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Redesigning Burning Sky Skill Challenges
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<blockquote data-quote="sfedi" data-source="post: 5028011" data-attributes="member: 15746"><p><strong>Skill Challenge: Save the Children</strong></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px">Skill Challenge: Save the Children</span></p><p></p><p>This challenge works much like the original, with three stages of rescue.</p><p></p><p>Success: The party successfully recover the children and Begnira, before dying, blesses them so they can rest on the grove without suffering the effects of the fire forest or encounters with forest creatures. They can even get some good attitude from seela when they discover the heroes's deeds.</p><p>Failure: As the adventure says, or Begnira and the children die, even surviving children eventually get lost or die. Party don't gain the benefit of the grove.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Assumptions</span></p><p></p><p> * This SC assumes a level 4 party of 5 members. For every member above or below this, add or subtract one child that must be rescued.</p><p> * The party hasn't taken a short rest from the previous encounter (the vine trap)</p><p> * There are at least two members with social skills (Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate) and two members with physical skills (Athletics, Endurance)</p><p> * After the party deals with the vines, they rush to the border of the fissure, leaving the vines behind. Once there the SC begins.</p><p> * Begnira is in the pond observing and hearing all the PCs do and talk (you can emphasize this by having her speak to them through the trees).</p><p> * The children are inside a burning bush each, and they are burning slowly to death. Even if they get out, they are still on fire. These children are so burned that even if the flames are put out, their bark is still red hot and burn them anyway. Thus, covering them with a blanquet, or earth is not enough for them to stop burning. Even throwing them water is not enough, it should be a LOT of water needed. Thus, the only option is to submerge them on the pond</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Math behind the Skill Challenge</span></p><p></p><p>As the original SC, this SC is divided in three stages.</p><p>But unlike the original SC, the second step has two branches, in parallel.</p><p></p><p>Reaching the children</p><p>Expected time: 2 rounds</p><p>Calm the children & Form a Bridge</p><p>Expected time: 6 rounds each branch</p><p>Return to safety</p><p>[TO BE COMPLETED]</p><p></p><p>As usual, "expected time" means that 50% of the time they should go above this time and half the time, below this time.</p><p>Some expected times are based on the assumption that they will have roughly a 50% chance of succeeding in each skill check, like Calming the Children, which requires two checks per children. And there are two children that must be convinced.</p><p>Other expected times are based on the assumption that PCs will make some sacrifices (take damage, spend healing surges, etc) to perform certain maneuvers in one round.</p><p></p><p>Now that we have the total expected time, we can really set the difficulty of the challenge, by asigning how many rounds the burning children take to die. In this case is as simple as adding up all the expected times, so that the party has a 50% of success (smart players or players with high bonuses will have a higher chance of success)</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Skill Challenge Setup</span></p><p></p><p>It's important for the players to know where they are and how the Skill Challenge progresses so I recommend the following:</p><p></p><p>A "map" representing the important zones this SC will take place in:</p><p></p><p> - Pond</p><p> - Grove/Gazebo</p><p> - Field B</p><p> - Field A</p><p> - Fissure</p><p> - Burning Bushes</p><p></p><p>Place the PCs minis on Field A, besides de Fissure.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=42280&stc=1&d=1260801951" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>Another diagram representing the progress of different aspects of the challenge:</p><p></p><p> - Burn-o-meter: [TO BE COMPLETED] total rounds before the children die, make blank circles or boxes for each child. You will check each one as the SC progresses.</p><p></p><p> - how are the children animically (Panicked, Fearful, Listening, Calmed, Intimidated) Place a token on each Animic State for each child (3 total) that is in that state. All children start Panicked.</p><p></p><p> - a blank paper in which to keep track of the PCs Exhaustion Points (3 + Con bonus). These points will represent the fatigue the PCs reach as they take on physical activities during this challenge.