Run a D&D chase as a chain of interconnected map nodes instead of forcing everyone to move hundreds of individual grid squares. Each node represents a meaningful location such as a market square, rooftop, bridge, alley, sewer entrance, or forest ravine. Connect those nodes with multiple routes that have different distances, risks, and obstacles. Players choose where to go, then movement, Dash actions, ability checks, difficult terrain, jumping, and chase complications determine whether they gain or lose ground. Track the gap between quarry and pursuers separately from exact map distance. The result keeps the tactical choices of a battle map without turning a ten-minute chase into an hour of token dragging.
The assassin bolts through the tavern door.
The fighter follows. The rogue vaults the table. The wizard runs outside. Everyone is excited because the combat has suddenly turned into a chase through the city.
Then the DM opens a giant city map.
"Okay. You are about 180 feet behind him."
For the next twenty minutes, everyone moves tokens six squares, uses Dash, moves six more squares, and waits for the next turn. The assassin does the same thing slightly farther ahead. What should feel like the fastest scene of the session becomes one of the slowest.
Chases work better when the map represents decisions instead of every foot of distance. Interconnected map nodes let you keep terrain, routes, hazards, line of sight, and tactical positioning while compressing the meaningless stretches between important moments.
What is an interconnected map node?
A node is one meaningful location inside the chase.
Instead of representing an entire district as one enormous continuous grid, break it into smaller encounter spaces. Each one contains a decision, obstacle, tactical feature, or opportunity.
A city chase might use these nodes:
Node A: Tavern Courtyard
Node B: Crowded Market
Node C: Rooftop Crossing
Node D: Narrow Canal Bridge
Node E: Temple Square
Node F: Sewer Entrance
Node G: Old City Gate
The important part is that those locations are interconnected rather than arranged in one mandatory line.
A node is not simply another map. It is a decision point. If nothing changes when the party reaches it, you probably do not need a separate node.
The market might connect to both the rooftops and canal. The rooftops provide the shortest route but require a dangerous jump. The canal route is safer but crosses Difficult Terrain. The temple square gives the party a chance to cut off the quarry if someone recognizes where they are heading.
Now the chase has choices.
Why are map nodes better than one giant chase map?
Large tactical maps are excellent when every square matters. Most squares in a chase do not.
If the quarry and pursuers run down a 200-foot empty street, nothing meaningful happens during most of that movement. Representing all forty 5-foot squares makes the map larger without adding decisions.
Nodes compress those sections.
| Continuous Chase Map | Node-Based Chase |
|---|---|
| Tracks every 5 feet | Tracks meaningful locations |
| Usually one obvious route | Supports branching routes |
| Requires very large maps | Uses several compact maps |
| Movement can become repetitive | Each transition can change the chase |
| Harder to improvise direction changes | Easy to redirect through another node |
This is especially useful with battle map packs. A market map, alley map, bridge map, rooftop map, and sewer map do not need to physically connect edge-to-edge. The DM connects them narratively.
How should you track distance between the quarry and pursuers?
Track the chase gap separately from the map.
You do not need to know that the rogue is exactly 347 feet from the assassin's original position. You need to know how far the rogue is behind the assassin right now.
For example:
Quarry: 0 ft.
Rogue: 30 ft. behind
Fighter: 45 ft. behind
Wizard: 60 ft. behind
Each round, compare how far each participant moved. If the rogue moves 60 feet and the quarry moves 50 feet, the rogue closes the gap by 10 feet.
When someone reaches the next node, load or reveal that node's map and resolve its special terrain.
This lets the chase exist across several locations without pretending every map is physically sitting beside the next one.
How do current D&D chase rules fit into this system?
The 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide includes a dedicated chase framework, while the normal rules for movement, Dash, Difficult Terrain, jumping, and Opportunity Attacks continue to provide the mechanical foundation.
The node system does not replace those mechanics. It changes how you represent the chase spatially.
The Dash action gives a creature additional movement equal to its Speed for the rest of the turn. The current chase framework also limits how casually participants can keep pushing themselves through repeated Dashes, eventually introducing Exhaustion as the chase continues. Current errata clarifies that a chase participant drops out at 5 Exhaustion levels.
