# Pre Ramble

This is one of my favorite skill challenges so far. For many sessions, the cultists the party was trying to investigate remained a few steps ahead. A lucky turn of events allowed the party to find a hidden outpost where information was being passed between several points of interest. After wrapping up the majority of the combat, the party encountered the smell of smoke drifting through the halls. Upon investigating the smoke, they discovered a room in the basement where cultists were burning actionable intel. The stakes were quite apparent... stop the cultists or get nothing of worth for all their trouble.

This created a great deal of fun for the ENTIRE group. I remember the Dwarven Fighter pushed a table across the room to scoop up as many cultists as he possibly could, The rogue was using a cantrip of water to pull wine and other liquids to douse the flames. It was quite memorable and still one of the scenes that members of that campaign still bring up occasionally when we discuss skill challenges in general.



# Skill Challenge: 

***"Stop they are Burning Evidence!"***



**Challenge Overview**

**Difficulty**: Medium (5 successes before 3 failures)  
**Base DC**: 15  
**Estimated Duration**: 4-6 rounds  
**Themes**: Urgency, Investigation, Disruption, Teamwork

**The Scene**

As the door swings open, thick smoke billows out, choking your lungs and obscuring visibility. Braziers and hearths burn with abandon as cult members rush to destroy evidence. Shadows dart through the haze as figures move with practiced efficiency, guided by barked orders from their leaders. The room is alive with chaos, and the critical documents are vanishing into ash.

The basement spans nearly forty feet across, with stone pillars supporting the weight above. Wooden tables line the walls, some already ablaze, others still holding precious documents. A complex ventilation system draws smoke upward, but the sheer volume of burning material overwhelms it. The cultists work in organized teams: some feeding papers to flames, others carrying bundles from deeper storage areas, while guards watch for interference.

**Stakes**

**Victory Outcome**  
  
The team disrupts the cultsists' operation successfully. Critical intelligence is preserved, revealing:

* Cult leadership hierarchy and meeting locations
* Financial records linking them to corrupt city officials
* Future heist plans targeting merchant convoys
* Safe house locations throughout the city
* Evidence of blackmail schemes against prominent citizens
* The cults information network suffers a major blow, and the party gains valuable allies among honest merchants who were being extorted.

**Defeat Outcome**  
The cultists succeed in destroying most evidence, leaving only scraps for analysis. Without sufficient evidence to implicate the shot callers: 

* The cults' leaders escape with the most incriminating documents, complicating future efforts against them
* The organization scatters to backup locations, becoming harder to track 
* Local authorities find insufficient evidence to take action 
* The organization continues operations with increased security measures

  


# Round-by-Round Structure



**Round 1: Thick Smoke & Initial Chaos**

**Environmental Factors**:

* Visibility reduced beyond 15 feet
* Cult members know the layout and work by muscle memory
* Sound travels strangely through the smoke-filled space

**Obstacle**: Dense smoke fills the room's upper half, obscuring vision and making coordination difficult. Cult members continue their work with practiced efficiency despite the party's arrival.

**Suggested Approaches**:

* **Perception (DC 14)**: Locate key document piles or guild leaders through the haze by sound
* **Survival (DC 14)**: Use intuition and air currents to navigate efficiently
* **Athletics (DC 14)**: Drop low and advance rapidly across the room
* **Intimidation (DC 14)**: Shout commands louder than guild leaders to cause confusion
* **Arcana (DC 14)**: Create minor wind effects to clear smoke temporarily

**Creative Solutions**: (Offer a Bonus / Advantage)

* Using wet cloth to filter breathing and improve endurance (Constitution / Athletics)
* Following wall-mounted torches as navigation guides (Survival)
* Creating loud noises to disrupt guild coordination (Performance / Intimidation)
* Teamwork approaches where one-character guides others (Insight / Perform)

**Round 2: Disrupting the Rhythm**  
  
**Environmental Factors**:

* Assembly line of document destruction in full swing
* Multiple chokepoints where documents must pass
* Leaders positioned to direct traffic and maintain efficiency
* Growing piles of ash making movement treacherous

**Obstacle**: The Cult members operate like a well-oiled machine, with leaders shouting orders to maintain efficiency. Their coordination allows them to destroy documents faster than individuals can save them.

