portrait of their active character. Any chat messages or rolls by the GM will display the GM icon. |
| Chat: Show results to client | On (default), Off or Friendly | Determines whether the results of attack, damage and heal rolls are shown to players. If set to On, all results are shown to players. If set to Friendly, only results for rolls which have a PC source and either no target or a PC target will be shown. If set to Off no results are shown to players. |
| Chat: Show roll totals | On (default) or Off | When turned on, any rolls shown in the chat window will automatically show the resulting total of all dice and modifiers. |
| Desktop: Decal Image | Various - sets background decal | The available options here will depend on what Wizards of the Coast material that you possess and what options you selected at the loading screen of the module or campaign. |
| Party: Show characters to clients | Off (default) or On | Determines whether the Main and Skills tabs are available to players in the party sheet. |
| Party: Show inventory to clients | On (default) or Off | Determines whether the Party Coins and Party Items lists are visible to players on the Party Sheet inventory tab. |
| Table: Dice Tower | Off (default) or On | When turned on, a dice tower will appear on each player's desktop, and on the GM desktop (if GM rolls option set to On). Players can drag dice rolls into the tower and only the DM will see the result. See Dice Tower for more info. |
Combat (GM)
| Option | Values | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Add: Auto NPC initiative | Group (default), On or Off | Determines how NPC initiative is determined when NPCs are added to the combat tracker. If set to On, initiative is rolled whenever an NPC is added to the Combat Tracker. If set to Off, initiative will not be rolled when an NPC is added to the Combat Tracker. Initiative is determined by the GM when they initiate initiative rolls via the menu option on the Combat Tracker. If set to Group, the initiative of the first NPC of each type added to the CT will be rolled randomly and subsequent NPCs of the same type will use the same initiative as the first. |
| Add: NPC Numbering | Append (Default), Random or Off | When adding an NPC to the CT, this option determines whether a unique number is appended to the NPC name. When set to Append, the next available number starting from 1 will be used. When set to Random, a random number will be used. |
| NPC: Rolls (Variable or Fixed) | Variable (default) or Fixed | Determines damage dealt by NPCs on damage rolls. If set to Fixed then damage dealt is the average damage dealt by that creature according to its character sheet. If set to variable then a dice is rolled to compute damage. e.g a Goblin would deal 5 points of fixed damage or 1d6+2 points of variable damage. |
| Player: Ring Bell on Turn | Off (Default) or On | When turned on and a PC is activated in the CT that is controlled by a user in the session, a bell sound will be played on the user's machine. |
| Player: Show turn order | On (default), Friendly or Off | Determines how much information players are given about turn order. When set to On players will see all PCs and NPCs on the combat tracker with initiative and in the correct turn order. If set to off players will have no information on what initiative rolls were made by any creature on the Combat Tracker and creatures will not show in initiative turn order. If set to Friendly players will know the initiative of the player characters only. |
| Turn: Show effects | Off (Default) or On | When turned on, any effects on a creature will be displayed in the chat window as part of the turn notification message. |
| Turn: Skip Hidden NPC | On (Default) or Off | Determines whether a hidden NPC's turn is skipped or not. If an NPC is currently not visible to the players then if this option is set to On the NPC will be skipped over on the Combat Tracker so that the players continue to be unaware of the NPC. If set to Off then the Combat Tracker will stop at the NPC's turn as normal. |
| Turn: Stop at round start | Off (Default) or On | When turned on and the turn marker in the CT is advanced past the end of the actor list using the Next Actor button, then the first actor in the CT will not be activated until the Next Actor button is pressed again. |
| View: Bar colors | Standard (default) or Tiered | Provides different colour modes to health bars. In Standard mode the health bars move from green through yellow (50%) to red. In Tiered mode the colour change is more gradual from green, light green (<75%),yellow(<50%), orange (<25%) and red (>25%). |
| View: Health - Ally | Detailed (default), Status and Off | Determines how much information about ally health is shown on the player's Combat Tracker. Detailed shows all Hit points, temporary hit points and wounds for all player characters. Status replaces the numbers with a health category which changes at 25% intervals approximately showing light, moderate, heavy and critical wounds. Off shows no information about player and ally wounds at all on the Combat Tracker. |
| View: Health - non ally | Status (default), Detailed or Off | Determines visibility of NPC health information on player's Combat Tracker. Status shows wound categories at approximately 25% intervals with light, moderate, heavy and critical wounds. Detailed shows full hit points, temporary hit points and wounds of NPCs to players and Off shows no information about NPC health to players at all. |
