D&D 5E Lets Rank the 5e Skills!

[StoneProphet]

The Perform skill creates an inherent self-contradiction; the skill itself reflects training and experience, yet the die roll it modifies reflects more what you would see from a rank amateur with no training at all.

Sorry I'm late to this thread but this comment rang true for me. I've always had an issue with this. Presumably if you've got proficiency in perform you're the equivalent of a professional musician. And, I'll grant, even professional musicians aren't always perfect. But serious crowd-displeasing mistakes are pretty rare for professional musicians. It is a little weird to have a dice roll completely undo you.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I'd rank the skills into tiers:

Tier 1: These skills come up all the time, and with some investment, you can be reasonably sure of hitting the typical DCs. - These skills are a necessity to be good at, either proficiency or a high stat will probably do.

Tier 2: These skills also come up often, but they're harder to use successfully.
These skills are an opportunity to shine for characters who specialize in them.

Tier 3: Skills that rarely come up.
These skills are of little value, but might occasionally make a specialist look good.

Tier 4: Skills that never come up. (Tasks related to the skill might come up, but no roll is ever needed, or the roll is trivially easy.)
These skills are probably worthless. It doesn't matter if you are proficient or have a low stat, you might as well not invest in them.

Which skills go in what Tier?

Ask your DM.

 

[5Shilling]

Sorry I'm late to this thread but this comment rang true for me. I've always had an issue with this. Presumably if you've got proficiency in perform you're the equivalent of a professional musician. And, I'll grant, even professional musicians aren't always perfect. But serious crowd-displeasing mistakes are pretty rare for professional musicians. It is a little weird to have a dice roll completely undo you.

There is lots of advice around - including in the DMG - about not rolling where success is assumed. In the case of Perform I would give a PC with proficiency an automatic success if they were just trying to play for an average crowd without botching it.

I would call for a roll if they were eg trying to impress other professional performers with a virtuoso performance (I might also set the DC high enough that it would be impossible for a PC without proficiency).

So proficiency in a skill could grant automatic success in many routine cases. This is a nice time saving approach that makes a lot of ssense and rewards players who have invested in a skill. I recommend all DMs at least give it a try.

 

[Krachek]

Don't let too wide use of persuade skill will help deception and intimidate skill.
Don't allow to persuade the truth of a lie with a persuade check.
Don't allow to impose a will with a persuade check instead of an intimidate check.

The same attitude can be use with investigation vs perception.
Make the inventory and the appraise of a loot, investigation.
Seaching for clues in a writing, investigation.
Looking for contact, missing person, investigation.
dealing with traps should need the use of investigation.

 

[JonnyP71]

I play in 2 weekly games, both with very different groups and different approaches to play:

Game A
Tier 1: Stealth Investigation Perception Athletics Arcana
Tier 2: Survival Religion Performance History Acrobatics
Tier 3: Sleight of Hand Persuasion Nature Medicine Intimidation
Tier 4: Insight Deception Animal Handling

Game B (I DM this one)
Tier 1: Stealth Investigation Perception Athletics Arcana Sleight of Hand
Tier 2: Insight Animal Handling Intimidation Medicine
Tier 3: Persuasion Nature Deception Performance History Acrobatics Religion Survival
Tier 4: none