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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ruined" data-source="post: 4139490" data-attributes="member: 113">Hello people. I'm prepping my 4e playtest game and wanted to show my non-combat skill challenge model. First off, many thanks to those of you who've cobbled together the information we have so far. Your enthusiasm makes this possible.So, I've pulled in some thematic elements from Burning Plague, but kept many of the encounters the same. I'm starting with an outdoor kobold ambush, a village scene, leading up to the cavern battle with the kobolds (and boulder trap), followed by Nightscale. For story concerns, the group has been recruited to go retrieve an item of religious significance from a small village that recently discovered it. This has been pre-arranged, but the town is in dire straits when they arrive. They've contracted the burning plague not long after discovery of this artifact, and some even dare to say it is a curse brought upon by the gods. Also there have been raids by kobolds, wounding or slaying the town's hardiest protectors. The town council - a group of bitter old men - deny the group their item, saying that they can collect it off their corpses once the town has perished. The heroes can be heroes, but they may still leave empty-handed.  So we begin the non-combat challenge.I'm following the 6-4 method (reach 6 successes before 4 failures). Challenges I'm foreseeing are:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Diplomacy to convince Council of their error. (Hard)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Insight to see what the Council really means/wants  (Easy)  </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Heal to help the wounded guards (Easy)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Heal to ease the suffering of some of the sick (Medium)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Heal to cure a plague victim (Hard)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Nature to determine how plague was contracted (Medium)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">History to recall stories of a similar outbreak (Medium)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Athletics to handle some tasks done by wounded or dead, winning support  (Easy)</li> </ul>and so on.One thing I have noticed is a variance of numbers among the playtesters and DDXP attendees. Some say 10-15-20, others 11-14-19. Do we know if they're that fluid, or are they supposed to scale with level?For results, I've worked out the following:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Strong success (2 failures or less), they will grant the heroes a random grouping magic items toward the task. (use my item cards + post its).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Moderate success (3 failures), the council will relent and promise the heroes the reward if they go investigate.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Moderate failure, (3 succeses or more), the council will tell the party there's nothing for them here.  Townsfolk will quietly ask them for help, point in right direction.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Strong failure (2 successes or less), they will curse the heroes, giving some penalty for the upcoming fight. At least one of the party shows signs of the plague.</li> </ul>Any thoughts, or especially recommendations on skill target numbers?</blockquote>

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