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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 6053834" data-attributes="member: 386">I was thinking about this a little more in terms of the choices that the players are making.In <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-pathfinder/331908-4e-encounter-design-why-does-doesnt-work-you-9.html#post6052261" target="_blank">this post</a> I talked about a skill challenge that I ran.  The choices the player made in that case could probably be boiled down to "Which skill do you use?"Now I use a different skill list in my game, but I don't think that matters much.  So why did that skill challenge work?My gut feeling is that it's because we paid attention to the details of the character's actions, and the consequences flowed naturally from those details.  The choices the player made were of the most basic sort - "What does your character do?" - and the skill challenge structure informed the point at which she'd be successful.[sblock=The same example with more detail]To recap, the PC wanted to gather townspeople to feed to vine horrors in exchange for information about a nearby hex.The information she was looking for was tied to the reward system.  She wanted to discover what happened to an ancient city of steel and glass, built by her ancestors (Bael Turothian).  A very dangerous place.  Pursuing this "Goal" is one of the main sources of XP in the game - I've divided encounter XP awards by 10.  Is that important or not?  I wonder.First: The player stated that she wanted her PC to head to the town's gardens, a series of small, fenced-off gardens on a mountain plateau where they are able to grow food.  The player said that her PC was specifically looking for an older villager who could use some help.This was the fictional set-up for the "find a mark" roll.  We added up the modifiers for the roll: Charisma, as she was using "Social power, force, or presence" (a little weak but whatever); her full "Apprentice: Procurer" skill - as part of her background, she worked for a warlock, and at his command she would break into places and steal ritual components, kidnapping marks off the street, and rob graves; and a +2 situational modifier for going late in the day when most people had already started dinner. She rolled against the DC of the town (bigger towns = more people = higher level), got a "Stunning Success" (she hit the Hard DC for that level), which meant that her action was successful (finding an older villager who could use some help) and another benefit.She found and old guy looking for help, and - fortunately - he was in a small, fenced-off garden covered in vines, well-hidden from prying eyes.She offered help; the old guy was happy to see her and happy to accept her aid.  No roll necessary.Her default Reaction in town is "Looking to make friends" for all the things she's done during her adventures over the past month.  This is why there was no roll needed; the guy already likes her.  The Reaction also set the number of successes needed - 2.  I prefer low-complexity skill challenges.Instead of helping the old guy, she bashed him over the head with her "flail".  (It's actually a long chain with a ball at the end; as part of her devilish ancestry - chain devil blood - she can control chains with a skill check.  It's a skill she has.)  He was still on his feet after that, so she choked him out while he tried and failed to hit her with a hoe.  So it seems that this little combat wasn't part of the skill challenge.Then she threw the guy into a wheelbarrow (random roll to see if he had one; d6: 1-3 no, 4-6 yes; he did), covered him with her cloak, and went back to her place.  I called for a check, again against the DC of the town, and she succeeded.  At night she took the wheelbarrow out of town, making another check, and succeeded again.These two rolls were the skill challenge, then.  If she had done something like this in the previous month - when her Reaction defaulted to "Uncertain, cautious, and wary" - I'd probably have thrown some curious NPCs in her way.  When she did some kidnapping in the previous month, that's exactly what happened. So looking it over you could probably boil down the skill challenge to "What do you do?"  "I roll my Stealth."  Maybe it's the texture I've added to skill checks that made it work?  Maybe the fact that it was player-initiated and player-driven?  I'm not sure.  Any thoughts?[/sblock]</blockquote>

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