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What's the STR/CON checks for how 2e handles it? If there's a way to do it in 5e without it turning into a slog then I'm game.
I thought OD&D was the one that mainly did retreats, where you run blindly through different hallways and might be doomed.
AD&D 2e, PHB,
Time and Movement chapter, p. 120 (earliest printing). It's an Optional Rule in a blue box.
By core rules Human MV is typically 12, which is x10 in feet indoors, and x10 in yards outdoors.
You can go up to 5x your MV: 1x is basic Move (as above), 2x is Jog and freely available without STR/CON checks. 3x 4x and 5x are all Run and require STR/CON checks.
Run 3x is STR check (no add'l mods) to reach, and CON check -1 cumulative each round (e.g. 1st rd is -1, 2nd rd is -2, 3rd rd is -3, etc.).
Run 4x is STR check -4 to reach, and CON check -2 cumulative each round (e.g. 1st rd is -2, 2nd rd is -4, 3rd rd is -6, etc.).
Run 5x is STR check -8 to reach, and CON check -3 cumulative each round (e.g. 1st rd is -3, 2nd rd is -6, 3rd rd is -9, etc.).
You attempt to reach a certain Run speed. If you succeed you are at that Run and then do CON checks until failure, change to slower Walk or Jog speeds, or Rest. If you fail you maintain your current Run speed -- you cannot attempt that specific Run speed again this run -- but you can attempt other Run speeds later this running time.
At the end of a failed CON check rd you must end your Run and Rest for a Turn (ten rounds (rd), each round equals one minute, thus ten minutes).
Example:
Bob decides to Run for his life, at the very least he will be at a Jog. He rolls STR -8 to see if he can reach Run x5. Bob has MV 12, so x5 would = 60. Then times this by ten, so 600. If this is indoors this is in feet, 600 feet. If this is outdoors this is in yards (3 feet to the yard), 600 yards (or 1800 feet). Let's say Bob is in a Dungeon, indoors.
Bob fails the roll, but Jog is free without checks. Bob is Mv 24 (240') this first round. Bob cannot attempt a Run x5 anymore during this specific run.
During Round 2 Bob declares a Run x4 because he is still running for his life. This is at STR -4. He passes. Bob is Mv 48 (480') this second round. Bob will need to make CON -2 cumulative to maintain this. His first Run CON check he passes.
Bob miraculously passes his cumulative CON -2 checks for the next four rounds (his Run is 5 minutes long!). So Round 3 is CON -4, Round 4 is CON -6, Round 5' is CON -8, Round 6 is CON -10. Upon Failure Bob's Run ends and he must stop and Rest on Round 7. He must Rest for one Turn, ten minutes.
Bob has ran indoors for 480'x5 plus 240' for 2640', half a mile indoors! (with all its twisty corridors and furniture crap in the way), and is hopefully close to the surface and safety.You don't need to worry too much about "the maths" as long as you get the approximate pacing and easy 'ends in zero' mapped distances.
You can complicate terrain even more by using DMG Long Distance Terrain mods to adjust MV through them!
So running uphill a knoll, next down into a grassy vale, then through a light forest... all modifiable quickly by those values. So chases by horseback versus difficult or impassable terrains, climbing results, cutting someone off at a pass... all doable by TSR D&D without getting
too involved!
Chase and hide retreat scenes are awesome in games! Especially since context can change and pursuers can end up being ambushed or injured in pursuit. Then the tables can be reversed and chasing and hiding goes the other way!
Retreat can be so awesome if you are open to its possibilities and use some of these forgotten sub-systems.