Skill Chellenges - unfun?

[Wraith Form]

#3: Many skill challenges suffer from repetition of the same skill being used. In negotiations, PCs may be asked to 4 diplomacy checks of DC X before they fail 3. Why all of those rolls? Why not 1 roll? Isn't repetition boring? Isn't repetition boring? Isn't repetition boring?

Nail, head. Hit squarely.

Even Mearls, in his articles about the way skill challenges "should have come out instead of the way they currently are," clearly spends about a week hand-crafting a @#*% challenge. That's not going to fly with improv-reliant DMs.

In this incarnation, they aren't fun at all (especially in the H1 - H3 series of adventures).

I wish I had something positive to contribute, but I think it boils down to what a previous poster said: SCs are essentially the same thing we've been doing from the mid-seventies until 3.5's last days.

 

[Wraith Form]

I'm starting to really hate that word. It's turning into the trite and meaningless buzzworld of the hour, like "proactive", or "expedite"...

Exactly.

Can you please quantize how much awesome I should bring, where to bring it, and most importantly, how you expect me to bring it? "Engaging with everything I have" also fails to explain what I'm supposed to do after making each die roll "count", so....no, that's not bringing awesome. How do the die rolls count?

You might as well have told us to do skill challenges by "being cool and adding pwnsauce". It tells us nothing regarding technique, method, concrete examples.

Yes, I'm asking you to explain how to be creative (regarding the challenges). Some of us have less experience than you with extended conflict resolution systems, so you need to be more specific and illustrative.

I'm not trying to harp on you in particular (although you did chose that unfortunate turn of phrase), I just get tired of posts where it seems like the response to questions are a re-phrasing of the question. Q: "How do I create a good skill challenge?" A: "Formulate a skill challenge that swims in goodness, and then run it."

 

[Wraith Form]

At one point, I had a warlock throwing his voice to distract guards with a bluff check (it failed because he botched, but it was a brilliant idea).

Out of curiosity, did you allow bonuses because it was a brilliant idea?

 

[Mr. Wilson]

Out of curiosity, did you allow bonuses because it was a brilliant idea?

Yes, +2, but he rolled a 1. Not much I could do.

 

[chaotix42]

"Formulate a skill challenge that swims in goodness, and then run it."

Mmmmmm... like lobster.

 

[Nytmare]

Mmmmmm... like lobster.

Running lobsters is illegal in 49 of the 50 states, and all of Canada. You should be ashamed of yourself.

 

[Jack Colby]

I've never used a skill challenge yet, and don't feel like anything is missing.

I was never a fan of the concept, and never saw a need for them in D&D. The "oops, we got the wrong version printed in the rulebook" problem also left a really bad taste in my mouth.

Don't worry about it or feel bad, just ditch them and play out such things organically!

 

[Frostmarrow]

You might find this interesting:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-fan-creations-house-rules/234938-opposed-skill-challenges.html

It's my own horn - and I'm tooting it.

 

[Orcus Porkus]

In our group we call anything that's not dice rolling in battles "jerk time".
It's a fun time. We act out, say silly things, in short, behave like children and do "heroic" actions or just stuff to derail the DM's plan.
Skill challenges as laid out in the DMG have no place there. We tried it, but it ruins the fun.
Skill challenges usually ruin the improvisation a talented DM is blessed with.
I think there is only one reason that they introduced this. They identified all those different player types, including the silent one, and wanted to offer something for them to be included outside combat. Failure! As it turned out, these types hate skill challenges more than anything!
We are back doing good old jerk time. Dice rolls only when the DM thinks something is difficult to pull off. One roll, next.

 

[BASHMAN]

Is anyone else having a tough time implementing and enjoying the use of skill challenges. At the moment, I have them mentally catergorised as 'time wasters' and well,...unfun.

You are correct, sir! I have never yet enjoyed a skill challenge. I have renamed them "break time" whereupon I leave the room and so something entertaining until said challenge is over. If the GM insists I participate and asks me for what skill I am using and why, my response is "Endurance-- because I am putting up with this..."

When I first heard of skill challenges, I thought that they'd be cool, but from the mechanics as well as the descriptions of people's own play experiences, I have not found how they could be entertaining to anyone. At first they were so hard as to mathematically nearly equate auto-fails. Then, they were errattad to be super-easy auto successes. Neither one is very satisfying, especially when you are playing "guess the right skill" with the GM, especially when you (or nobody else) has THE skill.

On a side note: I am working on an alternate system now that functions by abandoning the success/fail tally aspect of the skill challenge. It was actually what I called "extended checks" in BASH! but I am still working on porting it over to D&D 4E. When it is done, I'll be posting about it for sure.

Currently working on a solution... I think it revolves around abandoning the success/fail aspect of the skill challenge...