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So we're playing Thunderspire Labyrinth and the PCs want to assault a well-defended complex that's ready for them. They have very good intel on the site, so they know who's manning what location and where to assault from.
They decide they need to cross a deep (300') chasm and slip onto an undefended battlement. But how?
They start looking for a Rope of Climbing - the Wizard in the group has Enchant Item, he can make it. But no, it's too high level, he can't make it.
Well I think it's a cool idea, so I make a ruling: You can make a one-shot rope of climbing if you succeed at a level 10 skill challenge.
The Wizard starts describing how he's preparing for the ritual. I say that he can sacrifice some animals to get their spirit into the rope - a snake to make it climb. He runs with this, summons some animals using Animal Messenger, and infuses their spirits into the rope.
All good so far.
I describe the rope coming to life, and the first thing it does is to strangle the Wizard. Skill challenges don't work without some kind of conflict, right? So they tear it off the Wizard and the Warlock, using an Infernal power, tries to command it to obey. I say somethng along the lines of, "So you want to infuse it with a devilish spirit?" He nods yes.
The roll comes up as a failure. I decide that the rope, imbued with infernal spite, is starting to come to life with a personality all its own. An EVIL personality. When the Wizard follows up with his final command, there's another failure, and the rope feigns obedience.
When they actually use the rope, they fail to notice that it's being deceitful and they miss their last chance to get the rope to obey their commands. The skill challenge is failed.
The outcome of that failure means that the PCs have a permanent rope of climbing, but it's cursed - it has a personality all its own; it's evil; and it craves the blood of slithering, crawling, flying creatures. Though human blood will serve just as well.
That's what I like about skill challenges - you go in with a basic idea, and through roleplay you end up in a place that no one would have ever expected.
__________________ "If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry."
-- Ernest Hemingway, "A Farewell to Arms" Burning Empires:Boldaq Keep on the Shadowfell
That's what I like about skill challenges - you go in with a basic idea, and through roleplay you end up in a place that no one would have ever expected.
Damn that's cool. So, the rope will just unravel at critical times and send the PCs to their doom???
Damn that's cool. So, the rope will just unravel at critical times and send the PCs to their doom???
Yeah, basically - unless they keep it happy. If they do, it will help them out. I'm going to run it as a sentient creature with animal level intelligence who wants - needs - to choke the life out of living creatures and be bathed in blood.
We'll see how it plays out.
__________________ "If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry."
-- Ernest Hemingway, "A Farewell to Arms" Burning Empires:Boldaq Keep on the Shadowfell
Yeah, basically - unless they keep it happy. If they do, it will help them out. I'm going to run it as a sentient creature with animal level intelligence who wants - needs - to choke the life out of living creatures and be bathed in blood.
We'll see how it plays out.
I swear to God 4e need to have cursed items officially added back. Old school DMs can wing it, sure, but new DMs? They wouldn't know what a cursed item is. "You mean...it's...BAD for the player to own?"
I think the "rules legit" way to stat up the Bloodrope (cool name) would be to make it an artifact. I might look into that.
__________________ "If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry."
-- Ernest Hemingway, "A Farewell to Arms" Burning Empires:Boldaq Keep on the Shadowfell
I swear to God 4e need to have cursed items officially added back. Old school DMs can wing it, sure, but new DMs? They wouldn't know what a cursed item is. "You mean...it's...BAD for the player to own?"
Artifacts already do have negative effects - and especially with evil artifacts, it is easy to get to them.
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LostSoul your use of skill challenges is amazing. I have previously used your other thread, Interesting Emergent Features on KOTS, as a reference. But so far I have lacked that sense of conflict you seem to capture so well.
After reading through this example, I think i haven't truly progressed past the success/fail habit.
Its that consequences don't terminate in a binary (pass/fail) so that it either works or doesn't but rather your actions result in unexpected ways that require more actions.
For instance, on the initial pass, the actions of empowering the rope with a snake's spirit, instead of it merely just working and moving on instead it works but it also animates the rope as if it were a snake that then attacks.
And a fail results in just not working but instead goes on to create a completely unintended consequence, a rope with an evil personality.
Artifacts already do have negative effects - and especially with evil artifacts, it is easy to get to them.
Yeah, i guess i was thinking more along the lines of "little artifacts." I don't have the books in front of me so i'm not sure how to mimic the artifact layout.
I swear to God 4e need to have cursed items officially added back. Old school DMs can wing it, sure, but new DMs? They wouldn't know what a cursed item is. "You mean...it's...BAD for the player to own?"
Yeah, i guess i was thinking more along the lines of "little artifacts." I don't have the books in front of me so i'm not sure how to mimic the artifact layout.
(I'll have to post my group's experiment w/Skill Challenges --what became known as The Pig Parade Challenge-- in which our party creates a new religion based on a very large, ill-tempered pig, Using, among other things, an ersatz puppet show.)
__________________ "We're pimps and killers, but in a philanthropic way." -- Boyd, Dollhouse.
That's not quite what i meant. I started another thread with a few examples of what i had in mind. Like the old Backbiter Spear that hurls itself into your own back f you critically miss. I like mini-rules built into the cursed items that differ from the "normal" magic items. Same with the artifacts. They're all unique.
__________________ Game on, gang! Ptolus #16 (with customized, personalized sig from Monte. Awesomesauce.), Rappan Athuk Reloaded #37 (Another Awesomesauce, the Necromancer way.)
Try to not let failure to use technical language properly get in the way of getting to the real point under discussion. - Umbran
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Books currently in play: Dungeon & Dragon Magazine (*Scales of War AP*), WOTC 4e Core and Supplemental books
Current Campaign: Scales of War - Lost Mines of Karak -- Kodirgo, Minotaur Barbarian 6; Vondal, Dwarf Cleric 6; Karithul, Gnome Bard 6; Marshaun, Elf Druid 6
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