</p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">How to run the Skill Challenge</span></p><p></p><p>Make the players act in any order they like.</p><p>Each player can decide on what to do after the other players resolved their actions.</p><p>After all players are done, tick one mark on each children in the Burn-o-meter.</p><p>If more than half of the children are dead, the SC ends in failure.</p><p>If this has been the second round of the challenge, Begnira shouts to the PCs to use the vines in the grove to help the children climb in and out of the Fissure</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Exhaustion Points</span></p><p></p><p>Each PC begins the SC with 3 + Con bonus Exhaustion Points.</p><p>Some activities the PCs perform are exahusting, these are marked with a (*).</p><p>When performing this activity, the PC must spend an Exhaustion Point.</p><p>If he doesn't have one, he can make an Endurance check DC 18.</p><p>If he succeeds, he performs the activity normally.</p><p>If he fails, he has two options: take twice as long to perform the activity or spend a Healing Surge and perform it normally.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">What the PCs can do</span></p><p></p><p>Although PCs can do whatever they like in any order, their options are listed according to the task they are trying to accomplish.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px">Reaching the children</span></p><p></p><p>Jump the Fissure (*) (either from Field A or Burning Bushes)</p><p>Athletics DC 20</p><p>Success: You cross the fissure to the other side (move 2 zones)</p><p>Failure: You move into the fissure</p><p></p><p>Jump down the Fissure (special) (either from Field A or Burning Bushes)</p><p>Acrobatics DC 20</p><p>Success: You move into the fissure</p><p>Failure: You move into the fissure and spend an Exhaustion Point</p><p></p><p>Climb out the Fissure (*)</p><p>No check</p><p>Move your PC to a zone adjacent to the Fissure</p><p></p><p>Help climbing (special) (*)</p><p>No check</p><p>You spend your turn helping other PC climbing up.</p><p>The helped PC is moved to your zone (he doesn't spend the turn doing so)</p><p>Note: If you are exhausted, you and the helped PC spend your turns doing this activity</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px">Calming the children</span></p><p></p><p>Now the PCs need to make the children get out of the burning bushes. First they must overcome the panic of the children and make them listen to them, then they must convince them to get out.</p><p>Whenever more than half the children are Listening, Calmed or Intimidated, then the rest of the children automatically go to that state</p><p></p><p>Making a child Fearful</p><p>Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate DC 20</p><p>Success: One child changes his attitude from Panicked to Fearful</p><p>Failure: Nothing happens, you can try again next round</p><p></p><p>Making a child listen</p><p>Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate DC 20</p><p>Success: One child changes his attitude from Fearful to Listening</p><p>Failure: Nothing happens, you can try again next round</p><p></p><p>Calming a child</p><p>Bluff or Diplomacy DC 20</p><p>Success: One child changes his attitude from Listening to Calmed</p><p>Failure: Nothing happens, you can try again next round</p><p></p><p>Intimidating a child</p><p>Intimidate DC 15</p><p>Success: One child changes his attitude from Listening to Intimidated</p><p>Failure: Nothing happens, you can try again next round</p><p></p><p>Once all the children are Calmed or Intimidated the PCs can proceed to return them to safety</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px">Getting the vines and installing them</span></p><p></p><p>PCs must get the vines on the Grove and use them as ropes for the burning children.</p><p>They need two, one for climbing up and another for climbing down.</p><p>They can't use ropes for this because they would burn from the fire/heat from the children.</p><p></p><p>Move</p><p>No check</p><p>You move one zone</p><p></p><p>Run (*)</p><p>No check</p><p>You move 2 zones</p><p></p><p>One PC drags one vine (*)</p><p>No check</p><p>You move 1 zone</p><p>Special: If you are dragging the vine down the Fissure, you can treat this as "Jump down the Fissure" (see Reaching the children, above)</p><p></p><p>Two PCs drag one vine</p><p>No check</p><p>You move 1 zone</p><p></p><p>Install the vine to get out the Fissure (from Fissure to Field A)</p><p>PC must be on Field A, with vine</p><p>No check</p><p></p><p>Install the vine to get down the Fissure (*) (from Burning Bushes to Fissure)</p><p>One PC must be at the bottom of the Fissure and another on the other side (in Burning Bushes)</p><p>No check</p><p>Both PCs spend their turns securing the vine</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px">Returning the children to safety</span></p><p></p><p>This step is highly dependent on whether there are vines to help cross the fissure and whether the children are calmed or intimidated.