Skill Challenges

When a group of players are working together to achieve an objective, the outcome is determined by a Skill Challenge. Everyone involved makes a relevant Skill Check, and success is determined by the proportion of successful rolls. If more players succeed than fail, the challenge is a success; if more players fail than succeed, the challenge is a failure. If the same number of players succeed and fail, the success hangs on a razor’s edge – flip a coin or roll a dice to determine whether the challenge succeeds or fails.

Here are some examples of skill challenges:

• Infiltrating a guarded facility: Success means everyone gets into the facility unnoticed; failure means the guards are alerted.
• Gaining the baron’s favor: Success means the group receives a private audience with the baron; failure means they are thrown out by rival nobles who have noticed their meddling.
• Traversing the wastes: Success means they cross the wastes unharmed; failure means they cross the wastes, but it’s a harrowing journey and they arrive with no supplies, food, or water.

Challenges are ideal when players (and GMs) want to extend the narrative impact of rolls.

For plans with several distinct stages, an extended challenge might be appropriate. An extended challenge has several rounds of rolling, and the outcome is calculated based on the number of rounds “won” by the players. For instance, an extended challenge with three rounds might require the players to gain the baron’s, plant information in the baron’s castle, and then sabotage the gate. The players are only truly successful if the majority of these tasks – two out of three, in this case – are accomplished.