Skill Challenge Help

[BlackLotus]

I need to do a specific skill challenge, but I do not know where to start.
An evil enchantment has been place on to a young girl, which transformed her into a monster. The PCs must convince the parents of the young girl that the monster is actually their daughter.

How would I start off with this challenge, because I really have no clue.

 

[BlackLotus]

Quest: Returning Amy back to her Parents
When the adventurers attempt to reunite Amy with her parents they will run into some problems. First of all, the young couple sees Amy as some sort of repulsive rat-like creature, instead as their loving daughter whom they miss very much. However the rat child has two things going for her. To begin with, the rat child happens to be wearing same pink dress that Amy wore when she had vanished. The rat child is also holding the same porcelain doll exactly just as Amy did, before the transformation. The PCs must complete a skill challenge before they can convince Jon and Maylin that the rat child is actually their daughter Amy.

This is a social based challenge that requires the players to use their role-playing abilities to succeed. The standard skills used in this challenge include: Bluff (cha), Diplomacy(cha), Insight(wis), Streetwise(cha), and Knowledges(int or wis). Proper role-playing is essential for this skill challenge to be completed successfully by the players.

The PCs must have 3 successes before they can pass this skill challenge. Anytime a party member succeeds in passing a skill check the rat-child will begin to look more human. As Jon and Maylin begin to accept the rat-child increasingly as being their daughter, Amy, the creature will slowly transform back into a little girl. Once the rat-child has fully become human, Jon and Maylin will show the party their undying gratitude by giving them a family heirloom as a reward.

The Skill challenge begins:

Read:
Jon’s face grows red with anger as you place the rat- creature before him, claiming it to be his daughter.
“How dare you bring this filthy creature before me and my wife claiming it to be our daughter. Do you believe us to be a couple of fools?”

(Bluff DC 20)
Role-play: (Lie) “This is indeed your daughter, we saw her being transformed into this rat-creature right before our eyes.”
Success: The rat-child loses its tail; subtract 2 from the DC in the next skill roll.
Failure: Jon clenches his fists as if he were to strike at you in any moment; add 2 to the next DC in the next skill roll.

 

[Mesh Hong]

This probably isn't what you will want to hear but I wouldn't run this as a predetermined skill challenge at all.

I would run this as a social encounter (i.e. normal roleplaying) and ask for appropriate rolls from the characters as the situation develops. I see no real need to have a set idea of the rolls you will call for or the DCs or number of successes required.

To me this situation is far too open and unpredictable to try and force into the strict structure of a skill challenege. Let the group roleplay their approach without thinking about the mechanics, you will get a much better result.

The main problem with skill chalenges (in my experience) is that as soon as the players realise they are in a skill challenge situation their mentality changes and they tend to get distracted by their skill list. Even worse some people can adopt the mentality of not wanting to fail a roll so take a back seat where otherwise they would happily contribute.

Just keep asking for appropriate skill checks when necessary and keep a running total if you like. Sooner or later you will probably find that the encounter resolves itself one way or another.

I am sorry if this wasn't actually that helpful

 

[Mesh Hong]

If the players have inadequate role-playing skills they will fail automatically even if they have successfully rolled over the required DC number. The Dungeon Master will determine if the player has role-played his or her part sufficiently enough to pass the challenge.

I am sorry but I don't quite believe what I have just read.

If the players have inadequate role-playing skills they will fail automatically even of they have successfully rolled over the DC number.

I am trying to put into words how wrong I think that statement is but I find myself dumbstruck by it's arrogance.

Skill checks exist as a way of determining what a character is and isn't capable of. If a Character wants to jump a 10ft gap the Player makes the appropriate athletics check, you don't ask them to actually do it in real life in order to succeed. That is what the skill check is for - it separates the Player from the Character. Just because a player cannot do something doesn't mean that their character can't.

In social situations this means that as a competent DM you listen to what the Player says, ask for a roll, then make a quick mental adjustment to the intent of what the Player said in the context of the situation. It is possible for a Character to be a skilled diplomat when the Player isn't, it's tricky (for the DM) but you cannot penalise someone for not sharing the abilities of their Character.

Also if someone hasn't got the required "role-playing skills" automatically failing them when they try their best isn't going to help the situation. Its going to make them less inclined to try "role-playing" in the future.

Is that really what you want?

Sorry for the rant, but that statement is the most offensive thing I have seen on these forums.

 

[BlackLotus]

I am sorry but I don't quite believe what I have just read.

