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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 6193291" data-attributes="member: 6696971">It is a very rare occasion that I formally write up a Skill Challenge (in 4e style) during prep.  I only do this when I have a combat that is all but guaranteed to turn out in the locale that I expect it (eg a Dragon's Lair) and I need to formulate a clear, coherent framework for addressing/dealing with a non-combat element of the encounter (eg destroying a portal/artifact that is making the encounter difficult/unwinnable).  Under those circumstances, I need Action Economy notated (and explicated to the players) clearly and the Action Economy of each action needs to be balanced with what a player could typically deploy with a Standard/Move/Minor so they will engage with the challenge.  Under those circumstances, I will work it up and make things clear to the players via props/flash cards.So then.  Under pretty much all other circumstances, what I do for session prep is:- Consider what scenes may follow naturally from the aggregate of the campaign generally and last session specifically.  - Consider what thematic cues arise naturally from the players that are underway or have yet to be fully engaged; PC build, Quest, backstory cues specifically.  Scene "Bangs" (openers that put the PCs directly into thematic conflict) for a great many things will have been considered well in advance of the current session and I will have solicited the same from my players (a wishlist in the same way that people use magic-item wishlists)- I take notes on my thinking and develop tags, distinctions, tropes that will help guide creative thinking (for both myself and my players).Then we play and see what happens (and do the same for next time).So, given that, for much of my Skill Challenges, they are basically rendered impromptu in real-time using only the mechanical framework (eg 8 success vs 3 failures + 2 advantages w/ 6 moderate and 2 hard DCs and advancement of DCs with multiple usage), of-level DCs, devised (and clearly explicated) stakes, and props (dice for rolling and counters + flashcards).  The Scene Bang occurs and I put pressure immediately on a player and they either commit to an Action (primary skill) or a Support Action (secondary skill) and we move around the table, pacing the narrative in accords with dramatic structure with reference to where we are the continuum of the mechanical framework.  Scene then resolves itself with finality at success/failure threshold and the fiction is determined as a result of what has just transpired.  Given my "off the cuff" way of handling normal Skill Challenges, I typically try to draw upon good instruction (and practice) on devising conflicts and appropriate complications.  I feel that, along with pacing, thematic complications are the key element in a coherent/functional Skill Challenge).  I've included other bits of rules text here and there in various threads.  Here I'm going to just jot down a few pieces of sound advice from Dungeon World.  In Dungeon World, you are "Making Moves" against the PCs when you are placing them in a challenging situation or you are evolving the shared-fiction by complicating their adventuring lives with conflict.  Your players are then Making Moves in response.  You are basically doing the exact same thing in a Skill Challenge.  So then, onto Dungeon World's advice:Dungeon World RPG Chapter 13:  GM Principles, p 161Make a Move that FollowsWhen you make a move what you're actually doing is taking an element of the fiction and bringing it to bear against the characters.  Your move should always follow from the fiction.  They help you focus on one aspect of the current situation and do something interesting.  What's going on?  What move makes sense here? Dungeon World RPG Chapter 13:  GM Moves, p 163 and 164Moves - Use a monster, danger, or location move - Reveal an unwelcome truth - Show sings of an approaching threat - Deal damage - Use up their resources - Turn their move back on them - Separate them - Give an opportunity that fits a class' abilities - Show a downside to their class, race, <tools/build/powers/equipment> - Offer an opportunity, with or without cost - Put someone in a spot - Tell them the requirements or consequences and ask <a focused question> Choosing a Move To choose a move, start by looking at the obvious consequences of the action that triggered it.  If you already have an idea, think on it for a second to make sure it fits your agenda and principles and then do it.  Let your moves snowball.  Build on the success or failure of the characters' moves and on your own previous moves. If your first instinct is that this won't hurt them now, but it'll come back to bite them later, great!  That's part of your principles (think offscreen too).  Make a note of and reveal it when the time is right. Great advice for Skill Challenges and if I were to compose a shorthand bit of advice for running impromptu Skill Challenges, the above would be as good as any.Feel free to discuss how that maps to your Skill Challenge renderings either in prep or in play.</blockquote>

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