I'm planning an encounter in my campaign where my players have to run up an active volcano to get to the top. During the climb they will have to avoid lava and stuff. I'm just confused on how I would run this and want to know if any other DMs know how to run this or can at least tell me how they would run it.

4th edition had this fantastic tool called a "skill challenge"—a series of ability checks thematically linked which the players overcome in initiative order with the goal of reaching a certain number of successes before getting a certain number of failures. The DC would be fixed across the whole skill challenge, but the DM could impose penalties or bonuses depending on the approach a player took.
The difficulty of the skill challenge would be the ratio of successes to failures needed. For example 3 successes before 3 failures would be easier than 6 successes before 3 failures. Although it's not quite that simple; 6 successes before 3 failures would also be easier than 2 successes before 1 failures as there's less margin for error. Obviously also the DC affects difficulty, so you can think of the number of ability checks as the "intensity" and the DC as the "difficulty". For example a high DC skill challenge with an 8:4 check ratio might be a tense, drawn out experience such as a social one, whereas a low DC skill challenge with a 3:1 check ratio is a high intensity, sudden experience such as escaping a chase through a third-story window.
You'd then need a list of events that would form the individual ability checks. These would all be thematically linked to the "recommended skills" for the challenge—venturing through a jungle might be survival, perception, investigation, and animal handling for example. This is information that would be made available to the players as it helps contextualise the nature of the challenge they face.

Okay, that's enough waffle, here's how I would make a skill challenge.

1. Decide on the "difficulty" of the skill challenge by picking the DC
   For climbing a volcano, I would go with a Hard difficulty which is DC 20
2. Decide the "intensity" of the skill challenge by setting the ratio of successes to failures
   This sounds like a gruelling and difficult experience, so I'd say 6 successes before 3 failures
3. Decide on the key skills for the challenge.
   For climbing a volcano, Perception, Nature, Survival, and Athletics
4. Now come up with 9 events to challenge the players. As an alternative, you can come up with fewer and randomise them. For example 6 events and roll a d6 each turn. This means that it's very unlikely any given character will face the same event twice and it can let you do more with less
5. Decide on the success and failure states. It's important that failing a skill challenge doesn't stall the progress of the party completely, instead it should be a road bump, inconvenience, or resource drain.
   Success would obviously be reaching the top of the volcano. However failure could be gaining 3 levels of exhaustion, reduced by 1 for every 2 successes earned.

Now you have your skill challenge; a DC 20 challenge with a success:failure  ratio of 6:3 and recommended skills of Perception, Nature, Survival, and Athletics. Now it's a case of running the skill challenge

1. Players roll initiative like in a combat encounter
2. Set the scene, describing the skill challenge, the number of successes they need, the number of failures they can accumulate, and the DC
3. Describe the first event (or roll for it) for the character first in initiative
4. Ask the player which skill they're going to use to overcome that challenge and—this is important—how they're going to use that skill to overcome that challenge.
   An optional rule to use is changing what ability they use with the skill, allowing players more flexibility and ability to contribute. For example, a character might say they hold their breath against the ash clouds, making a Constitution (Athletics) check to do so.
5. If the character picks an exceptionally well suited skill or gives a very strong and compelling justification for how they're using a skill in a creative way, you award advantage. Conversely if they pick an ill suited skill you might impose disadvantage.
6. The player rolls and either succeeds or fails. The number of successes and failures is public information to the group.
7. Move to the next player, repeating these steps until they hit the max number of successes or max number of failures.
8. Narrate the outcome, good or ill, for the party

I hope this helps

Greetings LooeiBaboowi,

In the 2024 DMG, there is a section for Improvised Damage.

In that section they include damage for Hot Coals, Lava, Hit by Falling Rubble, Crushing, etc.
Separate from your question, I thought this might also be helpful :)

Cheers!

The recently released DBD Cthulhu by Torchlight has a Skill Challenger adaptation, right?

Quote from SaintLothar >>

The recently released DBD Cthulhu by Torchlight has a Skill Challenger adaptation, right?

I have no idea, that's not a product I'm personally interested in so I haven't paid it much attention.

In Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden adventure is an encounter called Mountain Climb in Targos where the party must navigate through an avalanche, where it could be substituted for a volcano eruption instead.

