Lets Build My Skill Challenge

[Manbearcat]

The Stakes:

A large climactic plot is coming to fruition in my next session. Three days from now (in the game), a political prisoner (former captain in the navy) is going to face off against a gauntlet of combat challenges that will surely kill him. This captain is a nautical prodigy. He knows every reef, current, weather pattern of the coast and has every star-chart committed to memory. The PCs need him for a perilous cross-sea journey to a remote island and they need to begin their journey immediately as the clock is ticking on that portion of the adventure. There is no other seaman and no other vessel who can accomplish this feat.

For the last few days, the Rogue of the group has ceaselessly practiced grooming an Alter Ego (as per the Martial Practice) in effort to perfectly match the visage, countenance, mannerisms, combat style of the former captain. While the former captain is a fine combatant, the Rogue is a master duelist/bravo (paragon tier warrior) and stands a fighting chance at surviving the gauntlet. If the captain (Rogue) survives the gauntlet, he wins his freedom (but will have to endure immediate assassination attempts...the Rogue will go on his own mini-adventure to destroy a guild's stranglehold on the city). The Rogue can successfully pose as the captain for the next few days, can survive the gladiatorial challenge and can (hopefully) fool the magistrate with the expert guise at his pardoning. Meanwhile, the other two PCs can fulfill the main portion of the adventure as the sea captain takes them across the perilous waters to their destination. However, if they fail, things will get hairy quickly. Things change to:

- Full assault against a nigh impregnable underground prison complex; replete with 200 well trained guards, vicious guard dogs, built-in contingencies/hazards that can be activated to close off areas in case of an uprising by the gladiators, and then a final rush assault of the (now) well guarded captain's ship and a marine chase to open waters. This would be multiple L + 3, 4, 5 encounters in a row. I would be quite surprised if they survived the effort.


The Plan:

The PCs are going to covertly break into the subterranean gladiatorial prison complex beneath the arena. Through subterfuge, sabotage, misdirection, etc they will attempt to:

- convince the captain (he doesn't know them) to buy into their plan
- plant the captain-identity-assuming Rogue
- escape the prison with the captain with little to no notice (likely using an uprising to mask their effort). If something goes wrong and a fight occurs, it must end quickly and no word can get out. The prison is a violent place, mini-uprisings are common and guards die now and then.
- get to his ship (his crew has been notified and will be waiting...assuming there is no trouble) and set sail after heavily greasing the harbormaster's hand.


The Players/Obstacles:

- The two main entrance/egress areas of the complex are well guarded. There is, however a garbage chute that opens to a nearly sheer cliff face that they likely will use as egress once it is revealed to them inside.
- The guards are corrupt, cruel and violent. They are prone to arbitrary torture (of the gladiators and their own dogs), play lots of dice games. However, they rarely drink on duty and are typically alert.
- The complex itself is a system of concentric circle vaults. It is a winding path of intentionally dizzying switchbacks (with murder holes), portcullises that close and lock (halls that serve as gas chambers). There is a smithing quarter (where the gladiators slavishly commit to the city's steel/iron-working needs), a mess hall, guard barracks, training yard for the gladiators, dog kennel, animal master's domain (basically a zoo for all of the captured wild creatures that engage in the gladiator battles) and the prison itself. All of these areas are heavily patrolled (typically 3 man units with 1 dog).
- The prison is an enormously open cavern that is approximately 100 ft high. There are 10 cages (each 10 * 10) that hang suspended at the top of the cavern by elaborate, reinforced chain pulley/winch systems. The gladiators are housed in these cages. Each winch is housed on a nearby wall with a violent guard dog (elite hazard) on a 15 ft chain standing vigilant.
- Every 6 resolutions (or perhaps on a failure), the Prison Warden will appear. He has training in Insight and Perception (contests are Hard DCs).


