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The specific case is by identifying magical items with Spellcraft in Pathfinder.

In a group, it is possible instead of making single skill checks that one (generally the one with the higher bonus) makes the check and all the others assist him (+2 if DC10 passed).

My question is: if doing so the check fails anyway, it is possible that one of the "helpers" makes the same check again (alone or with the help of the others) before the 24 hours?

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I have to wonder how you'd justify assisting on this kind of check, since in order to use spellcraft to identify items you need to be able to detect magic, and that spell affects the caster's perceptions only. I guess the assistants could have cast it too, which they'd have to be capable of doing if there was a possibility of them re-trying the check. I guess I answered my own question. – GMJoe Sep 14 '12 at 6:29
So it is safe to assume that if you have more than one spellcaster its preferable to have all spellcaster try to identify the item instead of having other casters help the one with the most skill levels. Its better to have more chance of identifying it than slightly better chance to identify it. SO its best if you have 2 casters with spellcraft to each try and the one with the highest result will have better chance of identifying the item. – Greamlive Dec 11 '12 at 21:42

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Even though I'm not familiar with Pathfinder, the Spellcraft entry of its SRD (specifically its Retry section) seems clear enough for me at first glance: "you can only attempt to ascertain the properties of an individual item once per day. Additional attempts reveal the same results." The "you" in the first sentence is to be understood in the plural if there's a combined effort, so the same group can't get different results in 24 hours, no matter who rolls amongst them. (And "you learn nothing because you failed your check" is also a result, so a retry within 24 hours would be the same.)

Should the group change within a day, I'd say that those "old members" who helped already within the past 24 hours cannot be helpers, only new members can contribute and roll - that is, it would, technically, not be the same group.

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Not assuming that you're wrong, but why would "you" be understood to be plural during a combined effort? – Simon Gill Dec 12 '12 at 6:20
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@SimonGill All skill descriptions use 'you' without any clarification as to which situations the pronoun should be read as singular or plural. Since there are rules for players helping each other out with skill checks, it can be safely assumed that the 'you' in rules for skill uses can be read as plural at least some of the time, so while we can't say for sure that the 'you' in this case should be read as plural, it is at least a possibility. – GMJoe Dec 13 '12 at 4:30

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