# Skill Challenge Ideas



## Spibb (Feb 25, 2011)

I'm running a campaign with four characters (10th level at the moment) and I'm trying to insert more skill based challenges / encounters instead of combat encounters. Does anyone have any ideas of skill based challenges? Maybe like basic templates / examples?


----------



## El Mahdi (Feb 25, 2011)

Not trying to completely overwhelm you, but here's a list of threads I've saved for Skill Challenges.

Some are alternate systems, but quite a few are collections of different challenges and scenarios.

Hope this helps.





Skill-linked monsters (defeated by skill checks) 

Alternate Skill Challenge Framework 

Stalker0's Alternate Core Skill Challenge System: FINAL VERSION 1.8! 

All About Skill Challenges 

Are You Using Skill Checks and Skill Challenges 

Combat Skills Challenge 

Combat Skill Challenge

Stalker0's Obsidian Skill Challenge System (NEW VERSION: 1.2!!!)

Rethinking Skill Challenges 

I love it when Skill Challenges Click 

Mastering Skill Challenges in Three Easy Steps 

Event/Scenario Encounters 

Good rewards and penalties for winning or losing a skill challenge

An Assassination as a Skill Challenge 

Sudden Death Skill Challenge System 

Houserules for Skill Challenge System 

I want to run a competitive 4E skill challenge in high-level 3E 

Calculated Risk? 

Question on trap countermeasures? 

Musings on Non-Combat Challenges: Four? Or More? 

Musings on Skill Challenges (or: Three Questions You Should Ask Before You Run One) 

4E Combat as "Skill Challenge" 

Transparency in Skill Challenges 

Stalker's Obsidian Skill Challenge in Play... 

Skill challenge success and failure 

Which Skill Challenge System do you use? 

Traveling Skill Challenge Advice 

Investigative Skill Challenges 

How Do You Narrate/Present Skill Challenges 

Post play examples of your skill challenges! 

Skill Challenge to learn a Ritual? 

Skill challenge design -- still wonky 

4E Skill Challenges - An Exercise in Dice Rolling?


----------



## eriktheguy (Feb 25, 2011)

Which skill challenge system are you using?
If you like the one Wizards provides, I strongly recommend looking here
http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-fan...ill-challenge-system-final-version-1-8-a.html
If you dislike the system Wizards has laid out, give this one a shot.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-fan...skill-challenge-system-new-version-1-2-a.html


----------



## Quickleaf (Feb 27, 2011)

Holy cow El Mahdi! Great list, thank you for assembling it. 

Somebody XP this man! (iPhone won't let me)

[MENTION=87912]Spibb[/MENTION] Check out this link - more examples than you could ever need, and some great articles on skill challenge design too.
http://critical-hits.com/features/skill-challenges/


----------



## the Jester (Feb 28, 2011)

If you have a situation in mind, I'd be happy to offer some input and/or help you design a skill challenge. 

Some types of situations that can lend themselves to cool skill challenges:


Finding your way through a harsh environment
Creating/building/repairing a complex something or other
Gathering information
Making a reputation (or tarnishing someone else's)
Political activities
Sneaking around a dungeon, city or other area
Time-dependent challenges (where you have "8 successes before 3 rounds" or something)

I've found that it is best not to tell the pcs that they are in a SC, but YMMV.


----------



## wcpfish (Mar 6, 2011)

Spibb,
I have a product out now (reviewed here on EnWorld btw) called City Slices I: Marketplace Fun.   It's available through Rpgnow. It features TONS of non-combat stuff for parties to do like skill challenges (such as haggling, finding rare coins, helping a lost child, and more), some fun scenarios (a runaway carriage, an actual betting/dice game that your players can play), and bunches of market stalls and food vendors.  Hopefully you'll find it useful!

William C. Pfaff
President of Escape Velocity Gaming


----------



## Nytmare (Mar 8, 2011)

For me, skill challenges can take the place of any bit of the story that links two other scenes together.

Introduction
*Skill Challenge: *Find the missing robots - searching for tracks, avoiding natural Tatooine dangers
*Combat:* Sand People 
Get saved by old man, the Princess' secret message, hey here's your dad's light saber
*Skill Challenge: *Jawa BBQ - recognition "Hey these are the Jawa we bought the droids from", discovery "Sand People always ride single file to hide their numbers", revelation "Oh no Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru!"
*Extended Skill Challenge: *Trying to Find a Pilot- run in with storm troopers, avoiding a bar fight, what the hell is a parsec
*Skill Challenge: *Chased by Storm Troopers
...​More than anything I try to use skill challenges as a framework for bridging gaps, not as separate events.


----------



## Agamemmnon (Apr 27, 2011)

Is there an alternate system that uses the new math?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Apr 27, 2011)

I wrote a little about Skill Challenges here. 

Here are a few tips that I think can make Skill Challenges more fun, even if it doesn't follow the "official" guidelines:

- Challenges should be dynamic. 

One round isn't necessarily the same situation as the last round. The more the situation changes, the more interesting the encounter to the players. The more the players can _affect_ the way the challenge changes, the more involved they will be. You can make a flowchart of events as they unfold, based on success/failure, and use that instead of static numbers. Or you can create an unraveling tapestry of events where the PCs have to constantly keep up with everything going on around them.

