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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pbartender" data-source="post: 4756440" data-attributes="member: 7533">What I was saying is that using the formal rules described for skill challenges is dull and lifeless, just like if you used nothing but the formal rules for combat.Consider that combat, at its most basic, can be reduced to "I move 5 squares. I attack.  *ROLLING DICE* I hit. *ROLLING DICE* I deal 10 damage."  I think every one would agree that that's boring, and is equivalent to everything you are complaining about on skill challenges.  Just as you claimed for skill challenges, in combat you are determining success or failure through the use of an ad hoc, abstract numbers game.If you use skill challenges in the same way, without even the most basic roleplaying embellishment, then yes, its going to be like watching painted grass grow dry.But you don't have to let it work that way...Here's what I do...  I describe the stituation that's prompting the skill challenge, and hint at a few obvious directions in which the PCs can start.  I let the PCs tell me what they want to do.  I check the skill challenge to see if there's anything that matches what they're planning, if there isn't, I make something up quick.  They roleplay the actions, we roll dice to determine the outcome of those actions, then we roleplay the consequences.Lather, rinse, repeat.We start with story and roleplay to determine the pertinant action, continue with numbers and dice-rolls to determine the results of that action, and then proceed with more roleplay to examine the consequences of the action.As someone said above, its not all that different from how non-combat interactions were all done before.  Except...The Skill Challenge system now gives guidelines for skill DCs and target number of successes and failures, so that I can calculate an appropriate amount of experience for the non-combat encounter.</blockquote>

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