| View: Wound Categories | Simple (default) or Detailed | When general health status is displayed in the player CT, this option determines whether the information is simple (Healthy, Wounded, Heavy, Dying) or more detailed (Healthy, Light, Moderate, Heavy, Critical, Dying). |
Token (GM)
| Option | Values | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-scale to Grid | 80% of grid (Default), 100% of grid, or Off | When turned on, any tokens added to a map will be automatically scaled to fit within 1 grid square (or multiple grid squares if dragged from CT and Size field greater than 1). |
| Facing Indicator | Off (default) or On | When turned on, tokens displayed on the map will show a facing indicator. When tokens are rotated, the facing indicator will be rotated, instead of the token image. See Token Facing for more info. |
| GM: Show Effects | Icons (Default), Icons Hover, Mark, Mark Hover, Off or Tooltip | Determines how effects are shown to the DM on tokens on a map. Off shows nothing. Tooltip shows nothing until the DM mouses over the token; mark hover and icon hover shows the icon or mark when the mouse is held over the token. Mark (shows same mark no matter what effect) and Icon(which shows different icons for different types of effect)both show the mark or icon at all times on the token and when the icon or mark is moused over details of the effect can be seen. |
| GM: Show Health | Dot (Default), Dot Hover, Off, Tooltip, Bar or Bar Hover | Determines how health is shown to DM on tokens on a map. Dots or Bars display a colour gradation depending on other settings. Dot shows a dot, whilst bar shows health as a bar down the right hand side of the token. Dot hover and Bar hover shows a dot or bar when the token is moused over and Off shows no health information on the token. |
| Player: Show Ally effects | Icons (default), Icons Hover, Mark, Mark Hover, Off or Tooltip | Determines how effects are shown to players on ally tokens on a map. Off shows nothing. Tooltip shows nothing until the player mouses over the token; mark hover and icon hover shows the icon or mark when the mouse is held over the token. Mark (shows same mark no matter what effect) and Icon(which shows different icons for different types of effect)both show the mark or icon at all times on the token and when the icon or mark is moused over details of the effect can be seen. |
| Player: Show Ally health | Dot (default), Dot Hover, Off, Tooltip, Bar or Bar Hover | Determines how health is shown on ally tokens to players on a map. Dots or Bars display a colour gradation depending on other settings. Dot shows a dot, whilst bar shows health as a bar down the right hand side of the token. Dot hover and Bar hover shows a dot or bar when the token is moused over and Off shows no health information on the token. |
| Player: Show Enemy effects | Icons (default), Icons hover, Mark, Mark hover, Off, Tooltip | Determine how or if effects are shown to players on enemy tokens on a map. Icons vary according to the type of effect, mark shows the same icon for all effects. Mark hover and Icon hover only show mark or icon when the mouse is hovered over the token. Tooltip shows effects only when the token is moused over and Off shows no effect information on enemies at all. |
| Player: Show Enemy health | Dot (default), Dot Hover, Off, Tooltip, Bar | Determines how or if enemy health is displayed to players on tokens on a map. Dot and bar show either a dot or a bar all of the time whilst the hover variant shows the dot or bar only when the token is moused over. Tooltip shows health only when the token is moused over and Off turns all displayed enemy health information off. |
| Token: Show name | Tooltip (Default), Title, Title Hover or Off | When a CT-linked token is added to a map, this option controls whether and how the name of the CT actor is displayed on the token. When set to Tooltip, the name will appear in a standard tooltip when hovering over token. When set to Title, a name title bar will be added to each token. When set to Title Hover, a name title bar will appear when hovering over token. |
House Rules (GM)
| Option | Values | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Attack: Fumble/crit tables | Off (default), Fumble and Critical, Fumble and Crit | In order to use this option the default fumble and critical hit tables module must be activated. If set to Fumble or Crit Fantasy Grounds will automatically roll on the table when a natural 1 or a critical hit is rolled. With Fumble active only when a 1 is rolled will there be a roll on the table and when crit is the option rolls will be made only on a critical hit. No rolls will be made if the option is set to off. The name of the table must exactly match 'Fumble' or 'Critical Hit'. |
| CT: Auto Death Rolls | On (default) or Off | When set to on this will automatically roll a death saving throw for any Player Character on the Combat Tracker who has zero or less hit points and who is not stable and who has not yet failed three such saves. When set to Off such saving throws need to be made by the player. |
| CT: NPC hit points | Standard (default), Max or Random | Determines the number of hit points an NPC has when placed on to the Combat Tracker. When set to standard the creature receives the average hit points according to the Monster Manual. When set to Max the maximum possible hit points will be allocated and when set to random the hit points will be determined by dice roll. For example a Goblin has 7 (2d6) hit points. Standard will give 7hp, Max will give 12hp and random will give something in the range 2hp - 12hp. |
