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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 5279740" data-attributes="member: 386">A while ago I was going to look at the official Skill Challenge advice from the various sources (Dungeon & Dragon, the DMGs).  I wrote down the important ideas - through my own filter, of course - but never got any further.Here is what I have.  Might prove useful to someone.*You can't plan the outcome, so don't worry about it.Run a skill challenge when the fiction calls for it.Run a skill challenge only when more than one or two skills can apply.Add sub-systems and incremental challenges into your skill challenge.If the scope/scale of the skill challenge is large, it is easier to include many different options.A skill challenge must involve interactive decision making.Building a skill challenge:Prepare to improvise if the skill challenge goes off the rails.Failure in the skill challenge must not derail the adventure.Aim for a number of key skills equal to the number of PCs + 2.Half the key skills should be in the following group: Arcana, Athletics, Diplomacy, Dungeoneering, Endurance, Heal, History, Insight, Intimidate, Religion, StreetwisePrimary skills push the characters closer to success, while secondary ones provide useful benefits without granting the party additional successes.Come up with a list of other options - other actions that have a mechanical impact on the skill challenge.Allow player choice based on the situation to alter the DCs.Have repercussions of those choices affect the DCs and the situation.Add random events to spice things up.Script the options the players have to reflect the situation.Script success and failure.Automatic success: when you'd feel guilty or lame if the idea fails.Automatic failure: if a child can see through it or it's slapstick comedy.If the description of the PC's action would not require a check, don't ask for one.Skill challenges don't always need to follow the x successes before 3 failures.If there is no endpoint to the challenge don't use the 3 failures option.Each failure should change the situation and the DCs to reflect that change.Skill challenges are over when the situation has been resolved.Individual skill checks cannot resolve the situation themselves.Break one situation down into several small challenges to deal with partial success.Modify the aid another option to stop players from "abusing" it.If an ability check is called for, shift the DC down one category.Don't use passive perception and insight to accrue successes and failures in a skill challenge.The DM should add colour and details to the skill challenge to bring it to life.Determine what skill is used based on the description of the action.Reveal the number of successess the players have accrued by changing the situation to reflect their progress.Don't tell the players they are in a skill challenge.If the skill challenge is not working:Start a combat encounterChange the situation to allow different primary skillsEnd the challenge or save it for laterEach skill check in a challenge should do one of the following:* Introduce a new option that the PCs can pursue, a path to success they didn't know existed.* Change the situation, such as by sending the PCs to a new location, introducing a new NPC, or adding a complication.* Grant the players a tangible repercussion for the check's success or failure (as appropriate), one that influences their subsequent decisions.The characters should always be the active party in a skill challenge:* Script options for the players so that they are the active party.If one player has no interest in the skill challenge, use a lower complexity.Script different sets of options for different types of players.Exchange a monster for a skill challenge.Create two concurrent skill challenges for different types of players.</blockquote>

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