Reflection on 4E Skill Challenges

Reflections on 4E Skill Challenges

By Michael ParkerSpaz.Jedi@gmail.com

I have been playing a lot of D&D 4E over the last 7 Months. Since it came out I have been running one game a week and playing one game a week. In that time I have come to adore skill challenges. The aspect I enjoy the most is their modular nature; this can also be a pitfall to using them. To overcome this point I have developed three aspects of the use of Skill Challenges, and what purpose or roll they serve during play. These aspects are: Extended Skill Checks, Normal Skill Challenges, and Skill Scenes.

Extended Skill Checks are most often seen in combination encounters. During combat there is a trap that can be disabled, or a hazard that can be permanently overcome. A relevant skill (usually thievery) is used and a number of successes are required. I have used these sparingly and usually multiple skills can apply in my encounters to allow them to be overcome quickly, or at least by multiple party members. The specific downfall to using this type of skill challenge is that requiring disabling a trap or hazard can be boring to overcome. Using a standard action (particularly for the rouge) can allow a character to spend his turn not doing anything cool. The “Something cool to do every round” design mantra’s was one that I latched onto at the outset of 4^th Ed. As such I have been toying around with how to better use the idea of an Extended Skill Check without compromising other elements during play. Thus far nothing concrete has become apparent in my ideas.The reward for this type of skill challenge is implicit in the trap or hazard, accounted for in the XP budget when the encounter is designed; therefore no additional XP is required after the encounter is complete; this is different that the rest of the skill challenge designs and rewards.

Normal Skill Challenges are the skill challenge as written and expressly explained in the DMG; a specific goal that can be accomplished with particular grouping of skills. They provide 
challenges that come with risk and reward. I see them as having three divisions, making them tricky to employ but very useful during a game. The first two challenge types serve a duality; I refer to them as Carrot and Stick challenges.

Common stick encounters involve overcoming a threat specifically to bypass a hazardous situation if successful then dealing with another encounter if failed. The Reward for Stick encounters is the normal Skill challenge XP and the XP of any subsequent encounters due to failure. 
Example Situation: To stop a host of Orcs from invading the region the intrepid adventures must get to the Orc Leader’s Tent in the middle of an Orc Encampment, preferably unseen. Skill Challenge Success - Bypass the sentries of the camp, thus saving the party resources for the fight with the Orc leader. Skill Challenge Failure – An encounter with lesser orcs, to bloody the noses of the PC’s and diminishes their resources.
Common Carrot encounters work from the opposite direction, encouraging players to pass the skill challenge in order to gain a significant advantage (other than bypassing an inconvenience). Rewards for this challenge include normal skill challenge XP and whatever MacGuffin or 
benefit gained through the success of the challenge; future encounters have rewards of their own.

Example Situation: A Party of adventurers knows they are their main villain is a powerful undead Vampire, and Consult the library of the local church for information. Skill Challenge Success covey’s a +1 bonus to attack rolls and a +1 bonus to saves verses ongoing effects from the Vampires powers.

The third type of normal Skill Challenge usually is a skill challenge given in response to character actions or ideas, the skill challenge is a great medium for enacting hair-brained PC schemes. Usually this has less consequence for failure. Possible rewards can include any of the following; normal skill challenge XP based on complexity, either of the intrinsic rewards of the carrot or stick challenges (gaining bonuses or bypassing hazards), and often successes can be it’s own reward for this type of challenge. I use my discretion if alternate rewards are more fulfilling for player desires. 
Example Situation: A party has just slew an evil dragon, guarding a lair to an ancient evil. The Party’s Ranger, being an expert trapper and taxidermist, wants to strip the dragon of its valuable scales to sell or make powerful armor later. A skill challenge is joined. Success leads to the valuable scales desired, and failure leads to the lost of that substance.

Skill Scenes have different trappings altogether. The objective of the Skill Scene framework is to allow for maximum interaction with the fiction and setting while transitioning from one challenge to another. The Characters must move from one point to another along a story, and the PC’s are going to succeeded (it’s really boring for them not too), but the interesting part of the skill scene is how they succeed. Most characters are going to use skills they are best at, which is good and encourages creativity. It’s up to the DM and the players if the outcome is predetermined or reached organically, as best serves the groups desires and fits best for your
narrative. Skill scenes can work by answering some questions to focus the actions of players. Possible questions: What the victory conditions are, what they get when they win, and what happens if they fail? Determine the complexity based on how long the scene should last.
Example Situation: After their last adventure, a group of adventures wants to learn more about an artifact that they found, The Blade of the Outer Worlds. The party is not sure what information they ultimately want to find, So they start the skill scene without a victory outcome. During the first round of rolls, the party’s warlock uncovers the name of the previous wielder of the blade, and that his history parallels the adventures own. The Party decides that the rest of the scene is about finding out this long dead adventurers resting place, to explore it and find more information. The Party then uses a combination of streetwise, history, and arcane to find out all the information they need to find the tomb. The game is on! 

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**EDIT** 1/21/09

I updated the document based on some inital revisions, mostly copy edit work. I am not updating the post (Because formating it is a bitch). I may also update the document later if I get enough feedback.