Most frequently used skill?

[BiggusGeekus]

Our rogue uses bluff a lot in combat.

 

[ForceUser]

Spot, without a doubt.

Tumble, Diplomacy are distant seconds, and the rest fall somewhere behind those.

 

[Piratecat]

Good points. I probably should have included Concentration and Tumble. Oh well. I don't seem to have the privilege of modifying the poll now.

Got it.

 

[Mark]

Since I mostly DM, I'll answer from that perspective. I hear people call for Listen checks the most (as a group), but I also roll Spot checks unbeknownst to the players very often, so I voted for both of those.

 

[Wolfen Priest]

Jump, Diplomacy, and Heal should come off the list.

Wow, I was actually going to express my surprise that diplomacy hadn't gotten more votes. I mean, every time you interact with an NPC you don't know, that's diplomacy. We use it quite often, IMC.

 

[smetzger]

What no Animal Empathy?

*:> Scott

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

I mean, every time you interact with an NPC you don't know, that's diplomacy. We use it quite often, IMC.

Oh. Round these parts we call that "roleplaying." Of course then you're looking at the old problem of a character who is smarter/wiser/more charismatic than the player behind him (or vice versa). But I don't want to hijack the thread with the old "skills vs. roleplay" argument.

I admit, I could allow Diplomacy more when I DM, and use it more as a player.

Of course, as a player, Diplomacy isn't my strong suit...

 

[Aaron L]

We get a lot of use out of Knowledge: Arcana.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Wow, I was actually going to express my surprise that diplomacy hadn't gotten more votes. I mean, every time you interact with an NPC you don't know, that's diplomacy. We use it quite often, IMC.

Hmmm . . . I am the party face and I use it ~3 times a session. I still think I use Spot more. Not just for encounter distances and start of combat, but it comes up when we are investigating and scouting any area.

A lot of commonplace NPCs are adequately friendly (so far) if you are friendly to them. It is only when you want something specific that requires risk or effort that you need to roll the social skills. Our players do a pretty good job of RPing their Cha scores, so the DM play the NPCs very naturally without always rolling.

 

[Celebrim]

As a DM, the ones that I'm most often calling for or seeing used seem to be:

1) Spot
2) Search
3) Listen
4) Wilderness Lore
5) Balance

After that it gets harder to estimate accurately. Something like:

6) Tumble
7) The various Knowledges.
8) Diplomacy
9) Sence Motive
10) Spellcraft
11) Decipher Script
12) Climb
13) Swim
11) Disable Device
12) Craft (Masonry)