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When skill challenges got their own section of the Dungeon Master’s Guide, they became the new way to bring structured non-combat challenges to players in a true game format. Now there is a framework for success and failure that has a statistical underpinning. Without going into the math, which has been greatly debated, the DMG provides the mechanics to allow a GM to scale the skill challenge to the party, determine how difficult the skill challenge should be, and calculate how much experience the party should receive for overcoming it.
So it seems part of good adventure design to include a mix of fights and skill challenges. We’ll give the players action, because that’s what brings them to the table. But we’ll also give the players what creates some depth and makes that table experience more rewarding: non-combat encounters.
One of the first things I did when putting together an adventure for my friends was figure out how many encounters we had time to play – and then figure out how many would be fights and how many would be skill challenges. I decided to start them out with action, a classic kobold ambush, and then they were presented with a skill challenge. Never mind that the skill challenge was awkward at best – the lessons learned might be the subject for another post. I think the first mistake was my strategy for adventure design. I’ve made the same mistake many times since and it’s an innocent enough one to make.
When the players are presented with a challenge, why not let them decide what kind of challenge it will be?
You may have assumed the heroes were going to fight their way into the forbidden city. You have it clearly labeled as a combat in your notes and you’ve stated out the enemies and you have a great complication for the fight – so when the time comes you’re there calling for initiative. Next you have them sneaking into the palace of the Mad King. You have it labeled as a skill challenge and you’ve come up with rules and a framework for using the players’ skills. When they enter the city you inform them that they are entering a skill challenge. When they reach the king’s adviser in the foyer, you are prepped out and ready for a fight.
Identifying for the players what type of challenge they are about to face can often mean dictating the actions of their characters for them. Jerking them back and forth between challenges that are already identified as skill challenges or combat encounters creates a mechanical feel to the game. Sure, it’s still fun to overcome those challenges, but having it set up that way takes away some of the verisimilitude. In the example above, why not let the players sneak into the forbidden city through the sewers or disguised as trading merchants, then fight their way past the palace guards, and negotiate or intimidate their way past the adviser? It might take some extra preparation, or at least some more practice with improvisation, but it’s that kind of freedom that sets table top RPGs apart.
Similar Posts:
- How To Make A Skill Challenge Fun, Part 1.
- How to Design a Skill Challenge, Part 1: Theory of Choice
- How To Design a Skill Challenge #3 Part 3: Nesting
At the age of eight JackOfHearts was invited to play Dungeons & Dragons during summer camp by kids that were much cooler than him. When he wasn't working on the family farm or practicing tennis, he spent much of his teen years reading fantasy novels and playing games of the role playing, collectible card, tabletop, and video varieties. He's now a nine-to-fiver who never forgot the joy of descending into a tomb for forgotten treasures. 
One thing that works for me is simply having a notecard with the PCs skills on it. This way I can whip up a skill challenge on the fly with fair DCs . . . and always be prepared for an impromptu skill challenge.
These types of situation were one inspiration for my skill challenge house rules.
Basically, as soon as the players attempt 3 or more skill checks towards a common goal, they start earning an xp bonus when that goal is finally met. The bonus is bigger the greater the threat of failure (ie the complexity).
It took some fiddling, but I worked up a simple system that has almost identical xp rewards to the DM guide system, but it is a lot more flexible and easily combined with combat encounters.
I generally just award XP the same for either solution (combat/skills & roleplay). It helps with pacing of my campaign and lets the players feel like they have the option of tackling problems in creative ways.