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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Piratecat" data-source="post: 4894249" data-attributes="member: 2">Okay, a little musing.A couple of folks at GenCon swung by the ENnies booth while I was there, and I got in some interesting conversations about what people liked and didn't like about 4e. The biggest complaint I heard was that all of your "cool stuff" was dictated for you. It won't come as any surprise to someone reading this thread, but I'd definitely recommend reading page 54-55 of the PH (under "Flavor Text") and page 42 of the DMG (the stunt system, under "actions the rules don't cover.")  Along with making it explicit that powers are effects-based and can have any description the player wants at the time, for me these opened up the game greatly. Skill challenges are the same way. This last game had the skill challenge "get from the smokehouse back to the guard tower as fast as possible." That could have been absurdly boring: either just narrate it with no rolls, which removes control and most drama from the players, or do a skill challenge that was a series of flavorless checks. Instead I tried another explicit (printed out) skill challenge, and I really liked how it worked.[sblock=Skill challenge: wolf in the fold]Skill Challenge: Wolf in the Fold – 10 successes before 3 failuresRuncible mentioned that he had seen Caldwell entering the Grey Guard tower a ten minute walk away. Is it Alene? Race across Floodford to try and arrive before something truly awful occurs.If you win the skill challenge, you arrive quickly enough that you can affect what’s happening. If you fail the skill challenge, bad things happen. Your ratio of failures to successes affects how quickly you arrive. All skill checks are standard actions.•    Every time you use the same skill more than once, the DC rises by 1.•    For every round you choose to make no skill checks (either primary or secondary), you fall behind and arrive at the tower one round after the main group. •    After the first round, anyone not on a mount or vehicle must make a mandatory Endurance check at DC (10 + # of rounds); failing this check doesn’t give you a Failure, but does penalize your rolls for the round by -2.Primary skills:Acrobatics (maneuver through crowd) – DC 17Athletics (run) – DC 17Endurance (keep running) – DC 12History (remember the wider, most direct bridges and streets, usable once) – DC 15Intimidate (get the crowd out of the way) – DC 17Streetwise (know the shortest routes, usable once) – DC 15Thievery (steal transportation, usable once) – DC 21Acrobatics (steer cart or carriage, requires vehicle) – DC 15Athletics (ride or spur on horses, requires mount) – DC 15Secondary skills: Perception – DC 17 (give an ally +2 on any Primary skill check. Max of two people can aid an ally on any one check.)Aid another – DC 12 (give an ally +2 on the same skill’s check; failure gives a -2 penalty)[/sblock]A few things about this mechanically. I don't require that the group move on foot, but I give a bonus for stealing horses or a cart, along with requiring an endurance check if you don't -- and I allow a skill check specifically to do so. This helps ensure that we can have a race through Floodford at high speed while I throw obstacles in the way, but allows hearty characters to avoid it and still reach the tower in time if they prefer.In fact, the group stole (and destroyed) a noble's carriage, and "borrowed" a horse. I got to describe the successes and failures as they moved through town, trying to get through the crowded market place and trying to cross bridges that were too narrow for the carriage. It ended up feeling like a good chase scene should.The fight against Alene, on the other hand, should have been a lot more deadly than it was. She made a bad tactical move when infuriated and didn't flee quickly enough. As an 8th lvl solo controller, I thought she would be able to kill a chunk of the group, but I haven't started compensating for the new shaman as leader; healing kept everyone on their feet, and her major damage spell was an encounter instead of a recharge. She was animating undead, but I gave them a 5-round time to come to unlife, and they slew her right at the limit.So now my long-term villain has been smote nearly before she became a medium-length villain! That's excellent. Good for the party; they've done something impressive, and if Stron lives through his current visit to the sage, I'll probably level them next game.</blockquote>

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