| CT: Roll init each round | Off (Default) or On | When set to on initiative will be re-rolled for all actors currently on the Combat Tracker at the end of each turn. |
| Damage: Massive system shock | Off (Default) or On | When turned on this option will use the 'Massive Damage' alternative rule from the Dungeon Master's Guide. An automatic constitution saving throw will be made if the actor suffers damage greater than half their hit points and on a failure a roll will be made on the system shock table and the result applied to the actor. |
| Map: Diagonal distance | Standard or Variant | The Standard rule is that all movement on a grid is 5' even if the player is moving diagonally. If this variant is used then distance is measured in a continuing pattern of 5' for the first square and then 10' for the next square. See page 252 of the DMG for more information. |
| PC: Encumbrance | Standard or Variant | Standard encumbrance allows the players to carry up to 15 times their strength score without penalty. The variant introduces penalties for encumbered and heavily encumbered characters. If set to Variant this will show the encumbered, heavy and maximum carry weights in the player character's inventory tab of the character sheet. Note this will not automatically apply any penalties to characters who exceed those limits; that has to be done manually. |
| PC: Healing Variants | Standard, Healing surges or slow natural healing | This allows for healing variants as described on p266-267 of the DMG. If set to Standard, hit points are recovered at the end of a long rest as well as half of any Hit Dice expended. If Healing Surges are used healing is accelerated with all hit dice being recovered after a long rest and 1/4 hit dice recovery after a short rest, no hit points are automatically recovered. With Slow Natural healing selected recovery is slowed. No hit points are recovered at the end of a long rest. |
| PC: Inspiration Slots | Standard, 2 or 3 | This allows the DM to give one, two or three inspiration slots to players. |
Languages
- The languages window can be opened by clicking on the 'Languages' button at the bottom of the options window.
- This lists the standard languages understood by characters in the 5e world.
- To add a new language right click and select 'Create Item', and type a name for the language in the new line that appears.
- A drop down box appears to the right of all languages allowing the user to select a font for the language.
Currencies
- Clicking the 'Currencies' button will bring up a dialog enabling currencies used in the campaign to be edited
- To edit a currency delete the existing one and type in a new one
The thief dashes through the narrow tunnels of the underground city. A loud boisterous voice yelling behind him, “Stop craven scum!” You’re running a chase. In D&D 5e chases can be rather problematic for old and new DM’s alike. While most DM’s have a sufficient grasp of the rules, chases are rarely used and often foreign aspect of D&D games. Let’s demystify engaging D&D 5e chases.
To begin with, we’re going to breakdown what some of the most common pitfalls DM’s make.
Chases Based on Speed
This is one of the most common ways DM’s make a chase predictable and boring. A chase based on speed alone will always end predictably. If the characters are faster than the quarry they will always catch the quarry. If the quarry has the same speed, no progress will be made. Lastly, if the quarry is faster he will escape. Not exactly worth holding your breath over huh?
Don’t misunderstand however, I do believe in allowing a characters speed to increase or decrease their chances of capturing or evading. You do not want speed to be the only factor of a chase however.
Chases Based on Skills Alone
The next mistake DM’s can make is basing the result of their chase only on who rolls higher. While making a chase consist of skill checks is actually really important, if who rolls highest is all that matters, your chase will become stale quickly. You are still missing a few important elements.
Dmg D&d
How You Should Run D&D 5e Chases
Dmg 252 5e Generator
Now that you know what doesn’t make your chase fun, let’s talk about what does. There are four major components of a good chase scene. These are: distance, actions, complications, and resolution.
Distance
The first thing you should do when creating a chase scene, is determine the distance between the players and their quarry. If there is more distance, the chase is likely to be considerably harder for the pursuers. On the other hand, extremely close chases will be far easier for the pursuers. This is due to the fact that one or two complications, will lead to an either abrupt capture or escape.
When accounting for distance, unless you have a good reason to make the pursuit extremely close or distant, try to keep it somewhere in the middle. My personal recommendation is keeping it between 4 to 6 turns between the quarry and pursuer in harder to escape terrains and 3 to 5 in easier to escape terrains.
The last portion of distance to keep in mind is who the lead pursuer is. This is the closest person pursuing the quarry. The lead pursuer will be used to identify if the chase is near resolution or not as you will see later.
