Non-trap skill challenge compendium!

[Quickleaf]

Long-distance travel? I dont understand how a skill challenge could be built around that.

Normally the DM would give a quick description and possibly an encounter, and the journey would be done with. But what about long distance travel where tracking supplies, time traveled, route taken, or staying quiet matter?

For example...
Crossing an icy mountain range while enemy wyvern-riders patrol the skies
A sea voyage to an uncharted isle with sick crewmates in quarantine and dwindling supplies
Urgent cross-country journey by horse to warn the queen of her nephew's treachery

 

[Scipio202]

On his WotC blog Mike Mearls is describing his campaign, and has a few instances of skill challenges.

Used a (unannounced) skill challenge to model the readiness of guards at a tower. More failures lead to the guards sending out patrols.

Another (unannounced) skill challenge for negotiating with an NPC, where getting other NPC's to take their side counted as "successes".

 

[Cryptos]

2. Long-distance travel? I dont understand how a skill challenge could be built around that.

Have you been to an American airport since around 2002?

Seriously, though, how about this:

"When we left off last session, you found out that Thorikan was heading to Archer's Gate to steal the Widget of Plot Derailment. He's got a head start on you of at least one day and Archer's Gate is 80 miles to the north, so... Skill Challenge! Tell me how you're going to travel the 80 miles and beat Thorikan to Archer's Gate."

It's somewhat pursuit-ish, but isn't exactly running someone down before they leave the city... it's about getting 80 miles from where you are now quickly (or making sure someone else doesn't.)

With failures, you get random encounters, your horse throws a shoe, the boat springs a leak, the wizard that knows the teleportation ritual decides it's not worth his time for the money you're offering, etc. With successes, you make progress and it looks like you're catching up to the bad guy. Succeed ultimately, and get there first, and more or less safely. Fail ultimately, and you find the grand wizard of Archer's Gate is a smoking corpse and Thorikan has run off with his Widget several hours ago.

Depending on what skills are used, it could be a test of negotiation (getting the wizard to cast the teleport ritual); a test of endurance and/or knowledge of terrain (Nature); a test of Arcana and Diplomacy, figuring out a way to magically signal ahead to the bandit camp in the forest near Archer's Gate, and making a deal with them to waylay Thorikan so he definitely won't get there first; or perhaps even a test of history, remembering that General Yowza of the Whatsitcalled Empire once had his advanced scouts reach Archer's Gate in less than a day by taming the wild Flying Frooza that live in the nearby woods. But it's still all about making travel plans and travelling.

Not sure if this is what the poster had in mind, but it's one option for a travel-oriented skill challenge.

 

[bert1000]

malcom - I'm fine with you including these in the original creations thread. other authors pls object otherwise we'll assume it's fine as well

Seems like the skill challenge excerpt today doesn't give us a whole lot more info for the "official" version of a skill challenge, except maybe they are suggesting defining a narrower set of applicable skills (no intimidation allowed in the example) and have given an example of "unlocking" one skill (history) with a successful use of another (diplomacy in this case). I like the 2nd idea, not so keen on the 1st

Quickleaf, good additions to the categories list. Updated below:

1) "Catastrophe aftermath" (e.g., save the town) [bert1000]
2) "Broker a deal" (e.g., stop king from declaring war) [bert1000]
3) "Escape" [sembia, thasmodius]
4) "Pursuit" [quickleaf]
5) "Infiltrate" [bert1000, fitz the ruke]
6) "Fortify defenses" [invokethehojo]
7) "Repair/sabotage structure" (e.g., repair before the ship sinks, sabotage the seige engine) [frostmarrow]
8) "Gather allies" [Zetastriker]
9) "Investigation"
10) "Long distance travel"

Cryptos, I agree with you that skill challenges are a great anti-railroading tool

Quickleaf/Cryptos, I like where you are going with your long distance travel examples. It's not quite like the others, however, since it prob represents a more extended period of time vs. a compact scene. But seems like there is a way to make it work. Anyone want to post a full write up of a long distance travel example we can play with?

Quickleaf, can you explain what you had in mind for warefare? competition? These seem a little less specific than the categories we aleady have. The warefare example by invokethehobo, I included under 7) "Repair /sabotage structure".

Scipio, the mearls example #2, seems like a form of our 8) "Gather allies". The 1st example sounds interesting. Is it an "Infilltrate" scenario or something different?

Here's a more generic skill challenge for investigation based on another thread's more specific scenerio:

**********************
Setup: A shapechanger has killed (or captured) the major of the town and needs to remain undetected until the high priest of X comes to town in 3 days. The shapechanger knows the priest plans a private audience with the major, and plans to murder the priest. The shapechanger made a mistake, and the major's brother/sister/whomever suspects something is up but can't prove it and hire the PCs

Goal: Expose the shapechanger before the 3 day time limit

Success / Failure: 8 successes / 5 faliures

Potential skill uses: Insight to notice anxious behavior, diplomacy to convince maid to reveal strange behavior, history to know that shapchanger performed the begining of spring benadiction wrong, etc

Success: Enough evidence collected to convince townfolk to back the PCs into confronting the shapechanger. Possible fight. Collect reward.

Faliure: High priest murdered, and shapechanger takes on priest's identity. Major is released from captivity, and high priest creates trouble for party.

 

[Shades of Green]

Regarding warfare, a skill challenge might be a great way to deal with large-scale combat without resorting to large-scale combat miniature rules. Give the PCs an objective during the battle - they might have to cross the raging battle alive, protect an important PC from dying, or perhaps commanding a force themselves. The latter brims with possibilities - it allows your high-level PCs to become generals and war-leaders without playing out the exact combat; good overall strategy and successful relevant skill rolls would lead to victory. I like that

Another use for skill challenges would be running a business, a farm, a manor or even a kingdom. This would be a great way to prevent a high-level PC with political power (or just one trying to run a business during "off-time") from dealing with too much accounting. Running a business would be a simple challenge with the goal of making a healthy profit; managing a farm would have the goal of producing enough food to feed yourself AND have a surplus.

Running a manor/barony/kingdom would be a more complex, and probably consist of three main challenges: External Politics (i.e. keeping good relations with your nicer neighbors and keeping the less nicer ones at bay), Internal Politics (keeping the locals happy) and Economics (how well the realm fares, related to how much taxes you can get). Now, these would be long-term challenges, and the lords could adventure in the meantime; some adventures would actually automatically generate successes when completed successfully (e.g. clearing an undead-infested mine and thus being able to start operating it, boosting the economy), while some adventures might automatically generate failures (e.g. accidentally killing a popular NPC might make the PC lords less popular).