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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stalker0" data-source="post: 4318517" data-attributes="member: 5889">ADVANCED OPTIONSEverything you need to run a basic skill challenge is given above. However, the system has a lot more options in store for DMs who would like them.Optional Rules:Roll before the Action: In some cases, the DM may desire the players to roll before they describe their actions during a skill challenge. This can be useful in social challenges, as the players can then “act out” the results of their checks.Rolling Initiative: In the standard system, players are assumed to describe their actions in whatever order is appropriate and roll simultaneously. However, feel free to have the players roll initiative if it helps you run the challenge.Total Victory and Total Defeat: In some challenges, a DM may not desire partial victory, instead wanting either complete victory or complete failure. In that case, remove the success number from the challenge, and just use the partial victory number. From there, feel free to change the DC to suit your desired difficulty.Going for Broke: This rule gives players more control over their actions in a skill challenge, and allows them to come back from greater failure. During the third (and last) segment of a skill challenge, players can take a -5 to their skill rolls. If they still make the DC, they receive one additional success. So a players who gets a critical success would receive 3 successes. Players must choose whether to go for broke before any players have made their skill rolls. In general this will give the players fewer partial victories and more full successes. Same Skill as long as a Different Description: Once the DM has decided to allow a skill, the system allows the player to use that skill over and over again for every segment of the skill challenge. However, if a DM wants to encourage more creativity, he can rule that a player can only use the same skill if he comes up with a new description for it, or continues to roleplay the skill appropriately.Skill Challenges equal More Combat: In general, skill challenges provide an alternative to combat. However, in many cases combat is a big part of the fun for players, and while they are happy to win a challenge, they may also secretly have wished to fail if it provided a combat.When using this option, place a combat at the end of your challenge regardless of whether the players succeed or fail. Instead, have failure provide them a -1 to their attack rolls in combat, partial victory give them an extra action point they can use (or an extra second wind perhaps) and a victory provide them a +1 to their attack rolls. Larger Skill ChallengesSometimes, one skill challenge isn’t enough! There are three general instances when a DM would like to have more than one skill challenge:1)    Partial Victory. By their nature, partial victories invoke unfinished work, which could mean another skill challenge for the party.2)    More in-depth challenges. The DM would like to use skill challenges as a large quest or an epic journey.3)    Mixed Challenges. A DM wants to use a wider range of skill challenges, including mental, physical, and social challenges all in one.Building off a Partial Victory: Feel free to create another basic challenge for the party, and insert it later in the adventure to tie up the loose ends they left in the first challenge. In this case, you may want to use the “Total Victory and Total Defeat” optional rule listed above so that one way or another, the party will be done after the second challenge.Building a larger challenge: This is very easy in the Obsidian system. Just follow these steps:1)    Choose a basic skill challenge, and give it a type.2)    If the party fails the challenge, don’t give them a standard penalty. Instead, they receive a -1 to all skill rolls involved in the next section of the challenge.3)    If the party gets a victory, don’t give them a standard bonus. Instead, they receive a +1 to all skill rolls involved in the next section of the challenge.4)    If the party gets a partial victory, they receive no additional bonus or penalty, and proceed to the next phase of the challenge.5)    Repeat steps 1-4 to add as many sections to the challenge as you like. Feel free to use different types as well.6)    For the final challenge, provide failure and success benefits as normal. You may wish to make these grander than normal, as the final result is the effort of many challenges.Example Large Challenge: Escape from Jail.Section 1 Breakout (Social Challenge)The party is in a high security jail, but one of the guards is sympathetic to their cause. With enough persuasion, the guard might let them out.Primary Skill: DiplomacyFailure: The guard sets a trap for the party to teach them a lesson. The party is released, but many guards are waiting for them. They enter the next challenge with a -1 to all of their skill checks in the next section.Partial Victory: The guard lets the party out, but only seconds before security is alerted. The party must proceed to the next section with no bonus or penalty.Victory: The party enlists several guards to help, and manages to escape well before security is alerted. They receive a +1 to their skill checks for the next section.Section 