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<blockquote data-quote="Jack99" data-source="post: 5115518" data-attributes="member: 53135"><p>As noted, I am not going sandbox, simply because it wouldn't suit neither me nor my players. Actually, considering all the debate the last week about what a sandbox campaign is, I am probably better off not claiming what my campaign is or is not. It seems everyone has an opinion on the definition of these things, to the point where I am not even sure of my own definition.</p><p></p><p>With that said, I have been thinking about how to handle when players head out into the wilderness. I am not a fan of random encounters, for two reasons.</p><p>1) They do not advance the story. While that doesn't mean I think random encounters are bad, see 2)</p><p>2) Encounters in modern D&D take a bit too long to have too many random encounters. I do not want my players to spend half the night fighting random stuff, and left with the feeling that they didn't advance the story, just because they were unlucky.</p><p></p><p>So, the obvious solution is to make any random encounters depend on the players. This means a skill challenge of course. </p><p></p><p>In short, every time they enter a square in which there is a chance of getting lost or encountering monsters (just about all non-plains squares more than 1 removed from a town or village), I will run a small skill challenge. I will also operate with a radius of encounters. Whenever the players enter a square (or a square adjacent thereof) which on my DM's map has a NPC camp/village/place, any encounter will be NPC's from that camp/village/place.</p><p></p><p>I have also chosen to keep the DC's fixed, at level 4 (although tweaked from WotC's official numbers). This means that things will be rough at first, but as the players become higher level, they will have an easier time moving around and finding their way in the world. The one thing that will be adjusted is the stealth DC's when players enter a square with or adjacent to NPC's - that DC will depend on what type and level NPC's "own" said square. </p><p></p><p>[sblock=Finding your way through the wilderness Skill Challenge]</p><p><strong>Level 4 (special) Skill Challenge</strong></p><p><em>Complexity 1 (per square)</em></p><p><strong>Primary Skills</strong>: Nature, Perception, Stealth</p><p><strong>Secondary Skills</strong>: Endurance, Heal</p><p>Nature and Perception can each give 2 successes</p><p><em>Stealth</em> (Varies, base 15, otherwise depends on inhabitants of square) At least two characters must make a stealth check once per square. If both checks fails, the party runs into an encounter. If the party is in a square or a square adjacent to a NPC camp, the encounter will be with NPC's from that camp.</p><p><em>Endurance </em>(DC 15) At least three characters must make an endurance check once per square. If all three checks fails, everyone in the party loses a healing surge due to the rigors of travel in the wilderness. A successful endurance check does not count as a success for the skill challenge.</p><p><em>Nature </em>(DC 15) A success indicates that the party is on the right track, navigating skillfully through the wild.</p><p><em>Perception</em> (DC 16) A success indicates that the party has notices something that helps them find their way. It could be a trail, some smoke or a thousand other things.</p><p><em>Heal </em>(DC 20) In case of three failed endurance checks, one player can attempt to negate the loss of healing surges by succeeding a heal check. A successful heal check does not count as a success for the skill challenge.</p><p></p><p>Getting 4 successes before 3 failures means that the party heads in the right direction, entering the next square on the map where they intend to. Getting 3 failures before 4 successes means that the party heads in the wrong direction, entering the wrong square. The fewer wins the party has when they finish the challenge, the more off track they are.[/sblock]</p><p></p><p>I would love to hear what people think about the Skill Challenge and that way of handling "random" encounters.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jack99, post: 5115518, member: 53135"] As noted, I am not going sandbox, simply because it wouldn't suit neither me nor my players. Actually, considering all the debate the last week about what a sandbox campaign is, I am probably better off not claiming what my campaign is or is not. It seems everyone has an opinion on the definition of these things, to the point where I am not even sure of my own definition. With that said, I have been thinking about how to handle when players head out into the wilderness. I am not a fan of random encounters, for two reasons. 1) They do not advance the story. While that doesn't mean I think random encounters are bad, see 2) 2) Encounters in modern D&D take a bit too long to have too many random encounters. I do not want my players to spend half the night fighting random stuff, and left with the feeling that they didn't advance the story, just because they were unlucky. So, the obvious solution is to make any random encounters depend on the players. This means a skill challenge of course. In short, every time they enter a square in which there is a chance of getting lost or encountering monsters (just about all non-plains squares more than 1 removed from a town or village), I will run a small skill challenge. I will also operate with a radius of encounters. Whenever the players enter a square (or a square adjacent thereof) which on my DM's map has a NPC camp/village/place, any encounter will be NPC's from that camp/village/place. I have also chosen to keep the DC's fixed, at level 4 (although tweaked from WotC's official numbers). This means that things will be rough at first, but as the players become higher level, they will have an easier time moving around and finding their way in the world. The one thing that will be adjusted is the stealth DC's when players enter a square with or adjacent to NPC's - that DC will depend on what type and level NPC's "own" said square. [sblock=Finding your way through the wilderness Skill Challenge] [B]Level 4 (special) Skill Challenge[/B] [I]Complexity 1 (per square)[/I] [B]Primary Skills[/B]: Nature, Perception, Stealth [B]Secondary Skills[/B]: Endurance, Heal Nature and Perception can each give 2 successes [I]Stealth[/I] (Varies, base 15, otherwise depends on inhabitants of square) At least two characters must make a stealth check once per square. If both checks fails, the party runs into an encounter. If the party is in a square or a square adjacent to a NPC camp, the encounter will be with NPC's from that camp. [I]Endurance [/I](DC 15) At least three characters must make an endurance check once per square. If all three checks fails, everyone in the party loses a healing surge due to the rigors of travel in the wilderness. A successful endurance check does not count as a success for the skill challenge. [I]Nature [/I](DC 15) A success indicates that the party is on the right track, navigating skillfully through the wild. [I]Perception[/I] (DC 16) A success indicates that the party has notices something that helps them find their way. It could be a trail, some smoke or a thousand other things. [I]Heal [/I](DC 20) In case of three failed endurance checks, one player can attempt to negate the loss of healing surges by succeeding a heal check. A successful heal check does not count as a success for the skill challenge. Getting 4 successes before 3 failures means that the party heads in the right direction, entering the next square on the map where they intend to. Getting 3 failures before 4 successes means that the party heads in the wrong direction, entering the wrong square. The fewer wins the party has when they finish the challenge, the more off track they are.[/sblock] I would love to hear what people think about the Skill Challenge and that way of handling "random" encounters. [/QUOTE]
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