Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 illbrutto Sep 21, 2009 18:25:17	hey I'm a fairly new dm and I've run into a bit of a wall when it comes to my adventures. I find it difficult to incorporate skill challenges into my dungeons without making it an awkward "roll these dice to find out if you slip and fall to your death" rolling gallery. How do you make your skill challenges flow seamlessly throughout your adventure?   thanks for the help
#2 bageljay Sep 22, 2009 15:41:58	i've found that they don't "flow seamlessly" any more than combat flows seamlessly. Notice the change in attitude when you start some combat, you go from out of game chatting, some in game puns or horseplay, and general feeling unimportance.... to everyone leaning in on the battle mat, making sure their minis/tokens are in the right marching order, getting out character sheets and the correct page in phb to get their powers correct. skill challenge is similar, it breaks the monontony with something important. I wouldn't use it for something as easy as jumping over a hole. I would use it for gathering infomation from multiple places in a city (hence the multiple checks). Last session i played in a skill challenge was used to properly interpret an important tome. The tome was so large it took 3 hours to read one chapter and various knowledge checks were required. A failure meant trying again a different day with more focus. They should be used to measure monumental tasks or ongoing labors, or else they wouldn't be worth the time put into them. I think its ok that skill challenges (not ordinary skill checks) interrupt the flow of the game.
#3 Green Sep 27, 2009 17:57:18	hey I'm a fairly new dm and I've run into a bit of a wall when it comes to my adventures. I find it difficult to incorporate skill challenges into my dungeons without making it an awkward "roll these dice to find out if you slip and fall to your death" rolling gallery. How do you make your skill challenges flow seamlessly throughout your adventure? thanks for the help Over at the At Will blog, there are a few series you should look at. How to Make a Skill Challenge Fun How to Design a Skill Challenge sample skill challenges Both provide great resources for designing and running skill challenges. Hope this hels.
#4 Xeadin Sep 27, 2009 20:19:36	For combat, I'd suggest skills that require you to take the advantage or do some sort of action other than the basic "Move- Attack" function. Something along the lines of Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Heal and Stealth may work. For non- combat, use any skills that you might want in a specific piece in the campaign- like if you wanted a skill challenge in a rural city and you needed to find a way out before the authorities catch you, you may need to use the History, Perception, Streetwise and Stealth skills.