2: The Chase (Physical)The party is on the run, being chased by the guards. They must make their way to the exit of the city and escape.Primary Skill: Athletics, EnduranceFailure: The party manages to escape the city, but is terribly winded from the chase, and the guards are not far behind. They receive a -1 to all skill checks for the next section of the challenge.Partial Victory: The party escapes the city, but the guards are not far behind. They proceed to the next section of the challenge.Victory: The party is well ahead of the guards. They receive a +1 on their skill checks for the next section.Final Section: Forest Walk (Mental)The party must navigate the forest of Myar, which surrounds the city, with the guards on their heels and patrols in the woods. They must find the quick ways through the dense forest, or be overtaken by the patrols.Primary Skill: NatureFailure: The party is surrounded by guards and asked to surrender. The encounter is extremely difficult for the party, and may result in several deaths. The players can fight or surrender. If they surrender, they are taken to the city magistrate.Partial Victory: The party escapes most of the patrols, but one lies between them and freedom. Set up a standard encounter for the party. If they succeed, the party is free, but tightened security will make it extremely difficult to enter the city again.Victory: The party makes it by all of the patrols, and escapes without incident. In addition, they manage to find a dropped report that gives detailed information about the security of the city, which would assist if the party decides to return there later.Skill Challenges in CombatSometimes, a DM would like to combine combat and skill challenges into a single encounter. The Obsidian System only needs a small tweak to make this happen.Follow these steps:1)    Create a basic skill challenge, and assign it a type. Generally, combat skill challenges are physical or mental ones.2)    Each player can make one skill check for every move action they spend. So a player could make 2 skill checks in a round, or 3 if using an action point.3)    Decide failure, victory, and partial victory normally. In general, activate the effects of a partial victory when it happens, and then add in the effects of the full success if/when the party obtains it.4)    For XP purposes, treat the skill challenge as a complexity 3 if you were using the standard system.Optional Rule: “No time limit”. In some cases, the DM doesn’t want failure in the challenge. The players’ use of actions is enough of a payment to overcome a challenge. In this case, don’t use the standard 3 segment rule. Let players continue to make checks as they desire until the overcome the challenge.Example: The trap (Physical Challenge)The party is facing a series of monsters and a metal disk trap that is a serious hazard. They must overcome the monsters but if they don’t disable the trap it will become even deadlier.Primary Skill: ThieveryFailure: The trap ramps up, gaining +2 to its attack and damage rolls.Partial Victory: The trap is weakened, taking a -2 to its attack and damage rolls (this occurs immediately whenever the party reaches the required number of successes).Victory: The trap shuts down completely (this occurs immediately whenever the party reaches the required number of successes).Using the “No Time Limit” Optional Rule: The trap does not ramp up. It continues to attack the party until the party gets the required number of successes to weaken or disable the trap, or until the party leaves the trap behind.Adjusting the Difficulty of the System to your party.The system assumes that for a 5 man party, against any challenge a party will have:1) ONE good skill user, who has a high stat and training in a skill useful to the challenge.2) TWO average skill users, who have training, but a lower stat (or an armor check penalty).3) TWO poor users. These guys have no training and a weak stat in the skill.With such a party, the system gives around a 30% failure rate, a 30% partial victory, and a 40% total victory rate for an equal level challenge (so 70% of the time the party is winning something)DMs may wish to tweak the system to mold it better for their party. In general, adding +1 to the DC increases the challenge of the system by about 10%. Further, every +1 each party member gains to a skill increases the party’s win chances by about 2%. That means if a player gains a +5 to a skill (such as by skill training) then increasing the DC by 1 will balance out the challenge.If a DM wants a different tweak, he can increase or decrease the victory number without touching the partial victory number. This will change the ratio between partial and total victory, but the party’s failure rate won’t change. Note that this effect is actually quite large, if you increase the number by 1, you decrease the total success rate by 16% (and increase the partial victory by the same amount).IMPORTANT NOTE: The 3 segments are an important part of the system. Changing the number of segments in a skill challenge block will greatly change the system, and is not recommended.So that’s it. You know have all the weapons in the Obsidian system. If you want even more information about the system, take a look at the next post.</blockquote>

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