Does it matter? Honest question, by the way.
OK, I'll cut to it. So long as *each class* has at least a good mix of skills that are
more likely to be impactful more often - because that's what this issue amounts to - what does it matter if other skills are more niche?
Umm.. hmm. You have a point there. I think as long as each class has a good mix of skills,
and enough skill points to have one or two left over after they take the skills they have
to have, that it really wouldn't be an issue.
(emphasis mine) I agree. I mean. . . also disagree.
Yeah, nothing like trying to figure out what an NPC's sense motive is in the middle of combat. Possible fix: instead of using bluff vs sense motive, why not a simple Cha check vs. opponent's Wisdom (and keep everything else the same).
Not sure what the best solution is, to be honest, if there need be one at all. Perhaps the ascendance of any given skill is simply so dependent on campaign style (and even how that might vary from session to session) and GM whim, that you can never have 'the perfect list'. *shrug*
Well, really I like the idea of a player/DM generated skill list a la FATE, but that is pure heaven for power gamers and impossible to balance.
I hate the humongous skill list that 3.5 has, but I also dislike limiting choices more than they are.
I hate when rolling dice interferes with - instead of augments - fun (like spot/listen, hide/move silently, search, search, search) and some skills are way too specific (like spot and listen... there's 5 senses, ya know LOL).
I hate that technically, per RAW (3.5e), you have no chance of noticing a tripwire or a trapdoor via spot without searching. (I use the search DC as the spot DC to see if the players see it before they step on it; I also use Oakspar's (from WOTC forums) method of roll one search roll for the hallway/room/etc and that's the roll they get for the next trap/secret door.)
Ok, that last one was a bit off topic.
So my problem with skills are: Some are too specific. There's too many of them that can be used untrained (too much looking at character sheets). They scale too fast. Some include things that seem tacked together (like feint in bluff). Class skill lists make too many assumptions about the type of character you want to play.
A possible fix might be:
Combine skills that make sense to be combined (and reduce skill point numbers accordingly). Using my favorites from the ones above, though, would only reduce the skill list by 8 skills:
Spot, listen =
observe
Hide, move silently =
stealth
Balance, tumble, escape artist =
acrobatics
Climb, jump =
athletics
open lock, disable device =
thievery
Survival separated into the related
knowledge skills (nature, dungeoneering, geography) - but the player can choose to use wisdom as the key stat instead of int, to represent one who learned by doing/seeing instead of reading.
Spellcraft and use magic device each separated into the related
knowledge skills (arcane/divine)
Eliminate the concept of particular class skills. Instead of x4 skill points at first level, the player gets only x1 (and humans only get one bonus point) - however, each skill that the player puts a rank into at first level gets a +3 rank bonus and becomes a class skill. All other skills are then cross-class skills.
Sort the skills into categories for ease of finding them on the sheet: (like I said, I don't have a good way of doing this yet)
Physical - jump, climb, balance, swim, tumble
Mental strength/awareness - concentration, spot, listen, search
Narrow/skilled - craft, profession, use rope, decipher script, appraise, disable device, open lock, disguise, escape artist, forgery, heal, perform, ride, Sleight Of Hand, UMD
Interaction - bluff (social uses), intimidate (social uses), diplomacy, gather info, Handle Animal, sense motive
Knowledge - Knowledge (duh!), spellcraft, survival
No idea - Hide, Move Silently
Or, just have certain skills written in on the sheet - spot/listen, jump/climb, balance, etc - the ones that are mostly used and apply to all characters at some point or another. Then have blank lines for the rest of the spots, and the player can write in the skills as he/she takes ranks in them. That would, at the very least, make it less of a wall of text.
I also believe that an increase in bonus to the die roll is not as interesting as being able to "do something more" with your skill. Of course, you can do something more as you go higher, but that has to be largely inferred by the player. I'm not sure what a fix is for that.
