After trying a few, I don't find much use for skill challenges. I already had a pretty good system (I think) in 3.5 for "the part of the game between combats," involving exposition, plot advancement, investigation, etc. When a player wanted to do something I thought might fail, I'd ask for a skill check. Simple.
That said, there might be some stuff in the SC rules that would be helpful. I'm a big fan of using the rulebook when it helps you and throwing it away when it doesn't. So, for example, if my players seem to expect XP for roleplaying, I could use the SC guidelines for advice on how much to give them. Or if I'm not sure what an appropriate DC would be for that "sneak by the Lice" skill check for a level 11 PC, presumably SC will tell me.
On the other hand, behind the screen, I am of course making up these DCs based on how hard I think it should be. In other words, I know your PC has a +18 stealth, and I think that the task should have a 30% chance of failure, so I set the DC to 25. Ssh, don't tell anyone I do this, or they'll get mad that they spent all those points in stealth and didn't have to.
(Of course, they did have to; my "30%" figure is probably based on "well, it's the rogue trying it." If the fighter in plate tried it, it'd go up to 70 or 80%.)
>>After trying a few, I don't find much use for skill challenges.
In theory I really like them. I like them because, at their best, they put into play skills that don't always get a lot of airtime outside of very specific situations. And I love the idea of creative Skill Checks - like using Religion in a negotiation with someone to play on their religious guilt. I just don't think the idea to roll for such a thing would naturally come up if players were just roleplaying the sequence - thus leaving the skill of Religion confined to identifying demons and tapestries on walls ;)
Another example: the players in my D&D game infiltrated a badguy warehouse HQ via a Skill Challenge. And these guys had ZERO stealth skills. Not a one. Meaning they'd have been busted ten feet inside the gates with a traditional infiltration. But they singled out a disgruntled warehouse worked with Insight and used Diplomacy (coupled with bribery) to convince him to sneak them in via a crate. Inside, Dungeoneering got them into maintenance shafts, Endurance got someone through scalding steam to open a door for the rest of the party, and Athletics allowed them to creep around on rafters. These are all skills that could've come into play in a non-Skill Challenge, but I like that the Skill Challenges invite players to think a little more abstractly, a little more cinematically. And to be stealthy...without Stealth :)
The thing is, it's hard to codify rules for that kind of creativity and the more I see of house rules for Skill Challenges, the more I wonder if they have a role in a game as codified as D&D. That is...if everyone's gonna House Rule 'em anyway, do they really "work?"
>>Ssh, don't tell anyone I do this, or they'll get mad that they spent all those points in stealth and didn't have to.
It's all good as long as you obey the first rule of DM's Club: don't talk about DM's Club.
After trying a few, I don't find much use for skill challenges. I already had a pretty good system (I think) in 3.5 for "the part of the game between combats," involving exposition, plot advancement, investigation, etc. When a player wanted to do something I thought might fail, I'd ask for a skill check. Simple.
ReplyDeleteThat said, there might be some stuff in the SC rules that would be helpful. I'm a big fan of using the rulebook when it helps you and throwing it away when it doesn't. So, for example, if my players seem to expect XP for roleplaying, I could use the SC guidelines for advice on how much to give them. Or if I'm not sure what an appropriate DC would be for that "sneak by the Lice" skill check for a level 11 PC, presumably SC will tell me.
On the other hand, behind the screen, I am of course making up these DCs based on how hard I think it should be. In other words, I know your PC has a +18 stealth, and I think that the task should have a 30% chance of failure, so I set the DC to 25. Ssh, don't tell anyone I do this, or they'll get mad that they spent all those points in stealth and didn't have to.
(Of course, they did have to; my "30%" figure is probably based on "well, it's the rogue trying it." If the fighter in plate tried it, it'd go up to 70 or 80%.)
>>After trying a few, I don't find much use for skill challenges.
ReplyDeleteIn theory I really like them. I like them because, at their best, they put into play skills that don't always get a lot of airtime outside of very specific situations. And I love the idea of creative Skill Checks - like using Religion in a negotiation with someone to play on their religious guilt. I just don't think the idea to roll for such a thing would naturally come up if players were just roleplaying the sequence - thus leaving the skill of Religion confined to identifying demons and tapestries on walls ;)
Another example: the players in my D&D game infiltrated a badguy warehouse HQ via a Skill Challenge. And these guys had ZERO stealth skills. Not a one. Meaning they'd have been busted ten feet inside the gates with a traditional infiltration. But they singled out a disgruntled warehouse worked with Insight and used Diplomacy (coupled with bribery) to convince him to sneak them in via a crate. Inside, Dungeoneering got them into maintenance shafts, Endurance got someone through scalding steam to open a door for the rest of the party, and Athletics allowed them to creep around on rafters. These are all skills that could've come into play in a non-Skill Challenge, but I like that the Skill Challenges invite players to think a little more abstractly, a little more cinematically. And to be stealthy...without Stealth :)
The thing is, it's hard to codify rules for that kind of creativity and the more I see of house rules for Skill Challenges, the more I wonder if they have a role in a game as codified as D&D. That is...if everyone's gonna House Rule 'em anyway, do they really "work?"
>>Ssh, don't tell anyone I do this, or they'll get mad that they spent all those points in stealth and didn't have to.
It's all good as long as you obey the first rule of DM's Club: don't talk about DM's Club.