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Okay, I can definitely see where you're coming from. It requires a high degree of trust in your DM, but it could pay off quite well if you've got a group that likes deep immersion in the story, and finds too many dice rolls can pull them out of character too easily. Maybe one of these nights...

Well, I've already gotten a lot of great advice so far, and I don't see it as a waste of my time at all, so there's really no need to apologize.

I'm actually coming up with blanks on how I would do this for a "skill challenge" I made. Usually, I make it a point to think of multiple outcomes to any skill challenge I propose, so that no matter the number of successes or failures the PC's get, I have some ideas of what might happen. I still...

I'm not sure about this. In general, I avoid making rolls for my players. I feel like they sit down around the table to roll some dice, and the less dice they roll for themselves, the less D&D we're playing, and the more freeform RP we're doing. There's situations where rolling for a PC might...

Well, I think this depends on how the skill challenge is designed. A skill challenge can change based on PC actions, or even the amount of successes gained for each round. They don't always have to be black and white, success or failure. Say the challenge is to flee from a dragon that is chasing...

I'd love to quote individual posters right now but my phone has informed me that it loathes being used for such a task, so I apologize if I miss a few comments. I want to preface by saying I really appreciate everyone that's stopped in to offer some advice. I've seen suggestions from most...

Do you think the order they declare their goal and approach in might make a difference? Right now most of my players seem to fall in the habit of declaring their approach first, then I prod them for their goal. Maybe I should try and get them in the habit of stating their goal, then we can...

I'd love to be able to run them this invisibly, but for some reason it just seems to go against my nature. Especially when a given check might cause negative effects to my character or worsen the scene, as a player I like to know what's going on so I can make a more informed choice. Problem with...

So far it seems the general consensus is to make sure each scene in a game is meaningful, to try and put more personality into NPCS via in character talking or just secret relevance to the plot, and to focus more on what players are trying to achieve than on how they achieve it. I'm thinking...

That's an interesting perspective. I'm curious though. Do you ever find that skill checks are used rather rarely with this style? Depending on the specific events that come up in the session, I could see players only rolling maybe once or twice each if you allow them to basically barter their...

There's been some good suggestions. I might need to sit down with my players and ask them how they feel non-combat should run. Whether they're fans of skill challenges for important scenes, or if they'd rather stick to freeform roleplay. I find though, that the less you make skill checks...

Thanks for this advice. It's made me look at how I've been running things in a different light. Just the kind of thing I was hoping to get out of this thread.

Actually, this is similar to what I do. I don't let players say "I use Acrobatics" or "I use Intimidate on the guy". I ask what their character does, specifically, and what they want to achieve with it. It isn't enough to say they glare at them menacingly. I tell them they need to state what...

I'll have to look into this. Sounds like even just for ideas it might be worth the money. Thanks for the suggestion. This sounds really interesting. Almost like you'd run it as several mini challenges for each council member, working towards the greater challenge of winning the vote. Maybe...

I do a mix of sandbox and clear objectives. I like to give them a goal to strive towards, but give them free reign on how they achieve it, and their path on the way. So that means when they get to town, I don't force them to fast forward bits unless they want to. I ask them what their characters...

Yeah, this is part of where I'm having issues. I tell them that they're in a skill challenge. I like your suggestion to not use Initiative but instead just pick someone to be first, then kinda randomly ask someone next, or if someone pipes up themselves go with that. I've been toying with the...

I need a little advice from you experienced gurus. Currently I'm DMing a level 10 party of four PC's in a custom campaign setting, and the combat is going great. The players are engaged, having a blast, and routinely tell me that each session after the last becomes their new favorite. The...

I think that this is the same advice you would use, even if sticking with the standard spell slot system. Most foes don't seem to last more than 4-5 rounds on average, and as DM, even using spell points, if you feel that too many casts of the NPC's 4th-5th level spells will unbalance the...

Well, the warlock mechanic always reminded me a lot of 4E's AEDU power structure, or in this case just the A (At-Will) for cantrips, and the E (Encounters) for their actual spell slots. Depending on how you have short rests (I go with 10min personally), then Warlocks play the most like a 4E...

I'll make sure to come back and report on my findings. I'm going to be putting them up against a lot of fairly "save the world" stuff, so they might appreciate the extra power. Time will tell.