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<blockquote data-quote="RyvenCedrylle" data-source="post: 4768404" data-attributes="member: 66726">One of the more glaring differences between skill challenges and combat - which both primarily boil down to 'roll high a bunch of times' - is that dice rolls are not the only thing happening mechanically in combat.&nbsp; You have movement, HP tracking, terrain features, status conditions, etc.&nbsp; The die rolls are couched in a ton of other decisions and that buffering causes it to feel like something other than what is really is: roll often, roll high.&nbsp; The Skill Challenge on the other hand is utterly naked.&nbsp; There are no other meaningful decisions or even distractions from the repetitive rolling.&nbsp; So what can we add to Skill Challenges to get some clothing on them?&nbsp; Some of my ideas:1) Enemies Bite Back - only critical failures (roll of 1) create failures for the party.&nbsp; Otherwise, rolls made by the NPCs against the PC's Skills or maybe Defenses count as 'failures' for the PCs.&nbsp; You don't take damage in combat when you miss an attack, do you?&nbsp; Neither should you take 'damage' for 'missing' a skill (most of the time) either.2) Environmental Effects - Even the most timid speaker earns a little bit more attention from an audience when he is above them or is standing behind a podium.&nbsp; We're sort of trained to recognize certain body positioning or environmental cues as meaningful.&nbsp; Give the gal a +2 for properly (or -2 for improperly) positioning herself relative to the audience. 3) It Does What It Needs to Do - Maybe that lock is really too small for two people to work on and so all 'aid another' Theivery checks are at -4.&nbsp; The merchant's young apprentice may be easily Intimidated, giving PCs a +2 to those checks.&nbsp; Heck, maybe giving the right roleplay idea automatically garners a success.&nbsp; A Skill Challenge with DC 17 for every Skill possible may be statistically balanced but it's boring as all get out.&nbsp; Even more so if all Skill Challenges are always DC 17 at level X.4) Status Conditions - I'm less sure how this one would work, exactly.&nbsp; For instance, an NPC might make some sort of check to 'frustrate' a PC, limiting him to 'Aid Another' this round.&nbsp; An NPC could end up with the 'removed' condition, prohibiting her from getting environmental bonuses.&nbsp; The mark would be an awesome Skill Challenge mechanic - my witty barb has gotten under your skin and so you take a -2 to interact with anyone but me.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="RyvenCedrylle, post: 4768404, member: 66726"] One of the more glaring differences between skill challenges and combat - which both primarily boil down to 'roll high a bunch of times' - is that dice rolls are not the only thing happening mechanically in combat. You have movement, HP tracking, terrain features, status conditions, etc. The die rolls are couched in a ton of other decisions and that buffering causes it to feel like something other than what is really is: roll often, roll high. The Skill Challenge on the other hand is utterly naked. There are no other meaningful decisions or even distractions from the repetitive rolling. So what can we add to Skill Challenges to get some clothing on them? Some of my ideas: 1) [B]Enemies Bite Back[/B] - only critical failures (roll of 1) create failures for the party. Otherwise, rolls made by the NPCs against the PC's Skills or maybe Defenses count as 'failures' for the PCs. You don't take damage in combat when you miss an attack, do you? Neither should you take 'damage' for 'missing' a skill (most of the time) either. 2) [B]Environmental Effects[/B] - Even the most timid speaker earns a little bit more attention from an audience when he is above them or is standing behind a podium. We're sort of trained to recognize certain body positioning or environmental cues as meaningful. Give the gal a +2 for properly (or -2 for improperly) positioning herself relative to the audience. 3) [B]It Does What It Needs to Do [/B]- Maybe that lock is really too small for two people to work on and so all 'aid another' Theivery checks are at -4. The merchant's young apprentice may be easily Intimidated, giving PCs a +2 to those checks. Heck, maybe giving the right roleplay idea automatically garners a success. A Skill Challenge with DC 17 for every Skill possible may be statistically balanced but it's boring as all get out. Even more so if [I]all [/I]Skill Challenges are always DC 17 at level X. 4) [B]Status Conditions[/B] - I'm less sure how this one would work, exactly. For instance, an NPC might make some sort of check to 'frustrate' a PC, limiting him to 'Aid Another' this round. An NPC could end up with the 'removed' condition, prohibiting her from getting environmental bonuses. The mark would be an [I]awesome[/I] Skill Challenge mechanic - my witty barb has gotten under your skin and so you take a -2 to interact with anyone but me. [/QUOTE]

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