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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 4501500" data-attributes="member: 386">I am going to split up your questions into bullet points.First of all, it's all about the fictional situation.  What's happening right here, right now?1. When a PC takes an action that moves him towards his goal, the result of the die roll determines success or failure in the Skill Challenge.  If the action doesn't move the PC towards his goal or oppose the other side, it's an Aid Another check.  Use your judgement as a DM here; some checks might be Aid Another checks (even to Aid the PC making the check!), and other ones might be the "real" roll.e.g. In the "ghosts rush at you" someone might say, "I look at their armour and think back - I know heraldry, I should know who these men once served."  That's not really going to do anything, but it might give the PC some kind of advantage in an upcoming roll.  I would call that an Aid Another check.Now with that information, the PC might pass that along to another PC - or use it himself! - and give a +2 bonus to the next roll.  "These are knights of Nerath, sworn to protect the Shadow Rift!  Call upon their sense of duty when you rebuff them!"  "I call upon the Light of Pelor - back, restless spirits, remember your oaths in life, your sworn duty to fight the taint of Orcus!"2. It's a group check when everyone gets behind someone else and relies on that one PC - the one who is making the check - to do something to move towards their goal.e.g. Climbing a cliff, other PCs might work up a harness and rope or point out tricky spots or good handholds, but one person actually has to climb.It's an individual check when one person is singled out, alone, and can't get support from the rest of the group.e.g. A swarm of bats rushes out from a hidden cave on the cliff, and he has to make a check to hang on or fall.3. All checks should count towards success and failure, both individual ones and group ones.  The difference is in the fictional situation; if one PC has been successful at all his checks, he should end up in a different fictional position from the rest of the group on success or failure.e.g. In my KotS game, Kalarel was working a ritual to curse the PCs.  The warlord had made a bluff check successfully and had moved away from Kalarel and the guards.  If the skill challenge came down to a failure, he wouldn't have been cursed, but he would have been cut off from the rest of the group.This gives you a kind of "partial success / partial failure" mechanic, and it means that you will have no idea what the end state will be.  I find that is really awesome and makes for killer roleplaying.4. This ties into the above.  If he makes a check, he is changing the fictional situation.  If he is successful, he's successful.Let's say you're having a discussion with the Duke, trying to get him to aid you.  The group fails, but one PC makes all his checks.  The Duke won't aid, but maybe he likes the one PC (and hates the rest) and offers the PC some kind of side deal.5. This ties into the above, again.  If some succeed - say, on a long desert trek - and some fail, the ones who succeed won't lose healing surges while those who fail will.Maybe this will mean those who succeed will have to strike off, alone, to find a source of water while the others need rest.6. The dice determine success or failure.  If the roll is high enough to beat the DC, then it's a success; if not, it's a failure.In terms of fictional positioning, the PC should be successful at his action as he described it.  It might not mean that the initial situation is resolved, but it might, even if the skill challenge is not over; if the challenge is not over, then it will morph into something else.e.g. "I grab the Duke by the collar and yell in his face.  'Give us what we want or I'll kill you.'"  Success; the Duke agrees to the demand.  But the skill challenge isn't over.  Now the Captain of the Guard walks in and draws steel!  "Let the Duke go, assassins!"  Or maybe the Duke is afraid, cowed, but he doesn't agree to help the PCs.  "The Duke cowers and whines, 'I can't...'"  It's up to you as DM to decide what's the best way to go at the time based on what's best for the game.7. Only allow Aid Another checks if other people can actually do something to Aid.  If they can Aid, then whoever they are Aiding will make the check.In the example of the guy climbing the cliff, where the bats come out, the guy climbing will need to make the check (barring some awesome player creativity).Who makes the roll depends on the fictional situation.In the end, Skill Challenges are a framework to help resolve conflicts in the fictional situation.  The fiction is the most important thing, and you're using the Skill Challenge to fairly determine what happens, and through that, to change the situation.This isn't the only way to run a Skill Challenge, but it's my way.</blockquote>

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