I can't do a simple travel check, as the interesting part is that the heroes must track the goblins AND travel faster than them to catch the group.
Some loose ideas are:
1) Establish some kind of abstract "distance rating" between the two groups. Let's say that the Goblins have a "distance rating" advantage of 3. This might correlate to the highest Movement Skill among the Goblins/Wargs (which is 3) or to time. I would say that 4 hours is the equivalent of an advantatge of 1.
2) Ask for two Hunting checks per day (one in the morning, one in the afternoon). TN 14 due to Border Land Region. Not sure if I should let everyone roll or only the Hunter. If no success is acomplished during the whole day, the group can't move on as they don't know the direction they have to follow, thus increasing the "distance rating" of the Goblins by 1.
Additionally, if a failure and an EYE are rolled in a Hunting check, the group faces the Ambush described in the adventure. This Hazard can only happen once during the chase. This can also make players who don't have points in Hunting (or just one) refrain from rolling "just in case I'm lucky and a Gandalf Rune comes up". This way, I can let everyone roll (which seems more logic than allowing only one player roll), but they'll learn that it's at their own risk: Don't mess in the affairs of a Tracker!
If at least one Hunting check is successful, the group can travel in the right direction for one day. Just travelling in the right direction doesn't reduce the "distance rating".
3) The companions can (and must!) Force the March. Everyday of the chase they have to roll Athletics. TN 12 due to Easy Terrain Difficulty. For the PC, a failure means an increase in Fatigue equal to the Traveling Gear. As for the group, if anyone fails the Athletics test, the "distance rating" is reduced only by 1. If everyone is successful in the Athletics test (I expect this to happen rarely), the "distance rating" is reduced by 2.
4) It the "distance rating" reaches 7 (more than 6), the Goblins have escaped and the heroes must return empty handed. 1 automatic Shadow Point and a Corruption test to avoid getting a second one.
4) Keep a record of the number of days passed until the "distance rating" reaches 0.
During the fourth day of the chase, the wounded Lyskar dies from his injuries and his body is left behind by the creatures (Corruption test to avoid gaining a Shadow Point).
Roll Fatigue tests accordingly (1 every 4 days or fraction thereof in Autumn) before engaging in combat with the running Goblins.
It's a little complicated, but I want to play a chase, not just a normal travel.
How have you conducted chases in your games?
