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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rafe" data-source="post: 4452522" data-attributes="member: 67395">Indeed!  Lots of great advice here and it's been much appreciated!A quick rule-of-thumb is to use a skill challenge in place of a combat encounter, or as the social/skill equivalent to one.  So ask yourself:  Is this situation as important as a combat encounter?  What are the penalties for failure and the rewards for succeeding?  If there are tangible rewards and penalties, it may be skill challenge worthy.  I wouldn't use more than 2 skill challenges per session and, if you do, make sure they're different.  Use an environmental challenge (scaling a mountain or finding a way through the hinterlands) if you've already used a social challenge (negotiation or interrogation).If a situation can be resolved with a single roll, it's not a skill challenge.  Check out the sidebox on p. 72 of the DMG: Is This a Challenge?  If you use skill challenges too frequently, it will just start to seem like more rolling.  You can also switch it up a bit and not use dice.  Go with straight roleplaying once in a while and afterwards reward xp.  The players won't know it's a challenge til you reward them or describe the failure's effects.Ooops... I just re-read your issue: re-using the same challenge for similar circumstances.  Well, change the circumstances somewhat.  Instead of negotiating with a lord, they have to convince a court of lords to whom the king listens.  Convince them and you've convinced the high lord or king.  Or perhaps the audience itself wouldn't be an issue if you could only get past the chancellor... so use a skill challenge on the chancellor and not the lord; the lord trusts the chancellor and will give a good listening to anyone the chancellor admits.  Or, again... just roleplay it.  If your group isn't roleplaying-heavy or interested, then don't be afraid to repeat skill challenges.Just be imaginative and change a few things.  Perhaps allow different skills.  Maybe the lord was once a ranger.  A history check now opens up nature checks which the lord is very receptive to.  Etc.Hope that helps.</blockquote>

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