Skill Challenges

House Rules for D&D 5th Edition

This article is long overdue, both for myself and for my players. I really enjoy the idea of skill challenges as a tool for DM's, I think that used right they open up a whole new world of actions scenes that don't quite fit in RP or combat.

What is a Skill Chalenge?

All in all, a skill challenge is a tool that you as the GM can use to track progress. In combat, you'll typically rely on hp, and in social interactions success is usually determined through rp and the occasional role. A skill challenge provides a way of tracking progress in a variety of scenarios that fall neither under combat or rp, by mobilising player creativity.

When to use one?

I think the best way to explain what a skill challenge can do, is to start by showing when it can be used. Chase scenes, short exploration scenes, escaping from a crumbling cave, but also sneaking into a guarded castle, or obtaining the favours of a noble are all scenarios in which a skill challenge could be used. All these scenes have one thing in common: they usually require more than a single role to be considered a success.

Setting up a Skill Challenge

Finding the Objective

The first step in creating a skill challenge is figuring out what the objective is. It can be anything you see fit, from Get the McGuffin, Get out of the City or even Win the Football Match.

Setting the Challenge

Once this is done, the next step is coming up with a challenge. The challenge should be vague, so as to not force the players into a specific path. Note: an objective might sometimes call for multiple challenges. Getting the McGuffin might require the players to face The Guards before they can reach The Safe.

Summary:

1. What is the objective?
2. What is the challenge?
3. What is the difficulty of the challenge?
4. What is the consequence of failing the challenge?
5. What are possible skill checks the party could use?
6. What are events the party could face?
7. (Optional) What are minor consequences that could happen in someone fails a skill check?

To better illustrate what I mean, I will be creating a challenge as we go. The obejctive is to find a forgotten ruin in the woods, and the challenge will be "The Forest".

The next step is figuring out the difficulty. This is arguably the most important step of the process. Usually, to beat a skill challenge, the players need to succeed a certain number of time before they fail a certain amount of time. The higher the number of successes required to pass the challenge is, the more difficult it will be.

An easy challenge woud require a party to obtain 5 successes before they obtain 4 failures (5/4). A medium challenge might require for 7 successes (7/4), while a hard challenge might ask for 10 successes (10/4), or even more.

As the players go through the challenge, players will be required to role skill checks (either when faced with an event, or unprompted). The DC of the skill check is decided by the DM, based on the difficulty of what the player is attempting to do. If the player succeeds on their skill check, this counts as one success for the skill challenge. If the player fails on their skill check, this counts as one failure for the skill challenge.

If you feel like it, natural ones could count as two failures, while natural twenties count as two successes.

In our example, the forest the players must traverse is fairly safe, so the difficulty should be easy. However, they are setting out as the sunsets, which will make it harder for them to navigate. The rating will thus be 6/4.

Failing a Challenge and Consequences

For each challenge you run, you should have a consequence in mind, sometimes even several to account for how badly your group fails. Just how bad they fail might depend on the final score of a challenge. Having four successes might leave them in a better spot than having only one, even if they ultimatly fail in both cases.

Failing a skill challenge should rarely mean instant death. If they fail to sneak into a palace, the guards might be alerted to their presences and chase them- but with quick thinking your players might be able to get back on their feet.

In our imaginary scenarios, failing the challenge might mean the players get lost, and have to spend a few days attempting to locate where they are. This could be a minor setback, but if they are racing another group to the lost ruins then it becomes a lot more dramatic...

Running the Skill Challenge

Now that we have the core structure of our skill challenge (objective, challenge, difficulty and consequences), lets look at what it will actually be made up of. This section will be divided in Skill Checks, Events, and general tips / rules on how to make things more interesting.

Skill Checks

At the start of the challenge, I usually give out two or three skills that will likely work. Players are then free to propose their own ideas: any skill could be used if a player finds a reasonable explanation. However, a player may only attempt a skill in which they are proficient in, each player may only attempt a skill once.

Events

I like to plan out possible events in my challenges, to give my players some material as they move forwards. Maybe they come across a river they need to cross as they explore the forest, or a large monster sleeping across the path in front. The event is resolved by a skill check on the initiative of the players.

Optional Rule: Failing a Skill Check

Sometimes, the DM might try to include consequences for a failed skill check. This could be some form of small damage, or a very small set-back: either way, the group should be able to get back on their feet quickly. This is meant to tire out the party a bit, as they would during a combat.

DM : "Ok, lets start the skill challenge. Your goal is to find the lost temple, skills that will probably work will be surival, nature and athletics. Who wants to go first?"

Ranger : "I can start! I'm proficient in survival, so I'd like to focus my attention on keeping us moving in the right direction."

DM : "Easily done, the forest isn't very dense- however the sun is starting to set. Roll a survival check, DC 12."

Ranger : "And... ugh, natural one, for a total of 8. What a shit start..."

DM : "Yeesh, thats rough... Ok, so as you venture within the forest, Ranger moves forward to take the lead. You travel for a while, but it soon becomes clear Ranger has lost his way. As he takes a moment to figure out where you are, he fails to notice the massive wasp nest hanging above him, about to fall... Fighter, you see Ranger is about to get a wasp nest on his face. What do you do?"

Fighter : "I shout out to him, "Oy! Careful, above you!""

DM : "Ok! Ranger, you hear Figther shout out to you and look up just in time to see the nest fall- I need you to roll a dexterity saving throw. 2d4 on a fail, half as much on a success as the swarm flies around you before leaving."

Druid : "Can I go next? I would like to use "Speak With Animals" to ask the wasps for their help."

DM : "Hmm, interesting! I'll say go for it, but you'll have to roll a persuasion check to calm them down."

Druid : "Ooof, not my strong suit but I'll go for it... natural 18, -1, 17!"

DM : "And thats a success! With the help of the wasps, you all manage to get back on track, moving further along your journey. Eventually, the swam leaves you to your route, as they fly off to rebuild a nest.