**Suggested Approaches**: (To build tension increase the DC +1 each Round)

* **Deception (DC 15)**: Mimic leaders' voices to issue false orders
* **Athletics (DC 15)**: Physically disrupt document chains by blocking paths
* **Sleight of Hand (DC 15)**: Switch document bundles with decoy materials
* **Performance (DC 15)**: Create distracting spectacles to break concentration
* **Investigation (DC 15)**: Identify the most crucial documents still remaining

**Creative Solutions**: (Offer a Bonus / Advantage)

* Overturning tables to create barriers in the workflow (Athletics / Strength)
* Starting contradictory chants or commands to create confusion (Intimidation / Performance)
* Using guild members' own efficiency against them by redirecting their efforts (Persuasion / Performance)
* Coordinating simultaneous disruptions at multiple points (Intelligence / Wisdom)



**Round 3: Pockets of Resistance**

**Environmental Factors**:

* Combat mixed with document rescue operations
* Burning materials creating additional hazards
* Structural damage from spreading fires weakening support beams
* Increasing heat making sustained activity difficult

**Obstacle**: Small groups of Cultists focus on finishing the destruction or actively blocking the party's interference. Some have drawn weapons while others shield the most important burning materials.

**Suggested Approaches**:

* **Persuasion (DC 16)**: Convince thieves that resistance is futile
* **Acrobatics (DC 16)**: Dart through chaos to reach priority targets
* **Stealth (DC 16)**: Avoid confrontations while securing materials
* **Medicine (DC 16)**: Treat / Suggest ways to combat smoke inhalation & maintain party effectiveness
* **Intimidation (DC 16)**: Use displays of force to scatter opposition

**Creative Solutions**: (Offer a Bonus / Advantage)

* Offering bribes or clemency to individual thieves (Persuasion)
* Using burning materials as improvised weapons or barriers (Insight)
* Creating escape routes for cooperative Cultists (Persuasion / Intimidate)
* Focusing on leaders to demoralize rank-and-file members (Intimidation / Insight)

**Round 4: Burning Documents**  
  
**Environmental Factors**:

* Papers actively burning require immediate attention
* Heat damage threatens anyone reaching into flames
* Smoke concentration reaches dangerous levels
* Structural integrity compromised by spreading fire

**Obstacle**: The most crucial evidence sits partially consumed in various fires. Every second counts as important information literally goes up in smoke.

**Suggested Approaches**:

* **Sleight of Hand (DC 17)**: Quickly retrieve papers from fire without injury
* **Arcana (DC 17)**: Use magic to extinguish flames or preserve burning papers
* **Investigation (DC 17)**: Identify which documents contain the most valuable information
* **Athletics (DC 17)**: Use strength to overturn burning containers safely
* **Nature (DC 17)**: Understand fire behavior to predict which materials will survive

**Creative Solutions**: (Offer a Bonus / Advantage)

* Using shields or metal objects to safely extract burning papers (Perception / Athletics)
* Smothering fires with available cloth or dirt (Survival / Athletics)
* Reading crucial information before complete destruction (Investigation)
* Memorizing key details even from partially burned documents (Intelligence)

**Round 5: Securing the Room**

**Environmental Factors**:

* Smoke clearing but structural damage evident
* Scattered papers and materials need organization
* Time pressure from approaching city watch
* Potential for guild counter-attack

**Obstacle**: With opposition scattered and fires partially controlled, the challenge becomes efficiently gathering and protecting the rescued materials before authorities arrive or guild reinforcements appear.

**Suggested Approaches**:

* **Investigation (DC 18)**: Prioritize most valuable rescued materials
* **Persuasion (DC 18)**: Organize any remaining guild members to assist
* **Survival (DC 18)**: Efficiently bundle and secure materials for transport
* **Perception (DC 18)**: Watch for approaching threats or additional evidence
* **Performance (DC 18)**: Coordinate team efforts through clear communication

**Creative Solutions**:

* Creating makeshift containers from available materials (Intelligence / Insight)
* Establishing guard positions while others work (Insight)
* Documenting evidence locations for follow-up investigation (Insight / Investigation)
* Preparing plausible explanations for arriving authorities (Insight / Deception)

**Complications Pool (Optional)**  
  
*Below is a list of 'complications'*  
  
Complication mechanics are optional and do not have to be used by tables that are trying to use Skill Challenges for the first time.  
  
The idea behind the complication comes from the idea that certain mistakes can make subsequent actions more difficult. These are prepared in some way before the Skill Challenges begins. There should be some method of randomly assigning these 'complications" whether drawing from a hat, or simply using RNG.  
  
