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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Loincloth of Armour" data-source="post: 5062484" data-attributes="member: 28201">Generally, when a player says, "I use X skill."  The DM is allowed to ask, "How?"The idea is not to punish uncreative players, but to promote role-playing.  Don't be too hard on players who are not silver-tongued devils, or those who don't know the difference between an elm and a spruce tree.  If you bring too much real world, "that'll never work," the players will never try anything risky again.Requiring a player to say, "I look for an animal path," or "I talk to the guard about his children," should not be onerous to most players.  And it just might open further fun.  It's the dice that decide how well they do the thing they want to do.  Here's where the DM's judgment is allowed to come into play.  Can you narrate some way in which the failure is not a complete end to the attempt?  The attempt is actually successful, but the guard doesn't have a key?  The player actually never could get close enough to the guard?  The player pick-pocketed the wrong ring of keys?Try to avoid stating any individual failures as things that close down the attempt completely... at least until the end.  The early failures should be, "Your characters' actions are making things harder."Again, this is where DM judgment is key and no written rule can help.  Can you honestly see a way in which the skill challenge can continue?  If so, give them their success, and maybe reward them with another bonus success.  But if their idea appears to be effective and successful and ends the challange, accept it.  Maybe not give them full XP since they didn't risk as much... or give them full XP since the challenge is overcome. Be fair, consider their idea from several angles, and then make what you believe to be the best call.  A fair, open-minded DM willing to give players some easy victories and making them work for others is probably more important than coming up with a hard rule.</blockquote>

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