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Message: <blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 5074468" data-attributes="member: 22424">Yeah, it doesn't seem to be a terribly well-written Skill Challenge to me. It's especially bad in that costing the characters a healing surge is largely meaningless as they'll probably be taking an Extended Rest at the end of each day's travel, and so get back any expended surges anyway.I recommend upping the complexity - say to 12 successes before 6 failures, with each day consisting of up to 3 rolls (the PCs can stop after 2 if they wish, or they can 'press on' to try to get a 3rd success for the day - obviously, this may be necessary on some days).Each day, have a group check for Endurance, as stated. Each day, if the majority of the group succeed then you count a success for the challenge; if the majority fail then you count a failure for the challenge (as stated). However, on days 2, 4 and 6, any character who fails their check goes into the encounter for the day having expended their second wind for the encounter.(On day 6, I'd probably be tempted to either replace the Endurance check with a Climb check (or whatever the 4e equivalent is), or even add a Climb check to the requirements for the Challenge for the day - with the same consequences for failure and success. This would reflect the changed conditions in the mountains vs the road.)Each day, a single character can make a History, Perception or Nature check (for knowing the history of the region, spotting short-cuts, or foraging for food as described). However, success or failure on these rolls just counts as a success or failure for the Challenge - don't bother with the additional effects mentioned. (Also, if the players come up with a good explanation, allow other skills to apply, of course.)On days 2 and 4, instead of the "no failures thus far" mechanic that the adventure suggests, can I present an alternative: if the PCs get three successes for that day, they "steal a march" on their opponents in the appropriate encounter, and so automatically gain surprise.On day 6, I would allow for the same. However, by day 6 you also know whether the PCs have succeeded on the overall Challenge or not. If they succeed, then all is well. However, if the PCs have failed, then I would recommend increasing the XP budget for the "Emerald Claw Ambush" encounter by 250, to reflect the XP they're not getting for the Challenge - this makes the encounter noticably harder, but also ensures that the PCs go on into the latter parts of the adventure with the "right" amount of XP gained.Hope this helps!</blockquote>

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