Variations on Skill Challenges I have Used

I've been running two different home campaigns since the release of the new edition, and I've been working with variations of Skill Challenges to meet my needs along the way. Some of them have worked better than others, but here's what I've done.

1. Individual Skill Challenges. For one particular chase scene, I decided to try to put each player through his or her own skill challenge to try to keep up with the fleeing urchin (a pickpocket). The primary skill -- athletics -- could be replaced with other skills once during each player's chase -- so, an acrobatics check to jump over something, a streetwise check to find a shortcut, whatever. It was a simple challenge -- 4/3, and each player who succeeded was able to be on hand when the scene with the captured urchin started -- the others took a round to catch up for each failure they had in the challenge.

This worked okay. There's ample precedent for individual skill challenges (a rogue trying to disarm a trap is, in most cases, making an individual skill challenge). But there's a sort of philosophical problem with it. The existing base system of skill challenges is really about succeeding at tasks as a team, not as individuals. So, I have resolved to use this method sparingly -- only in situations where, for story reasons, it seems important to break down that team dynamic in the game.

2. Degrees of Success. The players were involved in a tricky negotiation skill challenge. The Duke who was their employer was going to send them on a mission; the negotiation was to determine what sort of support they would have on that mission. Rather than create a single challenge at a specific level, I created possible results at a variety of levels -- and used the skill challenge to see how many successes they could get before they got the three failures that ended the challenge.

Complete Failure: The Duke puts the PC's rivals in command of the mission.
4 successes: the PCs are in command, but the Rivals must be taken along as advisors and support.
6 successes: The PCs are in command, and the Rivals can send along a single observer.
8 successes: The PCs are sent to operate on their own, without interference from the rivals.
10 successes: The PCs are sent to operate on their own, and the Rivals are sent to create a diversion that will make it easier for the PCs to succeed later.

I loved how this worked, and I'm planning to use it more in future challenges where it makes sense. Not all challenges lend themselves to this sort of degree of success treatment, but many do, and this is a simple way to work within the structure of the system to represent a more variable set of possible results.