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I made a worksheet to help write up skill challenges.
- This one is in Word 97 - 2003. 
- This one is a .pdf version.

Also, this thread is to post your skill challenge stat blocks!  Post away!  Here's my first...

It's a speeder bike chase, like the sample one in GoI, only there's a bit more to it.  (Players in my Dark Times tabletop game, please read no further...)

The pursuee is my new Galaxy of Intrigue-inspired foil, Shade Pierce, an Umbaran spy in the service of the Emperor.  He is mildly Force Sensitive, but can't do much with it except make trained Use the Force checks.  He uses that to search out Force sensitives in hiding from the Emperor, including, especially, Jedi on the lam from Order 66.  Unlike an Inquisitor, always barging in all bluster and lightsabers, Shade relies more on intrigue to find Force-sensitives in hiding.  Many Jedi are able to mask their Force signature.  So Shade's job is to use good old-fashioned intrigue to root them out.  Shade travels with a Force-sensitive entourage: a Force pilot to ferry him around and shoot those Jedi fugitives out of the sky, a former Gray-Paladin-gone-dark to protect him with a blaster, and a blademaster who can hold his own against even the best Jedi in a lightsaber duel.  But Shade's entourage keeps a low profile in the background, letting Shade do all the talking.

Word has reached the Emperor that Popara the Hutt collects Force-sensitive slave girls, and Shade Pierce has been dispatched to a party Popara was hosting to investigate.

One of the PCs in the Dark Times game I'm running, Kol'li Sivron, a Twi'lek padawan-in-hiding, has fallen in with Popara the Hutt's harem of Force-sensitive Twi'lek slave girls / protectors, the Utrila sisters.  Kol'li and the Utrila sisters were telepathically scanning guests as they were leaving the party, and Kol'li and one of the sisters sensed that the Umbaran guest was up to no good...what, exactly, he was up to, they couldn't tell, so they followed him outside.  He got into a landspeeder (containing the rest of his entourage), and Kol'li and the Utrila sister followed on speeder bikes.  But Shade Pierce is aware he's being followed...this is all a trick to see if he can get them to Use the Force to confirm his suspicions.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to either Shade Pierce, his entourage, Kol'li or the Utrila sister, the lot of them are being followed by ximAga, a Force-sensitive crystal golem crafted from Ashlanite by a deceased Jedi artificer.  ximAga follows on a Chemilizard, and can telepathically warn Kol'li and the Utrila sister not to "Use the Force" in this pursuit (doing so accrues an automatic failure per my skill challenge build), since that is the whole purpose behind Shade's leading them in a chase.  Also, ximAga can contribute to the regular skill rolls by guiding Kol'li and the Utrila girl from behind.  ximAga is a member of an "Underground Railroad" -type organization that helps Force-sensitives on the run.  ximAga surreptitiously follows Shade Pierce, who leads him to Force-sensitives who have caught the attention of the Emperor, and once Shade leaves to report his findings to the Emperor, ximAga moves in and informs the target that s/he's been found out, and then helps to relocate him or her.

Here comes the skill challenge...sort of a twist on the standard sample given in GoI:

SKILL CHALLENGE: SPEEDER CHASE (KOL'LI VS. SHADE PIERCE & CO.)
CL 8
Complexity: 1 (5 successes per party before 3 failures)
Suggested Skills: The following are suggested primary skills for this skill challenge:
Deception (vs. Shade's Perception): Use trick riding/piloting to hoodwink pursuees into an obstruction or slow them down.
Jump (DC 28): Jump onto pursuees' landspeeder to interfere with its operation
Knowledge: Life Sciences (DC 23 or 18): use knowledge of wildlife to steer pursuees into obstructions; the DC can be reduced to 18 for heroes familiar with the terrain of Nal Hutta.
Knowledge: Tactics (DC 32): use tactical knowledge of vehicle combat to outmaneuver pursuees
Knowledge: Technology (DC 32): use knowledge of vehicles to know how to overtax pursuees' vehicle or avoid overtaxing own vehicle
Mechanics (DC 28): hotwire own speeder to push it past its limits
Perception (DC 23): find best path to catch up with pursuees or evaluate terrain to anticipate where pursuees are headed next
Pilot (DC 23 or Opposed by Shade's Pilot's Pilot check): use fancy piloting to herd pursuees toward obstacles that will slow or obstruct them; if the heroes get too close, Shade's pilot can set the DC with a Pilot check of his own.
Ride (DC 23): use fancy riding to herd pursuees toward obstacles that will slow or obstruct them
Stealth (Opposed by Shade's Perception): use terrain to keep out of sight of pursuees and sneak up on them unexpectedly
Survival (DC 23 or 18): use familiarity with wilderness to anticipate obstacles or find clearest path; ; the DC can be reduced to 18 for heroes familiar with the terrain of Nal Hutta.
Use Computer (DC 32): use simple on-board computer to track pursuees' vehicle
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Challenge Effects:
Opposed DC: certain skill challenges are or can be opposed by Shade Pierce's scores or skill checks, or those of his pilot.
Recovery: if a hero succeeds in a skill check by 5 or more, the hero may choose to remove one failure instead of earning a success.
Restricted Skills: heroes cannot use Climb, Swim, or Treat Injury in this skill challenge; any use of Use the Force accrues an automatic failure, since Shade's whole purpose in leading them in this chase is to confirm his suspicions that his pursuers are Force-sensitives in hiding.
Degrees of Failure: even if the heroes succeed in out-flying Shade Pierce's chauffeur, any use of the Use the Force skill accrues a failure, informing Shade Pierce that the hero is a Force-user.
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Success: The heroes completely out-maneuver Shade Pierce's pilot and get Shade's landspeeder stopped, surrounded or otherwise completely at their mercy without ever revealing their Force-using abilities.
Failure: Aside from any confirmation that their pursuers are Force-sensitives, Shade Pierce and his entourage elude the heroes in a flashy escape that leaves the heroes watching helplessly as Shade's landspeeder pulls into the landing bay of a starship, which subsequently takes off.

