WizarDru
Adventurer
I find that I enjoy running skill challenges in one of three modes:
1) Stealth - The players are working a particular problem or goal and don't realize that they're in a skill challenge. Since the time and goal vary diversely, they may not known until I tell them after the fact.
2) Interactive - The players decide on a common goal and I then inform them that they'll need to succeed at a skill challenge to meet that goal (at least, in the fashion desired). I use this to draw quiet players out by going around the table and requesting input. "He's consulting an ancient tome in the library for a history of the lich. what are you going to do?" This can force/guide/meta-shape player behavior, but that's not always a bad thing...especially if it gives a player a chance to shine, rather than sit back while the skill monkeys do all the heavy lifting. These also work well in conjunction with something else: a skill challenge DURING a combat, when properly added in, can create a very exciting encounter.
3. Mini-Game I have to tip the old cap in Piratecat's direction for this one. This is the 'how I learned to stop worrying and learned to love the meta-game' approach. In this approach, the skill challenge becomes it's own sub-game, with the players having ready-access to what skills are relevant, what approaches will encur what kind of rolls and how some actions/powers/attacks can affect the overall challenge. For example: for the dramatic conclusion to my first adventure, I wanted a mass pirate battle with the PCs and their allies against the dreaded Stormwrack Corsairs. A combat with 60+ people would have been ungainly and likely deadly...but a pair of massive skill challenges handled the task nicely. Each challenge had skills that would count as successes, skills that would affect the challenge (but not count as a success) and special skills that would change the nature of the challenge. It worked swimmingly. Each player got a handout with a detail on what skills worked, where they worked and what the result would be. It broke down success categories (easy task, medium task, hard task) and how things would change with successes. Instead of having players guess at what would work and what would not, they instead spent time strategizing: player A will fight the Captain and keep him busy, player B will aid Player C, Player C will use intimidate to frighten off some of the pirates and player D will use Athletics to get on the deck of the ship. Player E will use his leadership power to give a bonus to player C. And so on.
I find that skill challenges are situational, just like anything else. Different encounters and adventures call for different approaches....as do different sets of players.
1) Stealth - The players are working a particular problem or goal and don't realize that they're in a skill challenge. Since the time and goal vary diversely, they may not known until I tell them after the fact.
2) Interactive - The players decide on a common goal and I then inform them that they'll need to succeed at a skill challenge to meet that goal (at least, in the fashion desired). I use this to draw quiet players out by going around the table and requesting input. "He's consulting an ancient tome in the library for a history of the lich. what are you going to do?" This can force/guide/meta-shape player behavior, but that's not always a bad thing...especially if it gives a player a chance to shine, rather than sit back while the skill monkeys do all the heavy lifting. These also work well in conjunction with something else: a skill challenge DURING a combat, when properly added in, can create a very exciting encounter.
3. Mini-Game I have to tip the old cap in Piratecat's direction for this one. This is the 'how I learned to stop worrying and learned to love the meta-game' approach. In this approach, the skill challenge becomes it's own sub-game, with the players having ready-access to what skills are relevant, what approaches will encur what kind of rolls and how some actions/powers/attacks can affect the overall challenge. For example: for the dramatic conclusion to my first adventure, I wanted a mass pirate battle with the PCs and their allies against the dreaded Stormwrack Corsairs. A combat with 60+ people would have been ungainly and likely deadly...but a pair of massive skill challenges handled the task nicely. Each challenge had skills that would count as successes, skills that would affect the challenge (but not count as a success) and special skills that would change the nature of the challenge. It worked swimmingly. Each player got a handout with a detail on what skills worked, where they worked and what the result would be. It broke down success categories (easy task, medium task, hard task) and how things would change with successes. Instead of having players guess at what would work and what would not, they instead spent time strategizing: player A will fight the Captain and keep him busy, player B will aid Player C, Player C will use intimidate to frighten off some of the pirates and player D will use Athletics to get on the deck of the ship. Player E will use his leadership power to give a bonus to player C. And so on.
I find that skill challenges are situational, just like anything else. Different encounters and adventures call for different approaches....as do different sets of players.