That works particularly well with map nodes because players now have two resources to consider:
Distance: How far are we from the quarry?
Effort: How hard are we pushing ourselves to close that distance?
A chase becomes more interesting when the fastest choice now might make the next node harder.
How should branching chase routes work?
Every branch should trade one advantage for another.
Do not create three routes where one is obviously shorter, safer, and easier. Players will choose it every time.
Instead, build routes like this:
| Route | Advantage | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Main Street | No checks required | Longest route |
| Market | Shorter route | Crowds and Difficult Terrain |
| Rooftops | Major shortcut | Climbing and jumping |
| Sewer | Can cut off quarry later | Reduced visibility and uncertain exit |
Now character abilities matter in different ways.
The high-Strength fighter may prefer the rooftops because jumping is less intimidating. The rogue may use mobility to handle the crowded market. The ranger may recognize that the sewer reconnects near the city gate.
A branching chase lets characters be good at different parts of pursuit rather than reducing the entire scene to who has the highest Speed.
How should complications work inside each node?
Make complications visible and location-specific.
Instead of rolling a random obstacle that could happen anywhere, tie the complication to the map the players are currently crossing.
In the market, a merchant cart overturns.
On the rooftops, the next building is separated by a ten-foot gap.
At the canal, a barge blocks the bridge.
In the forest, the trail splits around a ravine.
Inside the sewer, rushing water turns part of the route into Difficult Terrain.
The complication should change distance, position, route choice, or resources.
A simple consequence is often enough. Success might close the gap by 10 feet. Failure might increase it by 10 feet. Save larger swings for dangerous shortcuts or major complications.
Not every complication should be an ability check either.
A player might spend movement going around rubble, use a spell to bypass a crowd, knock over a stack of crates behind them, cut a rope bridge, mount a horse, or choose an entirely different route.
Chases become more memorable when players solve problems rather than simply roll through them.
How do jumping and climbing create shortcuts?
Vertical movement is one of the easiest ways to distinguish a risky shortcut from a safe route.
Current rules make a running Long Jump possible up to a number of feet equal to a creature's Strength score after at least 10 feet of movement immediately before the jump. Standing jumps cover half that distance.
Climbing normally costs one additional foot of movement for every foot climbed unless the creature uses a Climb Speed.
That lets a rooftop route behave differently for different characters without inventing arbitrary chase bonuses.
A strong character may clear a gap directly. Another character might climb down, cross the alley, and climb back up. A flying character may bypass the whole obstacle but still need to keep track of the quarry's route.
If you regularly build maps around elevation, our guide to vertical combat on tactical maps covers climbing, falling, flying, and elevation tracking in more detail.
Should everyone in the party take the same chase route?
Not necessarily.
Splitting routes is one of the biggest advantages of the node system.
The fighter and barbarian might continue directly through the market while the rogue climbs onto the roofs. The wizard might stay on the main street to preserve spell range. The ranger might take a side alley because they think they know where the quarry is heading.
You can track each group independently until their routes reconnect.
This creates opportunities for interception rather than simple pursuit.
A character who is forty feet behind the quarry might still win the chase by reaching a future node first.
The most satisfying chase ending is often not "I finally ran faster." It is "I knew where you were going."
How do you stop ranged attacks and spells from ending the chase immediately?
Do not solve this by declaring that attacks are forbidden.
Make attacking a tradeoff.
Current chase design already creates pressure to keep moving. Using an action on something other than Dash can mean losing ground. Terrain and line of sight can add another layer.
The quarry turns around a corner. The rooftops block direct fire. Crowds create complications. A wagon moves between the characters. The target disappears through a gate while the caster stops to line up a spell.
If a character has a perfect ranged solution and the target is standing in the open, let the ability matter.
A chase should not exist solely because the DM has decided the quarry is immune to player abilities.
The better solution is environmental pressure that forces the player to choose between using that ability and continuing pursuit.
When should a chase actually end?
Set the possible endings before the chase starts.