Success with Complications and Failure Forward:

This is where you guys come in. I have several of these devised at this point but I'm certain that folks will be able to think of interesting resolutions (success and failures) that I have not foreseen. For reference: It will be a 12:6 with primarily Hard DCs so there will be many failures. This is where you guys would be the most help. Come up with Successes with Complications if you like, but a huge variety of Fail Forwards are really what I need. Please take the above information, interface that with the Skill List and come up with some Fail Forward Narrative Resolutions to a failed check. Please primarily employ the usage of things external to the PC's locus of control (environment reacting et al).

* Resources of note outside of Skills:

- Bladesinger (Fighter/Wizard) with Cantrips/Spells (At-Will: Ghost Sound, Prestidigitation...Encounter: Suggestion...Daily: Arcane Gate) and Rituals (Hold Portal, Calm Emotions, Change Self, Silent Image, Wizard's Sight)
- Druid with Utility Powers (At-Will: Wild Shape...Daily: Obscuring Mist and Form of the Hunting Falcon).
- Rogue with Martial Practices (Alter Ego, Precise Forgery) and Utility Powers (Encounter: Empathic Read, Faulty Memory, Master of Deceit)

 

[Quickleaf]

What a great setup Now I'm a bit confused by what you're looking for...

There is no other seaman and no other vessel who can accomplish this feat.

Are you sure? That does limit your "fail forwards" to scenarios where (a) the captain is alive, and (b) the PCs escape with the captain.

Also, you ask for help with "fail forwards" but you also describe pretty precisely what happens on a failure: the prison goes on high alert and the PCs face a lethal combat encounter.

If you're asking for developments that can happen on individual failed checks, that depends on the context of the individual check. You already have a 4-point Plan the PCs have, just have failure developments keyed to which part of the Plan they're working on. For example...

Convinving the captain - the captain either doesn't trust the PCs or believes he deserves his fate, so they'll need to subdue and bag him.

Plant the disguised rogue - the rogue's cover gets blown and they need to silence whoever is about to sound the alarm. Alternately, a more conniving NPC might let it slide in order to (a) extort the rogue for services or (b) make the gladiatorial fights te rogue faces especially difficult.

Escape the prison without notice - the uprising they trigger could get out of control and start to threaten innocents , the party might get separated in the chaos, or they face a combat encounter with guards.

Get to his ship - a great chain net is raised blocking them in, escaping gladiators from the uprising commandeer the ship, a villain (maybe the harbormqster) sends guards to assault the ship, etc.

 

[Manbearcat]

@Quickleaf

Thats good stuff Quickleaf. Some of that is precisely what I'm looking for. When I compose a Skill Challenge, I prepare a list of Success With Complications and Fail Forwards for each Skill/Resource usage. Naturally, the narrative accompaniment is going to require the context of what has come before and what has immediately transpired. For instance, this is what I'm looking for if folks are interested in contributing (this is my format):

FAIL FORWARDS:

Insight on Guard Patrols and the PCs miscalibrate the timing/route of a patrol in a switchback.

-The corridor has a pair of stacked crates and barrels lining both walls. A mop and a bucket rest against the wall nearby with a pair of overalls flung over the handle of the mob.
- The lentil over the door to the next switchback has standing room which is shrouded in darkness. A scruffy alley-cat comes sauntering up to one of the PCs and wraps its body against the PC's leg, purring.
- One of the guards shouts in their direction; "Its about time you showed up! We've got a hell of a situation over in Mess. Two scrappers have holed themselves up and have the doors barricaded. Elwood and Grasby got carved up and we can't get to 'em. We got Jacks out but he's in a bad way."

Diplomacy fails to convince the captain toward the wisdom and legitimacy of their plans.

- One of the criminals/gladiators spits on a PC and grumbles: "We've seen this act before. They want to see which of us are stupid enough to think we can break out. Then they're waitin' outside to give ya a beatin'. Break yer spirit. Just accept your role as meat now, cap'n. Its better that way."
- With the cage door open, the mob of men roars out of the cage. Winches turn and the rattle of chains means the other cages are coming down. In short order, a full blown riot will commence.

