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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yogurt-in-BC" data-source="post: 4427834" data-attributes="member: 68825">I ran my first D&D game in over a decade recently, and the Obsidian skill challenges were some of the best parts of the night. I had three players -- two old timers and a newbie -- and all three took to the Obsidian system immediately and easily.  I didn't use the extra options like Bold Recovery, but I did say that good roleplaying and original ideas would be rewarded with bonuses, and the players were happy to take advantage of that.The first challenge had the players helping to save halfling families from a fire spreading through a floating village of skiffs and houseboats. Primary skills (+2) were Athletics and Heal.  I reduced the DC by 1 because the players were only strong in Heal, and I wanted their first Obsidian experience to be a positive one.The players earned a critical success on the first role, and managed a partial success overall. They probably could have won a full success, but one player tried to Intimidate the unknown arsonist, which had no chance of success (the arsonist was gone). The reward was mostly thematic, as the halflings took time from their tears to thank the players for doing what they could.The second challenge was a trek through marshy ravines and storm-swollen rivers.  Primary skills were Endurance and Nature, and players were encouraged to invent both the obstacles they encountered in the wild as well as how they overcame them. The players found it easy to come up with ideas for skill uses, although I had to encourage them to invent specific and colourful obstacles too. They beat this challenge handily, giving them a surprise round in a combat that followed (two swarms of scabby needle-toothed cats attacked them as they tried to cross the pilings of a ruined bridge -- I liked that one).Observations:The system seemed well balanced for the small number of players, more so than the official combat system, which was very chaotic with three.The idea of partial success fits in very well with the 4e principal of having failures be complications rather than disasters. My players really wanted to use a range of skills, even when they were trained in the primary skill and received a +2 on those rolls. I limited non-primary skill rolls to once-per-challenge, but they enjoyed searching their sheets for creative ways to use all their skills. I tried to channel this urge by limiting primary skill rolls too -- you could only describe the same action once. So they could say one Heal roll is for mouth-to-mouth on the matronly cook, while the next is for treating burns on the child pulled from the flames. This gave them an outlet for their creativity.Players sometimes wanted to use their at-wills to complete the challenge; for example, the wizard used her Thunderwave to spray water over burning boats.  I allowed this as an Arcana roll, although now that I think of it, maybe a straight Int roll, like an attack, would have been more appropriate? The roll was a 1, so my choice didn't matter.  Healing spells in particular seem like they would have been useful in the burning village challenge, although the cleric stuck to his Heal skill. Any thoughts on the use of at-wills in skill challenges?My immense thanks to Stalker0 for coming up with the Obsidian system. This gaming night was a rare one for my friends and I, and you helped make it memorable.</blockquote>

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