This one seems like a weaker transition.
Interesting! You have written a singular sentence that turns out to be fertile ground for conversation on the subject. Nicely done!
So my question is what is “weaker” being describing in the above statement?
As I consider it, it could be associated with a few things:
1) How you as a player would feel the nature of the actual fiction brought about post-resolution; eg its not very compelling or momentous enough to propel you into the falling action and denouement of the challenge.
2) How you as a player would feel about these default decision-points relayed; again, not very compelling (although, of course, you would be free to come up with another course and we could see where that takes us).
3) How you as a 4e analyst feel the GMing principles and related techniques of the game are being applied here.
I don’t have a lot of comments for the first 2 (and certainly any player would be fair in assessing any part of a game as either 1 or 2…sometimes GMs don’t put their best foot forward!). I guess I’ll just say that given where the situation was with respect to ultimate success/failure (1 or the other would lock-in the ultimate result), I went with a couple of the classic admittance to sacred sanctum tropes (and nested a SC for the result). That could be good or bad depending on how folks like their genre tones. I certainly wouldn’t feel offended by a player saying “yeah that’s crap” because sometimes it is! However, on 3 I do have commentary.
So the above would best be related to post 7 above (the alternative to the initiating post where the Fighter failed). Whereas in post 1, the Fighter failed and had his task realized but his intent (to create egress for his group and expedite their exit from the failing structure) was not realized (the opposite in fact), in post 7 both the task and intent are realized. Post 1 would be the equivalent of a Dungeon World 6- result whereby the situation has to become more urgent/dire/desperate/escalated (with the PCs being moved further from their goal rather than closer) in its situation-change, post 7 would be the equivalent of a Dungeon World 7-9 result whereby we’ve got success but a new obstacle/complication/hard choice interposes itself between the PCs and their goals (because the mechanical outcome is still in doubt). Micro-success in a Skill Challenge is just invariably going to be “less interesting” (in my opinion) than failure is.
So, which of the 3 above (or is it something else?) and thoughts on the directly above?