In this thread here, we are listing out encounters and scenarios that involve skill checks instead of combat. I notice a trend. So far, I am the only one that has actually presented something playable. Meaning that it has skills and DCs listed as well as results and effects of success or failure for those skill checks.
I'm not trying to bust people's chops about it though. On the contrary, I expect that for many of them it is simply because they don't have the time or inclination to write up full scenario data for a game session that they will never actually play. However, I also expect that there are a lot of people on these forums that don't have a good handle on how turn a cool plot hook for a skill-based encounter into a fully fleshed out session that they can run in their game.
I'm not claiming to be an expert at it. I think it would be a good discussion to have. Allow people to present things that work for them and their group. Then we can learn from each other and can pick and choose the ideas that we like.
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
My current methods
Design requirements. A good skill encounter should:
Allow all characters to participate.
Be tolerant of failed checks.
Progress the story on both success and failure of the encounter.
This usually means that there should be several checks involved. If there was only one check, then only one character could participate. If there was only one check per character, then a failure of one character's check could mean that at least that character failed.
Some common examples of skill encounters that don't meet these design requirements:
1) The party needs to sneak past a guard. All characters have to participate, but failure from any character on the one stealth check means failure for the entire party.
2) The party has to climb a ledge or cliff. All characters have to participate, but if a character fails their check, then they fail to climb the ledge.
3) The party needs to collect some item being guarded by a monster. If the monster is something that the party can take on in combat, that is probably the tactic that they will default to using to start with. If instead the monster is beyond their combat abilities, then only one character is participating in the stealth and thievery skill checks. And if that character fails the roll (or worse, rolls) it will result in a combat encounter that the party can't handle.
Tactic #1: Be more goal centered
In bad example 1, there is only one task. Only one method of success. And we don't really know why the party needs to sneak past this particular guard character. If instead the encounter was phrased as 'the party needs to crash this party at an elite club', now we have a story-centered goal. And sneaking past the bouncer is only one option. More characters are going to be able to participate if they can do things like Create a Forgery to get themselves and a plus-one invited. Or climb a nearby building or tree and jump onto the roof. Or sweet-talk another party-goer and get added to their invitation.
Tactic #2: Use Victory Points
Victory Points are equivalent to Hit Points for a non-combat encounter. This is what will make a skill encounter more tolerant of minor failures. So just like you wouldn't expect to run a combat encounter without having Hit Points, when setting up an encounter-worthy skill scenario have some form of Victory Points (or equivalent like Influence or Chases - something that tracks progress to either success or failure).
So to rework bad example 3. Have the monster have 'Aggression Points' that start at 2. And each of the player characters individually have 'Stealth Points' that start at 3. As the monster's Aggression points go higher it will stray farther from its nest (where the item is). If the sum of a particular player's Stealth points and the monster's Aggression points exceed 10, then that character successfully steals the item. If a player's Stealth points drops to 0, then that character is spotted by the monster and the monster might decide to make a ranged attack at the player. If its Aggression gets too high and there is at least one character spotted, it may even break into a full combat encounter.
So now players have options for how to deal with this. They could increase the monster's aggression by performance checks to make noise in the area (hopefully somewhere other than their own location). Deception checks could also be appropriate for this. Players could increase their own Stealth points with stealth checks - or craft checks to create more locations with cover. Perhaps give options where one player could do something that lowers their own Stealth points, but raises another character's points. And doing actions that raise the monster's Aggression points also lowers their own Stealth points by the same amount. Failures at actions to raise their own Stealth points would also lower their points instead. Failure at raising the monster's Aggression probably doesn't lower it.
Now the encounter looks pretty good. All of the characters can find some way to participate - even if they aren't good at stealth. And a single failed check doesn't mean failure overall of the encounter.
I, for one, appreciated the scenario you posted on the other thread, and I find your insight on how to design such encounters very interesting. Thank you.
Thank you. I hope it is helpful.
If some other experienced GMs want to list their methods, I would like to see that too.
Also, I see Ravingdork's character thread and Deadmanwalking's character converter thread. Do we have anything like that for non-combat encounters already? If not, I may just start one.
Handling failure
For a combat encounter, the consequences of failing the encounter are typically TPK. A creative GM could come up with something else that happens instead. Maybe we can come up with some ideas later...
For a non-combat encounter there are more options for how to resolve a failed encounter.
Option 1: TPK
Or TPK equivalent. Yes, this is still a perfectly good and usable result for a failed non-combat encounter. If the players fail to escape the temple before it sinks into the sands of the desert, then they probably need to roll new characters. If they fail to be cleared of the legal charges brought against them in court, then they are going to be spending some serious time in prison and new adventurers are going to have to rise to the occasion to become heroes.
Option 2: Change of Plans
If one plan fails, the characters can often come up with a new plan. If they wanted to invite themselves to a social gathering so that they could talk to some notable person that will be there, but failed to get into the party in time, maybe they could do some more sleuthing to find out where else this person is going to be in town. If they fail to figure out how to open this particular door in the dungeon, they can continue exploring the rest of the dungeon and see what else they can find.
Option 3: Encounter Conversion
One encounter failure can lead directly to a different one. Converting a stealth encounter to a combat encounter comes to mind rather quickly. Failing to climb a cliff in time to escape the coming flood could convert into a swimming challenge.
For those who don't want to TPK their players for a failed combat encounter, this is what I would recommend. Assuming that the players realize that they are going to fail the encounter before anyone drops (or if they are able to get everyone back on their feet and running) then converting the failed combat encounter into a chase encounter would work nicely. On success of the chase encounter, that could convert into a stealth encounter. On failure of the chase, it could convert into a social encounter as the players try and negotiate the terms of their surrender.