Etc, etc. Specific skill in specific situation that may arise given the encounter. Potential results of a failure under those circumstances that lead to dynamic decision-points and propel the challenge/narrative forward.

I've got several and I can ad-hoc them easily enough. I was just curious if other people wanted to chip in and maybe better stuff than what I have will come out of it.

 

[pemerton]

Just a quick post for the moment: failed Dungeoneering in relation to the Garbage chute could be interesting - they get splattered in garbage, or they miscalculate the slope or machinery or whatever and end up on a ledge on the cliff (rqeuires Acro, Climbing etc to move, or maybe from the ledge they can spot another, smaller way in - an old air shaft or refuse removal point or something that no one remebers anymore.

And failed Dungeoneering in relation to the cages could be fun too, from PCs ending up dangling by chains from the air as counterweights go wrong, to unexpected noise from the winches waking up the dogs (cue Bluff or Nature checks), to cages dropping too quickly and squashing people.

EDIT: Depending on how you handle the Dungeooneering/Thievery division of labour, some or all of the above may be Thievery rather than Dungeoneering.

 

[Manbearcat]

Good stuff by both of you. Thanks very much for participating.

Game goes down tomorrow. If the opportunity arises, I'm going to use both of your suggestions in the Skill Challenge. If it comes to pass that I'm able to do so, I'll do a quick write-up after the session outlying the mechanical resolution and the accompanying narrative of the Skill Challenge and where your contributions fit in.

 

[Manbearcat]

Well, I was able to get both of your ideas into the Skill Challenge. Was quite fun and went off well. I'm tired so I'll do this writing in two installments. First part is the joint narrative (with embedded mechanical reference) of the Skill Challenge and the second part is the "mechanical key."


Skill Challenge Resultant Fiction

The wax seal was intact and bore the sign of Dulsamere D'Swain; the largest exotic animal broker on the coast. (1) Although the man standing before the guards did not speak the common tongue, like all of D'Swain's Wranglers, he looked the part and the beast at the end of his leash was certainly a live specimen; a rare Alpine Tiger from the Great White North. The guard broke the seal, opened the correspondence and read it. (2) It was penned in the hand of D'Swain. Unsurpisingly, it was to the Beastmaster. Apparently, the tiger was for his breeding program. The other guard unlocked the door, spun the release valve and, with a gasp, the vault to the subterranean complex came open. The sound must have unnerved the great beast as its muscles went taut and it emitted a threatening growl. The two guards attention immediately turned to the beast, (3) not noticing the shadow from above them swing through the door, as the wrangler struggled to keep control, speaking to the beast in the strange tongue. When the wrangler had the creature calmed, one guard remained at his post while the second led the man and the leashed tiger inside.

They didn't make it far. Somewhere in the second switchback of the vault, the gurgling sound of death could be heard. A dagger pierced the guard's neck, crushing his windpipe on the way through to the other side. (4) There was a few brief moments of violence when the corpse was intentionally battered in order to look the part of a victim of a brutal mob attack. The tiger stood on two legs and took the form of a female wood elf. The D'Swain Wrangler's image shimmered and became that of an eladrin. The third of the group tidied himself up after the savaging of the corpse. Figuring it may come into use later, he secured the baldric, weapon belt and beatstick that were the guards only standard issue.

The vault system was dizzying with switchbacks and seemingly arbitrary gradient changes of the slope and odd dead ends. (5) Try as she might, the druid's keen sense of the stonework was foiled and she spilled out almost directly into the lap of a trio of guard's playing dice at a dead-end. The tunnel was lit only by a single lantern resting in the corner. "Serving wench! Come blow on these dice for me!" one of the men shouted. Sensing things may go awry quickly, the Rogue adorned the baldric and belt, beatstick hostered. The (6) The shaggy, dirty elven druid pulled her cloak close, bowed her head and dropped her eyes, assuming her best prostrate posture. She ambled over and did as the man asked. Not good enough. The man cast a suspicious eye on her and said, "I ain't seen a pretty pretty the likes of you in the Hole." He grasped her by the hair and reached for his baton. Coming around the corner in full garb, a guard spit out an elven name at her and lashed her across the back of her legs with his stick. She went down in a heap and he hit her again, berating her in a sharp tongue. (7) The elf woman mewled like a pup and the three men, convinced, cast their eye on this new figure. Immediately, (8) the new guard began to break out into the strategy of the game they were playing, boasting of his conquests. One quick game of dice later and he was a few silver lighter in the pocket. Sheepishly, he left, dragging the servant girl by her hair. "Come back anytime! Your silver's always good here!" The echo of their laughter followed him around the corner.

