Designing a Skill Challenge: Needle in a Haystack

[Three_Haligonians]

Looking to Brainstorm here,

How would you create a skill challenge that had a goal of "finding a needle in a haystack"? As in, finding an object that is, not hidden, but difficult to find.

Examples include: one book in a grand library, one gem in a large hoard, one item in an entire junkyard/garbage dump, or even one person in a huge crowd.

So what would you do? The idea here is to make something that is a little more interesting and a lot more fun than just every character take 20 on Perception for every 5ft square in the designated area until they find what they need.

Also, I full recognize that not every check needs to be a skill challenge and just trying to find the "incriminating letter" amongst the papers on a desk probably doesn't apply here - so feel free to talk about what situations would constitute a "skill challenge" or similar ordeal, and what would just be a simple Perception check.


Thanks!

J from Three Haligonians

 

[Tale]

As methods of narrowing it down and not just giving the precise location:

Insight to try to intuit where it would most likely be.
Other knowledge checks might be applicable to the previous.
Arcana if there's anything magical about it, they might try "sensing" it.
Speech skills to ask for directions.

 

[Craw Hammerfist]

The book example given above has a few obvious ones.
Knowledge: Success yields "The author always bound his books in leather." Extraordinary success could give you that the leather was usually green.

Arcana: This type of book always has X symbol on the cover/spine.

Perception: This library seems to organized in such a way that the book should be in THIS section.

Diplomacy: You have successfully sweettalked the harried librarian to explain the shelving system

Acrobatics: You have managed to balance atop the book case and can examine books on the high shelves without using the step ladder over and over.

Religion: This book is infused with the will of Moradin and will force the librarian to subconsciously place the book on eye level for dwarves.

Etc.

 

[lin_fusan]

I would throw in:

History: For an antique item, or perhaps a significant item.

If there is a librarian or groundskeeper, then any of the social skills.

 

[teach]

I would say for example -

streetwise: heard a rumor that X likes to read adventure books (look in that section)

perception: find a key, note or something else that gives a hint where it might be

 

[amysrevenge]

As the others have said, the checks narrow down the search.

I've seen this done once in an abstract sort of way - with each successful check the PCs are a bit more certain of the location of the item in question, without exact details being given of exactly how the check narrowed the search. ie. "A Diplomacy check on the sullen librarian brings you one step closer to your book - you know the section that the book is in" without giving details on the size ofthe section or whatever...