So in an attempt to show some players how a skill challenge might work, I cooked up a couple of examples of how one might play out. I figured I'd throw them up here, maybe give people some ideas.
The door slams shut behind you and the walls begin moving slowly together. Roll Initiative:
Dave: 10
Mike: 25 WOOT, I rock!
Jon: 12
Tim: 1
DM: Okay Mike what do you want to do the walls are closing in on you.
The door behind you slammed shut and is locked.
Mike: Alright I start looking for some sort of mechanism to try and shut this thing down.
DM: Okay go ahead and roll a perception check, it's going to be very hard.
Mike: Oh come on, I do this for a living! Roll Sweet 18+12 in perception is 30, that's got to be good enough.
DM: Nice, okay you spot a small imperfection on the right side of the door, because you succeeded at a hard check you can choose another skill to try and use, and you get a +2 bonus to it.
Mike: OH hell yah, I'll start working on the panel see if I can figure this thing out.
DM: Okay well if you want to start disarming it with Theivery it will be difficult, BUT if you want to try and use your insight to try and figure out how it's working it will make further Thievery rolls easier.
Mike: Okay I'll study the mechanism. Insight of 12+7=19 is that good enough.
DM: Yes, you figure out how the mechanism is working, any theivery attempts to disarm it now will be a normal check instead of a hard one.
Okay that's two successes for you guys so far. Jon your up.
Jon: Alright I'll use my Knowledge: Dungeoneering to see if I can give Mike any help with disarming this trap. Roll 1+8=9 crap I failed.
DM: Okay you've never seen or heard of anything quite like this before.
That's 2 successes and 1 failure. Dave your up the walls are still moving in on you.
Dave: Alright, I want to take a look at the mechanism and see if I can help figure it out. Is it possible for me to gamble on a difficult Insight, to give us some more information?
DM: Sure why not go ahead and roll
Dave: Alright woot 16+10=26. Is that good enough?
DM: Sure is, you can definitely tell Mike what levers are responsible for the walls moving. Okay because you succeeded at a hard check you get to try another skill at a +2 bonus.
Dave: Hmm, I think I'll just take another look around and make sure we didn't miss something, we don't want to be surprised by anything.
Perception 12+7=19.
DM: Taking another quick scan of the room, your pretty sure that you can see a trap door in the ceiling, perhaps another way out if all else fails. That's 4 successes and 1 fail. Your up Tim.
Tim: Well I'll try to use my brute strength to slow the progress of the wall to give us some more time. I'll use my athletics skill.
DM: Okay but that's definitely going to be difficult.
Tim: That's okay I'll try it. Roll 15+10=25
DM: That's just good enough to make it, you dig in and use all your might to slow the progress of the wall. Okay Mike back to you. You guys have 5 successes and 1 failure.
Mike: Well here goes nothing guys. I'll attempt to rig the levers to move the wall back into it's original position.
DM: Okay go for it.
Mike: Thievery roll 10+12=22. Good? Good?
DM: You manage to move the levers into the apporpriate position and the wall, comes to a stop and slowly moves back into it's original position.
Here's another example of a skill challenge combined with a combat encounter:
DM: Okay you've just run across the ten foot wide stone bridge, and are on a small landing with a doorway, the wave of orcs is still hot on your heals. Initiative. (everyone rolls, heres the order Mike/Tim/Jon/Orcs/Dave)
DM: Okay Mike what do you do.
Mike: Okay I check the door for traps.
DM: Okay roll a perception.
Mike: 25
DM: Okay it looks like there is a needle trap and the door appears to be locked, you can make another skill check with a +2 bonus.
Mike: Okay I'll start to disarm the trap.
DM: Okay Thievery roll.
Mike: crap I rolled a 1, that's a 13...good enough?
DM: You start working furiously on the trap, but your hand slips and you drop your tool.
Mike: Oh crap did the trap go off?
DM: doesn't seem like it. Okay Tim.
Tim: Goddamnit Mike, get that damn door open! Okay I'll try and stall them at the bridge. (Uses some power to help him out)
DM: Okay Jon your up.
Jon: Alright I'll stand beside Tim and hold them at the bridge. Get that door open, and make it fast, there's got to be hundreds of them! (Jon uses some power to help out)
DM: Okay the orcs come thundering over the bridge. (Combat rolls are made, Tim and Jon take some damage). Dave your up.
Dave: Alright I'll throw up a wall to block the orcs for a bit, and hopefully give us enough time to get out of here.
DM: Okay, Mike back to you.
Mike: Okay, I pick up my took and try to disarm the trap again. Can I wager a difficult roll on it?
DM: Sure, you decide to try to disarm the trap quickly, making it more difficult.
Mike: Okay thievery of 27. YES!!
DM: You hear a click, as you successfully disarm the trap. For succeeding at a difficult skill, go ahead and roll another skill check at +2.
Mike: Can I try to open the lock?
DM: Sure
Mike: Okay Thievery of 22.
DM: the lock clicks open and you can open up the door.
Mike: Alright guys the doors open, lets get the Heck outta dodge.
DM: Tim your up....
In this case the encounter was:
Overwhelming force of orcs. Wave after wave will just keep coming till your dead or escape.
Skill challenge. Locked door with poision needle trap, Skill Challenge (3/2). Failure results in setting off the trap.