</p><p>One probem the PCs face is that they burn if they grab or carry the children.</p><p>If they do, however, they can bypass these activities and can just move (as in previous steps: move, run, etc. See Reaching the children) but they take 4d6 fire damage each round they grab or carry the child.</p><p></p><p>Moving kids through the Fissure without vines</p><p></p><p>Moving a Calmed child</p><p>[TO BE COMPLETED]</p><p></p><p>Moving an Intimidated child</p><p>[TO BE COMPLETED]</p><p></p><p>Moving kids through the Fissure with vines installed</p><p></p><p>Moving a Calmed child</p><p>[TO BE COMPLETED]</p><p></p><p>Moving an Intimidated child</p><p>[TO BE COMPLETED]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="sfedi, post: 5028011, member: 15746"] [b]Skill Challenge: Save the Children[/b] [SIZE="5"]Skill Challenge: Save the Children[/SIZE] This challenge works much like the original, with three stages of rescue. Success: The party successfully recover the children and Begnira, before dying, blesses them so they can rest on the grove without suffering the effects of the fire forest or encounters with forest creatures. They can even get some good attitude from seela when they discover the heroes's deeds. Failure: As the adventure says, or Begnira and the children die, even surviving children eventually get lost or die. Party don't gain the benefit of the grove. [SIZE="4"]Assumptions[/SIZE] * This SC assumes a level 4 party of 5 members. For every member above or below this, add or subtract one child that must be rescued. * The party hasn't taken a short rest from the previous encounter (the vine trap) * There are at least two members with social skills (Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate) and two members with physical skills (Athletics, Endurance) * After the party deals with the vines, they rush to the border of the fissure, leaving the vines behind. Once there the SC begins. * Begnira is in the pond observing and hearing all the PCs do and talk (you can emphasize this by having her speak to them through the trees). * The children are inside a burning bush each, and they are burning slowly to death. Even if they get out, they are still on fire. These children are so burned that even if the flames are put out, their bark is still red hot and burn them anyway. Thus, covering them with a blanquet, or earth is not enough for them to stop burning. Even throwing them water is not enough, it should be a LOT of water needed. Thus, the only option is to submerge them on the pond [SIZE="4"]Math behind the Skill Challenge[/SIZE] As the original SC, this SC is divided in three stages. But unlike the original SC, the second step has two branches, in parallel. Reaching the children Expected time: 2 rounds Calm the children & Form a Bridge Expected time: 6 rounds each branch Return to safety [TO BE COMPLETED] As usual, "expected time" means that 50% of the time they should go above this time and half the time, below this time. Some expected times are based on the assumption that they will have roughly a 50% chance of succeeding in each skill check, like Calming the Children, which requires two checks per children. And there are two children that must be convinced. Other expected times are based on the assumption that PCs will make some sacrifices (take damage, spend healing surges, etc) to perform certain maneuvers in one round. Now that we have the total expected time, we can really set the difficulty of the challenge, by asigning how many rounds the burning children take to die. In this case is as simple as adding up all the expected times, so that the party has a 50% of success (smart players or players with high bonuses will have a higher chance of success) [SIZE="4"]Skill Challenge Setup[/SIZE] It's important for the players to know where they are and how the Skill Challenge progresses so I recommend the following: A "map" representing the important zones this SC will take place in: - Pond - Grove/Gazebo - Field B - Field A - Fissure - Burning Bushes Place the PCs minis on Field A, besides de Fissure. [IMG]http://www.enworld.