Question 1: Can I use this same table for 3.5, or is there a difference in how DCs are set? I see that the "Very Easy" column rises slowly from 10 to 15; in 3.5, a PC with no ability score and no skill points would need a 10 no matter what level, right?
If this table works in 3.5 I will sing your praises for an hour and go back to all the threads where I asked for someone to do this and post a link to your post.
Question 2: You seem to have set the skill challenge DCs at a 50/50 chance of success. Why not use as a model the post-errata page 42 DCs, which make an easy check DC a 5 at level 1, or a 75/25 chance of success? (I happen to think those are way too low, but a 50/50 shot at missing is pretty deadly in skill challenges.)
I just want to stress how great this table will be if it works. Bad guys getting away? Just run an impromptu skill challenge and see if the party can track them down with Gather Info from passersby or Ride checks on a commandeered horse.
Well,
Pathfinder is designed to be "backwards compatible" so I would expect it to work for 3.5. That said, PfRPG is a bit more generous will skills all around, so you might want to keep the listed DCs for "specialists" and for everyone else knock the CR down a couple of notches.
And yes, a character with no ranks and no ability score should theoretically have a DC 10 from levels 1 - 20 for an easy challenge, assuming it's just them acting alone with no buffs. But in practice, most characters at least have "aid another" going on by the time the party gets the hang of using skills regularly, if not a party bard singing, "Make, make, make your skill check!" and such.
FWIW, I haven't seen the revised page 42. But for 3.x/
Pathfinder, it's important for a skill challenge to have "non-skill roll" options to garner successes, because even with more generous skills, the Fighter (for instance) probably
still won't be able to contribute by actually rolling on a skill. So it's generally assumed that the people making skill checks will be those who've actually invested in skills, while the people who don't have skills to speak of will be coming up with alternate ways to contribute (via Aid Another, spell use, or even just bashing down the appropriate door).
Remember that a skill challenge counts as a creature of the same CR ... so if you have a 10th level party, a CR 10 skill challenge is intended to take them all on, so to speak. If you've got a skill challenge as part of a larger encounter, it should be at least APL -1 or -2, which will make the DCs drop noticeably.
-The Gneech
