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Doh! Killed my party with a skill challenge
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<blockquote data-quote="TallIan" data-source="post: 7507758" data-attributes="member: 6853819"><p>Pretty much this. I've watched many of Matt Colleville's videos and I did like the skill challenge one.</p><p></p><p> [MENTION=42040]Retreater[/MENTION] has essentially set the party up for failure here and since failure was a TPK that's pretty harsh. </p><p></p><p>I don't say this to be a dick, but you need to consider the chance of success and allow for other options. Did they HAVE to go that way though the dungeon? If they had another option was it clear that there was another option and that one choice was deadly (and maybe quicker) and the other choice was safer (but maybe slower). As long as the player have a choice that has good odds of success all is fine, when they have no choice but to gamble on good dice rolls you're not creating a good playing environment.</p><p></p><p>If you are using a skill challenge, it's more important that it seems exciting because of how you describe the action, rather than the players feeling stressed because of mounting failed rolls. You can also pressure the players by demanding quick responses, and keep the narrative going from your end if they dither, or forcing checks that they might not like because they took too long. </p><p></p><p>You can also avoid a lot of the problems by having a flexible bar for success. Don't explain the mechanics of how to succeed (ie don't tell them ALL checks are DC 15 and you need 10 to pass) Maybe they come up with a really cool way to make a check - lower DC. Part way through you might realise you've set the criteria for success too high. eg if you're sitting 2 failures and 3 successes, you could have decided then that maybe 5 successes was good enough. This applies for everything really, always leave wiggle room in the mechanics to get a good story - the player won't know you cheated.</p><p></p><p>Consider this. The player you has to act is a STR based fighter with low DEX</p><p>DM: "Stone blocks big enough to crush a horse are falling from the ceiling. What do you do?"</p><p>PC: "err...."</p><p>DM: "Crash! Another block lands just feet from you."</p><p>PC: "I...ah..."</p><p>DM: "With a hideous grinding noise a block directly above you falls. Can you get out the way in time? Make a DEX save."</p><p></p><p>That way the players get the idea that if they act quickly they can use their strengths to overcome the problem, if they dither they lose the initiative and will have to react with sub-optimal actions.</p><p></p><p>IIRC Matt also allowed another PC to take an action to negate a failure at a cost; damage, spell slot etc. In the above example another PC could try and push the fighter out the way, but will take damage (Now that I think about it that might be the example in the video - its been a while).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TallIan, post: 7507758, member: 6853819"] Pretty much this. I've watched many of Matt Colleville's videos and I did like the skill challenge one. [MENTION=42040]Retreater[/MENTION] has essentially set the party up for failure here and since failure was a TPK that's pretty harsh. I don't say this to be a dick, but you need to consider the chance of success and allow for other options. Did they HAVE to go that way though the dungeon? If they had another option was it clear that there was another option and that one choice was deadly (and maybe quicker) and the other choice was safer (but maybe slower). As long as the player have a choice that has good odds of success all is fine, when they have no choice but to gamble on good dice rolls you're not creating a good playing environment. If you are using a skill challenge, it's more important that it seems exciting because of how you describe the action, rather than the players feeling stressed because of mounting failed rolls. You can also pressure the players by demanding quick responses, and keep the narrative going from your end if they dither, or forcing checks that they might not like because they took too long. You can also avoid a lot of the problems by having a flexible bar for success. Don't explain the mechanics of how to succeed (ie don't tell them ALL checks are DC 15 and you need 10 to pass) Maybe they come up with a really cool way to make a check - lower DC. Part way through you might realise you've set the criteria for success too high. eg if you're sitting 2 failures and 3 successes, you could have decided then that maybe 5 successes was good enough. This applies for everything really, always leave wiggle room in the mechanics to get a good story - the player won't know you cheated. Consider this. The player you has to act is a STR based fighter with low DEX DM: "Stone blocks big enough to crush a horse are falling from the ceiling. What do you do?" PC: "err...." DM: "Crash! Another block lands just feet from you." PC: "I...ah..." DM: "With a hideous grinding noise a block directly above you falls. Can you get out the way in time? Make a DEX save." That way the players get the idea that if they act quickly they can use their strengths to overcome the problem, if they dither they lose the initiative and will have to react with sub-optimal actions. IIRC Matt also allowed another PC to take an action to negate a failure at a cost; damage, spell slot etc. In the above example another PC could try and push the fighter out the way, but will take damage (Now that I think about it that might be the example in the video - its been a while). [/QUOTE]
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