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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cadfan" data-source="post: 4516509" data-attributes="member: 40961">I just mean that the skill challenge rules themselves are like the programming in the computer I'm using right now.  I know its there, but I don't know how it works.  I don't even think about it.  I just know that I hit the keys in the right way and use the mouse in the right way and the computer works.  Skill challenges are similar, in my opinion.So in a skill challenge your PCs might know that they need to convince a baron to lend them soldiers to defend a particular keep.  Alright.  They know that they're using skills like diplomacy, bluff, history, or whatever.  They also know that each time they do so, the baron reacts- sometimes well, sometimes poorly.  They know this because you're roleplaying the baron's responses.  They also know that the baron is reaching a decision, and that the better they do, the better the decision will be for them.None of this involves knowing how skill challenges work in any sense other than "try your best to accomplish something using your skills, success is better than failure at skill rolls, and your DM will tell you how it goes."  They don't need to know about X successes before Y failures, or anything.You, the DM, do need to know that information, because you're using it to govern how you roleplay the baron.  If the PCs need 5 successes before 3 failures, and they have 4 successes and 0 failures, the Baron is on the cusp of helping them.  If they have 1 success and 2 failures, maybe he's a lot more negative.  You get the idea.But the players don't need to know how it works, and as a matter of fact, they don't even need to know that an official skill challenge is in progress.  They just need to know that there's a task they need to perform, and that their skills are the right tool.  Same as prior editions, really.</blockquote>

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