Redclaws Protectors OOC

[Graf]

Got a sec. Final is up. Sorry for the hold up.

 

[Redclaw]

No worries, I understand about the baby factor. Mine is 2 now, so a little less demanding, but he still has his moments.

 

[Walking Dad]

No worries, I understand about the baby factor. Mine is 2 now, so a little less demanding, but he still has his moments.

Hey, I got two!

One will be two soon and the other 4 later this year

 

[Redclaw]

IC thread is up. I hope you all enjoy!

Protectors' IC

 

[Redclaw]

OOC: Are we really supposed to risk failure in rolls we are not proficient in? Penance has no proficiency in any of the check you mentioned. I haven't realized that the skill challenge had only so few rounds, too. I thought the elf would only go after we failed...

Sorry, still new to the mechanics.

No worries about learning the mechanics, WD. Here are a few excerpts from the DMG about skill challenges:

To deal with a skill challenge, the player characters make skill checks to accumulate a number of successful skill uses before they rack up too many failures.

Certain skills lead to the natural solutions to the problem the challenge presents. These should serve as the primary skills in the challenge.

When a player's turn comes up in a skill challenge, let that player's character use any skill the player wants. As long as the player or you can come up with a way to let this secondary skill play a part in the challenge, go for it. If a player wants to use a skill you didn't identify as a primary skill in the challenge, however, then the DC for using it is hard (about 5 higher).

In a skill challenge encounter, every player character must make skill checks to contribute to the success or failure of the encounter.

So, yes and no. I expect you to be involved in any skill challenge that comes along, including some that will rely on skills you don't excell at. If you can creatively come up with a use of a skill you are trained in, you can use it, but the DC will be higher.

As for the rounds, it depends on the complexity. For this one, I made it complexity 2, which meant you needed 6 successes before you got 3 failures. The numbers are a 2:1, depending on how long the DM wants the challenge to take.

After each roll, or set of rolls, I indicated your success, just like I would in a combat round, letting you know if your attacks had hit or missed. Phillian didn't actually do anything in the challenge except react to (or defend against) your skill checks.

 

[Graf]

I agree strongly with what redclaw's said in ic.
I confess to wanting to win (who likes to "lose" right?) but I think losing added a lot more to the story.

Mirna, an unwanted orphan, probably wants to go on adventures at least partially b/c Pjillian's created a space where she feels safe and protected.
I wrote that in to the backstory (along w/ Mirna lying about her degree of proficinency); redclaw was respecting that by making this a challenge.

And, I think rp skill challenges are about more than "showing up and rolling high". I didnt post about it (mostly b/c I think Mirna was too caught up in the moment to have thought about it yet) but sticking up for her (esp. people who did so repeatedly after enduring Phillian's tongue) probably improved (or further improved) Mirna's thinking of them.
And what ever was said to Phillian was said to Phillian. Even if you didnt get "a success" saying "I/we'll protect her" and then (should the opportunity arise later) doing so is potentially important in story terms.

And I think 3 "rounds" was plenty; I'm glad we got the chance to rp it but minor stuff is minor stuff. You have to roll and play through. Mirna will still be able to participate just under different conditions.

 

[Redclaw]

And your reception on your return to town will likely be a little different...

 

[Zurai]

The problems I have with skill challenges and forced participation are twofold:

One, Immeral isn't a social character. It would, in the most literal sense, Out Of Character for him to get into a protracted social "challenge" of most sorts, at least at the present time; that's why I had him withdraw from this one (BTW, Osric: Immeral never even offered to help with carrying the trader, let alone started to do it! He had already left at that point). It would be similarly OOC for other characters to be nosing in on areas where they're intentionally ignorant. Forcing participation is a method of railroading and I very much dislike that the DMG includes it as an implied rule for Skill Challenges.

Two, failure is failure, regardless of how severe it is. Directly contributing to failure isn't fun. Being forced to directly contribute to failure is about as far from fun as I can imagine.



Also, the math of the Skill Challenge system has a lot of flaws. You have to be very precise in how you set it up or it becomes either far too difficult or far too easy for the party to succeed in the challenge. Even changing the target DC by 1 can have a dramatic (20+ percentage points) shift in the probability of success/failure. If you just follow the chart in the DMG, the chance of success for an average party is something like 20%.


That all said, I trust Redclaw not to make the game unfun.

 

[Walking Dad]

I think it is just a new mechanic we have to used to.

About anyone has to participate: What if the group split? Not possible in 4e? Or can the skill challenges be adjusted at the fly?
I'm not totally up to date about this mechanic, but trust redclaw entirely to mange it!

 

[Graf]

I interpreted redclaw's comments about participation as being more more general.

There will be social challenges that we all will have to deal with. If we come back to town and norsten wants to arrest us then we're all involved. we can't just have the person with+10 make all the rolls (any more than we could have that person make all the attack rolls in a fight.
If norsten thinks one of us is acting skechy we all get hauled in.

If someone can't hit a diplo roll in a diplo oriented challenge then those who can need to shift the conflict to an area where they can make a roll.
it's like protecting the controller or sending the rogue across the rickety bridge first to tie off the rope so the wizard and fighter can make it.

This was just a practice run... Most of the challenges will not be as prosaic...