Well.. I did it. I decided to run a Skill Challenge. Early on in my 4th edition campaign, I tried one and it bombed.. hard.. like this.

(okay..enough pictures)

Back then, I tried the skill challenge example where you try to convince someone to do something for you..using bluff, intimidate, and diplomacy checks. The group at the time was very new, some new to D&D, others just unfamiliar with the other players present. I vowed never to do them again.

But then, some months later, the group got to a point where I may be able to throw in a skill challenge and it just might not do the ol` crash`n`burn.  After making their way through a seeekrit underground passage that hasn’t been touched in centuries, the party found themselves in the middle of a thick forest. In fact, the door that acted as the exit from the passage was intertwined with branches and vines and required some hacking to remove. Then I announced to the party:

“Skill Challenge time, comrades”

Silence over the headset (remember, I play online here).

I decided to do the tag-team group leader approach outlined in the DMG. The ranger took the lead. We rolled initiative and I described the scene and rules to the party.

Now that you’re out of the passage, the forest around you is dense and its hard for you to get your barrings given all the twists and turns you made underground in the dungeon. You`ll have to pass this skill challenge to find your way out of the forest and arrive at some familiar landmark.. road..trail. Something like that.

Endurance, Perception, and Nature checks are key skills and Jamlamin (the ranger) will make those at the top of each round. You`ll use any skill in your arsenal to try to give him a stackable +2 to his roll. If you use a skill other than the aforementioned 3, describe to me in detail why and how you’re using it.

I was blown away by the next 5 rounds of this.

• Someone used an Arcana check to feel the flows of magical force throughout the forest to get his barrings.
• Another used a Religion check to pray for divine guidance.
• Our Cleric rolled a Heal check to help patch up people’s scrapes and abrasions received while slashing their way through the woods.

The best of the evening was a Diplomacy check.. Yes.. lost in the woods, and let’s roll diplomacy. His argument was that his Dragonborn Pally has been called in to mediate several boarder and land disputes that have arisen between various waring factions. He wanted to look around to see if any of the local geographical features once crossed his desk on a map that was a part of a boarder dispute. Could it be more of a History check? Sure.. but c`mon. Rule of Cool here! Excellent thinking. In fact, I gave him a +2 to his own roll because it was so clever.

I told him I’d like to see his reasoning behind a bluff check in the woods but everyone was just about tapped for clever ideas all around.

Each round, the Ranger rolled endurance to simulate the hacking of the brush to get through the forest while the rest of the party did supportive actions to guide the group in the right direction.

While I won’t be including Skill Challenges in every session, I’m certainly more open to trying them again in the future.