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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Badwe" data-source="post: 5383994" data-attributes="member: 61762">I make it a point to try to integrate skills into the game as much as possible, even outside the realm of skill challenges.  This sometimes ends up devolving into somewhat gamist situations, but it helps the skills feel relevant.  For example, my home party has many high arcana checks so i let them use it to detect nearby magic items when they're decided what encounter to crawl into next (currently in pyramid of shadows, very dungeon crawl).  Other things I have done is allowed them to search for rituals in a library, by using extra time to get easier checks (or vice versa, using a strong skill to finish quickly), but this is only relevant when there is some sort of time limit.Another thing I have done is leaned heavily on the new essentials write-ups of skill checks, and I've asked my players to read the blurbs about "improvising with x skill" to try and get them to imagine situations where they can use things.  They'll often use knowledge checks to try to get random tidbits about how monsters might behave or use arcana on a disabled magical trap to figure out who might have made it.In addition to that, I almost always create some sort of incentive for every PC to make a check rather than rallying around the person with the best check, and when I don't create that situation I accept that the players will do so.  By having both, it feels more dynamic.  This most often translates to skill challenges appearing in the middle of combat encounters.  Another situation that came up in a pure skill challenge in the pyramid of shadows was a room that filled with gas and locked shut.  Because there was constant damage being done to everyone every turn, there was a real incentive to have everyone try something. I will almost always allow a combination of thievery and arcana muck with the environment of the encounter.  My PCs also occasionally have some folks who are intent on breaking things, which helps me solve the problem of weather or not to list out successes.  If i expect the PCs to try and hit something to break it, i'll assign it HP comperable to a monster of the same level, and assume a successful skill check does some fraction of damage. IE: if a trap arrow shooting statue needs 4 successes to disable and has 80 hp, every success does 20 damage.  Finally, and this is probably where I fail the most, with regards to trying to get PCs to not game the system and focus on rolls, I try to create auto-success situations.  Classes like fighter often have so few social skills it's impossible for them to roleplay with any degree of believability, and they'll try to force that intimidate check every time.  Instead, simply allow something that makes a lot of sense to automatically succeed.  If the fighter decides to bribe an obviously corrupt official, then it succeeds outright.  If a hysterical mother is told the heroes won't rest until the daughter is safe, just discreetly hide that skill check you had lined up and make it auto-succeed.  I have the most trouble with this one because i have taught my players so well to use their imagination on what they could use their skills with, they rarely hesitate to roll for something.</blockquote>

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