As I may have mentioned before, I share GMing responsibilities for one my home campaigns with my best frenemy, Mac. The problem is, he raises the bar on story-telling to ridiculous levels. He even started up a new form of skill challenge via email, compatible with 4E but without the pesky disincentive to participate that is the success/failure system. Check out previous posts for details. Here is my first attempt at doing something similar!
Recap: Travok, the dwarf fighter, receives a fan letter from a little boy in a mining town. The letter explains that their town is under attack by orcs, and asks for Travok's help. The party traces the letter's origin to the Underdark, of all places, and a settlement of svirfneblin (deep gnomes) known as Blingdenstone. The svirfneblin face near impossible odds as they try to reclaim their homeland, but perhaps most pressing are the constant orc attacks. The party has been told that the little boy that sent the letter, Billey, and his whole family were killed in an orc raid.
Travok urges the party to go after the orc encampment to the north of Blingdenstone. Their first encounter with orcs, literally at the gates, is brutal - while the orcs are extremely easy to hit, they are not so easy to kill. If only there was a way to prevent them from regenerating...
Skill Challenge: The svirfneblin guards at Blingdenstone's northern barricade tell you that they've heard of a compound called "orcsbane," that was said to be the only thing that could truly kill an orc. Of course that's just a legend, and eventually orcs succumb to wounds just like the next creature. But maybe there's some truth to the story...
Step One - Find out the truth about orcsbane. Suggested skills: History, Nature, Diplomacy to get the answer from a knowledgeable NPC. (need to get at least 25 to proceed to next step)
Step Two - Collect ingredients. Suggested skills: Dungeoneering, Perception, Theivery to take supplies from an NPC. (need to get to at least 50 to proceed to the next step)
Step Three - Create orcsbane. Suggested skills: Arcana, Religion, Heal.
Rules: Remember, doing literally anything will help the party advance. Points will be given for creative role-playing. Please feel free to use any skill that you can justify with role-playing. Each PC can contribute to the skill challenge twice, but the steps must be completed in order. In other words, you can't skip to crafting orcsbane without instructions or ingredients.
Rewards by Total:
49 or less - you lack the sufficient instructions/ingredients/skill to craft orcsbane, but know enough to try again later.
50 - 99 - you are able to craft enough orcsbane for one weapon.
100 -149 - you are able to craft enough orcsbane for two weapons.
150 or more - you are able to craft enough orcsbane for the entire party.
Heh... "frenemy"
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