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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 5117920" data-attributes="member: 63">Skill challenges have not once interested me, so I doubt I would use those in an explicit sense. I would probably have situations that call for social interaction, or research, or exploration, and those would be worth XP. But I don't like how skill challenges work. I dunno, maybe I've just never seen one done well. They always feel flat and drama-less to me.As for combat, I may have under-estimated by saying 5 for a 3-level adventure. But I do prefer using 2 or 3 encounters per level that are more challenging, rather than having 8 or 10 that are on-level.You need 1000 xp to get to 2nd level, 5000 xp for a typical party. A typical 1st level encounter is 500 xp, but bah, those are boring. Let's have some fun, and have an encounter with multiple phases, folks coming from different directions, an elite leader, some minions, and some environmental hazards, totally 1000 xp. So I'd probably structure a level-length adventure at 1st level:Intro.Initial combat to introduce the theme of foes (750 xp).Non-combat encounter (500 xp quest reward).Encounter that could be combat or could be avoided (500 xp).Non-combat encounter (500 xp quest reward).Encounter that could be combat or could be avoided (500 xp).Climax combat (1000 xp combat).Victory bonus (1250 xp quest reward).Like for instance,1. You're at a town having a festival, where they make magic beer.2. Kobolds put a spell on the townsfolk and steal the beer. Most of the kobolds have already gotten away. You shake free quickly, follow signs to the town's brewery, and find a group of kobolds struggling to fill their wagons with the last kegs. They attack you, and try to get to their wagon outside. Say four main 100 xp kobolds, ten 25 xp minions, and a 100 xp guard critter; once half of them are down or bloodied, they become more interested in getting away than killing you. Additional fun available because you might have a wagon chase, and because you're fighting in a warehouse with kegs you can knock over on top of people, and other fun toys.3. Pursuing the rest of the kobolds who already got away, you get lured into a drunken dryad's grove, and she won't let you go unless you can outdrink her. Fighting's not a feasible option, because she and her treants would trounce you.4. The kobolds realize you're following, and lay an ambush in a field full of wild turkeys. If you spot the ambush, you can avoid it, or negotiate, or stampede the turkeys over the kobolds.5. The kobolds pass through goblin hills. The goblins aren't looking for a fight, so you can negotiate with them to get directions to the kobolds' base. 6. If you're really persuasive, you can get a goblin guide who'll show you the way, and warn you about the traps and hazards of the mountains. Otherwise, you run afoul of kobold traps and attract the attention of some nasty monsters. If the fight occurs, it's a trio of big lumbering nasty monsters, which you can possibly outrun by navigating hazardous terrain.7. The final showdown. The kobolds are trying to steal the recipe of the magic beer. They have a brewery of their own, where dozens of kobolds work (many of them noncombatants), using oversized machinery. The leader of the kobolds is leading them in drinking songs, and if you can chase him down and knock him out, the rest of his guys scatter. But he's got bodyguards, and all manner of fancy tricks.So 250 xp elite leader, ten 25 xp minions, four 100 xp kobolds, and 100 xp worth of minor traps.</blockquote>

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