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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ObsidianCrane" data-source="post: 4203884" data-attributes="member: 54918">Lets take a movie example;Princess Leia is captured and Darth Vader wants to know where the Rebel Base is - Leia can be persuaded to reveal this information through Bluff, Diplomacy or Insight. Intimidate automatically fails. Vader, bad guy he is, goes for Intimidate, but no mater how much he uses the skill it still fails. In the end Vader and co have to resort to other solutions to their problem. ie they fail at the Skill Challenge creating a complication which must be overcome - the DM then brings in people who are going to try and rescue the Princess....viola another solution is possible.Lets take a more DnD example. A Duke is a landholder of significant power, Dukes are typically subservient to only the King and usually have several Barons and landed Knights in their service, along with many unlanded Knights. These guys have armies at their disposal. So you go to the Duke's court, because you have found some clues that the neighboring Duke is in league with Asmodeus, and you need help to do somethign about it (maybe travel papers or similar diplomatic documents). Now this is a delicate situation, the Duke doesn't have to help you, and if the neighboring Duke has the King's ear helping you could be a problem for him. The best way to get him to help is through Bluff, Insight and Diplomacy. If you Intimidate him into helping he capitulates but betrays you to cover his own butt - after all the other Duke is more influential and getting into his good graces is a good plan.Remember Failure doesn't mean you stop, it means that things don't work out the way you want. The only absolute is that getting X Failures in the Skill Challenge means it doesn't work out the way the PCs wanted so no rewards, ie complications will ensue (and need to be overcome).Also you need to remember that there are still Skill Checks - you want to use History to learn something about the Duke before rolling thats fine. That might reveal he responds poorly to intimidation, and he is proud of his family history. The first is a clue not to use Intimidate, the second informs an approach to Diplomacy - an approach that if done well enough might create and auto-success, and open up the History use in the Challenge. Imagine using History as sidetracking him with his favorite topic before hitting him up for help.</blockquote>

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