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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 4501041" data-attributes="member: 42582">Where do you get this from?DMG p 72, first sentence under the heading "Designing a skill challenge":More so than perhaps any other kind of encounter, a skill challenge is defined by its context in an adventure.DMG pp 74-75, under the heading "Running a skill challenge":Begin by describing the situation and defining the challenge. . . You describe the environment, listen to the players' responses, let them make their skill checks, and narrate the results... You can also make use of the "DM's best friend" rule to reward particularly creative uses of skills (or penalise the opposite) by giving a character a +2 bonus or -2 penalty to the check. Then, depending on the success or failure of the check, describe the consequences and go on to the next action... In skill challenges, players will come up with uses for skills that you didn't expect to play a role. Try not to say no. . . This encourages players to think about the challenge in more depth . . . However, it's particularly important to make sure these checks are grounded in actions that make sense in the adventure and the situation. If a player asks, "Can I use Diplomacy?" you should ask what exactly the character might be doing . . . Don't say no to often, but don't say yes if it doesn't make sense in the context of the challenge.This text is not identical to that found in the HeroWars rulebooks on the running of extended contests, or in other RPGs which feature mechanically comparable conflict-resolution mechanics. But it's pretty similar.I'll admit that the text on pages 74-75 is a little bit ambiguous as to who has narrative rights, initially suggesting that they lie with the GM and then suggesting (via the idea of a +2 bonus, and the use of alternative skills) that these rights are shared by the GM with the players. But this infelicity doesn't at all suggest that the skill challenge is just a dice-rolling exercise.</blockquote>

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