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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Thoughts of a 3E/4E powergamer on starting to play 5E
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6859281" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>You've posted this before, and I've replied before: I get the impression that you don't have much familiarity with how non-combat closed scene resolution mechanics (of which the skill challenge is an example; other examples are found in Burning Wheel - say, the Duel of Wits - and in HeroWars/Quest and in Marvel Heroic RP) are meant to work.</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?301282-Actual-play-examples-balance-between-fiction-and-mechanics" target="_blank">Here</a> <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?309950-Actual-play-my-first-quot-social-only-quot-session" target="_blank">are</a> <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?324955-Whelm-reforged-as-Overwhelm-and-other-recent-skill-challenges" target="_blank">some</a> <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?353496-First-time-godslayers-PCs-kill-Torog" target="_blank">links</a> to actual play examples of skill challenges. You'll see that in all of them fictional positioning is crucial to action declaration, as per the DMG discussion of skill challenges (at pp 72 ("More so than perhaps any other kind of encounter, a skill challenge is defined by its context in an adventure"), 75 ("<em>t’s particularly important to make sure these checks are grounded in actions that make sense in the adventure and the situation") and elsewhere).</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>The key feature of the skill challenge, or its analogues in other systems, is that each successful check <em>obliges the GM to move the fiction in the direction desired by the player</em>, with ultimate success meaning the player (and therefore his/her PC) achieves whatever was at stake in the fictional situation.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>In terms of combat mechanics, D&D has always been like this: a successful hit reduces hit points, and hence takes the players closer to success (zero hp). There is a contrast here with (say) Rolemaster or Runequest combat, in which a successful hit might not move the fiction forward at all (eg if the NPC makes a successful parry check (RQ), or if the hit does only a handful of concussion hits damage and the player rolls 01-05 on the crit roll (RM)).</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Skill challenges are a device for applying this sort of closed resolution, with finality generated via players' successful checks, to non-combat resolution.</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6859281, member: 42582"] You've posted this before, and I've replied before: I get the impression that you don't have much familiarity with how non-combat closed scene resolution mechanics (of which the skill challenge is an example; other examples are found in Burning Wheel - say, the Duel of Wits - and in HeroWars/Quest and in Marvel Heroic RP) are meant to work. [url=http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?301282-Actual-play-examples-balance-between-fiction-and-mechanics]Here[/url] [url=http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?309950-Actual-play-my-first-quot-social-only-quot-session]are[/url] [url=http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?324955-Whelm-reforged-as-Overwhelm-and-other-recent-skill-challenges]some[/url] [url=http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?353496-First-time-godslayers-PCs-kill-Torog]links[/url] to actual play examples of skill challenges. You'll see that in all of them fictional positioning is crucial to action declaration, as per the DMG discussion of skill challenges (at pp 72 ("More so than perhaps any other kind of encounter, a skill challenge is defined by its context in an adventure"), 75 ("[I]t’s particularly important to make sure these checks are grounded in actions that make sense in the adventure and the situation") and elsewhere). The key feature of the skill challenge, or its analogues in other systems, is that each successful check [I]obliges the GM to move the fiction in the direction desired by the player[/I], with ultimate success meaning the player (and therefore his/her PC) achieves whatever was at stake in the fictional situation. In terms of combat mechanics, D&D has always been like this: a successful hit reduces hit points, and hence takes the players closer to success (zero hp). There is a contrast here with (say) Rolemaster or Runequest combat, in which a successful hit might not move the fiction forward at all (eg if the NPC makes a successful parry check (RQ), or if the hit does only a handful of concussion hits damage and the player rolls 01-05 on the crit roll (RM)). Skill challenges are a device for applying this sort of closed resolution, with finality generated via players' successful checks, to non-combat resolution.[/I] [/QUOTE]
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