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<blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 5698824" data-attributes="member: 22424">The default answer to all of these is &quot;yes, a skill can be reused&quot;.However, you'll generally get a more satisfying Challenge if you put in more work to the challenge than is suggested by the DMG's &quot;X successes before Y failures&quot; pattern. As others have noted, the DMG2 provides a lot of useful advice, as does the SWSE book &quot;Galaxy of Intrigue&quot;.Unfortunately, trying to give guidance on how it should be done is extremely difficult, since every Challenge is (or should be) unique. However, try to consider how you would expect the Challenge to be solved: are there distinct steps that need to be performed in order? (If so, break the Challenge into 'phases', and offer different skills for each.) Are there any skills that just have to be included, such as Survival for surviving in a desert? (If so, require at least some successes to come from these skills.) Is there a point where a genuine team effort is required, such as if they're putting on a play? (If so, consider a &quot;group check&quot;, where everyone rolls the same skill, and if the majority pass then they get a success.)And, yes, in general you will get a better Challenge if you limit the number of times a given skill can be tried; otherwise the party may well just stand back and let their specialist spam that one skill.In my experience, Skill Challenges are usually most satisfying if the DM doesn't even tell the group that they're in a Challenge. So, you should just describe the situation, let them act, and quietly track success and failure behind the screen. As the situation changes, you should narrate those changes; clever players will pick up on the cues and use the new skills.I would also ditch the &quot;primary and secondary skills&quot; thing. These can be useful as a prep-tool, but in play they can essentially railroad the Challenge. A better approach is to let the PCs direct the action, and decide at the time whether what they're trying is 'primary' (and so can give a success in the Challenge) or 'secondary' (and so is good for a +2 bonus on the next check).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="delericho, post: 5698824, member: 22424"] The default answer to all of these is "yes, a skill can be reused". However, you'll generally get a more satisfying Challenge if you put in more work to the challenge than is suggested by the DMG's "X successes before Y failures" pattern. As others have noted, the DMG2 provides a lot of useful advice, as does the SWSE book "Galaxy of Intrigue". Unfortunately, trying to give guidance on how it should be done is extremely difficult, since every Challenge is (or should be) unique. However, try to consider how you would expect the Challenge to be solved: are there distinct steps that need to be performed in order? (If so, break the Challenge into 'phases', and offer different skills for each.) Are there any skills that just have to be included, such as Survival for surviving in a desert? (If so, require at least some successes to come from these skills.) Is there a point where a genuine team effort is required, such as if they're putting on a play? (If so, consider a "group check", where everyone rolls the same skill, and if the majority pass then they get a success.) And, yes, in general you will get a better Challenge if you limit the number of times a given skill can be tried; otherwise the party may well just stand back and let their specialist spam that one skill. In my experience, Skill Challenges are usually most satisfying if the DM doesn't even tell the group that they're in a Challenge. So, you should just describe the situation, let them act, and quietly track success and failure behind the screen. As the situation changes, you should narrate those changes; clever players will pick up on the cues and use the new skills. I would also ditch the "primary and secondary skills" thing. These can be useful as a prep-tool, but in play they can essentially railroad the Challenge. A better approach is to let the PCs direct the action, and decide at the time whether what they're trying is 'primary' (and so can give a success in the Challenge) or 'secondary' (and so is good for a +2 bonus on the next check). [/QUOTE]

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