VOLCANO ERUPTION

Hundreds of feet up the mountain, you see dark grey ammount of packed smoke. As you get about halfway across it, you hear a loud boom from higher up the mountain, followed by a rumbling noise as the ground starts to shake and laval erupt. It's a volcano eruption!

The party finds itself in the path of a volcano eruption. The volcano eruption lava is 200 feet wide, 100 feet long, and 30 feet deep.

To run this event, first determine the marching order of the party and how far apart the characters are. Assume that the rearmost party member is directly below the volcano eruption, which means that character must move at least 100 feet to get clear of the lava's path. Next, have all party members roll initiative.

The lava starts 500 feet above the party and sweeps down to the base of the mountain 1,000 feet below. The lava moves 300 feet on initiative count 10 and another 300 feet on initiative count 0.

Anyone engulfed in the lava is subject to Inferno Hazard (DMG76).

In the Dungeom Master Guide page 78 is a Rockslide Hazard that could be used to mimic a volcano eruption as well if you want;

VOLCANO ERUPTION

 Deadly Hazard (Levels 1–4)

When a volcano eruption occurs, every creature in its path makes a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 11 (2d10) Fire damage from the lava, has the Prone condition, and moves with the volcano eruption. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage only. When the volcano eruption stops, its space becomes Difficult Terrain, and all Prone creatures in its space are buried under rocks and debris. A creature buried in this way has the Restrained condition and has Total Cover. As an action, a creature can try to crawl out from under the rock pile. If the creature succeeds on a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check, it is no longer Restrained; instead, it has the Prone condition and is atop the rock pile. If the check fails, the creature remains buried and gains 1 Exhaustion level. A creature that has neither the Incapacitated nor the Restrained condition can spend 1 minute freeing another creature buried by the volcano eruption. At Higher Levels. You can scale this hazard for higher levels by increasing the Fire damage as follows: 22 (4d10) at levels 5–10, 55 (10d10) at levels 11–16, and 99 (18d10) at levels 17–20.

Another option that's a little more streamlined than the old skills challenge would be to require the party, as a group, to make just one check in a range of skills: i.e. one person has to clear Perception, one Survival, one Athletics... whatever you think is applicable

The party can decide for themselves who gets to attempt which check, and you can give those characters a bonus if they have appropriate features or whatever -- maybe the PC attempting the Athletics check is a tabaxi and has a climbing speed, that sort of thing. Characters not attempting a check can also do one thing to aid the cause, provided it uses up a resource and isn't just "I give the Help action". For instance, maybe the cleric doesn't attempt one of the checks themselves, but instead casts enhance ability on someone who does

You then average out the results and apply it to a global DC, perhaps making allowances for a 'partial success' -- i.e., if the average is below but within 5 of the DC, the party gets to the top of the volcano but takes xd6 fire and xd6 bludgeoning damage (appropriate for their level)

The big advantage of a skills challenge is the drama, in the same way that rolling death saves in the open creates drama

Quote from Davyd >>

4th edition had this fantastic tool called a "skill challenge"—a series of ability checks thematically linked which the players overcome in initiative order with the goal of reaching a certain number of successes before getting a certain number of failures. The DC would be fixed across the whole skill challenge, but the DM could impose penalties or bonuses depending on the approach a player took.
The difficulty of the skill challenge would be the ratio of successes to failures needed. For example 3 successes before 3 failures would be easier than 6 successes before 3 failures. Although it's not quite that simple; 6 successes before 3 failures would also be easier than 2 successes before 1 failures as there's less margin for error. Obviously also the DC affects difficulty, so you can think of the number of ability checks as the "intensity" and the DC as the "difficulty". For example a high DC skill challenge with an 8:4 check ratio might be a tense, drawn out experience such as a social one, whereas a low DC skill challenge with a 3:1 check ratio is a high intensity, sudden experience such as escaping a chase through a third-story window.
You'd then need a list of events that would form the individual ability checks. These would all be thematically linked to the "recommended skills" for the challenge—venturing through a jungle might be survival, perception, investigation, and animal handling for example. This is information that would be made available to the players as it helps contextualise the nature of the challenge they face.

Okay, that's enough waffle, here's how I would make a skill challenge.

