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General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Two Example Skill Challenges
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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 4191384" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>I think this just goes to show how difficult the skill challenge is going to be able to pull off in practice.</p><p></p><p>In both cases, I believe the situation is not one that lends itself to a skill challenge. And in neither case are the skill challenge mechanics either helpful or (untweaked) the obvious way to handle the encounter.</p><p></p><p>The first example is the better of the two, but even it has problems. For example, in the first case, how much time elapses before the walls close? Is inaction explicitly failure in the system, or if I stand back and let the skill player work is the group punished? Does this ensure group participation more than a round by round 'what do you do to solve the puzzle' approach would? As it is, the encounter plays out as a pretty standard 'search, think, use skill' investigative procedure that could have happened in any edition - even those that didn't have a skill system. In the example, the Insight skill is a bigger change than the skill challenge and I percieve already that its going to be <em>the</em> all-purpose win any challenge skill. I mean, when won't Insight apply? The players did do anything remotely out of the box, and its not clear how the skill challenge system would help a DM handle out of the box propositions. </p><p></p><p>The second example really illustrates the problems though. It basically plays out as 'the party provides cover while the thief tries to get the door open'. Exactly what is the skill challenge doing for the DM in this case? Is inaction explicitly a failure in the system? Does this ensure group participation more than the traditional round by round approach would? Once again, its a pretty standard 'search, disarm, open lock' sort of affair. Hows this for an approach, 'Difficult diplomacy - (in orcish) - 'Hey, does anyone have the key to this door?'. Or how about following that with, 'Difficult nature - I emulate the sound of a hungry Cave Lion to scare the orcs' Finally, 'Can I use a climb check to allow the party to escape while the Orcs are terrorized?' So does this really help the DM when the players go out of the box? And if it is nothing more than 'search, think, thief stuff', hows that really any different than what we've been doing?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 4191384, member: 4937"] I think this just goes to show how difficult the skill challenge is going to be able to pull off in practice. In both cases, I believe the situation is not one that lends itself to a skill challenge. And in neither case are the skill challenge mechanics either helpful or (untweaked) the obvious way to handle the encounter. The first example is the better of the two, but even it has problems. For example, in the first case, how much time elapses before the walls close? Is inaction explicitly failure in the system, or if I stand back and let the skill player work is the group punished? Does this ensure group participation more than a round by round 'what do you do to solve the puzzle' approach would? As it is, the encounter plays out as a pretty standard 'search, think, use skill' investigative procedure that could have happened in any edition - even those that didn't have a skill system. In the example, the Insight skill is a bigger change than the skill challenge and I percieve already that its going to be [i]the[/i] all-purpose win any challenge skill. I mean, when won't Insight apply? The players did do anything remotely out of the box, and its not clear how the skill challenge system would help a DM handle out of the box propositions. The second example really illustrates the problems though. It basically plays out as 'the party provides cover while the thief tries to get the door open'. Exactly what is the skill challenge doing for the DM in this case? Is inaction explicitly a failure in the system? Does this ensure group participation more than the traditional round by round approach would? Once again, its a pretty standard 'search, disarm, open lock' sort of affair. Hows this for an approach, 'Difficult diplomacy - (in orcish) - 'Hey, does anyone have the key to this door?'. Or how about following that with, 'Difficult nature - I emulate the sound of a hungry Cave Lion to scare the orcs' Finally, 'Can I use a climb check to allow the party to escape while the Orcs are terrorized?' So does this really help the DM when the players go out of the box? And if it is nothing more than 'search, think, thief stuff', hows that really any different than what we've been doing? [/QUOTE]
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