Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="harpy" data-source="post: 4933206" data-attributes="member: 85243">As a DM I try and write adventures to suit my players so I pay attention to their character sheets and the skills that they pick.  That way I can have those skills get used often and thus give the player some value in their character building decisions.One thing I've been working on is diving up the skills into their overall value in the game.  Part of it is to give new players some help.  If I can give them a list of the skills broken down in their overall value then it helps them to pick more effectively where to put skill points.Also, it helps to give out little rewards now and again via free skill points.  Giving out points for the skills that are less used helps add some extra flavor and also doesn't mess up the math with the heavily used ones.So here is how I've broken them down so far:PRIMARY SKILLS - These tend to have a direct impact in combat where the stakes are highest.  These are the skills that seem to come up the most often, seeing use ever session.BalanceConcentrationHideJumpListenMove SilentlySpellcraftSpotTumbleSECONDARY SKILLS - These are all skills that tend to have a lot at stake, though don't come up as often as the Primary skills.  These can be seen used in and out of combat, often when being sneaking and deceptive or having specific character builds or circumstances that see them get used in combat.BluffClimbDisable DeviceEscape ArtistHandle AnimalHealIntimidateOpen LockRideSense MotiveSwimUse Magic DeviceTERTIARY SKILLS - These tend to be skills where interactions with NPCs are done outside of combat.  They tend to be important to moving plots forward, though they don't tend to be used directly in combat except in special circumstances.AppraiseGather InformationDecipher ScriptForgeryPerformUse RopeKnowledgeDiplomacySurvivalDisguiseSearchSleight Of HandQUATERNARY - This last group of skills doesn't seem to get much use.  I'm sure there are groups that use them more often than what I've seen, but my overall impression is that these are rarely called upon, and when they are it is almost always outside of combat.CraftProfessionSpeak Language</blockquote>

Verification