- Get everyone involved!

I see a far too common critique of Skill Challenges that the person with the highest skill is the one who makes the rolls. Shake it up. Everyone has to participate, regardless of their ability. In combat, one person standing out makes no sense, and this should reflect in challenges as well. I think this is a product of the success/failure model, which should be tossed away. That leads us to my last point.

- Binary outcomes are boring.

There should be a variety of end points. A flowchart, for example, might have different results based on which skills they succeeded on and which they failed on. A negotiation might end with the compromises being made, for example. I usually give a skill challenge a set number of discrete points. These could be rounds, nodes on a flowchart, or whatever. Once its over, I count successes (not failures!) and determine just how well the PCs accomplished the task before them. This way, more participation means better results.


That's just a few of my thoughts on Skill Challenges. I'd love to write up a whole thread on them, maybe with new mechanics. My players often love the skill challenges as much if not more than the combats.


----------



## lostingeneral (Apr 28, 2011)

I love skill challenges, but they're very easy to do wrong. I say this from personal experience; it's something that's easy to mess up, because the game seems to just inherently lean towards combat encounters.

First, ThirdWizard's post reflects entirely my views on Skill Challenges. To elaborate from my perspective on those three points:

*Dynamic challenges* - a skill challenge where the proceedings and outcomes are set in stone is not a good challenge. In this situation, the players feel like they have no control, and the challenge becomes redundant. Let the decisions the players change how the challenge proceeds. Improvise!

*Involvement* - even where players don't seem well-suited to the challenge, like a socially inept fighter in a dramatic discussion, they should at least make an effort. It's odd to conceive of a group of five people standing around awkwardly while one other guy does all of the talking. In Wizards' skill system, you could perhaps have this abrupt fighter impress your NPC with a display of strength, or something like that. It can be hard thinking of things at first, but it gets better as creativity starts to flow.

Alternatively, in the system I now use (Stalker0's Obsidian System, linked above), the fighter with 0 diplomacy can make for some amusing role play as he attempts to contribute to the discussion anyway, or adds on to a point his companions are making.

*Lots of Outcomes* - this actually ties in nicely with the first point. The way things wind up should be based, at least in part, on what the PCs did during the challenge. Let's say, for instance, you're running a skill challenge based on a chase scene of some sort. During this scene, a player whose character is not very skilled at acrobatics attempts some very elaborate leaping and flipping, and fails the check. This could be the only failed check in the whole challenge, but instead of a complete escape, perhaps the rest of the party gets away, but the stumbling character did not. The group now has to devise a plan to rescue him, or something along those lines.

I've also got one more point of my own to add:

*Success or Failure should not need be absolute.* Don't hinge the challenge on the idea that the PCs will either fail or succeed one hundred percent. For example, don't make a challenge where the reward is an artifact needed to advance the story. In this case you're trapping your players and, further, yourself; the plot can go nowhere if they fail.

Additionally, since you asked for examples, I've got two. The first one is from before I switched to Obsidian, and the second is after.

Vanilla Example - Getting Into the Mountain

This is one of the first real skill challenges I ever ran, which I placed at the beginning of H2 (Thunderspire Labyrinth). For game-specific reasons, the entrance to the mountain was closed off by the Mages of Saruun, who posted enforcers at the entrance to ensure nobody got in or out. The party had to get inside, so they had to complete a skill challenge.

This is the vanilla system, so I had to assign a complexity. I picked 2 - so 6 successes before 3 failures - because it was the party's first challenge and the challenge should not (in my mind) have been very difficult. I also placed it at their level to set an appropriate DC. I also mapped out very rough consequences for success and failure. Success meant getting inside, but because the party had to get inside the mountain, failure meant that they had to get in by less-than-ideal means. Depending on how it went down, this could have meant fighting their way in, looking for an alternative (but more dangerous) entrance, etc.

The actual challenge went as follows:

Fighter tries to use Intimidate to get guards to reconsider their position. Fails his check, guards are not bothered; tell him to get bent, basically. 1 failure.

Psion uses a skill power (can't recall the name right now, based on Arcana) to launch into a long, complicated explanation of an old ritual once used by the minotaur mages of the Thunderspire Labyrinth to smite their enemies, particularly soldiers who failed in their duties. The check was a success, so the guards were put at unease; one of the two goes in to check if the party has official business. 1 success.

Warlord knows that they don't _really_ have official business, so he and the fighter both roll to Intimidate the other guard into finding out "what's taking so long." Both are a success, so the guard goes inside (though he's hesitant about it) to check up. 3 successes.

The guards are gone, but they're still blocked by a large door and a smaller door leading to the guard post. Monk rolls Thievery to pick it, succeeds, they get inside the post. 4 successes.

There are two guards inside the post, who panic as the uninvited PCs enter. The Psion rolls a Bluff check to convince him they were allowed in by the other guards, but fails. The guards are still on edge. 2 failures.

The Warlord then rolls a Diplomacy check to settle them down with a bribe. He succeeds, pays them off, and the party gets inside. 5 successes.