If the players have inadequate role-playing skills they will fail automatically even of they have successfully rolled over the DC number.

I am trying to put into words how wrong I think that statement is but I find myself dumbstruck by it's arrogance.

Skill checks exist as a way of determining what a character is and isn't capable of. If a Character wants to jump a 10ft gap the Player makes the appropriate athletics check, you don't ask them to actually do it in real life in order to succeed. That is what the skill check is for - it separates the Player from the Character. Just because a player cannot do something doesn't mean that their character can't.

In social situations this means that as a competent DM you listen to what the Player says, ask for a roll, then make a quick mental adjustment to the intent of what the Player said in the context of the situation. It is possible for a Character to be a skilled diplomat when the Player isn't, it's tricky (for the DM) but you cannot penalise someone for not sharing the abilities of their Character.

Also if someone hasn't got the required "role-playing skills" automatically failing them when they try their best isn't going to help the situation. Its going to make them less inclined to try "role-playing" in the future.

Is that really what you want?

Sorry for the rant, but that statement is the most offensive thing I have seen on these forums.

Mesh Hong, to tell you the truth, I really don't like skill check challenges. I find them too rigid and they take alot away from actually role-playing out of a situation. A PCs shouldn't be able to get themselves out of a situation just because they rolled a high number on a dice. Anyhow, I'm still trying to write this section and I apologize for my arrogance. But I do want to instill the importance of role-playing above simple dice rolling in overcoming challenges in a social situation while in the game.

 

[Talysian]

Then my best suggestion is do away with the dice, put the books away and do group storytelling.

 

[BlackLotus]

Then my best suggestion is do away with the dice, put the books away and do group storytelling.

You know what, I like it! You have the best idea ever, I'm about to use it. Sweet!

 

[BlackLotus]

Then my best suggestion is do away with the dice, put the books away and do group storytelling.

Quest: Returning Amy back to her Parents
When you and other party members attempt to reunite Amy with her parents you encounter into some complications. First of all, Jon and Maylin perceive the rat-child as some sort of reviled monstrous creature that needs to be destroyed. But once you explain how Craven had used powerful dark magic to transform the children into humanoid rat like creatures, the young couple begin to believe you. Jon and Maylin finally accept the rat-child as being their daughter, Amy. When the couple accepts the creature as being their daughter, the rat-child immediately under goes a miraculous transformation back into a little girl. Overjoyed, Jon gives the party of adventurers a rare artifact that he considers a family heirloom.

The Adventurers receive 500 xp and Onyx Dog statue.
(See Onyx Dog on page 182 inside ADV. Vault)

How's this?

 

[the Jester]

A good way to set up a "loose" skill challenge is to decide on an easy, medium and hard DC, decide how many successes the party needs, and roleplay it out. Let them try different things- skills, powers, whatever- and adjudicate on the fly. I'd prolly use this technique for your skill challenge here.

Of course, straight group storytelling works too, but I'd be sure to let the characters that have invested in social skills use them. Otherwise, why bother?

 

[FireLance]

If you have the time, I would suggest that you read through this blog post of mine, especially the second question about whether you need to call for a skill check, for my suggestions on how you can integrate the storytelling approach into the skill challenge framework.

Basically, just award the players automatic successes (without needing to roll a skill check) whenever they do something sensible or creative. For example, assuming you have decided that four successes are needed before three failures, the following could be automatic successes:

1. Pointing out that the rat child happens to be wearing same pink dress that Amy wore when she had vanished.

2. Pointing out that the rat child is holding the same porcelain doll that Amy had.

3. Asking the rat child to provide information that only Amy and her parents would know (you may also decide that this is especially convincing, and award two or more successes for this).​

Apart from this, you might consider how the PCs might use various skills to overcome this challenge, for example:

Generic persuasion: Diplomacy, Bluff or Intimidate (Moderate difficulty)

Expert opinion - in this case, possibly citing similar documented historical cases or the signs and symptoms of magical transformation: History, Arcana or Nature (Moderate difficulty), possibly Heal (Hard difficulty)

Partly countering or dispelling the transformation: Arcana or Religion (first check at Moderate difficulty, subsequent checks at Hard difficulty).

Observation - these skills might not lead to successes in themselves, but might suggest avenues to explore that might lead to automatic successes, e.g. noting that the parents seem to recognize the rat child's dress and doll: Perception or Insight (Moderate difficulty)​

Don't forget to think about what happens if the party fails. How does Amy react? Is there any way to undo the transformation before returning her to her parents? Can the PCs try again and if not, what prevents them from doing so?