IF a player fails a Skill Challenge Check by more than 5 --> Assign one of the following conditions and read the accompanying description. Impose the complication to limit / influence decision in the following round ##  


*Apply when players fail skill checks, especially by 5 or more*

1. **Smoke Inhalation**: "The acrid smoke overwhelms you, causing a coughing fit. You have disadvantage on Constitution-based checks for following round."
2. **Burns from Flames**: "You get too close to the fire and suffer minor burns. You have disadvantage on Dexterity checks for the following round, due to pain and stiff movements."
3. **Disorientation**: "The chaos and smoke confuse your sense of direction. You have disadvantage on Wisdom checks for the following round."
4. **Equipment Singed**: "Your gear catches fire, the smoke and hear disorient you. You have disadvantage on perception-based checks for the following round
5. **Guild Reinforcements**: "Your activities attract additional guild members from adjacent rooms. The next round's DC increases by +2."
6. **Structural Danger**: "Your actions destabilize burning furniture. Falling debris forces a DC 13 Dexterity save to avoid Disadvantage on all rolls on the following round"
7. **Evidence Destroyed**: "A crucial document burns completely while you're distracted. Increase the total number of failures for the round by +1."
8. **Alarm Raised**: "Guild members sound an alarm. Time pressure increases significantly - If the party fails to succeed at the skill challenge, it will end with combat

# 

# DM Guidelines



**The purpose of a Skill Challenges is to have fun** and encourage full table participation. They are Dynamic constructs by nature and allow the DM or Storyteller a great deal of latitude across the arc of a scene.  
  
Keep these things in mind

1) If players have a round where everyone is successful at their individual checks, decrease the DC for the following round.  
  
Announce that it was their creativity / success that has mitigated the difficulty.  
  
2) If the players are having a hard time overcoming the difficulty checks, adjust the DC or inform them that really good ideas get circumstance bonuses.  


**3) Previous Round Success**: DC remains Same

**4) Previous Round Failure**: DC increases +1

**5) All Successes Previous Round**: DC decreases +1

**6) Critical Success (Natural 20)**: Count this as two individual successes for the Round

Encouraging Creativity

* **Teamwork Bonuses**: Grant advantage when two players coordinate specific actions
* **Environmental Use**: Reward creative use of smoke, fire, or guild equipment
* **Information Integration**: Allow Investigation checks to reveal optimal approaches
* **Class Feature Integration**: Encourage use of cantrips, tool proficiencies, and special abilities

Alternative Success Conditions

* **Partial Success**: If players reach 3-4 successes before 3 failures, they gain some intelligence but miss crucial elements
* **Creative Solutions**: Award automatic successes for particularly innovative approaches
* **Information Gathering**: Allow players to gain valuable intelligence even from failure outcomes

Role-Playing Opportunities and Scene Wrap up opportunities

* **Moral Choices**: Some cult members might be coerced rather than willing participants
* **Information Bargaining**: Captured Cult members might trade information for lenient treatment
* **Collateral Concerns**: Neighboring businesses or residents affected by smoke and fire
* **Authority Relations**: How the party handles evidence affects standing with city watch

# Campaign Integration Notes

Information Rewards (Success)

* **Cult Structure**: Names and locations of key leaders
* **Financial Networks**: Banks and merchants involved in money laundering
* **Political Corruption**: City officials receiving bribes or protection / being Extorted
* **Future Plans**: Upcoming heists and criminal operations
* **Blackmail Material**: Evidence of Cult leverage over prominent citizens



# Setting / TTRPG Considerations



It seems that dungeons and dragons specifically has exploded in recent decades. As individuals are able to leverage advancing technologies and social platforms it seems there is ever less awareness for other Table Top Role Playing Games.  
I Cut my teeth on AD&D / World of Darkness and have always enjoyed the more open ended resource materials.  
  
I will try to keep this convention as I share material with you. The ability to convert / modify or reskin traditional dungeons and dragons content is endless. Much of the world and many of the mechanics we use at my table are homebrew. Largely these are small things that enhance the experience at the table a great deal and are essentially setting agnostic.  
  
Any game that utilizes skills of any kind can be played with the above skill challenge. It is rather easy to change the specific name of the suggested skill check and equivalent DC to whatever TTRPG setting that you enjoy playing in.  
  
Due to the sheer popularity of fifth edition, it is what I continue to play. I have books on many different systems and quite a bit of experience playing the older system designs. It is that reason that I pursue a Generic D20 formatting for the material that I share.  
  
I cannot wait until I have had enough time to fill these pages with more of the things that bring joy / excitement to my table. I hope that people are eventually able to find this space through interwebz navigation.  
  
Until the day that there are actually people reading and responding .. I say good day to all the unknown quantities that play some form of Table Top RPG.  
  
I hope that your adventures are amazing filled with those exciting moments we all live for.  
  
\-- Fizzlebop Smith ,  
Resident Worldweaver



Burning the Evidence (Skill Challenge)