Community

Mar 21, 2012 -- 1:46PM, iserith wrote:

Mar 21, 2012 -- 1:42PM, Centauri wrote:

It depends what's at the other end of the tunnel. If it's an encounter then failure means you're either ejected unceremoniously into the room or hindered at the entrance. Either way, the encounter sees you coming and has the advantage for a round or two (maybe mitigated by how many successes you have). If there's more travelling, but there's a time pressure, then you just burned time, meaning fewer rests can be taken.

Yeah, we'd need more information to make it a skill challenge or I'm risking writing a skill challenge and the OP coming back to say, "Well, actually, the scene is supposed to go this way..." and negate my efforts by moving the goalposts. Without information, it's definitely a hazard/trap combat sitch.

No need really to differentiate. All of those should have meaningful success and failure, involve combat as well as skills, and be lavishly described.

Take the skill challenge I provided and add in minions that have attacks that grab, immobilze and restrain. As long as the skill challenge is going on, you keep getting attacked, but the right powers can keep the attacks off you long enough to complete the challenge, at which point you're past the minions. Fail the challenge, or start a round with everyone immobilized and the characters fail, whatever that means.

i did something like this for my group relatively recently, they were heading into a necromancers lair and he was retreating before them. he had made provision for such an occurence and this was the way it worked:

a 10' wide corridor which was 25 squares long and unlit, after 5 squares every other square had a hole in the wall and on the other side was a skeleton minion (decrepit skeleton level 1 minion) if a pc entered the square they got on OA and if it hit did damage and grabbed. due to the small
size of the hole they were unattackable except from the square they threatened(meaning area bursts could get them).

as the holes were directly opposite each other ranged attack on them were virtually impossible. (i enabled a perception check to give away the holes position, but not if there was something there.

to add to the situation there were a pair of skeleton archers in a room at the opposite end of this corridor. as the players used a sunrod they were essentially lit up themselves and the skeleton archers were in darkness so hard to target.

finally once the pc's got to the small room with the archers there were doors leading into the one square wide corridor accessing the minion skeletons.
main tactic adopted was to send the defender in front, if he got grabbed other pc's could walk pass unhindered. as the defender had a reach weapon he got grabbed by one skeleton on say the right hand side of the corridor then attack the left hand side skeleton through the hole in the wall, enabling party members to advance that way.

expect the party to hunt down all those minions by the way, i think that was their favourite part of this fight! shooting ducks in a barrel!
(my party were level 3, typically 20 level 1 minions and two skeleton archers level 3 would be a handful, but with good tactics this was actually an easy encounter in the end)

also the skeleton minions did not have their own turn or initiative, they only got their opportunity attacks. once the doors were opened then i added them to the initiative tracker.

This is what I'm aiming for as a description of the skill challenge.

The tunnel before you is in total darkness till you light your touch. The walls, ceiling and floor are made of morted skulls and decomposing body parts. There is a stone door at the far end, without warning the iron door behind you slams shut. The whole passage springs to life with arms, teeth and tentacles lashing out at you. Small spiked darts shoot out of the skulls mouths and the tunnels floor opens up revealing more groping undead bodies and a furnace of flaming lava and fire.

Consequences of failure are loss of PC's items and/or falling into the pit of lava and going to the nine hells. Failing the challenge doesn't mean death just moves the adventure to hell. Success will be getting the iron door open or stone door and avoiding the undead limbs, lava pit and darts.