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Fantastic Features to Spice up a Chase
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<blockquote data-quote="jbear" data-source="post: 5887624" data-attributes="member: 75065"><p>I would organise a Skill Challenge like this with branching tree type map. </p><p></p><p>Of course it splits into two right from the beginning as there are two distinctly different directions to take from the word go. Eg. Thief 1 goes through market towards the cemetary and then out over the walls into a smuggler's marsh; Thief 2 goes over the roof tops to a warehouse and then makes for a sewer entrance nearby/inside.</p><p></p><p>I would then have an 'event' at each of the branches occur right off the bat.</p><p></p><p>Eg, Thief 1 opens the cages of an exotic animal bazaar in the market as he rushes through them.</p><p>Thief 2 sets fire to the roof as he crosses it.</p><p></p><p>From these events I would have a number of branches extend out in new directions each one representing a possible way that I could imagine different skills could be used to deal with/avoid or neutralise the event. </p><p></p><p>From these branches I would have new branches extend out, one representing what might happen if PCs fail or if they succeed, degree of success will also send PCs down different branches. Some options might go to the same 'consequence'.</p><p></p><p>Dealing with an event successfully would represent 1 success in the challenge.</p><p>Failure should provoke a dilema/drama/conflict that needs to be resolved before they can progress with the challenge.</p><p></p><p>Then add in a new event that occurs after that, with options and consequences. If they failed and lost the thief for example, this might mean they need to actually find the trail again first etc. </p><p></p><p>I pour a lot of time into skill challenges and make a big massive map/web of paths that help guide my improvisation and mark a rhythm to the challenge with the constant introduction of challenges and setbacks that force the PCs to re-evaluate tactics or the direction they are headed. </p><p></p><p>It makes things way less stale than just setting yourself a target of successful rolls the PCs need to 'win' and wait for them to come up with elaborate ways that their highest skill can be applied to eke out a success. Also, while it's fine to improvise (if you can), it can be enormously easier to improvise if you are prepared. Hehe. Sounds contradictory, but it's true.</p><p></p><p>I use a lot of group checks to avoid this tendency. Eg If it is a shaky burning bridge that the PCs have to get across or a burning rooftop, every single PC has to get across/past the obstacle somehow. The fighter doesn't just make an athletics check and succeed, so the whole group gets past it. Err ... no. The others have to get past as well.</p><p></p><p>What I do allow is for the athletic fighter to take up the role of leader to get past that obstacle and show the others the way. If he makes a hard DC then he lowers the DC for his allies to get past as they follow his lead. If a 'leader' fails however then it gets harder for everyone else, not to mention the leader is probably dangling off somewhere very dangerously and is going to need help! Depending on the circumstances 3/5 success might mean neither success or failure (however the 2 that failed are probably in need of help! Though not affecting the overall result of the challenge the minor failures still lead to a complication in the situation that needs resolving immediately before they can progress as a group) and will have a certain outcome; 4/5 will mean success, however the 1 who failed will as ever need to resolve whatever I decided happened when they failed. 2/5 will mean a failure and the group is going to be in hot water and have to face a major dilemma before they can progress, even though it may mean only 1 failure in the skill challenge.</p><p></p><p>As failure is more likely with the way of handling challenges I describe, I do build in 'recovery' mechanisms into the challenges. eg. successfully leading a skill check gives the leaders the ability to 'save' characters that fail after them, allowing a reroll at the cost of a HSurge for example.</p><p></p><p>Another way I deal with it is to build in mini 3/3 challenges into the main challenge at certain points. So when things go pear shaped a situation arises that needs 3 successes before 3 failures to resolve the situation.</p><p></p><p>Anyway, I'm not sure I have communicated what I mean very clearly, so I don't know how useful you might find it. Hopefully you can glean something from my ramblings, as my experience with skill challenges is overwhelmingly positive.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jbear, post: 5887624, member: 75065"] I would organise a Skill Challenge like this with branching tree type map. Of course it splits into two right from the beginning as there are two distinctly different directions to take from the word go. Eg. Thief 1 goes through market towards the cemetary and then out over the walls into a smuggler's marsh; Thief 2 goes over the roof tops to a warehouse and then makes for a sewer entrance nearby/inside. I would then have an 'event' at each of the branches occur right off the bat. Eg, Thief 1 opens the cages of an exotic animal bazaar in the market as he rushes through them. Thief 2 sets fire to the roof as he crosses it. From these events I would have a number of branches extend out in new directions each one representing a possible way that I could imagine different skills could be used to deal with/avoid or neutralise the event. From these branches I would have new branches extend out, one representing what might happen if PCs fail or if they succeed, degree of success will also send PCs down different branches. Some options might go to the same 'consequence'. Dealing with an event successfully would represent 1 success in the challenge. Failure should provoke a dilema/drama/conflict that needs to be resolved before they can progress with the challenge. Then add in a new event that occurs after that, with options and consequences. If they failed and lost the thief for example, this might mean they need to actually find the trail again first etc. I pour a lot of time into skill challenges and make a big massive map/web of paths that help guide my improvisation and mark a rhythm to the challenge with the constant introduction of challenges and setbacks that force the PCs to re-evaluate tactics or the direction they are headed. It makes things way less stale than just setting yourself a target of successful rolls the PCs need to 'win' and wait for them to come up with elaborate ways that their highest skill can be applied to eke out a success. Also, while it's fine to improvise (if you can), it can be enormously easier to improvise if you are prepared. Hehe. Sounds contradictory, but it's true. I use a lot of group checks to avoid this tendency. Eg If it is a shaky burning bridge that the PCs have to get across or a burning rooftop, every single PC has to get across/past the obstacle somehow. The fighter doesn't just make an athletics check and succeed, so the whole group gets past it. Err ... no. The others have to get past as well. What I do allow is for the athletic fighter to take up the role of leader to get past that obstacle and show the others the way. If he makes a hard DC then he lowers the DC for his allies to get past as they follow his lead. If a 'leader' fails however then it gets harder for everyone else, not to mention the leader is probably dangling off somewhere very dangerously and is going to need help! Depending on the circumstances 3/5 success might mean neither success or failure (however the 2 that failed are probably in need of help! Though not affecting the overall result of the challenge the minor failures still lead to a complication in the situation that needs resolving immediately before they can progress as a group) and will have a certain outcome; 4/5 will mean success, however the 1 who failed will as ever need to resolve whatever I decided happened when they failed. 2/5 will mean a failure and the group is going to be in hot water and have to face a major dilemma before they can progress, even though it may mean only 1 failure in the skill challenge. As failure is more likely with the way of handling challenges I describe, I do build in 'recovery' mechanisms into the challenges. eg. successfully leading a skill check gives the leaders the ability to 'save' characters that fail after them, allowing a reroll at the cost of a HSurge for example. Another way I deal with it is to build in mini 3/3 challenges into the main challenge at certain points. So when things go pear shaped a situation arises that needs 3 successes before 3 failures to resolve the situation. Anyway, I'm not sure I have communicated what I mean very clearly, so I don't know how useful you might find it. Hopefully you can glean something from my ramblings, as my experience with skill challenges is overwhelmingly positive. [/QUOTE]
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