Jan 25, 2010 -- 8:06AM, richterbelmont10 wrote:

Very cool.

I have a couple questions.

1. Do you tell the PC's the list of "suggested skills," or must they figure that out themselves?

2. Do you tell the PC's the list of "restricted skills," or must they figure that out themselves?

3. Can the PC's take 10, or must they always roll?

Thanks!

In this case of the speeder bike chase, I won't tell Kol'li or ximAga (the PCs) the list of suggested skills unless the players are having trouble coming up with ideas.  I may gently prod them along with a suggestion or two from my list.

I won't tell Kol'li about the list of restricted skills unless the unlikely event occurs that the players try to justify using climb or swim or something.  I definitely won't tell the players about the restriction on Use the Force, but the player playing ximAga knows the real purpose behind the speeder chase -- that Shade Pierce lured the Force-sensitive Twi'lek girls into pursuing him so he can see if they Use the Force to catch him, thus confirming his suspicions about Popara the Hutt's slave girls (although, admittedly, ximAga's player doesn't know that using UtF automatically accrues a failure).  It's up to ximAga whether he wants to communicate a warning to the Twi'lek PC telepathically not to Use the Force.  I'd let him do that, but as GM, I'd neither endorse nor contradict (out-of-character) that in-character statement by ximAga. 

For other skill challenges I use, I may decide on different levels of transparency depending on the circumstances.

As for taking 10, since, in this case, the heroes would be under stress, I'd say no taking 10 unless they have some talent or ability or something that allows them to always take 10 on a skill, even when under stress.  I suppose this should be true for all skill challenges, since, if it's truly a challenge, the circumstances wouldn't be right for taking 10.  GoI (p. 32) likens skill challenges to combat encounters -- in the sense that they're supposed to be exciting -- so, it seems to me that taking 10 shouldn't be appropriate for skill challenges.

It is a ton, yeah.  I guess they're not so much primary skills, but a more complete list of skills that could potentially be used in this encounter and how.  I expanded the list for my own edification, so I could have more material in front of me to use to prod the players along, in case they run out of ideas.

This isn't a solo campaign.  The party got split up.  Kol'li stayed behind on Nal Hutta with Popara the Hutt to accept his invitation to join his harem.  The rest of the party got embroiled in some intrigue (before Galaxy of Intrigue even came out!) that led them to Nar Shaddaa, where they'll be involved in a social skill challenge with a bunch of Evocii.  I haven't quite worked out the details of the Nar Shaddaa skill challenge, but when I do, I'll post it here.

As you can see, I'm eager to try out the skill challenge rules.  I'm not familiar with the 4e skill challenges, so this will be my first (official) foray into skill challenges...although, interestingly, I've run skill challenges before (using very similar rules of my own devising) in both Saga Edition and RCR for things like leviathan riding competitions, podraces and a swimming competition.

Okay, here's another Skill Challenge...this is the social skill challenge I'll run for the rest of the party in the bowels of Nar Shaddaa.  They arrive in the warrens of the primitive Evocii, bringing with them the two daughters -- one conscious, the other in a Force Trance -- of the tribe's Shaman.  The Evocii see the droid PC (an IMP-series military protocol droid), and immediately think he's a demon.  Their fears are corroborated when the Kaiburr crystal on the end of the Shaman's staff starts to glow in the presence of the Khil Jedi PC; the Evocii don't know it's the Khil who's making the crystal glow, and they decide the entire lot of heroes are bad news.  The heroes must convince the tribe that they mean no harm, or else the tribe is going to attack them to the death with their spears and shivs, resulting in the PCs slaughtering an entire warren full of innocent primitives.


SKILL CHALLENGE: MYTHBUSTING POWWOW
CL 8
Complexity: 3 (11 successes per party before 3 failures)
Suggested Skills: The following are suggested primary skills for this skill challenge:
Deception (vs. shaman's/tribesmen's Will): Trick the Evocii shaman into believing the heroes arrival is a divine portent.
Gather Information (vs. shaman's/tribesmen's Will): Manipulate the Evocii into revealing information about their beliefs that can be used to convince them to accept the heroes.
Knowledge: Galactic Lore (DC 32): use Evocii's mythology against them to convince them that the heroes are friends.
Knowledge: Social Sciences (DC 32): use knowledge of Evocii customs to win their hearts & minds
Perception (DC 18): observe those tribesmen who seem more accepting and play to them
Persuasion (vs. Persuasion check of antagonists): convince the Evocii of benign intent with genuine appeals.
Use the Force (vs. shaman's/tribesmen's Will): read the mood of the Evocii or use the Force to calm or persuade adversarial tribesmen.
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Challenge Effects:
Antagonist:  Some of the tribesmen are convinced the heroes are demons, and argue vehemently for destroying them.  Failed skill checks by the heroes to no accrue failures; only antagonists' successes accrue failures for the heroes.
Opposed DC: certain skill challenges are opposed by the scores or skill checks of the shaman or the tribesmen.
Restricted Skills: only Int-, Wis-, and Cha-based skills can be used for this challenge.
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Success: The heroes convince the Evocii that they are friends and pose no threat to the tribe.  The Evocii accept them, and reveal the story behind the Eternity Crystal, enlisting the heroes' help in acquiring it.
Failure: The Evocii are convinced the PCs are demons of deception and destruction, and attack the heroes, intent on defending their warren to the death.  The heroes receive no XPs for the skill challenge, but receive XP for the combat encounter that follows.

Interesting...you don't think that'd be too many challenge effects?