Finally, their path was greeted by an echo of steel on steel as it rang out through the cavernous chambers. They were nearing the exit of the maze of entry vaults. The final switchback emptied out upon a 2nd floor cat-walk that lined a dome like training ground. They stood at the entrance point trying to monitor movements within to determine the route to the prison. (9) It wasn't long before the Eladrin's acute mind had it sorted. However, the warden was on the ground between them and their path, monitoring the administration of flagellation to a few gladiators who had apparently failed in their obedience or training or some such. They waited patiently but unfortunately the warden began to climb the steps of the catwalk, advancing on their position. Directly behind them they heard the sounds of the 3 guards coming back from their dice game. They were cornered. A few feet from them was a cart that smelled of rotten food and refuse. It was positioned directly under a hatch in the stone wall. As quickly as they could, they opened the hatch and dove inside.

The decline was steep as the chute led directly the waiting, crashing waves at the base of the sweeping cliffs that sat on the city's seaward edge. (10) Try as they might, the slick, slimy garbage chute made it all but impossible to prevent the descent toward the sea. However, the situation turned out to be rather fortuitous. While the Rogue and Eladrin began to attempt the difficult climb up the sheer, seaspray covered cliffs, the druid took to the air (11) and spotted (12) a line of smoke emanating from what could only be the forge. She tied a length of rope to the chimney and tossed it down to the two men. After using the rope to aid their ascent (13) they made it to the top in short order, and began descending the chimney shortly thereafter using the same rope. The smoke was extremely thin at this point and the Rogue found himself marveling at the druid's keen senses in locating it.

The Rogue went down first and his intuition proved correct. The flu was indeed closed. It would take his best effort to get it open. Nonetheless, with a bit of time he was able to navigate the mechanics of it (14 and 15), open the flu and allow the group entrance. They knew from earlier intelligence that the Forge was directly adjacent to the Prison proper.


Mechanical Key

(1) Change Self Ritual - Successful Arcana check by Eladrin Bladesinger. 1 Success: 0 Failures.

(2) Precise Forgery Martial Practice - Successful Thievery check by Human Rogue. 2:0

(3) Successful Stealth check by Human Rogue. 3:0

(4) Failed Heal check by Human Rogue. Will have future Implications pending Skill Challenge failure (if Rogue is initially successfully planted but authorities are alerted at the attempt of Eladrin and Elf to set sail with sea captain). 3:1

(5) Failed Dungeoneering check by Elf Druid. 3:2

(6) Initially failed Bluff check by Elf Druid. See 7 and 8.

(7) Empathic Read Utility Power by Human Rogue. Elf Druid rerolls Bluff and is successful. 4:2

(8) Successful Streetwise check by Human Rogue. 5:2

(9) Successful Insight check by Eladrin Bladesinger. 6:2

(10) Failed Group Athletics check by Elven Druid (with Eladrin and Human each providing bonus to group check). 6:3

(11) Form of the Hunting Falcon Utility Power by Elven Druid.

(12) Successful Perception check by Elven Druid. 7:3

(13) Successful Group Athletics check by Eladrin Bladesinger (with Human and Elf each providing bonus to group check). 8:3

(14) Successful Thievery check by Human Rogue. 9:3

Hat-tip @pemerton for 10 - 12. I'll put the rest up tomorrow at some point.