"Skill Challenges on a Battlefield #2" Article

[Baumi]

Damn that Skill Challenge sounds nifty, I will certainly steal a few things for my next adventure...

D&D Ruling Skill Challenges

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Yes, this is an interesting sample.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

Ooooh, I lke that!

Now all you need is the defenders singing "Men of Harlech" or, well, in my case, "Flower of Scotland", or then again..."Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"

Wish I could get playing again to do this kind of stuff, gah!

have to say, Skill Challenges are one of the best things D&D has had added to it!

 

[Klaus]

-- Nevermind --

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Why can't I download the PDF if I'm logged into DDi already?

Beats me. I have the same problem occassionally...

Unless in your case it explicitely still says you need to log in.

 

[Baumi]

have to say, Skill Challenges are one of the best things D&D has had added to it!

Have to agree with that. It took a while for me to find out what works best, but now I use it in every System I GM (it's quite system-less) and most GM's that I play with do the same now. 8D

 

[Stalker0]

A friend and I were just talking last night about how we think skill challenges don't suit the quick and dirty challenges we had often used them for, but were better used less frequently in larger scale things. I think this example highlights that greatly. This is a nice big epic skill "combat" more than just a challenge.

I also like how mearls incorporated combat elements into the challenge.

 

[Ktulu]

A friend and I were just talking last night about how we think skill challenges don't suit the quick and dirty challenges we had often used them for, but were better used less frequently in larger scale things. I think this example highlights that greatly. This is a nice big epic skill "combat" more than just a challenge.

I also like how mearls incorporated combat elements into the challenge.

I think that's very true, Stalker. If it's just sneaking into the X without getting caught, I can do a quick on-the-fly couple of skill checks with stealth, perception, etc... I don't need to spend any time putting together a series of successes/failures for the situation.

The skill challenge system, imo, should be used for bigger things that advance the story. I used to use them all the time to "avoid" combats. Now, if the situation is pass/fail, (i.e. sneak past guards, escape prison, etc..) I just completely run it on the fly. It's not like I don't have the requisite combats built...

However, If I have a specific situation needing resolution that isn't just pass/fail, then I build a skill challenge. It seems to work great for us, that way.

 

[vagabundo]

One year - or so - in and I think this article really sums up the potential of Skill Challenges. It is like a mini adventure.

I need to put on my thinking cap to come up with awesome stuff like this, maybe once every couple of sessions. I dont think I would like a skill challenge every session, but we tend to have regular short sessions.

Mike Mearls is the Lead Developer for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. His recent credits include H1: Keep on the Shadowfell and Player's Handbook II (v.3.5).

hehe, opps..

 

[evilbob]

I think skill challenges are the coolest idea that never got off the ground in 4.0. Or maybe a better analogy: that exploded after takeoff. They botched up the DMG's (and subsequent errata's) presentation of skill challenges so badly that I've been very wary of them ever since, and I'm actually a veteran DM - I'd hate to think how a newbie would feel. Even now if someone demanded that I explain how a skill challenge works according to the RAW, I couldn't do it. Can anyone (outside of the WotC office building)?

I'm glad to see them trying so hard to recover what was obviously a good idea, but they flubbed it so badly in the beginning I'm not sure if it will ever really be what it should or could have been. Ah well, there's always 5.0...