Is that not a thing of beauty?
The door slams shut behind you and the walls begin moving slowly together. Roll Initiative:
Dave: 10
Mike: 25 WOOT, I rock!
Jon: 12
Tim: 1
DM: Okay Mike what do you want to do the walls are closing in on you.
The door behind you slammed shut and is locked.
Mike: Alright I start looking for some sort of mechanism to try and shut this thing down.
DM: Okay go ahead and roll a perception check, it's going to be very hard.
Mike: Oh come on, I do this for a living! Roll Sweet 18+12 in perception is 30, that's got to be good enough.
DM: Nice, okay you spot a small imperfection on the right side of the door, because you succeeded at a hard check you can choose another skill to try and use, and you get a +2 bonus to it.
Mike: OH hell yah, I'll start working on the panel see if I can figure this thing out.
DM: Okay well if you want to start disarming it with Theivery it will be difficult, BUT if you want to try and use your insight to try and figure out how it's working it will make further Thievery rolls easier.
Mike: Okay I'll study the mechanism. Insight of 12+7=19 is that good enough.
DM: Yes, you figure out how the mechanism is working, any theivery attempts to disarm it now will be a normal check instead of a hard one.
Okay that's two successes for you guys so far. Jon your up.
Jon: Alright I'll use my Knowledge: Dungeoneering to see if I can give Mike any help with disarming this trap. Roll 1+8=9 crap I failed.
DM: Okay you've never seen or heard of anything quite like this before.
That's 2 successes and 1 failure. Dave your up the walls are still moving in on you.
Dave: Alright, I want to take a look at the mechanism and see if I can help figure it out. Is it possible for me to gamble on a difficult Insight, to give us some more information?
DM: Sure why not go ahead and roll
Dave: Alright woot 16+10=26. Is that good enough?
DM: Sure is, you can definitely tell Mike what levers are responsible for the walls moving. Okay because you succeeded at a hard check you get to try another skill at a +2 bonus.
Dave: Hmm, I think I'll just take another look around and make sure we didn't miss something, we don't want to be surprised by anything.
Perception 12+7=19.
DM: Taking another quick scan of the room, your pretty sure that you can see a trap door in the ceiling, perhaps another way out if all else fails. That's 4 successes and 1 fail. Your up Tim.
Tim: Well I'll try to use my brute strength to slow the progress of the wall to give us some more time. I'll use my athletics skill.
DM: Okay but that's definitely going to be difficult.
Tim: That's okay I'll try it. Roll 15+10=25
DM: That's just good enough to make it, you dig in and use all your might to slow the progress of the wall. Okay Mike back to you. You guys have 5 successes and 1 failure.
Mike: Well here goes nothing guys. I'll attempt to rig the levers to move the wall back into it's original position.
DM: Okay go for it.
Mike: Thievery roll 10+12=22. Good? Good?
DM: You manage to move the levers into the apporpriate position and the wall, comes to a stop and slowly moves back into it's original position.
Here's another example of a skill challenge combined with a combat encounter:
DM: Okay you've just run across the ten foot wide stone bridge, and are on a small landing with a doorway, the wave of orcs is still hot on your heals. Initiative. (everyone rolls, heres the order Mike/Tim/Jon/Orcs/Dave)
DM: Okay Mike what do you do.
Mike: Okay I check the door for traps.
DM: Okay roll a perception.
Mike: 25
DM: Okay it looks like there is a needle trap and the door appears to be locked, you can make another skill check with a +2 bonus.
Mike: Okay I'll start to disarm the trap.
DM: Okay Thievery roll.
Mike: crap I rolled a 1, that's a 13...good enough?
DM: You start working furiously on the trap, but your hand slips and you drop your tool.
Mike: Oh crap did the trap go off?
DM: doesn't seem like it. Okay Tim.
Tim: Goddamnit Mike, get that damn door open! Okay I'll try and stall them at the bridge. (Uses some power to help him out)
DM: Okay Jon your up.
Jon: Alright I'll stand beside Tim and hold them at the bridge. Get that door open, and make it fast, there's got to be hundreds of them! (Jon uses some power to help out)
DM: Okay the orcs come thundering over the bridge. (Combat rolls are made, Tim and Jon take some damage). Dave your up.
Dave: Alright I'll throw up a wall to block the orcs for a bit, and hopefully give us enough time to get out of here.
DM: Okay, Mike back to you.
Mike: Okay, I pick up my took and try to disarm the trap again. Can I wager a difficult roll on it?
DM: Sure, you decide to try to disarm the trap quickly, making it more difficult.
Mike: Okay thievery of 27. YES!!
DM: You hear a click, as you successfully disarm the trap. For succeeding at a difficult skill, go ahead and roll another skill check at +2.
Mike: Can I try to open the lock?
DM: Sure
Mike: Okay Thievery of 22.
DM: the lock clicks open and you can open up the door.
Mike: Alright guys the doors open, lets get the Heck outta dodge.
DM: Tim your up....
In this case the encounter was:
Overwhelming force of orcs. Wave after wave will just keep coming till your dead or escape.
Skill challenge. Locked door with poision needle trap, Skill Challenge (3/2). Failure results in setting off the trap.
Is that not a thing of beauty?