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War of the Burning Sky – Scouring of Gate Pass detailed impressions (spoilers)
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<blockquote data-quote="Skyscraper" data-source="post: 5234382" data-attributes="member: 48518"><p>On skill challenges, after having tried them in other games I DM or have DMed, I rarely use the skill challenge mechanics at all.</p><p></p><p>However, the entire skill challenge topic, together with reading a lot about it on forums, has opened up a different approach to handling social RP situations and non-social RP situations.</p><p></p><p>For social RP situations, I don't really use skill challenges (but I do ask for social skill checks when I wonder how an NPC would react) but the skill challenge mechanic has showed me or reminded to try to avoid dead ends in social interactions. In particular I try to avoid ultimatums or other verbal exchanges where the NPC will bring the PCs towards a final choice from which there might be no way out if they reply in a certain way. This might appear obvious, but it was a good reminder for me to keep things open ended and at worst, to allow them a way out but with consequences.</p><p></p><p>For non-social skill situations, e.g. presently my players in a 4E-modified version of Shackled City are trying to evade a strong opposition who is pursuing them through caves and then a jungle, I use a skill-challenge like mechanic but with no requirement for a predetermined number of successes or failures and, importantly, no predetermined outcome. The players have been proposing different uses for their skills and rolling skill checks, and I use those skill check results (with a DC depending on how hard what the PCs are trying to accomplish is according ot me) to determine where the story will go from there. There results what I find to be a rather interesting and dynamic chase through the caves and jungle the outcome of which the players can really influence. I've used something similar for their prison breakout earlier, for getting an old gnome-constructed lift to work, ... These are story elements that I think really benefit from skill usage, and an open-ended skill challenge type mechanic (i.e. with no predetermined number of successes or failures and no predetermined outcome) is well adapted to them IMO. The general idea is to move the game according to the skill check results and if I eventually find that success or failure suits the situation, then I just stop the "skill challenge" there and they obtain success or failure. Often they achieve success, but it might come with a drawback if they missed some skill rolls, e.g. the guards were on to them when they broke out of prison. I try to use missed skill checks to add something interesting to the story, for example at some point they missed an Athletics skill check opposed to the enemy's Athletics skill check during their chase and the enemys sprinted, gained a bit of ground and one of them attacked with a blinding encounter power, but missed.</p><p></p><p>Sky</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Skyscraper, post: 5234382, member: 48518"] On skill challenges, after having tried them in other games I DM or have DMed, I rarely use the skill challenge mechanics at all. However, the entire skill challenge topic, together with reading a lot about it on forums, has opened up a different approach to handling social RP situations and non-social RP situations. For social RP situations, I don't really use skill challenges (but I do ask for social skill checks when I wonder how an NPC would react) but the skill challenge mechanic has showed me or reminded to try to avoid dead ends in social interactions. In particular I try to avoid ultimatums or other verbal exchanges where the NPC will bring the PCs towards a final choice from which there might be no way out if they reply in a certain way. This might appear obvious, but it was a good reminder for me to keep things open ended and at worst, to allow them a way out but with consequences. For non-social skill situations, e.g. presently my players in a 4E-modified version of Shackled City are trying to evade a strong opposition who is pursuing them through caves and then a jungle, I use a skill-challenge like mechanic but with no requirement for a predetermined number of successes or failures and, importantly, no predetermined outcome. The players have been proposing different uses for their skills and rolling skill checks, and I use those skill check results (with a DC depending on how hard what the PCs are trying to accomplish is according ot me) to determine where the story will go from there. There results what I find to be a rather interesting and dynamic chase through the caves and jungle the outcome of which the players can really influence. I've used something similar for their prison breakout earlier, for getting an old gnome-constructed lift to work, ... These are story elements that I think really benefit from skill usage, and an open-ended skill challenge type mechanic (i.e. with no predetermined number of successes or failures and no predetermined outcome) is well adapted to them IMO. The general idea is to move the game according to the skill check results and if I eventually find that success or failure suits the situation, then I just stop the "skill challenge" there and they obtain success or failure. Often they achieve success, but it might come with a drawback if they missed some skill rolls, e.g. the guards were on to them when they broke out of prison. I try to use missed skill checks to add something interesting to the story, for example at some point they missed an Athletics skill check opposed to the enemy's Athletics skill check during their chase and the enemys sprinted, gained a bit of ground and one of them attacked with a blinding encounter power, but missed. Sky [/QUOTE]
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