Milestones and skill challenge

[keterys]

If the skill challenge is excessively easy, it may not be eligible for milestoning, same as excessively easy combats. Of course, if it's extremely hard, it may count as a milestone all on its own.

 

[Paul Strack]

In my games, I count skill challenges as an encounter, but only for the party members that participate. So, if a party member opts out of a challenge, they are effectively giving up half an action point. I make this clear to my players as a way of rewarding full participation in skill challenges.

In theory the same is true of combats, but my players never opt out of fights.

 

[MarkB]

In my games, I count skill challenges as an encounter, but only for the party members that participate. So, if a party member opts out of a challenge, they are effectively giving up half an action point. I make this clear to my players as a way of rewarding full participation in skill challenges.

In theory the same is true of combats, but my players never opt out of fights.

In a fight, everyone has a chance to contribute usefully to the success of the outcome.

In a skill challenge, unless you open it out completely so that practically any skill can apply, there are likely to be characters whose skill set is ill-suited to the challenge.

By participating, such characters actually make the party more likely to fail, so you are facing your players with a choice between taking actions that will actually make the party worse off, or forfeiting their action points.

If you want full participation in skill challenges, the way to do it is to ensure that each challenge has something useful for every PC to do - not to punish players for non-participation.

 

[DracoSuave]

Besides, there's a certain point beyond which AP accumulation is counterproductive and causes a -loss- of APs, if you're not spending them.

 

[Nail]

But skill challenges (not tied to a trap or inside a combat) don't get to expand has many ressources as a combat encounter, ergo the benefit of winning the challenge can't be as rewarding, no?

They might not be worth as many XP, or result in treasure, for example (depending on how the DM has designed the encounters). But they are still a non-combat encounter, which means they are an encounter, which means they count towards the "two encounters without an extended rest" requirement of a milestone.

-Hyp.

That's true if the skill challenge is about the same level as the PCs (-1 level to +3 level). But if it's not:

You’re well within your rights to tell the players that an encounter doesn’t count toward a milestone. An encounter that’s two or more levels lower than the characters is really easy, and it shouldn’t contribute toward a milestone.

So....some skill challenges are not "worth milestones", just as some combat encounters are not worth milestones.

 

[Wolfwood2]

Of course if a skill challenge is so easy as to not be worth a milestone, the DM should probably be asking himself why he's bothering to play it out as a challenge in the first place. Just allow the PCs to roleplay/narrate their way to success and move on.

 

[ValhallaGH]

The PHB says : every two encounter, you reach a milestone.

So the question is : does skill challenge normally count toward a milestone ?

The Living Forgotten Realms guidelines are: If they earn experience from it then it counts for the purpose of Milestones.

 

[TheNovaLord]

absolutely its a milestone

all SC should have a consequence if failed.

 

[Mr. Teapot]

Of course if a skill challenge is so easy as to not be worth a milestone, the DM should probably be asking himself why he's bothering to play it out as a challenge in the first place. Just allow the PCs to roleplay/narrate their way to success and move on.

Or just make it a single die roll, if they want it to be random for some reason. But otherwise, this is a good point.