Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libramarian" data-source="post: 6178969" data-attributes="member: 6688858">Seems to me that the problem with skill challenges is that the 4e DMG presented them as being like a combat system for noncombat scenes, when they're not analogous to the combat system at all. Completely different kinds of fun. Skill challenges are not a *game*; if you approach them as a game then the roleplaying will feel "tacked on" because it doesn't affect the underlying mechanics and doesn't affect your chance of winning or losing. Skill challenges provide a structure that encourages everyone to contribute to the narration of noncombat scenes and makes it difficult for the DM to railroad them. They should only be used with players who like to roleplay for its own sake or for the impact that their description has on the narrative. They should not be used with players who only like to describe their skill check in the fiction if they can squeeze some sort of tactical advantage out of it.The problem with how skill challenges were explained is epitomized in their name: "skill challenge" sounds really gamist, doesn't it? They should have been called the group shared narration mechanic or something.</blockquote>