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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Chaosmancer" data-source="post: 8386713" data-attributes="member: 6801228">That doesn't change my point though. Much of this challenge is relying on the skills of people who know what they are doing.If that is the level of damage they expect from getting caught in this storm, then it is likely the damage they are going to receive. It is very hard for the PCs to alter these numbers by muchAnd they might not. Can't assume that they do, unless you've made this challenge specifically for a group that has a sailor in it.Do the players know that they face 1/3 losses if they don't get involved? Do they know that if they get involved and fail it could be 75% losses? Again, the numbers don't matter as much as the situation, which is a bunch of amatuers being asked to help a crew of seasoned professionals. We intuitively know that we need to follow their instructions and that they are our best chance. But we also know that getting involved in an emergency when you have no idea what you are doing, can be more harm than good.Strength is only useful if it is guided, and that is I think the issue I'm seeing where I'm struggling with this. The best way I can see that this happens is if the First Mate or someone else tells the PCs exactly what to do, and where to do it. Maybe if they have magic they can do other things, but for the most part they have to follow instructions, because the crew has to follow instructions. But, the first mate can't just expect the party to follow the crew, because they don't understand the jargon, so, during an emergency, they have to stop directing the crew and separately direct the players. And the players aren't making choices, they are simply being directed and told what to roll.I'm not trying to be contrarian or anything, I'm honestly looking at this specific example and wondering how this would work fictionally, because the fiction is at odds with the goal of having the players engage and take heroic action to save the ship. As to the Oregon Trail, well, yes that is true, it also discounts that the most dangerous things about that trip aren't things that apply to DnD. In DnD a party by about 6th level walking 3 months just about anywhere is going to be fine. They don't get infections, they don't get diseases that can't be easily cured, and they need far less supplies. Again, I like the mechanical set-up of the ship at storm for the most part, skill challenges do seem to be the way to go, and I like the end goal, it is just that the narrative of this particular version seems counterintuitive.</blockquote>

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