Action
The term action when describing D&D 5e chases is referring to what action a creature decides to use on its turn in the initiative. Yes, if you didn’t know you should absolutely use initiative in chases. There are three main actions a creature will use during a chase. These are the dash action, attack action, or casting a spell. It is important to note that opportunity attacks from either party in a chase are generally not allowed though they can still suffer opportunity attacks should they provoke any from surrounding creatures.
The first action is the most used action in a chase. The dash action. According to the rules stated on page 252 of the Dungeon Master Guide, a creature can only make the dash action 3+ its Constitution modifier times before having to roll a Constitution check. If the creature fails to succeed on the check (DC 10), it suffers a level of exhaustion which can be gained back on a short rest.
The other actions a creature can use during a chase are the attack or cast a spell actions. This is pretty self explanatory. Creatures can use these actions to attempt to slow or harm their pursuers in various ways depending on how you, the DM would like to rule them. Any creature that decides to risk one of these actions does risk being caught or losing the quarry depending on the distance between them.
Complications
The next component of a successful D&D 5e chase scene is complications. These have a variety of different forms from pushing through crowds to jumping across rooftops. There is a table with sample complications on page 254 of your DMG. However, I prefer to create my own complications to be most fitting to the setting that I am using.
Complications are the bread and butter of a chase. These are what is going to separate your chase from any other chase you have seen or done before. It is also one of the largest indicators determining if the quarry escapes or not.
Resolution
The final step to a chase is concluding it. After running the characters through a chase, you need to determine if the pursuers were successful. To do this, one of these conditions must be met: the quarry escapes, pursuers catch the quarry, or one side stops.
The quarry can escape the pursuers if it has successfully made a stealth check against the pursuers highest passive perception. This check automatically fails if the quarry is in sight. Some factors like congestion, hiding places, or a trained tracker can apply advantage or disadvantage to the quarry’s stealth check as normal.
Dmg 252 5e Pdf
A quarry can be caught if at least one of the pursuers successfully catches up to the quarry. This can be completed due to complications, failed skill checks, or exhaustion. Lastly, if the pursuers or quarry stop their end of the chase the chase also ends.
How Should a Chase Look?
Now, let’s take a quick look at how a chase might look in your game. Your player’s have routed the local lords men, and have spotted him as he tries to make his escape through the crowds. You have initiated the chase.
First up make a small map of how the chase will look, you can do this with a mapping program or using pen and paper. As the DM, create several complication the players will experience as they chase the lord. Finally, you decide the starting distance should be around 120 feet between the two parties.
Roll Initiative. The player’s lucked out, and have initiative. They dash toward the lord. The lord seeing that he has been spotted and also dashes. This continues for another round with neither party gaining ground. Suddenly, the lord spots a well traversed street with many merchant caravans sometimes blocking the route. He decides to try to gain ground by attempting to pass this obstacle.
A natural 17. The lord manages to slip between the merchant carts successfully. The barbarian who is currently leading gives chase, but rolls a natural 1 and gets knocked prone. Meanwhile, his rogue companion decides instead to opt for trying to go over the street and hurries into the closest building. The lord has gained ground and dashes again. He’s not quite out of sight of the barbarian yet though so he can’t escape the pursuit.
The barbarian succeeds on getting through the intersection this time, but is still far behind the lord. The rogue has climbed the stairs to the roof of the building and decides to jump across the street to the nearest building. He succeeds on his acrobatics check. He is now once again 120 feet from the lord. The lord has gained ground on his pursuers, but decides to take one more risk to ensure his escape. A quick slip down an alley.
An ally of the players! The lord gets grappled by the ally. The barbarian closes in on where the lord departed he is only 90 feet away. The rogue jumps another rooftop. He is 60 feet away!
The lord escapes the ally and dashes again right into a dead end with a wall that he might be able to scale. The party dashes again the barbarian is two turns away, and the rogue is only one! The lord attempts to scale the wall. Oh no, a 7! The lord can’t escape this turn. The rogue jumps down from the rooftop sustaining 3d6 fall damage in the process and falling prone, but corners the lord. The barbarian is now in the alley too!
The lord makes one last effort to escape by attempting the wall again. He fails. The rogue and barbarian are exhausted, but have successfully caught their quarry.
Conclusion
With that, you should now be able to run your D&D 5e chases like a pro! If you have any questions, or would like to add anything feel free! Also, if you need help making that lord feel important and real, check out how to make an epic RPG character!
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