The two guards from outside are coming back now, and they're not happy about being lied to. The Druid rolls a Dungeoneering check to navigate through the tunnel to an almost-unseen side chamber, and the party hides inside. This is the same chamber from the first encounter in the adventure, tying everything together. 

6 successes, 2 failures.​
Again, I had only planned the basic outcomes. Depending on where, and why, a third failure came into play (if it had), the consequences would have been different. For example, failing on the bribe would have led to fighting the guards, but failing way back at the entrance would have resulted in having to seek out some alternate means of getting in.

This is a dry example, I realize, but it's really the only successful skill challenge I ran before switching to Obsidian.

Obsidian Example - Getting to the Horned Hold

This is the first Obsidian challenge I've run as well. In this system, one must define the type of challenge; I chose physical, because it made sense. This is a quick process if you know where the challenge is coming into play.

Then, I laid out the three stages. They don't _have_ to be independent, but I wanted them to be - I felt it would be more dynamic that way. Basically, due to some less-than-favourable actions by the party in the Seven-Pillared Hall, they fell under attack by an angry mob. They had to escape, so that was the first stage. After this, they knew their destination. Getting there was the second and third stages. It happened like this (almost same party as above, but with an Ardent and a Warlock, and no Monk or Psion):

*First stage: The Escape*
_Party is being chased by an angry mob, including enforcers of Saruun, and duergar. They end up in the labyrinth, a series of connected tunnels - some natural, some not._

Fighter rolls Athletics to charge a path through one debris-laden tunnel, making it difficult for the large group of pursuers to follow.

Druid rolls Dungeoneering (he is only allowed 1) to ride on the Fighter's back and direct him to the best pathway to escape on.

Ardent rolls Stealth to try and cover the party's tracks as they get out of view of the pursuers.

Warlock rolls Athletics (not trained, but has a bonus for being primary skill) to knock boulders into the path of pursuers.

Warlord rolls Acrobatics for an elaborate feat involving igniting a pool of alcohol to block the oncoming enemies.

3 successes, 2 failures. Ardent and Warlock fail. Ardent takes damage as he is shot by the pursuers, and physically weak Warlock strains himself trying to move boulders for a slight penalty to further physical rolls. Overall, though, I decided this was enough to get away, and moved on to

*Second stage: Crossing the Ravine*
_Party has gotten away, but now is faced with the issue of getting across a massive rift in the ground. The only entrance to their destination is on the other side. The area has minotaur ruins that were once a guard post, which is normally connected to its sister post across the ravine by a drawbridge (currently raised). The sister post is active, and occupied by duergar. I gave them lots of options, including many things in the debris they could use, and a chain connecting the two posts lined with bells, which I rationalized as being used to signal between the posts when both were active._

The party concocted an elaborate plan here, which was ridiculous but wonderful - exactly what I was hoping for. The primary skill was Athletics, so that's what most of them used.

Warlock rolls an Athletics check to tie a rope as securely as possible to some ruins on the party's side.

Ardent rolls an Athletics check as well, to secure the other end of the rope - also as securely as possible - to the Warlord.

Druid rolls a Stealth check. He's a Primal Swarm druid, so he turns into scarabs (his wild shape) and tries to stick them in the bells on the chain so as to silence them.

Fighter rolls an Athletics check to cleave the chain on the party's end with an axe. It's rusted, and he's pretty strong, so it seems feasible.

Warlord rolls an Acrobatics to swing across on the severed chain and lower the drawbridge slowly as possible.

3 successes, 2 failures again. The Druid fails and rattles the bells up something fierce. The Ardent also fails; I had two possible outcomes for this. In one, it would have ultimately caused the security rope to fall apart, but I decided that would be less interesting and he's got a good sense of humor (and rolled a natural 1), so instead I had him tie himself to the Warlord, and both of them went across together. The Ardent took more damage, but both were across.

*Third stage: Getting Into the Hold*
_The party is across but must get past the duergar guard post, and they have to act fast; they've alerted suspicion from the duergar within due to the Druid's failure and their heavy-handed approach of lowering the drawbridge. _

The primary skill was Stealth here.

Warlock rolls a Stealth check with the Ardent to hide out of view.

Fighter rolls an Athletics check to climb on top of the guard post building itself, thereby staying out of site.

Druid rolls a Stealth check to assume his insect form again and hide among the rocks near the Warlock and the Ardent, ready to attack the duergar if they come by.

Warlord rolls an Athletics check to hang from the ravine, intending to make noise when the patrol comes around and draw them over.

5 successes. Only one duergar came out to see what the noise was, and the coughing Warlord draws him over to inspect the cliff (and dangling chain, from which Warlord is hanging). As he leans over, he gets a polearm to the face, and is pulled down into the ravine.​
I let my players describe the results of their own successes in this one while I narrated the failures. Again, depending on what they did and where the successes/failures came in, I was willing to alter the situation. I've gotten better at that - outcomes now change more dynamically in my skill challenges - but I still feel that this is a good example.


Wow, that was more writing than I expected. Anyway, I hope that helps you!


----------

