Forked: Skill Challenges

[delericho]

What, IYHOs, are the benefits of the SC mechanic over freeform resolution?

Structure and consistency. If I'm running a negotiation with the Baron, the interrogation of a captured kobold, a chase through Mos Eisley, or an attempt to hack an Imperial network (all of which I have used, in two different campaigns), I only need to learn one single set of mechanics. Furthermore, the players know that they have to achieve X successes before Y failures (because I tell them) in each case.

With freeform resolution, they would be done when I say they're done, and no sooner. They wouldn't have any clear idea of how close they are to overall success. Furthermore, since they don't know how many failures they have to avoid, they don't get the tension of realising that one more blown roll will cause overall failure.

I also believe Skill Challenges (at least as presented in the 4e DMG) are considerably better for novice DMs, who might not be able to balance freeform resolution by eye.

 

[billd91]

Once we get past the false meme that SCs somehow remove arbitrariness or DM Fiat, we can examine them more accurately.

The skill challenge doesn't remove arbitrariness nor did I say so. The situation where the challenge is being performed does as in my example. Unless you consider all DM world-design to lead to arbitrary decisions during play.

Moreover, in a game where any limitations on abilities like CaGI based upon "common sense" or "realism" are taken as a "failure of imagination" on the part of the DM, isn't it inconsistent (and perhaps damaging to "balance") to treat skills differently? What happened to balance being defined as everyone having an equal contribution in all situations?

What does Come and Get It have to do with skill challenges? There's a reason I don't like 4e very much and that sort of shenanigan is one of them. But that doesn't mean I don't see value in skill challenges. It also doesn't mean I'm going to force a square peg into a round hole just so every PC can have an equal contribution in all situations. Some skills simply aren't applicable to certain skill challenges because they can't be applied in either a constructive or destructive way.

But if I didn't think of an application of a skill and a player makes a convincing case, I'm going to accept that my imagination failed in that instance and allow it rather than refuse just like I would in a more free form way.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Freeform play does not mesh well with a system designed around "the encounter". Without a structured dice fest, players will be unaware that what they are doing counts as an encounter. Knowing when encounters begin and when they are resolved are a big part of metagame planning. Knowing when the next milestone is reached so that action point rationing can be handled properly, if a power can be activated (because it is/isn't an encounter) and other fiddly concerns are part of the reason for the structure.

 

[MrMyth]

What, IYHOs, are the benefits of the SC mechanic over freeform resolution?

1) They provide useful guidelines on how to determine success or failure of a non-combat situation.
2) They encourage DMs to design such challenges that allow the whole party to interact in a scene, and contribute to dramatic resolution.

Those are really the two big ones, for me. And... yes, I find it to be more an art than a science, in a lot of ways. But because of that, I also find it to have a great deal of potential, and when it works, it works.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Thank you for some very interesting answers.

 

[Stoat]

The Skill Challenge mechanic allows me, the DM, to be surprised by the dice.

 

[Mallus]

Freeform play does not mesh well with a system designed around "the encounter".

My group doesn't have a problem mixing freeform play with 4e's framework. This sounds more like a problem on paper than a real-world one. Any functional gaming group can easily negotiate their way through this with a minimum of fuss.

 

[ExploderWizard]

My group doesn't have a problem mixing freeform play with 4e's framework. This sounds more like a problem on paper than a real-world one. Any functional gaming group can easily negotiate their way through this with a minimum of fuss.

We don't either because I have abandoned a lot of the structure.

 

[Piratecat]

Markn, interesting analysis - and thanks.

Simple question:

What, IYHOs, are the benefits of the SC mechanic over freeform resolution?

I was amazed at the tension I got out of using a formal skill challenge. Everyone knew the consequences of failure and the chance of success, and they were hanging on that final die roll like it could have taken down Orcus. I credit that to the SC mechanic; I never get that sort of response when the logistics are kept hidden from players.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

What, IYHOs, are the benefits of the SC mechanic over freeform resolution?

It allows me to prepare for common plans of action the characters might take. It also allows me to spend more time thinking about the difficulty of a task instead of making a decision on the fly. And when the players think of a plan that I had not, I have examples of the difficulties of other plans to bump their's up against to make fair on the fly rulings.

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As I explore and share thoughts on how to better utilize the mechanic I'm intrigued by the add-ons and variations, like Piratecat's, that prove to me that the potential I see in this mechanic is there. I would love to get the sense of tension and drama PC achieved out of a structured skill challenge.