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<blockquote data-quote="Charlaquin" data-source="post: 8193586" data-attributes="member: 6779196">I didn’t really like skill challenges during 4e, but that’s because I didn’t understand how to run them properly. By the time I had been shown how to use them in a way that worked and felt organic, the 5e playtest was happening and I was ready to move on from 4e.I do think 5e could do with a skill challenge like system for non-combat encounters, but I’m not so sure that skill challenges as they appeared in 4e are the right solution to fill that need. Skill challenges work best under the 4e action resolution paradigm where players suggest what skills they would like to use, and the DM says yes unless they have a compelling reason not to. Under the 5e action resolution paradigm where the player describes their action in terms of the fiction and the DM calls for a check if they determine it’s necessary to resolve uncertainty in the outcome of the action, I’m not sure skill challenges would work as well.Personally, I use the angry GM’s tension pool mechanic in place of skill challenges in 5e. Time-consuming actions add a d6 to the tension pool, noisy or otherwise risky actions trigger a roll of all the dice currently in the tension pool. When a sixth die is added to the tension pool, all six are rolled and then removed from the tension pool. If any tension dice come up a 1, a complication occurs.I’ve found this to serve a similar role to skill challenges as a pacing mechanic, but makes the dramatic tension feel like an emergent result of the player’s actions, rather than a property of an artificial encounter structure, and fits much better with the 5e design paradigm. YMMV.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Charlaquin, post: 8193586, member: 6779196"] I didn’t really like skill challenges during 4e, but that’s because I didn’t understand how to run them properly. By the time I had been shown how to use them in a way that worked and felt organic, the 5e playtest was happening and I was ready to move on from 4e. I do think 5e could do with a skill challenge like system for non-combat encounters, but I’m not so sure that skill challenges as they appeared in 4e are the right solution to fill that need. Skill challenges work best under the 4e action resolution paradigm where players suggest what skills they would like to use, and the DM says yes unless they have a compelling reason not to. Under the 5e action resolution paradigm where the player describes their action in terms of the fiction and the DM calls for a check if they determine it’s necessary to resolve uncertainty in the outcome of the action, I’m not sure skill challenges would work as well. Personally, I use the angry GM’s tension pool mechanic in place of skill challenges in 5e. Time-consuming actions add a d6 to the tension pool, noisy or otherwise risky actions trigger a roll of all the dice currently in the tension pool. When a sixth die is added to the tension pool, all six are rolled and then removed from the tension pool. If any tension dice come up a 1, a complication occurs. I’ve found this to serve a similar role to skill challenges as a pacing mechanic, but makes the dramatic tension feel like an emergent result of the player’s actions, rather than a property of an artificial encounter structure, and fits much better with the 5e design paradigm. YMMV. [/QUOTE]

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