Traps preview

[MindWanderer]

Oh, one other thing: those DCs are pretty steep! Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Perception always use a static Take 10? Or is that only against Stealth? If it's a Take 10, then to reach the DC 27 to spot the control panel on the Whirling Blades trap, you need a +17, even a trained elf with a 20 Wisdom needs to be level 10. And at level 26, a rogue with a 26 Dex has a +26 Thievery modifier (how's that for symmetry?), which is very generous and succeeds at the Soul Gem half the time.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

There is Passive Perception which is 10 + Modifiers, but then there is simply Perception which is d20 + Modifiers.

 

[mach1.9pants]

I think if the PCs are just bimbling about then use the static if they actively search then they can roll, but I could be wrong.

 

[FadedC]

Or stand outside of its range & blast radius and pelt it with at will spells. (of course only id you manage to spot this rather big gem in the middle of a room. Thats not easy.)

Well I believe in the actual ghost tower there was nowhere to stand in the room with the gem that was safe. It was in a small room on top a staircase or something.

Either way if the goal is to retrieve the gem, then blowing it up from range would probably not be the optimal strategy....

 

[mach1.9pants]

Either way if the goal is to retrieve the gem, then blowing it up from range would probably not be the optimal strategy....

CN FTW!

 

[djdaidouji]

I've never really understood the whole skill challenge concept. It seemed a bit contrived for me. Like, the PC's are going to say "Alright, I have three successes so far, and it isn't done, so I have at least two fails before I'm screwed." And like you said, if it takes more then a move act to make the checks, the whole combat+skill challenge is going to be boring. If you need 8 successes, chances are that it'll just be a battle with one less PC, while he sits in the corner chex'in hiz skillz, and when he's half done, the rest of the party will be done the fight.

Also, I've been thinking about what could be done with skill challenges, even if you were to make it really obvious. And I couldn't think of more then a few.

 

[Derren]

There is Passive Perception which is 10 + Modifiers, but then there is simply Perception which is d20 + Modifiers.

Player: I open the door [makes passive check->fails]
DM: You see an empty room
Player: Really? [makes active check->success]
DM: No, there is a pedestal in the middle of the room with a big, fist sized to be exact, cut gem in the middle of it.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Player: I open the door [makes passive check->fails]
DM: You see an empty room
Player: Really? [makes active check->success]
DM: No, there is a pedestal in the middle of the room with a big, fist sized to be exact, cut gem in the middle of it.

Or actually...

Player: I open the door.
DM: [Makes passive check->fails]You see a room a pedestal with a gem stands in the middle of it.
Player: Hmm... [makes active check ->success]
DM: You notice a slight humming and glow coming from the gem, the glow seems to intensify as you draw near.

 

[HandofMystra]

comparing compexities

I noticed that it was pretty to easy to compute success probabilities for the different complexities. It seems that the different complexities make little mechanical difference (the lower complexities are a bit more forgiving at lower individual success probabilities than the higher ones) in the success rates, so the only reason you would use one complexity over another is gameplay/flavor. As someone pointed out on the skill challenges thread, one can enrich skill challenges by having partial successes and failures. I plotted success probability for different complexities vs Thievery bonus for a DC 20 task. There is one tab with data and one tab with the chart.

 

[Baumi]

This are only MY assumptions about the skill challenges for the traps:

-) I'm pretty sure that more than one Character can help to disable the traps, I mean that's the whole point of the Challenges. So if a defender manage to hold the enemy off for a while and the others try to disable it, then you could be finished in 1-2 Rounds.

-) I think that the Thiefing Skill is only the default and the GM will be able to allow others by RAW, but most of the time it will be a bit harder. Examples: Perception for Clues, Arcana for stabilizing Arcane Triggers, History for old tricks, Acrobatics to "distract" the trap,...