Hi!
Last weekend I read your System and I think it has some really nice ideas. The expend of ressources is much more like in a real fight. The rolls for failure give some elements of tension. The different consequences make it easy to design skillchallenges with different feeling.
But there are some things I think one should look at:
- First is a question: you say your players made all skillchallenges - but at what cost? Did they loose about 1 surge the whole party or more about 10 surges?
- You say: 'I don't think it's really as essential to have all players directly involved in a skill challenge as it is in a combat, mostly because SCs take so little time.' I have to agree and disagree at once
I agree that it is not nescessary that everyone must have a meaningful role in every skillchallenge. If it is a mainly social SC my Int 8-Cha 10-Fighter wouldn't be of much help and it is good not to force him to try. But on the other hand you only make a SC if the situation is important for the party - so it is not much fun to sit there and can't do anything. I think you need s.th. like the 'guiding light' from Stalker0's Cores System. S.th. to roll but not as important as the main-rolls...
- What is about other ressources? Give them some interesting options: Action Point: spend an AP to get an additional roll this segment; daily Powers: mark an daily Power of your choice as used and get 3 additional SP on the next roll
- think about a longer list of 'official' consequences: pressing: you have one roll less on the next segment, instabil: the primary skill changes (diplomacy-bluff-intimidate, athletics-acrobatics), minor important: 3 failures doesn't loose the SC but you only have a partial success.
- make two kinds of consequences: one which is an effect on a failure (distracting, tiring) and one kind changes the overall rules or has an effect on three failures (individual, partial,...). Every Conflict can have one consequence ofg each type
- give the DM some meaningful decissions: perhaps he can choose each time which conflict will first test for failure (so he can try to inflict maximum surges damgae or can concentrate on denying a full succes by rushing the partial conflict...). Or he has some other minor toys to play with (like heroes can use APs or Powers). Perhaps here is a point where the players who had no roll this round can do s.th. by cutting down the options of the DM a bit.
- if you have some experience with other number of plaers than 5 pleas tell it
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