Creating an Skill Challenge

[Oompa]

I am trying to create an skill challenge for my players, it is an easy one so 6 vs 3 but i need some help chosing what skills they can use best..

When they are near an small town they find an building on fire, when they get near they hear screams.. enter initiative..

There is an woman with her child on the staircase, in the hallway before them is fire and upstairs, they are trapped..
There is an weakspot in the wall next to the stairs where an player can crash threw and create an escape, front door is locked.

Nature check:
- How long till the house is an inferno and there is no recue left

Athletics:
- Smash down the door
- Crash threw the wall

Endurance:
- Run through the hallway, smoke, fire and the likes..

Anyone else have suggestions, or some pointers?

 

[Fanatic]

Perception Check to notice the weak spot in the wall
Strength / Endurance Check to hold up a support beam that would crash the ceiling down if the fire burnt it through
Heal check to lift up the beam that fell on the woman properly / splint the woman's leg so she can escape with the PC's
Knowledge Check: know about the structural integrity of the house, time etc.
Street Wise: Know the layout of the house, faster to get through

 

[Oompa]

Wow thanks, great help im still getting used to the concept of the challenge, i hope my players will like it..

 

[Oompa]

So this is what i have:

The Burning House
Complexity 1, 4 successes vs 2 failures, 100 xp worth

As the pc's walk up the hill late at night they get an passive perception check dc 15 to see smoke rising behind the hilltop, if someone see's it and they react fast they get 10 rounds, if no-one see's it, or someone see's it and doesnt mention it they get 8 rounds from the point initiative starts..

Initiative starts 40 feet from the house, flames arise from an few windows and the pc's hear an terrifying scream.

When the pc's crash threw the door, they see an woman with an child sitting in an corner on the staircase, the woman is bleeding heavyly from her side, flames are an few feet infront of the staircase and above the staircase, with an check the pc's could notice an weakspot in the wall wich they could break through and escape with the woman and child..

Key Skills:
- Knowledge nature (determine how many time is left before the building will collapse)
- Athletics (Bash in the door, bash threw the wall inside to escape)
- Endurance (running from entrance towards the stairs where the woman and child sit, hold up an beam that is about to collapse)
- Heal (Help the injured woman stabilize so she can move)

DC are all 20, except bashing threw the wall and door, thats 15 because they are weakened.

This challenge is the first my players will have and is to learn them the skill challenge, i think i created an fairly easy challenge for them and i hope they will understand how future challenges work.

I am not the best in creating stuff ( i like already written adventures alot ) so any feedback on this would be great.

 

[Blackbrrd]

You should think about what happens if the characters don't succeed?

DC 20 is quite difficult, so you will have a typical failure rate of 60-70%

 

[Oompa]

You are right.. i forgot not everyone has that +5 and i know my characters wont optimize, so ill lower it to 15..

I was thinking about succes: guards come and they'll be accepted as heroes into the town they are nearby

Failure.. i was thinking about damage wise.. this is an example.. so killing of the woman and child would be an bit to hard..

 

[VannATLC]

They should be thanked for trying regardless; Success means maybe something from the Husband/Father who works on the night-gate guard?

Failure means dealing with the fact they let and woman and child die.. and perhaps earnt the emnity from that same Father/Husband, who is sure they would have survived if he'd been there.

Ultimately, though, what will you do when somebody uses are ray-of-frost, or bolsters saves, to simply walk through the flames, cop the damage, and loh the women/child on their way out?

 

[Oompa]

I know they arent strict in using skills only, and if they find any other means of letting the woman and child get out save, then they do good.. I also know they could stand there and kept watching the building burn down..

The eladrin could feystep inside after the door was smashed, then he doesnt need to make an check, and if they succeed without making all the checks, and they had fun.. whats the problem?

 

[Magicstar]

You can easily award creative players an automatic victory when they come up with good use of powers.

Although using a ray of frost to quench a fire is not the idea of the power. I believe somewhere in the PHB it's mentioned that most powers won't have real lasting effect.