Skill challenges play an important role in nearly every LFR module for two reasons: 1) they serve to break-up combat and 2) they are “encounters” designed to take roughly half the amount of time as a combat encounter (thus allowing more encounters to be fit into a limited time frame). Every LFR module to date has at least one skill challenge; many have two or more. This prominence suggests that having a firm grasp on running skill challenges is a necessity for running fun LFR mods and begs the question “How am I supposed to run a skill challenge?”

Components of a Skill Challenge

First off, let’s review what exactly comprises a skill challenge; we are going to break up skill challenges into game mechanics and role playing aspects.. From a rules perspective, a skill challenge consists of a goal, a list of skills the PCs can use to reach their goal, the number of successes they need to achieve before they accumulate two failures, and some penalty for failing that doesn’t detract from the opportunity to complete the module.

The mechanical process is straightforward - find out what skills the PCs want to use from the list in the module, adjudicate their skill roles normally, track successes and failures, and announce the completion of the skill challenge and the result. This accounts for the dice rolls and the rewarding of experience points but doesn’t explain the in-game activities, the time-frame involved, or the role playing opportunities.

The role playing aspects comprising a skill challenge include the setting(s), the NPCs (if any), the time frame, and how you present the challenge. Like every other aspect of the game, the settings for a sill challenge need to be described to the players so they can interpret how they might interact with it. Particularly if you have chosen not to put out the skill challenge sign when starting the encounter, your maintaining consistent description and narrative information allows skill challenges and pre-combat warm-ups to blend together; this makes the skill challenges a bit more intuitive and fun. In a like manner, play the significant NPCs of the skill challenge similarly to how you would play NPCS during other RP opportunities; again your consistency blends the skill challenge with the rest of your encounters and allows you to maintain the moment while you are running the session.

Skill Challenges Take Time

The time frame for the skill challenge constitutes the most significant (and most under-utilized) component. Some skill challenges must be completed quickly (as in the collection of particular items before or between a monster’s attack), while others might stretch out over minutes, hours, and possibly even days. You can use these extended periods of time for narration and story advancement, you can handle some travel that might make sense, and you can break up the overall skill list into subsets that might be appropriate at a particular point in the challenge.

Preparation Checklist

For each skill challenge in the module, run through the following checklist:

1. Determine the goal of the skill challenge - this will often help you see how different skills apply and which story elements to highlight.


2. Review the list of skills for the challenge - see if any class is under-represented and form a holistic picture of the writer’s envisioned solutions.


3. Determine the location(s) for the challenge - if several locals seem to make sense, it’s likely the challenge will involve some travel and an extended duration. These are cues for you to plan to extend the challenge a bit and include some notes for narration, etc. Also, keep in mind that challenges with multiple locations might have portions where skill list subsets make sense. These can provide mini showcases for particular characters.


4. Determine the time frame for the challenge - the shorter a challenge, the more important it is to showcase the drama and heighten tension during story telling. Longer challenges call for travel description.


5. Note any NPCs relevant tot he skill challenge and prepare notes on what they know, what they want, and how they act. This will quickly allow you to establish each of them as a unique persona on the module and provide a brief role-playing opportunity.

When DMs prepare to run a mod, often skill challenges get glossed over. By spending just a little time learning how the challenge fits into the adventure, both spatially and chronologically, a DM has a opportunity to showcase the setting, add a bit of role playing, and set the tone for an adventure.