Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="billd91" data-source="post: 5965014" data-attributes="member: 3400">I think you must be missing Unearthed Arcana which includes complex skill checks - the rule framework upon which 4e skill challenges were based. UA even correctly highlighted the mathematical issues requiring multiple success causes.Is a Con check or Fortitude save somehow not appropriate here? I don't see why the skill challenge makes that possible while 3e/PF fails to do so.As critical as I may be of 4e and its presentation of skill challenges, I see some value in their use. Star Wars Saga Edition included a much better treatment of skill challenges in Galaxy of Intrigue, which I heartily recommend reviewing. For my uses, I'm not keen on the final resolution mechanic of achieving a certain number of successes before a certain number of failures and that finishing the challenge. I'd rather use the number of successes compared to the number of failures to determine degree of success or failure or avoidance/stumbling into of complications. In the SWSE example, the PCs are escaping a penal mine with a bunch of other prisoners. As failures mount, they lose some of the NPCs they're trying to help escape. Too many failures and they have to fight through a tough encounter at the space platform, whereas with more successes they'd have beat that encounter there and be able to escape without a dangerous fight they might lose.An analogous example from MegaTraveller might be going into Jumpspace while being pursued by Vargr corsairs. The pilot tries to open up a safe lead so they can make it to 100 diameters from the planet's gravity well and safe jump entry territory, the navigator tries to plot the jump vector while under full thrust, the engineers try to squeeze more speed out of the thrusters and tune up the jump reactor. Too many failures and they may get a jump incident. Perhaps the ship gets damaged, maybe their jump takes an unusually long time, maybe the passengers suffer jump sickness, and maybe they have a complete misjump and end up parsecs away from their target. In all cases, the ship can actually enter jump space - the question is how well did they do in doing it right?</blockquote>

Verification