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<blockquote data-quote="LoneViper" data-source="post: 4888022" data-attributes="member: 74298">I use a modified version of the Obsidian system by Stalker0, so take this feedback with a grain of salt... I use a house-ruled variant of a custom system(!). I agree with those above that partial successes are key.I tell players a single skill (or, rarely, a pair of skills) that I think is most relevant to the task at hand -- whether it's Nature for a wilderness jaunt, or Streetwise for gathering info -- and they get a +2 to all attempts with this Skill. Less imaginative players or those who can't come up with a good idea can always default to this recommended key skill.Regarding the &quot;use my max skill no matter what&quot; mindset, I run Skill Checks by asking the players what they want to do in the situation, and then asking them for a check with whatever Skill I think is most relevant based on their idea. Obviously they could still outfox me by coming up with a Skill, and then telling me an activity that obviously uses that skill, but encouraging them to forget skills and narrate their behavior seems to break them out of that &quot;how can I use my +12 Religion&quot; mentality.The Obsidian system virtually eliminates Aid Another because there are only three &quot;phases,&quot; but if one of the players has a great idea and another just wants to help out, I have the aiding player make a reduced-difficulty check with that Skill and essentially double-or-nothing the original player's check. This is probably statistically unbalanced, but so is the +2 from Aid Another. I like this way more, though.I allow players to continue using a successful Skill for as long as they continue to make their checks. If they fail at a Skill in one phase, they can't try it again in another phase (it's a dead end!).I guess I run things fairly fast and loose, and it may be a little harder to succeed at Skill Challenges, but I tend to reward really brilliant thinking with bonuses... because I like to see great ideas succeed!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="LoneViper, post: 4888022, member: 74298"] I use a modified version of the Obsidian system by Stalker0, so take this feedback with a grain of salt... I use a house-ruled variant of a custom system(!). I agree with those above that partial successes are key. I tell players a single skill (or, rarely, a pair of skills) that I think is most relevant to the task at hand -- whether it's Nature for a wilderness jaunt, or Streetwise for gathering info -- and they get a +2 to all attempts with this Skill. Less imaginative players or those who can't come up with a good idea can always default to this recommended key skill. Regarding the "use my max skill no matter what" mindset, I run Skill Checks by asking the players what they want to do in the situation, and then asking them for a check with whatever Skill I think is most relevant based on their idea. Obviously they could still outfox me by coming up with a Skill, and then telling me an activity that obviously uses that skill, but encouraging them to forget skills and narrate their behavior seems to break them out of that "how can I use my +12 Religion" mentality. The Obsidian system virtually eliminates Aid Another because there are only three "phases," but if one of the players has a great idea and another just wants to help out, I have the aiding player make a reduced-difficulty check with that Skill and essentially double-or-nothing the original player's check. This is probably statistically unbalanced, but so is the +2 from Aid Another. I like this way more, though. I allow players to continue using a [I]successful[/I] Skill for as long as they continue to make their checks. If they fail at a Skill in one phase, they can't try it again in another phase (it's a dead end!). I guess I run things fairly fast and loose, and it may be a little harder to succeed at Skill Challenges, but I tend to reward really brilliant thinking with bonuses... because I like to see great ideas succeed! [/QUOTE]

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