A chase with no end condition can continue long after it stops being interesting.
| Ending | Trigger |
|---|---|
| Caught | Pursuer closes the gap enough to engage |
| Escaped | Quarry gains enough distance or breaks contact |
| Intercepted | Pursuer reaches a future node first |
| Exhausted | A participant can no longer continue |
| Escalated | Chase becomes a new encounter at the destination |
That final option is especially useful.
The quarry reaches the docks and jumps onto a moving ship. The thief reaches the thieves' guild. The monster runs into its den. The spy reaches the city gate just as guards close it.
The chase has done its job. Start the next scene.
Why do most tabletop chases feel slower than combat?
The first problem is treating the chase as ordinary combat on a longer map.
Combat works because every square contains tactical relationships. Chases usually contain long stretches where nobody can meaningfully interact.
The second problem is using only one path. If everyone is following the same corridor, the fastest creature usually wins and everybody else simply watches the gap change.
The third problem is relying entirely on random complications. Randomness can create energy, but players need choices between complications or the chase becomes a sequence of saving throws.
The fourth problem is ignoring character abilities. If every magical shortcut, mobility feature, mount, teleport, spell, or flying speed is quietly disabled because it would "break the chase," the players quickly realize the encounter is running on invisible rails.
Interconnected nodes solve most of those problems because the scene is about route selection, terrain, timing, and interception instead of raw movement alone.
How many nodes should one chase use?
For most sessions, four to seven meaningful nodes are enough.
Fewer than that can feel more like one obstacle than a full chase. Too many can turn the chase into its own adventure unless that is exactly what you want.
A compact chase could look like this:
Start: Tavern Courtyard
Choice 1: Market or Alley
Choice 2: Rooftops or Canal
Convergence: Temple Square
Final Node: City Gate
That is enough space for the lead to change several times without letting the scene overstay its welcome.
You can also reuse map nodes later. The same market square used for a chase can become a combat encounter, investigation site, festival location, or ambush map in another session.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a map node in a D&D chase?
A map node is a meaningful location within the chase, such as a market, bridge, rooftop, alley, forest clearing, or sewer junction. Nodes are connected by routes, and each route can have different distances, risks, terrain, and shortcuts. This lets the DM skip unimportant stretches of travel while keeping tactical decisions.
How should I track distance in a D&D chase?
Track how far each pursuer is behind the quarry rather than tracking every foot traveled across the world. Compare movement each round and adjust the gap. The maps then represent important terrain when the chase reaches each node.
How does Dash work in a chase?
The normal Dash action gives a creature extra movement equal to its Speed for the rest of the turn. The Dungeon Master's Guide chase framework also makes repeated Dashing increasingly taxing over the course of a chase, which prevents an extended pursuit from being nothing more than endless Dash actions.
Should chase complications always require ability checks?
No. Some complications can simply change terrain or force a choice. Players might spend extra movement going around a cart, jump across a gap, cast a spell, choose a longer route, push through Difficult Terrain, or use the environment in another creative way.
Can players split up during a chase?
Yes, and branching map nodes make that especially useful. One group can continue directly behind the quarry while another takes a shortcut toward a future node. Track each group's distance and location separately until their routes reconnect.
How many maps do I need for a chase?
You do not need a separate map for every minute of pursuit. Four to seven important locations are enough for many chase scenes, and some routes can be resolved narratively between them. Reusable battle maps work particularly well because the maps do not need to connect physically edge-to-edge.
When should a D&D chase end?
End the chase when the quarry is caught, escapes, becomes impossible to follow, reaches its destination, or when a pursuer successfully intercepts it at a future node. A chase can also transition directly into a combat, social encounter, or another scene when the destination is reached.
Combine markets, streets, rooftops, bridges, forests, ruins, tunnels, and other battle maps into branching chase routes your players can actually choose between.
Browse Battle Map Packs →Sources
| D&D Beyond | 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide: Chases |
| D&D Beyond | 2024 Basic Rules: Playing the Game |
| D&D Beyond | 2024 Basic Rules: Rules Glossary |
| D&D Beyond | Dungeon Master's Guide Sage Advice & Errata |
| D&D Beyond | How to Create Gripping Chase Scenes in D&D |
