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Anatomy of a Skill Challenge
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<blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 7560884" data-attributes="member: 82106"><p>Well, yes, though I understand it can seem difficult to have changing elements '7 times'. As I suggested in the same post that might be indicative of a pretty narrow 'framing' of the SC, it only covers one particular situation. One answer might be to use a complexity 1 or 2, which obviously relieves you of some of that burden. </p><p></p><p>However, I think you could incorporate some 'state change' within the SC. Maybe one situation leads to the starting of a fire, and the PCs have to sort that out, or can use it in some fashion. Maybe they take up a position in a certain location, and a failure means they get outflanked and have to change their strategy a little. These would work within the SC, and TBH it is hard to say they are or are not present simply based on the write up. </p><p></p><p>IMHO it is very hard to write up SCs. Because they are a highly narrative tool they must inherently owe a lot of their unfolding in play to the issues driving the specific PCs, details of the story which may not be surfaced or knowable to a 'module' writer, etc. In truth I think this is why WotC hasn't been keen on them. As a publisher of adventure material they're not really good fodder for module developers. A module writer has little idea of the specific motivations, character, or even possibly means available to specific characters. They need to write something that will be fully utilized in play (IE no big 'dead branches' of story that don't get used) and they need things to relate to the locations and plot lines they have written. So it is HARD to really write effective SCs! That being said, it is not so hard to write ABOUT effective SCs that we have been in, which is pretty useful.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yeah, that makes it a little bit more clear. You didn't lay out the parameters of the encounter exactly so I didn't really understand that a specific combat was the overarching context. I kind of assumed smaller fights might 'break out'.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 7560884, member: 82106"] Well, yes, though I understand it can seem difficult to have changing elements '7 times'. As I suggested in the same post that might be indicative of a pretty narrow 'framing' of the SC, it only covers one particular situation. One answer might be to use a complexity 1 or 2, which obviously relieves you of some of that burden. However, I think you could incorporate some 'state change' within the SC. Maybe one situation leads to the starting of a fire, and the PCs have to sort that out, or can use it in some fashion. Maybe they take up a position in a certain location, and a failure means they get outflanked and have to change their strategy a little. These would work within the SC, and TBH it is hard to say they are or are not present simply based on the write up. IMHO it is very hard to write up SCs. Because they are a highly narrative tool they must inherently owe a lot of their unfolding in play to the issues driving the specific PCs, details of the story which may not be surfaced or knowable to a 'module' writer, etc. In truth I think this is why WotC hasn't been keen on them. As a publisher of adventure material they're not really good fodder for module developers. A module writer has little idea of the specific motivations, character, or even possibly means available to specific characters. They need to write something that will be fully utilized in play (IE no big 'dead branches' of story that don't get used) and they need things to relate to the locations and plot lines they have written. So it is HARD to really write effective SCs! That being said, it is not so hard to write ABOUT effective SCs that we have been in, which is pretty useful. Yeah, that makes it a little bit more clear. You didn't lay out the parameters of the encounter exactly so I didn't really understand that a specific combat was the overarching context. I kind of assumed smaller fights might 'break out'. [/QUOTE]
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