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<blockquote data-quote="Thasmodious" data-source="post: 4674830" data-attributes="member: 63272">For me, it depends on the challenge.&nbsp; Physical challenges I often give out quite a bit of detail - &quot;okay, getting up this mountain without being spotted is going to be a skill challenge with two phases, phase 1 is about the climbing, phase 2 is about remaining unseen from the patrols or the guards in the tower above, primary skills for the first part will be athletics, nature, and perception&quot;.On the other hand, I'm running a skill challenge in the background that the players don't know about.&nbsp; The group has founded a mercenary company, with a charter from the local ruler, and rented a building in the town to set up shop.&nbsp; I want to determine what kind of impression they manage to make on the locals without directing them through a challenge and making it an obvious goal.&nbsp; Success or failure will have a number of benefits or penalties when dealing with the townsfolk and, hopefully, will provide some nice RP elements to relate back to them through interactions.Most challenges are somewhere in between.&nbsp; I generally like to let the PCs set or realize the goal of the encounter - &quot;we need to convinced the duke!&quot; rather than &quot;you need to convince the duke&quot;, then announce a skill challenge is underway and play it out as it feels appropriate.&nbsp; I think skill challenges shine when approached with feel rather than as a rigid structure.&nbsp; They definitely fall flat when approached as felon describes, but that's a failure of the DM, not the system.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Thasmodious, post: 4674830, member: 63272"] For me, it depends on the challenge. Physical challenges I often give out quite a bit of detail - "okay, getting up this mountain without being spotted is going to be a skill challenge with two phases, phase 1 is about the climbing, phase 2 is about remaining unseen from the patrols or the guards in the tower above, primary skills for the first part will be athletics, nature, and perception". On the other hand, I'm running a skill challenge in the background that the players don't know about. The group has founded a mercenary company, with a charter from the local ruler, and rented a building in the town to set up shop. I want to determine what kind of impression they manage to make on the locals without directing them through a challenge and making it an obvious goal. Success or failure will have a number of benefits or penalties when dealing with the townsfolk and, hopefully, will provide some nice RP elements to relate back to them through interactions. Most challenges are somewhere in between. I generally like to let the PCs set or realize the goal of the encounter - "we need to convinced the duke!" rather than "you need to convince the duke", then announce a skill challenge is underway and play it out as it feels appropriate. I think skill challenges shine when approached with feel rather than as a rigid structure. They definitely fall flat when approached as felon describes, but that's a failure of the DM, not the system. [/QUOTE]

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