Forked: Skill Challenges

[KidSnide]

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

The benefits of using a (well designed) skill challenge to resolve a non-combat situation are the same as using a combat mechanic to resolve a combat-appropriate situation. That is to say:

1) It provides a mechanical system that allows the player (and DM) to track how close or far away they are from success or failure. This provides a feeling of progress and, while close to failure, a sense of excitement.

This is why I subscribe to PCat's theory of making the skill challenge explicit and letting the PCs track successes and failures. (Tangentially related, this is also why a visible "bloodied" condition is such a good idea...)

2) It provides mechanics that allow different characters to interact with the challenge in different ways. Giving players their areas of expertise (relative to the other PCs) differentiates the characters and gives them different ways and opportunities to shine.

3) It provides an opportunity for interesting decisions and tactical reasoning. At the very least, there is the opportunity for creativity in how to apply your better skills in (non-obvious) ways that are appropriate to the situation. In some skill challenges, a good skill application might lead to big bonuses or an auto-success. (E.g. if the challenge is to search for something, telling the GM you search in X might be much better than just saying, "I use perception to search.") You can also decide when to use certain utility powers, or when to aid others at a penalty to yourself.

(The challenges in the DMG1 aren't very good at this last one, but that's because they are to skill challenges what a single 3e orc is to tactical combat.)

Edit:
4) It provides an excuse and a mechanism to get everyone at the table engaged in solving the problem.

-KS

 

[timbannock]

Perhaps not entirely new to the conversation, but certainly applicable:

The Dungeon-Crawl: Angels & Demons, Part III

I did up this skill challenge after re-reading the DMG1 and then pouring over every one of Mike Mearls' "Ruling Skill Challenges" article. I think a lot of what's in there ultimately made it to DMG2, and hopefully some of what I did also is at least a little unique, too ;-P

I, too feel that SCs provide -- above and beyond anything else, maybe -- a way for the DM to creatively apply a structured set of rules (rolls, opposition, and reward) to a non-combat situation. Best of all, you can use it just like the rules in Reign to either zoom in on a minor thing (SC to get around a trap) or something big (SC to rule a kingdom). And as long as you spend some time on the design, you can have all sorts of resource mechanics built in without coming up with a system wholecloth, or you can more or less create your own mini-game within D&D that feels very different, but doesn't completely throw out portability to the rules-as-written. Modifiers to combat rolls might be the exact same modifiers to a Skill Challenge roll; no need to adjudicate something completely new.

Rambly, but hopefully you get what I'm saying ;-)

 

[Mallus]

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

To be fair, so have we. For my group the Skill Challenge mechanics offer some loose formalization to our usual DM'ing-by-the-seat-of-our-pants.

What I like best about Skill Challenges is they give me-as-DM something to fall back on when I have no idea how to adjudicate a situation. Which is to say I never plan for Skill Challenges. I use them when the players surprise me, when they attempt to solve a problem for which I haven't sketched out a solution -- and thanks to the Skill Challenge rules, however imperfect they are, I find myself less concerned with trying to anticipate how players will approach in-game problems.

I like the potential that Skill Challenges have for moving the game in wholly unexpected directions. The fact they lock me-as-DM into honoring the results of the rolls, it prevents me from exercising undo authorial influence on events. If I agree to a Skill Challenge to decide if the princess falls in love w/the party's barbarian, then I must abide by the rolls.