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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AngryMojo" data-source="post: 5346711" data-attributes="member: 83096">No problem!Normally, skill challenges have about eight skills that are relevant to the challenge, four that grant success towards the challenge while four provide other bonuses.  Because there are 17 skills total, this leaves a lot of skills out of the game.  One of the most important things I learned about DMing is that you can never fully predict what the PC's are going to do, you can only try to anticipate.  I've been at this long enough that I don't really get surprised much anymore, but I still have difficulty prognosticating the actions of five people with different thought patterns than myself.  So, if one of your players in a skill challenge comes up with a clever way to use one of the 9 skills not directly written into the skill challenge, or a way to use one of the eight skills that are in the challenge but not listed as being used in that way, err on the side of PC awesomeness.If the idea relates to the skill challenge in a roundabout way, tell them they don't get a success for beating the DC, but they do get a bonus to the next Skill X check they make during the challenge.  If it's directly applicable to the challenge, put on your DM hat and give them a success.  Sometimes they'll even come up with a great way to use a power that doesn't involve a skill check at all.  Use your discretion, but if it makes sense that it would help them in the challenge, go for it.As an example, imagine a skill challenge where the PC's are running away from the town guards in a bustling city marketplace.  The baseline skills are Athletics (Running away and climbing buildings to get away), Endurance (Sprinting to put some distance between you and the guards), Bluff (Blending in with the crowd to elude the guards), and Stealth (Jumping into a back alleyway and hiding behind crates).Fighter bolts away, using Endurance.Bard uses Bluff and poses as a street performer.Rogue hides in an alley with Stealth.Wizard consults his vast knowledge to see if there are catacombs beneath the city with History.Three of these skills are directly related to the challenge as written, but your wizard player came up with a cool cooperative storytelling idea that breaks the mold.  I don't believe in punishing creativity or clever ideas, so I give it to the wizard player.  There are catacombs under the city that bandits and thieves hide in.  Now, because the players have a hiding place that wasn't anticipated, anyone who knows about the catacombs will receive a +2 to their rolls if they enter them.Next round in the challenge, the wizard uses an Arcana roll to spread the word amongst the PC's about the catacombs.  Depending on your interpretation of class abilities and skills, the wizard can or can't do this.  If you rule he can, I'd give them a success for the idea.Here you have two checks that weren't listed in the challenge, but there's no reason why they wouldn't help.  That's what's meant by fast and loose.</blockquote>

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