Has anyone made a progressive DC to ACL chart yet ? Something like level one characters need to roll a disable device check of 15-18 but a level 20 would have to roll a 40...hope that made sense all. Thanks for reading.
What's ACL?
Sorry,the average character level of a party.
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That is not a part of Pathfinder rules.
DC's are static not level dependent for skill checks.
Also 1s do not auto fail and 20s do not auto succeed.
So you want to implement a system where DCs will automatically scale with average character level?
Yes or a rough formula
Yes or a rough formula
Star Wars Saga Edition rules came with a chart describing exactly what you're looking for (with distinctions for expected difficulty). It made designing adventures and on-the-fly adjustments extremely GM-friendly. I'd suggest reviewing the system, borrowing the chart, and adjusting it for Pathfinder.
I'm wanting to say it was in "Scum and Villainy", but I don't recall off the top of my head.
A system that automatically scales DCs based on character level defeats the whole point of having levels in the first place. It's why I hate video game RPGs that make enemies automatically scale with my level -- what's the point of the leveling system if you make every enemy the same level as me? Why defeat all of the greatest strengths of leveling systems? Why should a simple lock have a higher DC because it's being picked by a 20th level rogue?
If that's not what you're looking for and you merely want a guide for creating challenging DCs, that's a little tricky. I generally do 10 + level as a base line, then add 5 or 10 depending on the nature of the task.
If there's an activity that should be roughly as difficult for a 1st level character as it would for a 20th level character, then make it an ability check instead of a skill check.
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4th edition had one such table, and it was one of the most hated things about the edition, as the characters never actually got better.
If you really want to go ahead with that, just make an excel chart that sets chance to succeed at 50%, and make an average build against that, putting every rank of a skill into that, etc.
You'll have to do that for ability checks too, because ability checks are already screwed up and scale much slower.
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The Pathfinder already has scaling DCs on skills at the very least.
A lv1 party encounters several hostile kobolds, but attempts to negotiate with them. GM decides that kobolds are "unfriendly" for now, and grants a moderately hard DC 19 Diplomacy check to convince them.
A lv5 party encounters several hostile kobolds, but attempts to negotiate with them. GM decides that kobolds are "hostile", and grants a hard DC 24 Diplomacy check to convince them.
A lv10 party encounters several hostile kobolds, but due to specific circumstances, GM issues a -4 penalty on Diplomacy checks against already "hostile" kobolds.
The above is common situation among PFS scenarios. Although the DCs are harder, the PCs always tend to level up the skills faster however, so overall, DC are harder, but PCs are still progressing faster.
Adam
If that's not what you're looking for and you merely want a guide for creating challenging DCs, that's a little tricky. I generally do 10 + level as a base line, then add 5 or 10 depending on the nature of the task.
If there's an activity that should be roughly as difficult for a 1st level character as it would for a 20th level character, then make it an ability check instead of a skill check.
A guide line was what I was looking for. That formula looks great. I figure most characters would need to roll an any where from an 11 to a 16 if they are not a rogue or some other class that one trick ponys one or two skills. As in a level one fighter with 10 wisdom and one rank in perception would have to roll a 16 to see an arrow trap and an 11 for a destruction trap. And as I finish writing this I realize that's exactly what you just said :/
A guide line was what I was looking for. That formula looks great. I figure most characters would need to roll an any where from an 11 to a 16 if they are not a rogue or some other class that one trick ponys one or two skills. As in a level one fighter with 10 wisdom and one rank in perception would have to roll a 16 to see an arrow trap and an 11 for a destruction trap. And as I finish writing this I realize that's exactly what you just said :/
Aren't Destruction Traps CR 20 with a DC34? There is no way level one fighter with 10 wisdom would ever notice it.