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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 4804955" data-attributes="member: 3424">This is how I run skill challenges, from a previous thread on the subject:Step One: Ensure that the players have an objective. This could be one that they came up with themselves, e.g. "We want to interrogate the hobgoblin", one that you hint at, e.g. "As you kill the last kobold, you hear a menacing growl. You realize that the bear that the kobolds had been keeping prisoner has escaped" (the PCs may either fight the bear or attempt a skill challenge to calm it down), or one that you state explicitly, e.g. "How will you persuade the Duke to agree to your proposal?" Step Two: Ask each player what he wants his PC to do to help achieve the objective. Step Three: Translate what the players say into a skill check, e.g. "I threaten the hobgoblin" could be an Intimidate check. "I speak soothingly to the bear" could be a Nature check. "I try to get a sense of the Duke's current mood" could be an Insight check. Step Four: Decide whether what the player proposes to do will contribute towards the objective. If it seems reasonable, make it a Moderate skill check. If it seems unlikely or counter-productive, make it a Hard check or even an automatic failure. If it seems very effective, make it an Easy check or even an automatic success. For example, a Heal check to treat the bear's injuries might require a Moderate skill check. A cleric using healing word on the bear might be an automatic success, but making loud noises to scare the bear off might be a Hard Intimidate check or even an automatic failure. Step Five: Have the players make their skill checks and narrate the results. If the check is successful, convey a sense of progress towards achieving the objective. If the check is unsuccessful, describe what setbacks have occured. If the skill challenge is not over, go back to Step Two.That said, if you have some time to prepare, you could anticipate some likely approaches that the PCs can take and decide how you will handle them. One way to do this is to go through the skill list and decide how each skill might be useful to the PCs.For the first challenge, for example, the most obviously useful skills are Diplomacy, Bluff and Intimidate. Perhaps you could decide on the following:Diplomacy: The PCs earn one success if a character succeeds on a Moderate Diplomacy check. Bluff: The PCs earn one success if a character succeeds on a Moderate Bluff check. Each failed Bluff check imposes a -2 penalty on subsequent Diplomacy and Bluff checks as the Captain gets more and more suspicious of the PCs. Intimidate: The Captain is not easily intimidated. The PCs earn one success if a character succeeds on a Hard Intimidate check. Each failed Intimidate check imposes a -2 penalty on subsequent Diplomacy and Bluff checks as the Captain gets more and more suspicious of the PCs.Because the Captain has other problems to deal with, you can introduce a "ticking clock" effect that encourages the PCs to obtain as many successes as quickly as possible. In this case, you could have the Captain slowly lose patience, which imposes a cumulative -2 penalty to Bluff and Diplomacy checks for each "round" of the skill challenge starting from the third "round". This creates a small cost to the PCs for using skills for which a failed skill check does not count as a failure for the purpose of the skill challenge (such as Perception, Streetwise, Insight, Religion and History, below).In addition, the PCs may be able to do other things or use other skills to help them in the challenge:Perception: If the PCs are at the scene of the crime, they may be able to discover evidence that implies they are not guilty. The PCs may earn one success if a character succeeds on a Moderate Perception check. The PCs may earn a second success if a character succeeds on a Hard Perception check. The PCs may earn at most two successes from the use of Perception. A failed Perception check does not result in a failure for the purpose of the skill challenge. Streetwise: If the PCs have the opportunity to use this skill, they may be able to uncover or recall rumors of who the guilty party actually is. The PCs may earn one success if a character succeeds on a Moderate Streetwise check. The PCs may earn a second success if a character succeeds on a Hard Streetwise check. The PCs may earn at most two successes from the use of Streetwise. A failed Streetwise check does not result in a failure for the purpose of the skill challenge. Insight: If a character succeeds on a Moderate Insight check, the PCs gain a +2 bonus on all subsequent Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate checks with the Captain. In addition, they discover that the Captain is not easily intimidated, respects servants of Lawful Good deities, and will get impatient if the matter is not resolved quickly. A failed Insight check does not result in a failure for the purpose of the skill challenge. Religion: A Lawful Good character may attempt a Moderate Religion check to convince the Captain that he would not have committed the crime (if the character is not actually Lawful Good, this is considered a use of the Bluff skill instead). If the character is a cleric, a paladin or another character with the Divine power source, it is an Easy Religion check instead. If the character succeeds on the check, the PCs earn one success and the character (only) gains a +2 bonus on all subsequent Bluff and Diplomacy checks with the Captain. The PCs may earn only one success from the use of Religion. A failed Religion check does not result in a failure for the purpose of the skill challenge. History: A character may attempt a History check to see if he can recall a loophole in the law which suggests that the Captain should let them go. The PCs may earn one success if the character succeeds on a Hard History check. The PCs may earn only one success from the use of History. A failed History check does not result in a failure for the purpose of the skill challenge.Failing this first skill challenge could trigger the escape skill challenge. For this one, as you have suggested, Streetwise, Athletics, and Acrobatics could be useful, as could Endurance (simply running very fast for a long period of time) and Stealth (to hide). Perception could be used to spot a good place to hide or a good route to take, Insight could be used to figure out where the guards are likely to search, and Bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate could be used to obtain help from other people. The PCs may also be able to use movement powers and other utility powers to gain bonuses or automatic successes to their checks (an eladrin might fey step past an obstacle, for example).If the PCs fail the escape challenge, in addition to imposing a penalty to Diplomacy checks for the negotiation with the noble, you could have it count as an automatic failure. On the other hand, if the noble is fascinated with magic, consider allowing bonuses to Diplomacy checks if the PCs use Arcane spells (especially if they do so in an entertaining manner) or automatic successes for the use of daily Arcane powers.</blockquote>

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