1. Decide on the "difficulty" of the skill challenge by picking the DC
   For climbing a volcano, I would go with a Hard difficulty which is DC 20
2. Decide the "intensity" of the skill challenge by setting the ratio of successes to failures
   This sounds like a gruelling and difficult experience, so I'd say 6 successes before 3 failures
3. Decide on the key skills for the challenge.
   For climbing a volcano, Perception, Nature, Survival, and Athletics
4. Now come up with 9 events to challenge the players. As an alternative, you can come up with fewer and randomise them. For example 6 events and roll a d6 each turn. This means that it's very unlikely any given character will face the same event twice and it can let you do more with less
5. Decide on the success and failure states. It's important that failing a skill challenge doesn't stall the progress of the party completely, instead it should be a road bump, inconvenience, or resource drain.
   Success would obviously be reaching the top of the volcano. However failure could be gaining 3 levels of exhaustion, reduced by 1 for every 2 successes earned.

Now you have your skill challenge; a DC 20 challenge with a success:failure  ratio of 6:3 and recommended skills of Perception, Nature, Survival, and Athletics. Now it's a case of running the skill challenge

1. Players roll initiative like in a combat encounter
2. Set the scene, describing the skill challenge, the number of successes they need, the number of failures they can accumulate, and the DC
3. Describe the first event (or roll for it) for the character first in initiative
4. Ask the player which skill they're going to use to overcome that challenge and—this is important—how they're going to use that skill to overcome that challenge.
   An optional rule to use is changing what ability they use with the skill, allowing players more flexibility and ability to contribute. For example, a character might say they hold their breath against the ash clouds, making a Constitution (Athletics) check to do so.
5. If the character picks an exceptionally well suited skill or gives a very strong and compelling justification for how they're using a skill in a creative way, you award advantage. Conversely if they pick an ill suited skill you might impose disadvantage.
6. The player rolls and either succeeds or fails. The number of successes and failures is public information to the group.
7. Move to the next player, repeating these steps until they hit the max number of successes or max number of failures.
8. Narrate the outcome, good or ill, for the party

I hope this helps

 This is a fantastic breakdown, and pretty much how I run my skill challenges.

Just to expand on Davyd's #5 on running the skill challenge: I will also grant advantage if they use a certain character ability or spell that makes sense. For example, in a skill challenge I did recently on a ship, a storm came up and was causing the ship to violently rock back and forth. A player said they were going to hang onto the ship mast to avoid going over the side, and they cast Spider Climb to aid them in holding on to the mast, so they gain advantage on the roll.

Quote from MaximusArael020 >>

Quote from Davyd >>

4th edition had this fantastic tool called a "skill challenge"—a series of ability checks thematically linked which the players overcome in initiative order with the goal of reaching a certain number of successes before getting a certain number of failures. The DC would be fixed across the whole skill challenge, but the DM could impose penalties or bonuses depending on the approach a player took.
The difficulty of the skill challenge would be the ratio of successes to failures needed. For example 3 successes before 3 failures would be easier than 6 successes before 3 failures. Although it's not quite that simple; 6 successes before 3 failures would also be easier than 2 successes before 1 failures as there's less margin for error. Obviously also the DC affects difficulty, so you can think of the number of ability checks as the "intensity" and the DC as the "difficulty". For example a high DC skill challenge with an 8:4 check ratio might be a tense, drawn out experience such as a social one, whereas a low DC skill challenge with a 3:1 check ratio is a high intensity, sudden experience such as escaping a chase through a third-story window.
You'd then need a list of events that would form the individual ability checks. These would all be thematically linked to the "recommended skills" for the challenge—venturing through a jungle might be survival, perception, investigation, and animal handling for example. This is information that would be made available to the players as it helps contextualise the nature of the challenge they face.

Okay, that's enough waffle, here's how I would make a skill challenge.

1. Decide on the "difficulty" of the skill challenge by picking the DC
   For climbing a volcano, I would go with a Hard difficulty which is DC 20
2. Decide the "intensity" of the skill challenge by setting the ratio of successes to failures
   This sounds like a gruelling and difficult experience, so I'd say 6 successes before 3 failures
3. Decide on the key skills for the challenge.
   For climbing a volcano, Perception, Nature, Survival, and Athletics
4. Now come up with 9 events to challenge the players. As an alternative, you can come up with fewer and randomise them. For example 6 events and roll a d6 each turn. This means that it's very unlikely any given character will face the same event twice and it can let you do more with less
5. Decide on the success and failure states. It's important that failing a skill challenge doesn't stall the progress of the party completely, instead it should be a road bump, inconvenience, or resource drain.
   Success would obviously be reaching the top of the volcano. However failure could be gaining 3 levels of exhaustion, reduced by 1 for every 2 successes earned.

