Skill Challenges

Skill challenges are challenges designed by the DM primarly to test non-combat skills. They also occur organically, when players choose to avoid combat and take a non-violent, skill-based approach to solving their problems.

Designing a Skill Challenge

In simple steps:

Choose the challenge's level; the default is the same as that the of PCs, but this is not mandatory.
Choose the challenge's intensity: easy, medium, or hard.
The system will determine how many skill checks should be required, and what DC to use.
Choose which skills are tested.
For each skill check, assign a secondary skill check, with a higher DC, as a "backup". If the PC fails the primary check, they can recover with the secondary check, and resume the challenge; otherwise, they fail.

Skill Checks and DCs

Number of Checks

| Challenge Level ||Easy ||Medium ||Hard | | --- | | Number of Checks ||1 ||3 ||5 | | Number of Bailouts ||1 ||2 ||3 |

This table determines how many skill checks are required to be passed. The DM must still assign actual skills, and explain what exactly the challenge is.

DCs by level

Level	Easy	Medium	Hard	Level	Easy	Medium	Hard
1	15	18	21	11	25	28	31
2	16	19	22	12	26	29	32
3	17	20	23	13	27	30	33
4	18	21	24	14	28	31	34
5	19	22	25	15	29	32	35
6	20	23	26	16	30	33	36
7	21	24	27	17	31	34	37
8	22	25	28	18	32	35	38
9	23	26	29	19	33	36	39
10	24	27	30	20	34	37	40

Challenge Intensity

What exactly does intensity mean?

Easy: just that. Rarely worthy of reward. Most skill challenges should not be easy; this category exists primarily to help adjudicate skill challenges that arise organically. It is also useful for allowing lower-level PCs to attempt "easy" challenges intended for higher-level PCs.
Medium: the most common intensity. With 3 checks of a reasonably high DC, this is not easy to pull off. Ideally, PCs will use teamwork and ingenuity, not just die rolls, to achieve victory.
Hard: what it says on the tin. Few PCs can take on such a challenge alone, even with the aid of Action Points and the like. There should usually be a less difficult way to achieve their ultimate goal, though it might be more tedious, or otherwise undesirable.

Level	Easy	Medium	Hard	Level	Easy	Medium	Hard
1	15	18	21	11	25	28	31
2	16	19	22	12	26	29	32
3	17	20	23	13	27	30	33
4	18	21	24	14	28	31	34
5	19	22	25	15	29	32	35
6	20	23	26	16	30	33	36
7	21	24	27	17	31	34	37
8	22	25	28	18	32	35	38
9	23	26	29	19	33	36	39
10	24	27	30	20	34	37	40

Level	Easy	Medium	Hard	Level	Easy	Medium	Hard
1	15	18	21	11	25	28	31
2	16	19	22	12	26	29	32
3	17	20	23	13	27	30	33
4	18	21	24	14	28	31	34
5	19	22	25	15	29	32	35
6	20	23	26	16	30	33	36
7	21	24	27	17	31	34	37
8	22	25	28	18	32	35	38
9	23	26	29	19	33	36	39
10	24	27	30	20	34	37	40

Level	Easy	Medium	Hard	Level	Easy	Medium	Hard
1	15	18	21	11	25	28	31
2	16	19	22	12	26	29	32
3	17	20	23	13	27	30	33
4	18	21	24	14	28	31	34
5	19	22	25	15	29	32	35
6	20	23	26	16	30	33	36
7	21	24	27	17	31	34	37
8	22	25	28	18	32	35	38
9	23	26	29	19	33	36	39
10	24	27	30	20	34	37	40