Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tequila Sunrise" data-source="post: 5969953" data-attributes="member: 40398">This is one of the reasons I don't run many SCs. I've never been able to conquer the logistical problems, such as those you describe, well enough to make a SC feel really satisfying. So these days I run these situations the old school way.For example if the PCs want to sneak thru a ghoul city, I'll say "Anyone who wants to take point, be ready to roll Stealth. Anyone who doesn't want to roll Stealth can stay 50 feet (10 squares) behind the point PC/s." (If the buildings are relatively intact and close together, reducing visibility, I'll make it 25 feet instead.) It's simple, it's intuitive to everyone, and it's fast.That said, I did have one DM who made SCs alright. His strategy was to come right out and tell us when we were in a skill challenge, if it wasn't clear, and then to let us make a case for any skill we wanted to use. I don't think he even had notes about which skills he expected us to use, because he let us use pretty much any skill for any SC. In his campaign I was playing a mul with a phenomenal Endurance bonus, so that's what I used.DM: Bob the fighter, the first of you to step into the long passage, is scorched by a flame jet that erupts from a cleverly hidden nozzle in the wall's engravings. It appears that the whole passage is trapped with flame jets! How do you proceed?Bob the Fighter: I use athletics to run thru the traps as fast as I can!Jill the Rogue: I use acrobatics to tumble safely past the traps!Me: I, uh...use Endurance to, ehm...endure the flames?DM: Sounds good; just like walking on hot coals!As I recall, my mul was not the most injured by those traps, despite my incredibly shallow justification for using Endurance. This is the best kind of SC I've seen because, while it does suffer from the ever-present "pick your best skill and spam it" syndrome, it allowed me reign to problem solve how I chose, and didn't require the DM to explain any meta-gamey restrictions like "can only use this skill three times."It's not a SC style to be taken seriously, but what do ya want from D&D after all?</blockquote>

Verification