Now you have your skill challenge; a DC 20 challenge with a success:failure  ratio of 6:3 and recommended skills of Perception, Nature, Survival, and Athletics. Now it's a case of running the skill challenge

1. Players roll initiative like in a combat encounter
2. Set the scene, describing the skill challenge, the number of successes they need, the number of failures they can accumulate, and the DC
3. Describe the first event (or roll for it) for the character first in initiative
4. Ask the player which skill they're going to use to overcome that challenge and—this is important—how they're going to use that skill to overcome that challenge.
   An optional rule to use is changing what ability they use with the skill, allowing players more flexibility and ability to contribute. For example, a character might say they hold their breath against the ash clouds, making a Constitution (Athletics) check to do so.
5. If the character picks an exceptionally well suited skill or gives a very strong and compelling justification for how they're using a skill in a creative way, you award advantage. Conversely if they pick an ill suited skill you might impose disadvantage.
6. The player rolls and either succeeds or fails. The number of successes and failures is public information to the group.
7. Move to the next player, repeating these steps until they hit the max number of successes or max number of failures.
8. Narrate the outcome, good or ill, for the party

I hope this helps

 This is a fantastic breakdown, and pretty much how I run my skill challenges.

Just to expand on Davyd's #5 on running the skill challenge: I will also grant advantage if they use a certain character ability or spell that makes sense. For example, in a skill challenge I did recently on a ship, a storm came up and was causing the ship to violently rock back and forth. A player said they were going to hang onto the ship mast to avoid going over the side, and they cast Spider Climb to aid them in holding on to the mast, so they gain advantage on the roll.

 Oh yes! I can't believe I forgot that detail! The ability check doesn't use the characters action so they're free to use other abilities or movement or anything on their character sheet to augment their chances of success, or that of their allies. I will allow this before or after they make the ability check, so a character might succeed as they're attempting to climb a wizards tower in a storm and then say "After I make my Intelligence (Perception) check to analyse the wall and pick out the optimal handhold, I'm going to cast Gust of Wind to help push Aldros against the side of the tower to assist them in their ability check"

Such a key detail!

I would note that skill challenges as written in 4e and skill challenges as (IME) actually run in 4e were quite different; there were fairly complicated rules for designing a skill challenge that got revised multiple times over the lifespan of 4e, and then there was the way people actually ran it, which was pretty much "okay, describe what you think you're doing and what skill you think that is" and the DM would decide on an easy, medium, or hard DC depending on how plausible their justification was.

There are some issues with 4e skill challenges, though, so I use an even simpler method in 5e: go around the table asking every player what they're doing to solve the problem (DC variable by challenge and by how appropriate the skill is), and the party succeeds if they get more successes than failures.

Quote from Davyd >>

4th edition had this fantastic tool called a "skill challenge"

[good stuff trimmed]

 Just to add to this, you need to figure out what success and failure mean in this context. If the game can't continue unless the PCs reach the top (or it can, but it's not going to be fun), then failing the challenge can't mean "you can't reach the top". Instead, it should probably mean "You reach the top, but with some significant negative consequence". (One option would be to play it to X successes, but each failure on the way increases the consequences suffered.)

Quote from jl8e >>

Quote from Davyd >>

4th edition had this fantastic tool called a "skill challenge"

[good stuff trimmed]

 Just to add to this, you need to figure out what success and failure mean in this context. If the game can't continue unless the PCs reach the top (or it can, but it's not going to be fun), then failing the challenge can't mean "you can't reach the top". Instead, it should probably mean "You reach the top, but with some significant negative consequence". (One option would be to play it to X successes, but each failure on the way increases the consequences suffered.)

 Maybe you should read that "good stuff" before trimming it out, look at point 5 on my steps......

Decide on the success and failure states. It's important that failing a skill challenge doesn't stall the progress of the party completely, instead it should be a road bump, inconvenience, or resource drain.
Success would obviously be reaching the top of the volcano. However failure could be gaining 3 levels of exhaustion, reduced by 1 for every 2 successes earned.