Which Skill Challenge System do you use?

[unan oranis]

Other:

players describe how they use the skill of their choice, dm adjusts the dc according to how effective he judges the description - roll.

Each consecutive use of the same skill by the same player adds +2 to the dc.

Base dc's determined by table of relative dc's to party/encounter level.

Almost always go for the complexity 3, may add easter eggs for specific skill use if prepared ahead of time.

 

[CapnZapp]

I have added links to the two SC systems mentioned by the poll, to the first post.

As I say there too: if you use a formal system I didn't mention (and thus voted "other") feel free to add a link, and I'll include it too... (Or is Stalker the only one who have made a complete written-up systems alternative to the core rules?!)

 

[Fanaelialae]

I didn't vote (because you can only choose one of the above) but I use both the core system and Stalker's Obsidian, depending on which I feel is better to model the skill challenge in question.

I've designed good (and not so good) skill challenges under both systems, so IMO the DM (or module designer) is a more relevant factor than the skill challenge system used.

 

[BlightCrawler]

No it doesn't, however in a RAW skill challenge the weight of 1 die roll is rather heavy.

The weight of one failure is heavy. In a complexity 5 challenge, you'll have 12-15 die rolls, so any one die roll is under 10% of the whole. In a party of 5, all players are probably going to roll 2 times with some or all rolling three times. If it comes back to the chronically missing Paladin and it's 11 successes and 2 failures, and he's been the lead weight in the challenge, he still doesn't cost the challenge because he realizes that he'd be better off trying to aid another and let another player take the roll (probably not with a +2 since we'll assume he's rolling bad for the whole session).

I don't agree that the physical skills get 'boned'. After all, how useful is doing a handstand when bargaining for the release of prisoners? {unless your Kronk's shoulder devil}

You're making a different point. I didn't say that it didn't make sense that physical skills couldn't play a part in social or intellectual challenges. Mechanically, they get boned since they are only useful for 1 out of 3 types of challenges.

This is why RAW is superior here, because sure most of the time it does not make sense, but perhaps you have a case where bargaining for the release of prisoners involves running across down cutting deals before the discussion finishes (Athletics) or is stretching on for hours and hours and its a struggle to keep pushing (Endurance) or maybe you are playing a character like Kronk's shoulder devil, or a variety of other creative options.

And that's the point I was making: RAW already recognizes that it doesn't make sense to have, say acrobatics in a prisoner release bargain, that's why the DM selects the primary skills and doesn't pick Acrobatics as one of the skills. It also recognizes that Diplomacy doesn't make sense tracking a dragon through the forest. However, RAW also allows for a creative player who comes up with a reason why Acrobatics helps the prisoners, or how Diplomacy helps the tracking, and it can help the challenge. Stalker's system states that creative use of mental and intellectual skills are broadly useful depending on the situation and players, but physical skills are only good for one thing. It's a baffling blind spot. (not to mention breaking down SCs into three types when there's so much more possibility than that, the best SCs are a mix of a variety of things).

What does or doesn't make sense is highly variable depending on the group. Any system that limits the use of skills across the board short circuits the potential flexibility of the skill challenge system.

 

[S'mon]

I have learned the past few weeks, that my intuitive mind is MUCH, MUCH more intelligent than my planning one. As such, I basically decide "this right here will be a series of skill checks." I memorize the easy, moderate, and hard DC's for the PC's level, then kinda wing the whole thing. Only used it about 3 times, but it has worked really well so far.

This is much what I do, except I prefer difficulty not based on PC level, so I use:

DC
10 - Easy
15 - Average
20 - Difficult
25 - Very Difficult
30 - Formidable
35 - Nearly Impossible

Currently the PCs are low level, but I have no problem with high level PCs auto-succeeding at averagely difficult stuff.