Skill challenge comments
I'd just like to chirp in on that I like the skill challenges.
First, it gets to the heart of what makes D&D so much different from any game before and most games after it: Team Play.
Before, there was a tendacy to give pass or fail checks. Usually one character was a star (ranger/rogue) and the others (2 skill point classes) were backups at best, liabilities at worst. One player did alot of constributing, and quite often I recall my barbarian sitting on the sideline while the party rogue tried something, and all I did was freshen up my drink.
This led to balance issues as skill type characters were quite useful, and the 2 point classes never got anywhere. It was not uncommon for a party to have one PC with +10 or +15 to a skill while other PCs were working with straight stat modifiers. How do you challenge one player without dooming another?
Now a system comes along for a cooperative effort. I approve.
Second, this actually breeds creativity. You have to justify your use of your skills. It can be as detailed as you like, or simple.. depending on your group or DM. But in the end, you need to figure out what to use and how you can use it.
I see this as giving us some room for creative and odd solutions. I think almost all of us will agree, that the times we came up with wild and crazy plans to do something are the most fun. (Ah, luring a blind ooze out of hiding with a backpack on a rope). Sure we may love that critical hit at just the right time.. but I think it's the oddball solutions that make the game memorable.
This system opens up a way for these crazy plans to have a little bit of mechanics to them... and to function as a group. And group stuff is important. And fun.
Third, I see signs that Wizards is pushing towards a more unified DM style. The reason I suspect, is that they will attempt (hopefully sucessfully) to create a unified online campaign, where a DM can post "I need 5 level 3 adventurers to rescue a fair maiden (Fri Noon-4pm EDT)" and anyone can just pick up their 3rd level character and hop in.
This would be great fun, as alot of us like to keep our characters instead of rolling a new one for each campaign.
Now I've played MUXes with D&D character before. Multiple volenteer DM ran different quest. Many were quite fun, but bookkeeping and character balance were nightmares (The guy with good stat rolls outshining unlucky people). There was so much oversight needed to keep character power in check.. and DM style was hugely swingy.
Example: DM A decides to make a mostly combat encounter.. non optimized players are marginalized. Yet DM B decides to add some heavy skill encounters.. and players who didn't invest in the right skills were left in the dust. Also some Dms thought DC 15 was fine.. other DMs liked DC 20 or 25 skill checks.. It was a crapshoot. ( I remember an encounter where none of the randomly assembled party had a point of swim skill)
Now this looks like an easy system for a whole group to contribute, combined with (I am assuming) guidelines for level appropriate DCs. An easy way to standardize skill use.. and also to make it up on the fly. Even new DMs can add skill based stuff without skill encounters being 'The Rogue Show'
Lastly, pure roleplay will always be there. You can use roleplay to add flavor to skill checks, or if your group likes, invoke Rule Zero and base success on roleplay without rolls, your choice. But I see this systme as breeding clever roleplay, not destroying or deemphasizing it.
