Yet another skill challenge system

CharlesRyan

Adventurer
Hi, all--

I love the concept of the skill challenge, but not a single iteration of the execution--either WotC's revisions or alternatives like Obsidian--have worked for me. None capture the tension, drama, and uncertainty of outcome you get from a combat encounter. None challenge the players to adopt a strategy, rethink on their feet, and make difficult--or even meaningful--decisions about what course to take or how to expend resources. I've had a few really good results, enough to make me really want to love the concept, but most have been pretty lackluster.

To make matters worse, my main campaign is OGL, in which there’s a much larger disparity between skill-oriented and non-skill-oriented characters than there is in 4E. Under the WotC system and most alternatives, characters with few (or inappropriate) skills actually penalize the party. That’s not fun for anyone. (Especially not for my wife, who plays a combat type who kicks ass in the fights but has come to actively hate anything skill related. And when she's not happy, I'm not happy.)

So I did what I do: I designed yet another alternate skill challenge system. It seems to work, pretty well if I say so myself, in engaging all the players and turning skill challenges into the sorts of encounters that have tension and drama--like a good fight. Of course, my own experience, and that of my players, makes for a pretty limited playtest.

So I've posted it to my web site (The Fascinating World of Charles Ryan). Please have a look. I'd love to get your feedback, so maybe I can improve it even further.

Thanks!
 

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FTR I pretty much never download attachments or follow links from ENWorld, but I'd love to read your system if you'd repost it here.
 

Skimmed through it... Seems like some neat ideas. It's missing examples though.

I'd suggest going through the DMG, and showing up how you'd do those skill challenges in your system and modify as appropriate.

Post those examples here so we can see how this might work in actual play.
 

I've downloaded it to give it a read, but I came up with a different question first.

Now that you're living back in the States again, will you be changing your PDF pages back to USLetter? :)
 

Just to let you know, I've posted a revised version that smooths out a few bits and adds some examples.

(Still A4, I'm afraid; forgot to make that change. Next version will be letter. I swear.)
 



OK, I get it, everyone has their favorite paper size. (I have to confess, I prefer A4. But that preference does me no good here in the US.)

Any comments on something other than page size?
 


Comments:

Is it possible to scale the level of the challenge to the level of the opposition? (I'm guessing no.)

What happens if a PC takes an action - a reasonable action - that, upon success, should end the underlying conflict?

Should the plot twists and outcome always be pre-plotted? What happens when the PCs take actions that don't link up fictionally to the pre-plotted twists and rewards for exceptional cycles?

While the PCs are taking actions, can the NPCs involved (if any) respond?
 

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