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<blockquote data-quote="KarinsDad" data-source="post: 5472916" data-attributes="member: 2011">No, but just because the DM set up a skill challenge to climb the mountain shouldn't prevent the players from saying:&quot;Ok, Fred and Barney are the best climbers. Let's have them co-climb up (x number of Athletics skill checks based on distance), roped together. Then, they drop ropes down to the rest of the team to pull up all of the gear and all of the team members who are lousy at climbing.&quot;Instead of a skill challenge, the players change it to few skill rolls for the strongest skilled PCs and the rest is mop up.I once convinced our DM to do this for a river crossing instead of the skill challenge she originally had set up (one of the WotC SCs btw). 40 feet or so across, the first PC swam it and then each PC after that was roped over (swimming, but pulled over quickly by the PCs on the far bank so that they did not end up drifting downstream too much). The DM didn't bother with rolls beyond the first PC.Cut to the chase and the more exciting parts of the game. Crossing a river can be made more exciting and a skill challenge can be enforced, but that tends to be an artificial exercise in &quot;How can I make this more challenging and a reason for a skill challenge?&quot; instead of &quot;It makes sense for pygmies to be shooting at the swimming PCs in this encounter&quot;. In the name of &quot;excitement&quot; or &quot;fun&quot; or &quot;I want to use a skill challenge&quot;, some DMs just throw a lot of extra stuff at players, even if it seems a bit forced (this is often seen in trap layout as well).Just because something is an obstacle in the game system shouldn't mean that one and only one mechanical solution should be used. Even combat should sometimes be allowed to be avoided.Instead of climbing the mountain, maybe the PCs will walk around it. If the players come up with a way to avoid the meat and potatoes of a massive skill challenge, the DM should be flexible enough to just let a few skill rolls suffice and move on.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="KarinsDad, post: 5472916, member: 2011"] No, but just because the DM set up a skill challenge to climb the mountain shouldn't prevent the players from saying: "Ok, Fred and Barney are the best climbers. Let's have them co-climb up (x number of Athletics skill checks based on distance), roped together. Then, they drop ropes down to the rest of the team to pull up all of the gear and all of the team members who are lousy at climbing." Instead of a skill challenge, the players change it to few skill rolls for the strongest skilled PCs and the rest is mop up. I once convinced our DM to do this for a river crossing instead of the skill challenge she originally had set up (one of the WotC SCs btw). 40 feet or so across, the first PC swam it and then each PC after that was roped over (swimming, but pulled over quickly by the PCs on the far bank so that they did not end up drifting downstream too much). The DM didn't bother with rolls beyond the first PC. Cut to the chase and the more exciting parts of the game. Crossing a river can be made more exciting and a skill challenge can be enforced, but that tends to be an artificial exercise in "How can I make this more challenging and a reason for a skill challenge?" instead of "It makes sense for pygmies to be shooting at the swimming PCs in this encounter". In the name of "excitement" or "fun" or "I want to use a skill challenge", some DMs just throw a lot of extra stuff at players, even if it seems a bit forced (this is often seen in trap layout as well). Just because something is an obstacle in the game system shouldn't mean that one and only one mechanical solution should be used. Even combat should sometimes be allowed to be avoided. Instead of climbing the mountain, maybe the PCs will walk around it. If the players come up with a way to avoid the meat and potatoes of a massive skill challenge, the DM should be flexible enough to just let a few skill rolls suffice and move on. [/QUOTE]

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