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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ThirdWizard" data-source="post: 4519320" data-attributes="member: 12037">Here are a few skill challenges I ran and how they worked out.Melting Ice CaveThis was the first skill challenge in my 4e game I ran. (There was one before this that I wrote that they didn't bite.) This consisted of the PCs trying to escape from a melting ice cave before the melting ice flooded them in. I made this one an obvious challenge, success with them escaping, failure with them being washed away in the cold water (to be rescued by gnomes - which they would never live down).It worked fairly well, every PC made their own checks to escape, with those succeeding on Difficult checks allowed to Aid Another as long as they stayed back with whomever they were aiding. I used successes as moving toward the exit and failure as not moving. It involved things like Acrobatics, Athletics, and Endurance. There was a very clear goal and a very clear way to do it.It was a lot of fun, but very confusing. We weren't really sure at this point what we were doing, so we made stuff up if it sounded good. I think that's an important part of Skill Challenges. They're a great start, but don't feel constrained. if someone thinks of something outside the box, run with it!However, there was a problem coming at it from this angle. It turned into a bunch of skill rolls. "I'm going to roll Endurance with a hard DC and Aid Tordek... made it! Okay, I'm going to do it again..." and so forth. Because there was no evolution to the "minigame" of the skill challenge as it progressed, it became very rote.Defend the FortMy latest skill challenge in my last session involved the PCs defending a fort from a goblin assault. Each PC was in charge of a platoon assigned to various locations. One PC on the wall, another at the gates, another in the courtyard who also commanded some reserves (aid another). They could use any skill as long as they could justify it. History to tell a rousing tale of a similar circumstance, Intimidate to drill the soldiers before the attack, Diplomacy to fire up the soldiers' morale. I even used Attack rolls in the challenge to determine how well they fought if enemies made it to their position, with dynamic events based on other PC successes. So, when one PC failed their check at the walls, some goblins made it through to the courtyard. When the courtyard defenders stumbled, the PC in the keep had to keep them out.For this one, I didn't use a strict success/failure value, I had a sliding scale where they had to have X successes to win the day, but also the better they did, the more survivors. I also had one PC running supply lines before the battle that would determine the difficulty of the defense based on how well fed the soldiers were. All in all, very complex, but very worth it. I never used the words Skill Challenge. I presented the situation and asked how the PCs would deal with the problems they were facing, noting that it might be a good idea to look at their PCs' skills to guide how their PCs might react.I think it worked out great, and they liked it. They got to defend a fort from assaulting goblins where their checks, but also their choices, actually affected the outcome! For example, the commander of the coutyard deployed forces to the walls in order to help keep enemies away from himself, and the supply runner made it back in time to help others at their posts during the actual invasion, choosing where to go and what to do, changing the course of the battle. It was very transparent, very engaging. And, the real beauty, it didn't take that long to write up. I made a table showing how many successes would save how many troops, supplied some DCs, added some morale bonuses for having been supplied, and narrated on the fly. Oh, the PC on the walls failed the check? Now the guy in the courtyard has to make a check himself.I guess half of running a good skill challenge is preparation, and half is spontaneous theatrics. As a DM you really need to be able to run with things, give them a flair. Make them meaningful, and make each action the PC takes important. A single check shouldn't be one action, it should be a series of actions.I also think in the future that I'm going to have a sliding scale of success on most of my challenges. There should be a distinction between great success, moderate success, moderate failure, and great failure. Maybe even more layers. I'm also not a fan of X successes before Y failures. I'm more a fan of X rolls, compare successes to failures when you're done for most challenges I've run (though both ways have their uses).Don't be afraid to play fast and loose with the rules. Think of how each roll affects the subsequent decisions the PCs should make, and try to keep the challenge flowing, changing, and engaging. Also, try to keep things in character - don't focus so much on successes and failures of skill check, focus on the PCs trying to accomplish their goals and how close or far they are from achieving them.I hope this has been somewhat helpful.</blockquote>

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