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<blockquote data-quote="LightPhoenix" data-source="post: 5215623" data-attributes="member: 115">One fairly easy way I've found to limit PCs from using their best skills over and over again is to make the players describe what they are doing with the skill.&nbsp; It makes the players think more about how to use their skills, and I've found that they don't do things over and over again.Another thing I try to do is get rid of absolute failure.&nbsp; Rather, failures add challenges that need to be overcome a different way.&nbsp; Sometimes it's something simple, like losing healing surges to scalding steam or adding enemies later on from fair warning.&nbsp; Other times there's no immediate issue, but one crops up later - they've contracted a disease from poisonous spores, or the local lord is resisting their good efforts.&nbsp; In one challenge (bidding for a mission), failure meant another group bid lower against them, lowering the reward.&nbsp; No matter what though, don't let failure actually equal failure.I've found, like others, that &quot;staying in one place&quot; makes for a boring skill challenge most of the time.&nbsp; I try to think of a skill challenge as a series of vignettes rather than a single scene - that's what combat is for.&nbsp; It makes using the previous two ideas easier as well; if you fail the Streetwise roll, the informant is injured/dead when you get there.&nbsp; Not great, but it doesn't really equal a total failure - now you have more clues to follow, even with failure.Finally, the biggest thing is simply knowing when to use a skill challenge.&nbsp; The reason I hate most of the WotC-produced ones is because they're exactly when you shouldn't use them.&nbsp; Conversations should be just that - conversations.&nbsp; Make sure there's a clear goal (track the assassin, win the contract, escape the kobold horde) and make sure the PCs know what the goal is.A couple of smaller things:One thing I've found helpful is to provide an &quot;out.&quot;&nbsp; That is, if the players aren't enjoying the challenge, give them a way to end it immediately.&nbsp; That prevents a lot of issues regarding &quot;challenge grind.&quot;Try to find ways for the PCs to use Encounter powers and encourage them to use them; a Skill Challenge counts as one, after all.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="LightPhoenix, post: 5215623, member: 115"] One fairly easy way I've found to limit PCs from using their best skills over and over again is to make the players describe what they are doing with the skill. It makes the players think more about how to use their skills, and I've found that they don't do things over and over again. Another thing I try to do is get rid of absolute failure. Rather, failures add challenges that need to be overcome a different way. Sometimes it's something simple, like losing healing surges to scalding steam or adding enemies later on from fair warning. Other times there's no immediate issue, but one crops up later - they've contracted a disease from poisonous spores, or the local lord is resisting their good efforts. In one challenge (bidding for a mission), failure meant another group bid lower against them, lowering the reward. No matter what though, don't let failure actually equal failure. I've found, like others, that "staying in one place" makes for a boring skill challenge most of the time. I try to think of a skill challenge as a series of vignettes rather than a single scene - that's what combat is for. It makes using the previous two ideas easier as well; if you fail the Streetwise roll, the informant is injured/dead when you get there. Not great, but it doesn't really equal a total failure - now you have more clues to follow, even with failure. Finally, the biggest thing is simply knowing [I]when[/I] to use a skill challenge. The reason I hate most of the WotC-produced ones is because they're exactly when you [I]shouldn't[/I] use them. Conversations should be just that - conversations. Make sure there's a clear goal (track the assassin, win the contract, escape the kobold horde) and make sure the PCs know what the goal is. A couple of smaller things: One thing I've found helpful is to provide an "out." That is, if the players aren't enjoying the challenge, give them a way to end it immediately. That prevents a lot of issues regarding "challenge grind." Try to find ways for the PCs to use Encounter powers and encourage them to use them; a Skill Challenge counts as one, after all. [/QUOTE]

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