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=42280&stc=1&d=1260801951[/IMG] Another diagram representing the progress of different aspects of the challenge: - Burn-o-meter: [TO BE COMPLETED] total rounds before the children die, make blank circles or boxes for each child. You will check each one as the SC progresses. - how are the children animically (Panicked, Fearful, Listening, Calmed, Intimidated) Place a token on each Animic State for each child (3 total) that is in that state. All children start Panicked. - a blank paper in which to keep track of the PCs Exhaustion Points (3 + Con bonus). These points will represent the fatigue the PCs reach as they take on physical activities during this challenge. [SIZE="4"]How to run the Skill Challenge[/SIZE] Make the players act in any order they like. Each player can decide on what to do after the other players resolved their actions. After all players are done, tick one mark on each children in the Burn-o-meter. If more than half of the children are dead, the SC ends in failure. If this has been the second round of the challenge, Begnira shouts to the PCs to use the vines in the grove to help the children climb in and out of the Fissure [SIZE="4"]Exhaustion Points[/SIZE] Each PC begins the SC with 3 + Con bonus Exhaustion Points. Some activities the PCs perform are exahusting, these are marked with a (*). When performing this activity, the PC must spend an Exhaustion Point. If he doesn't have one, he can make an Endurance check DC 18. If he succeeds, he performs the activity normally. If he fails, he has two options: take twice as long to perform the activity or spend a Healing Surge and perform it normally. [SIZE="4"]What the PCs can do[/SIZE] Although PCs can do whatever they like in any order, their options are listed according to the task they are trying to accomplish. [SIZE="3"]Reaching the children[/SIZE] Jump the Fissure (*) (either from Field A or Burning Bushes) Athletics DC 20 Success: You cross the fissure to the other side (move 2 zones) Failure: You move into the fissure Jump down the Fissure (special) (either from Field A or Burning Bushes) Acrobatics DC 20 Success: You move into the fissure Failure: You move into the fissure and spend an Exhaustion Point Climb out the Fissure (*) No check Move your PC to a zone adjacent to the Fissure Help climbing (special) (*) No check You spend your turn helping other PC climbing up. The helped PC is moved to your zone (he doesn't spend the turn doing so) Note: If you are exhausted, you and the helped PC spend your turns doing this activity [SIZE="3"]Calming the children[/SIZE] Now the PCs need to make the children get out of the burning bushes. First they must overcome the panic of the children and make them listen to them, then they must convince them to get out. Whenever more than half the children are Listening, Calmed or Intimidated, then the rest of the children automatically go to that state Making a child Fearful Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate DC 20 Success: One child changes his attitude from Panicked to Fearful Failure: Nothing happens, you can try again next round Making a child listen Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate DC 20 Success: One child changes his attitude from Fearful to Listening Failure: Nothing happens, you can try again next round Calming a child Bluff or Diplomacy DC 20 Success: One child changes his attitude from Listening to Calmed Failure: Nothing happens, you can try again next round Intimidating a child Intimidate DC 15 Success: One child changes his attitude from Listening to Intimidated Failure: Nothing happens, you can try again next round Once all the children are Calmed or Intimidated the PCs can proceed to return them to safety [SIZE="3"]Getting the vines and installing them[/SIZE] PCs must get the vines on the Grove and use them as ropes for the burning children. They need two, one for climbing up and another for climbing down. They can't use ropes for this because they would burn from the fire/heat from the children. Move No check You move one zone Run (*) No check You move 2 zones One PC drags one vine (*) No check You move 1 zone Special: If you are dragging the vine down the Fissure, you can treat this as "Jump down the Fissure" (see Reaching the children, above) Two PCs drag one vine No check You move 1 zone Install the vine to get out the Fissure (from Fissure to Field A) PC must be on Field A, with vine No check Install the vine to get down the Fissure (*) (from Burning Bushes to Fissure) One PC must be at the bottom of the Fissure and another on the other side (in Burning Bushes) No check Both PCs spend their turns securing the vine [SIZE="3"]Returning the children to safety[/SIZE] This step is highly dependent on whether there are vines to help cross the fissure and whether the children are calmed or intimidated. One probem the PCs face is that they burn if they grab or carry the children. If they do, however, they can bypass these activities and can just move (as in previous steps: move, run, etc. See Reaching the children) but they take 4d6 fire damage each round they grab or carry the child. Moving kids through the Fissure without vines Moving a Calmed child [TO BE COMPLETED] Moving an Intimidated child [TO BE COMPLETED] Moving kids through the Fissure with vines installed Moving a Calmed child [TO BE COMPLETED] Moving an Intimidated child [TO BE COMPLETED] [/QUOTE]
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