Custom Challenges: Lets build some

[ltbaxter]

Thanks for the feedback. Some good points here.

At the risk of initiating another debate ... perhaps it would work better for you as ... There's a difference between 'Auto fail' and 'Can't gain a success' ... it gives the player an out to realize that their tactic isn't working. It also preserves some of the 'trap' aspect of the original challenge, but makes it more of a specific unintended consequence which builds upon the existing failure result

Excellent idea.

My initial reaction was that if traps about, players better get used to leading off an encounter with Insight, similar to how now 'search for traps' starts off potential trap encounters. Any skill that's a "must do first" takes away a bit. Then again, isn't it almost always a good idea to pause for a minute in a new and challenging situation and taking time to observe and think?

I'd have a hard time figuring out how Streetwise could be applied to the giant encounter, for example.

This encounter sounds like you're running in to a rival gang on their turf.

But I also don't think that every skill challenge should be forced to accommodate every character's skill set - sometimes people are just out of their element, and have to find other ways to help

True. If it were meant to allow every character to always have an excellent shot, it really waters down the skill. To that point, being explicit in how another character can use a skill to aid another is good. I love the Athletics to "climb a wall and see further" example for History.

As has been pointed out time and again, not everyone plays D&D for the roleplay, and not every player can (or wants to) play out an diplomatic encounter. The game has to be able to handle all types of players. If you want more player input during a challenge, I'd say feel free to give out bonuses for good roleplay, or require an explanation of how a skill is being applied before it can be rolled.

Agreed - and important to remember. I very much enjoy it, but have friends in the group that get flustered in a few seconds and ask "please, can I just make a roll?"